She scrunches up her nose. “You know I can punch you right in the jugular for making that ridiculous comment, don’t you?”
“I play with fire for a reason, baby.”
“Oh my God, get your face out of mysight,” she mumbles.
I raise a brow. “I’m sorry, but are youcomplaining?” When she doesn’t answer me, and instead narrows her eyes at me in silent disapproval, I decide to push her a little, simply to get a reaction out of her. I gotta keep up with my reputation of being an absolute fiend, after all.
“Well, I didn’t hear you complaining yesterday when I was fucking you in the bar’s storeroom,” I tell her.
She sucks in a breath, and a blush begins creeping up her cheeks.
I smirk and pull her flush against me. “You liked it, didn’t you, Nia?” I glance at her mouth, and her lips part as she exhales while looking up at me.
“You liked it when the racked beer bottles rattled with each thrust of my hips, didn’t you?” I continue. “You liked it when I made you come so hard you could barely walk for the next hour. You liked it when my cock pushed in and out of your tight little cunt and made you whimper. And you most definitely liked it when I tightened my fingers around your throat and stroked you until you came all over my hand. You did, didn’t you, baby?”
It’s been a week since I asked Nia to give me a second chance. A week since she gave it to me. A week of maddening kisses and endless sex; of stolen winks and suggestive smiles. I’ve quite literally been in heaven, and as my team gets done with some candid shots of the town before the final few days of filming, I can’t wait to see what the next chapter for Nia and I will be.
I have to admit, though: I’mterrifiedof what her decision will be regarding us, but I’m confident that she’ll make a choice she thinks is right forher. She knows my stay in Adenbrooke is coming to an end, and I appreciate that she’s willing to keep herself and I a priority, even with her life in the town andCafé Connellboth working in tangent with each other. And I may be selfish when it comes to her, but I can’t force her to do something I know she wouldn’t want to. I’ll try, I’ll fight, but not at the expense of her comfort and happiness. I know when to give up, but right now – with how things are – I’m just going to sit back and greedily accept every second she chooses to spend with me. One step at a time, as they say.
“Cass!”
I turn at the sound of Amanda’s voice, and watch as she trudges over to me, kicking and cursing at the snow that is covering her boots.
Nia, flustered and shocked, stumbles away from me.
“Hey,” I greet my manager with a grin.
Amanda eyes me and Nia for a beat too long – her expression hard under the dull morning light – then cracks a smile that had made me wanna piss my pants when I’d first met her 6 years ago.
When my YouTube career skyrocketed in 2015, a fellow influencer suggested I get in touch with Amanda for professional management services. I gotta say: as a 21-year-old who had no idea what to do with the newfound fame and attention I was receiving on my content, I was relieved to have someone to guide me through the ins and outs of the media world, but my initial meeting with Amanda had felt more like a one-on-one with a school principal than anything else. That woman is dangerously cunning, and will take no bullshit from anyone, and I meananyone. Not even from me and my occasionally whiny ass, if I’m being honest.
“I’m afraid we haven’t…met?” she says to Nia, then folds her arms across her chest.
Nia, who looks like she’ll plummet face-first onto the ground if my manager so much astriesto move in her direction, fidgets with the purple scarf around her neck as she shifts on her feet. “Yeah, uh… I, umm–”
“Amanda, this is Nia,” I say. “And Nia,” I jerk my chin ahead, “that’s Amanda, my manager.” I then take a long gulp of my hot cocoa, becausedamn, the air around us just got real thick.
Amanda quickly glances at my left wrist, and even though it’s currently hidden behind the sleeve of my sweater, I know she recalls the name from my tattoo.
She nods, then smiles curtly. “Right. Of course. Nia, yes; that’s correct.”
Nia looks like she wants a UFO to fly by and pull her up with the way she’s trying to squirm at the awkwardness of the whole…situation.
Amanda has that effect on everyone, I want to tell her, but don’t. What I instead do is save us all from the general embarrassment that keeps growing due to the lack of interest either of the women are showing in conversing with each other by clearing my throat and wrapping an arm around Nia once again. Amanda, of course, tracks that movement with apt interest, but doesn’t say anything.
“You wanna get outta here?” I ask Nia, as softly as I can.
She visibly relaxes under my touch as she looks at me. “Please, and thank you.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing. “Let me show you my room, then; come on.” I remove my arm from around her shoulders and grab her hand, and have only just started walking us towards the B&B when Amanda calls out my name, stopping me.
“Yes, Miss Manager?” I muse as I shift slightly to glance at her.
Something like anger crosses her features. “Filming starts in a few minutes.”
I gesture around us. “I see no setup.”
“I have ordered for things to be up and running in a bit.”
