Chapter 40

CHAPTER40

“Oh…fuck…no…” Bryce said hollowly while Cayley sat there, seething in justified rage as she narrowed her eyes on the large man that looked like he was about to be sick.

She didn’t say anything, mostly because of the tape covering her mouth, but then again, it didn’t seem as though there was anything left to say. So, she simply sat there, taped to a chair as she watched Bryce swallow hard seconds before a look of resignation came over his handsome face as he turned around and headed into her bathroom.

A moment later, he returned with a pair of scissors, and without a word, began cutting through the tape. As soon as her right arm was free, Cayley was reaching up and tearing the tape off her mouth before reaching over and tearing the tape off her left arm. Once she was free, she stood up, stumbled, ground her jaw, and turned around, grabbing hold of the chair that she’d spent the last two hours taped to and dragged it out of the closet.

When Bryce opened his mouth to say something, Cayley shook her head once with a glare as she picked up the chair, tested its weight, and with a nod, she turned around and dragged it behind her on her way to her door, only to find it locked. Not really surprised, Cayley closed her eyes, slowly exhaled and when she felt that she wasn’t going to start screaming, she opened her mouth, only to shake her head, close her mouth, and slowly exhaled again.

That was followed by counting to ten before she opened her eyes again, cleared her throat and said in her sweetest tone, “Sean?”

“Yes, pookie?” came the bored reply from behind the safety of her locked bedroom door.

“Can you please open the door so that I could have a word with you?” Cayley asked, picking up the chair and got into position as she waited for the bastard that finally went too far to open the door so that she could beat the shit out of him.

“That’s really not going to work for me, not after I went through so much trouble to do this for you,” Sean said with a heartfelt sigh, only to follow that up with, “You’re welcome.”

Slowly exhaling, Cayley said, “Open the door,” as her grip tightened around the chair.

“And ruin the incredibly romantic night that I have planned for you? I really don’t think that’s an option.”

“Romantic night?” Cayley repeated back in disbelief. “You taped me to a chair and shoved me in a closet so that you could interrogate your brother. How in the hell is that a romantic night?”

“God, you really are high maintenance,” came the muttered response that had her left eye twitching. “I’ve ensured that you will not be disturbed as well as prepared a romantic dinner for two,” Sean said, making her frown.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Cayley demanded, setting the chair down on the floor as she shifted her attention to the windows and-

“I already secured the windows, pookie, to ensure that you didn’t ruin this for me,” Sean said, making her shake her head in disgust as she shifted her glare back to her bedroom door.

“And this romantic dinner for two?” Cayley asked, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose as she felt a headache coming on.

“I placed it in the closet next to you,” Sean drawled, sounding pleased with himself.

Nodding, Cayley dropped her hand away and made her way back to the closet, absently noting that Bryce was sitting on the edge of her bed with his head in his hands.

Deciding that she’d deal with one James brother at a time, she walked into the closet and went right for the large box that Sean shoved inside with her and pulled it out. In seconds, she had the box ripped open and couldn’t help but wonder how a shitload of junk food, Gatorade, bottles of water, and a disturbing amount of condoms counted as a romantic dinner. Dropping the box of Twinkies back into the box, Cayley grabbed a bottle of water and took a sip as she wondered how she was going to make this look like an accident.

She probably wouldn’t be able to pull that off, Cayley realized, surprisingly okay with that. More than ready to start her life behind bars, she made her way back to the door, opened her mouth, and-

“Stop trying to ruin my fucking special night!”

-sighed heavily and turned around, knowing that she was going to have to figure out another approach. For a moment, Cayley considered asking the man that hadn’t said a word to her to break the door down, but knowing Sean, he probably already came up with a way to barricade the door to stop that from happening. Reluctantly resigning herself to spending the rest of the night stuck in here, Cayley turned around and headed for the bathroom, only to feel her shoulders slump in defeat when the little bastard started playing romantic music, no doubt, to set the mood.

“I really hate that little bastard,” Cayley mumbled pathetically as she headed straight for the shower, pulling her clothes off as she went, and stepped inside, where she fully planned on staying until the need to kill the little bastard with her bare hands subsided.

When she got out of here, she was going to…wonder why Bryce was stepping into the shower with his clothes on. She opened her mouth only to end up swallowing hard when he said, “I’m sorry, Cayley.”

“I fucked up, God knows I’ve fucked this up, but I never meant to hurt you,” Bryce said hollowly while she stood there, unable to help but frown up at him as she tried to figure out what he was talking about.

When she continued blinking up at him, Bryce reached up and rammed his fingers through his hair, looking completely lost as he said, “Say something.”

“I would if I knew what the hell you were talking about,” Cayley said, only to mutter to herself as she took in his ruined clothes.

Wondering what she was going to do with him, Cayley reached up and began working the buttons on his shirt free, only to have Bryce cover her hands with his as he said, “I made a deal to get Thomas House by spending time with you,” once again, making her frown up at him in confusion.

“And?” Cayley asked, watching as Bryce’s hopeless expression turned to confusion.

“Did you hear what I just said?” he asked, frowning down at her.

“Did you forget that I grew up with your family?” Cayley countered, pushing his hands away so that she could set back to work and get his clothes off so that they could finish their shower, dry off, and he could spend the rest of the night snuggling her to help combat the overwhelming need to beat the shit out of his brother.

As she pulled his shirt free and shoved it off, Cayley couldn’t help but wonder if this would be considered premeditated. Probably, she thought, feeling her shoulders slump, only to find herself considering inviting Sean to go sledding with her this weekend, rubbing oil on the bottom of his sled, and shoving him towards-

“I want you,” Bryce said as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.

“You want me?” Cayley asked as her grip tightened around his wet shirt.

“God, yes,” Bryce said, brushing his lips against hers, only to go still when she asked, “How much?”

“More than anything,” Bryce whispered as he moved to deepen the kiss, but she felt that it was important to clear this up.

“Enough to worship my body when the need arises?” Cayley asked, loving the way that his lips twitched against hers as she reached for his belt.

“I believe that I can handle that,” Bryce promised, slowly brushing his lips against hers as he toed off his shoes.

“Enough to take care of all my snuggling needs?” Cayley asked as she pulled his belt loose.

“More than enough,” Bryce assured her, smiling as his hands found her hips and pulled her closer.

“Enough to beat your brother to within an inch of his life in my honor?” Cayley asked, admittedly hopeful as she felt him go still, only to sigh as he brushed his lips against hers one last time before he pulled away with a shrug and made all of her dreams come true with three little words.

“More than enough.”