Man of the House: A Dark Bad Boy Romance(41)

“Fine,” she said, pretending to sigh. “If you must.”

I grinned and began to unbutton her pants, but before I could finish, the record stopped and my phone started ringing at the same time. The sudden silence made the phone sound absurdly loud.

Emily bit her lip. “Answer it,” she said.

“Why?”

“Please. We can’t ignore calls. Not right now.”

I looked at her for a second then nodded. It was the last thing I wanted to do, but if she asked me for it, I’d give her absolutely anything. The least I could do was answer my f*cking phone.

“Carter,” I said.

“Sir, it’s Marty. I have that data for you, plus something you should see.”

I sighed. “Do I need to come now?”

“You don’t need to, sir. But it may be time sensitive.”

“Alright then. I’ll be there soon.”

I hung up the phone, tossing it aside, and walked over to Emily.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Marty wants me,” I answered, dropping to my knees in front of her and finishing with her pants.

“Shouldn’t you go?”

“After I’m finished.”

“Carter.”

“After,” I said. “I’m going to eat your * until you come, and then later I’m going to find you and work out some stress.” I pinned her back to the couch and kissed her. “Understood?”

“Understood,” she whispered.

I grinned as I went down on her, and I knew I had finally found someone that I could lose myself with.





23





Emily





Carter did exactly what he said he would that night and more. I was sweating, dizzy with pleasure and intensity by the time he left the music room.

And, a few hours later, he kept me up well past my bedtime, sweating, panting, f*cking deep and rough.

He left for the office early the next morning, and I spent the day lounging around the pool like usual. Except instead of being alone, there was a guard standing nearby like a Secret Service agent. I tried to talk to him a couple times, but he just stared at me and pretended to listen to something in his earpiece.

I didn’t care much about him or anything else. I was still buzzing with Carter, high on his sex, falling head over heels for him. He was showing me more and more of himself, from the guy that knew a lot about David Bowie to the guy that could make my body feel things I never imagined. He was funny, intelligent, and so goddamn handsome. If he weren’t totally off limits, this would be a no-brainer. Maybe he was a total cocky * at first, and he still was, but it was a defense mechanism. He made jokes and put on a show because that was easier than letting people get close to him. It made so much sense the more I got to know him, and it explained a lot about his relationships before me.

He was constantly searching for something, partying and drowning himself in the next new thing. That explained the scandals he was constantly getting into. It wasn’t that he was a bad guy or something. In fact, Carter was one of the strongest, best men I’d ever met. But because of his constant need for more and something else, he was getting involved in things that maybe didn’t play too well in the media. He was a playboy because it was easier to be a genius playboy than to be a boyfriend or a husband.

I didn’t know if that was changing with me. I genuinely doubted it. Maybe he was interested in me right now, but I had no clue how long that was going to last or what it really meant. I was his latest toy, the thing that brought him pleasure in this moment, and I had no illusions about where this would end up.

I hoped that wasn’t the case. Maybe I was silly and na?ve, but there was still part of me that hoped he was really changing and growing up. I knew it wasn’t likely, but I hoped anyway.

He seemed to really care about my safety, at least. I couldn’t imagine how much money he was spending on these security guys, but it wasn’t a small amount. He even hired this quiet guy to personally watch over me, my very own bodyguard, although I told him not to.

Of course he didn’t listen. Carter only listens to himself. Maybe I could change that too, but I doubted it.

Maybe I didn’t want to change that.

The day slipped past, lazy and slow. Nothing new happened, no frantic phone calls, no drones, nobody stalking me, nothing. I almost even forget what was going on and felt like a normal college student home for the summer again.

But then I’d remember that I was having some sort of messed up affair with my fake stepfather, and then I’d remember all of the other stuff.

I didn’t have it to bad. There were probably a million girls that would have traded places with me. A couple weeks ago, I would have gladly done that, but not anymore. Not after everything that had happened, not after how Carter made me feel.

My mom came home around five-thirty, although she said Carter was still stuck in the office. She came to my apartment with me and started cooking while I showered off and got changed into fresh clothes.

I found her at the stove when I finally came out of the bathroom.

“How was work?” I asked her.

“Same old,” she said, smiling. “How was your day?”

“Oh, you know, the usual. Got followed by a strange man and then attacked by a drone.”