Tame Me (Distracted Book 2) Read online

  But now, after being with Blaine, she thought the man seemed… boring. Blaine was twice as sexy as Professor Holden. Maybe even more.

  She sighed and glanced down at her watch, counting the minutes until the class was over. How was she supposed to concentrate when memories of what Blaine had done to her kept replaying in her mind?

  She thought about skipping out of the rest of the class, but instead, opened her laptop, ignored the lecture, and did a little research.

  The first thing she did was Google Blaine’s father.

  Brandon Fisher was the current governor for the State of Washington. The images of the older man were somewhat shocking to look at. Other than small differences between them—the older man’s silver-streaked hair and facial lines, and Blaine’s tattoos, beard, and longer hair—the two could have been twins instead of father and son.

  It was the same in her family. Jamie was the spitting image of her mother, Carrie Ann. She’d gotten her father’s temperament, though. Her mother was one of the biggest pushovers Jamie had ever met.

  She believed it was one of the reasons her father had married her in the first place. He had wanted a woman who would never question him or say no to him. It had been a shock to him when Jamie had come into her attitude at the tender age of eleven.

  She knew that her mother, long before marrying her father, had been one of the top correspondents in the White House. That meant that at one point she’d been a strong independent woman. But Jamie had never seen that side of the woman who had raised her.

  Reading more about Blaine’s father, she could easily understand how the two men had grown apart. The man stood against everything Blaine was.

  She didn’t understand how someone so closed-minded could produce a son as wonderful as Blaine. The man appeared to only care about his own image and wealth. There was nothing in the guy’s social media that even hinted he had a son.

  The only mention of Blaine that she could find was a very old article with a blurry image of him and his father standing side by side, looking like strangers, at the court hearing of Timothy Poore, the man who had been convicted of murdering Adena Fisher.

  Blaine had been only thirteen, but the look on his blurry face screamed that he had seen more than most normal thirteen-year-olds.

  When she walked out of class less than an hour later, the sun had disappeared, leaving the parking lot dark and gloomy as the sky sprinkled rain over her.

  She was used to night classes, leaving school after most people were happily tucked in their beds.

  Maybe it was why she liked hitting the clubs on her nights off. Her schedule was set, and she didn’t want to rock the boat.

  She pulled out her phone and was reading a text from Emily when someone called her name.

  Turning around, she saw Blaine rush across the parking lot towards her. He was wearing a blazer with a black T-shirt underneath and khaki pants. Here was the only professor she wanted to have the hots for. When had she become so enamored of the man?

  “Busy?” he asked as he fell into step with her.

  “No.” She shook her head. “I was going to grab something to eat.”

  “Perfect.” He took her hand in his and she tucked her phone into her pocket. “I know this great little steak place.”

  Her eyebrows shot up as she stopped walking and turned towards him. “Is this how you ask a woman out?”

  He chuckled and pulled her into his arms, her book bag caught between them.

  “No, this is how I invite myself to dinner with you.” He leaned down and, a breath from her lips, he asked, “Jamie, go out to dinner with me?”

  The look in his eyes told her that he wasn’t as hungry for steak as he was for something else. Her entire body heated and demanded to be touched by him. Without thinking, she nodded in agreement and pulled him the rest of the way to her until their lips met.

  “God,” she sighed when he pulled back slightly. “I needed that. I’ve been thinking of you all day.”

  “All day?” he asked with a chuckle. “I dropped you off at your apartment around noon.”

  “At which time I did hint that we should skip classes.” She ran her hand over the collar of his jacket. “We could have spent the entire day doing what I’ve been thinking about.”

  It was his turn to moan, and she felt his entire body stiffen. Smiling, she started to drag him towards her car.

  “As much as I want to… I haven’t eaten since lunch. How about food first, then...” he said as they stopped by her car. Just then his cell phone chimed. Glancing at the new message from Rafe, he smiled. “Rafe and Emily want to meet us to celebrate Rafe getting the surgery residency position.”

  She hadn’t been surprised when Blaine had told her the news earlier. Jamie smiled. “Where? When?”

  “Two hours, at Sharky’s.”

  She moved closer to him with a smile. “Plenty of time.”

  “I’ll meet you at your place,” he said, suddenly, pulling away. He laughed. “I have to get more rubbers.”

  She groaned when she realized she didn’t have any either. “I’m out too.” This caused his eyebrows to shoot up. “Hey, you’ve known me for how long? I’ve never shied away from having fun.” She poked him in the ribs.

  “Right.” He shook his head. “See you in a few.” He leaned in and kissed her. “While I’m the one you’re with, try to not let anyone else, will ya?”

  She laughed. “No promises. Professor Holden was looking pretty hot in jeans tonight.”

  Blaine’s eyes narrowed. “The guy is married.”

  She shrugged and slid into her car as he laughed.

  She was smiling the entire way to her apartment about the fact that, as far as she could tell, sex hadn’t ruined their friendship.

  She rushed up to her apartment to freshen up. She felt like a stupid teenager. They had had sex several times now, yet she was just as nervous as the first time with him.

  If she allowed herself to think about it too long, she could easily fall for Blaine. After all, he was everything every woman alive would fall for. Kind, smart, and gorgeous.

  In the past few years, he’d made a point to show her just how much he wanted to take care of her. He wasn’t even annoying about it like some of her other friends had been in the past few months.

  It was one of the reasons she’d started hanging out with Emily so much lately. Her other friends had taken to nagging her about how she was acting. And since she didn’t want to open up to them, she had shut them out.

  But she’d let Blaine in. That thought scared her and. at the same time, somehow set her free.

  Glancing at herself in the mirror one last time, she tucked a strand of her pink hair back up in the messy buns and smiled at her reflection. It had been years before she had finally allowed herself to enjoy her looks.

  She’d struggled as a child with who she was and the fact that she was the spitting image of a woman who was so weak. It was one of the reasons she had so many tattoos and piercings.

  It was probably the reason she colored her hair. After so many years of doing so, she couldn’t even remember the real color of it. Unless she looked at an image of her mother.

  There was a knock at the door, and she felt her heart skip. God, she had never wanted someone as much as she wanted Blaine.

  She remembered the first time she’d seen him standing near the front of the classroom. How she had drooled over him as he helped the professor pass out papers. Talk about a great ass in jeans! The man had great everything.

  Walking through her apartment, she checked her watch and smiled when she calculated they had an hour and half before they were supposed to meet Rafe and Emily.

  “Hi,” she said as she swung the door open and leaned against it.

  “Hi.” He stood there, looking at her, his eyes running slowly up and down her body. “Can I come in?” he asked after a moment of silence.

  She moved aside and shut the door behind them.

  He stopped less t
han a foot away and turned back to her. “Jamie, I—”

  She didn’t give him a chance to finish talking. Instead, she jumped into his arms, her mouth covering his.

  “Talk later,” she mumbled against his mouth. “Action now.” She rubbed her body against his and felt him grow hard in his jeans.

  His hands on her ass, he moved towards the sofa and fell backwards until she straddled him.

  Her fingers fumbled with pulling his shirt over his head, then went to work on his pants as he started removing her clothes.

  She was thankful he was matching her pace as their clothes hit the apartment floor. When she finally had him naked, she took a moment to appreciate him once again. There was no doubt why every woman in the club threw their money his way.

  Every inch of him was perfection.

  “Like what you see?” he asked with a chuckle as his hands ran over her bare hips. His eyes were running up and down her body, heating her skin as they went.

  “Who wouldn’t?” she replied before leaning down and running her mouth over his shoulder.

  She felt his fingers dig into her and smiled at the feeling of him, hard, pushed up against her own sex.

  “God, Jamie, you’re killing me.” He groaned and moved slightly so he could slide a rubber over himself.

  She felt her heart kick and knew that soon, she would have everything she’d dreamed about all day long.

  “Hey,” he said, pulling away slightly until she looked into his eyes. “I meant it, you know.”

  “Hmm?” She licked her lips, still tasting his skin on her mouth.

  “While we’re doing this…” He nodded slightly. “I don’t fool around. It’s hurtful and just a dick move. If you want to mess around with someone else, be honest with me and this will stop.”

  She had never been unfaithful to anyone before, but then again, she’d never agreed to be loyal either. Her longest relationship, if she could call it that, had lasted only a week. She’d enjoyed the fun, then moved on. It was her MO.

  Nodding, she slowly reached down and gripped him lightly, then positioned him so she could slide fully onto his length.

  She took her time, taking exactly what she wanted from him, everything she needed and believed would hold her over for another day. She never could have imagined just how wrong she was.

  Two hours later, Jamie was sitting next to Emily and laughed at something her friend had said. Her heart felt light, her body completely sated from the great sex. The day was shaping up to be one of the best she’d had in years.

  She was in a such a great mood and was filling Emily in on all the details of Blaine’s boat when she happened to glance over and catch an image on the television screen that hung over the bar.

  It was as if a bomb had gone off beside her. Instantly, her entire body started shaking as a high-pitched buzzing blocked her hearing out. Her eyes grayed until the only thing she could see was the image on the television.

  She’d never imagined she would ever see the silver car again. Yet there it was, being pulled from the dark water in which she’d watched it slowly sink over two years earlier.

  She didn’t even register the words on the screen or what was being said. Instead, as with before, she felt her entire body floating as everything went dark.

  Chapter Twelve

  Blaine sat across from Jamie and saw her face pale. Emily jumped up and rushed over to catch Jamie before she hit the ground.

  He was there a second later, picking her gently up into his arms and laying her down in a booth, holding her tight as he waited for her eyelashes to flutter open.

  “What happened?” he asked Emily, but they were busy dealing with the waiter.

  When Jamie’s eyes started opening, he gently held her.

  “It’s…” Her eyes moved to the television over the bar, and he glanced up to see a news report before looking back down at her. “The car,” she said softly to him. He didn’t know what she was talking about and glanced up again at the screen.

  “What car?” Emily asked and they all grew quiet as they watched a news report from earlier that evening.

  On the screen, the story flashed under the picture.

  “Father and son discover car in a lake via drone.”

  “What car?” Emily asked, sitting next to Jamie as Blaine got up and walked over to listen to the report.

  Rafe followed him. He could barely make out what the reporter was saying but got enough information that his heart sank.

  A father and son were out flying their new drone when they spotted something dark in the waters of one of the many lakes near the edge of the wildlife preserve. The body of an unidentified person was found locked in the trunk. The car is believed to have been submerged for over two years. Police are looking into the case as a homicide.

  The scene changed and a commercial for cars filled the screen.

  Blaine glanced over his shoulder. Jamie was sitting up in the booth, her head resting on the wood table as Emily touched her shoulder.

  Then Jamie jerked up and wrapped her arms around her friend as she cried.

  They walked back to the booth, and Rafe asked the waiter for their food to be wrapped up.

  “I’ll drive her back to our place,” Emily told them and took Jamie’s hand to pull her friend out of the crowded restaurant.

  “I’ll get the food.” Blaine motioned for Rafe. They stood side by side, watching the women disappear through the front door.

  “Want to tell me what all that was about?” Rafe asked as they stood by the bar, waiting for their food.

  “I wish I could,” he said and glanced up at the television. The report had yet to return to the screen.

  “Do you think she’s high again?” Rafe asked.

  “No.” He shook his head. He knew she wasn’t. She hadn’t been out of his sight since he’d arrived at her apartment a few hours ago. And he knew exactly why she’d fainted this time. It just wasn’t his story to tell. “It’s up to Jamie.” He warned his friend, “I… can’t tell you.” He glanced around and was thankful their food was ready for them.

  Blaine followed Rafe back to Jamie and Emily’s apartment. When they walked in, Emily had a glass of wine and looked upset. He wondered if Jamie had told her anything.

  He glanced back at Jamie’s bedroom door, but before he could head down that way, she stepped out and made her way back into the living room.

  When he locked eyes with her, he could tell that she’d taken something. His heart sank a little knowing that, once again, she’d turned to drugs to deal with her pain instead of him.

  “Hey.” He took Jamie by the shoulders. “We talked about this, remember?” he said softly, knowing that she would pull away from him if he lectured her.

  “That was before…” Jamie shrugged him off and walked over to the television and flipped it on. After finding a news channel, she motioned to the screen as the story played again, as if that explained everything.

  He watched the image of a crane pulling a submerged car out of a lake.

  “Why don’t you start at the beginning?” Rafe asked, between bites of his burger. “Sorry, I didn’t have lunch or dinner.” He motioned to the food.

  “I’m eating too.” Emily sat down and took a bite of her own burger.

  “Eat.” Jamie chuckled and waved her arms. “This can wait.” She turned to Blaine. “It’s waited this long. What’s a few more minutes?” The look in her eyes had his heart breaking even more.

  Blaine walked over and wrapped his arms around her, whispering to her, “I’m here.”

  “I know.” She sighed into his chest.

  “You should eat something,” he said to Jamie and nudged her into a chair at the table.

  Jamie took up a few fries, but then reached for the glass of wine Emily had poured.

  “No.” Emily scooped it away from her. “I poured this before I knew you had taken something. You only get wine if you’re sober to begin with.” She poured the extra wine into her own glas
s and swallowed some of it. Blaine smiled behind Jamie’s back.

  “Bitch.” Jamie sighed and took up another French fry.

  “You know it.” Emily saluted with her glass before taking yet another sip.

  By the time everyone was done eating, Jamie looked a little steadier. Still, he could tell she was hurting, even though she was still high.

  They all moved into the living room, and Blaine reached over and unmuted the television. Everyone listened to the report of the father and son taking their new drone out for a spin, flying it over the lake, and discovering a submerged car on the camera screen. They called police, who pulled the car out and discovered a body locked in the trunk.

  Jamie rushed from the room upon hearing this. Blaine followed her and sat next to her as she emptied her stomach of all the food she’d just eaten.

  “Oh god.” Jamie leaned her head on the toilet. “I’m fucked.”

  “Hey.” He rubbed her back. “You were a victim. You made a mistake by not going to the police right away, but still, you are the victim here.”

  “Right.” She glanced up and rolled her eyes at him. “Tell that to the guy’s family or the police. Do you think they’re going to believe me now?”

  He thought about it. “If the guy had a history of rape, maybe.” He shrugged.

  “For the last two years, I’ve thought about his family. Of what they must be going through. Not knowing where their son or brother was.” She leaned back and closed her eyes. “Why didn’t they file a missing person’s report? Maybe he was from out of state?”

  He’d only know about it for two days now, but he hadn’t even thought about the guy’s family. His only concern had been that he’d almost lost Jamie. That she’d almost been a statistic. Another woman along the coast that mysteriously disappeared into thin air. He didn’t give a fuck about the guy’s family. Not now, not ever. He knew it was harsh of him, but he only had enough time to think about Jamie.

  “The only thing I’ve thought about since you told me is that it could have been you,” he responded.

  He watched her eyes change and knew that she had thought about that possibility as well.