Including a back-up husband and a new community that didn’t know her.
“Not so innocent, right? Worthy of a biker bad boy like you.”
I laughed, the sound hollow, but she didn’t notice. Reaching into her robe I squeezed her tits, teased the nipples, and then kissed her although it nearly made me throw up. “True, lovely. Anyway, I didn’t come for sex. I need to run. I just wanted to make sure your husband won’t be coming after me, Corinne. Corey Jones has too much money. I don’t want to end up in a ditch somewhere.”
She cupped the back of my neck and pulled me in. “I’d protect you, Alex. Always. And don’t forget to come back soon. I have an itch you should scratch…” She licked into my mouth, trying to be seductive, and I pulled back after a few seconds.
“Okay, gotta run.” I pecked her lips again and then turned to the door.
I needed to get away, needed to breathe.
On the way out I turned the phone off blindly again. It took everything in me to go back to my apartment before I pulled the phone out.
The recording had worked. It wasn’t perfect, but I knew that it contained all I needed to not only ruin Corinne’s life now, but to also reinstate Anabelle’s custody with her father.
She was eighteen now, if I was right, and although it wouldn’t matter because she was her own person, I couldn’t help but think that Sebastian would approve of that.
Belle
“Yoga teacher, really?”
I knew Harlyn would hear about it. Hell, I didn’t think anyone would get around hearing the lie my mother had somehow sold to Corey.
I knew better. I’d walked into the house after the run-in with the tattooed biker and I’d found her in her bed, the remnants of her betrayal still sticking to her body as she slept.
She had cheated, and I felt as if she had personally betrayed me.
“Seems like it.”
I wanted to pass her by, but she wasn’t going to have that. “You went home after you found out. Did you confront her?”
I arched a brow. “About cheating when Corey had already settled that with her? In case you’re wondering… I didn’t go home. I went to the beach. It’s the only time you can catch a breath—when all of you crazies are in school.”
She huffed. “You realize you’re one of us, right?”
I leaned in close. “Listen, and listen hard. I’ve never been one of you deceiving bitches, and I definitely never want to be, either.”
I shouldered past her and intended to go to my next class when—
“Who is that hot piece over there?”
No matter how much I didn’t want to look, I glanced over my shoulder, finding a guy in jeans and a tight-fitting sweater standing in the middle of the hallway. It was as if everything turned silent as the girls stared at the guy and tried to figure out who he was and if he should be seen as a friend or better acquired as an ally.
His eyes swept over the girls as if he was searching for someone special and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was someone’s new college boyfriend, here to be shown off.
Something about him was familiar as he brushed a dark strand out of his face. When he didn’t find what he was looking for, he cocked his head. The moment Harlyn and her crew stepped up to him, I continued my way.
“Anabelle? She’s… Why would you look for her?” Harlyn clearly wasn’t amused, but instantly turned her charm on to convince him he really was looking for her.
Not wanting her to have that victory, I spun and marched over to them. “I’m the only Anabelle here,” I declared, not caring that Queen Bee was still speaking to him.
“Wow, I would have not… You… Wow.”
I blinked, surprised as I realized he was blushing. “I’m sorry, I don’t usually stammer, but… Anyway. Uhm… I’m Kip.”
My heart stopped, but then restarted in a beat twice as fast. I was sure I hadn’t heard him right. “Kid?” I tried the next possible explanation.
“No, Alexander Kipleton. Kip,” he insisted and I swallowed. I searched his face, recognizing the dark eyes and the long lashes, but besides that there was nothing else that reminded me of the boy from years ago.
“Wow.” Now I was the one to stammer.
He arched a brow at me. “Do you need to stay?”
I crossed my arms in front of my chest. “How did you find me now? And why didn’t you ever come around again? I waited for you.”
The audience we had was silent, and it was the first time I felt them watch me with pure envy.
I didn’t know how to handle that. He held out his hand to me, palm up, waiting for me to take it. “Come with me and I’ll explain. I promise.”
Again, there was a nagging in the back of my head, but I couldn’t quite place it. “I was bored of school anyway,” I decided and actually took his hand. His grip was strong, his fingers callused as if manual labor was what made him his money.
The car he led me over to after we exited school was run down, but looked well loved. “Everyone’s gonna talk about you now,” he stated as he opened the door for me.
I smirked. “No, everyone’s going to talk about you. Kinda wish you’d have just kissed me in there because we could use another scandal.” And that I meant. I wanted the story with my mom to blow over, and I knew if a stranger who’d just picked me up would have kissed me…
Besides, he was too damn handsome, all man. Wide around the shoulders, bulging biceps, tight ass, dangerous scruff.
Hell, he even had tattoos that vanished under his sleeves, wrapping around his wrists where I could see them.
He blinked. “Do you mean that?”
I shrugged.
