Calling Card Read online

  Sauntering the few paces to the corner where I’m leaning against the metal rail, she places her small hand on the bulge in my pants. Gently rolling her fingers around my package, the elevator dings and the doors open and I start to move forward, only we’re not on my floor. We come face to face with an elderly couple dressed to the nines stepping inside the small enclosure.

  I’m not exactly sure what the etiquette is when you’re sharing this space with others, but Twix doesn’t seem to care as she places her back to my front, hand still on my dick, and continues manipulating my body for her own devious pleasure. Biting back a groan when she slips her hand inside my pants and takes hold of bare flesh, I lean my head against the glass on the back wall and pull her closer to my body to disguise our actions. Having never been a voyeur of any sort, this game is all new to me, but it would appear that this beauty is no stranger.

  Luckily for me, the elderly couple exits the elevator a few floors later. In all actuality, it’s only seconds but feels like much longer. I’m finally able to release the breath I’d been holding when the doors close and it’s just us again.

  “Very ballsy, Twix.”

  Smirking, she moves her hand lower, grabs my testicles and performs the same rolling action between her fingers as earlier. “Speaking of balls.”

  My grip on her hip tightens, and had we not reached my floor, I might have taken her right here. I only have so much resolve in regards to aggressive women, especially ones who have the capability to have me so turned on that I feel like if I don’t get inside her immediately, I’ll stop breathing.

  Slowly, she withdraws her hand from my pants and places it my waiting palm. Together, we walk quickly to my room. It takes a moment or two for me to dig the keycard from my pocket, slide it into the door and get the green light to enter.

  I barely get the door kicked closed before she drops to her knees and begins to undo my zipper. “My room. Now,” I demand, pointing to the room I’m occupying, and she complies.

  Unhooking the clasp on her one shouldered dress, she lets the thin material slink down her body, pooling at her feet, leaving her only in a black bra, matching panties and the sexiest fucking stockings I’ve ever seen. She obviously knew what she was dressing for when she got ready earlier this evening. Gotta love a woman who comes prepared to not only play, but win.

  Smiling shyly over her shoulder, she makes her way to the bedroom. I’m trying very hard to keep my thoughts trained on the way her ass shifts as she walks, but the over the shoulder move, that belongs to Briar. There will never be another woman alive that has that look perfected, and Briar never even intended that to be her signature.

  Shaking thoughts of the past from my mind, I refocus as Twix crawls her way up my bed, resting seductively against the headboard. Slowly releasing the buttons on my shirt, one by one, I’m toward the last few when her hands slips inside her black thong and starts doing the job I’ve been thinking about since I first saw her.

  No, no, sweetheart, that’s what I’m here for.

  Moving at a quicker pace, I remove the rest of my garments and join in on the fun. “Starting without me, I see.”

  “Just getting ready. Come here,” she coos, patting the bed next to her. “Lie down, let Katie take care of everything.”

  Annnnnd we’re done. Tap out. I quit.

  Rolling off to the opposite side, placing my arms across my face, I let out a sigh. Where I got Emma or Ella from, I’ll never know, but she has to have one of the few names that will completely ruin the mood.

  “Or this way, that’s fine with me,” she says, scooting down to my waist, pawing at my crotch.

  “No,” I say forcefully, pushing her away.

  “What do you mean, no? Did you not bring me here to fuck me? Look, I’m here, half naked, in your bed, ready to be fucked. Wait, do you need something for...,” she looks down, raising her brow at my flaccid cock.

  “My dick’s fine, thanks for the concern. You should leave. I’ll text my driver to take you home.” Sitting up, I manage to get to my feet, put back on my pants and walk into the living area without giving her a second thought. I hear her rustling around in the room still, huffing and puffing then she starts yelling in another language, most likely Spanish.

  I notice her purse sitting on the sofa, so I peek inside, seeing exactly what I’m looking for. With my phone, I snap a picture of her ID. This way, at least, if the rumor mill starts churning again with stories of my cock being unable to function, I’ll know who started it and be able to sue for slander.

  Gathering her dress from the floor, she turns to face me, “This was the biggest waste of my time. You think because you’re some kind of famous photographer that you can treat women this way? You’re sadly mistaken. And to think, you didn’t even get to see how amazing I was. I bet I would’ve been a ten.”

  I hardly believe that she would have been anything higher than an eight, and now a six after this temper tantrum. Waste of her time? Yeah, well, I guess I can see that, but what should I have done, fucked her? Again, had she just kept her mouth shut. I’m starting to notice a common thread here.

  After snatching her purse from my hands, and a few more creative digs, she opens the door and nearly collides with another woman. Thinking Nicholas has brought someone back tonight as well, I move closer to the entrance of the room to break up any kind of cat fight that might ensue. Only, once I see who’s on the other side of that door, it’s me that might need a little assistance.

  “Briar?” I ask in disbelief.

  “I’d keep moving, lovey. This one isn’t very excited tonight. Couldn’t even keep his dick hard,” Katie snarls at Briar as she makes her way to the elevator banks and catches the one Briar just got out of.

  “Bad time?” Briar asks.

  “Dex,” she says softly and I can’t form any words.

  “Can I come in?” Still nothing. Shocked is an understatement. I’m baffled that of all places Briar could be tonight, it’s in London … looking for me, no less.

  “I shouldn’t have come. I’m sorry. Have a good night.” She turns to walk away, her blonde hair flowing behind her. With my heart racing, I step into the hall and dig deep to find my voice. Once I’m sure that a noise will come out when I speak, I holler after her.

  “Briar, wait. Come back.”

  Briar slinks back down the hallway with her carry-on slung over her shoulder. My mind is reeling. Why the hell would she have flown all this way? She could have called. I would’ve answered and discussed whatever she needed over the phone.

  “Is everything okay? Katelynn?” I ask as she walks over the threshold and into the living area.

  “I just wanted to clear the air. I feel like you left and we had a lot unresolved. I just want to fix whatever it is that’s wrong with us. You’re all I have left, Dex. I can’t lose you because I was stupid.”

  Letting it all sink in, I sit on the edge of the sofa she’s perched on, thinking of what to say. I’ve never been in a situation where I’m speechless. I usually have some kind of witty comeback or insightful knowledge, but now, I’m coming up blank.

  Fuck.

  “Should I leave?” Briar asks, rising from the couch.

  “No. Just give me a second, okay? I wasn’t expecting you.” Briar nods her head and I open the door, only enough for me to slip out and close it behind me. I make my way downstairs and into the cool night air. I need to breathe for a second.

  It was barely ten minutes ago and I was prepared to go balls deep inside of someone else, then Briar shows up out of nowhere and I’m freaking out inside. I was excited to get to London, put some space between us, and now, all I want is to be up there with her. What the fuck is going on with me lately? I need to figure this shit out or I’m going to go fucking crazy.

  After an unknown amount of time, I head back upstairs, ready to face whatever it is that’s brought Briar across an entire ocean. Taking a deep breath before I open the door, I remind myself that we’ve been friends forever
and I won’t take it to any other level with her. Who the hell am I kidding?

  When I enter my room, Briar’s pacing the floor, making me even more nervous than I was moments ago. When she notices me, her feet stop and her hands fly into her hair. The tears seem never ending as she runs into my arms. I stumble with the impact, but right myself just in time to console her as the emotions rush out of her body.

  “I have no idea what’s wrong with me,” she says, peeling away from me and wiping the mascara from her cheeks. “I’m like a big ball of crazy. Please forgive me.” Looking up at me through her tear-stained, runny makeup lashes, Briar gives me a weak smile.

  “Forgive you for what? Come on,” I take her hand, grab her bag and pull her into Nicholas’s room. There’s no way I can take her back to mine after having that bitch in my bed. Talk about disrespectful. Having known her for so long, I know exactly how she packs. Pulling out the only face wash she’s used since I met her, I hand it over and direct Briar into the bathroom to wash her face.

  While she’s cleaning up, I look further, seeing she hasn’t packed anything for Katelynn. “Where’s Katie?”

  “She’s with Erik’s parents. I asked them to keep an eye on her while I came here. It’s been a long time since they’ve spent any real time with her. They were all excited, really.”

  Walking across the suite, I take Nicholas’s personal belongings that he never unpacked and put them in my old room, and take mine back to his. I need to remember to text him after I get Briar situated, but for now, I place a call to housekeeping and request a change of sheets so Nicholas doesn’t have to sleep where I nearly nailed some bar tramp.

  Hearing the water still running on the other side of the door, I take it upon myself to search for her sleep clothes. Not seeing any pajamas in her carryon, I pull a tee shirt of mine from the drawer and hand it to Briar though the door when the shower stops. As she gets dressed, I change into a pair of sweat pants and prepare for the talk that tells me why she had to show up in London. We discussed what happened. We decided to let it go. None of this is making any sense and it’s making me feel things I’ve never felt.

  Briar emerges into the bedroom, fresh faced and dressed in only my shirt. A crazy, animalistic sense of pride sweeps over me, somewhat drowning me in its intoxicating gratification. Even without a stitch of makeup, Briar’s natural beauty outshines any other woman I’ve met before. She’s breathtaking … and wearing only my clothing. I can’t be thinking about fucking her right after I nearly had sex with someone else.

  Get a fucking grip, bro. This is Briar. Not some skank you picked up. Show some fucking respect.

  “Come here,” I say, suffocating my arrogance, patting the spot on the bed beside me. She slowly stalks toward me, climbing her small frame onto the bed and nestling her bare legs under the comforter. “Okay. Tell me. Why did you come all this way? What couldn’t wait until I got back or that you couldn’t just call me?”

  “I don’t know. After you left, I felt really weird. Like, I had to see you or something. I tried to ignore it, but the more I did, the more it was driving me crazy. I … I don’t know.” Embarrassed, trying to conceal the blush on her cheeks, she burrows her head into her chest and slides down the bed until her entire body, except for the top of her head is covered by the blanket.

  “Hey,” I say softly, coaxing her out of hiding, “When have you ever been nervous around me? Get outta there. Talk to me. I’m here, you’re here.”

  Slowly, she peeks out, eyes closed. “I have no idea what I’m doing, Dex.” Shaking her head, she laughs nervously. I’ve never seen her act this way. This is a totally new side of Briar, and it’s adorable.

  “You’ve had a long flight and I’ve had a long day. I have a shoot tomorrow for the magazine; how about you come with me? We’ll get lunch afterward and try to figure out why you traveled across the Atlantic.”

  Briar offers me a slight smile, scoots to the opposite edge of the bed and rolls to her side. “Night, Dex.”

  Closing the distance, even though I feel like I should leave well enough alone, I wrap my arm around her middle and pull her toward me. Even through my sweatpants, the heat radiating off her body has me wondering what she’s wearing under my shirt. The only thing I can think is she’s absolutely naked, as I didn’t pass her anything else but the tee. I try my damnedest to hide the erection starting to grow in my pants, but the effort is futile.

  Briar giggles and shakes her head, “If you’re having … difficulties … you don’t have to hold me, but it does feel really nice to be in the arms of a man, even just for a night.”

  Tightening my grip, I press my body as close to hers as possible, “Sorry about this. I tried, I really did, but you’re wearing my shirt and no underwear. What do you expect?”

  “It’s cute.” And there goes my ego. My dick isn’t cute; it’s a beast … a monster … a weapon of mass destruction … not fucking cute. Tightening my lips so I don’t say something stupid and ruin the moment, I close my eyes and begin to drift off to sleep, knowing exactly how she feels.

  Even though relationships are for pussies, holding a beautiful woman in your arms all night is great. The silkiness of her skin, the smell of her hair, the way her ass presses into your dick all night … yeah. I can do that anytime.

  Briar’s breathing evens out before I pass out. She softly snores, wait, scratch that, women don’t snore, they make little noises. Right? Who the fuck am I kidding…she’s snoring. Briar must have been absolutely exhausted. Before, when we would hang out all night, I was always the first to fall asleep.

  As I’m breathing in her cherry scent, the door to the room flies open. Fuck. I never did text Nicholas. Lifting my head just enough to make eye contact with him, I raise my hand from Briar’s waist and put my finger to my lips, signaling him to be quiet. Nicholas raises a brow.

  “You kept one overnight? In your room? Are you feeling okay?” he whispers.

  “Briar,” I say quietly, pointing down.

  Snickering as he pulls the door closed, I know I’ll have to explain this in the morning.

  Thankfully, the evening’s ending with the right girl in my arms, even if I didn’t fuck her. It’s Briar who I’d rather be with, anyway.

  Waking up this morning after having slept the best I have in quite a while, I carefully slip my arm from around Briar’s waist and remove the one under her pillow and stretch. When my fingertips regain blood flow, I climb off the side, and for the first time that I can remember, I don’t rush to get dressed and slip out the door before she wakes up.

  It’s actually a lot less awkward than I thought it would be. Instead of fleeing into the dawn, I make my way into the kitchen to start the coffee maker. While it brews, Nicholas emerges from his bedroom looking like death has been knocking on his door but he refused to answer.

  “Well, good morning, sunshine,” I joke, pouring him a mug and pushing it down the countertop.

  “Wanna tell me why we switched bedrooms? Or, better yet, how the hell Briar’s in London?”

  “Briar just showed up and I couldn’t let her sleep in a bed where I had just had some bitch from the club. Even if I didn’t fuck her, she was ass naked on those sheets.”

  “So, you let me sleep in the slut sheets? Dude, not cool.” His face twists with disgust as he takes a sip of the coffee. “If I get herpes, I’m kicking your ass.”

  “She didn’t have herpes, dude. Do you think I’d fuck a bitch with an STD? Not to mention, I was kind enough to call housekeeping and had them change your sheets before you got back.”

  “I’m going to plead the fifth on that one, Sir.”

  “What did I tell you about that sir shit? When we’re working, fine, whatever makes you happy. Any other time, no. Just don’t fucking do it.” I shake my head in annoyance as Briar comes walking into the room, still only wearing my shirt. I want to jump up from the bar, grab a sheet and wrap it around her. I don’t want anyone seeing her like this but me. She’s mine.

>   Mine?

  Fuck. Here we go again. I need to get a grip. I’m losing my damn mind.

  “Morning,” she mutters, pouring herself a cup and sitting across from us. “What are you guys talking about so seriously this early?”

  “Nothing,” Nicholas and I say in unison.

  “Must be juicy. Y’all were too quick on that one,” Briar giggles.

  “Something like that,” Nicholas murmurs, heading back to his room to get ready for the day.

  Following suit, I leave Briar alone at the breakfast bar to shower and change.

  ****

  Today of all days, my first day back to work after the fright of the scandal, is the day that had I been playing Never Have I Ever, I would be completely trashed by now, and it’s only ten in the morning. From spending the morning with a woman I had slept with, but not fucked, to getting dressed with her…I’m barely able to function with all of this domestic stuff I’m doing.

  Is it possible that this exposé has changed me? Made me someone different? That’s all I can keep thinking … is that I’m not the same person I was two weeks ago. I’m just not sure that I like it.

  Briar decided to join me at the photo shoot today, which will be a nice change of pace. I’m used to doing everything on my own, not even having an assistant to help change the lighting or adjust a piece of wardrobe.

  Walking into the warehouse where today’s job will be, it’s the same type spread I’ve done time and time again—the bare bones of a building, with a rustic sense, specifically picked out to accentuate the items to be displayed. It’s a genius concept and comes out excellently in print.

  I had assumed that it would be the actual magazine I would be working with, but it’s actually a lingerie company that’s getting a few pages of advertisement. This might be the exact thing I need to knock me out of my funk—a dozen women wearing some of the sexiest lingerie that I’ve ever seen. If I can only shake the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach, probably due to Briar being here, I’ll have a great time.