Chapter 18

Rick’s shoulders relaxed, but his look of concern didn’t leave his face. “It’s all right, just a misunderstanding.”

“No! I mean I ~really~ fucked up. I left the memory card from the camera there… I left it playing on the TV when I left the house.”

Rick went white, then stood and left the room. He came back with his phone to his ear. “Maybe they didn’t find it,” he said, but he didn’t sound very convincing and I gave him a dubious look. He shrugged at me. “It’s still early.”

After a second he looked at the screen of his phone and tapped swiftly. “He’s not answering. Let’s hope he gets the text.”

He sat down again, even more tense than he’d been while interrogating me. He hunched over his knees staring at the phone.

“Shit.”

“I’m sorry. I was just so…hurt. I wanted to hurt them back.”

“I know, honey. It’s just that Tanya never knew a thing about what we did ~before~. We both made a promise to leave it behind after Aurora. That was such a goddamn clusterfuck, and not in the good way.”

“But you guys are both so good at it. Why?”

He sighed. “After Aurora left, that whole world just didn’t fit with the lives we envisioned for ourselves. We were really happy with the decision for a long time, too. I’m not sure what happened between Max and Tanya. I thought he’d found something like I had with Corinne, but the last few years have been so much different for them. You’d have to ask him about it, if you want the details.”

I snorted. “If he ever talks to me again.” A despair even worse than the hurt of betrayal filled me. I stared at Rick’s phone where it rested on the coffee table now, willing it to buzz or ring or something to let us know Max had gotten the message. At the same time I dreaded hearing from him and having to endure his disappointment.

“Is it charged?” I asked.

“Yeah, it is,” he said. He raked his fingers through his hair.

“What happens if I really screwed up?”

He looked at me, his face softening in response to my defeated tone. “Don’t think about that yet. Let’s wait and see what he says. We’ll figure it out. Do you want to call someone to stay with in the meantime? Your friend Sarah maybe?” he asked.

“I tried calling her already. Do you mind if I stay with you? Her place is a nuthouse with all her little brothers and sisters. I’d kinda rather have some peace and quiet, if that’s all right.”

“Sure, stay as long as you want,” he said. “Guest room might be a little dusty, but it’s made up.”

I gave him a grateful smile when he led me upstairs. He opened the door to the guest room and held it for me to enter. When I brushed past, my shoulder grazed his chest and he inhaled sharply. The awareness of him and the events of the previous day crashed back suddenly, drowning out my anxiety. I looked up at him, halfway through the door, my senses awash in his warmth and the musky scent of him.

I felt dizzy, lost for a moment in his intense blue-eyed gaze. He looked tired, the creases at the corners of his eyes deeper than I remembered them being, but he was still as gorgeous as always. More so, now that I had this new perspective on him and Max. Now that I’d been so intimate with them both. My chest felt tight, my breath caught halfway out of my lungs, my entire body tingling with the closeness of him.

“Case,” he said, his voice rough. He seemed poised to retreat, his back pressed hard against the door jamb. His lips parted as though he were about to say something else, but all that came out was the pink tip of his tongue, sliding over his lower lip as his gaze drifted down to my mouth. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, then he shook his head as though to clear it. “No, honey. I’m fine with you staying here but until this thing with Max gets worked out there’s no way in hell I’m touching you.”

“Rick, I didn’t…” I stared at him, not sure what to say. I was just ~looking~ at him—and really, really wishing he would kiss me. “I’m sorry,” I said, my face heating with shame. My throat constricted and tears welled up. I stared down at my feet, but out of the corner of my eye I could see the bulge at the front of his jeans. My brows clenched in confusion. Did he want me or didn’t he?

“Fuck, Casey, look at me.” His rough, calloused fingers touched my chin. “You’re an amazing young woman, but this is very new to you and one thing you have to understand is that there are ~rules.~ I don’t mean just in the BDSM scene, either, but in life. You’re Max’s stepdaughter and you’ve been through one hell of a day. Even if you were clear of him, you’re off limits to me until I know you’re both okay. Besides, I know how much he loves you. This isn’t over yet, I’m sure of it.”

“So you do want me?” I asked.

“Not that it’s relevant, but yeah. More than anything.” With that, he turned his head and nodded toward the staircase. “Anyway, I can’t be stressed on an empty stomach. You hungry?”

“Starving,” I said. It was the truth—I’d eaten very little the day before, but mostly I was simply grateful for the distraction from—well, ~everything~. Food was probably the best distraction. Rick gave me a comforting smile, patted me on the arm and headed back downstairs.

I spent a little while trying to decompress. I was curled on the bed staring out the window when my phone buzzed with a text from Sarah.

Sarah

Sorry, hun, crazy morning with the family. What’s up?

Casey

Crazy morning with the family here, too… Call me?

“So was Max pissed the other night?” she asked without preamble when I answered the phone.

“You could say that…” I said, then proceeded to give her a blow-by-blow of my evening after I’d seen her last, and the morning that followed. Sarah and I had been close enough for long enough that we had few secrets from each other. However, I grew a little worried when she didn’t say anything for a moment after I stopped talking. “Are you there, Sarah?”

“Holy shit, Case. Holy ~fucking~ shit. I don’t know whether to be jealous of you or happy for you or what. ~Both~ of them? At once?”

“Did you even hear the last thing I said? About Max and my mom?”

“Okay, that’s pretty messed up, but put yourself in his shoes. He’s hurting. I bet Rick’s right—if your mom’s been screwing around he wouldn’t have done that. I mean he’s ~Max~. Sir Galahad couldn’t be more ~honorable.~ And what you said about Rick? The guy sounds like he’s as rocked by you as your stepdad but he won’t touch you. Two peas in a pod those two. No surprise they’ve done that before. Holy shit is that ~hot~.”

“You’re not helping,” I said. “What should I do now?”

“Wait it out. I’d offer to let you come here but you seriously don’t want to be here. Josie’s been having a tween tantrum for the last two days and Mom took away her Bieber as punishment. The boys keep taunting her with off-key serenades outside her room. I’m honestly surprised they even know the words. Not that ‘baby baby’ is hard to remember.” She let out a snort of amusement. “No, stay there. Try to relax. I’ll come by tomorrow and we can talk about the trip next week.”

“Sounds good.” I hung up feeling marginally better. The prospect of the summer trip we’d been planning lifted my mood even more. Being able to get out of town entirely would hopefully allow me to figure things out, regardless of what happened with Max and my mom.