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CHAPTER THREE

❝TALK ABOUT SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY.❞

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Winnie woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside her window, she smiled softly and rolled out of bed and walked over to the long window and opened it and sharply inhaled the fresh air.

The sound of the waves crashing made Winnie hum and lean her head onto the door as look at it and purse her lips as she enjoyed the silence.

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

Winnie turned around to see Justin coming in and still dressed in his clothes from last night making her crease her eyebrows and walk over to the door of her room.

"You had fun last night."

"Yeah."

"I didn't hear you coming in. . ." Winnie murmured softly as Justin chuckled softly and shook his head and shut his door in Winnie's face.

Winnie giggled and reached behind the door and took her silk white robe off the hanger and slipped it on her petite frame and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

She hummed a tune as she walked to the fridge and opened it seeing it was only some of the food her mom left her and a carton of milk.

"Damn. . ."

Winnie shut the fridge back and heard the sound of footsteps making her look to see Justin coming down the staircase dressed in only basketball shorts and black nike socks.

"Where's breakfast?"

"Do I look like a maid?"

Justin rose an eyebrow. "No, but you look like a housewife."

Winnie scoffed and picked up a rubber spatula in a bucket full of kitchen utensils near the stove and threw it at Justin making him snicker and dodge the throw.

"I'm going to the store, we have no food."

"Pick me up some food."

"Why don't you Uber it."

Justin scoffed. "Okay, smarty pants, how will you get to the store?"

"Walking?"

"What?"

"Yeah, Richy Rich, believe or not, but some people don't actually have forms of transportation and have to walk to get from place A to place B."

With that, Winnie left Justin speechless as he stood in the kitchen and watched Winnie turn around and walk out of the kitchen with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Could you at least buy some granola bars?"

"No!"

Justin's huffed and walked out of the kitchen and headed for the living room when the sound of his phone made him pause and get it from the pocket of his basketball shorts.

Justin creased his eyebrows and saw that it was a text from Iris making him snicker and unlock his phone to reply.

how are you this morning?

good, how's ur number in my phone?

i put it in this morning while you were in the shower

you are just full of surprises, huh?

oh, bieber i have more than that. come by if you wanna know 😉

damn, on my way.

Justin slipped his phone into the pocket of his basketball shorts and headed upstairs to get ready to head to Iris's with a pep in his step.

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Winnie tucked her crochet off the shoulder shirt into her jean skirt and walked out of the bathroom to find her white slip on vans near her closet.

Once she slipped them on, she walked back into the bathroom and saw her hair was curly and fluffy just like she liked it making her smile.

She walked out of the bathroom and walked over to the bed and got her keys, phone, and purse then made her way to her door when she met Justin seeing he was leaving as well.

"Where are you going?"

"To. . .the beach."

"You seem unsure."

"I'm sure, see you later?" Justin asked as he slid past Winnie making her crease her eyebrows and nod as Justin headed down the staircase.

Winnie rose an eyebrow and shook her head as she walked down the staircase and made her way out of the house to the store.

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Winnie hummed a tune as she picked up a carton of eggs and carefully placed it in the basket, she continued to walk down the aisle and looked for a good package of cheese.

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

Winnie creased her eyebrows and turned around to see a man standing before her that was so handsome Winnie almost lost it right there.

"Y-Yes?"

"I think you dropped this?"

Winnie looked down at his hands seeing he had one holding his carry on basket and the other holding a bottle of ketchup making Winnie snicker.

"I didn't get any ketchup."

"I know. . .," The man paused as he laughed softly and bit his bottom lip softly and placed the ketchup in his carry on basket. "I just needed an excuse to talk to you."

"Ah. . ."

The man smiled down at Winnie seeing her trying to cover her face with her curls, but he could still see that her cheeks were turning red.

"I'm. . .Peter, you are?"

"Uh. . .Winnie, listen I should go."

Peter creased his eyebrows. "Wait, but—"

"I'm sorry, Peter."

Winnie had already began to speed walk away from Peter making him sigh heavily and turn around and walk in the other direction.

Winnie puffed out a breath and shook her head as she went to pick up some cereal, she paused when she realized she didn't know what kind Justin liked.

It then hit her she didn't have his phone number.

Stupid Winnie, Winnie thought.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head as she picked up a box of Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch and made her way out of the aisle and headed for the cash register.

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"Jesus, round two already?"

"You'll get your ass whooped."

"I don't think so."

Justin creased his eyebrows in concentration as he used Michael Jordan to make a slam dunk making him shout out as Iris huffed.

"You're cheating."

"Don't be upset, baby. Now strip."

Iris rose an eyebrow and chuckled as she stood up and slipped her silk pajama shorts off her curvy waist and down her perfectly tanned legs slowly as Justin watched meticulously with a devious smirk.

"I'll get those boxers off one way or another, Bieber."

"Maybe you won't have to try so hard. . ."

Iris giggled and slowly walked over to Justin and straddled his lap and began to kiss him passionately on the lips with both her hands cupping his face.

Just when Justin had flipped them over on Iris's couch, the sound of a knock at her door made them both groan and break away from each other.

Iris picked up her silk pajama shorts and her silk button up shirt and went to the door as Justin tiptoed into her giant walk in closet as she opened the door.

"Yes, daddy?"

"It's time for the meeting with Common Affairs, baby. You know I really need you to close this deal."

Iris huffed. "Yes, I know. Give me fifteen minutes."

Iris's dad nodded and smiled softly and kissed the top of her head and headed away from the door and down the hallway making her shut the door.

Just as she shut the door, Justin walked out with creased eyebrows and then pointed at Iris making her raise an eyebrow. "I knew I knew you."

"What?"

"Your father. . .damn, I'm so stupid. Baxter Incorporated is my father's competing business."

"Oh wow. . .so it's you, huh? The COO of Bieber Enterprises?"

Justin grinned widely as he heard the sound of Iris saying his title. "Sounds sexy when you say it."

"Well look at us, talk about sleeping with the enemy."

Justin chuckled and shook his head as Iris walked past him and turned her Xbox off and turned around to Justin and picked up his pants and shirt and passed it to him.

"Are you kicking me out?"

"You heard my daddy, I have to get ready."

"Fine. . .," Justin murmured softly as he pulled his pants up his legs and pulled his shirt over his head but paused to speak. "But you owe me, Baxter."

"Oh don't worry, I'm already planning it. . .your place?"

"Uh. . ."

"What?"

"I. . .nothing, I'll text you the address." Justin spoke as he gave a closed mouth smile and picked his shoes off the floor and placed them on his feet.

Iris nodded and walked up to Justin slowly and placed a soft kiss on his cheek and stepped back as Justin winked at her before turning around and heading to her bedroom door.

"Be careful leaving, daddy's home."

"Got it."

Iris bit her bottom lip softly as she watched Justin open the door and salute to her and leave out of her bedroom, shutting the door behind him as he headed out of her mansion.

What am I going to tell Winnie? Justin thought.

Boy was he conflicted.

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Winnie let out a small breath as she walked down the dirt path to the beach house with the groceries still in her hand, Winnie might be tiny but she was actually pretty fit.

Just when Winnie thought she was good, the sound of a truck pulling up made her look to see it was Peter in his truck driving slowly to keep up with Winnie's pace.

"Peter? What—"

"Listen, Winnie, let me help you with those."

"No, I'm almost home."

"Where do you stay?"

"Not too far up this dirt road, please leave me be, Peter."

"Pete."

Winnie creased her eyebrows. "Huh?"

"You can call me Pete. . .if you'd like."

"Well, Pete, please let me walk. It's actually good exercise."

Peter sighed softly and put his car in park making Winnie crease her eyebrows and momentarily stop walking but start again when she saw Peter getting out of the truck.

Peter then walked up to Winnie and took the groceries in her right hand from behind her making her sigh and turn around to face him seeing him give her one look before putting the groceries in his trunk.

"Can you pass the others?"

Winnie had paused for a moment, she honestly was doing fine before Peter had came, but he was doing her a favor.

It actually kind of surprised Winnie he was still trying since she kind of gave him the cold shoulder in the store making her feel a pang in her chest.

Winnie simply pursed her lips and passed him the other groceries in her hand and saw him place them neatly in the back of his truck. "Can I give you a ride?"

"Well you have my groceries, I have no choice."

Peter scratched the back of his neck and chuckled softly as his cheeks turned a light shade of pink making Winnie giggle and bite the inside of her cheek.

Peter cleared his throat and walked over to the passenger side and opened the door for Winnie making her thank him and climb inside.

Peter then jogged over to his side and jumped inside and put the truck in drive and started off down the dirt pathway again.

The truck was silent, neither Peter or Winnie were talking making Winnie take the opportunity to check out his truck seeing it was kind of an old pickup truck, he had a brown cross necklace hanging from the rear view mirror and he had a bunch of CD's piled up at the bottom of the floor under the radio.

Winnie then took the chance to check out Peter, he was dressed in a pale red, white, and blue flannel, basic blue jeans, and some gray low cut vans.

His face was actually pretty gorgeous, his jaw was sculpted perfectly and his beard was nicely trimmed and his dark brown curls in his hair made Winnie want to run her fingers through them.

"Where do I turn?"

"Um. . .here."

Peter nodded and took a left turn and cleared his throat as he looked over to Winnie seeing her still examining the truck making him laugh softly.

"What?"

"You seem like you've never been in a truck before."

"Well, I don't have a car, so. . ."

"Really?"

Winnie nodded and shrugged. "I could never afford one."

"Don't worry, you'll get one, just takes perseverance and determination. Like my old man used to say, if it's something you really want, you'll never give up."

"My papa used to tell me every night before I went to bed. . .Ten valor y se valiente."

Peter momentarily looked over at Winnie seeing her looking out at the road. "What does that mean?"

"Have courage. . .and be brave."

Peter smiled as he slowly pulled up to Winnie's beach house and put the truck into park and looked over at Winnie seeing her opening the door.

"That's beautiful. . ."

"Um. . .thank you for the ride."

"No problem."

Peter watched as Winnie smiled and nodded her head and got out of the truck and got on her tippy toes and took the groceries out of Peters trunk.

Winnie walked to the door and tried to hold the bags and get her key out of her purse, that's when Peter quickly got out of the truck and walked over to help.

"Let me."

"Oh. . ."

Winnie watched Peter take the groceries out of her grasp leaving her with just her purse, she bit her bottom lip softly as she took the key out and unlocked the door.

"The kitchen is this way."

Peter nodded and followed behind Winnie, the two walked for just a moment before ending up in the kitchen making Peter let out a breath as he sat he groceries down.

"This place is nice."

"Thank you. . .here." Winnie murmured softly as she went to reach into her purse for some money but Peter stopped her with a laugh.

"Don't worry, I do work like this all day."

"What do you mean?"

"I work at the crab shack on the way into town, working there all day can be great exercise."

Winnie giggled and brushed her curls out of her face. "You know. . .maybe you can help me unpack these and stay for s'mores?"

"Of course and I love s'mores."

Winnie smiled wide and saw Peter start to open up the bags and help Winnie place the groceries away in areas that they needed to go.

While they did so, they got to learn a lot more about each other and goof off in the process, in just the short time meeting Peter, Winnie found out he went to Appalachian State but dropped out when he lost his football scholarship after he tore his ACL at the championship. He then moved to Santa Monica with his grandma since his mother died giving birth to him and his father passed away just a year ago.

"Should I get the fire started?"

"Yeah, where's your bathroom?"

"Down the hall, last door on the right." Winnie spoke as she took the graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows out from the cabinet and sat them out.

Peter walked off to the bathroom as Winnie hummed a tune and went to get her Bluetooth speaker ready to play some music.

Just as she turned the speaker on, Winnie heard the sound of the front door opening, making her turn around and hear it shut and then see Justin appear at the entrance of the kitchen.

"Winnie there's a truck outside, is it yours?"

"Um—"

"Okay, who's ready for some s'mores?"

Justin turned around and creased his eyebrows as he saw Peter coming out of the bathroom making him turn back around to look at Winnie seeing her lips pursed.

Justin looked back over to Peter. "Who are you?"

"Uh, I'm Peter, nice to meet you."

Peter went to stick his hand out for Justin to shake only making him look down at his hand as if he was dirty making Winnie sigh heavily and shake her head.

"Winnie, I'm gonna ask again, who is this?"

"This is Peter, we met today at the store, he helped me get back home."

"Did he?"

"Yeah. . ." Winnie murmured softly as she tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible while Justin nodded and sucked on his teeth.

"Can we talk in private?"

"If I'm overstepping, I can go—"

"No."

"Yes."

Winnie creased her eyebrows and walked over to Justin and softly smacked his chest and pulled him by his arm as they headed outside, shutting the door behind them.

"Justin, stop!"

"Winnie, you can't just let strangers in our beach house like this! You don't even know him."

"Yes I do! We were getting to know each other!"

"Oh yeah? What's his favorite movie?"

"He doesn't have one, his favorite show is NCIS though, Detective."

Justin sighed softly and ran a hand through his hair as Winnie crossed her arms over her chest, the two stood there for a moment and looked at each other in silence just waiting to see who would speak first.

"Look, I asked him to stay for s'mores."

"S'mores? You know I was joking about those right? I'm not singing kumbaya with you and Peter."

Winnie giggled. "You don't have to."

"And plus. . .I'm not upset he's here, I just. . .something came up and—"

"What did?"

Justin opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, he was stalling making Winnie raise an eyebrow at him. But the sudden sound of he doorbell made them both look into the house at the front door.

Saved by the bell, Justin thought.

"I'll be back."

Winnie creased her eyebrows and was about to speak but Justin had already opened the back door and left out to go to the front.

Once he got to the door, he opened it just a bit and saw Iris standing at the door with a beige trench coat on making Justin pause.

"Just how many layers do you have on besides that jacket?"

"None, problem?"

Justin pursed his lips and turned around to see Winnie walking back inside and meeting Peter halfway in the living room.

"Very much so. . .give me a minute?"

"But—"

Just had already shut the door on Iris and puffed out a breath and quickly dashed up the staircase making Winnie crease her eyebrows.

"Can you wait here just a minute?"

"Sure."

Winnie nodded and walked past Peter and dashed up the staircase after Justin, she walked down the hallway and noticed only her door was open and her light was on.

Winnie stormed into her room and saw Justin in her closet making her gasp when she saw him frantically looking through her clothes.

"Justin! What are you doing?!"

"Uh. . .what size are you? Like a small? Medium in dresses?"

"Why do you care? What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Justin!"

Justin had paused from frantically searching through Winnie's closet and Winnie paused too and she squinted her eyes and went to head downstairs to see who spoke.

"Winnie, wait!"

Winnie had stormed past Justin and got to the bottom of the staircase with Justin hot on her trail, they born stopped on the staircase and saw Iris standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Oh. . .you hypocrite."

Shit, Justin thought.

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Iris sighed heavily and adjusted the strapless white dress that Winnie had let her borrow as they all sat around the fire pit and roasted their marshmallows quietly.

"So. . .lovely weather we're having, huh?" Peter spoke out as he leaned closer and looked at his marshmallow seeing it was almost done.

"Yeah. . ."

"Peter, why don't you just roast that marshmallow of yours?"

"Just trying to break the ice."

Justin rolled his eyes and shook his head as Iris sighed softly and leaned her body closer to Justin and wrapped her arm around Justin's muscular arm. "Do we have to roast these marshmallows?"