Tied up With Love

by Amelia Thorne

  Besides which, he wanted her to feel safe at work, not like she was about to be attacked at any moment as she had been in her old job. Just the thought of her old boss violating her in such a vile manner made him want to punch someone, preferably her old boss. He never wanted her to feel like that around him. He had already crossed the line by putting his hands on her tonight. Hell, this cosy night in for two had crossed the line too. She was drawing closer and he didn’t like it.

  So he’d switched on a rubbish film just to shut her out and been forced to endure two hours of mind-numbing acting just so he wouldn’t have to stare into those damned beautiful eyes anymore.

  He stood up, untangling himself from Psycho’s paws, and gently shook her awake.

  She blinked a few times then looked at him blearily. ‘Hey,’ she mumbled.

  ‘Hey, it’s late, I’m going to bed.’

  She sat up, looking around with confusion.

  ‘You can sleep in the spare room if you like or…’

  He pushed the alternative he wanted to offer to the back of his mind, but she had already picked up on the hesitation.

  ‘Or?’

  He swallowed. ‘I could call you a taxi.’

  Was that disappointment in her face? Surely not. She didn’t like him that way, she thought he was a bastard – and she was right.

  She stood up, stretching upwards, exposing a tiny slice of stomach to him.

  ‘I better get back for Pete, he’ll be wondering where I am.’

  ‘Who the hell is Pete?’ he snapped. The words were out of his mouth before he could catch them.

  She smirked at him. ‘Oh, was that something you failed to dig up when you were trawling through my private life? Something the all-seeing, all-knowing Ethan doesn’t know. You two actually have a lot in common, he’s a grumpy arse too. Plus he has no loyalty, he’ll flit from one woman to the next, men sometimes too, he’s not fussy. I suppose I should be grateful that he always returns to my bed, though sometimes it’s very early hours in the morning. I do love him though, I can’t help it.

  She walked out the lounge and he followed her, insane with jealousy. He shoved his hands in his pockets so she wouldn’t see them balled into fists.

  ‘I’ll drive you, I’m not having you walk home this late. If Pete was any sort of decent human being, he would come and collect you.’

  He grabbed his keys and ushered her out before she could protest.

  ‘Pete doesn’t drive, plus he’ll be out somewhere.’

  Ethan tried really hard not to slam the car door as he got in, and then floored the accelerator as he took off up the road.

  He drove in silence, furious that someone would treat her like that and a bit disappointed that Izzy would allow it.

  It was none of his business, she was his receptionist, nothing more.

  He pulled up outside her house a few minutes later and Izzy made to get out, irritatingly smiling to herself.

  ‘I’ll see you tomorrow then. Don’t be late,’ he said.

  She laughed loudly and he could still hear her laughing after she’d closed the car door behind her. At the gate she scooped up an old tabby cat that seemed to be missing one ear. She waved at him with the cat’s paw and then the cat snuggled into the side of her. He watched her disappear round the back of the bungalow. It was slightly odd that she didn’t use the front door.

  As soon as she was out of sight, he immediately pulled out his phone and rang Simon, his cousin and the man that unveiled every single last detail on Isabelle Franklin.

  ‘Hey Cus, how you doing? Did you manage to get rid of that bitch that was blackmailing you?’ Simon said, the TV blaring in the background.

  ‘No, I gave her the job and now I’m stuck with her. You didn’t mention a boyfriend.’

  ‘She doesn’t have one.’

  ‘Well who the hell is Pete then?’

  There was a pause as Simon manually went over the information stored in his head. He was great at stuff like that, storing away useless information for later use.

  ‘It’s her cat, you idiot.’

  Ethan took a second to consider Izzy’s words and then burst out laughing. ‘Oh very good, very good indeed.’

  Chapter Seven

  Izzy was making tea in the tiny kitchen the next day when she felt his eyes on her. Without even seeing him, she knew he was there. The chemistry between them crackled and burned and as she fought with her body not to turn round and look at him, she stirred the tea too viciously and sloshed hot water over her hand. She leapt back with a start and instinctively found his eyes. That hypnotic gaze seared into hers. God he was hot, the way he stood, so self-confident, so self-assured, those huge arms, those sexy brown forearms. Even the fact that he was clearly angry about something did nothing to detract from his magnetism.

  Although as he continued to stare at her, she soon realised that the anger was directed at her. She thought they’d moved past this, last night had been a turning point surely. They’d laughed, chatted… but now they were right back to square one again.

  She rubbed the burn on the back of her hand as she tried to tear her eyes away from him. He moved into the kitchen, almost filling it with his huge bulk. He grabbed a tea towel, ran it under the water and wrapped it round her hand, glaring at her the whole time.

  ‘Why wasn’t I informed about the meeting this afternoon?’

  ‘You have a pick up for a client, I was going to deal with it. It’s just a couple who want to know more information about the service we offer, I’m pretty sure I can handle that.’

  She brushed past him into the wider office, relieved to get away from his overwhelming, spicy, dark scent.

  ‘The boys can handle the pick up, I always deal with any potential clients.’

  ‘Well now you don’t need to worry. I can deal with them. You can be out there doing what you do best.’ Being the hot, sexy kidnapper.

  ‘You think, after one day of working here, that you know the business better than I do, to be able to sell our product to potential customers?’

  ‘I’m doing that over the phone anyway, what’s the difference between that and meeting our clients face to face.’

  He stared at her, she was right and he knew that.

  ‘What’s crawled up your arse today? Last night…’

  ‘Last night didn’t mean anything. Don’t think just because we had some cosy meal together it now means we’re best friends.’

  Izzy sighed and sat down in front of the computer. This was exhausting. Thankfully the next day was Saturday and she would have two days away from this maddening man.

  She decided to change the subject. ‘Why are there four of you that work for the company, to my mind it’s a bit surplus to requirements. You could save a lot of money if there were less of you.’

  She regretted saying that as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Just because she thought it was silly for four people to work for the company didn’t mean that she should share that with Ethan, and his face showed it had been a mistake to bring it up.

  ‘What are you suggesting, that I fire them?’

  ‘No of course I’m not suggesting that, I just think that you guys could work in shifts, and you pay the ones that work – sort of a job share. In reality, it only needs two of you to do the kidnapping, one to drive, one to grab. I imagine only you and Gizmo could do the actual grabbing part, especially if there is lifting involved, and then Jim and Kyle could take it in turns to drive. That means that for each job the pay would be slightly more for the two people involved, rather than splitting the fee four ways, you would be splitting it in two and you could put more in the savings too.’

  ‘But they might end up getting less pay over the month?’

  ‘Yes but you need to put money into your savings, you need to have a cushion, especially if your van needs any big repairs.’

  ‘I’ve told you, I have that covered with my own savings.’

  ‘But that’s not how it should be.’
/>   ‘Listen, the boys are my family. No one round here will give us a chance so we have to look after each other. The pay stays the same and I’m not going to change my mind on that.’

  Izzy was annoyed that one of her ideas had been thrown back in her face again but she was also thrown by this ‘mafia’ turn of phrase.

  ‘Your actual family or like a male bonding brotherly love type family?’

  ‘Gizmo and Kyle are my brothers, Jim is my cousin.’

  She hadn’t expected that. Kyle was so much younger than Ethan and Gizmo, maybe ten years younger, and he lacked the size that his older brothers had. Jim looked nothing like them with his lanky, thin frame and pale skin. She hadn’t made the connection at all. It was a family business and she was the outsider. She swallowed the lump in her throat that suddenly appeared with this thought. But it made sense now, his loyalty to the company and the boys and why he was fighting tooth and nail with her. He didn’t want to let them down.

  ‘Any other bright ideas?’ Ethan stood up to leave, clearly believing there would be none.

  ‘I’ve started to create a database for all our clients. It will record their preferences, any added extras they wanted like champagne or chocolates, so those are the things we can offer if they book again. It will also allow a mail merge to be sent out, so we can inform our past clients of any special offers. I recommend that we do some kind of discount or deal once a month or at least once a quarter. Although you’ll probably hate that idea as well. I’ve set up a Facebook page and a Twitter feed. It will take a while to get some decent followers on Twitter but I’ve followed a few key players and they might follow us back. But I’ve taken out a Facebook ad and tailored it to target the people most likely to be susceptible to our kind of service.’ She looked at the computer and clicked a few screens. ‘It’s been seen by one thousand three hundred and seventy-four people in the last two hours, since the ad went out.’

  Ethan stared at her, clearly trying to find fault in that as well.

  ‘How much did that cost? You need to clear all expenses with me, not just take it upon yourself to spend company money. And how on earth did you access my company account to pay for that, if I find out…’

  ‘Let me just stop you there before you say something you’ll regret. The Facebook ad cost nine pounds which I paid for out of my own money. I’d hoped that you’d pay me back but if you have such a problem with it, you can consider it a freebie. Although I assure you there won’t be any more.’

  The phone rang between them and Izzy stood up.

  ‘I’ll let you get that, I’m going to lunch. The damn thing has been ringing almost off the hook for the last two hours. Strange that.’

  She scooped up her bag and walked out.

  *

  Ethan put the phone down and scrolled through the diary. She had taken twenty-one new bookings that day for the next few weeks. Twenty-one!

  He rubbed his head. Why was he so angry with her? He knew why. He hadn’t slept a wink the night before as he thought about her, the way that he had let her in, but mostly the way she had felt in his arms when he had helped her with her back.

  Never before had a woman got so under his skin in such a short amount of time. He’d known her less than forty-eight hours and she filled his every waking and sleeping thought. He was losing control and he didn’t like it

  He had to put a stop to it. The sooner she was gone the better.

  He opened up his emails and looked at the seventeen new emails that had arrived within the last hour or two.

  Damn it! He was an arse, no doubt about it.

  *

  ‘I have never met anyone as grumpy or unpredictable as Ethan Chase before,’ Izzy said, nursing a coke as Bex rubbed strange smelling ointment into Izzy’s hands.

  Bex took a big sip of her wine and then returned her attention back to Izzy’s hands.

  ‘I think he likes you, I saw the way he was looking at you the other day, like he wanted to eat you.’

  ‘He did not. He can’t stand me.’

  ‘You don’t cancel a shag for someone you don’t like and then spend the whole evening chatting to them.’

  ‘It was work, he wants me to help him, although he hasn’t actually liked any of my suggestions. Every idea, everything I do, he hates. He’s been in charge for so long he doesn’t want to relinquish any control. I’m not sure what I’m doing there.’

  ‘Then quit, you can’t work there feeling unappreciated.’ Bex smoothed the lotion into her arms.

  ‘I can’t quit, I’ve never quit at any job before. I could do so much for him and I love the challenge of turning this business into a success.’

  ‘You like him too then?’

  ‘No, not at all.’

  ‘Seriously? The guy is smoking.’

  ‘He’s an ass.’

  ‘A smoking hot ass.’

  ‘Ok, he’s fit, I admit that. I mean, I can barely concentrate on speaking or breathing when he is around and he has this really sweet side that comes out now and again. Yes I care about him, but no I don’t like him.’

  ‘And when his hands were on you last night, rubbing your back…?’

  Izzy immediately regretted telling Bex that little snippet of information. She sighed as she took a drink of coke. ‘I’ve never been so turned on in my entire life.’

  ‘Ha! Oh love, that’s actually quite sad, him rubbing your back was the best sexual experience you’ve ever had?’

  ‘It’s been a bit quiet on that front.’

  ‘And why is that?’

  Izzy shrugged.

  ‘Because you don’t think anyone will see past your scars.’

  ‘No that’s not it. I’m not bothered at all by my scars.’

  ‘Oh honey, that’s not true. You say that but you and I both know that you’re scared of the reaction from men. Alex was an absolute fucker for how he treated you when you were in bed. The things he said were vile.’

  Izzy felt tears prick her eyes as she thought back to her ex saying her scars were disgusting. He hadn’t meant it to be hurtful, he’d said he was just stating a fact, but every time they had made love after the accident, he deliberately didn’t look at them, never touched them, certainly never kissed them. She could see it in his eyes sometimes, he was repulsed by her. She’d lost all confidence in herself and he’d finished with her soon after. There had been no one for her since and that had been four years ago.

  She didn’t want to think about him anymore and picked up the pot of cream Bex was using on her as a distraction. She sniffed it. ‘What the hell is in this stuff, it stinks.’

  ‘Oh it’s just ginger and calendula.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘Look don’t freak out, you always get weird about this sort of stuff, but I promise it works.’

  ‘Bex.’

  ‘Horse manure.’

  Izzy snatched her hands from Bex’s. ‘Are you frigging kidding me?’

  ‘Don’t be silly, it’s not going to hurt you.’

  ‘You’re rubbing horse shit on my hands and arms.’

  ‘It will help to cheer you up.’

  ‘Yes because I feel so much better about myself now. Look I’ve got to go, thanks for listening to me whinge.’ Izzy hopped down from the bar stool and kissed Bex on the cheek. ‘Will I see you tonight?’

  ‘Gabe is cooking me dinner, but you’d be very welcome to join us, you know he adores you.’

  Izzy shook her head, remembering the last time she had gone for dinner and they’d been all over each other. ‘That’s ok, I’ll catch you tomorrow right, twelve o’clock?’

  Bex nodded. Izzy grabbed her bag but as she moved from the table she caught Bex’s wine glass, sending the contents all over her shirt.

  ‘Crap.’

  ‘Oh love, do you have time to get changed? I can give you a lift home.’

  ‘No, it’s ok. It’s too far in the wrong direction. Crap, I have a meeting this afternoon, I can’t go smelling of wine and horse shit.’


  ‘The horse shit doesn’t smell bad.’

  ‘It doesn’t smell good.’

  ‘Look, I’ll go to yours and get a change of clothes and drive up to the office.’

  ‘The meeting is in half an hour, there won’t be enough time. Damn it, this will just be another thing that Ethan can use against me.’

  ‘Do you want me to make a voodoo doll of him, I can do that you know.’

  ‘I don’t doubt it. Thanks but no. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

  Izzy hurried out the pub, climbed on her bike and pedalled as fast as she could up the long drive to the office, hoping that the cool winter breeze was airing the smell off her.

  As she stashed her bike round the back of the hut she remembered that there had been a shirt hanging up in the toilet block. If it was Kyle’s or Jim’s it might actually fit her. The van was gone so the boys had clearly gone out to collect the clients. Hopefully they’d be none the wiser.

  She rushed into the toilet block, stripped out of her shirt and jacket and pulled on the white shirt that had been hanging up. It was quite clearly Ethan’s or Gizmo’s, it was massive. She heard a car pull up outside, Mr and Mrs Gillespie were clearly here for their appointment and they were early. There was no way she could attend the meeting like this, it swamped her from her neck to her knees. She looked ridiculous.

  Just then the door to the toilet block opened and Ethan was standing there.

  ‘What are you doing, Mr and Mrs Gillespie are here… Is that my shirt?’

  ‘I…’

  Ethan came in and shut the door behind him.

  ‘I spilt wine over my shirt, it stank.’

  His eyes traversed over her again with something akin to hunger. She was beginning to realise that this was just the intense way that Ethan always looked. He couldn’t possibly like her, she wasn’t the sort of woman that attracted wolf whistles or second glances in the street. And certainly not like the women that Ethan would normally date. Anyone that was called Crystal was bound to be blonde with large breasts.

  ‘I don’t like you wearing my shirt,’ he said quietly, his voice was hoarse.