The Bad Boy Wants Me: A Bad Boy Romance Read online

  ‘Oh yeah? Two DUIs?’ she reminds sweetly.

  One of these days Octavia will go too far. ‘I was fucking seventeen.’

  ‘I broke the law for you.’

  ‘And still holding it over my head like the sword of Damocles. You did what you did and got handsomely paid for it.’

  ‘And the pregnancy?’

  ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake. It wasn’t even mine,’ I grit.

  ‘What about the girl I had to pay off?’

  Is she kidding me? ‘That was Gavin,’ I say in a bored voice.

  She laughs. ‘True. He hasn’t got the sense God gave a goose so he goes around laying his eggs in every woman he meets.’

  I don’t say anything. No point. In her eyes I’m still whacking off in socks.

  ‘That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t trust that girl. I’ve been in this business a long time and I know when something’s not right, and there’s something very wrong about her. She might have designs on you.’

  ‘Designs? I’m the one doing all the chasing here.’

  She shakes her head as if I have just said the stupidest thing on earth. ‘I can’t believe how gullible men are. Of course she wants you. It’s just a technique. Playing hard to get.’

  ‘In that case, well done to her. Her technique is definitely working. I can’t wait to get into her pants.’ I’m actually sick and tired of people treating me as if I’m only good enough to jump around on a stage and sing the words they ask me to.

  ‘I’d be careful if I were you,’ she warns

  I bite back the nasty retort. One day. One day, she’ll hang herself on her own rope. ‘Just chill, will ya?’

  ‘Just remember you’re worth millions. Don’t get caught in a gold digger’s claws. You could ruin your entire future with one stupid move. We talked about this before. Stay single. Play the field. Lots of girls. Often. That way your fans think they have a chance with you. They can keep warm with the fantasy that they’ll be the one who ties you down.’

  I stop walking and look at her. Sometimes I think it is Octavia who has her claws in my flesh. The older I get the more irritated I am by her constant meddling in my affairs.

  ‘I’m just doing my job,’ she says.

  ‘Thanks a bunch, but I think I have this one covered,’ I say. When we get to the studio, I hold open the door and she sails in, her grotesque lips stretched into a smile. I walk in after her and catch Gavin’s eyes. He looks bored out of his skull. He raises his eyebrows at me and I shrug. Joseph is staring into a glass of whiskey as if he’s just found the meaning of life at the bottom of it. The other band members have had a lucky escape. Robbie and Steve are already in Milan getting ready for our upcoming concert.

  At the other end of the room, Octavia is saying, 'So glad you could make it, Tony.'

  She is in her element.

  Tori

  The punch is too sweet so I settle for a bottle of beer. Carrying our drinks, Britney and I walk into the grounds towards the pit where the meat is being cooked.

  Britney tells me that the meat and the men preparing it have been flown in from Argentina. This method of slow cooking in the ground to allow the fats to infuse through the meat while using lots of coarse barbeque salt is called Asado. It makes the meat so tender you can eat it with a spoon.

  As we get closer, the smell of sizzling meat makes my stomach rumble. The men are wizened and burnt brown, their faces greasy. They joke and laugh in Spanish as they unload large chunks of short ribs, rib-eye steaks, blood sausages, and sweetbreads on metal racks. Another man expertly cuts them into more manageable sizes and arranges them into large trays.

  I fill my plate up with steak, grilled provolone cheese, garlic bread and salad. Britney has a bit of salad and a tiny portion of ribs. We take a seat on one of the chairs laid out on the lawn and start to eat. The meat melts in my mouth and the cheese is delicious, but I find I can’t eat a lot. I keep thinking of Cash, wondering where he is and what he is doing. As soon as Britney finishes pecking at her food we go back to join the party.

  Britney sees someone she knows and goes to say hello. I stand by the bar, drinking my beer and looking around me. Secretly I am searching for Cash. You’re dreaming. He might change. He might change. He won’t change. He’ll just freaking break your heart. A dull ache starts somewhere in the region of my chest.

  ‘Looking for me?’ his voice asks from behind me.

  ‘No,’ I lie, my eyes flicking from his delectable dimple all the way down to his totally suckable toes. The man is a powerhouse of raw sex and testosterone. It puts my nerves on edge. I feel amped and nervous.

  ‘You’re just saying that to get a rise out of me,’ he parries.

  ‘If I wanted to get a rise out of you I’d just take my bra off.’ Hot, lion’s teeth! I can’t believe I just said that. What the hell was I thinking of? I feel the burn rush up my neck and face.

  His eyes gleam wickedly. ‘Finally, an idea we can both enjoy.’

  ‘Please, I’m trying to enjoy my drink here.’ I raise the cold bottle to my lips and take a sip.

  His eyes drop to my mouth. ‘You’re gonna suck my cock like that bottle?’

  ‘Ugh,’ I cry, pretending to be exasperated. Any more of this and I’m going to crumble. I glare at him. ‘I swear I’ve never met a man more happy to be classed under young, dumb and full of cum.’

  He chuckles. ‘That’s the best you can do? I’m more offended by the interest rate my bank pays out.’

  In spite of myself a small reluctant smile tugs at my mouth. I know it looks like I’ve got the self-restraint of a puppy, but it’s very, very, very hard to even pretend to stay mad with a guy who looks like he ate a whole fridge full of gorgeous.

  He cocks his head. ‘Come on, you know you want me,’ he says persuasively.

  I actually feel breathless. I really should walk away, but I just can’t. He’s like a magnet. The more I try to push him away, the more he pulls me towards him. ‘You should quit while you’re ahead,’ I advise.

  He crosses his arms. ‘Ahead? How do you figure that? You’ve still got your dress on.’

  My stomach twists with sexual tension. Leah is right. This is a game I can never win. ‘Back off. You’ve got zero chance of getting my dress off.’

  ‘Is that a challenge or an invitation?’

  ‘Neither. It’s a statement of fact.’

  ‘Let’s test it, shall we?’ he says, and in a flash he plucks my beer from my hand, puts it on the bar top, and picks me up in his strong arms. For a few precious seconds I am too embarrassed and humiliated to do anything. Then I realize where we are heading and it’s too late.

  ‘Don’t you dare,’ I shout.

  Seconds later I’m flying through the air, a scream tearing through my throat. Next moment I hit the water with a great splash, and sink like a sack of potatoes. Vaguely I hear clapping and cheering. I emerge spluttering. Treading water, I look around. He is standing at the edge, a smirk on his face. I am so furious I can’t even think straight. Bastard. I turn and swim to the opposite side of the pool. As I reach the edge a hand reaches down, grabs my hand, and hauls me out of the water.

  Cash

  What the fuck? I watch Gavin’s hands linger around her wet body and a ball of fire rushes up my spine and explodes inside my skull. My blood boils as I see his arm go around her. Fucking shitbag is trying to move in on my territory! Look at him with the stupid spit curl that he spent an hour getting into shape.

  Yeah, sure, we’ve shared girls before. But Tori? Not even if hell freezes over. I’ll rip his throat out before I let him lay a finger on her.

  She is mine.

  Striding around the pool, my brain slowly melting in my skull, I see her put her hand on the smarmy bastard’s chest. Fucking fool has a tattoo on it in Moulin Rouge font that reads I’m The Greatest. Yeah, sure, Gavin. Next time just send out a fucking Twitter message. Idiot. You know what I’m sayin’?

  As I come up to them I hear a snippet of their co
nversation. Puke fest.

  ‘I ain’t gonna lie I don’t wake up looking this good. There’s about twelve products that have gone into this look,’ he says proudly.

  ‘Twelve?’ She sounds dazed.

  ‘Straight up,’ the fool boasts.

  Chapter Eleven

  Tori

  ‘You’re pissing on my patch, Gav,’ Cash growls.

  Gavin looks dumbfounded.

  ‘Hit the pedal, man,’ he says, his eyes shooting sparks of fury.

  ‘Right, man. Right,’ Gavin mumbles, takes a step backwards and throws a bizarre little laugh while simultaneously looking around to see if anybody else has witnessed his humiliation. Noting that his pride is still intact, he grabs a passing girl and whispers something in her ear. She giggles and nods. He drags her away in the direction of the gardens.

  ‘You’re pissing on my patch? What are you, a dog?’ I fume incredulously.

  He shrugs the macho territorial posturing like it’s a coat or something, and the flash, brash bad boy comes back into town. ‘It’s a guy thing. You wouldn’t understand.’

  ‘You’re such a dick.’

  ‘No,’ he corrects, his eyebrows raise innocently, sensuality shimmering in the green wells of his eyes. ‘I have a dick. A big one.’

  ‘Oh my God, I’m stuck in a time loop,’ I say sarcastically.

  He grins, all sex, lust and trouble. ‘Lean in, sugar drop. This is a secret. What happens next between us has never happened to you before.’

  ‘I’m wet and pissed and not in the mood for cheap innuendos, or the whole asshole act.’

  His eyes twinkle. ‘You were doing so well with the first part of your sentence, but I get your point.’ His eyes linger on my body, now that the dress is wet there is not a curve or line that is not completely exposed. I suppress the desire to wrap my hands around my body. He takes my hand. ‘Come on, let’s get you out of that dress and you dried off.’

  I let him lead me away from the crowd towards a corridor on the ground floor. He opens the door and we are at the threshold of a scrupulously clean, minimally furnished room dominated by a massive round bed. Of course it has a mirror over it.

  Suddenly I find myself grabbed and propelled forward until a wall is against my back. My eyes open wide.

  ‘Scared?’ he taunts, his breath tickling my skin.

  I raise my hand and swing it at him. The crack reverberates in the empty room. I hit him so hard there is a white handprint on his cheek and my hand is throbbing furiously.

  He laughs, a deep growling sound. ‘I’ve always liked a girl with a temper.’

  ‘This is sexual harassment,’ I hiss.

  ‘So show me you don’t want me. Say no.’ He pushes his body closer to me so his hot, thick erection presses into my stomach. I gasp, liquid fire rushing through my body. ‘Go on, I’m waiting,’ he challenges.

  I stare up into his eyes as the scent of his wet body, his cologne, his excitement, swirls into me. I feel as if I am twelve again, and just as hopelessly in love with him as I was back then. Not one tiny iota of the love has gone away after all these years. In fact, it has grown up, and become infused with lust. My heart is hammering wildly in my chest and my breath is coming hard and fast. I want to say no. I must say no. I will say no. The answer is no, obviously.

  My palms press against his chest to shove him away and encounter the stone-like slabs of his pecs. I swear I try to fight the thick heat rising between us, but it is in my veins, my skin, his half-hooded eyes, oozing out of his pores. It’s everywhere.

  At that instant I realize something. You can’t outrun lust. It was moronic of me to even think I could. Pure lust is like a spell. It dazes and compels you to do what you know you shouldn’t. It is impossible to resist.

  In fact, I don’t want to resist any more. I want anything and everything he’s offering. I want that mind-blowing climax with the side of wow. Why shouldn’t I have it? Maybe Leah was right all along. Just sleep with him and get it over with. My grandfather once told me the only things he regretted are the things he did not do.

  He fixes me with his mesmeric stare and I stop thinking.

  I let my body take charge. My hands reach out and grab fistfuls of hair as I pull his head down and feast greedily on his mouth. It’s like matter and antimatter touching. We explode. There is no other way to describe the violent hunger. I’ve never felt more alive.

  Every nerve, every cell in my body screams out for him to take me. The passion is as uncontrollable as a forest blaze. All I want to do is tear his clothes off and impale myself on him. I’ve never felt this way before. Lost to everything except Cash. My sensitized body throbs and feels strangely out of control.

  I spread my palms over the broad, strong chest. My fingers look very pale. Moving my head, I bite his nipple. He draws in his breath sharply, but he doesn’t stop me.

  ‘Oh yes, Wildcat. Oh yes,’ he encourages instead.

  He unzips my dress, peels it away and groans at the sight of my bikini-clad body. He reaches behind me, pulls the string of my top and my breasts spring loose. They feel swollen and heavy. His eyes blaze possessively at the sight of my body nude, but for a tiny triangle of black material.

  Expertly, he rolls a hard nipple back and forth between his smooth fingers. My body arches into him and he growls low—the sound is erotic—and sucks my lower lip. Hard. I shiver helplessly.

  ‘God! You’re so beautiful,’ he murmurs as he gets down on his haunches. He bites at the string of my bikini and rips it off my body roughly. I feel his strong large hands lift one of my legs and put it over his shoulder. I begin to move my hips, desperate and seeking.

  He grasps the outer lips of my sex and pulls them apart so the secret, pink inner tissue is exposed, and stares at the glistening flesh. I squirm impatiently. My whole body is hot with desire and excitement.

  His expression is enigmatic as he gazes at the show between my legs. I never thought it would be, but it is an incredible turn-on. I feel dirty, slutty, and shameless … and absolutely fucking vibrant.

  ‘This is what I wanted, wildcat. To see your legs wide open and desperate for me. Keep them spread open.’ His breath fans my fully opened sex, inflaming me. His fingers touch the wet whorls of flesh, and tendrils of excitement snake through my body. He drags his fingers through the soft, sensitive layers. My head tilts back involuntarily, my eyes half close.

  ‘Go on,’ I urge.

  ‘What do you want, Tori?’

  ‘Suck me,’ I say hoarsely.

  He moves his mouth toward my sex, and for one second I look down and take a mental picture of him, breathtakingly handsome, his curling eyelashes long against his cheeks, and then the shock of his mouth attaching itself and greedily licking the wet core between my legs drives all thought from my mind.

  It feels so damn good I writhe, whimper, and push my aching center down hard against his mouth. His tongue moves between the folds, tasting, eating, sucking, and then I feel his finger thrust into me and I suck in a startled breath. Juices flow over his finger as he moves it in and out of me, maddening me. The heat and the hunger increases, and my thighs starts to shake with the approaching orgasm.

  ‘Tori,’ a voice echoes from somewhere.

  I freeze. Sweet heaven! Tori. Not now.

  ‘Fuck, don’t you dare stop. You’re coming,’ he orders harshly.

  ‘She’ll come in,’ I whisper in a panicked voice.

  ‘I locked the door,’ he says, and goes back to devouring my pussy while his fingers pump me hard.

  ‘Tori, where are you?’ Britney calls again, and this time she tries the door handle.

  I try not to scream, but suddenly all hell breaks loose. It’s the kind of orgasm that takes over your body. You have no control of your responses. My nails dig into his shoulder, my mouth opens, and a scream flies out. Super quick Cash lifts his hand and clamps it over my mouth so the sound is muffled. A groan rumbles in his chest. Cash leaves me immediately. I am still leaning against the
wall, panting hard when Cash comes back with a bathrobe.

  ‘Wear this, quickly,’ he says, and sliding open the window he climbs out and disappears into the night.

  ‘Tori, are you in there?’ Britney calls and rattles the door handle.

  I take a deep breath. ‘I’m coming,’ I choke out.

  Chapter Twelve

  Tori

  I hurriedly pull my arms through the sleeves of the bathrobe, pull the edges together, and tie a knot at the front as I run to the door. I know my face must be flushed and strange, but there is nothing else I can do but face Britney. Taking a deep breath, I unlock the door and Britney almost falls into the room.

  She looks at me accusingly. ‘What are you doing in here?’

  ‘I … I … er … got wet. Your brother said I could dry off in here.’

  That sounded so lame I cringe inwardly, but she is too distraught to notice. She sniffs loudly and comes further into the room. ‘Where’s Cash now?’ she asks tearfully.

  I stare at her anxiously. ‘I don’t know. He must be back at the party. Are you OK?’

  ‘Yeah. I think I had too much to drink.’

  How could that be? She had two glasses of fruit punch.

  ‘I want to go home,’ she says.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I want to go back home.’

  ‘Now?’ I ask in disbelief.

  ‘Yes,’ she almost sobs.

  I open my hands out in confusion. Ever since she knew about this party she has not stopped talking about meeting Taylor Swift, and now she wants to go back without meeting her. ‘But what about Taylor? She’s got a gift for you and all.’

  Huge drops of tears roll down her face. I stare at them in amazement.

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she sobs.

  ‘Britney, what is the matter?’

  ‘I just want to go home, OK?’ she wails.

  I hold my hands up. ‘OK, OK. Just wait here. I’ll go find Victor and tell him to bring the car around.’

  ‘No, I’m coming with you,’ she says quickly.

  ‘Come on then,’ I say.

  She comes close to me and takes my hand. Hers feels small, hot and damp. I touch her forehead with the back of my hand. She seems to be running a fever. I frown. How strange. She was fine when we arrived. I lead her through the party-goers.