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  I followed out of curiosity and because I didn’t want to be anywhere else but beside Tucker. “Wait. There’s a guy?”

  We went to the elevator and once we stepped inside, he said, “Yeah, I need someone to hold the camera while we shoot our porn.” Tucker stared straight ahead with only a tiny curve at the corner of his lips.

  I liked this guy, but I wasn’t about to shoot a porn with him.

  “Absolutely not.” The doors opened, and I cut him off as I stepped off. “If that’s what you had in mind, I’ll take a cab home.”

  He chuckled but followed me as I quickened my pace. It was a short walk to the sliding doors that led outside. The cold, crisp wind felt like nails across my face. I slipped on my coat and that’s when I realized that Tucker still had my bag.

  “Looking for this?” He came up beside me holding out my bag.

  “Yes.” I yanked it from his grip in a huff. Scanning the pickup area, there were a few taxis but not as many as during the day. A door to a limousine opened and Hunter and Willa’s agent, Jon, stood beside it and waved.

  “Niki. Come on. It’s cold.”

  Maybe I will take Willa up on that ride home. I bolted forward and threw my bag into the back seat where Jon had the door open. He was the typical handsome Hollywood guy with a winning smile and thick, wavy, dark brown hair. I always wondered if he started out as an actor or model and then worked his way to becoming an agent because I could totally see him up on the big screen.

  Personality wise, he was the opposite of Tucker. Jon was kind, accommodating, and sweet. He wouldn’t think to give someone a basket of dildos as a house-warming gift.

  I slid over in the seat to make room for when Willa and Hunter came out. Glancing back, I frowned. The part of me that wanted everyone to be comfortable and happy hurt watching Tucker sit out there in the cold.

  I reminded myself that he wanted to put me in a porno so I would stop looking at Tucker. When he wheeled up to the door, I refused to even give him the side-eye. I was proud that I didn’t give in to the temptation to go to him. I had done that to guys in the past, and it only made it easier for them to use me however they wanted.

  I wasn’t about to let anyone take advantage of me ever again.

  I turned my head completely away from the open door, gazing out at the dark clear night. I probably could see stars blanketing the sky if a large parking garage wasn’t in the way. The car shook like someone was climbing inside. Thankful that my friends finally arrived, I turned back only to gasp at what I saw.

  Tucker was sitting next to me. The door shut and before I could get my question out, Jon hopped in the front seat and started the limo.

  “What are you doing here? Where are Willa and Hunter?”

  Tucker shrugged. My eyes slid to the front to find Jon turned and smiling at me.

  “Is he the guy?”

  “Yup,” Tucker said.

  “Oh, God.” I tried to swallow back the bile that was rising in my throat.

  “Yup, I’m the one.” Jon turned on his Hollywood grin and I broke out into a cold sweat.

  “Let me out.” I turned and grabbed at the door handle, but it slipped through my clammy fingers.

  “What’s wrong? I can drive. I know I only have my learner’s permit . . . Long story, don’t ask. But yes, I can drive.”

  “It’s not the driving I’m concerned about, it’s the filming.”

  Jon’s head tilted. “Oh good, Tucker told you about the film. Now, I know it’s not what you’re used to doing.”

  Looking down, I grabbed my bag. “How can you represent artists like Hunter and Willa and then turn around and want to make a porn? With me? You two need some serious help.”

  “For fuck’s sake, Tucker. You told her my movie idea was a porn?”

  Tucker sat back and placed his hands behind his head, relaxing. “You named it Sweet Banana Pie. To me, it sounds pornographic.”

  Jon gritted his teeth. “Remind me never to help you again.”

  “Hey,” Tucker pointed a finger at Jon, “you owed me after I helped you negotiate Willa’s contract with Jax Records. If it wasn’t for me, she wouldn’t be the second highest paid brand-new singer in music history.”

  “Yes, I’m sure me being her agent had nothing to do with that,” Jon mumbled under his breath.

  I sat there, completely unsure what was really going on here. “So, Jon isn’t going to film us making a porn?”

  “No, Niki. Tucker was just being an asshole, as usual. He only wanted me to drive you home. Oh, and bring these for you.” He lifted a pink gift bag with white tissue paper popping out.

  I took it and glanced at Tucker.

  “Go on. I promise there’s nothing in there that will bite,” he said.

  “While I would err on the side of caution with anything that man says,” Jon pointed to Tucker, “it’s true. There’s nothing dangerous in that bag.”

  Lifting out the tissue paper, I found something that reminded me of everything that was wonderful about my childhood.

  “Gummy worms.” I smiled as I pulled the plastic bag out and stared at the colorful candy.

  “Admit it. I give the best gifts,” Tucker said with a wink.

  EIGHT

  Tucker

  “SO, DOES THIS CLOSED door mean I’m not invited into your place?” I yelled from the hallway outside Niki’s condo.

  There was no reply.

  I had been outside her place for the past five minutes since we got back from the airport. We rode home in silence. Not complete silence. The sounds coming from her delicious lips sucking on those worms filled the air—oh, and her moans.

  It was excruciating torture, and she knew exactly what she was doing to me. Niki acted innocent, but I knew the truth. There was something wicked simmering under the surface and it both attracted me and caused me to die a thousand deaths at the same time.

  “Niki, I’m a patient guy. I could sit here all night long. Except if I have to pee, then I’ll excuse myself. But don’t you think I won’t be back.”

  There was a buzzing in my jacket pocket. I pulled out my phone and saw a text from my VP.

  We just got an offer from Sinclair Ramsey. He wants to buy Six Infinity. Kate’s looked at the offer and thinks we should take it.

  What the hell?

  It was like Sinclair wanted his hand dipped in every pot of Libertyville.

  I typed a quick reply.

  I’ll take a look and get back to you.

  That appeased him. He responded that he’d call me in the morning.

  It wasn’t as if I was completely against the idea of selling the company, it just had to be to the right buyer. As the company was entrusted to me with the knowledge I would treat the employees fairly, I would seek someone with the same qualities. Someone who would try to grow the business and keep the workers happy. I knew Sinclair—he would only use the company resources for his own benefit. There were rumors that some things he did were illegal—both in and out of work.

  I didn’t want my company attached to that.

  “An emergency’s come up. I’ve got to go, Niki.”

  Turning to head back to my place, I heard her door open. She peeked out, worry etched on her face.

  “What’s wrong? Is it your brother?”

  All my body could do was blink in surprise. Chelsea, the last woman I dated, never asked about or showed concern for my family. Most of the time she didn’t show any concern for me, just what I could buy her.

  I remember when I told Chelsea that my parents died in a car accident when I was a teenager and my grandmother and Hunter raised me. She responded with a head nod. That was it. Not a word or frown or anything but acknowledgment she heard me.

  And it wasn’t until this moment that I wondered why I was with her. Sure, she was hot, but not as beautiful as Niki. Most of Chelsea’s physical attractiveness came from cosmetics and surgery.

  To me, beauty was under the surface. And that made Niki a thousand times more stri
king than Chelsea could ever hope to be. And Niki’s concern was like a slap across my face—it felt cold, brutal, but desperately needed to wake me up.

  Because I had been asleep for a while. I went through the motions of interacting with people around me instead of understanding who they were.

  “Are you okay, Tucker?” She took a hesitant step closer as her beauty radiated from her heart.

  My brother was right when he once told me I deserved better. Niki was better but the question was, did I deserve her?

  My brother’s the only person on Earth who knew me, but even he didn’t understand all that I’d seen. All that I could have done but was too much of a coward to do it. My actions cost people and brought them a lifetime of pain.

  I thought Six Infinity was my saving grace. If I could do right by that company, then perhaps it would make up for my actions in Iraq. Despite the hard work I put into that company, I had never felt more alone.

  My brother was dealing with his own shit and I thought if we lived together, we’d be able to help each other. It worked for him but that emptiness I had turned into something bitter.

  And Niki just took a gun to that hole in my soul and blew it to dust by asking if I was okay.

  “No. I’m not.”

  I wasn’t about to lie to her, but I wasn’t about to tell her the truth, either.

  “Sorry about tonight at the airport. That was a stupid joke.” I blew out a bitter laugh and shook my head. “But it’s what I’m good at.”

  She tilted her head from side to side as if debating with herself. “I wouldn’t say you’re good at them,” she said, looking at me with a smirk.

  “Wow! And here I thought you were sweet and kind. Defending you against the naysayers who complain about the noise from your place. How you’re into weird, kinky shit like liking horse hooves and nail polish on your eyebrows. But I say no to them. Tell them that so what if your orgasms cause you to scream ‘I want to be kissed by a Badger’ and ‘FroYo is my YoYo’ at the top of your lungs.”

  Niki threw her head back and laughed. It burst forth deep from her throat and my cock twitched. My heart sputtered as she turned her smile to me.

  “Maybe I’m not as nice as I let on . . .”

  I gasped, bringing my hand to my heart. “No. Niki, turn away from the dark side.”

  “But how can I turn away,” she leisurely strolled over until she stood right in front of me, “when he’s right in front of me?”

  Biting her bottom lip, she slid her fingers into my hair. Niki had changed into red pajama shorts and a fitted cream top. It looked like red velvet cake had melted onto her body and my mouth watered for her sweet taste.

  “So, I’m the bad guy, huh?” Which I was, but for Niki, I wanted to be good. I’d be so good. “Am I the guy your mom warned you about when you were young?”

  She glanced away, her expression softening as if thinking of some other time and place. “Yeah . . . you are. My mother wouldn’t like you very much.”

  I took a breath. At least Niki was being honest. I was sure most parents wouldn’t want me for their daughters. If I had to remain her dirty secret, then so be it. I didn’t deserve to ask for more.

  “But,” she added, her focus coming back to the present and landed on me, “my mother only cared about fame. If you weren’t famous, you weren’t good enough for me.”

  “Gold-digging for her daughter, huh?”

  “More like the only way she’d show love was if her daughter got the part. If I didn’t win the audience over or wow the director, I wasn’t a good daughter.”

  I clenched my fist. How could anyone, especially Niki’s mother, see anything but the most wonderful person when they looked at her?

  It made me sad, but mostly angry that Niki didn’t get that unconditional love like my brother and I got. First, with our parents. But when they died, our grandma took over and showered us with affection and love.

  I was so bitter back then and couldn’t wait to take it out on the Marines after I graduated. But, now, hearing Niki’s story about her mom, I was so lucky because I had the one thing she didn’t—love

  “She once said that if the chance came to please the director, I should do it for the part.”

  “What?” I grabbed her hand and held it firm.

  “Of course, she waited until I turned eighteen to tell me that. Said I was lucky to have her. She said that most moms don’t wait until their daughters are adults to mention that piece of advice. She actually called it advice.” Her laugh was hard and hurt to hear.

  “Where was your dad during all this?”

  She shook her head. “Work . . . his other family. And who knows where else? We found out about them when I was twenty and he died of a heart attack. The other family showed up at the funeral. My mom and his other wife got into a fistfight.”

  “Jesus Christ! Your life’s like a fucking soap opera.”

  She chuckled softly, and it felt good to hear. “It is, isn’t it? I never really thought about that before. Maybe that’s why I’m always watching those telenovelas. I can relate.”

  “When I brought over that basket of dildos I had no idea how badly you needed them. I’ll make a mental note to sign you up for dildo-of-the-month club.”

  She giggled and lowered herself into my lap. Or maybe I tugged on her and she fell into it. Either way, it felt good to hold her in my arms again.

  Whether I deserved her or not, or if this was just a fling or something more, I would make sure this woman never got hurt again.

  NINE

  Niki

  I HAD MY EAR PRESSED to the bathroom door. There was no sound. Tucker must have left while I was taking a shower.

  After our discussion about his jokes and my screwed-up family last night, I told him I didn’t want to be alone. He offered to sleep on the couch but that was stupid, and I proceeded to tell him that. He’d seen me naked and had gifted me with multiple orgasms. I was more than happy to sleep next to him in bed.

  We kissed a bit, but it was so late, I kept yawning—which was embarrassing. It’s not that he’s a bad kisser, because he’s most definitely not. Tucker’s the best kisser I had ever been with, but the flight and the late hour, I just couldn’t keep my eyes open.

  I had hoped we could fool around this morning when I woke but he was snoring up a storm. As much as I wanted to wake him, he was so sweet to me in the hall last night and I felt he deserved the rest.

  I got up and hopped into the shower. Now I was dressed in my black leggings with tiny white stars and my over-sized pink cashmere sweater with my ear to the door to see if he left.

  He mentioned an emergency last night, and I wondered if he raced off for that. When I asked him about it right before we went to sleep, he said it was work-related.

  I was glad it wasn’t his family. But even so, I shouldn’t keep him from his job. I knew he did something with computers but that’s about it.

  Taking a breath, I finally got the courage to open the door. I liked our time together last night and was scared he’d be gone. Tucker had gone out of his way to make me feel cared for and I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had done that for me.

  The room was quiet. The bed was made and Tucker was nowhere in the room. Even his clothes and wheelchair were gone. But as I inhaled a sigh of disappointment, I could still smell his spicy scent.

  Grabbing my phone from the mirror-finished bedside table, I noticed there were no texts—he left without a word.

  That’s fine. I was fine. He had work and needed to go back to his place to get ready. Tucker helped me by staying over. It would have been too much to ask him to stay for breakfast or even a goodbye.

  It’s not like he’s my boyfriend or we’re in love or anything like that.

  Sure, I was a bit disappointed he wasn’t here and, yeah, I mentally planned to cook him eggs and French toast this morning. Was he a coffee or tea type of guy? I was looking forward to finding out.

  But it’s cool. No biggie.
r />   I opened the door to the bedroom and as I stepped out into the hallway, I heard, “Motherfucker. Who puts coffee beans that high?”

  “Tucker?” I yelled with a smile. It was more of a cartoonish grin, but details weren’t important.

  “Don’t come in here,” he said right before I turned the corner into the kitchen.

  “Why?”

  “It’s, uh . . . a surprise. In fact, if you have any errands to run, now would be the time to do them. Say, an hour or two. Oh, fuck . . . Uh, no big deal, but do you have a fire extinguisher by chance?”

  I turned the corner and my eyes now matched my smile with cartoonish surprise. “What happened?”

  I glanced around my once pristine kitchen. It used to be white. White marble and ceramic covered almost everything except for the butcher-block counter island. But now the brown butcher block counter was white and everything else was brown.

  And at the center of it all, Tucker sat there in a mixture of those colors.

  “I, uh . . . tried to cook.”

  “What were you attempting to cook, Tucker? Meth?”

  “Pancakes. And I tried to reach your coffee, but the bag spontaneously exploded . . . probably from being on too high of a shelf.” He shrugged as if that was totally believable. “So, no coffee. Or pancakes. They sorta caught on fire.”

  My mouth hung open as my eyes and heart took in the room. On the one hand, he never left and tried to cook for me. That made my heart happy. But, on the very troubling other hand, this room was now a biohazard.

  “I know a great bakery that delivers,” he said with a smile. The flour that covered his face made lines as his eyes wrinkled in merriment.

  “I’ve lost my appetite.”

  “Look, I can fix this.”

  “How? How, Tucker? I’m going to find coffee grounds in edges for years. First, the inappropriate house-warming gift of dildos—”

  “Uh, I beg your pardon, but you liked them. I distinctly remember you crying out in pleasure from one of those dildos.”

  I folded my arms and stared. He obviously missed the point.