Perfect Betrayal Read online

  Even with the scare, he had been unable to ignore the sight of Taylor in that dress. She looked like a vintage Hollywood movie star—all blond hair, blue eyes, and a body wrapped in fabric that looked edible. When her long leg parted the thigh-high slit, he had forced himself to turn away.

  It was then that Levi realized Taylor Hudson might be a bigger problem than they first thought. She was tempting and off-limits, and that made her dangerous.

  * * *

  The next morning, Levi’s alarm failed to go off and he was an hour late for work. He called and spoke to Mandy, who told him to take his time. It looked like it might be a good thing having an admirer on the inside.

  When he made it to the house, he found Mandy and Suzanne having coffee in the kitchen.

  “Make mine a double,” he said as Mandy poured him a cup. She giggled and handed over the brew. “So, how long have you guys worked here?”

  “I’ve been here six years,” Mandy said.

  “Do you like it?” Levi asked, sipping his coffee.

  “I mean, most of the time it’s pretty easy, especially with Taylor being the only one in the house. She doesn’t bother us much. Not like when Virginia’s around.” Mandy rolled her eyes. “Geez, that woman is a tyrant.”

  “Aw, Virginia’s not so bad, as long as you keep a martini in her hand.” Suzanne laughed. “I’ve been here eighteen years, since Taylor was born. Feels like a lifetime.”

  “Wow,” Levi said, looking her over. “And you don’t look a day over twenty-five.”

  Suzanne put her mug in the sink and laid a hand on his shoulder.

  “Flattery will get you everywhere, young man. If I was thirty pounds lighter and twenty years younger, you’d only kick me out of bed to do it on the floor,” she said with a wink.

  * * *

  “Good morning, sunshine,” Reese said, barging into Taylor’s room. “Look who I found at Starbucks this morning.”

  Taylor closed her laptop and swiveled in her chair.

  Adrienne Cavill followed Reese into the room. She had been part of their trio since they were eight years old. Though she’d grown a bit distant in the last few years. Reese said it was because Adrienne thought she was better than them. Taylor said it was because Adrienne was better than them. She gave Taylor a wave.

  “We come bearing gifts,” Adrienne said, dropping off a large vanilla latte on Taylor’s desk.

  “What’s up, ladies? Ade, I thought you were delivering meals to kids in Africa or something this summer.”

  Adrienne squished up her face and shook her head. Her jet-black ponytail swayed against her back. “I was going to volunteer with Doctors Without Borders in Guatemala. It fell through. Now I’ve got nothing significant to show for this summer. Might as well hang out with you hags.”

  “Please tell me you’re here to rescue me from boredom,” Taylor whined.

  “Ta daaaaaa,” Reese sang, producing a bag with six rolled joints. “I brought herb, so you better be pleased to see us.”

  The three girls made themselves comfortable on Taylor’s bed and lit a joint, passing it back and forth until it was finished. Adrienne and Taylor discussed big plans for when they attended Harvard in the fall and decided they should definitely get a dorm room together. An easy silence fell around them and Taylor was thankful for the high.

  “You know, psychoactive chemicals are currently running through our bloodstream they’re changing the chemical balance in our brains while releasing dopamine creating the euphoric feeling of being high.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Cavill,” Taylor said. “But I think that was a run-on sentence.”

  “The Discovery Channel has helped prepare me for Harvard premed, not sentence structure.”

  “Sorry you didn’t get to hook up with any hot doctors this summer,” Reese said, patting Adrienne on the shoulder.

  “That wasn’t exactly the point of volunteering.”

  Taylor rolled over toward her friends. “What exactly is the point of volunteering?” she asked.

  “I’ve been doing it since eighth grade.” Adrienne shrugged. “It’s rewarding. If you find something you’re passionate about, then it’s even better. Plus, it looks stellar on a college application.”

  “The only thing stellar on my college application was Henry’s generous donation check to the Harvard Alumni Association.”

  “Remember in Beta Club when we had to volunteer at that youth center in Santa Ana?” Adrienne asked. Taylor nodded. “You seemed to enjoy that. You should look into it. See if they need any help this summer.”

  Taylor yawned and stretched her hands toward the headboard. She had enjoyed helping people learn how to read. It felt important, knowing that her grandmother struggled with it. She looked over at Reese, who had her eyes closed and a giant smile on her face.

  “Reese! Are you sleeping?”

  “No,” she answered. “I’m picturing a tiny weed fairy delivering this high with little glitter sprinkles over our heads. She grants wishes too. But it never works out, because she’s a bitter bitch. She twists your wish into something terrible while still giving you exactly what you asked for. I think I like her.”

  Taylor and Adrienne looked at each other and then burst into a fit of giggles.

  “A fairy? What would you ask for?” Taylor asked, grinning lazily at her friend.

  “For us all to still be friends like this in twenty years,” Reese replied. Her usually large brown eyes looked small and sleepy. “You’re the best person I know, Adrienne. Even if it is annoying at times. And Taylor, you’re an unstoppable force of nature.”

  “I wish Levi felt that way.”

  “Hold up. Who?” Reese asked, lifting her head.

  “Levi. New Guy.”

  “You’re on a first-name basis with the maintenance man?”

  “Wait, what maintenance man?” Adrienne asked.

  “A new employee of my father’s. He’s gorgeous.” Taylor sighed.

  Reese sat up and scowled down at her friend. “Taylor, this is a new low, even for you.”

  “Whatever, Reese. Don’t judge me. He’s just so damn tempting. It’s like I can’t stay away.”

  “Why should she stay away?” Adrienne asked Reese. “If he’s hot and she’s available? Is your problem with his social status or lack of money?”

  “Don’t start with your Mother Teresa bullshit, Ade. Did you even try to stay away from him, Taylor?” Reese asked.

  “He’s been resistant to all my usual flirting. I’m going to have to step it up.”

  “I cannot believe we’re even talking about this. He’s disgusting.”

  Taylor sat up, facing Reese. She felt confused about the anger churning through her now. Of all the words she would use to describe Levi, “disgusting” was not one of them.

  “Stop being such a snob,” Taylor said. “I mean, he might be poor, but he’s hot. And intriguing.”

  “Someone at your level shouldn’t associate with trash. Stop slumming with the help just because you have abandonment issues.”

  Adrienne sat up and glared at Reese. “That was uncalled for.”

  Taylor flew off the bed and pointed to her door. “Get out!” she yelled.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. Get. Out!”

  Reese climbed off the bed, grabbed her purse, and slipped on her shoes. She didn’t give Taylor a second glance as she made her way to the door. Adrienne shrugged and followed her.

  “Fine, Taylor, but you’ll learn the hard way that just because you paint the sole of a shoe red, it doesn’t make it a Louboutin.”

  “What does that even mean?” Taylor shouted.

  Reese swung the door open and found Levi on the other side, fist poised to knock. She pushed past him and took off down the stairs. Adrienne gawked at Levi for a few seconds before scurrying around him and mouthing to Taylor, “Is that him? Wow!”

  “Ade, are you coming?” Reese yelled from downstairs. Adrienne disappeared, and a few seconds later th
e front door slammed closed. Taylor motioned for Levi to come in, embarrassed that he might have overheard their conversation.

  “Suzanne said one of your balcony doors is stuck.”

  His words were clipped, his shoulders stiff. Taylor could feel the hostility rolling off him. She nodded as he set his toolbox down next to the doors and checked the locks. He opened one side, but the other door didn’t budge. Levi leaned into it with his shoulder, but it remained in place.

  Taylor took a seat on the edge of her bed and watched him work. “It’s been stuck for a while,” she offered.

  Levi ignored her and kept trying to free the door. He pushed and pulled, and checked the hinges and locks again. The more he struggled, the more Taylor felt his frustration grow. Whether he was upset with the door or with her, she didn’t know. She also didn’t know why she cared. Reese was right. He was the help, officially an employee of her father. But there was something there, something she wanted in the worst way.

  Levi grumbled and slammed against the door again. The sound of breaking glass snapped her out of her buzz.

  “Shit!” he yelled.

  Taylor jumped from the bed and ran to find Levi’s elbow through one of the small glass panes. There was a cut high on his biceps and blood soaked his shirt sleeve.

  “I’m not really good with blood. Stay here,” she said. She ran to the intercom and paged the entire house. “Suzanne, I need you in my room!”

  There was no answer, so she ran to her bathroom and dug through the cabinet for the first aid kit hidden all the way in the back. By the time she made it back to Levi, he was leaning against the wall, pressing his hand over the wound while red seeped between his fingers.

  “Levi, let me see it,” she said, approaching him carefully.

  “I’m okay. I just need a towel or something.”

  “You’re not okay. Now let me see.” He moved his hand and all she could see was a tear in the sleeve and more blood. She pushed the sleeve up, but it wouldn’t go far enough. “Take off your shirt,” she said, tugging the shirt out of his pants.

  He fumbled with the buttons, before Taylor slapped his hands away and did it herself. She loved the way he watched her hands work down from his neck before peeling the shirt from his body. He wore a plain white T-shirt beneath and Taylor sighed at the sight. Who knew something so simple could be so sexy?

  Her gaze traveled across his broad chest, where she could barely make out more ink beneath the thin shirt and down his stomach to his gunmetal belt buckle.

  “Taylor,” he said, snapping her out of her ogling.

  Without a word, she cleaned the cut with antiseptic, applied a few butterfly bandages, and wrapped it in gauze. Her fingers smoothed the tape down and she let them trail down his biceps, skimming the inside of his elbow. The colorful art was smooth and warm beneath her fingertips. Continuing her journey, she traced the pads of his calloused fingertips with her own.

  “Your hands are so rough,” she said absently.

  “A result of physical labor and guitar playing. Thanks,” Levi said, checking out the bandage. “I thought you weren’t good with blood.”

  “Huh, I thought so too. Maybe I just needed a distraction,” she said, dragging one finger down his chest and thumping his belt buckle. Levi grabbed his shirt from the floor and threw it back on.

  “You mind if I wash my hands in your bathroom?” he asked, waving the bloody hand at her.

  “Go ahead.” Taylor looked away and swallowed down her nausea.

  When he reappeared, Levi started to pick up the glass from the floor. He threw it in the trash beside Taylor’s desk. She sat on her bed, leaning back on her elbows.

  “Sorry about your door. I’ll fix it before I leave today.”

  “No worries. What you should be sorry about is killing my buzz.”

  He smirked at her and ducked his head. “Sorry about that, too.”

  “You could make it up to me.”

  “Taylor, I don’t have any pot.”

  “There are other ways,” she said, finally catching his attention.

  Levi’s hazel eyes seemed to shine as he stalked forward, coming to a stop between her knees. He leaned over, placing his hands on the bed, caging her in. His handsome face was a mask of seriousness, the muscles in his jaw clenched and released. Taylor shrank back into her pillows, unsure if she was turned on or afraid. He looked dangerous in the most beautiful way. Levi lowered his head, his lips just inches from her own.

  “What would you have me do, Taylor?” The nearness of his body made her pulse spike. She fought to keep her hands still. “Should I take you right here on your thousand-thread-count sheets?”

  Taylor nodded without thinking. Her fingers curled into the duvet, clawing at the material instead of his body. Suddenly, Levi stood and looked down at her in disgust. “Nah. You probably shouldn’t hook up with poor trash like me.”

  He grabbed his toolbox from the floor and slammed the door on his way out. Taylor tried to catch her breath and calm the ache he’d left her with.

  * * *

  “Crystal, you there?” Levi said as he headed down the stairs.

  “Yeah, I’m here. What’s up?” Crystal asked.

  “I’ve got to run to the hardware store for a piece of glass. We’ll have to do recon later.”

  “Copy that. I’ll let Kyle know. How’s the arm?”

  “It’s fine. Just bled a lot.”

  “Good thing Nurse Taylor took care of you,” she said.

  “Shut it,” Levi growled as he made his way out to his truck.

  He walked around the hardware store for longer than necessary, just needing a break from Taylor Hudson and her scheming blue eyes. He stared at piles of lumber and stacked paint cans, but nothing seemed to make him forget the feel of her hands on him. Even one of his favorites, Shakespeare’s Sonnet 57, could not clear his mind.

  Being your slave what should I do but tend

  Upon the hours and times of your desire?

  I have no precious time at all to spend,

  Nor services to do, till you require

  When Levi arrived back at the house, he found a black Audi TT parked in the driveway. Its sleek lines and sexy curves made him remember why he was here—to take from the rich and give to the poor. He pictured himself in that car, flying down the road while the engine purred.

  Making his way upstairs with the new glass in hand, Levi told himself to stop being so abrasive with Taylor. Sure, she was a spoiled girl who was too hot for her own good, but he needed to stay employed so he was going to have to play nice. Levi turned the corner and froze in front of Taylor’s open door.

  There she was, pinned down on her bed by a blond kid. The boy shifted his hips against her body as he kissed down her neck. Her hands gripped his shoulders as he started to unbutton her shirt. A lacy black bra was exposed, and Levi had to grab onto something to hold himself up. He’d seen her in far less—that tiny bikini left nothing to the imagination—but this seemed far more intimate. Taylor turned her head toward the door, finding Levi there. His grip on the doorframe tightened as she grinned before letting a small moan escape her lips. Her eyes were desperate, daring him to watch.

  “Mmm, so good,” she moaned.

  “Baby, lift your hips so I can take your shorts off,” the kid said.

  His voice jolted Levi out of his staring. He turned and fled down the stairs and out onto the back patio. Throwing himself down into a chair, his mind reeled as he tried to erase those visions from his head. Taylor Hudson was proving to be quite the adversary. How could she try to seduce him one minute and have some other guy in her bed the next? Levi couldn’t justify the feelings buzzing around his head. He was infuriated, jealous, and embarrassed. And unfortunately, hard as a rock.

  6. mutual attraction and just friends

  After he caught his breath, Levi took off across the lawn, past the tennis court and garden shed, into the woods. It was quiet out there and he could think without interruption. He s
at on the top of the picnic table and lay back, staring up at the crisscrossing canopy of trees. Levi tried to calm himself, but he was too fired up, too on edge. No matter how long he lay there, nothing deflated but his erection.

  Curtis emerged from the shed, a coiled hose over his shoulder, and gave Levi a wave.

  “You okay, man? You look pissed.”

  Levi blew out a breath and nodded. “I’m good. Just needed a break.”

  “Well, my hiding place is your hiding place. Stay as long as you need.”

  Curtis gave Levi a knowing smirk and headed toward the house.

  “I just caught up on the video feed,” Kyle said, startling Levi.

  “And?” Levi bit back, knowing his friend would have something to say about the peep show he’d just witnessed.

  “And why did you run away? That’s like turning off free porn. You never do that!”

  “This girl is out of control,” Levi said, leaning against a tree. “She’s testing me, Kyle.”

  “Just avoid her for a while. It’s okay for her to want you. That can probably work to our advantage. But you can’t get distracted. We’re here for the job, Levi. We’ll go to Mavericks tonight, meet some girls—the kind with lowered inhibitions and nice racks—and forget all about Taylor Hudson.”

  “Right,” Levi agreed. “The job. Let’s just get the layout of the outside buildings now. I’ll stay out of the house for a while.”

  “Let me set up all the outside cameras to redirect to a looped feed, and then we’re go,” Kyle confirmed.

  The two worked diligently, mapping those buildings for most of the day. Levi took his time, moving purposely slowly. He knew he did not want to return to the house while the blond kid was still there. As much as he loathed everything Taylor Hudson represented, he couldn’t deny the physical attraction. The fact that she was constantly throwing herself at him was going to test every ounce of his restraint.

  When the pool house was finished, Levi stood staring out across the yard at the main house. It looked so ominous under a dark gray sky, a hollow shell of a house. In reality, the bricks and marble, stone and wood all added up to nothing significant. During Levi’s childhood, it was the intangible things that made their house a home. The memories of growing up alone with his father, the dinners of cupcakes and french fries, the unbreakable bond between child and parent were what held them together. This house, with all its precious antiques and priceless art, held nothing.