Bind Me - Page 98

I wake disoriented on the couch in the apartment. My pussy and ass ache, but not in need. I sit up, realizing I’m in someone’s dress shirt. I sniff the collar. Outdoors. Noah.

My heart fills my chest as I snuggle deeper into his shirt. Protected and safe. The sound of dishes makes me turn to the kitchen. The guys are setting the table and getting ready for dinner.

“Hey there, tiger.” Blake’s words cause everyone to turn to look at me.

I stretch. “How long was I out?”

“Thirty minutes.” Coop winks at me as he heads to the table to put the plates out. “Seth was afraid he fucked you into oblivion.”

Not far from the truth, but it was all of them. My body tingles. Fuck. I can’t want them all again so soon. I’ll end up with a UTI if I’m not careful.

“We’ll shower after food.” Seth gestures for me to come join him at the table.

Blake brings over a basket of bread, and Noah brings over the beef stew. I sit next to Seth, aware that I’m dripping and wearing only Noah’s dress shirt. The food gets passed around, and soon everyone is eating.

“Blake still needs a date for the benefit.” Coop lifts his eyebrow at Blake. “Need a number?”

Blake shakes his head before lifting his gaze to mine. “I have someone I can call.”

My heart feels like it’s on fire. I don’t like that it’s that easy for them to find a date. So easy to find someone to replace me.

“My sister is in town. She’d be happy to go as my plus-one.” Blake takes a bite of beef from his stew.

My heart returns to pre-nuclear levels. I stir my spoon in my soup before turning to Seth. “Why didn’t you warn me about your ex?”

Seth takes a deep breath and blows it out. “Because I honestly didn’t think it would matter. Not just to you, but to me. And it doesn’t. She doesn’t matter. It was almost a decade ago. And not a relationship I would ever consider good.”

“I can’t believe she’s stupid enough to think she might have a second chance with you.” Coop leans back in his chair. “She tried to fuck me while she was dating you. Pretty sure the bitch was trying to get pregnant and make me believe it was mine.”

My mouth drops open. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have lasted five minutes at the same table without launching myself at her.

Noah reaches over and presses on my chin to close my mouth. “She’s just a means to an end. Especially with Blake taking his sister.” Noah rolls his eyes. “The whole point is to draw the press away from believing Madison is with all of us.”

“Then you find a fucking date,” Blake mutters.

Noah sighs, and he glances at me with determined eyes. “I’ll find someone to bring. It’s not fair to Madison if the press crucifies her.”

My eyebrows rise. “What do I care about the press?”

“It’s not just now, princess.” Seth leans back. “If the press gets wind of our arrangement, it will get dragged out every time something good or bad happens to you. They’ll label you as a wild child or some less flattering term.”

“You want a future in the business world.” Noah takes my hand. “We want to help you achieve that, and part of that is staying on the good side of the press. Your reputation is everything. Every story, no matter how small, can come back to bite you the higher you get.”

I blow out a breath. As a future business owner, my image is everything if I want to build a brand. The guys took a hit when it was just rumors. What would happen to me if it came out that I’m in a contract to have sex with my bosses? What kind of woman would they paint me as?

Independent? Self-sufficient? Sexually confident? Whore?

“I want to say I don’t care, but I’ve got a lot of career ahead of me.” I lean my head against the back of the chair. “I trust all of you, especially with this and my future. Just don’t fuck anyone else.”

I push my mostly untouched bowl away and stand. Thinking about them with other women was one thing, but having to go and watch them have someone else in their arms… My heart squeezes. “I’m going to take a shower.”

Chapter 30

In Sync

Seth

We finish dinner in silence, each lost in our own thoughts. What we told her is the truth. Our reputations reflect on our business. She’s still young, and earning that type of reputation could damage everything she hopes to achieve in the future.