Tied up With Love

by Amelia Thorne

  ‘Well it was either this or I attend the meeting naked.’

  His eyes snapped up to meet hers.

  Izzy sighed. ‘Look, you got what you wanted. Take the meeting, I’ll just hang out here until they’ve gone.’

  Ethan watched her for a moment with that intense gaze, then slowly he undid his belt, sliding it off his trousers.

  Her mouth had suddenly gone dry.

  ‘Here, put this on and tuck the shirt into it, then put your jacket over the top.’

  She stared at him. Where was the telling off, the smug reprimand?

  She took the belt and did as she was told. It was still big, but under her jacket maybe it didn’t look too bad.

  She looked in the mirror, doubtfully, as Ethan stood behind her. ‘I look a mess.’

  ‘You look beautiful.’

  Her eyes met his in the reflection then she turned to face him, her breath caught in her throat. No one had ever said that about her before.

  ‘Have a good weekend Izzy.’ He turned to leave and she quickly caught his arm.

  ‘Wait, you’re leaving? What about the meeting?’

  He shrugged. ‘You can handle it.’

  ‘No, I was going to tell you before, then you got all arsey, but Mrs Gillespie, she’s an editor of a big magazine. She said she might do a piece on us.’

  He paused with his hand on the door handle and then opened it and stepped outside. ‘Then don’t cock it up.’

  She followed him as he walked to his car. ‘You want me to screw it up, don’t you? That’s why you’re leaving.’

  He turned and she nearly ran into him, he hands went straight to her arms to steady her. ‘I trust you, and you don’t need me staring over your shoulder, making you feel uncomfortable.’

  He released her and got in the car.

  She was so nervous, this meeting had to go well.

  ‘How do you feel about a freebie?’

  He pulled a face. ‘Only if we’re guaranteed to get something from it.’

  She nodded.

  ‘Call me later, if you want. Let me know how it goes.’

  ‘Won’t you be in the middle of a hot date?’

  ‘Some things are more important.’

  He closed the door and with a big roar, his car sped off down the drive – leaving Izzy with a completely blank mind about how she was going to converse with the Gillespies.

  *

  ‘…And then you’ll be left alone in the house and you guys can do whatever you feel like doing. You have free rein of the house and you can use any of the rooms that we just discussed in any way you see fit.

  Steve Gillespie looked at his wife. ‘What do you think pet, is this really something you want to do?’

  Marissa wrinkled her nose. ‘So Steve will take the role of a stranger having sex with me?’

  ‘The thrill of sleeping with a complete stranger is always a popular one, but you can take this role play in any direction you want.’

  Headlights lit up the window beyond, indicating that the boys had come back. The last thing Izzy needed was the boys to come tearing in making a noise in the middle of this meeting.

  ‘I want to be rescued,’ Marissa suddenly blurted out. ‘I want Steve to rescue me and then I can reward him with really hot sex.’

  Izzy blinked. She had to get used to couples sharing their sexual secrets and desires with her if she was going to be successful in this business. She schooled her expression to seem unfazed.

  ‘I like the sound of that.’ Steve seemed to almost swell with pride at the thought of being Marissa’s hero.

  Gizmo walked into the office and then stopped when he saw the meeting. ‘Oh sorry boss, I just need to get my house keys.’

  Izzy smiled at being called boss, when that was so clearly not the case.

  ‘No worries Giz, come on in.’ She turned back to the Gillespies. ‘This is… Joseph… he’s one of our kidnappers.’

  Gizmo gave a little start at been called by his real name but came into the office anyway.

  Izzy tried to resume the meeting whilst Marissa stared at Gizmo in shock.

  ‘So shall we put you down for a rescue package? My crew will kidnap you and take you to the house and Steve can come and save you.’

  ‘Yes,’ Marissa breathed, tearing her eyes from Gizmo as he rifled through the pockets of a coat hanging on the back of the kitchen door.

  ‘I want to hit someone,’ Steve said, his eyes lighting up at the prospect. ‘A fight to save my girl.’

  Steve was a tall man. He looked strong but any kind of fight between Ethan and Steve was only going to end up with one outcome, Steve inadvertently being sent to hospital. Ethan could snap him in half.

  ‘No that’s not part of our package I’m afraid. We don’t encourage any kind of violence as part of our service and I would also be concerned that someone would get hurt.’

  Steve would get hurt, there was no doubt about it.

  ‘I could punch him,’ Steve said, gesturing to Gizmo. ‘I couldn’t hurt him.’

  Gizmo found his keys and moved to leave, not even paying any attention to the threat to him being bandied about so easily

  ‘No, I’m afraid that isn’t possible.’

  ‘I’d pay extra, two hundred pounds to whoever lets me hit them.’

  Gizmo stopped. ‘I don’t mind being hit.’

  ‘No, I’m sorry, that’s…’

  ‘I really don’t mind,’ Gizmo said softly.

  Izzy shook her head, defiantly. There was no way Ethan would ever forgive her if she arranged for his brother to get a punch or two from one of their clients.

  ‘What about cost?” Marissa said. “Any chance of getting it free? As I said on the phone, if we like your service we might feature you in the magazine.’

  ‘It’s four hundred pounds, but I’m prepared to give you a full refund if you do feature us. I would need to see the article before we could agree on a refund.’

  Marissa nodded, reluctantly, still eyeing Gizmo over her shoulder.

  Gizmo left, and Izzy finished with the Gillespies, booking a date and time, and taking a careful note of any special requests.

  When they left, they did so holding hands, giggling and whispering to each other.

  Izzy quickly turned off the computer and the lights and locked up the office, but as she turned to fetch her bike, she saw Steve and Gizmo talking quietly on the other side of the car park. Steve fished his wallet out of his pocket and handed over a small handful of cash and Gizmo greedily took it.

  Izzy bit her lip. She wanted to stand her ground on this, she knew encouraging any kind of violence went against one of Ethan’s most important rules. But if Gizmo was happy to do it and he needed the money that badly, who was she to stand in his way.

  She watched them for a bit longer and then turned away to fetch her bike. But what was she going to tell Ethan?

  *

  Ethan checked his phone for what felt like the hundredth time since he had collected Darcy and taken her to the restaurant. Izzy hadn’t called. Why hadn’t she called? Surely she would call.

  Darcy was talking about something, Ethan had no idea what and he tried to focus on it. He wanted Izzy to call, he wanted to hear her voice, to listen to what she had to say. Maybe he should call her. He had no doubt the meeting had gone well, she would have ensured that, so why hadn’t she called? And why the hell did he care so much?

  Darcy got up to go to the toilet and Ethan grabbed his phone and called Izzy. It rang for a while but eventually she answered.

  ‘Hello?’

  His heart leapt, it sounded like she was crying.

  ‘Izzy, what’s wrong? What’s happened?’

  ‘Nothing,’ her voice shook as she supressed a sob. ‘The meeting went well, the Gillespies seem happy…’

  ‘Are you ok?’

  ‘I…’ She sounded so forlorn.

  ‘Where are you?’

  ‘I’m at work.’

  ‘I’ll be there in five minut
es.’

  ‘No Ethan, wait…’ But he had already hung up.

  Chapter Eight

  He tossed some cash down on the table that was more than enough to cover the meal and rushed out. He leapt in his car and sped up the road, all manner of unpleasant scenarios running through his mind. What was she still doing at work, it was nearly ten o’clock. Had she been hurt?

  He tore up the drive to the office and leapt out, bursting through the door a moment later.

  Izzy was sitting at the desk, dressed in a hoodie and jeans, her hair tied back in a simple ponytail. It was evident that she had been crying. His eyes scanned over her, she looked unharmed.

  ‘Are you ok, what’s happened?’ He moved round the desk to see her.

  Just then his phone rang in his pocket, he fished it out and rolled his eyes when he saw Darcy’s name on the screen. He contemplated directing the call straight to answerphone but he had just abandoned her in the restaurant, she deserved some explanation.

  ‘Hello, Darcy, I’m really sorry, something has come up.’

  ‘You just left me, without even saying a word.’ She sounded pissed. He watched Izzy wipe a tear from her cheek and turn off the computer.

  ‘I’m sorry, it was an emergency, erm… something came up at work that I had to sort out.’ Izzy turned to look at him, her silvery grey eyes glistening with unshed tears. But beyond the tears there was a look of disapproval. ‘We can do it again some time.’

  ‘I was really looking forward to tonight.’ Jesus could she not just get off the phone. But under Izzy’s disapproving glare he felt guilty about even thinking that. He’d never felt guilty about the women he dated before. He never made any promises, and most of them knew it was purely about sex and were quite happy to go along with that.

  ‘Yes me too. Look, I promise I’ll call you.’

  He hated that with a simple look from Izzy he felt coerced into being nice to Darcy. He hung up before Izzy made him promise marriage and babies too.

  ‘Did you just abandon your date, without even telling her where you were going?’ Izzy stood up and pulled on her coat.

  God, she infuriated him.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You’re such an arse. And the women queue up to be treated like shit. I don’t get it. I mean yes, you’ve been blessed with good looks but that wouldn’t be enough to make them keep coming back. You must be an absolute demon in the sack, that’s the only explanation.’

  He was startled by this sudden attack. ‘I don’t treat women like shit. I take them out for dinner, I listen patiently to their inane ramblings…’

  ‘And fuck them, then dismiss them like they’re a used piece of rubbish.’

  He watched as she furiously dashed tears from her eyes. ‘Why are you crying, are you… jealous?’

  ‘Over being treated like that? Doubtful.’

  She moved to leave and he grabbed her arm. He wanted to shake her and hold her in equal measures.

  ‘And why did you come here? Did you think I’d cocked something up with the Gillespies, that I was sitting here crying over that or I’d done something else to damage your precious company?’

  ‘I don’t give a shit about the meeting, or the company right now. I’m more concerned about you. I came because I was worried something bad had happened to you. I thought you might be hurt.’

  All the fight went out of her as she stared at him with wide, sad eyes. ‘Then you’re going to be mad when you find out what you cancelled your hot date for.’ She wiped a tear away as it fell down her cheek. ‘My cat died. He was just curled up fast asleep on his favourite spot when I got home, and he was stiff and cold. He must have been dead for hours and no one was there with him when he died.’ She let out a stifled sob. ‘I spent over an hour tonight burying him in the back garden.’ She wiped the tears from her eyes. ‘It’s pathetic isn’t it, he was a cat, and I’ve cried almost nonstop for the last few hours.’

  He sighed with relief and resisted the urge to wrap his arms around her and hold her. ‘He was someone you loved, there’s nothing pathetic about grieving over losing a loved one.’

  She stared at him with those large grey eyes and he feared he had said too much.

  ‘Have you been there?’

  Shit.

  He swallowed. ‘The loss of a pet, no.’

  She took a step away from him. ‘And there was me thinking you understood.’

  ‘I lost someone close to me. A friend, my best friend. I have some idea what you’re going through right now.’ It couldn’t compare. And it was an insult to Charlie to liken Izzy’s grief for her cat to what Ethan had gone through. But she was grieving and he could offer her some empathy right now.

  ‘So, what can I do to help you with this? You want me to distract you with what a poor excuse for a man I am, you want to lash out and punch me, go ahead.’

  She smiled at this and he knew she was sorely tempted. But she shook her head. ‘No, I’m fine, it doesn’t matter. I’m going home now. I’m sorry I ruined your evening.’

  ‘You didn’t.’ She looked up at him. He was desperate to hold her, to comfort her, but if he did it would change things between them.

  Another tear spilled over her cheek and she laughed. ‘I just can’t stop. I’m going now before you really think I’m a complete loser.’

  Unable to resist any longer, he stepped closer, wrapped his arms round her and pulled her against him. She jolted in shock at this show of affection from the grumpy bastard and he thought he had crossed some line of what was considered appropriate between a boss and his receptionist. But a second later her arms were around him as she leaned into him, burying her face in his chest. Her body heaved a bit with supressed sobs but all he could think of was how well she fitted against him, how wonderful her warm body felt against his.

  She stood in his arms for what seemed like an age and made no attempt to move. She eventually pulled away and looked at him.

  ‘Well, that was new.’

  ‘I’m not a total arsehole, Izzy.’

  ‘No, it seems you have some redeeming features after all. Thank you.’

  He nodded. ‘I’ll take you home.’

  ‘Thanks but I’d rather ride my bike. The fresh air will do me good.’

  ‘I am absolutely not letting you go home alone at this time of night. Either you let me take you home or you won’t have a job to come back to on Monday.’

  She laughed. ‘Are you blackmailing me?’

  ‘Yes, I learn from the best.’

  She sighed and opened the door. Ethan switched off the lights and followed her out. ‘Do any women ever say no to you?’

  He thought about this whilst he locked the door. ‘It hasn’t happened yet.’

  ‘One day it will.’

  He looked at her as she loaded the bike into the back of his car. ‘Of that I have no doubt.’

  She sat in the passenger seat next to him and as soon as the doors were closed an electric atmosphere bubbled and sparked between them. He shouldn’t have hugged her, he was her boss and he had to remember that. He also had to remind himself that he didn’t want a relationship or any romantic entanglements… but now – holding her body in his arms, staring into her beautiful eyes – he was suddenly finding it very hard to remember any of his carefully constructed rules.

  They didn’t speak at all on the way to her house and he wondered what she was thinking about the hug or whether she was giving it any thought at all. He pulled up outside her house and she made no move to leave the car as she stared out the window.

  Suddenly she leaned across towards him and kissed him on the cheek, the feel of her mouth on his skin made his gut clench with need and desire.

  ‘Thank you for caring.’

  He had no words at all. He watched her get out and get her bike out the back. He watched as she disappeared round the back of her house and then he leaned back against the headrest with closed eyes.

  Crap.

  *

  ‘Bex this is hide
ous,’ Izzy said, staring at the lime green lace bridesmaid dress complete with huge puffy sleeves and a ginormous bow at the back.

  Bex pulled back the curtain and Izzy burst out laughing at the hideous pink and white frilly meringue wedding dress that she was wearing – it made Bex look like a cross between Bo Peep, a Spanish flamenco dancer and an eighties toilet roll holder. Bex already had a gorgeous wedding dress but she was looking for something vintage for the evening reception. It didn’t seem they were going to find anything beautiful in this little shop filled with leftovers from the seventies and eighties. Izzy wiped away the tears of laughter from her eyes and clasped Bex in an overly exuberant embrace. ‘Oh honey, you look wonderful.’

  Bex laughed. ‘Can you imagine Gabe’s face if I walked down the aisle in this?’

  ‘Gabe would love you if you turned up in a black bin bag.’

  ‘He really would, wouldn’t he?’

  ‘He’s smitten, Bex, completely head over heels in love.’

  Bex fluffed out her hair in the mirror with that smug smile of someone who is completely in love.

  ‘I’d like someone like that, who just loves me for me, exactly as I am,’ Izzy smiled wistfully over Bex’s shoulder.

  Bex turned round to face her. ‘Ethan Chase is not going to be that man, Izzy, so don’t get any fancy ideas that this thing between you is going to end with marriage and hearts and flowers. One hug and a few kind words does not make him a decent human being. Shag him if you must, by all accounts the man is an absolute god in bed, but just don’t go falling for him.’

  ‘I’m not falling for him, I just think maybe we might be misjudging him a little, he obviously has some redeeming features.’

  ‘Yes, his ass for one.’

  Izzy sighed and decided to give Bex what she wanted. ‘Oh he’s definitely got a fine ass, I’d like to sink my fingers into that ass, or my teeth, I’m not fussed which.’

  She glanced up from trying to tug down the figure hugging dress to see Bex staring at something over her shoulder in shock.

  Izzy turned round, hoping with all her heart that Bex had just seen the dress of her dreams or another hilarious dress from her nightmares, but she was never going to be that lucky.