So Toxic(Bad Boy Next Door Book 4)(41)

I cast a scowl at her. “Did what?”

“It! I can hardly believe it…you finally gave it up.” She slaps her hands over her mouth. Then she throws her arms around me, squeezing. “My little girl has grown up.”

“Get off me. It’s no big deal.” I push her away.

“No. Big. Deal.” She tilts her head, chewing her lip. “Hmm. I’d have thought that boy would know what he’s doing, what with all that swagger.”

With a roll of my eyes, I say, “You’re funny. He knows what he’s doing.”

“How can you tell? You don’t have any point of reference.”

Grabbing a lock of her red hair, I yank. “Brat.”

“Bitch.” She rubs the spot on her scalp, smiling.

I get to my feet, turning so she can finish with the buttons. “It’s getting late, I should get home to my fake house and my soon-to-be fake husband.”

“Whatever you do, don’t fall in love with him. He’s not Mr. Right. He’s Mr. Right Now, and definitely not the forever type. After the way your life has treated you, that’s the last thing you need.”

After fishing my jeans and t-shirt from under the pile of accessories littering the dressing room, I pull them on as quickly as I can.

I open the door.

Terri stands right in front of me, her fist poised to knock.

“Oh. I was just coming out.” I step by her. “Pick whichever dress you liked best.”

“But not the last one?”

“It doesn’t really matter, I guess. Whatever.”

Suddenly sobered, Terri gives me a small smile and a nod. “Okay. I’ll take care of it.”




I let myself into the house—the house that somehow has come to feel like home already.

In the living room, Jake and Ty relax with their feet propped on the coffee table, each nursing his own beer.

I stand at the doorway, taking stock and unnoticed.

Jake shakes his head. “I can’t believe you’re going through with this.”

“Why? You know how much Caden means to me.”

“Yeah, but to marry someone to get him? C’mon, Ty, even for you, that’s going a bit far.”

Ty stretches his arms over his head. “I’m paying her—paying her well. She’ll get her big, fat bonus at the end so she can get on with her life. And I’ll be returning to my life too.”

“A life of debauchery and one-night stands?”

Tyson taps his long-neck bottle against Jake’s. “You bet your ass.”

My throat tightens.

Ty takes a long swig of his beer. “Besides, it’s a win-win. I’ll have my son, and she’ll have a nice little nest egg all put away for when she decides to settle down for real.”

Jake leans forward, elbows on his knees as he studies Tyson. “Dude, that’s fucked up. She’s going to be your wife, and you’re already talking about her next husband.”

Ty shrugs. “Well, I think Jo wants the whole thing…that elusive dream that has been sold to women by every fairytale and romance novel on the market. But I have no intention of falling in love. Love is a joke played on any poor bastard who’s dumb enough to believe its lies and false promises of happily ever after. No thanks.

“Plus, it’s not like Jo loves me or anything. Hell, I don’t even think she likes me most of the time.”

I clear the lump from my throat and speak up so they’re sure to hear me. “Trust me. She doesn’t. Especially at this very moment.”

I slam my bedroom door. Wiping away hot tears, I throw myself onto my bed.

One thing is for certain—Stevie’s not wrong.





THIRTEEN





I glide through the water for a moment before I kick and pull. Each stroke is all about exercise. Okay, so it’s really more about replacing the daily endorphin release I’ve been getting with Ty when we have sex.

I’d say make love, but what we do isn’t making love.

Tyson Masters doesn’t love me. And I can’t let myself love him.

I won’t jump off that bridge. It would be stupid.

Stevie’s right. My life has been nothing but shattered glass. The last thing I need is a broken heart to add to the mess.

So. No more sex. I’ll swim. I’ll jog. I’ll learn to do yoga—hot yoga, maybe. Hell, I’ll jazzer-fucking-cize with the senior citizens at the local Y, if I must, but no sex with Ty.

Three lengths of the pool down. Two more to go. I swim harder, trying to find a rhythm between my strokes and my breaths.

At the far side of the pool, I flip again and push off the wall. A big splash halts me in the middle of the water.

Ty.

His head breaches the surface, and he swipes the water from his eyes. “Hey, glad you’re getting some use out of it. It’ll be even better when it heats up a little more.”