Tangled Beauty (8 page)

“Good night, Mr. Eddington,” said, Sela, standing up. She walked over and threw her arms around him. “Thanks
so
much for the advice.”

“Um, well, yes,” he said, patting her on the back.

“Good night, Jack,” I said, as she released him and he began walking towards the door.

He turned and paused at the door
. “Good night, Reed.”

I looked down and frowned. “You might
want to zip up. Your fly is down.”

Jack’s eyes flashed to
Sela and the guilt on his face was enough to send me to prison for manslaughter. Amazingly enough, however, I kept my cool. I wanted to break his fucking neck, but a larger part of me, wanted to believe that even
he
wouldn’t stoop that low.

“What were you
doing in here with him, Sela?” I asked her after he slipped out the door.

Sela
stood up. “What do you mean?” she asked, not quite meeting my eyes.

I moved closer to her. “His p
ants were unzipped and you both looked a little suspicious.”

“You’re be
ing ridiculous,” snapped Sela. “Do you honestly think I’d do something like that? Seriously?”

I wasn’t sure what lengths she would go for her career but I was pretty certain she knew how powerful Jack was in Hollywood.

“I don’t know. I really don’t,” I said, moving towards her. “But if you did…”

She
stepped backwards and raised her chin. “What? You’d hurt me?”

I smiled, c
oldly. “No, but don’t give me any ideas.”

“Your
threats, Reed, they are getting old.”

I sig
hed wearily and rubbed my forehead. “Sela, I haven’t threatened you and frankly, I’m getting tired of your little escapades- first,
your
accusations then the drugs and now this… weirdness with Jack? I just don’t get you.”

She tightened her robe
and started walking towards the door. “Believe whatever you want. I’m tired and going to bed.”

“Do you need help finding
your
room?” I asked, dryly.

She turned
around and glared at me. “No but I’m sure you can find your old room, which is where you’re obviously staying, this weekend.”

Then she stormed out of the
library, and as far as I was concerned, possibly out of my future.

***

Sinclair

“Well, that was fun,” I said, dryly.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” asked Jesse. “Is your foot still bleeding?”

I stopped walking for a second and removed my flip-flop.
“A little. The cut wasn’t too bad.”

“We should have stayed in the water, then,” he said.

“Hell no,” I said. “What if a shark would have smelled the blood and came looking for me?”

“Oh, you worry too much,” he said.

“You don’t worry enough,” I retorted.

It was shortly after one o’clock in the morning and we were walking back towards the house.

Well, I was limping.

After getting the courage to strip down to my underwear, I’d finally found myself in the ocean with Jes
se, who’d, thankfully, kept his shorts on. After going out just past my chest, I’d stepped on something sharp. When I swam back to shore, I’d noticed that my foot was bleeding. 

“
I just hope I don’t get any blood on your mom’s carpeting.”

“You’ll be fine,” he said.

When we got to the house, I talked Jesse into carrying me back to my room.

“Jesus,” he wheezed, carrying me up the stairs. “Maybe you
should
cut back on the carbs.”

I squeezed his bicep.
“Maybe you should start working on building these puny muscles.”

“Cruel, Sin, cruel
,” he said in a strained voice.

When we finally reached my room, he dropped me on
to the bed. “I think… I’m going… to die,” he gasped, bending down to catch his breath.

“
Oh, you’ll be fine. Could you start my bath water? I asked, examining my foot. The cut was pretty minor. “And see if there are any Bandaids in the bathroom?”

He stood up straight. “God,
you’d think we were married or something.”

“
Hey, you’re the one who wanted to pretend we were a couple.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said, walking towards the bathroom
.

A minute later, he walke
d out of the bathroom carrying three Bandaids and looking confused. “For some reason, the water isn’t working,” he said.

I groaned.
“Seriously?”

“
The pipes are making a weird noise but nothing is coming out. Obviously, you can’t take a shower or bath in there.”

“Crap. I need to take a shower or
something
. I’m all salty from the ocean.”

“Try
mine. I’m right down the hallway- the last door. You can use it while I go and have a snack downstairs. I’m freaken’ starving.”

“
Well, okay.”

“Her
e,” said Jesse, handing me the Bandaids. “This should take care of the blood, although, it looks like you may have stopped bleeding already.”

I put all three bandages
on, just in case. I wasn’t about to piss Mimi off. “Thanks, Jesse.”

“No problem. Do you want me to scrounge you up a snack
, too?”

“No, thanks.”

“I was only kidding,” he said, kissing the top of my head. “You’re not fat at all. If you want to eat, don’t hold back.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Okay. Go take your shower then, hopefully
my
shower is working.”

“I hope so.”

“Well, let me know if it isn’t.”

“Oh, I will.”

He smiled. “Okay, I’ll see you, later.”

“Thanks.”

After he left, I grabbed my robe, shampoo, and shower gel. Then I went in search of his room.

***

Reed

After Sela left, I raided the liquor cabinet in the library. With a satisfied grin, I grabbed a bottle of Jack’s most expensive tequila, sat down on the couch and proceeded to get drunk.

It didn’t take long.

Less than an hour later, I staggered back to my bedroom. When I closed the door, I was surprised to hear the water running in the bathroom.

Sela
?

I walked over to my bathroom and slowly pushed the door open. Sure enough, I could see flashes of her naked body through the clouded glass shower door.

Fuck it.

Although I was still pissed, I was also drunk and hornier than shit.

I slipped off my clothes and opened up the shower door
, determined to have
my
way with Sela. She was still
my
fiancé, after all.

“Oh my God!”
she screamed.

I blinked in confusion. T
he vision standing before me wasn’t Sela. This one had glistening soft curves, cat-like green eyes, and long dark hair that reached her lower back.

I was so hard, it was almost painful.

“Reed!” gasped Sinclair, turning away so that all I could see was the water dripping down her heart-shaped ass.

“Shit…I’m s
orry,” I said, closing the door, instantly sobering up.

I pick
ed up my clothes and quickly left the bathroom.

***

Sinclair

Oh my God.

Had that just happened?

My heart was still racing as I hurried to wash off the rest of the soap from my body. I tried pushing away the image of him staring at me in the shower, the desire in his eyes.

I couldn’t help but smile
. He had definitely liked what he’d seen.

And,
oh, hot damn, that body of his! Standing in all of his naked glory- the smooth chiseled chest, hard biceps, and that thick piece of manhood between his legs, pointing right at me! He was ready to go and I freakin’ scared him off!

Engaged
, I reminded myself.

I hit the shower wall and turned the cold water up
, wondering if it worked for women, too.

Reed

I waited for Sinclair to finish, still confused as to why she was in
my
bedroom, using
my
shower. If she wouldn’t have looked so horrified, I would have thought she’d planned some kind of seduction. Although I’d like to say her plan wouldn’t have worked, I still couldn’t get the image of her hot, naked body out of my mind.

Jesus, I needed to sober up.

When she finally stepped out of the bathroom, she was wearing a short blue terry-cloth robe and holding her things in front of her, like a shield.

I smiled, sheepishly. “Well, that was awkward.”

Her cheeks grew pink and she nodded. “Very.”

“I guess I should ask-
why are you using my shower?”

Her eyebrows shot up
. “Your
shower?”

“Yes. This is my bedroom, my shower.”

“I thought it was Jesse’s.”

“His is across the hall.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said, looking mortified.

I rubb
ed the back of my neck. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll just pretend it didn’t happen.”

And that I didn’t see those
sinfully, delicious curves hidden under that robe.

“Okay.”

“You’d better get out of here before Jesse comes looking for you. He might get jealous,” I said, biting back a smile.

“Right.”

“Sweet dreams,” I said, lying back against my pillows, my arms behind my neck.

Blushing, she nodded.
“Um, sweet dreams.”

I watched as sh
e left, hoping that my dreams would include me, joining her, in the shower.

***

Sinclair

I left Reed’s bedroom, my face still burning at the memory of seeing him naked. As I moved down the hallway to my room, thinking of all the wicked things I wanted to do with that body, I ran into Jesse, who was just coming from the kitchen.

“Oh, good you’re done
with your shower,” he whispered. “Did you find everything okay?”

I told him what had happened and then had to
actually cover his mouth as he began laughing, hysterically. “Stop, it wasn’t funny,” I whispered.

“Oh my God, are you kidding me? That’s hilarious.”

“It was mortifying.”

He wiggled his eyebrows. “So, was he happy to see you?”

“You mean aroused?”

“Yes. Was he
sprung
?”

“I didn’t even look,” I managed to say with a straight face.

“Bullshit.”

I smiled. “Okay, I guess he wasn’t totally turned off by seeing me naked.”

Jesse bit his lower lip and got this faraway look in his eyes. “You know…I wonder if you could somehow seduce Reed. That would take care of the Sela problem.”

I stared at him in surprise.
“No, absolutely not.”

He studied me for a minute and then smiled. “Okay. Forget I mentioned it.”

From the look in his eyes, however, I knew he was still mulling the idea over in his mind.

“I mean it,” I warned. “I would never do something like that. He’s engaged and I’m not going to come between that.”

“I totally understand. Listen, don’t forget we’re going shopping for your dress tomorrow. So, get some sleep.”

“Okay.
I have to cut Reed’s hair in the morning, first.”

“Right after that, then,” he said.

“Okay, goodnight.”

“Good
night, Sin.”

I stepped to my bedroom door and glanced back to
find Jesse still looking at me.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said, turning away. “Sleep well.”

“
You too,” I answered, knowing I’d probably sleep like an angel but dream like the Devil, if the images of Reed didn’t leave my sinful mind.