What They Don't Know (Won't Hurt Them Trilogy #1) (13 page)

“I guess you'll have
to do what you have to do.”

“Bluffing are we?”
Cruz eyes me with that smirk again.

“Try me, Cruz. I'm so
serious.” I know he thinks I'm bluffing.

“Bryant, I think,
we're going to have to take another look at the deal on Wednesday.”

Bryant enters the room,
looking confused.

“Why? What's wrong
with it?” He eyes Cruz, and then turns to me. “What the hell did
I miss?”

“Nothing,” I say.

“I must have missed
something. Is this or isn't this deal happening?” He's getting
irritated as he looks at me.

“This has nothing to
do with me, Bry. Why are you looking at me?”

“Because, Bria, Cruz
doesn't want to work with Tony. He has his reasons, we went over
this.”

I can't fucking believe
this. Bryant has lost his damn mind.

“So what's it going
to be, Bree?” Bryant adds.

I want to drop the
F-bomb on both of them. Bryant’s an ass, and Cruz is an even bigger
ass. The day just gets better.

“Everything's fine,”
I say, and Bryant turns to Cruz.

“Everything's fine,”
he says to Cruz.

“Everything's fine,”
Cruz says. Bryant goes back to setting the table.

Cruz walks up to me,
and lowers himself to my face. He cups my sex, causing me to jump,
but he holds me in place with his other hand.

“Repeat after me. No
avail.” I don't say anything because I'm shocked. He has my pussy
in his hand.

“Say it!” He lets
out a forceful whisper yell.

“No avail,” I
whisper.

“Remember it
tonight.” He lets go of my arm. Before he removes his hand, he
squeezes my sex. I inhale quickly, as I instantly see red. I excuse
myself to the bathroom to calm myself from what I can only think of
as my hormones taking over my body. What am I trying to accomplish by
this? Why haven't I thrown either of them out yet? Subconsciously,
it’s because of Bryant. I know he wants this deal. I'll let him
down, as well as Mr. Wilke, if I don't agree to Cruz's agreement. Why
me?

I change clothes to
clean up the small incident Cruz caused in my panties. Despicable
body of mine. Bryant appears in the mirror, as I lift my head from
washing my face. Of course, it scares the hell out of me.

“You have to stop
doing that.” He hugs me from behind, and I turn around. He pulls me
into another hug.

“Sorry, Bria, I
really want this. Thanks for working with him for me.”

“Yeah. Whatever.”

“C'mon, Bree, don't
do this.”

“Do what, Bryant?”
I try to push past him; he holds me in place against the sink.

“Don't ruin this for
me.”

“Are you fucking
serious? I've been behind you, even now. Even when this fidiot is
being just that.”

“What?” he
questions my use of the word.

“Fidiot, fucking
idiot.”

Bryant laughs. “Bree,
is it too much to get along with him?”

“Bryant, I'm doing
what you asked of me,” I laugh. “I don't have to like it okay!”

“Fine, Bria, you want
to be the cause that ends the deal. End the fucking deal!”

I move past him into
the hall. “Can we just get through tonight? I do have work in the
morning.”

“Yeah, let's eat,
Bria. I'll be out of your hair tonight.”

“Thank goodness.”

* * *

We got through dinner
without arguing or disagreeing, most likely, because I didn't speak
at all. Cruz kept his eyes on me, and I stared at my meal, which only
received half my attention. I’d lost my appetite, and just wanted
the night to end. I didn't touch my wine, because I switched it with
Bryant’s. We’d both left the room, when we retuned, Cruz offered
to pour wine for the three of us. He claimed it was the least he
could do. I thought it was BS, so I asked Bryant to get me Parmesan
Reggiano from the refrigerator. Of course, Cruz saw me switch them,
but did nothing to prevent me from doing so. I’m sure the sharp
cutlery near me played a factor.

The dining area needs
to be cleaned. I insist I'll finish up; I just want both of them to
leave. I’m no longer in the mood for homemade ice cream. Bryant
insists on staying, but if Cruz knew any better, he'd get Bryant out
of here. For the sake of Bryant, the deal, and my sanity, they both
should leave.

Bryant comes into the
kitchen, as I’m cleaning the dishes. He wraps his arms around my
chest from behind, and nudges his nose at the side of my neck.

“Bryant, please just
go home.”

“You don't want that,
Bree; we have to have make up sex.”

“Couples have make up
sex, Bry,” I say sarcastically. He freezes then turns me around.
Water is dripping from my hands onto the floor.

“What's your problem
tonight?”

“What's my problem?
Let's see, you invited someone I don't like to my home without my
permission. You’ve forced me to work with the jerk. You didn't side
with me about him coming on to me. You're wish-washy with this.” I
point to him then back to me. “Whatever the fuck this thing is, we
have. Oh, you tell our business to my boss, which is awkward all
together. Should I go on?” I yell. Just as I turn, I slip on the
water that’s dripped on the floor, and Bryant tries to grab me. He
slips in the puddle too. We both go flying, feet in the air, and land
on our asses.

He lands slightly on
top of me. He laughs so hard I see tears in his eyes. I, on the other
hand, think I sprained my ankle. No laughter comes from me, just pain
as I hold my foot. Cruz walks in. He eyes us on the floor, mainly
Bryant on top of me. He grabs paper towels to clean up the small
puddle on the floor.

“Give me your hand.”
He pulls me from under Bryant and lifts me off my feet.

“I'm fine. I can
walk.”

He lowers me to the
floor and I wince because it hurts.

“Shit!”

“Are you okay?”
both ask.

“Yeah, I'm good. You
guys go! Please, I'll get this cleaned up in a bit.”

“Your ankle looks
swollen, Bria; you need medical attention,” Cruz says.

“It does, Bree. I'm
sorry I tried catching you. Looks like I made it worse.”

“Yeah, you probably
should have just let her fall. You falling on top of her didn't help
any.”

With Cruz’s tone, his
statement comes off kind of harsh, even Bryant notices it.

“Man, I said I
attempted to catch her.”

“But you didn't, now
did you?”

“Dude, what's up?”

“Nothing, man, she's
hurt that's all I'm saying, and she needs medical attention.”

“I'm fine. Really, I
am.”

“Bria. How are you
fine? Can you even stand on your foot? Huh, tell me that?”

Ahh,
Cruz seems upset. A little part of me feels something for him. It's
sweet he's upset about my injury.
Ugh…

“Dude, I'll take her
to emergency.”

“Don't bother, I'll
do it. Don't call me dude again, Bryant; that shit's annoying.”

Bryant laughs. “What's
up with you?”

“I told you; she’s
hurt, and you’re acting like it’s nothing.”

“Cruz, this is my
best friend. She’s tougher than you think. Most men don't have the
balls she has.”

Cruz turns to face
Bryant. “I'm taking her to the hospital. You can ride if you like.
Otherwise, stop acting like a total ass.”

“Okay, guys,
seriously.”

They're staring each
other down; it's making me nervous.

“She doesn't even
like you,” Bryant sneers.

“Doesn't matter what
she likes. She’s going to the hospital to get checked out,” Cruz
demands.

“Does it matter what
I want?” I ask. Cruz turns to meet my eyes and shakes his head.
“I'm fine, really. I'll be okay.”

“Walk, Bria,” he
says harshly. As silly as it is, I try to walk. On the first step, I
almost take a tumble. Bryant catches one arm and Cruz has the other.

Okay, fine, emergency
it is.

* * *

I’m exhausted when
Cruz and I leave the emergency room, two hours later.

“Are you going to
work tomorrow?” he asks, holding me up. Cruz hands me the crutches.
I'm worse on these things. They tend to cripple me more than help.
Thankfully, I have no sprain or break. My ankle is only twisted; I'll
be fine by Thursday or Friday.

“Work tomorrow isn't
looking good,” I say to him. “Thanks for bringing me.”

“No problem, I’m
sorry for being impatient back at the hospital and at your house. I
kind of lost it with Bryant.”

“Yeah, I noticed
that. Can I ask why?”

“You can ask
anything,” Cruz laughs. “I'm not obligated to answer.”

“And there goes the
Cruz King I know,” I say very loud.

“What? You thought I
was a nice guy because I gave you a ride to the hospital?”

“Yeah, I actually
thought you were thoughtful.”

“Oh, hell no, I need
to slap you on your ass, or spit in public.”

“You’re
disgusting.”

“Yeah, I wouldn't
spit in public.”

We both laugh, and I
see for the first time a hint of amusement on his face. Not the
sarcastic, dominant perv from earlier. Finally making it to his car,
Cruz opens the door to help me in.

“Not sure where these
are going.” I hand him the crutches.

“We'll work it out,”
he says, as he walks around to the driver’s side. Cruz
strategically places the crutches in the rear of the car, so they are
barely angled into the front of the car, out of our way. As we begin
to pull away from the hospital, Cruz looks over at me; his smile
breaks the tension. His smile also says something wicked. This man is
a temptation I need nothing to do with.

“So you were checking
out my car, huh?”

“I was and still am.”

“It's nothing
really.”

“What? Are you
kidding me? You have customized parts on this car no one would have
thought to do.”

“Wow. You notice that
stuff?” He looks at me as if I'm strange for noticing.

“What? Don't look at
me like that.”

“But you're so
feminine.”

“So, what does
femininity have to do with anything?”

“I can't see you bent
over, working on a— Wait a minute scratch that. I'd love to see you
bent over working on a car, in a tight tank and some short shorts.
Mmmm,” he says. I smack his arm.

“Perv.”

“I didn't say
short-ass shorts.”

“What's the
difference?” I question.

“Short shorts,
doesn't show ass cheeks.”

“Oh, that makes it
better,” I scoff.

He laughs, but quickly
turns serious. “It does make it better, but I don't think I could
take someone seeing your ass cheeks.” I stare at him, as he stares
at the road ahead. “Why do you allow Bryant to treat you that way?”

“I'm not sure what
you mean, Cruz.”

“He treats you as if
you're one of the guys until he needs something from you.”

“Needs something from
me?”

“Yeah. Sex in
particular.”

I fidget in my seat
because I don't want to talk to Cruz about Bryant.

“It's not that way.”

“Then how is it? From
what I've observed, he fucks you when he feels like it. No emotions
involved.”

“What's wrong with
that?”

He shrugs. “I guess
nothing if that's all you want. Shit's not healthy, that's for sure,”
he adds.

I just roll my eyes and
shake my head. I'm silent the rest of the way home. I don't see
Bryant's car when Cruz and I pull up.

“Shit, how am I going
to get up those stairs?”

“C'mon, let’s get
you in.

“Okay.”

I don’t bother to
argue. It will just be useless. Cruz rounds his car to open the door
for me. He helps me to my feet, and grabs the crutches from the back
seat.

“Hold these,” Cruz
says, giving me the crutches.

“I would have assumed
so. I have to walk on them,” I sarcastically respond.

“No, you don't.”

“Please put me down,
Cruz,” I squeal as he picks me up.

“We'll get there
quicker this way.” Before I can contest, he has me at my front
door. He hasn't lowered me yet, so I pull the keys from my pocket to
open the door as he holds me close.

“Bryant!” I call
out.

“He's gone,” Cruz
says.

“How do you know?”

“I texted him and
told him to go home.” He lowers me to my feet to stand on the
crutches. I feel heavier since he’s put me down.

“Look Cruz, I agreed
to your demands. You don't have to keep Bryant away from me.”

He laughs. “I trust
Bryant. It's you I don't trust.”

“Why in the hell
don't you trust me?”

“Bryant's a man; he
can jerk off and be happy when you turn him down. You on the other
hand,” he says as he moves in close to me. He brushes my hair from
the side of my face. “You have needs; a vibrator or your own touch
will satisfy. I know women pretty well. They thrive from a man's
touch. Especially when there's fire within them. You, Bria, you have
fire and it only blazes temporarily with Bryant. Temporarily is good
for you, with him.”

I shake my head. “You
don't know me.” He looks into my eyes, and I think he sees past me.

“I know you're into
your career. I know you're not into Bryant Morgan, and I know how wet
your pussy gets with just the thought of me.”

I inhale hard and hold
my breath. I exhale as he takes my lips. I melt at his feet. His kiss
is hard, gentle, and demanding at the same time. I drop the crutches
to run my fingers through his short, tapered hair. His tongue finds
mine; his minty taste drives me insane. Cruz strokes my tongue with
his until I pull away.

“Please, I can't.”

“Oh, but you can and
you will, Bria. Just not tonight, I need your mind and body at 100
percent.”

I look at him
curiously.

“Honey, I'm going to
fuck your mind and then your body. You'll need to recover from that
before I repeat.” Cruz carries me to my bedroom. It makes me
curious to know how he knows where it is. He pushes the door open
with his foot, I look up, and he senses my anxiety. Cruz lays me on
the bed. He sits beside me before he speaks.