Page 168 of Mad As Hell

My brain was mush after finishing all my midterms a couple days later. I was exhausted and spent most of the car ride to Ryan’s grandfather’s house asleep, after shoving aside the feeling of being a jerk since Ryan’s sports car sat only two and that meant Bex had to ride along with Court, Linc, and Ash in the car behind us.

The six-hour drive to Napa didn’t seem that long, and I was still a little out of it when Ryan turned off the main road and onto a smaller one lined with huge oak trees and thick foliage. We drove through a tunnel of greenery with hints of the sun peeking through above the canopy. Ornate lamps occasionally appeared among the trees, and I realized this wasn’t a road; it was a driveway.

Halfway down, we were met with an imposing wrought iron gate with a sign reading Brookfield Estate & Vineyard. An actual guardhouse sat to the left. The man inside stepped out, and I watched as he approached the side of the car.

“Hey, Tim,” Ryan greeted easily after rolling down his window. He didn’t bother taking off his aviator shades.

“Mr. Cain,” Tim replied, dipping his head. His gaze swept to me, and Ryan’s hand reached over to settle on my hand possessively.

“This is Maddie, my fiancée,” he explained, his tone cool and dismissive.

I almost rolled my eyes, because there was no way Ryan could possibly think this security guard with thinning hair and a handlebar mustache could be competition. But really, his jealous streak knew no bounds.

I leaned forward with a grin and gave a small wave. “Hi.”

“Miss,” Tim greeted stiffly, but I could see the edges of his mouth twisting as he tried not to smile. He quickly turned his attention back to Ryan. “Your grandfather is expecting you, sir.”

Ryan nodded, and Tim took that as his cue to walk back to the guardhouse. Moments later, the gates swung open and we were rolling through the opening.

I slapped Ryan’s arm. “You didn’t have to be an ass.”

He scoffed. “He was checking you out.”

“Probably to make sure I didn’t have a bomb or wasn’t holding you at gunpoint to make you drive here,” I teased, shaking my head. Feeling amused, I leaned over the center console and pressed my lips against his throat. “Why? Jealous, baby?”

The hand on my thigh slid up suddenly, dipping under my skirt and cupping my pussy like he owned it before giving it a squeeze. I squeaked and tried to close my legs, but it was too late. His hand wasn’t moving.

“I don’t have to get jealous.” His fingers leisurely stroked the lace of my panties. “We both know who this belongs to.”

It was hard to think with his fingers feathering across my core, not giving me enough pressure to do much more than send waves of want pulsing through my body.

“Ryan.” My voice came out thin and almost whiny. I couldn’t stop myself from lifting my hips to search out his touch, craving more.

The asshole smirked. “Yeah, babe?”

“Stop.” Gritting my teeth, I reached for his wrist and tried to get his hand out of my skirt. I wasn’t walking into his grandfather’s house horny with soaked panties.

“You sure?” The blunt tip of his finger pressed more firmly where my clit was.

“Yes,” I hissed, but I wasn’t entirely certain if it was because I wanted him to stop or keep going.

With a dark chuckle, he dragged his fingers down the inside of my thigh before settling his hand on my knee.

I shuddered and fisted my hands on my lap as I tried to get my body under control.

The trees and underbrush gave way to a massive circular driveway in front of a three-story English style mansion. The white brick looked softly weathered, with lush green ivy crawling up the corners and creases and curling around some of the black shutters framing gleaming windows. A fountain bubbled in the grassy center of the circular drive, which extended down a hill and disappeared around the back of the house.

“Holy shit,” I breathed, sitting up and peering out of the windshield. “This looks like something out of a fairy tale.”

The corner of Ryan’s mouth kicked up. “I guess.”

I smacked his shoulder again, but this time he caught my wrist and held it. “You know, if we’re adding slapping each other to the list of things we do, that ass of yours is going to pay the price.”

Well, that was one way to get me to shut up. And yet, as he airily tossed the threat out to me, I didn’t hate it. In fact… I was kinda turned on.

He must have read something in my eyes, because he really grinned then and murmured, “Interesting.”

Blushing, I looked away and pressed my lips together to ignore the way he laughed. A moment later, he opened his car door and got out, so I took that as my cue to do the same, pausing to shove my feet back into the ballet flats I’d kicked off at the start of our road trip.

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