Page 9 of Bad Boy Husband
JAMESON
I rolled up to Trent’s house just after lunch. The Texas sunshine beat down with enough force to make the asphalt shimmer. The house—or hell, not a house, but a compound—rose up in front of me, sitting behind an iron gate big enough to repel a small army.
The place was pretty classic for Westlake, Texas, all limestone, black steel, and massive glass windows.
I pulled off my sunglasses and let my eyes adjust to the bright light as I parked out front.
Compared to my luxury townhouse back in San Francisco and even my mansion on my parents’ property, Trent’s place was obscene.
Although it had probably cost half as much. This was Texas, after all. A dollar here didn’t just stretch, it did leaps and cartwheels.
“Westwood! Finally, where have you been, man? I thought you’d changed your mind on us.” Trent bounded down the steps with a wide grin on his lips.
I climbed out of the car and shrugged. He pulled me in for a back-thumping hug so tight, we nearly cracked each other’s ribs. “I find the anticipation makes it sweeter. Are the others here already?”
“Hell yeah,” he said as he released me. “Are you ready for a weekend of golf, whiskey, and regrettable decisions?”
“I don’t regret any decision I make. It’s the stuff I don’t think about that gets me.”
He chuckled. “Come on inside. We’ve got a cold one waiting for you. Can I send someone to help with your stuff?”
“Nah. It’s just one bag. Are you telling me the others brought more luggage than that for a guys’ weekend?”
“Warren did.” Trent pumped his eyebrows as he walked with me to the trunk, waiting for me to get my bag out. “You know him, though. Always looking like he’s just stepped off a yacht and is about to board another.”
I laughed. “God, some things never change.”
“Amen to that, brother.” He led me inside, to where a few familiar faces were clustered around the kitchen island.
Half a dozen empty beer bottles were already spread out on top of it, music we’d listened to in our old boarding school days blasting through a little speaker more powerful than most people’s orgasms. Warren spotted me first, his voice booming above the music as he stepped out from behind the island and opened his arms.
“Jamie! What took you so long, dude? We were starting to wonder if you’d shacked up with a flight attendant or something.”
I laughed and gave him a rib-cracking, back-thumping hug too. “Some of us had to travel more than ten miles to get here. San Francisco is not just another suburb of Dallas.”
“Bullshit. The whole world’s just another suburb of Dallas.” He grinned as he stepped away from me, gesturing at his clothing. “How do you like the new look?”
The clothes were fine but they were a shocking shade of yellow. I sighed and gave him a mock, disapproving shake of my head. “It looks like you raided your mother’s closet.”
“Bright colors won’t kill you,” Warren said. “I don’t want to dress like everyone else.”
“I tried to take him to Wrangler the other day.” Curtis, who I’d roomed with for one of my four years at high school, stepped up to shake my hand. “Poor guy acted like he’s too good for denim. What the hell kind of Texan are you?”
Warren rolled his eyes. “I walk my own path. You can all be fucking drones if you want.”
Andrew, the last of the assholes who had joined our motley crew back in the day, smirked at him. “No fucking this weekend. Drones or otherwise.”
I grabbed the beer Curtis was holding out to me and joined them around the island. It was good to have the old crew back together again. We shot the breeze for a while, talking about life, the markets, and all sorts of other crap until Trent clapped me on the shoulder.
“Come on,” he drawled. “Let me show you around.”
I nodded, following him through a large living and entertaining space toward the sliding doors that led out to the pool. Just before we reached it, his phone rang, and after he checked it, he gave me an apologetic grimace.
“I’ll give you the tour in a minute. I just need to take this real quick.”
I jerked my chin in a nod and kept heading to the doors. He didn’t need to be with me while I got a look at this place. When I stepped outside, I blinked against the glare bouncing off the water. Then my gaze snagged on a splash of color in the shape of a red bikini stretched out across a lounger.
My heart jerked. Sadie. What the fuck are you doing here?
She was lying back with her legs crossed at the ankles, strands of damp hair curling around her shoulders and her bikini top doing a criminal job of containing her full tits. She raised her head just enough to look at me over the top of her sunglasses, arching a single brow.
The gesture was silent but sharp, as if she was daring me to say something. My jaw flexed, heat crawling under my collar despite the air-conditioning at my back.
Of fucking course she’d be here. And of course she’d be looking like that, like temptation wrapped in sin.
I didn’t bother hiding my stare from her and she didn’t bother pretending she cared what I thought. It was both the worst and best thing about her. The background noise of the music and Curtis bragging about his new boat faded. My pulse kicked up, my heartbeat suddenly thumping in my ears.
So much for a quiet weekend of golf and drinking with the boys.
I took a breath, slipped my sunglasses back on, and let my lips curl into a slow smirk. Well, this weekend is about to get a hell of a lot more interesting.
Back inside, the AC hit me like a smack in the face, the cool air cutting through the heat that had settled under my skin. Trent came jogging over to me, sighing as he slid his phone back into his pocket.
“Sorry about Sadie being here,” he said immediately. “I meant to warn you before you arrived, but then the others got here, and well, that call came in at just the wrong time.”
I shrugged. “Hey, don’t apologize. It’s your house, your rules.”
He blew out a decidedly frustrated breath and shook his head. “Yeah, but I promised you a guys’ weekend, not a forty-eight hour period of being trapped with a drama queen.”
I chuckled, but worry and curiosity were burning deep in my gut. “What’s she doing here? Last I heard, she was still out in California.”
“Yep, she was. Until three days ago when she blew back into town on the Shepard jet in the middle of the night. My parents were thrilled until she got into it with them pretty much before she’d even unpacked her bags.”
“Which is why you’re offering her safe harbor for now?” I guessed.
Irritation flared to life in his crisp blue eyes, but he nodded. “I was worried that if I left her there, she’d wind up burning down the whole dang ranch.”
I tried to keep my expression neutral. “Perfectly understandable.”
Trent’s mouth twisted into half-apologetic, half-amused smile. “We’re all heading out to the ranch for the big BBQ on Sunday. I’m going to try to smooth things over between her and the folks, then. Let’s just try to keep her distracted till then, yeah?”
Before I could answer, he added the kicker, his tone all nonchalant like it was nothing. “Oh, and you’re in the pool house with her.”
I froze. “I’m what now?”
“Relax. It’s not a studio apartment. The place has four bedrooms and three baths. She’s in the room on the left. I’ve already told her you’re taking the master.”
My gaze lifted to the long hallway leading away from the living areas. “I don’t need the master. I’ll take any other room you’ve got. It’s just a weekend, right?”
“Yep, but most of my furniture has already been moved to the new place.” He raked a hand through his hair and jerked his chin toward the kitchen, where I heard Curtis and Andrew arguing about craft beer. “I don’t trust those other idiots around my sister, but you? You’re harmless.”
I gritted my teeth so hard that my jaw ached. If only you knew, Trent.
Half a second away from telling him that I would just check into a hotel for the weekend, I finally realized that I couldn’t make a big deal about this.
I was nearly as nonchalant as he was. In fact, I was very much chalant about this.
The biggest kind of chalant there was or ever could be, but if I refused, he would wonder why.
“Yeah,” I muttered eventually. “That’s fine. We’re going to be out most of the time anyway, right?”
Relief washed over his features as he nodded. “Thanks, man. I knew I could count on you. Get settled in. We’re due on the golf course in an hour.”
Happy for the excuse to have a minute to myself to get my head wrapped around this, I went to grab my carry-on and carried it outside to the pool house.
Sadie didn’t bother sitting up when I walked past the lounger, just chuckling low and throaty under her breath before flipping a page in the paperback on her lap.
The sound hooked deep in my chest, twisting something sharp and familiar, but I tightened my grip on the suitcase and kept moving.
There were so many things I could’ve said, ranging from witty, to dirty, to disapproving and judgmental, but I bit it all back and pushed through the wide front door of the pool house.
Trent had been right when he’d said it wasn’t small.
Despite the shock of the last few minutes, I still let out a low whistle as I walked inside.
This place was bigger and more spacious than most people’s primary residences, with polished floors underfoot, ridiculously high ceilings, and tasteful white and blue furnishings.
Still, to me, it was about as welcoming as a confessional right then. I dropped my suitcase on the bed in the biggest bedroom at the end of the hall, shut the door behind me, and pressed my palms to the cool marble counter in the en-suite bathroom, staring at my reflection in the mirror.
Beneath the smirk, the pristine blue Henley, and the careful grooming, my pulse was still thundering. My cock was pressing against the fly of my jeans after that view I’d just gotten of her and my mind was racing.
Sharing a roof with Sadie, even one big enough to house a three-child family with parents, was going to be a special brand of torture I hadn’t signed up for. Play it cool, Westwood. It’s just a weekend. It’s going to be fine.
I exhaled, splashed some cold water on my face, and stood there until I’d forced my heartbeat into something resembling calm. I’d faced much, much bigger challenges than this and I’d always managed to come out on top.
If anyone could share a house with an old flame that still got under his skin and survive, it was me. Especially since this would also give me the opportunity to see if I could still get under hers.