She raised an eyebrow, silencing me. “So, there’d never been anything between you two by then?” She planted her fist on her slender hip, challenging me. “You’d never been… intimate?” she whispered.
Oh my God! I was not going to talk to this woman about having sex with her son. Was she crazy?
“I, uh—”
She laughed. “You don’t have to answer that, honey. It’s written all over your face.”
I waited until she left the room before I drew a breath, but when Rhett snuck up behind me, still looking surly, I suppressed a sigh. “What’s with you tonight?” I whispered. “Was it that phone call—?”
“Not. Here.” He glared at me.
What the hell did I do to piss him off?I stabbed a finger into his solid chest. “You don’t get to be an asshole to me without telling me why.”
He swore before grabbing my hand and hauling me out the back door to the backyard. His parents lived on a half-acre lot in town, but the house was more than fifty years old, surrounded by mature trees, so we had some privacy.
“Well?” I demanded, crossing my arms when he finally released me. “What the hell is with you tonight?”
He leaned in close, his voice barely above a whisper. “Tell me you did not let that sick son of a bitch tie you up.”
Uh oh.I felt the blood drain from my face as I curled my hands into fists. This wasn’t good. If Dave started sharing intimate details with Rhett my fake fiancé would lose his mind. And possibly call an end to this farce while the threat was still real, which I was certain was my psycho-stalker’s plan. He thought he could cause a rift between us that would drive Rhett away.
“I don’t believe this,” he said, thrusting his hands into his hair as he turned in a slow circle. “Are you crazy? You’d put yourself at someone’s mercy—”
“Would you relax,” I said, curling my hands around his bicep, trying to turn him to face me. “It happened one time—”
“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” He spit the words out, his handsome face contorted with rage. “How about the spanking? You let him do that too?”
My stomach churned as I tried to find the words to diffuse the situation, and his anger. “That’s not fair. It’s not like I’d ever ask what you do with other women—”
“I sure as hell don’t let them tie me up and spank me.”
My lips twitched with amusement at the thought of a submissive Rhett, at a woman’s mercy. This man didn’t have a submissive bone in his body.
“You think this is funny?” He curled his hands around my upper arms. “This guy is psychotic, Briar. You were at his mercy. Tied up—” He shuddered. “When I think about what he could have done to you—”
“Hey.” I stepped into his arms, curling my arms around his neck. “It’s okay.” I took his face in my hands, forcing him to look at me. “I’m okay.”
“Don’t ever do anything like that again, promise me.” He closed his eyes, looking like he was waging some inner battle. “Unless it’s a guy you’ve known for years and know you can trust… just don’t.”
At first, I thought it was the jealousy eating Rhett alive when he thought about me getting freaky with another man, but now I could see it was fear. He’d been letting his thoughts terrorize him all evening as he imagined how my night of experimentation with Dave could have ended differently. It scared me spitless when I dwelled on it too, so I tried hard not to.
“I hear what you’re saying.” I kissed him, trying to help ease his mind. He was coiled so tight, his powerful body wrought with tension. If we weren’t in his parents’ backyard, I would have gladly found a way to help him relax, but under the circumstances I had to rely on words, instead of my talented tongue to make him feel better. “And I’m sorry I put myself in that position, believe me.”
He drew a deep, shaky breath, and my heart cracked wide open. His concern for me was so obvious, but this went beyond concern for my safety. It was something else, something deeper. And it thrilled and terrified me at the same time.
“How about I promise,” I said, drawing his head down so I was whispering against his lips. “You’re the only man allowed to tie me up from now on, the only one I’d trust enough—”
He grabbed the back of my head, crushing my mouth under his.
My hand slid down his chest, and I could feel his heart racing. The fear was real. So was the passion. I kept reminding myself the relationship— the engagement, was fake. But with every day that passed it got harder to decipher between the genuine feelings being uncovered and the hoax.
“There you are!”
Vivian. God bless her.
Rhett swore softly as I tried to suppress a giggle.
“You two will have plenty of time for that when you get home,” she said. “Now get in here! The coffee’s getting cold!”
