Hollywood Rebel by Misti Murphy

Chapter Eleven

 

Rebel

“Where’s Emmy?” Summer stares at the sleek blue Corvette as I hold the door open for her.

“At home.” I take her hand to guide her into the vehicle. “I have multiple cars.”

“And you chose the Corvette?” She fumbles with the seatbelt as I shut the door, but has it clipped in place by the time I climb in behind the wheel.

“I’m not leaving Emmy in the parking lot of some seedy club.”

Her hand slides along the top of the door frame in an affectionate manner. “What’s this one’s name?”

“Curvy.”

“Curvy the Corvette?” Her green eyes sparkle with amusement and she laughs.

Until I rev the motor and pull out of the lot. Then she screams as her hair whips around her face. Her hands cling to the wild tresses, trying to herd them into good behavior.

I drop the speed. “What’s the matter, Red? Don’t like fast cars?”

“I wasn’t expecting it to be that fast.” She’s breathless. Her hands are clamped around her tiny bag.

I want to reach over and take one of them and lay it on my thigh, see how she reacts. But I’d rather she make the first move.

I weave through traffic at a more sedate speed. Head to West Hollywood, even though I know she lives in Santa Monica. I’m not done with her tonight.

“Where are we going?” she asks once she realizes we’re not heading toward her apartment.

“You up for being a bad girl, Red?” I rest my hand on the back of her seat as I pull the Corvette up to the pavement in front of a hotel.

“You brought me to a hotel?” She frowns. “You’re a jerk.”

“We’re not getting a room.” I climb out of the car. “Do you live in the gutter permanently, or…”

“What am I supposed to think? You bring me to a hotel and ask me if I want to be a bad girl.”

And damn, if she’d turned around and told me to get a room and fuck her all night long then I’d have changed my plans, but that isn’t what we’re doing here.

“Come on, live a little,” I coax, leaning on the door.

“I…” she runs her hands up and down her arms. The cool air has caused her skin to goosepimple and her nipples to poke at the soft material of her barely there dress. She pulls her lip in on one side. “It’s late. And I’ve been drinking.”

“And you’re worried you’re not safe with me?” I ask.

“I didn’t say that.” Her nose wrinkles.

“No, you said you weren’t scared of me,” I challenge her. “Remember that?”

She inhales and darts a glance at the street behind me. “I’m not. But you have a habit of getting arrested.”

“Not tonight.” Or at least I hope not. “Come on, Red. You know you want to be a little naughty.”

“Ugh, you’re a pain in my butt.” She scoots across the seat and gives me her hand, so that I can help her out. “I don’t know why I’m doing this.”

I let my gaze linger on her ass since she brought it up. “Because you’ve felt more alive hanging out with me these past few days than you have at any other point in your life?”

“God, you’re full of yourself.”

“You’re the one who called me God.” I close the door on the car. It beeps a couple times when I hit the lock button on the fob.

“That’s… you know what, I don’t feel like arguing with you. Just tell me what we’re doing.”

“You’ll see.” I grasp her elbow and lead her around the hotel to an employee entrance. Punching in a pin code, I hold my breath and wait to see if it’ll still work. When it does, and the doors open, I hurry Summer inside.

“Are we breaking in and pretending to be maid service?” She giggles as I lead her through the back area of the hotel.

“Not exactly.” I usher her into the foyer, which is empty except for the night clerk who doesn’t look up from whatever she’s doing behind the desk. “Quickly.”

“You’re going too fast,” she says as I draw her toward the bank of elevator.

One of them stands open as though waiting for us. I lead her into the box and pull a card out of my wallet that I swipe on the reader before punching in a button for the rooftop. Somehow the night clerk still doesn’t look up. “Is that going to be your thing from now on? Telling me that I’m moving too fast?”

“If the shoe fits.” One hand planted against the wall of the elevator, she bows sideways as she attempts to take off her heels.

“What are you doing?”

“Well, if you’re going to make me run, I want to be prepared.”

I snort under my breath. She has no idea how entertaining she is. “I’m not going to make you run. You can leave your heels on.”

“Good.” She collapses against the box wall, giving up all attempts to release her feet from the strappy sandals. “Because I don’t know that I could run.”

The elevator bumps to a stop. Her temporary safety measure splits into two doors, and I grasp her waist before she can fall through them.

“Ohmygod.” She clings to me, her knees giving way for a moment. “That was unexpected. Did you know they were there?”

I shrug.

She slaps my shoulder. “You could have warned me.”

“Now, where would the fun be in that?”

“Whatever.” She draws away from me and turns around. “Oh wow.”

A few fairy lights glow in the shrubbery around the perimeter of the rooftop pool deck. Dwarf tangerine trees in barrel pots adorn the area and fragrance the air. There’s a bar at one end with an entrance to a small café for open hours. Unfortunately, they’re long over.

“Are we… supposed to be up here?” Summer asks.

“Hmm. Don’t think so.” I wander around several of the cabanas. “Considering the pool is for hotel guests and you didn’t want to get a room.”

“We’re trespassing?” She drops onto one of the daybeds near the water. Stares out at the city lights. “Are we going to get arrested?”

“Only if you call the cops,” I tell her while I help myself to a couple bottles of water stocked behind the bar. Bringing them back, I collect towels from the stack of fresh ones left out for tomorrow’s guests. I drop them on the loungers before twisting the plastic cap off one of the water bottles and handing it to her. “Here. You could probably use this.”

“Stolen water?” She takes it like it might bite her at any second.

“Stop overthinking it.” I sit on the edge of the daybed and crack open the other bottle. “And go with the flow.”

She sips the water, nerves making her hand shake. “I don’t know. Isn’t this exactly the kind of behavior that got you on the Hollywood shit list in the first place? We should go.”

I pat her thigh. “Red, how are you ever going to fix me if you don’t understand me?”

“I’m not trying to fix you,” she says. “I’m trying to rebuild your reputation.”

“Which requires me being a good little boy and showing the world what a sweetheart I can be.” I stand up and grab the hem of my T-shirt. Rip it over my head. I don’t give a fuck what the world thinks of me. It never used to matter. Even when I was at my worst. Even when I was popping pills and fucking around nobody gave a shit.

Hell, I can’t count the number of times I’ve been arrested for public intoxication and indecent behavior. Not one single fucker cared until I beat their next pretty boy into a bloody pulp. And then they all cared so fucking much.

I pop the button on my jeans and shove them to the ground.

Behind me Summer gasps.

I might have forgotten to wear underwear, but then I didn’t know I was going to come here with her until we left the club. “I’m going swimming. Care to join me?”

“I’m going to stay here,” she says.

“Or you can do something you’ve never done before and skinny dip with me, Red.”

She drops her face in her hands when I turn around but not before she gets an eyeful of my junk. Even her hairline seems to turn scarlet. “I can’t do this. I can’t. I know, but… ugh.”

“Summer?” I frown at the woman who is now fully arguing with herself. Or talking to someone who isn’t here. “Are you okay?”

“Fine.” One hand still covering her face, she waves me toward the water before reaching for one of the buckles on her fancy shoes. “I’ll do it. But you have to get in the water first. Go. Get in. Before I change my mind.”

A couple of steps and I drop into the water below. It laps at the edge of the pool as I turn around and rest my arms on the tiles. “Alright, your turn.”

Dropping her hands away from her face she stands and grasps the hem of her dress, lifting it an inch before stopping. “I’m not wearing a bra.”

I’m aware. I have been all night. “That’s the point of skinny dipping, Red.”

“But—”

I put my hands up. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“I’m not sure that’s a compelling argument.” She giggle snorts. “After all, isn’t your inability to behave exactly why I’m here?”

“And here I thought it was because you don’t take no for an answer. Where’s my brave girl?”

“Uh, not your girl.” I practically hear the eye roll she casts my way in her voice. “Can you please turn around?”

“Whatever you need, kitten.”

She groans.

I smile, but I turn my back to her and stare out through the clear side of the pool at the city lights below. It’s one hell of a view, but I’m keenly aware of the rustle of clothes being removed, and I know I’m missing out on a much better one. “Put your clothes under the daybed in case security comes through.”

“You think security is going to come?” her voice is pitchy, like she’s freaking out a bit.

“No, I don’t.”

“Okay.” Her footsteps echo in the quiet space. “Don’t turn around yet.”

“Not going to.”

There’s a slight splash as she sinks into the water. “Okay, you can now.”

“How’s it feel?” I swallow hard. I can’t see her naked body, only her bare shoulders. The ends of her hair are floating. But my gaze still wants to rove beneath the surface of the water.

She clasps her hands to her biceps to keep her breast covered up, despite the fact that she’s already hidden. “What if we get caught?”

“Then we’ll have to run.” I chuckle.

She splashes me.

“You didn’t.” I wipe the drops from my face.

She lifts her hands from the water to gather her curls and ring the water out of them with a satisfied smile. “I did actually.”

“I’m going to get you, kitten.”

“Okay, now that has to stop.” She swims out of my reach. “We are supposed to have a professional relationship. Do you know what the word professional means?”

“Ha. You’re funny.” I swim after her. “Do you know what the word stalker means?”

“Uh, isn’t that what you did tonight?” She sticks her tongue out at me.

“And if I did?” I catch up to her on the other side of the pool. Her back to the wall, I cage her in with my arms.

She blinks up at me as though suddenly aware of how close I am. Her lips part on a catch in her throat.

“Well?”

“I can’t encourage that behavior.”

“Can’t or don’t? There’s a big difference, Red.”

She breaks eye contact first. Twists her head to the side. I watch the muscles in her throat flex. “So do you break into hotel swimming pools a lot?”

“I have, once or twice,” I admit. I want to run my thumb along the line of her cheek. I want to grip her throat and turn her into my kiss. I want to press my entire body against her and show her how much I want her. I want her to understand that it’s people like her, the ones who think everyone needs to be a shiny happy person, that are what’s wrong with the world.

“That all?”

“Well, it could be a half dozen times.”

She laughs softly.

“Fine.” I cover my heart with my hand. “Fifty times tops.”

“You have a swimming pool at the house.”

“I have two,” I admit.

“What?”

“Uh, the one outside.” My voice catches with embarrassment. “And a lap pool attached to the gym.”

She shakes her head. “That’s—”

“Overkill?” I snort softly. “You try being eighteen and having enough money to do whatever you want for the first time in your life. Most of my life we were on food stamps. I was working two jobs as well as attending school by the time I was in senior year. Mom had some mental health issues.”

Mine and Rogue’s father was non-existent, whoever he might have been. Riot’s stuck around but it mustn’t have been for too long, because he doesn’t remember the man and Rogue and I only have the vaguest memory of a man with a motorcycle. He’d been nice. Our mom was a lot to handle though. She was checked out most of the time. And when she wasn’t… well, there were more bad days than good ones.

Summer stares up at me like she’s seeing me for the first time. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s whatever.” I shake off the shitty pathetic bullshit that comes from thinking about the woman who birthed us and the years that followed. It’s a whole other lifetime ago. Not just in physical time, but in who we’ve become. “The three of us Maddox boys turned out just fine. Looked after one another. That’s why we’re so tight.”

She rests her hand on my bicep. “I think that’s the first bit of volunteered information you’ve given me. Thank you for sharing it with me.”

“Well, don’t get used to it.” My voice is gravelly, and her touch is unsettling. I don’t tell people jack about myself, let alone want their sympathy, and it feels fucking awkward. But I don’t shake off her touch because something about it soothes me. “And don’t think you can use it to make me sound like a sob story.”

“I… wouldn’t.”

“Sure, you would.” I lean in. Chlorine and tangerines and some sweet feminine scent that is all her fills my nostrils. My fingers curl against the pool wall. I lick moisture into my lips.

Her gaze follows my tongue.

I’m going to eat you alive, little girl. I’ll tear her apart with pleasure, all she has to do is let me in.

Soft pink lips part on an intake of breath when I squeeze the side of her throat with my hand and drop my mouth toward hers.

A door opens and a light flashes over the water.

“Oh my God.” She practically jumps into my arms before I get a chance to steal a kiss, her nails digging into my skin. “They’re going to catch us. And I’m naked. We’re naked. Shit. Shit. Shit.”

“Quiet now, kitten,” I whisper the order in her ear as I run my hand down over her hair to the back of her neck and draw her into the shadows of the grotto. My cock has turned to granite with the confusion of her clinging to me and the pain of her nails in my arm. I’m so hard I could pound through the cement like a human jack hammer. She’s going to freak out even more if she notices. “If you keep yelling like that, they’ll definitely find us.”

She claps a hand over her mouth. Then drags it off. “What about our clothes?”

“Let’s hope they don’t assume they belong in the lost and found.” I suppress a smile.

“Is anyone in here?” a man calls out. The light from his torch bounces around the rooftop again. “The pool closed at ten. You shouldn’t be in here.”

And here we are at one-thirty in the morning. I make an uh-oh face at her. “We’re in trouble now.”

“Ohmygod.”

“Hello?” the bodiless voice calls out again. Footsteps come nearer. The light hits the water a few feet from our hiding position. The man sighs. His footsteps recede. A door at the far end of the pool closes.

“That was so close,” Summer whispers.

“I bet you feel pretty badass right now.” I grin at her. I’ll have to remember to thank Ethan for letting me break into his hotel whenever I want to. Oh yeah, we’re not being half as bad as she thinks we are.

She disentangles herself from my grip. Her thigh brushes against my erection. The big guy jerks from what it perceives as attention, even though it was clearly an accident.

Eyes big as the moon, she turns and swims away from me. She’s pulled herself halfway up on the ledge before she remembers I’m not the only one who’s naked during this romp. “Close your eyes.”

I sigh and do as she told me to. I can’t stuff this hard-on into jeans anyway, and it’ll only get worse if I see her naked. “They’re closed.”

I hear her rustle around. And then something hits me in the face before it drops into the water. I open my eyes to find a towel floating in front of me.

“Payback,” she says.

“I guess I deserve that.” I toss the sodden towel on the cement as I exit the pool.

She’s dried off and dressed already. I collect a new towel from the storage cubby and scrub myself dry. Pull on my jeans, but leave the fly undone. Draw my T-shirt over my head and down my abs. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“What question?” She picks up her bag and pulls the strap over her shoulder. Carries her shoes with one finger.

I wrap an arm around her shoulder and hold the door open for her. “Do you feel like a badass?”

She ponders it as we make the short walk to the elevator. The doors close and we head toward the lobby.

She beams. “You know, I kinda do.”