Tryst

by Marie York

  “So you accuse her?”

  “No, I didn’t. All I did was mention it and she flew off the fucking deep end. Tell me that doesn’t look like someone who is guilty?”

  Declan shrugged. “I guess, but I still don’t think it was her.”

  “That’s because you’re too blinded by your feelings to think she’s capable of such deceit.”

  “No, it’s because I fucking know her.”

  “You think you do.” I thought I knew her too. I never in a million years would expect Tara of all people to steal from me, but she pretty much confirmed her guilt by the way she reacted.

  Declan slammed the spatula down. “What about Lyla?” The anger that had been sitting dormant inside of me started to rise again.

  “Don’t bring her into this,” I gritted out.

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “Why not?”

  “She wouldn’t do something like that.”

  “How do you know?”

  How did I know? Lyla would never fucking betray me like that. She was too damn sweet, always willing to help, and never take advantage. She wasn’t cut out to steal. It wasn’t in her. She was too fucking pure for that shit.

  “Huh?” Declan pushed. He moved toward me, his eyes shooting fire, his jaw tense. He was a gentle giant, but when he was mad, he was absolutely terrifying. “How do you know?”

  “Because!” I exploded and just before the rest of the words could pour out, I snapped my mouth shut, realization dawning on me.

  “Because you know her.” Declan picked the spatula back up and flipped the burgers on the grill. When he was done, he looked back at me. I was still standing there, mouth agape.

  “Now imagine if I told you that you didn’t.”

  He made a good point. A really good point and because of that there was nothing else to be said. I patted his shoulder, knowing that with Declan we didn’t always need to use words, and walked out of the kitchen.

  I spent the rest of the night waiting tables with Lyla while Gary manned the bar with Phil.

  “Where’d Tara go?” Lyla asked as things started to finally slow down.

  I didn’t feel like talking about it, have another person tell me I handled shit wrong, so I said as little as possible. “She took off.”

  Concern filled her big brown eyes. “Is she okay?”

  “I’m sure she’s fine.” Before she could ask any more questions, I nodded toward the kitchen. “I have to go grab an order.”

  I didn’t have an order to grab, but it was the only way I could avoid the conversation. It was all still too fresh, and I had too much shit bouncing around in my head. I didn’t need another opinion to add to the chaos.

  I avoided Lyla for the rest of the night and was grateful when she headed upstairs earlier than I expected. Phil and Declan took off and Gary stayed behind to help me clean up the place.

  “You okay, boss?” Gary asked. “You looked a little on edge tonight.”

  “Fine,” I muttered.

  “Why don’t you head upstairs. I have this.”

  I turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

  “I won’t break anything I promise.”

  I tossed him the rag. “Just lock the door when you leave.”

  “Will do.”

  I headed upstairs, but instead of going to the apartment, I went straight to my office.

  It had been a long fucking day and an even longer night. I grabbed the bottle of Jack from my drawer and poured a glass, hoping the alcohol would silence the million thoughts roaming around my head.

  Chapter 41

  A light tap woke me and I pushed off my desk, glancing toward the door. It was like I was still dreaming. Lyla stood in the doorway like a goddamn goddess, wearing nothing more than one of my t-shirts.

  I fucking loved to see her in my clothes, and even though I just woke up, my dick was already fucking hard.

  “Hey,” she said, her voice soft and coarse with sleep. “You going to sleep in here all night?”

  I ran a hand over my face, trying to get a hold of my bearings.

  “I didn’t even realize I fell asleep. What are you doing up?”

  Her teeth slid over her bottom lip, the simple movement causing my cock to press tightly against my pants.

  “Couldn’t sleep and when I went to get some milk, I realized that you never came home.”

  Home. It was only down the hall, housed in the same building, but hearing her call our place home was a shot to the heart. Somehow the place down the hall that I never looked at as more than just living quarters had transformed into a home. Our home. I couldn’t even imagine Lyla ever leaving. I didn’t want our home to go back to a place where I showered and sometimes slept. I wanted it to be the place I went to be happy. Without Lyla, I wasn’t.

  “Come here.” I held my hand out to her.

  She didn’t hesitate until she was standing directly in front of me. She draped her hand in mine and I pulled her closer, resting my head against her stomach. Her arms immediately wrapped around me, her fingers running through my hair.

  My fingers hooked into the hem of the t-shirt and she lifted her arms up. I pulled the shirt off, leaving her completely naked. I kissed her stomach, swirling my tongue around her belly button and sucked and licked my way over to her hip then back.

  She moaned and the single sound shot heated need straight to my core. I lifted her up, placing her on my desk and spreading her legs wide. Her pretty little cunt glistened with her desire and I bent my head, dragging my tongue along her moist folds. She tasted like fucking heaven and I greedily dipped my tongue in and out.

  Her knuckles whitened, her nails digging into the dark wood of my desk. “Oh God, Jax,” she cried out, her body leaning back and her legs spreading wider.

  I pulled her closer to the edge, holding her pussy tight against my mouth. Her leg snaked around my neck as my tongue swirled around her swollen little nub. With each swipe of my tongue, her leg tightened.

  “Just like that. Yeah! Yeah!” I shoved a finger deep into her needy cunt and she cried out, hands slamming down on the hard wood. Papers flew off the desk, spilling onto the floor, but I didn’t fucking care. All I cared about was devouring every fucking inch of Lyla.

  I reached up, grabbing her tit and molding the tender flesh. Her body bucked, and I used my other hand to hold her down. Tremors ran through her body and she was so close, but I wanted to feel her orgasm around my cock.

  She moaned, and I pulled my mouth away, grabbing her hips and yanking her off the desk. Her moans turned to whimpers and back to moans as I spun her around and bent her over my desk. Her perfect round ass stared at me as I stripped away my shirt and unzipped my pants.

  She wiggled it at me and I brought my hand down on the soft globe. The slap echoed through the office and this time she arched her ass right at me.

  “Again,” she begged.

  Not one to deny her, I rubbed the tender area, massaging it and loving it before I pulled back and brought my hand down again. Whatever was left on my desk flew off to the floor as her arms flung out.

  “You want more?” I asked.

  “Yes! Spank me.” The lilt in her voice was almost enough to make me come right there. I fought for control and gave her exactly what she wanted. I rotated between slapping her ass and massaging it, giving her both pleasure and pain, a combination she seemed to love and I loved to give her.

  Her body squirmed against my desk, her ass practically waving at me. She reached behind her, grabbing each cheek and pulling them wide. I swallowed back the animalistic urges overtaking my body and admired her tight pink pussy and puckered asshole.

  “Fuck me,” she said again.

  I wanted nothing more, but I needed to taste her again, make sure she was nice and fucking wet for my cock. I dropped to my knees, burying my head in her ass, swiping my tongue across her engorged folds and straight to her forbidden hole.

  My hands landed on hers, pulling her ass cheeks farther apart and giving me ev
en more access. Her body started to convulse again, and I stood up, ramming my cock straight into her soaking wet pussy.

  She didn’t just cry out, she screamed, hands falling away from her ass and grappling at the desk. Her fingers found the edge, and she held on, knuckles turning white as I pivoted into her with fast, hard thrusts.

  Being with Lyla, I was able to forget everything, clear my fucking head which I hadn’t been able to do in years. But with my balls slapping against her ass, my hand on her waist and the other cupping her tit, nothing else fucking mattered.

  All that mattered was her.

  I relished in the simple thoughts of her. The way her ass arched when she wanted even more than I was giving her. The way her cries turned to screams then into whimpers. How fucking tight her pussy was, gripping my cock and making me work hard for each thrust.

  I suddenly realized that home wasn’t down the hall, it was wherever Lyla was. She was my home, my anchor, the one.

  I thrust into her hard, her muscles tightening around me as her entire body convulsed. She cried out her release just as I exploded inside her.

  Our bodies slick with sweat slid against each other until my weight fell on top of her and I tried to catch my breath.

  She sucked in jagged breaths. “That was amazing.”

  I kissed her ear then her cheek, letting my hand roam freely over her body. I never tired of touching her.

  “Sorry about the mess,” she said.

  “I don’t care about the fucking mess.”

  She laughed, but it was weak. She pulled her arms under her head. “I’m just going to sleep right here.”

  This time I laughed, and even though I barely had any energy myself, I scooped her up from the desk and carried her to my bed.

  She cuddled into my side and I held her close, pressing a kiss to her head.

  After coming down from the high, thoughts started to invade my head again. Cole’s words mostly, and that damn question: What are you going to do about it?

  “I have to go to Ann Arbor tomorrow. Come with me.” I had a feeling Tara wouldn’t show up tomorrow, and I’d be short a waitress, and with Lyla being my only other full-timer, it was a stupid move, but for some reason I needed her to go with me. I needed to do something about us. “It’ll be an overnight trip.”

  “Really? You want me to go with you? I thought you wanted me to stay with Dee and Cole?”

  “Things changed,” I said, and a smile spread wide across her face. “Of course I’ll go.”

  I cupped her other cheek and pulled her forehead to my lips. “We leave first thing in the morning.”

  “You mean in a couple hours,” she said.

  I glanced over at the clock. “An hour and a half,” I corrected.

  “What do you have to do in Ann Arbor?”

  This time I smiled ridiculously big. It had been something I’d been planning for a while now. No one knew about it, but Lyla would soon enough. “You’ll see,” I said.

  She rested her chin on my chest and looked up at me through long lashes. “Always so mysterious, Jaxon Reed, but I wouldn’t want you any other way.”

  Chapter 42

  The sun was shining, and the sky was a bright blue. A beautiful day for a road trip. It was a little over an hour, but since I’d been pretty stationary the past few months, I was happy to get on the open road.

  I carried Lyla’s bag down the stairs and tossed it into the backseat of my Camaro. “What the hell do you have in here? A dead body?”

  She bounced down the stairs behind me. “Watch yourself, or it could be your dead body next.” She winked.

  I rested my hand on the trunk of the car and leaned into her. She bit her lip and looked at me through those damn long lashes of hers. “You would never kill me.”

  She smiled up at me and fluttered her eyes. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

  “You would miss me too much.”

  She lifted an eyebrow, like she was in deep thought, then let it fall back into place. “I suppose I would.”

  I grabbed her side, and she jumped with a squeal. The sound brought a smile to my face. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  We got in the car and headed south. Lyla kicked off her shoes and rested her bare feet on my dashboard. I had three rules in my car, and she was breaking one.

  “Must you? With the feet?” I nodded towards them.

  “Must I what?”

  “Put your feet up there?”

  “What’s the big deal?”

  “It’s one of my rules. No feet on the dash.”

  She crossed her feet at the ankles, and leaned back, taunting me. “Oh, is it now?”

  “Yes, I have three rules, and that’s one of them. So, off.” I motioned my hand at her.

  “What are the other two?” she asked, as she reached into her purse, and pulled out a bottle of lotion. She squirted some in her hand, and my cock throbbed as she started running her fingers up and down the length of her legs. It smelled so damn good. I tore my eyes away before I drove off the damn road.

  I cleared my throat, regaining my composure. “No food. No drinks. And no feet on the damn dashboard.”

  She glanced around the car, and then back at me. “I don’t see it posted anywhere.”

  “Must you be a brat?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she exclaimed then slid them back on the floor where they belonged. “Better?” she asked.

  “Much.” I rested my hand on her upper thigh. Her skin was hot and soft, a deadly combination. I swear, the heat raced up my arm and straight to my dick. The slightest of smiles tugged at her lips before she linked her fingers with mine. We drove the entire way like that.

  A little over an hour later, we pulled up to the storefront I had been checking out online. “Where are we?” Lyla asked, as she got out of the car.

  I rounded the bumper and came to Lyla’s side. “This, I hope, will be Dara Baile.”

  Lyla’s lips fell open, and she smacked a hand over her mouth. “Shut up. You’re opening another location?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  She swatted my chest. “Jax, that’s amazing. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

  “I didn’t tell anyone. You’re the first to know.”

  A slight blush bloomed on her cheeks and the edges of her mouth tilted upward. She looked toward the storefront. “Why Dara Baile?”

  “Baile means home in Irish. Dara Baile means second home.”

  The way she looked at me, I knew she understood the meaning to the name and how important it was to me.

  “Come on, show me inside.”

  She yanked my arm, but I stood frozen in place. She looked at me funny, not that I could blame her. “You okay?” she asked, turning into me.

  I reached up, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, my hand lingering near her chin. “You called me Jax.”

  “So?”

  “I don’t think you’ve ever called me that.” It was ridiculous and stupid, but for some reason, her calling me Jax felt good. Like she no longer saw me as just Jaxon Reed the name, but as the person. I was probably over thinking it, and, hell, she may have called me Jax before, but in that moment, it meant something. It was that, or I was losing my fucking mind, which was damn near possible.

  “Are you sure?” she asked, with a sweet smile.

  “Even in my dreams, you call me Jaxon.”

  “Oh, so you’re dreaming about me? Do tell.”

  I took her in my arms, and ran my hand down her side, just grazing her ass. My lips pressed to her ear, and goosebumps prickled her skin. Oh, the things I was going to do to her later. “I would, but I wouldn’t want to get you all riled up since my broker is walking toward us.”

  I stepped back, and Lyla straightened, pretending to play with her hair, but I knew she was just trying to push down her desires.

  “Martin, how’s it going?” I asked as I shook my broker’s hand. He was a young guy, probably only five years older t
han me, with blonde hair and blue eyes. His suit was tailored to fit and probably cost a pretty penny.

  “It’ll be going great once we get the paperwork moving,” he joked.

  “Let’s see if we can make that happen.” I moved aside, and held my hand out to Lyla, motioning her to me. “I’d like you to meet Lyla.”

  “Pleasure,” Lyla said.

  “Pleasure is all mine,” Martin said, his eyes lingering on her chest before he snapped them away. A second longer, and I would’ve snapped them away for him. “Shall we go inside?”

  “Please,” I said, and followed Martin in.

  I had seen pictures online since Martin had been doing most of the scouting. I had been crunching numbers for months, figuring out if I’d be able to get the money together to make this step. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on what mood I was in, it’s how I discovered the missing money.

  “So, it’s two thousand square feet, ten minutes from the university. Prime real estate. The last buyer pulled out last minute. So, this is new to the market. I’ve already held it off for a week for you to look at it. But, if you want it, you need to act now.”

  Lyla stepped away and circled the space. I could see the gears working in her mind, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

  “You can set the booths up over here,” she said. “Have a pool table back there. Maybe even darts.” I leaned back on a wall and listened to her go on. “You can have specials geared toward college kids, even lunch specials. Hold open mic nights and trivia night. That’s huge now.” She spun toward me and shrugged. “Sorry. It’s your bar. Your ideas. I just got excited.”

  I moved to her. “I was hoping you’d say all that.”

  She tilted her head and looked at me with curiosity.

  “I’ve been waiting for you to whip that marketing degree out on me.”

  Blush filled her cheeks and neck. She smirked. “The wasted degree, you mean.”

  “Not wasted at all.” I took her hand in mine and laced my fingers through hers. “I was hoping you’d be my Marketing Director. You’d have free range. I trust you.”

  She dropped my hand as disbelief washed over her face. “Are you kidding?”