Irrefutable (The Apprehensive Duet Book 2) (20 page)

“Fuck…Yes…So good…Arghh.” His body stills and I feel each twitch of his cock as his release flows through him. Every tremor assaulting my already over-sensitized flesh, prolonging the tail end of my own release.

Alex pulls himself from my body and rolls over, taking me with him. His strong arms wrap around my upper body and he crushes me to his chest. He rains kisses all across the top of my head and then heaves a huge sigh. “That was amazing. I knew the first time we did that again would be out of this world, but that … that was too good for words.”

My body tenses now that the sexual pleasure has ended and my hormones are calm. I didn’t want to do that. I don’t want to be that girl again. The one who buries her pain and struggles with pleasure.

I gently extract myself from Alex’s bear hug and slide to the end of the bed, hanging my feet over the side. My fingers run through my hair and I draw in a deep breath before I speak my mind.

“As great as that was, it shouldn’t have happened.”

The bed shakes as Alex jumps up from the spot he was lying and shuffles to the end of the bed next to me. “What? Why?”

“It just shouldn’t have.” I’m aware of my childishness as I climb off of the bed to grab my robe hanging on the back of the bedroom door.

My feet don’t even get two steps before I’m yanked backward, my back meeting Alex’s chest. His arms snake around my middle and he rests his chin on the top of my head. “You need to explain. What exactly shouldn’t have happened and why?”

“The sex, Alex. It shouldn’t have happened,” I grit out. Claustrophobia starts to set in and I feel trapped. His arms hold me in when all I want to do is break away. I’m not good with feelings and being this close to him isn’t making it any easier.

“Okay. No more sex.” I feel Alex’s body stiffen just slightly but he continues on. “Now tell me why? I can’t help you if I don’t understand.”

Feelings. He wants more feelings. I hate those fucking god damn things. Sharing my feelings with people hasn’t really served me well in the past. My feelings weren’t the same as everyone else’s and all they ever got me was heartbreak and pain. It’s why I don’t do them.

Alex has always been about the feelings with me but never this direct. Before it always seemed like he knew exactly what to do or say but he never pushed. He took what I gave him and let it go. Now he says what he wants to say. Asks the questions I don’t want to answer.

There’s no point in lying though. It won’t do me any good. So I just let it out. “Because I don’t want to be that girl anymore. The one who buries her problems under sex. If we’re sleeping together, I’ll be using it as a distraction. I don’t want do that or have our relationship be based on sex. That’s how this all started and it didn’t work.”

Alex’s embrace slackens and he spins my upper body toward him. “There’s no way our relationship could ever be based on sex, Quinn. It wasn’t last time either. You just told yourself it was,” he says as he lowers his forehead down to mine. I think this might be a new obsession of his. “We’ve learned so much about each other, we’ve loved each other, and we’ve lived miserably without each other. This is and always has been more than sex for us—for me. I love you, Quinn, and not just in the bedroom.”

I’m so jealous of the way he can easily let his words flow. No hesitation, no second guessing. No wonder he’s always so happy and easygoing. Nothing festers. He says what he needs to and then gets to work on fixing the problem.

“And it’s okay to use sex as a distraction; you just can’t ignore the problem after you’re done. Some people have a drink after a long day, some people run to relieve their stress, and some eat a tub of ice cream. It’s okay to come home from a bad day and want to lose yourself in me. But that doesn’t replace the talking. Not telling me how things are making you feel is what will sabotage us, not sex. If you aren’t ready for us to be on the sex level yet, then that’s okay. We don’t have to have sex, but I don’t want you holding back because you’re worried about things that don’t pertain to us.”

He pulls away and gazes into my eyes. What he’s looking for, I don’t know nor do I know what he’s seeing in them. My thoughts are a little scattered at the moment. What he’s saying makes perfect sense to me; it’s like going to the gym. But going to the gym or running or eating ice cream doesn’t feel nearly as good as sex with Alex.

My eyes dart to his lips as he licks them before continuing on. “So now that you’ve relieved some stress and tension, we talk. We don’t bury. How are you feeling about tomorrow?”

He lures me back to the bed where he lays back taking me with him. We slide, turn, and inch ourselves into a comfortable position. Alex wraps his arms securely around my middle once again and kisses my shoulder. “Talk to me.”

Giving in, I start trying to let out everything that’s going on in my head. “I trust Jordan. I trust him when he says that he can pull this off and that pictures in the paper showing his supposed fiancée out with another man won’t affect him, but I don’t like it. I don’t like him being that guy. He’s so good and I don’t like making him look bad.”

“He knows what he’s getting himself into, angel. Jordan isn’t a stupid man. If he says this is the way to go and he’s okay with the backlash then trust him,” Alex advises before kissing the top of my head again. I almost feel like it was a reward for opening up and for some reason it makes me smile.

“But it makes me look bad. Not that I really give two shits about what anyone thinks but it makes me appear to be just like my father. I’m nothing like him.” The anger I feel when I think about anyone ever thinking I’m as scummy as my lowlife father makes my skin boil.

Alex slides out from behind me and raises himself up. He rolls me onto my back and then positions himself above me. He stares down at me with an extreme gaze as he speaks, “You are
nothing
like him. Nothing. You could never be like him so shut down that train of thought right now. You are worlds above that douchebag, and I don’t ever want you to think that about yourself again.”

The sincerity and honesty in his voice wraps around me like a blanket. Warming me and making me want to cry. I’m still trying to get used to sharing my feelings with a man and having it be rewarding instead of disappointing.

“But what if it doesn’t work?” I ask. It’s been the biggest question on my mind since Jordan first told me the plan.

“Then we’ll find another way,” he vows squeezing me tighter to him.

“THIS WEDDING IS off,” I snarl as I make my way into Louis Taylor’s office. I was banking on him being here on a Saturday and I was right.

Storming toward his desk, I slam down all the photos of Quinn and Alex from my guy and a copy of an article run by some city gossip site. I didn’t bother waiting to see if the same story was picked up by a more reputable source. I only needed one to add to my point. The fact that it’s a gossip site is actually a plus. No one but the Kardashians and Paris Hilton ever actually want to be in those trash rags. “I didn’t sign up for this shit. I won’t allow anyone to make a fool of me. No one, no matter how hot she is or how much I stand to gain from marrying her.”

Starting off with two things this man understands—sex and money—is all part of the plan today.

He shuffles the stack of photos over his desk displaying Quinn and Alex in a variety of different situations. Dining. Walking down the street wrapped up in each other. Going home together. There’s even one from last night with them dancing. Quinn is smiling up at Alex as though he’s everything she could’ve wanted.

I thought it would hurt. Seeing the two of them together. It didn’t. Not like you’d think it would if I truly loved her in that capacity. You could feel the connection between the two of them in pictures and it made me happy for her. She found someone to love her the way she deserves.

That only fueled my rage toward the man looking up at me. “Why are you telling me this instead of talking to my daughter about it? Maybe it’s not what it seems?” he pitches, his eyebrow cocked up in an arrogant manner.

I laugh at him mockingly, giving off the air that I find him stupid. Because I do. “I know all about your hand in this. Only an idiot doesn’t know exactly what he’s getting himself into when it comes to marriages like these. And only an idiot would pass up an opportunity to build a mega company. But I fell in love with your daughter and she’s out fucking me over whenever she can. With her ex-boyfriend no less. That doesn’t work for me. So I’m here because I have a solution that works for both of us.”

His curiosity is piqued. I can tell by the change in his eyes. He’s fighting with himself; he wants to ask questions but also doesn’t seem to be too convinced about my intentions. I’m going to need to turn the anger up and bring out my inner asshole. I need to dig deep and try to get on his level of evil if he’s going to tell me anything.

“I’ll bite. What’s your idea?” his curiosity winning out in the battle. It takes everything inside me not to reach over the desk and strangle the shit out of him for everything he’s done to Quinn and is trying to do to my family. The arrogant way he props his elbows up on his desk and steeples his fingers makes it easy to be angry. Because I am. Just not with Quinn.

“I want this merger. Just not with her a part of it,” I tell him as I take a seat in the armchair in front of his desk.

“And what exactly do you want me to do? Fire her?” he asks as he relaxes back into his chair crossing his arms over his chest. “She’s my daughter and the Vice President.”

Is he for fucking real? This guy really thinks he’s that good. “Don’t underestimate my intelligence, Louis,” I chide rising up from my chair to head to the bar in the corner of this ridiculous office. This man thinks he’s a god. His arrogance is off the charts. There’s a bear skin fucking rug under the coffee table for Christ’s sake. God, I can’t stand this fucker.

“You never had any intentions of handing this company over to Quinn, only she doesn’t know that yet,” I lie. She knows now. But he doesn’t know that. “I can’t imagine she would continue on with the wedding knowing that piece of information.”

“You just said the wedding is off,” he snaps. He’s gone from smug to pissed off. His change in attitude proving I was right again. Quinn was never going to be a part of anything.

“I’ve yet to speak with my lovely fiancée regarding her public indiscretions. That conversation could go two ways depending on the agreement we come to right now,” I explain as I raise the three fingers of his best bourbon I just poured myself to my lips. This should be strong enough to get me through dealing with this prick. “I know you have a plan in place to bring her down. I’ll keep my mouth shut regarding your real plans if you let me in on it.”

Louis pushes himself from his chair, his body language screaming anger. “Why the hell would I do that? I don’t need you for shit, little boy. I don’t think you know who you’re messing with.”

He rounds his desk and stalks toward me. He’s trying to intimidate me but I’m not afraid of him. He’s a weak pathetic man who preys on his own daughter, and it makes me sick. Lucky for me, I ‘m able to turn that disgust to indifference. “I know exactly who you are. And you do need me, if you still want to pull this off.”

“The fuck I do,” he bellows.

I set my glass down back on the bar and cross my arms over my chest rising to my full height. Louis Taylor is a small, slimy sleazebag. I’m taller, stronger, and even as a laidback pretty boy I’m much more intimidating than him. I’m really going to have to have a talk with Quinn about being even the slightest bit scared of this man. He’s fucking nothing. “I imagine you don’t want Quinn to know of your real plans. I’ll keep my mouth shut and allow her to believe the wedding is still on, allow her to continue thinking she’s beating you.”

“If you still want this merger to go through, I don’t need her anymore,” he says raising his eyebrows as if he’s just checkmated me.

“Quinn has embarrassed me. She’s made me look like a fool, and now with her stunt last night, things have gone too far. Images of her and this Alex are bound to be all over by now and I’m sure they’ve dug up that they used to date. I do not take kindly to anyone making me look bad. I fell for her shit hook, line, and sinker. The last thing I want when it comes to business is people thinking I’m a fool. I can’t have clients thinking I’m some dumb shmuck whose wife is running around on him all over town.” I make sure to put as much grit and anger into my words. This is something a man like Louis will understand. He’s the type of man who only cares about appearances. Well, that and money. “I want to make sure she’s completely humiliated.”