Rosie perched on the side of the king size bed and watched me instead of the view. “What do you want to talk about?”
I moved to sit down next to her and wondered if normal big sisters would take their little sisters’ hands or if they would wrap their arms around their shoulders. Rosie and I had never gotten to be normal sisters, so I didn’t know. I pressed my hands between my knees instead and smiled over at her. “I appreciate you sticking up for me. I really do. It’s a strange feeling in a way. Mom never worried about stuff like that. She never cared to dothe mundane things like sticking up for her children. You don’t have to stick up for me, though, Rosie. You’re still a kid. You shouldn’t have to worry about me.”
She frowned. “You stuck up for me plenty. Even when you were still a kid.”
I had to swallow around a sudden lump in my throat. “I’m your big sister. It’s my job.”
“Whatever. That doesn’t mean I can’t worry about you. What are you doing with them, Sonnie?”
I flopped my upper half back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. “I really do like them. Maybe it makes me an idiot, but I like each of them a lot. I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense, liking three men, but I do. They’re each really nice.”
“So, what? You’re, like, dating them? All three of them? For real?” She lay back next to me. “It’s not that big of a deal, I guess. But people online seem to think so. No one is being mean to the guys, though. Just you.”
“Unfortunately, that’s just the way it goes for women most of the time. You heard what they said, though. Their publicist thinks the possibility of a relationship will be taken more seriously if we continue to date in public. And these dates will be one-on-ones. Maybe it’ll get better. The guys seem to think so.”
“They didn’t seem so sure. They mumbled a lot and didn’t make a ton of eye contact. What if they don’t care about your reputation, Sonnie? What if they leave you no better off than all of Mom’s boyfriend’s left her?”
That thought had me sitting back up with a near crippling amount of anxiety. “Mom’s boyfriends were all assholes. We both saw that.”
She rested her arm over her eyes. “She didn’t.”
I stood up and walked over to the windows again. “I like them, Rosie. It scares me, too. I mean… It scares me so much. I don’t want to mess up. I try hard to make sure everything is taken careof and it’s still never enough. I can’t afford to make mistakes. But if I never take chances, what’s the point?”
She sat up and studied me. “They don’t seem like assholes.”
I smiled. “They don’t, do they?”
Heaving a giant sigh, she shrugged and fell back on the bed. “Okay. Fine, I guess. You’re dating three men. Three famous men.”
I glanced at her bedroom door and rubbed my palms down my thighs. They were sweaty with residual anxiety, but I’d meant what I said. If I didn’t take chances, what was the point? I liked them and I wanted to see what happened with them. I just hoped they were right about my reputation getting better after a while.
CHAPTER 28
Sonnie
I looked over at Drake and tried to remember to smile. I could do it. I could get out of the car and put a smile on my face in front of a crowd of people waiting to snap pictures of us. My stomach clenched with nerves and I gripped the seat on either side of my thighs. I wasn’t actually sure I could do it. It was only the day after the news had gone nuclear about us and going out in public seemed crazy.
“Maybe we should go back to Price’s and try again a different day.” I bounced my foot too fast and my heel slipped off. What if that happened when I was walking into the restaurant? What if I made an ass of myself by falling flat on my face? What if I cried?
Drake leaned forward and slid my shoe back onto my foot. “You’re nervous.”
I let out a bark of laughter. “Yeah, you could say that.”
We were in the back of a car, the partition up between us and the driver, and Drake surprised me by slipping to the floor in front of me. I gasped when he ran his hands from my ankles to the backs of my knees.
“I understand being nervous. I’m used to all the bullshit now, but when we first started getting photographed all the time, I’d feel sick to my stomach for hours beforehand. I hated it. Price, Cole, and I would always take a couple of shots to calm our nerves.” He moved his hands higher and my dress bunched at his wrists. “I don’t have any whiskey, but I think I can help.”
I stared down at him with wide eyes as he hooked my panties and tugged them down. Even though I felt like he was crazy in that moment, I still lifted my hips to help him. “What are you doing? Aren’t we almost there?”
He leaned back and hit a button. “Circle the block for a bit, Jim.”
The driver’s voice came back through a speaker. “You got it, Mr. Taylor.”
Drake slipped my panties into his pocket and let a slow smile slip over his lips. “Seems like we’ve got time.”
He gripped my hips and pulled me forward on the seat until my ass hovered on the edge. With a wink, he dipped his head under my dress and a second later, I felt his mouth on my core. I tried to stay silent but Drake wasn’t having it.
He lifted his head and met my eyes with a heated gaze. “I want to hear you.”