Playing in SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 9) (3 page)

* * *

Audrey

I can do this. I. Can.
Do. This. I just have to think of Blake as some random guy I’m
assigned to help, and not the one I’ve been partly in love with for
more than half my life. Because if I don’t, there are only two
outcomes to this situation I’ve found myself in. Either I’m going
to fall for Blake, and then find out he’s the same asshole he’s
always been, which will crush me yet again. Or I’ll fall for him,
and he’ll be the guy I’d always dreamed he would, and when he
walks away this time, it won’t just crush me—I’ll be
annihilated. Because the one thing I’m sure about is that this is
all temporary. The movie star doesn’t end up with the chemistry
nerd, not in real life at least.

“You ready?” he
asks me, and I look up to see that the driver has opened the car
door.

“Yeah.”

I adjust my top a
little, and then put a hand to the fabric, holding it in place as I
climb out. I know I shouldn’t have worn it, but I couldn’t help
myself. I’m walking into a room full of sharks, and if I’ve
learned anything over the years, it’s that asserting my power first
is the best way to throw them off the scent. Not that I couldn’t
handle them now—I wouldn’t even bat an eye—but high school is
over, and anyone who still wants to play those games isn’t worth my
time.

Blake exits behind me,
and his hand goes to my back like it belongs there. I see us briefly
in the reflection from the window, and my heart clenches at how good
we look together. How good
he
looks with his jet black hair, his bright brown eyes, and
that dark stubble covering the lower part of his face, making me want
to rub various parts of my body all over it. No, I do not want to do
that. I don’t. Much.

I focus on the
reflection of myself instead. I know I’m beautiful. It took me a
long time to see it, and accept it, but I know it now. Together we
make a striking couple.

“You sure you’re
okay?” he whispers in my ear.

“Yes. I was just
thinking that we look good together,” I tell him honestly.

“Does this mean
you’re going to give me a chance?”

“No,” I say with a
laugh. “Looking good together is very different from
being
good together.”

“Audrey, I just need
a chance. Just one.”

He looks so earnest,
and I’m feeling a little vulnerable, so I say something neither one
of us is expecting. “You have
one
.
Don’t blow it.”

His eyes go wide, and
that movie star smile takes over his face. Oh God, what have I done?
I want to backtrack. I even open my mouth, but he covers it with his
fingers. “Challenge accepted.”

He holds out his hand,
and I place mine in his as the seventeen-year-old me jumps up and
down inside, and the thirty-seven-year-old me wonders if this is the
worst decision I’ve ever made in my life. There’s no going back,
though. Not when all conversation stops as we walk in together. I
know it’s not because anyone recognizes me—they just didn’t
expect Blake to bring anyone else here, not with Misha in attendance
as well. From the times I’ve looked him up, I know he never brings
a date to a function that she’ll also be attending. I’m pretty
sure it’s because they still hook-up, but that’s not happening
tonight.

“Shit,” I say,
realizing that I’m already getting possessive of him, when he’s
not really mine.

“What’s wrong?”
he asks, stopping in the middle of the room, and pulling me sideways
to face him.

“I was just thinking
something I shouldn’t have.”

“Are you going to
tell me?”

Why not? “I was
thinking that tonight, at least, you wouldn’t go home with Misha
after an event. It’s not my place to decide that.”

He looks genuinely
confused. “I haven’t gone home—or anywhere else in the way
you’re implying—with Misha in over five years.”

“Oh. You never take a
date to events you’ll both be at, so I just thought…I mean, it’s
not my business.”

“I don’t take dates
to those events for two reasons. One, the headlines would be crazy,
and no one deserves to be subjected to that. And two, while I don’t
ever want Misha in my life—or bed again—she’s still the mother
of my child, and deserves some respect.”

Wow. That’s just—wow.
If he keeps proving what a good guy he is, I’m going to be in even
more trouble than I thought I was already. “And tonight?”

“Tonight, I’m with
a woman who I want to be seen with, and who I respect more than
almost anyone else in this world.”

I search his face, and
see that he means what he just said. “We should probably start
walking again. They’re all staring.”

“You’re ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“No one’s going to
mess with you, Audrey. No one. I won’t allow it.”

“Even Misha?”

“Especially not that
bitch.”

Blake

I meant what I said to
Audrey, and as we walk over to my “friends” from high school, I
know I’m going to need to stand by it. The guys are all looking at
her as if she’s their last meal, while the women look like they
want to gouge her eyes out. I’d love to see them try, because
that’s one thing I know I wouldn’t have to help her with. From
everything I’ve heard about the Society, they’re the biggest
badasses in the world. Does that make Audrey even hotter? Fuck yeah.

“You brought some
hooker to our reunion? Real classy, Blake.”

I start to answer, but
Audrey beats me to it. “Sorry to disappoint you,
Misha,
but I’m a world-renowned scientist, not a hooker. And this is
my
reunion as well.”

“Scientist? You’re
Audrey Sanchez, aren’t you?” my best friend—from high school
and now—Jesse, asks her.

“That’s me.”

“Wait? No. There’s
no way you’re Asexual Audrey,” Misha says with a laugh. “I
mean, I guess you could’ve had a bunch of work done.”

“Listen, bitch...,”
Audrey starts, but I interrupt.

“There’s absolutely
nothing fake about Audrey.
Nothing
,”
I say as I lean down and leave a trail of kisses on Audrey’s neck.

I’m not sure if it’s
okay, but I feel the need to protect her now, the way I didn’t
twenty years ago. If she punches me, I’ll just roll with it. She
doesn’t, though. She reaches up and runs her fingers through my
hair, pulling me closer to her.

“Again, I’ll say
it. How Classy. Not.” Misha says with venom in her voice.

“You wouldn’t know
class if it draped itself all over you,” Audrey snaps back, holding
my head to her neck as I smirk.

“Says the science
nerd who probably never gets out of her dusty old lab.”

“I’ll be sure to
let Reina Corrigan know that you think she’d have me work in those
type of conditions.”

“You work for Reina
Corrigan?” Misha asks, and I know she’s impressed. She’s been
trying to get a job as a spokesperson for the Corrigan Foundation for
years.

“Yes, and that’s
why you never will. You should really stop trying, because my friend
will never give you a job.” She lets go of me, and moves a few
steps away. “I’m going to see
my
high school friends now, Blake. Let me know when you’re ready to
leave.”

Wait, what? “I’ll
go with you.”

“It’s fine,” she
says, leaning over to kiss my cheek. “You should visit with you
friends.”

“Maybe for a few
minutes, but then I’m coming to find you.”

“You really don’t
have to.”

“I
want
to.”

She smiles at me like I
passed a test, and I know I’ve broken through her wall just a
little more. “Okay,” she tells me before walking away.

“Seriously, Blake?
You’re with
her
?”

“It’s not your
business, Misha, but yes.”

“Not my business? Our
daughter lives with you, or have you forgotten that?”

I move right up into
her personal space, and don’t even try to keep the sneer off my
face. “You are the one who seems to forget our daughter. Unless you
need her for some good press, that is. I can’t imagine anyone
better for her to have around than Audrey. She’s not only
brilliant, but she’s gorgeous, too. Just like our girl.”

“Wasn’t she with
Ares Dixon at the picnic earlier today?” one of the guys asks.

“Yeah. They’re good
friends. He brought her, but she went home with me.”

“Of course she did.
Just as desperate for you as she was in high school,” Misha says.

“Listen to me, Misha,
because I will only say this once. I’m with Audrey, I want Audrey,
and
only
Audrey, and
if you don’t do a better job of hiding the bitch we all know you
are, I’ll make your life even more miserable than it already is.”

“Whatever.”

“Hey, speaking of
earlier, what was going on with those guys trying to grab your
daughter?” one of the guys asks.

“I don’t know. It
was weird. I hired extra security for her now, though, just in case.”

“Wasn’t Audrey
fighting them. I didn’t know who she was, but now I’m sure it was
her.”

“Oh yeah. She knows
martial arts, so she jumped in to help.”

“Again, because she
wants you.”

“Where were you when
it was all going down, huh Mish?” I ask, effectively shutting her
up, because we both know she wasn’t trying to help Jeanne, that’s
for sure.

I’ve had enough, and
I walk away from them all, but Jesse catches up to me. “I’m glad
you finally made it happen.”

“What did I make
happen?” I ask, genuinely confused.

“You and Audrey. You
liked her back in high school, I know you did. You just let yourself
get too scared to do anything about it.”

“I didn’t think
anyone knew that.”

“I’m not your best
friend for nothing. Just don’t fuck it up this time. We all have
blame to share for how we treated her, but you were the worst.”

“Um, wow. Best Friend
of the Year talk going on.”

“You know what I
mean. The prom stunt devastated her. She didn’t deserve that.”

“No, she didn’t.
Trust me, I’m going to do everything I can to prove to her that
I’ve changed. I don’t care what anyone else except Jeanne thinks,
and she loves her.”

“Of course she does.
Audrey is the perfect example of what she can be—totally hot while
not pretending to be anything she’s not.”

Well, Audrey is
pretending, but not in the way he thinks. She definitely doesn’t
hide her brains, and she does work for Reina Corrigan. Just not in
the way she presented it to Misha. I have no doubt she meant what she
said about her never getting a job, though. Even from the little time
I spent with her, I can tell that Reina is loyal to the women who
work for, and with, her. I don’t want to be on her bad side, that’s
for sure. I tell Jesse I’ll see him soon, and head over to where I
see Audrey sitting with her friends.

* * *

Audrey

I sense Blake walk up
behind me, even before the guys at my table go wide-eyed. I don’t
like this connection we’re developing. Or, rather, I do, and that’s
the problem. Some sweet words can’t take away all the pain I’ve
felt for the past 20 years.

“Hi guys, do you mind
if I join you? I’m Blake, by the way.”

“We know who you
are,” Jimmy tells him with a scowl. “And we remember what you did
to Audrey.”

“So that’s a ‘no’
then? I guess I’ll just stand.”

He places his hands on
my shoulders in a proprietary way, and I have to force myself not to
lean back into him. If I thought the guys’ eyes were already wide,
it’s nothing compared to now, as he strokes my shoulders like it’s
nothing new. Jimmy’s eyes meet mine, and he looks like he’s about
to go nuclear on Blake’s ass. Or at least send a nuclear bomb his
way.

“Blake, why don’t
you go back and sit with your friends?” I ask, trying to avoid a
disaster.

“I’d rather sit
with yours.”

“You never did
anything but laugh at us in high school, and now you want to sit with
us? And you’re acting like you’re into Audrey again. This is just
too fucked up.”

“I’m truly sorry
for how I treated all of you. I was young and stupid. That’s no
excuse, but it’s all I’ve got. As for Audrey, I’m not
pretending. I want her, and thankfully, she’s agreed to give me a
chance to prove that I’ve changed.”

“Seriously, Aud?”

“Yes. We’re
together. I believe he’s not the asshole he was in high school. He
might be a different kind of asshole now, but I’m willing to give
him a chance to prove himself.”

“He destroyed you.”

“Almost. He
almost
destroyed me. You guys helped me stay together, and I’ll
be forever grateful for that. You know how much you mean to me. I
need you to trust me on this.”

“We’ve always got
you back. You know that. I just don’t want to have to pick up the
pieces again.”

“I’m not that girl
anymore.”

“Yes you are. You
just hide it better.” Jimmy looks up at Blake, “The men you see
at this table are some of the most powerful in the world.”

“I’m well aware.”

“Then you should also
be aware of the fact that not one of us would hesitate to end you.
Maybe we can’t fight you, but we can end your life as you know it.”

“Message received.”

“And not needed. If
he messes with me, I’ll take care of him myself,” I tell them.

“Now that we’re all
clear on how I’m not going to survive the fallout if I fuck things
up with Audrey, can I please sit down?”

“Yes, you can,” I
tell him, nodding to a seat across the table.

He doesn’t hesitate
to sit down over there, even though it’s next to Jimmy. The next
two hours pass rather quickly. Blake engages all of the guys in
conversation, really listening when they mention the things in some
of his movies that aren’t realistic. He takes out his phone, and
makes notes on the suggestions they give him, promising to do his
best to try and make things more accurate in his future projects. I
know he’s won them over when even Jimmy exchanges numbers with him.