by Lexy Timms
“Eris, please back off,” Kallie said.
“What? You come back from your vacation a few days early because of this guy and the shock he threw your way, and I’m supposed to back off?” Eris asked.
“Enough has happened. Okay? You don’t have to protect me,” Kallie said.
“I’m always going to protect you,” Eris said. “You’re my best friend. And he lied to you, straight up. About the core of who he was.”
Kallie’s face twisted up in confusion and it made Ash’s stomach roll. He had to stop this madness before it did lasting, permanent damage to what he was in the city to accomplish.
“Do you always travel with a two-female entourage, Ash?”
He looked up and saw Jeremy coming into the VIP room they were sitting in.
“And here I thought you were out still taking pictures,” Ash said.
“Who’s this?” Kallie asked.
“Kallie. Eris. This is Jeremy, the owner of the club,” Ash said.
“One of them,” Jeremy said. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
“What makes you think we’re his entourage?” Eris asked.
“Because he’s the rich one and can have anything he wants,” Jeremy said with a smile.
“Well, for your information, he’s actually our entourage for the night,” Eris said.
“Then I must ask as to how you landed the richest man in town for your own personal entourage,” Jeremy said.
“Isn’t is obvious?” Eris asked. “No man’s immune to a sassy girl in sweatpants.”
Ash breathed a sigh of relief. The chemistry and banter flowing between Eris and Jeremy was palpable. This was the distraction he was looking for. If Jeremy could keep a wildfire like Eris occupied, then he could pry Kallie from her claws and talk with her. Which was what he’d originally come to the city for. To talk with her. To clear the air. But it was obvious Eris had been chattering into Kallie’s ear for much longer than he could’ve ever wanted, and Ash didn’t know what kind of damage control needed to be done.
“And it’s a marvelous pair of sweatpants,” Jeremy said, then smiled.
He stepped closer to the trio and Kallie slid over, making room for him on the couch. Ash watched as the two of them continued to trade barbs, a small grin sliding across his cheeks. Eris was wholly entranced with Jeremy’s sass, which matched hers, and Kallie seemed entertained by the two. The more she turned to look and listen, the more she leaned into him. He slid his arm over the back of the couch, trying to gain more access to her. To open his body up to her in case she fell over into his lap.
This was his chance.
His chance to get Kallie away from her attack dog.
Ash took Kallie’s hand and helped her off the couch. Eris was no longer paying attention, and Jeremy was head-deep in a conversation with a very feisty woman. Ash set his drink down before plucking Kallie’s margarita she hadn’t touched from her fingers, then led her out of the now-crowded VIP area.
“Where are we going?” Kallie asked.
“Just somewhere to talk,” Ash said.
“What if I don’t want to talk?”
“Do you not want to talk?”
Ash looked back at Kallie, but she didn’t drop his hand. Kallie wouldn’t meet his gaze. She was still looking back at her friend. He didn’t want to make her do something she didn’t want to do, but he also had to talk to her. Kallie had to tell him what she wanted. He couldn’t read her mind. He needed her to talk to him. If he wasn’t what she wanted, then she needed to feel okay saying that. If she did want him, she needed to tell him that, so he could stick around.
Even if she wasn’t sure, he had to know.
“Why haven’t you called?” Ash asked.
“You want to talk here?” Kallie asked.
“If you tell me what you want, I can get it for you, Kallie. But since you won’t talk to me, I can’t give it to you. I’m rich, but I’m not a mind reader. Do you want to talk or do you want to go back to Eris? I won’t make you do something you don’t want to do, but the only way anything can get resolved is if we talk.”
Ash looked down into those wondrous green eyes and saw something blooming. The music was too loud and the lights were too low, but the way her eyes widened tugged at his heartstrings. He was frustrated. All he wanted her to do was talk. Speak her mind. Tell him what was going on without her attack dog gnawing at his heels.
“Talk to me, Kallie,” Ash said. “What’s going on?”
“Why did you come find me?” Kallie asked.
Ash slipped his hands into his pockets as Kallie leaned against the wall.
“Because there was a misunderstanding between us. Because I want a second chance at what we had.”
“But what we had was based on a lie,” she said.
“No, it wasn’t. Sure, I’m not a bartender. Though I can make drinks. I just don’t work as one. And I have money. That’s it. That’s all that happened. Nothing about me is any different, Kallie.”
“Yes it is,” she said.
“Why haven’t you called?”
“Because I don’t want to think about what happened!”
Ash sighed and took a step toward Kallie’s body.
“It’s all I can think about,” he said. “And I’m not ready to let the experience go. I’m not ready to let you go, Kallie.”
“You lied to me, Ash.”
“I think it’s more than that. I think that, because of my money, you equate me to your ex. And that’s not the case. I’m nothing like him. I’m nowhere near him. Because I could never do to you what he did. Ever.”
“I don’t know that,” she said as tears rose in her eyes.
“I know you don’t. And I know your life is complicated right now. But our relationship doesn’t have to be. We can still enjoy each other’s company and see where things lead to. That’s it. That’s all I’m asking for.”
Ash could see her wavering. See her shaking her head as a tear wafted down her cheek. So he decided to move in for the kill. He reached his hand up and wiped her tear away, then slid his hand down her back. Feeling the way she still leaned into him. Feeling the way her back was perfectly curved to the bulk of his arm. He pulled gently at her waist, feeling the way she stepped into him. Ash watched her forehead lean into his chest as she sought comfort in the warmth of his arm.
Then he dipped his lips to her ear and whispered.
“I’ve missed the way you feel beside me, Pretty Kallie.”
Like a hummingbird to a feeder, Kallie rose her face up. Kissed his chest. The smooth fabric of his suit. Her arms unfurled from her chest and she wrapped them around him, pulling him tightly against her. He held her. Kissed the top of her head. Closed his eyes and drew in her scent. Memorized her warmth. Oh, how he’d missed this. Missed her next to him.
“Come back to my place tonight,” Ash said.
“I can’t,” Kallie said.
“It doesn’t have to be anything else than this. But this club. It isn’t my thing. It isn’t my style.”
“What is your style?” she asked.
“Come back to my place and I’ll show you.”
“I can’t leave Eris.”
“Eris is fine. Look at her and Jeremy. They’re hitting it off very well.”
Ash watched Kallie’s gaze as she looked over. He sneaked a peek of the two of them and watched as they grew comfortable on the couch. Eris was all smiles and Jeremy’s fingers were already threaded with hers. He had gone in for his own kill and he was working. He was charming the pants off Kallie’s best friend. Jeremy leaned in for his move and planted his lips against Eris, and she didn’t seem poised to turn him away. Rather, she leaned back down onto the couch and wrapped her arms around Jeremy’s neck.
“See?” I asked. “Perfect couple.”
“For the night, maybe,” Kallie said.
I looked down at Kallie as my eyebrows rose to my hairline.
“Eris isn’t a commitment girl.”
“Then it’s a good thin
g Jeremy isn’t the commitment kind of guy,” Ash said.
“Hey, Jeremy!”
Ash’s booming voice made Kallie jump, and Eris shot him a dirty look.
“What?” Jeremy asked.
“You think you could keep an eye on Kallie’s friend there? I think the two of us are going to go talk.”
“What? You’re abandoning girls’ night?” Eris asked. “With him?”
“Says the girl lip-locked with the owner of the club,” Kallie said with a grin.
“One of the owners,” Jeremy said. “And I won’t leave her side. I promise.”
“You sure about that?” Eris asked. “Because I can be quite a handful.”
“Good thing I’ve got big hands then,” Jeremy said.
Ash looked down at Kallie and saw her toss a wink to her friend. Jeremy and Kallie were soon back to their own personal lip-lock, and Kallie was leaning heavier into his body. Ash took her hand and guided her away from the glass encasement. Away from the club and the loud music and the smoke and the drinks. Pouring out into the nighttime of New York City, Ash breathed a breath of fresh air. A gust of summer wind kicked up and fluttered Kallie’s dress, and he watched a smile cross her cheeks. He could already see her relaxing outside of the chaotic hustle and bustle of the club.
Seems like it wasn’t really her type of place either.
Chapter 7
Kallie
If Kallie thought the yacht was luxurious, then Ash’s penthouse was something out of Palaces Monthly. His penthouse apartment was huge. Full of expensive furnishings. Everything was top of the line and looked brand new. The smart home technology controlled everything from the locks to the blinds to the tinting of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Even the colors of the dimly lit lamps that bathed the suite in a luscious glow. James’s riches had nothing on Ash. What James lived in and lived with was paltry in comparison. The buttery leather chairs were smooth against Kallie’s fingertips and the blond cedar floors were waxed to perfection. Everything had a place. A time. A purpose.
“You live here?” Kallie asked.
“I do,” Ash said with a nod. “The penthouse used to belong to my father until he and his third wife moved across town. Theirs is larger than this one.”
“Is that possible?” she asked.
“I guess so,” he said with a shrug.
Kallie couldn't imagine anything lusher than his apartment. But she noticed that Ash took it all in stride. Like it didn’t affect him. Like all of this was simply normal for his life. Even the life she led with James, none of this was normal. Having actual silver trim that lined the crown molding of the walls wasn’t normal. Having a minibar in the corner with its own temperature-controlled environment wasn’t normal. Having four decadent bedrooms that each had its own decked-out bathroom wasn’t normal.
Jet tubs and marbled walk-in showers that turned into steam saunas. A private hot tub off the balcony suspended over the city with a glass bottom. A wall in every bedroom someone could touch like the screen of a phone. Or a tablet. To access internet or pull up a movie or stream porn or whatever the heck it was people did with entire walls that acted as touch screens!
None of it was normal.
And it was another thing that painfully set Kallie apart from Ash.
She found herself in the kitchen, eyeing the beautiful granite countertops. Nothing looked as if it had been touched. Used. Opened. Everything glistened in the moonlight streaming through the windows. Kallie was afraid to touch things. To dirty them up with her lower-class flair.
“Care for a drink?” Ash asked.
She whipped her head up and saw him holding out a glass of wine. But she didn’t feel much like drinking. She’d had enough with Eris and the idea of having any more alcohol turned her stomach.
“Could I have some water?” Kallie asked.
“You can have anything you want. All you have to do is ask,” Ash said. “Do you prefer a specific kind?”
“Of water?” she asked.
“Yep. Clear. Osmosis. Perrier. Sparkling? Any preference?”
Kallie stared at Ash with a dumbfounded look on her face before she watched a grin slide across his cheeks.
“You tease,” she said.
Ash threw his head back and laughed as he reached for a bottle of water. He tossed it to her and she caught it effortlessly, catching a glimpse of the island man she’d become infatuated with. She cracked it open before wandering back down the hallway, taking in the very high ceilings of his home. She could hear Ash’s footsteps behind her. Falling in rhythm with hers as she took in his home. Kallie had been a bit excited to see the inside of where he lived when he was in the States. But hearing that it used to be his father’s made her wonder if any of this matched Ash’s personality.
Because it didn’t seem to suit him at all.
She walked over to the massive windows that looked over the lights of the city around them. She sipped her water, taking in the incredible view. It was amazing. Spanned in excess of miles while the city twinkled below with its endless lights. The view alone was worth several million dollars, and for a split second everything seemed surreal. Just her and the night sky with its multiple twinkling stars. The glow of the land below with her suspended somewhere in between.
It was magical.
Ash walked up behind her and she could feel the heat of his body. Hovering behind her. Robbing her of his touch. Her hand began to tremble as she took another sip of her water. She needed to steady herself. She couldn't give in so easily to what her body wanted. This man looked like Ash and talked like Ash. Felt like Ash and sounded like Ash.
But she wasn’t sure if he was Ash.
The Ash she’d come to enjoy anyway.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“How I ended up here,” Kallie said.
“Care to talk about it?”
Kallie took another sip of her water before she drew in a deep breath.
“How I ended up here. In my life. I can still feel the ghost of my engagement ring around my finger. I can still feel the pain of my betrayal. But I can also still feel the pressing of your lips against my neck. The way you comforted me during that storm. And now I’m standing here in your penthouse apartment overlooking the lights of New York City and I wonder how much of this is really you. This apartment doesn’t seem like you. Not the you I know. It seems like James. I’d definitely attribute this to my ex, James. But not you. Not the you I found on St. Barts.”
Kallie felt Ash slide his hand underneath her elbow before he beckoned her to turn.
“You’re here because you feel that pull, Kallie.”
“What?” she asked.
“That pull that yanked me all the way from the island.”
“What do you mean?”
“You can phrase it anyway you want, but I know you feel it,” Ash said. “We’re attracted to each other helplessly. Like magnets. I felt that pull all the way in St. Barts when you ran back home. That’s why I came back to a city I can’t stand. A city I told myself I would always stay away from. Because it held the one thing I knew could draw me back. And I don’t regret it for a second.”
The intensity in his eyes is what won Kallie over. The sincerity of his words. The palpable heat in his voice. She’d longed for him. Yearned for him. But she wasn’t angry at him for being him. She was angry at him for being rich. There was a difference. She relaxed her hold on her water bottle and Ash took her in his arms, and she was helpless against his touch. She couldn’t fight him, and even if she wanted to, she wasn’t sure if she could.
Her mind conjured all those beautiful times in St. Barts. All those times he held her close and made her feel things James never could. Her body was crying out for another night of passion. Another night to feel like a woman. To be swept away by the current of his tongue.
She wanted another night of St. Barts. Even if she had to close her eyes and pretend she was there.
His lips fell against hers and she was weak
against him. Water clattered to the floor as her back pressed against the windows. Ash’s hands on her hips. On her waist. Against her ass. Feeling every part of her like he had on the island.
“Ash?” she asked breathlessly.
Like she still couldn’t believe it was him.
“I’m right here,” he said into her lips. “I’ve always been right in front of you.”
Her hands gripped into his hair and he hoisted her against the glass. Her legs wrapped around him while his hands ventured along her bare thighs. She needed his skin against her hands. Needed his lips against her chest. Her tongue crashed with his and electricity shot through her veins. She rolled into him. Felt his cock throbbing against her clothed pussy. Her lips parted from his and she kissed his cheek. His neck. Nibbled at his ear.
“Oh, Ash,” she said with a whisper.
And in response, he peeled her from the window.
She could feel his heart beating against her chest. The way his hands gripped onto her like she was the last thing on earth he was trying not to lose. Her feet stumbled to the ground and she caught herself, her hands ripping at his clothes. Loosening his tie and sliding his suit jacket from his shoulders.
She needed to feel him now.
Piles of clothes ended up on the blond cedar of the floor. Her hands rushed over the strength of his chest and trickled down to the rings of his lean abs. Ash slipped her dress straps from her shoulders, gently allowing the fabric to fall from her body. He wrapped his arms around her and freed her breasts, the cool air of the apartment puckering them to engorged peaks. Kallie watched as he fell to his knees, dragging her underwear from her body with his teeth.
He helped her step out of them, his hands gentle with her heated skin.
But then he picked her up and placed Kallie over his shoulder as giggles fell from her lips.
Chapter 8
Ash
Ash tossed Kallie to his bed before he crashed his lips against hers. He felt lucky to get to touch her again. Feel her naked skin against his. He couldn’t wait to make her come in a million different wants. All limbs and fluids tangled up as she shook around his cock. She giggled into his lips and it was the sweetest, softest sound imaginable. He smiled into her, his hands rushing along her body. He didn’t know where to start. Didn’t know where to end. All he knew was that he wanted to be inside of her.
