Tempted (In Too Deep) (5 page)

Chapter 12

Colt

Bria
is sitting on the bottom stair in the foyer, waiting for me with her head in her hands. I share her sentiment. It’s entirely too early to be up. But we have a six o’clock flight, and need to be to the airport extra early for the international flight.

“I want to say goodbye to Taylor. Wait here for me?”

She nods, barely looking up.

I jog up the stairs to the third floor dorms and peek inside. It’s dark and silent. I stride over to Taylor’s bed and watch her sleep for a few seconds. I don’t know what she’s dre
aming about, but a little line creases her forehead, like she’s worried about something, even in her sleep. I smooth it out with my thumb. She blinks her eyes open at the contact. “Hey,” I whisper down at her.

“Hi,” she murmurs. For just a second she forgets she’s mad at
me, and that I’m leaving today and she grins up at me, sleepily, happy. I can see the exact moment it dawns on her. Her happy little smile falls and that line etches in between her brows.

“I just wanted to say goodbye.” I bend down and touch my lips to her forehead
, right over the crease. “I hate leaving when you’re mad at me.”

Someone in bed next to her turns over, rousing at my voice.
Taylor gestures to the hall. I wait there while she gets up and puts on her robe. Then she joins me in the hall. “You didn’t have to get up.”

She yawns. “I just didn’t want you to wake everyone up with your groveling apology.”

“If that’s what you want, you got it, baby. I am sorry, you know that, honey.”

She stays quiet. I know I w
on’t get out of this one easy. “You want to walk me out?”

She nods. “Sure.”

We reach the bottom of the stairs and Bria is there, slinging a bag over her shoulder. She’s in bright pink sweatpants with the word
sexy
printed across her behind and her thong peeks from the waistband. I flick my eyes to Taylor. She noticed it too and her eyebrows pull together in frustration. Shit.

“
Bria, wait in the car for me.”

She nods and leaves us alone in the foyer.

I take Taylor in my arms, giving her a squeeze. “Please don’t be mad at me. I know I constantly fuck up, and that my past sucks, and I’m not at all good at being a boyfriend, but I want to be. Give me another chance, baby.”

She steps back from my arms, looking up and studying my face. The words hang heavily between us, charged with the early morning hour and the fact that I’m leaving with
Bria. She’s quiet. I don’t know if I expected her to forgive me so easily, but the fact that she doesn’t say anything stings more than I thought it would.

Then s
he presses a soft kiss to my lips. “We’ll talk when you get back.”

I attempt a smile, but it feels wrong. I hate that I fucked this up. I fish my new cell phone from my pocket. “I’ll call you
every day. Okay?”

She nods.

“And we can email.” She offers a small, sad smile. I stuff the phone back in my pocket. And head out after Bria, feeling like a total jackass.

Chapter 13

Taylor

I transfer a scoop of scrambled eggs and two strips of bacon from the warming tray to my plate and follow MJ and Logan to our table.

I stab a forkful of overcooked eggs and MJ and Logan exchange a look.

“What?” I grumble around the eggs.

MJ lifts her right eyebrow, which now sports a tiny barbell. “Now that Colt’s gone, you’re going to be bitchy?”

I swallow down the bite of eggs. “No
.” Then stab another forkful. I’m going to make the best of it, but my lack of sleep last night after the Bria incident and then waking up at the crack of dawn when Colt said goodbye had left me drained.

Br
itt hovers near our table, laughing loudly into her cell phone. “You’re just getting to bed? Damn girl.”

Clearly her friends
are just as classy as she is. Britt graduated last year and is now an associate agent. Her failed attempts at seducing Colt last year mean she and I do not see eye to eye.  “Well good luck dislodging the stick from Colt’s ass.”

At the mention of his name, I lift my head. She must be talking to
Bria.

Britt continues and my eyes follow her across the room. “
The London Tower at sunset sounds so romantic! Aw, B, you are so lucky!”

I grip my can of Diet Coke, crinkling the aluminum in my grasp.

“Breathe, Taylor,” MJ reminds me. “You know those bitches are just doing it to get a reaction from you. Don’t play into their trap.”

I pull a deep breath into my lungs, fighting to clear my head. I know MJs right. Britt and
Bria have little in the way of self-control or self-respect. They’re two years older than me, but conduct themselves like complete amateurs.

“Besides the London Tower was a prison, it’s not romantic,” MJ adds.

Britt saunters away, saying goodbye to Bria and my heart rate struggles to return to normal.  

A look passes between MJ and Logan. They’re concerned about me. But I’m dead set on proving them wrong. I’m not one of those pathetic stalker girlfriends
cataloging her boyfriends every move.

“
So Reis has a soccer game this Friday. You guys want to come with me?”

“You mean Boyfriend Junior?” Logan laughs.

Because Reis looks so much like Colt, MJ and Logan have taken to calling him Boyfriend Junior.

“Sorry, can’t,” MJ says stirring her coffee. “I have a date Friday.”

“And I’d rather play with explosives than do the whole high school game night thing,” Logan adds.

“You guys suck.
” But at least I’ll have something to do this weekend to distract myself. Reis has already has plans to spend the weekend here, staying in Colt’s room so we can hang out. He doesn’t know many people at his new school yet. Our school’s so damn small, it’ll be nice to have the company. I avoid looking over at Britt for the remainder of breakfast.

***

Sitting on the hard metal bleachers, I’m starting to regret agreeing to come to Reis’ game. But when his team took the field, I found myself leaning forward to try and spot him. I grinned when I picked him out of the group of guys. Number twenty-one. His build is athletic, and just like Colt he’s been graced with a robust sense of confidence.

My eyes stay glued to Reis. He’s a forward
, which means he’s front and center for a lot of the action. I watch him trek up and down the field and notice the glean of sweat that dampens his hairline, and the rosy flush of his cheeks. His face is fixed with determination and he shouts commands out his teammates on the field. I still can’t get over how much he looks like Colt. Their voices even sound the same. Watching him that makes me aware of missing Colt. But thankfully watching Reis makes it easy to get lost in the game. His labored breathing and the grunts he releases when he connects with the ball are a damned near perfect distraction.

After the game, Reis
jogs to the bleachers to meet me. He gives me the keys to wait for him in his Jeep and says he’ll take a quick shower and be right out.

It’s easy to find
his ride the parking lot. He drives a big red Jeep on oversized tires. I climb inside. It’s a very utilitarian vehicle, very unlike Colt’s sexy luxury sedan, built for speed and agility. This is all about function. The seat is rough underneath me, faded by the sun and elements.

Reis saunters out to the parking lot, his damp hair hang
ing in his eyes. He’s changed into jeans and a vintage Pink Floyd T-shirt with sandals. He looks cute. Very California.

He gets in and the Jeep
rumbles to life, vibrating the seat underneath me.

“I’m starved. Want to grab dinner?”

I nod. “Sure.”

Reid drives us to a little diner along the main street of the town where he and Colt grew up. He parallel parks and hops don from the Jeep. I climb carefully down, my sandals slapping against the pavement with a thud.

Once inside, he relives the highlights from his game and we each order soda, a cheeseburger for him and a grilled chicken sandwich for me. Our food is out lightning fast.

Reis douses
his burger in ketchup and takes a big bite. I cut my chicken sandwich in half and have only taken one bite when he’s stuffing the last of his burger into his mouth.

“So Colt says
your pissed at him and I’m supposed to try to talk you into forgiving him,” he says, moving onto his fries.

“And?”
I ask around a bite a grilled chicken.

“I’m not going to.” He grins. “If he’s stupid enough to fuck this up, his loss could be my gain.” His look is smug, and he tosses a few more fries in his mouth.

“Not going to happen, Reis.” It’s best to shoot his crazy ideas down now.

“A guy can hope, right?”

“What about MJ?” I remember the glances they shared.

“She’s a little too wild for me. I like girls that are more down to earth.”

He doesn’t say like me, but I can tell that’s what he’s thinking. I’m flattered, but have no idea what to say next. He eats the last fry on his plate and looks longingly at mine. The temptation process too great and he steals a fry from my plate and tosses it in his mouth.

“So why are you mad at him? He didn’t say.”

I’m not sure if I should drag Reis into my relationship problems, but then I figure why not? Colt’s thrust us together and it might be nice to get a guy’s perspective on it. “He didn’t tell me about Bria, his ex-fling, going with him.” I remember the way I found out, in the heat of the moment by seeing her name on his phone. My stomach sinks at the memory, my appetite waning.

Reis’
eyes stay on mine. He’s an attentive listener. “You can have another.” I shift my plate so he has easier access to my fries.

He hesitates for a second, then reaches over to grab one, dipping it in my ketchup too. “Listen, Colt’s a little rough around the edges, and I’ve never known him to have, or want a girlfriend, so I know you’re important to him. Maybe you should cut the guy a break.”

“We’ll see.” I take another bite of my sandwich.

“You’re trouble, Shrimp.”

“Why do you call me Shrimp? I’m not that short. More like average.”

“What are you?
Five-two?”

“Five-two-and-a-half.”

He chuckles. “Oh, let’s not forget that half. Being five-two – and a half – makes you a Shrimp. It just does.”

“How tall are you?”

“Six-one,” he answers, straightening his shoulders, a smug smile pulling at his lips.

“Colt’s six-two,” I blurt out for some unknown reason.

“Yeah, but he was only six foot when he was my age.”

I shake my head. It’s funny how competitive guys can be.

My cell phone chimes. “Speaking of…” It’s Colt.

Reis motions for me to go ahead and answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hi baby,” Colt’s low voice washes over me.

I try and quickly fail to figure out the time difference between Connecticut and London. “
Hi. I’m out to dinner with Reis right now.”

“Cool. Did he win his game?”

“Yep, they won. He did awesome too, he was by far the best one on the field.” Reis smiles and shoves another of my fries into his mouth.

“Don’t be falling for my brother when I’m gone. I’m going to make up for every dumb ass thing I’ve done when I get back.”

“We’ll see. Just make sure you don’t fall for Bria.” I remember seeing her the morning they left, her sweats riding so low, her thong was visible in the back. I know she did it purposefully for Colt to see.

“You have nothing to worry about there. Trust me. She’s getting on my nerves already. I’m
starting to regret that I brought her.”

I know it’s shallow of me, but it’s good to hear. “Kay, well I’ve got to go. I don’t want to be rude to Reis, plus he’s eating all my French fries.
But call me later. There’s some things we need to talk about.” We haven’t yet talked about that conversation I overheard of Britt’s, and before I allow jealousy to build, I want to hear the truth from him.

“Okay,
I’ll call you later,” he confirms, his voice serious, like he may have something to confess. I do my best to focus on Reis, and his happiness over winning his game and try not to worry.

Chapter 14

Colt

It sounds
like Taylor and Reis were getting along nicely, which eases my mind a little. Bria and I on the other hand…not so much. This girl has PMS from hell.

“Colt!” she
shrieks from the living room of our two-bedroom suite.

What now? I stuff my phone back in my pocket and head into the living room.
Bria is standing in the middle of the room, her shirt lifted to expose her stomach and she’s twisting around trying to look at her back. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh my God.
Come here. I think something bit me and I can’t see it.”

I roll my eyes, but head over toward her.

She points to her side. “Over here. On my waist I have bump. It might be a spider bite.”

I lean down and look to where she’s pointing, lifting her shirt out of the way. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.
Bria and I had a brief fling last year. Brief as in one time, but we never had sex. We just did all the other stuff. She was hesitant to go farther since she knew my reputation.  She thought she’d keep me around longer by not sleeping with me. Which might have been true, except I couldn’t stand her high maintenance attitude. Plus after meeting Taylor she became my new fascination.

Her skin is tan and smooth, and as usual a thong peeks from the back of her jeans. This one’s bright orange.
Her underwear come in every color of the rainbow, apparently. I inspect the red bump and chuckle.

“Oh God.
What is it?” she asks, in a near panic.

I stand and face her. “
I think you’ll live. It’s a pimple.”

Her face contorts in disgust.
“A what?!” She twists around again trying to see it, like the thought of a pimple is much worse than a spider bite. She straightens her shoulders, swishing her long dark hair over her shoulder. “I’ll just get some blemish cream, that should take care of it.” She saunters off to her bedroom on a mission.

“Glad to be of assistance,” I call to her retreating back.

This is the most motivated I’ve seen her. We’ve been here a couple of days now, and really need to start working. Bria insisted on playing tourist before we spent the entire trip working the case. We’ve been to see many of the major attractions, West Minster Abbey, the London Tower and went to get fish and chips in a traditional pub. But tomorrow, we need to get down to work. We have our first meeting with Geoffrey.

I settle onto my bed and try Taylor’s cell. She answers on the first ring.

“Hey baby.”

“Hi.” Her voice is guarded.

“What are you doing?”

“Lying on my bed,” she answers.

I picture her in the girl’s dorm. “Are you alone?”

“Yeah,” she breathes.

I imagine her lying on her side, facing me, like we’ve done so many times on my pillow. Her hair falls in soft waves over her shoulder and her blue eyes look up at mine, so trusting and bright. She’s utterly beautiful. But she doesn’t know it.

“So I heard Britt talking to
Bria this morning.”

Crap. My
stomach clenches at the thought. Those two together are sure to be trouble. And Taylor doesn’t need any more reasons to doubt me. “Might as well get it out. What’s on your mind, baby?”

“
Bria told Britt you guys were having a romantic time, visiting the London Tower and everything. I had to hear all about in the café.”

I release a hiss through my teeth. I should have known this would come back to bite me in the ass.
“We did go see the London Tower, but I can assure you – it was anything but romantic. Bria bitched about her heels pinching her feet the entire time and it was pouring rain.”

“Oh.” Taylor’s quiet.
Too quiet.

“Babe, we’ve gone to see a couple of the tourist things the last few days, but tomorrow we’re getting down to work.
We’re coworkers, that’s all, I promise you.”

“I just don’t like the idea of you staying at a hotel, in another country for weeks with a girl you’ve slept with. Call me crazy.”

I hesitate for a second, but know I need to come clean. I drop my voice an octave lower, not wanting Bria to overhear me. “I never slept with Bria.”

Taylor stumbles over her words. “
Wh-what? What do you mean?”

“Well, we actually never slept together.” I don’t know how she’s going to take this. But I want to be as honest as I can be with her, after fucking u
p so bad the last time. “We messed around, but we never had sex,” I admit, quietly.

Taylor doesn’t say anything, but I can hear her breathing. After a moment, she sucks in a deep breath. “That’s almost worse.”

“How so?” I thought she’d be relived.

“Because, Colt. I know how you are, I mean how you were. Once you
sleep with them, you move on. But if you haven’t yet done that with Bria, you’re probably still curious what it’d be like.”

I shift on my bed. I hadn’t really thought about it, but
I suppose she’s right. But that’s the old me. “Taylor, stop. You are what I want now. Just you. End of story.” I hope I put an end to this conversation, but somehow I doubt that will be the case. Taylor doesn’t let things go easily.

“Did she go down on you?” she
asks, her voice serious.

“Taylor. Do you really want to talk about this?”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Did you go down on her?”

Shit. I hate disappointing her. I swallow roughly. Maybe if I keep quiet I won’t incriminate myself further. The truth is,
Bria and I did pretty much everything but have sex.

             
“Colt!” Bria shouts from the other side of the door.

“Just a second, baby.”
I shield the phone with my hand. “Now’s not a good time,” I call to the door.

Bria
stays quiet. I put the phone back to my ear, almost reluctantly.

“What was that?” Taylor asks.

“Ah, just Bria. I told her I was busy.”

“Are you guys in the same hotel room?”

“We have a two bedroom suite. It’s more cost effective than two single rooms.”

“Oh,”
she whispers.

“What’s wrong, babe?”

“I don’t like that, Colt. Not at all.”

“I’m sorry,
baby. Please trust me.”

Taylor stays quiet, and we say goodnight a short time later.
Thought I hadn’t thought twice about it, I now have an uneasy feeling about sharing this suite with Bria. By the way Taylor took the news, I could tell she thought that us sharing a two-bedroom suite on our assignment was a unique thing. I hate now that it wasn’t. I want her to feel special and important to me, not like a number.