C4 Four

"Hello"

"Hi. Oh my God the photos don't do you justice. You're like way hotter in real life. Look at those arms. Do you like work out? And that chest" she said fanning her face with her hand.

JR blinked at the girl. She had to be around twenty years old, tall with red hair and brown eyes. He also noticed the suitcases behind her and wondered who she was. "May I help you?" he asked but she just gawked at him like she'd never seen a man in her life before. Deep down though JR was gloating because apparently he still got it. "Hayley" he called for her positive she would know what to do. Okay maybe he just wanted to show off to his wife that even after so long, he could still attract attention from other women. Younger, to be precise. It was just a harmless eye opening experience. Of course he would never look at anyone else because he loved his wife too much.

"What is it, who's at the door?" she asked trying to look over his shoulder. He raised his arm and she ducked under it so that it was draped around her shoulders. "Oh. Hi there" the girl was still gawking at him. Hayley raised her eyebrows but he just shrugged. Then grinning like an idiot said

"She thinks I'm hot"

That made Hayley straighten up to her full height and snap her fingers in front of the girl's face. "Hey eyes on me young lady. Hey!"

"What? I wasn't done yet" she complained sounding irritated. Now it was Hayley's turn to blink in shock.

"I'm sorry but you weren't done doing what? Checking out my husband?"

"Yeah. I mean have you seen him? He's...."

"I know who he is" Hayley cut her off. "Very well" she enunciated each word to make it clear to the girl that JR was hers. She'd dealt with other women in the past who had tried to throw themselves at him. Their wedding had been plastered all over the internet so she was sure they knew he was married but they didn't care. She'd put them in their place and she was about to do the same to this girl if she didn't stop stealing glances at him. "Who are you anyway and what do you want?"

"Hayley" JR muttered from behind but she shushed him. She didn't want to hear what he had to say. It's not like she was stupid. She had been married to this man for fifteen years now and she knew him like the back of her hand. He would never cheat on her or entertain other women's advances but once in a while he liked to rile her up just to see how she would react. Like right now and he was so going to pay for that later. After she'd dealt with redhead first. And why did she have to be a redhead? And so pretty? And so young? No. She tamped down on the doubts trying creep in on her. JR was hers. Period.

"My my. Not so nice Mrs RF. Somehow I saw that coming" redhead said huffing. Seeing trouble brewing JR tightened the arm on Hayley's shoulders.

"Okay young lady. Tell us who you are and why you're here"

She beamed at him then stretched her hand to introduce herself but Hayley slapped it away. "Marjorie Sullivan. But you can call me Marj. I'm Alexis's friend"

"Marj...." JR started but the jab that landed on his ribs made him amend his sentence to "Miss Sullivan. It is so nice to meet you. Please come in" he went to move aside but Hayley stood her ground making it difficult. "Honey will you please move so she can come in?"

"No. I don't like her" she whispered to him but her eyes were watching Marj like a hawk.

"Will you guys move aside. You're blocking the entrance" Jayden said from behind them trying to push them apart. Finally giving in, Hayley stepped aside for Jayden to pass. Only he didn't. He took one step, saw redhead and froze like a statue.

"I think our son has just fallen in love" JR bent down to whisper in her ear.

"Don't even think about it." she hissed at him "No way I would accept her as my daughter in law. Besides she's too old for him"

"You know we can hear you mom. Right?"

"Good. That way I don't have to repeat myself"

"Ignore her. I'm Jayden"

"Marjorie but you can call me Marj. Is Alexis here?"

"No. She went out for a run but you can wait for her inside" Jayden told her flashing him the famous Rutherford smile. It worked with girls at school all the time.

"Thank you. Could you please get my bags?" the shy smile Marj gave him, had him scrambling to carry her bags inside. His parents watched on as he trotted behind her, pulling the suitcases and tote with him.

"See? She's already turned our son into her servant. Where is Alexis? I want her 'friend' gone" Hayley said air quoting the word friend with her hands.

"I love you. Especially when you turn into mama bear" JR said closing the door and pinning her against it. He moved in to kiss her but the sound of footsteps stopped him.

"Get a room you guys" Kieran voiced from somewhere behind them gagging as he went. JR laughed then dragged her all the way into the study where they would have privacy. He also needed her undivided attention and he couldn't have it if she kept trying to follow Alexis's friend everywhere with her eyes. Jealous Hayley was always a guaranteed turn on and it had been awhile since they'd gotten naughty in the study.

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Alexis pushed herself harder even though her legs protested against the force she was putting on them. She'd spent half of the night crying and the other half figuring out what she was going to do. Should she confront Connor and demand answers or should she continue acting like she was still abroad? She could act like their relationship was over and never contact him again. Not that he would care because he already had a new girlfriend. That was what confused her the most. If he was already in another relationship why did he pretend to be in love with her? Wouldn't it have been easy for him to break things off while she was in another continent?

Speeding up her pace, she rounded the corner and bumped smack into someone. Hands shot out to steady her. "I'm sorry. I didn't...." she stopped when she saw who it was. "Dammit can't you leave me alone?"

Ray scoffed "You're the one who bumped into me Princess. Not the other way around" he said crossing his arms over his chest. The action drew her attention to his broad shoulders that were glistening with sweat. Apparently he had been out on a morning run too. She wondered how much time he spent at the gym because those thick arms didn't come by easy. "See something you like Princess?"

"You wish" she spat out stepping around him to continue her run but Ray followed her. "Annoying prick" she muttered under her breath deciding to ignore him. After a few minutes of him still running behind her, she gave up and took a route that would lead her to her house. When she reached home, she opened the front door then banged it on his face hoping he would get the message and go away. But this was Raymond Lachlan. He wouldn't get the message even if she wrote it down for him in big bold letters.

The shriek coming from the kitchen had Alexis snapping her heard towards that direction. She spotted Marjorie and had a split second to steady herself before the other girl threw herself at her. The first time they'd both tumbled to the floor and thank God she hadn't been wearing jeans or else she would have flashed the whole school her private parts. After that Alexis had learnt to be alert. When it came to her friend, only one word could describe her. Extreme. She never did anything in half measures. "I missed you so much babe." she said pulling back.

Alexis smiled. "You actually picked the right time to show up. We need to talk"

"Totally. I have tons of..... Holy mother of God. Who is he?" Marjorie pushed her aside walking past her. Alexis turned then groaned realizing she was talking about Ray. She'd forgotten about him the second she slammed the door shut.

"Raymond Lachlan at your service" he said stretching his hand. That tank top he wore did a good job at keeping Marjorie drooling over him. For some reason that irritated her and she snapped.

"Jesus Marj. Could you stare any harder?"

"I would if I could. This is not the same Ray you told me about. Right?"

"You guys talked about me? I hope she only told you good things"

"Nuh Uh. It's almost like she was trying to make me hate you. And she certainly didn't say you were this yummy"

"She didn't? Wow I'm wounded Alexis. Why would you try to make this sweet girl hate me? Unless you like me and don't want anyone else to set their eyes on me"

Having had enough Alexis stalked to where Marjorie was and pulled her towards the stairs. "My room. Now!"

"Wow. You women in this house are like super territorial over your men." Marj said stumbling because her attention was still on Ray.

"What do you mean by 'we women'?"

"You and your mom of course."

Alexis groaned throwing her inside and locking her room. "Tell me you didn't try to hit on my dad"

"I didn't. I just told him he was hot and that had your mother unleashing her claws on me. Bt dubs she is not as nice as you said she was. From my point of view, you lied to me about everything." she exclaimed dramatically.

"Did you expect my mother to offer you cake when the first thing you did was hit on her husband?"

"It wasn't my fault. He's like so hot. I could totally see him as my Dilf"

"Ew Marj. That's my dad you're talking about. Banish those thoughts form your head."

"But seriously you have to warn me. Are his friends as hot as he is? And does Ray have friends?"

"All my dad's friends are married. As for Ray, he's all yours"

"I wish" Marjorie said dropping down on the large bed that occupied half of the room. "I would totally seduce him if he wasn't into someone else."

"How would you know he's into someone else? You just got here" Alexis said sitting down beside her. Then she remembered why she'd sought the privacy of her room in the first place "Anyway forget about that. I have something more important to tell you"

"What is more important than sexy men with dreamy eyes?"

"Connor is cheating on me"

"What?!" Marjorie flew off the bed and stood in front of her.

"I saw him kissing someone else yesterday"

"That cheating bastard. How dare he? Just say the word and I'll light his ass on fire" at that Alexis burst into tears. She was glad to have someone she could talk to. Of course she could have gone to her mother but she wasn't a child anymore. She couldn't tell her mother all her problems and expect her to solve them for her. Besides she needed someone her age so she wouldn't feel like an idiot for believing a boy would wait for her after she'd been gone for so long. Marjorie held her as she cried then told her to shower and wear something sexy because they were going to confront her liar of a boyfriend. She also suggested Alexis wear something sexy to show him what he was loosing. It would do him well to remember that he was stupid enough to cheat on the one and only Rutherford Princess.

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"Okay now it's your turn"

"To do what?" Ray looked away from the stairs to Jayden.

"Help me. I've helped you all these years and your advice has been great but I'm ready to use it. On Marj"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah" Jayden said with a straight face.

"Isn't she too old for you? How old are you anyway? Ten?"

"Sixteen you jackass. And you will help me get her or I'll stop giving you updates on my sister."

"I never said I wasn't going to help you" Ray replied defending himself. It was Jayden who had texted him to tell him which route Alexis had taken so he could 'accidentally' bump into her. He'd enlisted Jayden years ago to share little bits of information about the whereabouts of his sister. It wasn't always a coincidence that he happened to be in the same place she was.

This morning her eyes had looked swollen, like she had been crying last night. The thought of her upset angered him. He knew that no good boyfriend of hers was the reason because he'd seen him with another girl after she'd left. That was why he'd gone to her house to check in on her and make sure she was fine. Clearly she wasn't. That Connor guy was going to understand that no one made his Princess cry. But first he had to reassure Jayden that he'd help him get Alexis's friend. Even if he was sure the kid's efforts would amount to nothing.

"Okay listen up. Rule number one, don't stare too hard like you were just a few seconds ago. You'll make her uncomfortable"

"Got it" Jayden said after typing something into his phone.

"Are you seriously taking notes?" Ray asked amused. Christ he missed being a teenager.

"Yeah man. Otherwise how would I remember?"

"Rule number two. Buy her flowers. Do you have any money or do you need a loan?"

"Dude don't insult me. Of course I have money"

"And where would you get it from? Your allowance? Or did you ask daddy for some?"

"Fuck you Ray. I don't need to ask my father for money. Besides, the cash I got from selling Lexi's bike on eBay is more than enough"

"You what?" Ray looked at him with his jaw on the floor. "You are a dead man walking Jay. Where is Gavin?"

"In his bedroom. Why?"

"Because I need someone who's alive to pass me info. Also I'd like those cuff links I gave you for your birthday back. They cost me a pretty penny and I don't want your family to donate them to charity after you're gone"

"Shut up man. Dad told me to get rid of it, so I did"

"Is the person who bought it here to pick it up?"

"Not yet. I told them to wait until Lexi was out of the house."

"Cancel the order if you want to see another day. I gotta go" Ray turned heading to the front door.

"You only gave me two rules. I need more man. Where are you going anyway?"

"I gave you two important rules Jay. And I'm going to break someone's face. See you later" he rushed out before Jayden asked from more pointers. Finally he had a valid reason to break that moron's face. And he was going to enjoy it.

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