Indiscretion: Volume Three (Indiscretion #3) (3 page)

It felt good. With each plunge into her, a little piece of it chipped away.

Chloe’s eyes were watering a bit, but she made no motion to try and stop my movements.

“I’m close,” I huffed out, giving her the option of pushing me away if she didn’t want to swallow me down.

She didn’t. Instead, she brought a hand around and found my sac again, massaging it, then pressing her fingers into the sensitive spot behind it. Without much warning, my release rocketed up my shaft and deep into her throat as I held myself there until I was emptied completely.

Fuck…
that was like a religious experience or some shit.

Chloe moaned again, her hand moving to the base of my shaft while she brought her mouth up to the tip, kissing it, worshipping it like
I’d
just been the one to bring
her
to the finish line.

I released my hands from her head and took a step back, reaching out to help her up. She wiped the area around her mouth and chin off with the back of her hand, and let me pull her into a standing position.

“Did I hurt you?” I asked, suddenly ashamed at my lack of control and how rough I’d been.

“Of course not.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned into me, those big, dark chocolate eyes looking up at me. “That was amazing.”

“I wasn’t too rough?”

She kissed my lips softly and pulled back. “Max, there is no bigger turn on than knowing that
I
was the one that caused you to lose control.”

I shook my head at her in disbelief. “You’re the only one that has ever made me so crazy that I can’t think straight when my cock is within ten feet of you.” I chuckled to myself at the absurdity of how true that statement was.

Surprise registered on her face. “Really? The only one?” It was clear from her tone that she didn’t believe me.

“Only you.” I bent to kiss the tip of her nose, continuing down until I grabbed the towel from the floor and wrapped it around my waist again.

“I’m sure there’s been many to choose from,” she returned, sarcasm evident in her voice.

I nodded without thinking. “For a time there was, then I got engaged.”

Stupid.
Why the fuck did I say that?
You didn’t bring up former lovers and ex-fiancés one minute after coming in another woman’s mouth. Not if you wanted to carry on with that privilege in the future.

She blinked wide a couple of times. “Well, lucky me then.” She removed her hands from around my neck and took a step back from me.

I reached for her hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Forget it.” She waved me off with one hand. “I stepped right into that one myself. Besides, it’s not like I thought you were a monk before we met. I mean, look at you.”

I raised a brow and decided to take her cue and move on from the topic of my past lovers. “So you think I’m good-looking?” I asked with a grin, wagging my eyebrows in jest.

Chloe rolled her eyes in the most adorable way. “Like you didn’t already know that.”

“What do you find most appealing about me exactly?” I stepped toward her and backed her into the door again until I was pressed up against her body.

She gave me a pointed look, gently resting her hands against my chest. “If you think I’m giving you any more ammo to feed that already over-inflated ego, you’re dead wrong.”

I laughed. “I’d argue with you, but you’re probably right.”

“I know I’m right,” she said smugly.

Raising a hand up to cup her cheek, I asked, “So…what’re we going to do about these old farts trying to keep us from enjoying ourselves?”

The playfulness from moments earlier vanished from her face. “No one can see us together. Outside of preparations for the fundraiser, which I already told Mr. Cullen about, no one can see anything to suspect that we might be seeing each other.”

I shrugged then nodded. “I understand. Small town. People talk.”

“Exactly.” Her brow furrowed. “It’s not going to be easy.”

“I realize that. It
will
be worth it though.”

A sudden thought about what had brought her here in the first place came to mind. “Can I ask you something?”

“Okay…” She hesitated.

“Why was the article in the paper circled in marker?”

Chloe’s body immediately stiffened and concern flashed across her features. “It was sitting on my kitchen table this morning, open to that page, just like that.” She swallowed hard.

I’d thought it odd when she’d first flashed it at me in her anger but hadn’t had the opportunity until now to question her about it. “When you say it was sitting on your table…” The icy hands of dread began to grip me as I waited for her answer.

She nodded, two short, jerky motions that advertised the fact that this wasn’t a good thing. “While I was sleeping upstairs last night someone must’ve come into my house and left it there.”

I stepped back like she’d slapped me across the face. “Are you fucking serious?”

Again, she nodded. “Someone wanted me to see that article, Max.” She was so quiet, I could barely make out the words.

I started pacing back and forth, biting on the tip of my thumb like I always did when I was trying to work something out in my brain. “Who? Who would care enough to do that?”

“I have no idea.” She looked like a child, so lost and unsure of herself.

Could it have been her boss trying to drive the point home about what a bunch of assholes we Richfields were? He wasn’t far off the mark. Who else would give a shit if Chloe saw the article or not? Realization that she had been completely vulnerable while someone had wandered her house below her in the middle of the night sent a chill up my spine.

I stopped pacing and spun to face her. “Holy shit, something could’ve happened to you. Who the fuck knows what kind of person was roaming through your place while you were there. This is some serious shit, Chloe.” I stabbed a hand through my hair trying to reign in my emotions.

“I…I know,” she said shakily. “I was just so angry with you, I raced out of there before I could deal with all that.” She walked past me, grabbed her underwear off the ground, leaving them balled up in her hand, and took a seat on the couch in the living room.

I followed her but was too agitated to sit. “You need to call the police.”

She was looking off in space. I wasn’t even sure she’d heard me, but eventually she nodded. “I know. I will.”

“Enough with the ‘I know’, Chloe. You need to call them. Now.”

Her eyes darted to me, the fire from earlier back in them. “I’m
going
to call them. Sorry, but I wasn’t exactly in a position to do so for the past half hour.”

I ignored the jab, or maybe it was a compliment, I couldn’t really tell. “Let me get dressed, and I’ll come with you back to your place so you can call them.”

She gave me an incredulous look. “You can’t come with me…remember?”

“Shit. I already forgot.” God damn, this was frustrating as hell. I ran a hand through my hair and took a seat beside her. Placing my hand on her knee and squeezing, I said, “Call me the minute the cops leave. I want to know what they have to say.”

“Sure. Okay.” She sat there a moment, in deep contemplation, before asking, “Who do you think could’ve done this?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? And I had no fucking idea. Not a clue.

I gained only a small amount of comfort at the thought that if the person had wanted to hurt Chloe, they’d had every opportunity to and didn’t. No, it seemed more like whoever did it was trying to protect her. From me. And while someone had paid the ultimate price for my stupidity years before, I would never let carelessness hurt anyone ever again.

Chloe

I arrived back at my house with shaking hands. While I hadn’t given much thought to the newspaper and how it had gotten into my house after I’d seen the details of the article, now that knowledge, or lack of it to be more precise, was weighing on me.

I’d felt so betrayed when I’d stormed out of here earlier that my singular focus had been confronting Max. Now as I stood in front of the home that had always provided me with comfort and a sense of accomplishment, I was apprehensive to go inside.

“This is ridiculous,” I muttered to myself. “No one is in there.”

I turned the key in the lock and opened the door, glancing around inside before I took a step in. I despised this feeling of being uncomfortable and self-conscious in my own home.

Screw this.

If only to prove a point to myself, I walked through my small foyer and hallway, toward the back of the house, reached the kitchen, and took a seat at my oak dining table. I set my purse on the tabletop and retrieved my cell, hitting the button to call Jackie. Max had been adamant that I call the police, but the last thing I wanted was for the entire town to be abuzz about my business. That would only draw more attention to Max and me. Thankfully, Jackie worked as a 9-1-1 operator, and her husband was a police officer in a nearby town. I was hoping to call in a favor.

Jackie picked up on the second ring. “So you are alive…I was beginning to wonder.”

“Says the newlywed who barely comes up for air,” I countered humorously.

“Oh, please. I left you two messages last week and didn’t hear back. Someone must be really enjoying her time with a certain Max-a-million.”

“I was…until yesterday.”

“What happened?” Jackie’s voice turned serious, and I filled her in on everything. From the meeting with my boss, to the newspaper appearing on my kitchen table, to my conversation with Max. “Holy shit, Chloe! You’re going to carry on an illicit affair? I didn’t think you had it in you.” She sounded more proud than anything.

I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn’t see it. “Really? That’s what you got from that whole story I just told you? Did you hear the part where someone broke
into my house
?”

“Of course I heard that part. What I want to know is why you haven’t called the police yet.”

I blew a big breath and picked imaginary lint off my skirt. “I want to look into who was here and how they gained access to my house, but I don’t want the whole town talking about it. If that happens, it’ll get back to Jess somehow, and I don’t want to worry her. She’s just getting her feet wet out there. She doesn’t need to be distracted or thinking she has to hop a flight back here.” And here came the favor. “I was hoping that maybe Jamie could come by.”

“Of course he can,” she answered without hesitation. “He won’t be finishing up his shift until dinner time, but I’ll get a hold of him before that and make sure he heads over after.”

“Are you able to come with him?” My voice sounded small. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized I was in need of comforting. Max couldn’t be here to do it, and I really needed some comforting words from my best friend.

“Absolutely,” she reassured me. “I’m off today. I’ll make sure I’m there.”

Some of the tension in my shoulders eased away as I let out a breath. “Thanks, hon.”

“Don’t even mention it.”

We said our goodbyes and I hit end on the call, putting my phone back in my purse. I sat at my table for a while, trying to imagine who could’ve been in my house, but I came up empty.

Though I’d been ready for work when I’d left the house earlier to head to Max’s, I went back upstairs to the bathroom to freshen up. After my hotel room encounter with Max I was in need of it.

When I finally left for work, I was sure to triple-check all the locks to make sure the house was secured, then I got into the car to head to the showroom. The entire way there, I tried to convince myself that everything was fine. That Jamie would come, get the info, find the guy, and I’d be safe again. But the number of lies I was having to cover for was mounting up, and I couldn’t escape the sense of dread that they’d all come crashing down eventually.

When the phone in the showroom rang, I thought nothing of it as I brought it up to my ear, expecting it to be another inquiring mind wanting know where prices started on the units. “Good afternoon, Tribute Developments. How can I help you?”

“Have you seen this bullshit in the paper?” Mr. Cullen’s angry voice blared through the receiver. I had to pull it away from my ear slightly.