Not So Casual [Part 1] Read online

“That’s very considerate of him,” she said. “But we should probably let him rest for a bit while we get some food in you. I don’t want him running on an empty tank.”

  Collin let out a laugh.

  “Is that your way of telling me you’re hungry?”

  Bre couldn’t help but grin.

  “You catch on quick.”

  “It’s one of my strong suits,” he said. He glanced at the clock. “If we hurry we can grab the Saturday buffet breakfast—the waffles will blow your mind. And maybe after that I can show you the art gallery. Logan just had the whole space redone and it’s supposed to be incredible.”

  “He has an art gallery here in the mansion?” Bre asked. Was this place some kind of museum?

  “At the end of the northeast wing. It’s not open to the public so I’m not sure if it’s still considered an official gallery, but that’s what he calls it.”

  “I think I’m hanging out with the wrong guy. Logan obviously has more money than he knows what to do with.”

  “Is that how it is?” Collin teased. “I hear he’s hung like a moose, too. If that’s the kind of thing you’re into.”

  Bre almost couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  “Is this what you Wall Street guys spend your time talking about?”

  “God no, that’s nothing. You should hear the brokers when they get together. They can be downright disgusting.” He flashed her a smile that let her know he was above such things. “But hey, we’ve got to hurry or we’ll miss that breakfast. I’ll draw us a shower and then we can head out.”

  Collin hopped out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom before she could respond. She wanted to stop him but everything happened so fast. A shower? And then breakfast? And then an art gallery? The sound of spraying water made Bre’s stomach lurch.

  “You know what, I’m actually not feeling that well,” she called out.

  Collin popped his head out of the bathroom, his forehead tight.

  “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, I just think I’m going to go lay down in my room again. My stomach is feeling weird.”

  “It’s probably because you haven’t eaten.”

  She shook her head.

  “No, I just need to rest it off.” She pursed her lips in a tight smile. “Raincheck on the breakfast?”

  “Of course…”

  Bre hopped off the bed and grabbed her clothes from where she’d left them. She pulled them on quickly, wanting to get out of there before Collin tried to get her in the shower again. She didn’t want him to make things even more awkward because he was feeling rejected.

  Thankfully, he didn’t say anything as she gracelessly fled form the room as quickly as possible.

  Chapter 10

  The gigantic halls of the massive mansion were even more impressive in the daytime. There were huge windows in the angled ceiling above that flooded the hall with natural light. From the looks of it, this is how most of the mansion was lit during the day. It was gorgeous. Logan really did have more money than he knew what to do with…

  Bre passed a few of the house staff on the way to her room. They rushed past with a hurried energy that was quite different than what she’d seen from them the night before. It gave her the feeling that something had happened and they were scrambling to take care of it. She doubted it was anything to be worried about though. A place like this was probably prepared to handle anything.

  Bre rounded the turn to her room and was surprised to find Aimee pacing back and forth in front of her door. Aimee’s long, blonde hair was pulled into a pony tail and she was wearing a simple tee and navy blue shorts. Even dressed so plainly, it was impossible for Aimee not to look beautiful. When they first met, Bre had been intimidated by how attractive Aimee was, but that was before she discovered Aimee was basically a serial monogamist. She liked to talk a big game, but she was rarely single for very long. Bre never had to worry that they were going to fight over the same guy since Aimee was always fixated on whichever guy was currently in her life. It seemed obvious to everyone else, but Aimee never seemed to realize that she actually wanted to be in a serious relationship.

  People could be so oblivious.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be off playing sex kitten with the rich billionaire?”

  Aimee’s eyes widened and she shot Bre a mortified look.

  “He has a fiancée!”

  Instantly the uneasy feeling in Bre’s stomach from everything that happened with Collin vanished.

  “Fucking men!” she said, shaking her head. “Come on, tell me everything that happened…”

  They retreated into Bre’s room for some privacy. Bre made sure she locked the door—men around here had a knack for showing up uninvited. Aimee didn’t hesitate before launching into a crazy story about how some guy named Lucas randomly showed up at the mansion, followed immediately by some chick named Mara who was apparently Logan’s fiancée.

  “What a fucking ass-hat,” Bre said, trying to empathize.

  Truth be told, Bre wasn’t all that surprised. It would have been more surprising if Logan was truly single. Rich, powerful, hot men like him didn’t come without some pretty serious strings attached. That was no excuse for his behavior, but she still had a hard time not saying I knew something had to be wrong with him!

  “You’re sure you heard him correctly?” Bre asked.

  “Oh, trust me, Mara made it very clear. They’re definitely together. She was all over him, like it was the most natural thing in the world. And that ring…”

  “What a tramp!”

  Aimee looked like she couldn’t agree more.

  “I hope she doesn’t act like that all the time, it would get pretty sickening.”

  Bre had to stifle a sigh. As usual, Aimee was clueless as to what she meant.

  “I was talking about him,” Bre said. Logan was the one sleeping around, why would she think the other chick was the tramp?

  Aimee cringed.

  “How do I keep finding myself in these situations?”

  Bre couldn’t take it anymore. If she didn’t say what was on her mind she was going to explode. Everyone needed a friend that could be straightforward and honest with them when they needed it. Hopefully Aimee could take it in the spirit it was intended.

  “To be fair, you do seem to be attracted to men who can’t stick to one woman. Logan looks like the kind of guy who has women throwing themselves at him left and right.”

  “He told me that there wasn’t anyone else.”

  Bre’s stomach lurched. She knew what it was like to find out you were being lied to.

  “Are you sure you heard him correctly?” she asked, hoping to cheer her friend up. “Maybe he was saying, other than my fiancée, there’s nobody else…”

  Bre did her best impression of a deep man-voice. She was relieved when Aimee smiled, breaking some of the tension.

  “He definitely said he was single. That’s not exactly one of those things I would get confused.”

  “You want to get out of here?” Bre asked, not thinking that Aimee would really want to leave.

  Aimee shrugged.

  “I wasn’t going to at first,” she said. “I was so angry with Logan that I wanted to stick around just to piss him off. But now, I don’t know… It’s going to be pretty awkward after everything that happened.”

  Bre’s stomach lurched again. She took a breath and tried to play it cool.

  “We can’t leave,” Bre said.

  “Why not?”

  “Because… we just can’t.”

  Did Aimee really need her to spell it out? Sure, Bre had just gotten freaked out and ran out on Collin, but that didn’t mean she was ready to cancel the whole weekend. She just needed a little space to breathe.

  The knowing smile that spread across Aimee’s face was almost as annoying as Collin’s smile when he told her about the art gallery.

  “This wouldn’t have anything to do with Collin, would it?” Aimee asked.

  �
��So what if it does?” Bre said. “What’s wrong with wanting to spend more time with Collin? He’s a good time!”

  After everything they’d just talked about, Aimee actually had the nerve to laugh!

  “Nothing’s wrong with it. Nothing at all,” Aimee said, between fits of laughter. “Well, at least one of us is having a good time this weekend… I just really wish it was me!”

  For a moment, Bre grew even more annoyed. Then it struck her just how ludicrous the whole situation was and she couldn’t help but let out a laugh of her own.

  “Hey, just think about it this way… it sounds like you’ve got two guys fighting over you and not just one!”

  “I don’t think that makes it any better,” Aimee said.

  Bre shrugged.

  “Depends on just how freaky they are… Have you ever had two guys at the same time? Trust me, it can be a lot of fun.”

  Aimee’s entire face brightened in surprise.

  “Well this is new information!” Aimee said. “Spill…”

  “I’m a woman of varied interests and needs,” Bre said, keeping her response vague. “Two dicks can be fun, but I’d rather stick with one good one. Collin is definitely a nice little treat…”

  “Remind me to never play a game of truth or dare with you.”

  “You wouldn’t last one round.” Bre said, giving her a sideways grin.

  Bre loved keeping her friends on their toes. Her closest friends didn’t even know half the situations she’d gotten herself into. If they did they’d never take her out to social events ever again. Especially not ritzy mega mansions that had so many dark corners for all of her dark delights.

  “So you think you can stick it out another night?” Bre asked, hopeful.

  At first it looked like Aimee was going to get sick just from thinking about another night in the mansion, but then she just shrugged her shoulders.

  “It’s just one night,” Aimee said. “Besides, the cat’s already out of the bag. It’s not like Logan can surprise me with any other skeletons popping out of his closet.”

  Bre tilted her head and gave her a cautious look.

  “Be careful what you wish for.”

  Aimee let out another nervous laugh, but Bre remained serious. Bre just wanted to tease her friend some more, but then decided that it might be good for Aimee to remember that things can always get worse. Especially when men are involved. Rich, powerful, sexy men like Logan Atwood.

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself for the next day though,” Aimee said. “There’s no way I’m going to go to the pool or anywhere else that I might bump into Mara or Lucas or Logan. Especially not Logan.”

  “Collin was telling me about this art gallery in one of the wings. We should go check it out.”

  “Oh, I don’t want to be a third wheel. You two should go have fun—I’ll be fine.”

  Bre wrapped an arm around Aimee.

  “No third wheel. Just you and me. Collin had me all night—a few times—he won’t die if we don’t see each other for an hour or two.”

  Bre liked the idea of checking out the art gallery with Aimee a whole lot more than with Collin. Besides, this would give her the space she was needing. Then she’d be ready to spend more time with him and his magical tongue.

  “A few times?” Aimee asked, looking surprised.

  Bre bit her lip just thinking about it.

  “Let me change really quick. I’ll tell you all about it on the way!”

  Chapter 11

  Bre quickly changed into comfortable white shorts and a yellow top while Aimee filled her in on some of the finer details of everything that happened last night, before she found out that Logan was a lying, cheating bastard. From the sound of it, Aimee had just as wild and crazy of a night as Bre did. And it turned out that Collin hadn’t been lying about Logan’s moose-dick. Why on earth Collin knew about it was beyond her, she just hoped there was a good story to go along with it.

  When it was Bre’s turn to share, she conveniently left out the part where she initially tried to sleep alone only to give in to her carnal desire to have Collin inside of her again. Bre was usually pretty open with her sexual escapades, but she was allowed to keep a few details to herself every now and then. Aimee didn’t need to know everything. And, besides, there were plenty of other juicy parts to share. Very juicy parts.

  “You actually orgasmed all over the bed?” Aimee said, surprised.

  “Keep your voice down! Not everyone needs to know about it.”

  It was already bad enough knowing that word would get around the entire house staff as soon as they did the laundry. She just hoped she would be back in New York City before that happened.

  “What did it feel like?” Aimee asked, lowering her voice.

  “It was just a huge… relief. It made me feel like I’ve been holding back every other time I’ve gotten off.”

  Aimee bit her lip and marveled at Bre.

  “If he’s that good you might have to keep him around…”

  “Slow down, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This is just a weekend fling.”

  “Does he know that?”

  Bre nodded.

  “He’s onboard. We made it very clear before anything happened last night.”

  Well, almost before anything happened…

  “I don’t know how you do it,” Aimee said, shaking her head. “Casual flings never seem to work out for me.”

  “You just can’t let things get messy with all the touchy-feely stuff. Strictly business. And by business, I mean sex. Good sex.”

  Miraculously, they found the private art gallery without much difficulty. Even though art really wasn’t Bre’s thing, she had to admit that the pieces in the gallery were absolutely stunning. In fact, the entire mansion had been stunning so far. Logan might have been a lying, cheating bastard, but he knew how to keep the place classy as fuck. Of course, he probably had a guy that he paid for that kind of thing.

  The gallery didn’t feel like any other gallery Bre had ever been to. Sure, there were gorgeous paintings elegantly arranged throughout the four rooms that made up the gallery, but there was also a lot more. The rooms were large and had rows of tables, and on them sat small glass cases housing a variety of tiny, historical artifacts. Each of the glass cases had its own metal plate that described and dated its contents. Some of them went back hundreds of years.

  “This is definitely more of a museum than an art gallery,” Bre said, feeling triumphant that she’d been right all along.

  “It’s gorgeous,” Aimee said.

  Aimee took her time navigating each of the rooms, slowly inspecting every single one of the paintings. Bre didn’t quite understand how she could be so interested in them, but Bre was just happy she could get her friend’s mind off everything that had happened. They were supposed to be having a fun weekend and finding out you were hooking up with a married man definitely wasn’t supposed to be a part of it.

  Both ladies were making their way through the last room in the gallery when an unexpected figure appeared in the doorway. Bre’s eyes widened in surprise when she saw the athletic frame of Collin Hayes beaming at her.

  “There you are!” he said.

  She didn’t get a chance to return the greeting before he wrapped her in a warm embrace. His heat washed over her and, for a moment, she completely forgot herself. When their lips first touched, all of the wild fantasies of the night before returned to her. Her body immediately ached for him to take her right then and there. Thankfully, a distant part of her remembered where they were and who she was with.

  “I’ve been looking all over for you,” Collin said, absolutely beaming at her.

  He was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a polo that made him look like he belonged on a golf course, somewhere. His athletic build filled the clothes out perfectly and it was a struggle for Bre to keep a clear head. It was hard to be upset with him while he was touching her.

  Bre pushed away from him and crossed her a
rms, blocking him from being so close.

  “You have some nerve swooping in here like that, acting like everything is fine.” Bre narrowed her eyes into a glare. “You have some explaining to do…”

  Chapter 12

  Collin took a moment before responding. He flashed a nervous smile, his eyes darting back and forth between Bre’s.

  “Did I do something?” he asked, uncertain.

  “Did it never occur to you to maybe—just possibly—mention that Logan has a fiancée?”

  That changed Collin’s tune. He looked quickly between Aimee and Bre as though he wasn’t sure which of them he’d rather deal with. Finally, his eyes connected with Bre’s.

  “I’m surprised you found out already. Logan is the most private guy I know.”

  “She’s here! Did you think we weren’t going to notice?”

  If Collin had looked caught off guard before, he now looked completely dumbfounded.

  “She’s here?” he stammered.

  “Of course she is,” Bre said. “Her fiancée is at his mansion in the Hamptons, where else in the world do you think she would be?”

  Collin’s brow pinched together as he shook his head, looking puzzled.

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” he said, mostly to himself before looking at Aimee. “Did Logan tell you about her?”

  Bre gave him an incredulous look as she leaned to the side and drew his attention back to her.

  “Of course he didn’t tell us about her. He’s been too focused on getting into Aimee’s pants to mention the unimportant, little details about himself—like the fact that there’s another woman who is probably planning her happy-ever-after with him.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Collin repeated.

  Bre’s eyes widened. Was he for real?

  “What doesn’t make sense? The fact that Logan wants to sleep with her? Look at her. She’s hot. Way hotter than he deserves.”

  “That’s not what I meant.” He shot a desperate look past Bre. “Aimee, of course you’re beautiful. I just meant that Mara being here doesn’t make any sense.”