Indecent Danger (Danger Incorporated #3)(8)

“You don’t scare me. Stay the hell away from me and Travis. Your threats mean nothing.”

Except that they did although she thought she sounded kind of convincing.

“You’re shaking you’re so scared,” Bruce taunted. “By the end of the night you’ll be ruined. I’ll make sure everyone knows about your past. Too bad you couldn’t be more cooperative, Aubrey. We could have had fun together.”

Turning on his heel, Bruce strode away only slightly limping from his injury. She stood there for several minutes letting her heart rate go back to normal even as guests meandered by, clearly wondering what she was doing all alone and outside the ladies’ room. Finally she took a deep breath and tucked her purse under her arm.

Wiping away a stray tear, she scanned the room for Travis. She had to tell him the truth – all of it – before Bruce found him and told him his own twisted, f*cked up version. At least if she did it, she could somehow explain.

It wouldn’t make any difference of course. No man wanted a woman as thoroughly used and soiled as Aubrey was but keeping the secret all this time hadn’t been easy. She hadn’t liked hiding anything from him and it had kept them from furthering the relationship.

In and out of bed.

It would be painful and messy but it was time to come clean. She’d tell Travis her entire sordid history.

Then she’d pack her bags – she was sure he’d insist on it – and walk out of his life forever.

Pain sliced through her heart at the thought of leaving. She’d fallen for him and that had been a mistake. He’d been funny, charming, and smart. He’d treated her like a lady when she knew damn well she wasn’t one. Her fairy tale world was being shredded and she only had herself to blame.

She’d tried to be perfect for him but in the end she wasn’t enough. She’d never be enough. Not for him.





Chapter Five




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Since coming back from the ladies’ room, Aubrey had been acting strangely. Her gaze darting around the room as if there were invisible ninjas following her, she’d barely spoken a word only gulping down a glass of champagne before Travis had drawn her onto the dance floor.

They’d made small talk and laughed but he could tell her heart wasn’t in it. Her mind was a million miles away even though her body was never more than a few inches from his own. He kept his arm around her the entire evening but he could feel the slight tremble in her limbs. Her skin was pale and her lips were pressed together in a thin line. This wasn’t arousal but fear.

“Baby, you can talk to me about anything, you know.”

He kept his lips close to her ear so she could hear him over the band playing in the background.

Instead of looking him in the eye, her gaze fell to the floor.

“Can we go upstairs? I have a headache.”

Her untouched birthday cake sat on the table in front of them. Aubrey loved chocolate but she’d barely glanced at the plate that had been slid in front of her over a half an hour ago. Instead she’d looked around nervously clearly upset about…something.

“Of course. We’ve done our duty here tonight. We’ll go upstairs and I’ll draw you a nice, hot bath. How does that sound?”

Aubrey looked up at him but he had a feeling that she didn’t really see him. “Wonderful. You spoil me, Travis.”

“You deserve it.” It felt like he was always telling her this and she didn’t seem to understand that he enjoyed taking care of her and seeing her smile. She never asked for anything which only made him want to give her everything.

He heard her swift indrawn breath and she blinked a few times, her eyes shiny in the low lights. “No, I don’t but I love that you think so.”


“It’s going to be my pleasure to convince you otherwise.”

Aubrey finally looked up at him, their gazes locking. Her chin lifted as if she expected a right hook to the jaw.

“Travis, we need to talk.”

In the long history of mankind, nothing good had come from those four words. Travis was about to get kicked to the curb and he didn’t have a clue as to why. His heart skipped a beat or two and his abdomen tightened painfully.

There wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stop this. He’d fallen hard for Aubrey and he’d thought she’d felt the same. She’d been shy and tentative but there had been a softness in her eyes that he’d taken for love. Or at least something that might turn into love.

He’d been wrong.

For perhaps the first time in his life, he’d let himself believe that she’d cared. He’d convinced himself that he was making her happy. Now he’d have a broken heart to show for it.

Because he wouldn’t f*cking beg her to stay although every cell in his body was screaming for him to do just that. Hell, a man had to have some dignity and he wasn’t planning to lose his no matter what happened in the next few minutes.

“Of course we can talk, kitten. What do you want to talk about?”

Travis kept his tone mild as if she said things like this every day.

Her fingers played with the stem of the champagne glass. “I need to tell you something.”

She wasn’t making this easy for either of them. If she was dumping him it would be far kinder to just get to it and be done.