King:Las Vegas Bad Boys(35)

"I feel like a pussy, needing help."

"Fuck that," Ace says. "A real man knows when to ask for help. I asked  for everyone's support when I wanted the property in the first place.  Now you can fucking learn how to be a man."

"By asking for help?"

"Exactly. Now, you need to work this all out right now, today?" he asks.

"Some of it, yes. It can't wait. Claire deserves a man who has a fucking house and a fucking job."

Ace doesn't disagree.

"Good luck, bro."

And then I leave the estate and get in the car waiting for me, before anyone else wakes up and sees me go.





Chapter Twenty-Six





Claire



When I wake up, my arms stretch out over my head and I yawn, reaching for Landon. But he isn't here. I'm in the bed alone.

I frown, instantly wanting his warm body, his arms to wrap around me,  his early morning stubble to scratch my face. To press against other,  more sensitive spots, too.

It's insane how I went five years without sex and how now I'm horny as  hell. Landon woke something up in me ... well, a lot of things. With  him, I feel awake in ways I haven't been in forever.

I need to tell him the truth. I need to tell him everything. And today, I will.

I'm thinking maybe I'll ask him to go on a quiet drive in the country.  Maybe even a picnic, because I am pretty sure that's what English people  do.

Then when the moment is right – but not too right, because the truth is I just need to come clean-I will tell him everything.

"Landon?" I call, pulling back the curtains around the bed. "Are you coming back? I need you."

I fall back on the pillows. So. Freaking. Horny.

My fingers reach down, under the sheet. I'm thinking that when Landon comes back to bed, he will love watching me touch myself.

I press a finger against my opening, spreading my entrance with my other  hand, so I can reach deep. Then I begin rubbing at my opening with my  thumb. Slow circles, hitting my clit with a deepening pressure.

I close my eyes, sighing as I allow myself to be in this moment,  imagining Landon coming back to bed, his massive morning erection ready  for me. When his cock is hard, it turns me on so fast.

I loved it when he pressed me against the door last night at the bar, how he pulled up my skirt and fucked me so hard.

Remembering his thickness inside my pussy, I begin to release. Visions  of his sexy smile and his soft lips fill my mind. I work in steady  circles, flicking at my clit as my pussy starts to get nice and wet.

My toes curl as I move a second finger inside, and I move in and out, in  and out, thinking of Landon inside me. My wetness soaks my hand; I'm  coming all over myself. I roll over to my side, moaning into my pillows.

I think of Landon's hands all over my breasts, licking my nipples, and  then deepening his thrusts, each memory with him floating over me as I  move my hand faster, and faster still.

And I come, not able to wait for him to return to the bed. The intensity  within my pussy walls mounts quickly, practically begging to explode.

I imagine his strong hands on my waist, his fingers in my pussy, and  press a third finger inside myself, reaching against my g-spot-creating  an electric buzz inside me as I pant, pushing, pushing, pushing against  that sweet spot as my legs shake.

My body reacts to the orgasms washing over me. Again, and again, and I  continue to come, thinking of Landon the entire time. Wanting Landon  inside me this very second.

When I'm done, I catch my breath, the longing for him intensifying. I need him inside me now.

I pull back the bed curtains, and call his name again.

But he doesn't answer. That's weird. I reach for my phone to see the  time, and as I do a piece of paper falls to the floor. I reach for it,  seeing my name.

Reading it, my brows furrow. He left?

I look at the phone, see that it's nine a.m. I immediately text him.

But he doesn't respond. Huh. He always answers.

I call, and it goes straight to voice mail.

"Hey, babe. Saw your note and just wondering were you went, exactly. Anyways, I just woke up, and am thinking of you."

I end the call and get up, realizing that there's no point in staying in bed alone.

I only want to be waking up beside him.



Once I'm showered and dressed, I call my mom and chat with her and Sophia.

"Everything okay there?" I ask.

"Honey, we're great," my mom says. "Sophia and I are fine. I just hope you're having fun, too. Not working too hard?"

"I wouldn't call what I'm doing work. I'm having an amazing time." I  pause, wondering if I should tell her how I've fallen for Landon ... but  I'm not ready for her response.







I have a pretty good idea of what that will be. She's the only one who  knows the truth. We had enough disagreements about it right after Sophia  was born, and I made her swear to never say another word about it.  Ever.

And she has listened to my request.

But I've also never brought a man home, never fallen in love. Never got fake-engaged. Never wanted to be real engaged.

And now I can't keep running. Now I need to clean up the mess I made a long time ago.

But I want to talk it through with Landon before I say anything to my  mom. Because if Landon ends things with me once he learns that I'm a  liar and a cheat, then I will have riled my mom up for nothing.

"Thank you for everything, Mom."

"When are you coming home again?" she asks. "Was it Sunday or Monday?"

"I'm actually not sure. I'll ask Landon and get back to you. Did you need me back at a certain time?"

"Honey, we both know I have nothing going on besides Bravo television. I think we'll be okay."

"I love you."

"Love you, too."

When I walk downstairs for breakfast, I'm slightly embarrassed by the  time of day; it's already ten in the morning. But when I enter the  sitting room, I realize I have nothing to blush over. The place is empty  except for Helen.

She sits with a book in her lap, and smiles warmly at me when I walk in.

"Am I interrupting?" I ask.

"Oh, not at all," she says, closing her book. "You kids must have had a fun night; this house is as quiet as a mouse."

"It was a good time," I say, sitting in the chair beside her. "Though, I  was surprised when I woke this morning. I had a note from Landon that  he had to leave on business?"

"He did? I don't know anything of it."

"Really?" I pull back in surprise. "Where did he go then?"

She shrugs delicately. "I'm not sure, Claire, but he said he'll be back tomorrow, and I'm sure he will stay true to that."

"Right." I smile tightly. I so wanted to talk to him today, to get  everything off my chest, so that, however we move forward with our  relationship, we can at least stop being dishonest with everyone.

I hate sitting here with Helen now, knowing she thinks Landon and I are something we aren't.

At least not exactly.

Because while we aren't really engaged, we are really in love.

Which is why him leaving like this is so strange.





Landon


When Ace's private plane lands, I step into the desert air with a grin.  McQueen and Jack are waiting for me. I'm fucking glad Ace called them,  because we have a lot of shit to discuss.

"What the hell, man?" Jack asks, the moment I take a seat in the limo. "Ace said you fucking proposed to Claire?"

"Right. I did. But."

"But what?"

"Okay, can I be straight with you guys? Like, you promise not to go  ape-shit on me? I couldn't tell Ace, because he's at my parents' place,  and Claire and I want to keep this on the down-low. I mean, it won't  matter in the long run, but now – "

"Dude, just fucking say it."

The limo is turning onto the freeway and I give the driver the address of where I need to go first.

"Okay, so we aren't really engaged. She's my fake fiancée."

I explain the deal to them, and they shake their heads the whole time.

"Man," Jack says. "Claire seems so straight-laced, so put together ... I can't believe she agreed to this."

"Well, I told her I'd give her a quarter of a million dollars if we pulled it off."

"So what's the problem?" McQueen asks.

"Two things. One, my dad's company is bankrupt, as I told Ace to explain."

"He did," Jack says.

"And, two, Claire and I fell in love, for fucking real."

"You're not messing with us?" Jack asks.

"No. Swear to God. But here's the kicker: Claire has a daughter."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" McQueen asks, punching me in the arm. "Shit, you are so over your head, bro."

I shrug. "I disagree. I love that woman, and her having a daughter doesn't change that."

"Love conquers all, right?" Jack shakes his head. "Fuck, man, I don't know. I have a feeling nothing is as easy as that."

"That's just because you're dating a fucking superstar," I tell him. "Your judgment on how real women act is skewed."

As I tell them this, I realize maybe I should have consulted Ace before I left.

But, fuck it, I want Claire to know I'm all in. When I return to my  family's estate with a job and house and a fucking plan for my dad's  business, she'll know I'm the only man she needs.