Dash asked the driver to stop at Cassidy’s first. She’d rented a pretty Cape Cod house, small by East Hampton standards, but the whole look of the place, from the colorful flowers out front to the rocking bench on the porch, suited her.
While the driver waited, Dash walked her to the door, pausing as she opened her bag and looked for her keys, which she fished out after a solid minute of rooting around.
“So are you sure you’re good with the plan?” he asked before she could unlock her door.
She nodded. “I’m sure.” As she was about to slide the key into the lock, he slipped an arm around her waist and turned her to face him.
She jerked at his touch and pulled back. “What are you doing?”
“Making a point.” And crowding her because he wanted to. “If we’re going to make people believe our relationship is real, you can’t flinch every time I get close.”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “I know that and in public I’ll be fine.”
He placed his knuckle under her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “What if a photographer is hiding and watching now?” He doubted it, but he wanted her to understand what them being in a relationship meant.
Her eyes opened wide at his question. He didn’t hesitate. He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers, letting his mouth settle where it belonged. She stiffened in shock, but he kept up the connection, sliding his lips along hers, and in seconds she melted against him, accepting what he offered.
Touching her, mouths melding, Dash found the very thing that had scared him off the first time. Peace. But he’d learned his lesson and wasn’t about to run off again.
He had her. He could slip his tongue inside and up the heat factor. God knew he wanted to but he’d made his point. They still had chemistry, and she needed to accept his public displays of affection whenever he offered them if they were going to pull off the charade. He already knew, the minute he left her alone, she’d beat herself up and second-guess every second of this kiss. No need to push her harder. He had time for that.
He lifted his mouth and touched his forehead to hers, catching his breath and letting her come to her senses. “See? That’s the way to act around me.”
As he’d expected, she stiffened, but nobody was around to notice. He pressed a kiss to her nose and took a step back. “Go inside. I’ll check in later about our schedule.”
She was obviously too dazed by their kiss to lecture him, and thank God for small favors. His dick throbbed in his pants, and all he wanted to do was get home and jerk off so he could concentrate on what came next with his new girlfriend.
She did as he asked and stepped into her house, slamming the door hard behind him without even a goodbye.
Grinning, he jogged back to the limousine, not thrown by her behavior. He had her off-balance. Wanting him one minute, furious at him the next. He could work with that.
Because one thing he’d come to realize: He didn’t want Cassidy to be his fake anything. He’d fucked up too badly to try and convince her otherwise now. But with this so-called charade his publicist had thought up, he had a second chance to show her the man he could be now that he understood what he wanted.
The driver took him home, and he headed straight to the shower to wash off the grime of the city. Maybe he was more like Xander than he thought, enjoying the solitude of the Hamptons, when the guys weren’t partying, that was.
He tipped his head back and let the spray of the shower wash over him. After cleaning up with soap, he clasped his cock in his hand, tightened his grip, and groaned, pumping his hand up and down his shaft, all the while thinking of Cassidy.
He’d sat beside her for the better part of the day, inhaling her warm, exotic scent that aroused him and had him remembering taking her in the hotel bed many times and in a variety of positions.
He leaned back against the marble wall, arousal flowing like lava through his veins as he worked his dick with one hand.
At the hotel, he’d started on top and come so hard he’d thought he was done for the night. He’d eaten her out as he’d thankfully recovered, then flipped her so she could ride him, her warm, wet walls clenching around him. Making him wish for the first time ever he hadn’t needed to use anything between them.
At the thought, his balls drew up, he worked himself faster, and he came hard, his semen coating the shower walls and floor. He shook his head and gave himself a few minutes before grabbing the hand-held shower head and rinsing off the evidence.
This was becoming routine considering he hadn’t been kidding when he told Cassidy he’d been celibate since that night with her. He was aware he’d shocked her with the news and knew she didn’t believe him and though he wished otherwise, he’d have to work on convincing her he was telling the truth. Oh, there’d been groupies at parties who’d come on to him, but his dick remained limp. The only time he got hard was when he thought about his new fake girlfriend.
For a while, he’d had the paternity accusation to deal with, and that was enough to make any guy want to steer clear of casual sex, but it wasn’t just that and Dash knew it.
It had been four days since he’d known for sure he wasn’t going to be a father, and he’d spent that time alone. The guys lived with him and that was fine, but he’d holed up in his room, eating at odd times when nobody would be around or going to Xander’s and hanging out at his pool, where peace and quiet surrounded him.
He’d needed the time to think. About how he’d been an asshole in so many ways. Yes, the rock star lifestyle gave him perks and let him believe he was special, but his family kept him grounded, treating him no differently just because of his fame. Until he’d been accused of fathering a child with some chick he could barely remember, and then they’d all been tiptoeing around him.
The days he’d spent at Xander’s had been enlightening. Watching his brother and Sasha together left Dash feeling envious, something he’d never experienced before around his coupled siblings. Xander and Sasha’s ease with each other, the way they took care of one another, the happiness in his brother’s eyes made even a cynic like Dash take notice. Especially since he’d had his eyes opened to the stupid, selfish way he’d been living his life.
He thought about Xander’s path to where he was now. He’d enlisted in the Marines rather than follow Linc’s footsteps in the family business. He’d wanted to get away from their father, Kenneth, and his cheating bullshit and unrealistic expectations. When he’d bothered to pay attention to his children, that was.
With Kenneth dead and gone for a while now, thanks to a heart attack, the family had been able to relax. Sad but true. But Xander hadn’t come home from Afghanistan the same kid he’d been before being medically discharged thanks to an injury from his proximity to an IED. Xander had been darker, quieter, and more solitary.
Until Sasha came back into his life. Working through their issues and dealing with her stalker hadn’t been easy, but Dash could see now it had been worth it. They were forgetting their past and focusing on their future, and Dash saw the difference Sasha made and how much lighter and happier his sibling was now.
Then there was Linc. The oldest brother who took everyone’s problems on his shoulders, including finding the sister they’d known nothing about until their dad’s death. With Jordan, his personal assistant and best friend, by his side, they’d followed leads, found Aurora, brought her into the family fold, and in the process, Linc and Jordan had discovered they were soul mates.