Regrets (Ridge)
It must be time to get up because Corny Pecker is screaming his beak off.
For once, he’s on time, welcoming the morning like a normal rooster. I see it’s roughly nine o’clock when I sit up.
His shrieking has nothing on the double jolt I get when I see Grace out the window.
My heart wakes up and so does my cock.
Even after hours of horizontal acrobatics, I still have the biggest hard-on of my life and zero regrets.
I can’t muster up any guilt for taking her last night, indulging my lust, my desire.
I’d started it on the dance floor, all for show, or so I’d thought.
Technically, it was part of the act at Libations.
But the showstopper aspect took on a life of its own, leaving me wanting Grace like I’ve never wanted anyone. When I came upstairs to find her, I knew damn well what I was doing.
A grin jerks at my lips as I watch her enter the barn. She’d wanted me, too.
Of course I sensed it long before we got home, practically felt the smoke rolling off her.
I’d tried to not act on it, even when I came up sniffing around like a moose in rut, but seeing her in the hall shattered my restraint and my judgment.
My senses are still beyond mangled as I clean up and head downstairs to my office, where I dick around with my accounts and reply to a few random fan emails from my website.
Despite my shit-fight with Hollywood, I haven’t totally forgotten the people who love me.
Every so often, I’ll write to answer a mundane question about one of my movies or promise to send them an autographed photo.
These people are the reason I got stuck in a high-end prison of a life in the first place, and plenty of money to escape when it was time.
“Will you be having breakfast this morning?”
I turn, shaking my head at Tobin, who stands in the doorway of my office like a loyal sentinel.
“Pass. I overslept and it’s already coming up on lunch.” I’m not hungry—not for food. “Plus, I have to go to town soon. Return Jess’ truck and check on mine.”
“And?” Tobin lifts a brow. That’s damn near screaming for him. “Did he find anything out of sorts?”
“Yep. A tracking device just like the kind I pulled off the Sellers’ truck that night at the Bobcat. One of those fuckers slashed a brake line, too.”
Tobin mutters a curse under his breath, then straightens like he’d been saying the rosary.
I frown.
It’s never a good thing to see him that shaken up.
“Bebe called last night. She said she’s arrived back in Los Angeles and the press releases should be posted by noon today.”
“Perfect.”
I’m glad something’s gone right and she’s following through on her promise.
Whatever else she is, the woman always comes through for me in a pinch, and the dumpster fire performance of my last couple movies wasn’t her fault.
She warned me about all the actors who bombed when they tried moving into producer roles.
I’d already checked out by then but hadn’t fully moved on.
“I’m going to take some bacon and eggs over to the cabin, in case our guests are getting hungry.”
“Great. Try to get some solid grub in the old man. He’s improving by the day,” I tell him.
Whether he ever admits it in this lifetime, I know Tobin enjoys the company around here.
So do I.
And if I have my way, I’ll continue enjoying it, particularly my time with one sexy blonde wildcat.
Grace is dumping grain and pasture in the feed bin for the horses when I step into the barn, and the sight of her makes my jeans feel three sizes too small.
Hell.
I close the door, latch it, and walk over, meeting her as she walks out of the stall.
“Missed you when I woke up.”
“Oh, I...” Her cheeks flush red and she averts her eyes. “We, um...we probably shouldn’t have done that.”
A flash of disappointment hits but dissolves just as fast when I realize she’s only saying that shit because she thinks she should.
Casual hookups aren’t her thing. She’s more old-fashioned than damn near every girl I’ve ever bedded before, and honestly?
It gives my dick an appetite for everything but doubt.
“I woke up smiling, darlin’. Can’t remember the last time that happened. If you’re worried about any hard feelings here...they’re only below the belt. Promise.” I flash her a grin.
“But we’re pretending, remember? Aren’t you worried about complicating things even more?”
“I remember. And fuck complications.” I step closer, sliding my hands