Bad Boy Romance: Nick (Romantic Suspense Alpha Male Romance) (New Adult Rock Star Contemporary Short Stories) (Hard Rock Star Series Book 2) (16 page)

OK. That's enough humiliation for one day
, she
affirmed as she opened her eyes and committed to getting on with the day.

She slipped into the cotton sundress, smoothing it down over
her body and checking her reflection in the mirror. Dean might still see her as
a kid, but she really had blossomed over the past several years. Her soft,
feminine features gently framed by her thick, wavy hair; the firm, upper swells
of her breasts rising above the low neckline of the white fabric of her dress;
her soft waist and tantalizing voluptuous curves. She really had become a
beautiful, young woman.

Olivia looked around the familiar confines of her bedroom
one more time before leaving to rejoin her parents. Unfortunately, her father
had retired to his room for a nap and her mother was busily engaged with the
caterer she'd apparently hired for tonight's “small” gathering. Olivia wandered
to the living room and outside through the sliding glass doors that looked out
on the yard. She stood still for a moment, perusing her surroundings and hoping
Dean had moved on to some other task elsewhere. There were plenty of ranch
hands busy with work around the barn about a hundred yards from the house, but
she moved in the opposite direction, heading directly for the forested path she
knew was just a few moments' walk away.

A minute into her stroll, she kicked off her sandals and
started to run, enjoying the open space, the breeze against her skin and the
familiarity of the path she'd wandered so often in her childhood. She entered
beneath the shady canopy of the trees and slowed, catching her breath. A sound
caught her attention up ahead and she froze, not frightened, but listening
carefully to discern the noise. And it became clear quite quickly; the fervent
whisper of a man and the quiet moans of a woman. She tiptoed forward until she
found them, moving behind a nearby tree to disguise her presence. The woman was
completely naked, laying on the blanket-covered ground while her shirtless
companion moved along her body, his lips exploring every square inch of her
skin. It was so erotic; something Olivia had craved for so long, but the few
intimate partners she'd had were too concerned with seeking their own release
to spend much time seeking out her pleasure.

“How are the front row seats?” Olivia nearly jumped out of
her skin as a male's voice whispered behind her, just inches from her ear.

She turned then, stumbling slightly in her hurry and the
stranger's hands came out quickly, gently grasping her arms to steady her.
Olivia was flaming red and desperately trying to whisper a plausible excuse for
her presence.

“I just got home, and I'd been here so many times before. I
just wanted a few moments to myself...and then...” she couldn't find the words
to continue. Her embarrassment and the feel of the stranger's rough hands on
her soft skin were muddling her thoughts.

“And then you stumbled onto a real life sex show and
couldn't take your eyes off it?” the man teased quietly.

Instead of releasing her arms, his thumbs began to rub up
and down slowly. Perhaps it was a result of her arousal from the erotic scene
behind her, or maybe Dean still had her feeling loopy, but the stranger's
thumbs were sending tiny ripples of pleasure through her body.

 “You're Olivia,” he whispered, a statement not a question,
but she nodded regardless. “Wow, I definitely get why he had such
a...hard...time keeping his hands off you,” the stranger continued cryptically.

“I don't understand...do I know you?” she asked, running his
handsome features through her mind in search of some recognition. But although
there was something so familiar about him, she was quite certain she'd never
seen him before in her life.

“My name's Christian. I'm a horse wrangler here on the
ranch,” he told her.

“Oh, nice to meet you,” she whispered and then instantly
realized her polite greeting was entirely out of place in their current
situation.

“It's very nice to meet you, too, Olivia. I hope we have an
opportunity to get...better acquainted. But for now, you should be going. Their
break time is over in about three minutes,” he told her, pointing to the
moaning couple behind her.

Olivia nodded but didn't move. It wasn't until Christian had
released his hold on her arms that she found her feet again and urged them to
propel her back toward the house. She ran until she reached the clearing and
then slowed her pace. She couldn't help but break out in laughter then,
covering her mouth with her arm to muffle the sound. It certainly had been an
unusual homecoming thus far. But that was enough venturing out. No more
stumbling onto sex shows; no more running into handsome strangers; and
absolutely no more Dean. And the best way to ensure it: an afternoon with mom.
Olivia picked up her pace once again and headed straight for the glass doors at
the rear of the house where she'd exited not long before. She smiled. She saw
her mother there, watching as she approached. Just a few more steps and she
could secure the rest of the afternoon—nothing but peace and party preparations.

Her mother stepped through the open glass doors and motioned
her over. Olivia sped up even more until her mother called out to her.
“Sweetheart, you remember Dean, don't you?” Christine motioned to the man who
was just now walking out onto the back patio. Olivia nearly stopped dead in her
tracks.

“Damn! Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Can't a girl
catch a break?!?” she cursed silently, exasperated by her luck.

He stood casually next to Christine, but upon close
inspection, she could see the hard set of his jaw return.

“Hi Liv,” he greeted her and his deep, husky voice sent
arousal coursing through her anew. He was the only person in the world who got
away with calling her “Liv.”

“Dean is taking over for your father,” Christine explained
what Olivia had already figured out. “Though, I think Robert will have to be
six feet under before he releases the reins completely,” her mother teased the
man standing next to her.

Olivia hadn't stood this close to Dean in almost four years,
and if she had thought he was drop dead gorgeous from a distance, it didn't
hold a candle to what he looked like up close and personal; five-o-clock
shadow, tanned, glistening skin, and vivid, green eyes.

“Are you alright?” Christine asked concerned when Olivia
appeared to make no effort to respond.

“I think I'm just feeling tired from the long drive, Mom.
I'm just going to go lay down for a while and I'm sure I'll be good as new for
the party this evening,” she uttered the lie quickly. “It's good to see you
again, Dean.” She glanced in his direction, avoiding eye contact as she
stumbled through the cordiality and quickly escaped into the house.

In her room, she collapsed on the bed and quickly realized
her excuse had not been entirely untrue. Whether from the long drive or the
ridiculous chain of events since she'd arrived home, Olivia really did feel
worn out. Her eyes fluttered closed and she was asleep within moments. But all
the while she slept, her mind tormented her with images of the man she'd longed
for since her youth. Strangely though, a new face entered her tortuous
fantasies sporadically as she slept: Christian, the man she'd run into in the
forest. His rough hands held her from behind, sending shivers of pleasure
through her body as Dean approached. Dean's lips found hers, but they didn't
linger there long; moving from her mouth to explore her body and leaving a
fiery trail with his lips as he descended. Christian's lips moved to her neck
as his hands left her arms to cup her breasts. Dean was on his knees in front
of her, just inches from where she ached and throbbed, desperate to feel his
mouth on her clit. He covered those inches slowly, drawing out his sweet
torture. Christian moved from behind her. Suddenly his face was within her view
and she saw his jaw harden as he fought to maintain control over his desire.
Her jaw dropped open. She'd recognize that jaw anywhere...the way it tensed as
he gritted his teeth...

“Olivia! It's time to get ready,” a voice broke into her
dream as she heard a knock at her bedroom door.

Olivia sprang up and nearly fell off the bed, stunned from
sleep by her mother's voice while still reeling from the shock of that last
discovery in her dream. Christian was Dean's brother—a much younger brother who
bore little resemblance to his older sibling. Perhaps he was a cousin? But no,
that jaw was too much the same to have come from some distant familial
connection.

“Are you awake, Sweetheart?” her mother inquired further.

“Um, yes Mom. I'm up. I'll be there in just a few minutes,”
Olivia replied, buying herself a little more time.

She rummaged through her luggage once again, looking for
something that hadn't been wrinkled and dampened by her vivid imagination. She
forced her thoughts toward preparing for this evening's event, finding her
favorite semi-casual dress: a mid-thigh length cream-colored A-line dress. It
had a deceptively demure front neckline while the back plunged nearly all the
way to her tail bone. She stripped off her cotton sundress and slipped into her
silky favorite. Combing her fingers through her hair, she checked her
reflection. Satisfied, she stepped out of her room a moment later at precisely
five-o-clock, taking a deep breath before making her appearance for the crowd
she could hear congregating in the living room.

She found her parents talking to an elderly couple across
the room and joined them. From there, Olivia was reintroduced to the familiar
friends and workers she'd grown up with, and introduced to other newcomers to
the ranch and the surrounding area. She caught sight of Dean, standing just
inside the room's sliding glass doors, talking with two young women she didn't
recognize. Before jealousy could settle over her, she felt two warm, rough
hands rest gently on her hips, his thumbs coming in contact with the bare skin
of her back.

“Hello again, Olivia.” She recognized Christian's voice,
whispering to her just inches from her ear as he'd done earlier that day.
“No...
entertainment
for this evening?”

She began to blush, but forced herself to reply flippantly.
“I just thought I'd get myself a good seat in case something happens over
there,” she teased back, nodding her head in Dean's direction.

“Smart,” he commented back, “but something tells me Dean's
not likely to settle for those when something he wants so much more is so
close.”

Olivia's gaze searched around the room looking for someone
who might be of more interest to him, but she couldn't find anyone more
attractive. Christian just chuckled behind her and carefully turned her around
to divert her attention. His hands remained on her wide hips as his eyes,
ablaze with desire, met hers.

“I don't suppose I can talk you into ditching this event for
a private party with me?” he queried, half serious and half in jest.

“Sorry, I'm the guest of honor,” she replied in a voice so
sultry it surprised her.
Where did that come from?
she wondered.

“I suppose I'll have to steal you away some other time, when
all this glitz and glamor doesn't have you so captivated,” he continued to
tease.

Olivia smiled. A very large part of her had desperately
wanted to say yes. Her brief encounters with Dean that day seemed to have every
fiber of her body sensitized, and Christian was an incredibly attractive,
compelling man. But it was odd, wasn't it? The younger brother of the man she'd
wanted...forever?

Her mother eliminated the need to make a decision a moment
later, walking over to her with yet another new neighbor anxious to meet Robert
and Christine's daughter. Christian released his hold on Olivia before her
mother noticed. And by the time Christine had made the introductions and she
could turn her attention elsewhere, he was gone. Glancing around the room, it
seemed Dean had disappeared, too.

The rest of the evening passed rather mundanely and by the
time the last guest exited the front door, Olivia was exhausted. She bid her
parents good night and retired to her room quickly, changing into a simple tank
top and boy-cut shorts. Laying on her bed, she closed her eyes expecting sleep
to overtake her within seconds. But ten...twenty...thirty minutes passed and
still she laid there wide awake. Her body was simply too wound up. She stood
and quietly left her room, tiptoeing through the house to avoid awaking her
parents on her trek out into the yard.

She wandered out to the familiar structures she'd avoided
earlier that day, stopping at the horse barn as she remembered the evening she
had found Dean inside years ago. It was silly, but she couldn't resist. She
strolled over to the doors and pulled one open, intending to slip inside for a
brief moment of reminiscence. She must have been so caught up in her own
thoughts that she hadn't heard the voices carrying on inside, but as the door
opened, she came to an abrupt halt. There were no horses there but rather a
small group of men sitting around a poker table. Her eyes immediately found
Dean; he would stand out to her in any crowd. She recognized Christian sitting
to the left of him, but the other two men there were unfamiliar to her.

“Oh, sorry. I didn't realize the barn had been converted
to...” Olivia wasn't sure how to finish that sentence. What exactly had the
barn been transformed into?

“It's OK, Olivia,” Christian spoke up as his eyes grazed
over her meagerly clad body appreciatively. “A new barn was built last year a
little further out, and your Dad hasn't quite figured out what he wants to do
with this old thing.”

She nodded and turned to leave, but stopped short of the
door. Christian certainly didn't seem to mind her presence, nor did the other
two men who were doing their best to muster up their x-ray vision at the moment
to see through her clothing. Perhaps now was an opportunity to get Dean to
start seeing her in a brand new light; the poker-playing seductress instead of
the tag-playing kid. She didn't have any money on her at the moment, but a
brief trip back to her room for her purse would remedy that.