Win a Filthy Bad Boy: A Bad Boy Romance (22 page)

Chad didn’t even feel a spike of arousal. Nothing. It sucked... hard. Suddenly, his own phone dinged from his pocket. Within seconds his thumbs hovered over the screen to see the incoming message. It was her. The message read:

How r u? It's weird. But I kinda miss u!

“Well,” Chad said. In that instant, he felt like himself again. He texted back.

Make sure u get ur ass to the party!

“So. What the plan for this chick?” Dean asked.

Chad grinned.

Chapter Nineteen

Bonnie's gaze swept the room. She wanted to see him and have him see her. Cinched into a casual off-the-shoulder cocktail dress in midnight blue, she sipped at her wine. Her hair was styled in an A-line Bob and dyed dark purple. And she carried her ubiquitous black bag. Despite the infrequent jitters that plagued her, she decided to cut loose and have some fun with her friends at the mansion party.

"Oh my god, Bonnie, every guy in here has checked us out at least once,” Jill said.

“She's not lying. A few guys have had their eye on me since we stepped into the place,” Johnny said. “You are like a cock magnet, Bonnie.

Bonnie felt safe with Johnny and Jill. Just having them with her gave her a measure of comfort.

"I can't believe Bonnie’s boss pulled strings to get you here,” Jill said to Johnny.

Johnny sipped a glass of wine. “Al’s great. If you catch him in the right mood that is.”

“Only when it comes to you, right Johnny?” Bonnie said and raised an eyebrow.

“Tell Chad thank you for getting me here,” Jill said. “Dean obviously didn't want me here, only God knows why. I'm here for you. I don't care what he does.”

“Whatever is or isn't going on between you and Dean right now, it’ll work itself out.” Bonnie squeezed her friend’s hand.

They'd wandered into the cocktail party of their cinematic dreams. It was held in a large mansion with a back garden that stretched out into the darkness. It looked more like a golf course than a garden.

In attendance were state representatives, oil tycoons, and a long list of Hollywood stars.

Before Bonnie could set her glass down on a table, a man approached and extended his hand.

“Charlie Wallace. Nice to meet you,” he said. “I loved the last season of
Win a Filthy Bad Boy.”

“Thank you,” Bonnie said.

Immediately, a man in a wheelchair came up and introduced himself. Then, a woman who looked elegant in a floor-length red dress. Bonnie looked around for her friends, but it seemed they'd already disappeared.

She answered questions and thanked people when they complimented her, but she continued to scan the garden, searching for her friends among the crowd. A group of guys gestured for her to join them. Bonnie smiled and shook her head, then continued to scan about for her friends.

Johnny… no.

Jill… no.

Bonnie spotted a face she didn't quite expect to see… Leslie. The director stood with a small crowd of people, most Bonnie recognized as the crew from the set of
Win a Filthy Bad Boy.
Bonnie locked eyes with Leslie. A mutual spark of disdain flared between them. And as suddenly as it ignited, the heated tension dissipated as both were distracted.

Everybody's attention focused on one point.

“He's here,” Jill whispered in Bonnie's ear.

“Where have you been?” Bonnie asked, turning to look at Jill.

“Oh, I saw Tarantino, so I had to go and meet him.” Jill craned her neck to look over the heads that faced a large group of people.

“Well, you could have at least told me you were going to leave me,” Bonnie said. “I was swarmed.” She kept her gaze on Jill, despite her mind being pulled to the front of the mansion. Bonnie struggled to keep from searching for him. Chad always had to be the last one to show up. She wondered if making an entrance was that important to him.

“God,” Johnny said. “He sure does know how to make an entrance!”

“And where have you…” Bonnie huffed. “Never mind. And I'm not impressed. He always wants to steal the spotlight. I don’t care.”

It was a lie. Bonnie watched Chad and a group of fifteen people, guys and girls who looked as equally as impressive and gorgeous as Chad. They either looked like models or athletes.

She felt invigorated, as if Chad pulsed life back into her cells. He looked badass, intense, out of place, and beautiful. And even though he didn’t appear to belong with the elite, he radiated an incongruous combination of power, confidence, and lust, that had nothing to do with his wealth and everything to do with the breed of man he was.

The type of man who ignored Tarantino’s out stretched hand, ignored billionaires who tried to buddy up with him, and ignored the women who called to him, just so he could part the crowd and approach Bonnie. As he walked up to her, his pale gray eyes wandered over Bonnie's body.

He stepped in front of the semi-circle of people and slid an arm around Bonnie’s waist. He wore a grey suit jacket, a white button-down, and slim fit pants, paired with a thin tie. As soon as his broad shoulders and tall frame towered over Bonnie, Chad's entourage seemed to take the hint. He was preoccupied, so they dispersed.

“Hello to you too, Chad,” Bonnie said shakily.

“Nice dress,” Chad said.

Bonnie felt stupid. All of the sudden, her muscles seized up. Given that she'd seen him naked, slept with him, and spend a month in his company, Bonnie knew how ridiculous it was to feel nervous around him. The urge to flee was even more ridiculous. Nevertheless, she braced herself and her fight/flight response raged within her.

At that point, one of the catering staff walked by carrying a tray of gold rimmed glasses, champagne flutes filled with fresh raspberries and strawberries; Chad snagged a two glasses. Bonnie caught the champagne server take a quick glance at Chad's ass. This heightened Bonnie's self-consciousness. She was dutifully aware that all eyes were on them.

“Mr. Steel—” Jill said.

“Chad, not Mr. Steel,” Bonnie said.

“Yeah… I mean Chad. Anyway, thanks. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Don't thank me,” Chad said, though he never took his eyes off Bonnie. Nothing else was worth his attention.

“Oh… okay,” Jill said, sounding confused. Then a tinge of recognition colored her voice. “Oh.”

Bonnie detached her gaze from Chad to see what Jill’s
oh
was about. Walking up to them was the guy in the business suit from the HC Lounge back in New York—Dean.

“Jill, can we talk?” Dean asked.

“Sure. But if you think I've followed you here, Dean then—” Jill said.

“Look, I know I've been…” Dean stopped, then glanced at Chad and Bonnie. He took Jill's hand and led her away. Jill looked back at Bonnie and shrugged before she followed Dean into the mansion.

“So how have you been, Chad?” Bonnie asked, suddenly sapped of energy. She hated to admit it, but he looked handsome.

“I hope none of these pricks have been bothering you,” Chad said, a slight growl in his voice.

“Maybe you should have been on time for a change. Several guys have given me their number.” Bonnie smiled, teasingly.

“That right?” Chad said. He scanned about for evidence to Bonnie’s claim. The guys who called her over earlier met his eye and they quickly looked away.

“Relax, Chad. I was kidding.”

Chad stared in disbelief, unable to hide his incredulity, but he dropped it.

“You obviously have no idea how sexy you are. You’re making me hard just standing here.”

The words that came out of Chad's mouth shocked Bonnie and exhausted her almost-threadbare composure. She prayed for an intervention and then someone evil answered her prayers.

Leslie approached them.

“Bonnie, I see you've kept him in shape,” she said with an ear-to-ear grin.

“Thanks, Leslie, that's awfully nice of you.” Bonnie bit back what she really wanted to say. Leslie seemed to get off on pushing her buttons. Bonnie wasn't going to let her taint her reunion with Chad.

“Chad… it was a pleasure working with you.” Leslie’s hand fell on Chad's chest. “I hope we get another opportunity to work together in the future.”

“Likewise,” Chad said.

“You and Bonnie seem to be getting along. I think that is really nice of you Chad. I guess it's all a part of your charity work, Mr. Steel”

“Hey, watch it—” Chad said.

But Bonnie couldn't help rounding on Leslie. Chad grabbed her waist. “Easy there. It's what she wants.”

“That's so untrue,” Leslie said. “If I offended you, then I'm sorry.”

Bonnie glowered at her. “What the hell is your problem?”

“What? I'm sorry. I just said what everybody was thinking; you don't belong with him. Chad's several leagues above you.”

Chad's blood began to boil. “No one talks about my woman like that…” Chad said. As soon as the words left Chad's mouth, he couldn't take them back, nor had he wanted to. Nevertheless, he stiffened and looked at Bonnie; in return, she blew a light breath and stared at him.

Leslie gaped. Shaking her head, she gathered her wits. “Oh, if I'd known that was the case, then I wouldn't have invited Henry.” She cocked her head, forced a smile, and looked past them.

Bonnie followed the direction that Leslie’s eyes pointed. Henry walked up to Bonnie sheepishly, clearly apprehensive about Chad.

“Hey,” he waved to everyone. “Can I have a word with you, Bonnie?”

“No,” Chad said. “Who are…? Wait, you're the guy who’s been going on all the talk shows, talking shit about Bonnie.”

“I'm her ex-boyfriend.”

“I don't give a damn who you are,” Chad said, and his booming voice was enough to command his entire entourage to gather around him. Not that Chad needed help dealing with Henry.

“Problem, Chad?” Asked a mountainous man with a large bald head.

“It's okay,” Chad said. “I’ve got this.”

“No, I've got this Chad.” Bonnie said, punctuating her words by poking him in the chest.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her close to his chest. His arm tightened around her waist and his lips curved.

“Make sure you hurry back to me,” Chad said with a wink.

“Bonnie,” called Henry, but his voice was flimsy.

“Okay,” Bonnie said. “Let's talk.”

Bonnie led Henry to the entrance of the mansion. “So tell me, how's the Bonnie-bashing going? Has Ellen called yet?”

“Okay, I deserved that, I’m prepared to take whatever is coming to me.”

“Well, you didn't expect me to be cordial, did you?” Bonnie asked.

“No,” Henry said, making a concerted to show his shame, he looked at the floor.

Bonnie sighed and relaxed her shoulders “So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“I’ve broken it off with Anya…” Henry inhaled deeply.

Bonnie stepped back, shook her head, and turned to head back into the mansion.

“Bonnie, wait,” he grabbed her arm.

“I don't know why you're so upset, I've apologized.” He opened his hands and let them fall helplessly. “I've left her. Isn’t that enough? Look, I know what I've done. I made a terrible mistake. Don't you forgive me?”

“No. If you've finished. I'm going back inside—”

“—where, back in there? Face it, Bonnie, you don't belong there.” He shook his head and stared at Bonnie with a look of pity. “Do you really think you're good enough for a guy like Chad DeMarco?” His laugh was mirthless. Bitter. “Come on, you're making a total fool of yourself. Maybe Jill won't tell you the truth—”

Bonnie slapped his hand away. “You absolute bastard.” She was filled with rage and it became hard to breath. “The only reason you're here now is because I’m getting attention and you don't like it.”

Henry stood back. “I was doing you a favor, believe me. It's hard to believe many decent guys would want a relationship with… a… fat girl.”