Mrs. Robin's Sons
Rylee had dated in the past, couldn’t comprehend how they could let a woman like her get away. But as far as he was concerned, their loss was his gain, and he had no intention of repeating their mistakes. They may have been too dumb to see it, but Nick knew that Rylee was a woman of worth; someone he wanted to be with long-term.No, Nick definitely wasn’t over Rylee, and he had no intention of trying to get over her. In fact, he was on his way to Chicago to make sure that a certain redhead knew exactly how he felt.
Chapter Eight
The past week had been pure hell for Rylee. The hotel was packed with guests
attending two large conventions in town, and Murphy’s Law had been in full effect, causing one catastrophe after another.
She’d been running around putting out so many fires, it had been three days since she’d seen her bed for more than hour-long catnaps.
Finally, she’d gotten the chance to be away from work for longer than it took to use the toilet, feeling thankful for the first time ever that she was so pathetic that she actually lived in the same hotel where she worked. She only had to ride up the elevator a few floors to get home.
When she got there, however, the last thing she’d expected — or wanted — was to have to stand in the middle of her living room floor and explain to her ex-fiancé, yet again, why she’d rather step into oncoming traffic than get back together with him.
“Dammit, Rylee, I just don’t get it.” Ethan’s expression was a mixture of confusion and irritation. “You’re acting like I asked you to do something that you’d never done before. We included other people during sex many times, and you never seemed to have a problem with it before. I can’t understand why it was such an issue for you this time.” And that’s the problem. Rylee just stared at Ethan. She was fresh out of ways to explain to someone who was more than old enough to know better that there was a time and a place for most things, and there was some shit that should just never happen at all.
Rylee knew that when it came to sex, she would never be mistaken for a prude. She was the first to admit that she’d enjoyed the sex games she and Ethan had played with each other, and with others during the two years they’d been together.
But even she had limits. Some things just went too far and crossed too many lines. And finding her fiancé tongue fucking another woman the night before they were supposed to get married was one of them.
“Ethan, listen to me.” She struggled to stay calm. “I haven’t slept in days. I have a headache, I’m hungry…”
“You know, I can help you with all of those if you just give me a chance.” Ethan gave her what was supposed to be his most charming smile, and it only managed to piss her off even more.
“You know what? You can save your caring routine for somebody who gives a shit, okay?” she finally snapped. “You never worried about my needs before, so do us both a favor and don’t act like you give a damn now.”
“Fine.” He glared at her. “If that’s how you feel, I’ll just get my things and be on my way.” He headed toward the bedroom, and Rylee stepped in his path.
“All of your crap is in boxes in there.” She pointed to the hall closet. “You can take it, or I can trash it. It makes no difference to me. Either way, you’re out of here in ten minutes.”
She turned and walked back to her bedroom.
*
Nick knocked on the door, trying to control his rising anxiety, suddenly rethinking his decision to show up, uninvited, on Rylee’s doorstep. He knew he was taking a chance, but he’d just wanted to see her so damn bad that he decided it was worth the risk.
The front desk clerk had already told him that Rylee was off duty, and he just hoped that she was home. He was about to knock again when the door suddenly opened, and he found himself staring into the face of some pissed-off looking man.
“What do you want?” The man demanded. His cool, gray eyes were sizing Nick up.
“I’m looking for Rylee.” Nick tried hard not to get a little pissy himself.
The man’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Rylee’s name. “What do you want with my fiancée? Oh, wait. You must be a new employee here, right?”
He didn’t wait for Nick’s response before he continued, his tone cold and
condescending.
“Well, let me explain something to you. Her name is Ms. Putnam to you, not Rylee.
And these are Ms. Putnam’s personal living quarters. Staff is not to disturb her when she’s here, unless it’s an emergency. Understood?”
Nick was thankful that he’d gone into shock after he’d heard the word ‘fiancée,’
otherwise, he’d be beating this motherfucker into the carpet. Rylee was engaged? And to this asswipe? No. She couldn’t be. He refused to believe that she would spend nearly an entire month lying about wanting to build a relationship with him when she was already engaged to someone else.
“Hey! Are you listening to me?” One finger poked him in the chest, and he just lost it.
Before he knew it, he’d grabbed the prick by the throat and slammed him against the door.
“You put that fucking finger anywhere near me again, and I will chew it off and spit it down your goddamned throat. Got it, pussy?”
Gurgling sounds poured from the man’s lips, his face changing from red to purple in mere seconds, his fingers frantically struggling to loosen Nick’s hold on him. “Nick! Let him go! You’re going to kill him!”
The sound of Rylee’s voice, filled with shock and fear, finally made him release the man, who promptly collapsed to the floor and