Levi actually smiled in my direction for half a second as he ran out the open door. “Sorry about earlier. That guy seems like an ass,” he said over his shoulder.
“You might have punched him? And by might, you mean you definitely did.” I rested my hand on my cheek and gave myself a small slap to make sure I was still awake. “What other things? What the hell were you thinking?”
Levi snorted as he ran back in empty-handed. “The guy didn’t expect it at all. It was beautiful. The most solid punch I’ve ever seen Brooks land, and I’ve seen him box. And Eric’s friendsmighthave called the security team.” He ran back up the stairs.
“Might have!” I yelled in exasperation. “This is ludicrous. You don’t do things like this at a hotel or resort. There are other guests and the workers to consider.”
Brooks belted out a laugh. “There is no security team here. I guarantee I could knock out whoever comes over.” He snagged my hand, and for a moment or two I let him hold it before I yanked myself free.
“Unless it’s the cops that come! You do realize assault is still illegal, even in the countryside.” I whapped him on the chest with the back of my hand. “That is abysmal behavior.”
“Don’t worry so much.” He reached forward and might have been meaning to pat my cheek, but he landed his hand on the side of my head and easily transitioned to ruffling his fingers through my hair in a way that felt scary-good. I wanted to drop to the floor at his feet like Lemonade. She glanced up at me with her tongue lolling out.
I stepped away and ran my hands through my wet hair. Levi raced back into the cabin and up the steps again, even though he had to have gotten most of our belongings already. “Brooks laid him right the fuck out.”
“Why?”
Brooks scowled. “Why do you think?”
“Because your ego was wounded, in spite of the fact that you were the one who fucked me less than an hour ago.”
Another play of emotions flew across his face, and he landed on self-satisfied, which should have been a turn-off but only reminded me of how confidently he’d moved my body around and fucked me. My stomach heated as he shrugged. “Sweet prince, it’s my job to keep those types of creeps away from you.”
I rolled my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “It was fine. Unless you forgot, I’m normally one of those creeps.”
“No, it really wasn’t fine, and I’m sorry you experienced that. You would never allow anyone at the Courtesan to approach people about sex who weren’t expecting it.”
My stomach somehow reeled itself back up into my body at the small compliment, but I wasn’t done being mad yet. “And you just had to prove you were a big man? You couldn’t let it go? Walk away? Report him to his boss if it pissed you off that much?”
Brooks’ smile twisted, crooked and cute, and I growled loud enough that Lemonade whuffed at me. “Nope.”
“I suppose it’s for the best. I need to go home.”
His smile faltered. “No, you don’t.”
Rage washed over me, and for a second I thought I might pass out. “Red, red, fucking red! I really do need to get back there. Shit is falling apart. I know Mother thinks she knows best, and I know that you, for some reason, have decided you know how to handle me, but things are actually going to hell at home, and I can’t stand to let it happen.” My voice cracked, and his amusement faded to a stony expression.
Levi made another frantic trip down the stairs and out to the car, and I thought maybe he had my belongings stuffed under his arms. “Besides, things like this are par for the course in my life. Are you going to come riding to the rescue every time a new client asks me how much my ass costs?”
“Fine,” he said sharply, and my gut swooped. “Go check to make sure Levi didn’t leave anything you need. Now. I’ll take you home.”
It took us about ten minutes to clean the rest of our stuff out of the cabin, and I was humiliated it was Levi who thought to check and make sure that Brooks’ medications were collected from the cabinet in the kitchen where we’d put them. I would have left without them. By the time the golf cart had arrived with one portly man in possession of a freshly ironed security uniform, one very scary flashlight, and a gruff voice, we were ready to leave anyway.
The man rode his cart behind our car out of the resort, as if for some reason he thought we might try to veer off in search of the vegan café rather than leave, and a small part of me still hoped Eric didn’t end up fired over this.
Everything had been blown out of proportion.
It was awkward being stuffed in the middle of the back seat again, but it made it very easy to snag glances at Brooks, especially since his knee kept bumping mine. No one took care of me, that was just not how these things worked, and the fact that Brooks thought he needed to… while sweet, it was unnecessary. No one would want to do that long-term. Not for me. Not when my life got so messy.
So it was better to nip it in the bud before it started.
Brooks didn’t speak to me during the trip back to New Gothenburg, and though I knew he couldn’t see me, he kept his face turned toward the window. Which was fine. I didn’t care at all. My hands clenched in my lap, and I fought off the ridiculous urge to let a couple of tears loose. It was probably good he was pissed off at me because that meant we could be done with this. The corners of my eyes burned, and I bit my lip. Brooks’ shoulders heaved. I thought maybe I should apologize for having used the safeword, but I’d never agreed to any of this.
Part of me was baffled he’d even listened when I’d said red.
An infinitesimal speck of me was infuriated that he hadn’t told me no again and kept me there in spite of my demands.
The rest of me knew I had to get the fuck home before the entire hotel fell in on itself. Brooks and everything he represented was a nice thought, a delicious fantasy. And yes, maybe I wanted it. Andyes, maybe my gut started to churn at the idea that the last I saw of him might be crossed arms and silence.
