Lie Next to Me Read online

  As soon as I stepped through the door and into the kitchen, Ian grabbed me and pushed me up against the wall, holding my arms above my head. “Don’t turn your back on me, Rory. I’m sorry. I don’t think you’re trash. I think you’re broken and I can fix you,” he whispered in my ear.

  His hot breath traveled down my neck and my body went into a near convulsion. I wanted him, but I knew if anything were to happen, it would destroy me. I would become too emotionally attached and when he got tired of me and moved on, I wouldn’t recover. He brought his face to mine as he stared into my eyes.

  “I’m not broken. I’m shattered. I’m a million tiny pieces that would take longer than forever to piece back together. So please, do me the favor and don’t even try,” I whispered.

  His grip on my arms lightened as he let go and took a step back, giving me one last look before he turned around and walked away. I stood and placed my hand on my neck where his hot breath had touched me. I took in a deep breath and walked upstairs. Tomorrow was the day I start my life over, alone.

  ****

  “Rory, I need you. I need your help. I’m sorry I hurt you. You know it wasn’t my fault. You promised you’d always take care of me. You said that no matter what happened to us, you’d always be there.”

  “Stephen, where are you? I can’t see you. I’m trying to find you.”

  “Rory, I don’t believe you. You lied to me, Rory! YOU LIED TO ME!”

  “I’m sorry!” I screamed as I felt hands gripping my arms.

  “Rory, wake up.”

  I could hear Ian’s voice in the distance as I was running through the woods. He was telling me to wake up, but I couldn’t. I ran, calling Stephen’s name and looking every which way for him.

  “Damn it, Rory! Wake up!” Ian yelled.

  My eyes flew open. I was out of breath. My heart was racing and the only thing I could do was throw my arms around Ian’s neck and beg him to hold me. I broke down and sobbed as I buried my face into his neck. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he held me tight.

  “Shh, it was only a dream. Calm down. No one is going to hurt you anymore,” he whispered as he kissed the side of my head. “Come on; let’s get you back in bed,” he said as he lifted me up and carried me.

  As soon as he laid me down, he sat on the edge of the bed and began pushing the strands of my hair behind my ear. “You have nothing to fear.”

  “I need to find him, Ian. He’s crying out for help. I can feel it. He’s in trouble.”

  As he gave me a warming look, he ran the back of his hand along my cheek. “We’ll talk about this in the morning. Get some sleep,” he said as he got up from the bed.

  When he started to walk away, I reached out and grabbed his hand. I didn’t want to be alone. I wanted him to stay with me and comfort me. As much as I hated to admit it, I needed him at that moment.

  “Please stay with me tonight.”

  Ian turned around and looked at me. I could see the hurt in his eyes as he spoke, “I’m sorry, Rory, but I can’t.” He walked out of the room, leaving me there, scared, lonely, and starving for comfort. I began to get the impression that I wasn’t the only one who was shattered.

  The next morning, I got out of bed, showered, and headed downstairs. As I walked into the kitchen, Ian was just walking through the door. He had just come back from a run. He was dripping in sweat and he looked even sexier. I quickly diverted my eyes to the coffee pot because I couldn’t face him after last night. I was hurt and confused by his actions. One minute, he was all over me and the next, he was pulling away.

  “Good morning. How did you sleep?” he asked as he wiped his face with a towel.

  “Not good,” I replied as I poured some coffee into my cup.

  “How are you getting to work?”

  “I’m going to call a cab.”

  “A cab costs money. Something you don’t have any of. Joshua will drive you in or you can take one of the cars if you know how to drive.”

  “You have cars?”

  “Yeah, I have three of them. Actually, Joshua will drive you in and I’ll drive myself to work.”

  I gave him a small smile as I took a sip of my coffee and waited for Joshua to show up.

  “I need to go and shower. Good luck today,” he said as he turned and walked away.

  Something was off with Ian Braxton that morning. He was moody. I’d already picked up on that, but there was more going on with him than he was letting on.

  Joshua walked into the kitchen and smiled. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yeah. Just let me grab my purse.”

  As I sat in the back of the limo, I pulled out my phone and pulled up Adalynn’s name. I sent her a text message, telling her about my new job. A few moments later, she replied.

  “That’s great news, Rory. To celebrate, I’m taking you to dinner. Text me with the time you get off and I’ll pick you up.”

  “Thank you. But that’s not necessary, Adalynn.”

  “Nonsense. I’ll be there and you better be hungry.”

  “Fine. But next time, I’m paying.”

  “Deal.”

  I asked Joshua to drop me off around the corner because I didn’t want to risk Ollie and Jordyn seeing me step out of the limo. They would begin to ask questions and I wasn’t ready to answer them. I walked through the door of Java Hut and saw Jordyn standing behind the counter with a big grin on her face.

  “Welcome, Rory! You have no idea how excited I am that you’re part of the Java Hut team!”

  “Thanks. I’m happy to be here.” I smiled.

  Jordyn showed me around the coffeehouse and showed me how to work the register. It was pretty much the same cash register I used back in Indiana, so it only took a few minutes to learn.

  “Where’s Ollie?” I asked.

  “He’s still at home sleeping. He doesn’t come in for another couple of hours.”

  “The two of you live together?”

  “Yeah, we’ve been dating on and off for about four years.” She smiled. “Oh, by the way, do you have your address?”

  “Oh, yeah,” I said as I grabbed my purse from under the counter and took out the small piece of paper.

  Jordyn looked at it and then at me. She looked back down at the address and then at me again. “This is where you live?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  She started to speak, but couldn’t. It was funny watching her try to spit out the words. “This is Ian Braxton’s address. You’re staying with him?”

  Fuck. How the hell does she know that’s his address? I looked down as I nodded my head. “Yes, I’m staying with Ian. How do you know his address?”

  “I’m a journalism student at UCLA and I did an interview with him about three months ago for the university magazine. His office was under construction, so we did the interview at his house. Are you dating him?”

  Great. I hadn’t even been there twenty minutes and the questions about my life were already starting. “No, Ian and I are not dating. We’re just friends and he was kind enough to let me stay with him because I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

  “He’s a very intimidating man. Have you met his father yet?”

  “No,” I said.

  Jordyn laughed. “That man is piece of work, let me tell you. While I was interviewing Ian, his father came over and rudely interrupted our meeting. He told me that I was insignificant and to step outside while he had a conversation with his son. I’d never met anyone so rude in my life.”

  “Ian’s never talked about his family,” I said.

  “How long have you been staying with him?” Jordyn asked.

  I knew if I answered, more questions would be asked, and I didn’t want to get into it with a girl I’d only known a day. In fact, I didn’t want to get into it with anyone.

  “Only a couple of weeks. I’m just a guest and I barely see him.”

  A rush of people walked through the door, and that distracted Jordyn from asking me any further questions. Ollie
came in as scheduled and the three of us got along well. I could easily see myself becoming friends with them. My shift had ended and I said goodbye to Jordyn and Ollie. Before I walked out the door, Jordyn handed me my schedule and, surprisingly, I had tomorrow off. I gave a wave goodbye and walked out of Java Hut. I saw Adalynn’s car parked at the curb and I climbed in with a smile on my face.

  “I take it you had a great first day of work,” she said.

  “It was good. It felt good to work again.” I smiled.

  “Well, I hope you’re hungry, and I hope you like Mexican, because I’ve been craving it all day.”

  “Mexican sounds good.” I smiled.

  ****

  As Adalynn and I were sipping margaritas and eating chips and salsa, I decided to ask her about Ian’s father. It really bothered me what Jordyn had said about him and I wanted to know if it was true.

  “Tell me about Ian’s father,” I said.

  Adalynn looked at me strangely and as if I had just touched on a taboo subject. “Why do you want to know about Richard?”

  “My friend, Jordyn, from Java Hut did an interview with Ian about three months ago and she said that she met his father and he was the rudest person she’d ever met. I guess I was just curious, since Ian hasn’t mentioned him. I didn’t know if they were close or not.”

  Adalynn picked up her glass and looked at me. “Ian and his father are very close. Richard can be mean and crude. He has very little respect, if any at all, for women. I think that’s where Ian gets his attitude from. Ian’s mother passed away when he was eight years old and left Richard to raise their only child. After she died, Richard never remarried. He just bounced from woman to woman. From what I hear, he has women all around the world that drop everything when he comes to town.”

  “Wow. He sounds like a real gem,” I said. “I guess that explains why Ian is always with different women,” I said as I looked down.

  Adalynn put her hand on mine. “Rory, I get the feeling that you’re falling for Ian and it’s not a good idea. I don’t want to see you get hurt. He’s a charmer and he’ll make you fall hard and fast. But, in the end, he’ll break you.”

  A small smile escaped my lips as I removed my hand from hers and took a sip of my margarita as I lied to my friend. “Don’t worry, I’m not falling for him. He can’t break me anymore than I already am. No one can.”

  Adalynn told me that she had just started her own magazine company called Prim and she was hoping, as she put it, to kick Vogue’s ass out of the water. Her goal was for Prim to become one of the most respectable and high-powered magazine companies around. She told me that Ian had helped her get it off the ground and that he was a major contributor. I admired Adalynn a lot.

  “Oops, look at the time. I better get you home.”

  I pulled my phone from my purse, and I noticed I had 35 missed calls and 45 text messages; all from Ian. I looked at Adalynn as I showed her my phone. Her eyes widened as she looked at me.

  “Well, I’m going to say that Ian was trying to get a hold of you.”

  As soon as I went to call him, my phone died. Adalynn drove me back to Ian’s house and as soon as we walked through the door, Ian came storming through the living room.

  “Where the fuck have you been?! And why the fuck didn’t you answer your phone?” he screamed.

  “Calm down, Ian. She was with me. I picked her up from work and we went to dinner.”

  “Don’t tell me to calm down, Adalynn.”

  “Leave her alone. We had a good night and you’re not going to ruin it. Now, I have to go. I’ll call you tomorrow, sweetie.” She smiled as she hugged me.

  As soon as the door shut, Ian’s glare burned through me. “Do you know how many times I tried to call you, not to mention all the text messages I sent you?”

  “Yeah, I do. I saw it when I pulled out my phone from my purse.”

  “Then why the fuck couldn’t you answer?!” he screamed as he stepped closer to me.

  “I didn’t hear it ring.”

  “You didn’t hear it ring? Do you even have the ringer volume turned up?” he continued to yell.

  He was frightening me and it threw me back to a night when I was a child. I started to shake as I ran up the stairs and into my room, heading straight for the corner where Ian had found me the past few nights. I sat with my back against the wall and curled myself into a ball. I closed my eyes tightly and buried my head, trying to escape the memories of that night. I heard the door handle turn and my heart started beating faster than it already was. I cried as I whispered over and over, “Please don’t hurt me. Please don’t hurt me.”

  I felt a soft touch on my hands. “Oh my God, Rory. I would never hurt you. I’m so sorry,” he said as he wrapped his arms around me and held me. “I was just so worried about you and when you didn’t answer your phone, I immediately thought you were in danger and I couldn’t find you. I felt helpless.”

  “He wouldn’t stop screaming. ‘Who do you think you are, spying on us? I think I need to teach you a lesson little girl,’ and he grabbed me by my hair. My aunt came in the room and told him to leave me alone and not to waste his time on a piece of shit like me.”

  “Jesus Christ,” he said as his grip tightened around me.

  I finally started to calm down. As much as Ian had scared me moments before, he was now comforting me. His voice and touch were both warm and apologetic. I broke our embrace and wiped my eyes. Ian took my face in his hands.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Please don’t ever fear me. I will never hurt you.”

  I stared into his eyes as he desperately apologized to me. “I’m sorry,” he whispered as he brought his lips to mine and kissed me softly.

  His hand wrapped around the nape of my neck as his kiss grew more intense. A low growl came from the back of his throat as I parted my lips and he slipped his tongue inside. I reciprocated and he went crazy, like an untamed beast. He halted and looked at me, breathless from our kiss.

  “I want you so bad, Rory. I want to fuck you. I want to taste your sweetness and I want to bury myself deep inside you.”

  He had me at the first “I want.” I had never wanted anything or anyone more badly in my life than I wanted Ian Braxton inside me. I knew it would change me and I didn’t know if I was ready for it. I sat there, breathless and aching, as I smiled at him.

  “You sure have a lot of wants.”

  Ian chuckled and put his forehead on mine. “Do you want me, Rory? Do you want me to fuck you? I need an answer,” he said.

  “Yes. I want you.”

  “You want me to what, Rory?”

  He was putting me on the spot because I never had said that to anybody and I was feeling embarrassed. But, I managed to spit out the words if it would get him to touch me again.

  “I want you to fuck me, Ian.”

  He took in a sharp breath and closed his eyes while he held the back of my head. “Not tonight. I need to make sure you’re strong and fully healed. I can’t risk hurting you, because when I fuck you, sweetheart, I’m going to take you on a ride you’ll never forget and do things to you that you’ve never experienced before.”

  Did I just hear him correctly? Did he just say “not tonight”? I didn’t have the strength to argue. He was playing me and I wasn’t going to stand for it. Ian Braxton had taken me to another world, even if just for a few moments. He made me get lost in him, in his scent, and his charm. I was tired of being the weak person, succumbing to what people wanted and what they needed. I was no longer going to be a victim of my life.

  I pushed him away while I stared into his eyes. “You’re right, Ian. Not tonight.”

  Chapter 7

  I set my alarm for five thirty a.m. Today was the day I was starting my daily run. I went into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face as I examined my swollen eyes from last night. I changed into some yoga pants, threw on a t-shirt, and went downstairs. Charles was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. It smelled li
ke blueberry muffins again.

  “Good morning, Charles.” I smiled as I opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

  “Good morning, Rory. Blueberry muffins will be coming out of the oven soon. Would you like one?”

  “No, thank you. I’m heading out for a run. Have you by any chance seen Ian yet this morning?”

  “He’s out for a run himself.” Charles smiled.

  Damn it. I thought I could be up and out before he was. “Thanks, Charles. By the way, please don’t mention that you saw me this morning.”

  “I won’t, Miss Rory. Have a nice run.”

  “Oh, and one more question. Which way does he usually go when he runs?”

  “If you’re trying to avoid him, I’d go left.” He winked.

  A smile fell across my face as I opened the door and turned left. I took it easy at first. Since it was my first time attempting any sort of exercise after the incident, I didn’t want to push myself, so I started to jog slowly. The sun was just starting to rise as I jogged along the shoreline. I took in deep breaths of fresh ocean air as a slight wind swept across my face. This was perfect. I was relaxed and, for the first time in so long, I felt peace. I picked up the pace, just a little, as I was doing okay. Today was the day; my day of renewed strength and a new life. The first thing I needed to do was move out of Ian’s house. As much as I had wanted him last night, I knew that it would’ve been a mistake. A man like Ian Braxton and a woman like me would never work. We were on opposite sides of the spectrum. We were from different worlds and nothing would ever change that. I needed to get back to the motel that Stephen and I had stayed at. I had left something behind and I had a feeling it would still be there. I ran about three miles before the cramping in my side started. I stopped and faced the ocean as I grabbed my side and bent over, trying to ease the pain.

  “You overdid it,” Ian’s voice said.

  I stood up straight and put my hands on my hips. “Nah, I’m good. Three miles isn’t bad for a stab victim.”

  “Three miles is too much for the first time. I would’ve gone with you had I known what time you were going.”