“What?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. The blonde? You were making out with her just now. Who was that?”
Easton laughed. “We were not making out. We were just talking and she’s nobody. She just wanted to tell me how even though she lost me in the auction, she was still interested in going out with me.” That made me mad. I started walking away and Easton stopped me, catching up again.
“Wait a minute, what’s wrong with you? Are you jealous?”
“No, of course not. You were just wasting my time and I’ve been wanting to leave for a long time now.”
“Look, her father is a three-star general in the Army and I was trying to get her to set up a meeting between us for a possible contract. That was all I was doing. She was flirting, but I was talking business. I was networking, isn’t that what these events are for?”
Yes, that was what these events were for, but I was still upset about it. What a handy excuse that the woman’s father was in the Armed Forces as well. I could tell lies as well, she wasn’t special. How awful was it of her to tell him that she had been a soldier as well? She could say that, couldn’t she? That woman, she was jealous, and she was a liar at the same time. A winning combination. Why was I getting upset at her? Easton was the one who had gotten me angry. He didn’t have to stay there and talk to her like they were old friends the way he did. I didn’t like how pleased he was at the fact that I didn’t like his actions.
“Well, good for her and good for him.”
“You really are jealous, aren’t you?” he said laughing. I wasn’t discussing this with him. I started walking and exited the hall. Once outside, it seemed to hit me just how drunk I was. I stumbled a little bit and lucky for me, Easton was there to help me balance myself.
“Oh my God, you are trashed. Let me get you home.”
“Take me home and make love to me for hours,” I said, knowing exactly how reckless that statement was and meaning every single word. I had gotten him in the auction, didn’t that mean he was my property now or something?
Yes, I had decided that that was what it meant. He was mine and I was allowed to do whatever I wanted. I hoped that that little blonde had seen us walking out of the event together and I hoped that she was upset about it.
“Wow, so forward.”
“Oh please, you love it.” He laughed some more, helping me balance as he walked out to the street so we could get a car.
“You know what? I’ve actually been waiting to hear that all night.”
27
Easton
Standing outside the office building waiting for Missy to show up, I felt like a little kid. I kept looking up and down the sidewalk, waiting so I could spot her like I was scared she would stand me up for some reason. I was excited. I was practically shaking. I had a backpack, and my overnight bag in one hand, with my phone in the other, just in case she called. I was less than a block over from my office building, but I just wanted to make sure. She wouldn’t get lost in any case because I had sent a car for her. That car had picked her up already and she was on her way. We had a flight to catch later. Today had taken a surprisingly large amount of planning.
Missy was busier than I anticipated a stylist being. As it turned out, she had gotten a lot of new clients after the night of the charity ball, so she didn’t have as much time for me. I was happy for her, even though it meant that planning this had taken far longer than I wanted. It was good in a way because I wanted to do something that she had definitely never experienced before. I knew the caliber of man that she had dated so I had to beat them at this game somehow. This was the date that she had won when she bought me at the auction. Rather than take her out to dinner at a nice restaurant which, let’s face it, being herself, she had already been to, I had decided on another route.
A car pulled up and parked in front of the building. The driver got up and opened the door allowing Missy to step out. The driver went to the back and got her bag, just one, surprisingly. We weren’t going to be gone very long and I had specified for her to bring only one bag, but I wasn’t sure she would actually listen to me. She came up to me smiling.
“Ready to go?” I asked her.
“I can’t say I’m very excited, but yes, let’s go.” I laughed as we walked into the building.
“What do you mean you aren’t excited?”
“I mean, you asked me on a date and told me to come to an office building in the middle of New York City at eleven o’clock. What am I supposed to make of that?”
“You know what? If your expectations are that low, you’re definitely in for a surprise.” The elevator rose smoothly up to the highest floor of the building.
“They aren’t low. This is just all very unexpected. Unique, how about that? This experience is very unique.”
“That’s better. And don’t worry, we're not actually staying here.” The elevator opened to the bare, open space. Besides random items in storage, all that was in there was a staircase up to the door that opened up to the roof. I opened the door and we were outside. The view of course was breathtaking, but it was about to get better. I would’ve told Missy to come to the roof of our building, but we didn’t have a helipad. Thinking about it now it seemed like a slight oversight. Missy laughed when she saw the chopper.
“What the hell is this?”
“This is phase one. I could’ve asked you to meet me at the airport, but who wants to sit around in traffic?”
“I don’t know what you’re onto, but so far I am impressed.” We went to the helicopter and got settled in. I knew it was not her first-time in a helicopter, so I did not ask. When we were ready, we rose into the air. “Are you going to tell me where we're going?”
The answer was not yet. I wasn’t afraid that she would say no once she found out that we were not heading to a five-star hotel somewhere. Some exclusive villa on a private beach or private island. No, that would be something that she expected, and I didn’t want to give her the same old crap that everybody else had given her. I wanted to be honest with her in every way possible, and that meant showing her real me. She knew where I lived, but she had no idea where I had come from. That was actually an important part of the equation even though it was in the past.
I wasn’t taking her to my childhood home necessarily, but just outside the town where I was born About fifteen or twenty minutes into the woods, I had a cabin. I went there from time to time to escape the city and to get in touch with the comforts of my youth. I was still that guy, no matter how much money I made or how much time I spent away from that lifestyle. It was what had raised me into the person I was now, and I had never brought another person there before. At the airport, we took the company jet and flew into Mcghee Tyson. A car was waiting for us when we got there, but this time I was driving.
“Any guesses yet?” I asked. We had to stop by the store to actually buy supplies since the cabin wasn’t inhabited year-round.
“I’ve been guessing since we were still in New York, just tell me.” I didn’t tell her. At the store, she peppered me with guesses, actually getting it right, but I still refused to tell her. I knew that she had a very different idea in her head when it came to cabins in the woods. It was rustic, your usual log cabin, but with the modern fittings that were necessary for comfort. When we finally drove up and parked in front of it, I asked her what she thought.
“If any man had asked me to follow him to his cabin in the woods, the answer would’ve been no. You realize that this is the part of the story where you kill me and my body is found after being eaten by coyotes, right?”
“Don’t worry, no coyotes here. Maybe just bobcats. A bear or two if you are unlucky.”
“What?” she asked. I laughed, opening the door.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.” I let us in and carried the bags inside, including our luggage. Missy looked around, taking it in. I had homey furnishings with some rugged touches, a mounted stag head, and some antique guns. The living and kitchen spaces were
open and connected and there was a bathroom downstairs. Upstairs was a bedroom and another bathroom. The patio wrapped all the way around and behind the house was a little clearing where deer frequently grazed.
“So, what do you think?” I asked, unpacking our groceries.
“Surprisingly nice,” she said. “I don’t think you’d kill me somewhere, so it’s pretty. Is it yours?”
“All mine. I bought the land and built it. I grew up not far from here. I thought it would be a better date idea than dinner and a suite at yet another Marriot.”
She smiled, nodding. “I like it.” I sighed in relief. She was a princess, I didn’t know how much of a risk I was taking with this until I knew she was happy. I told her to go freshen up while I got dinner ready. She came back down as I was taking the food out of the oven, chicken and potatoes with veggies. A gravy was bubbling on top of the stove.
“Something smells amazing,” she said.
“I hope you're hungry. We’re eating on the porch out back.” She offered to set the table and in minutes, we were eating outside, listening to the sounds of nature as the sky slowly darkened.
“I can't believe you planned this. Props for originality.”
“I wanted to make sure you got what you paid for,” I said. She laughed. “To be fair, I would have given this to you for free too.”
“Thanks, I suppose. This is nice.” I should have been thanking her. Something unfamiliar was bubbling in my chest. It felt strangely domestic even though neither of us were at home really. It was just so comfortable being there with her. I could see this as a part of my lifestyle. Being with her in the same space felt nice. I could get used to being with her all the time.
After eating, we washed the dishes together. I built a fire and we hung out in the living room, comfortable as the television played in the background. We were here for the weekend and it had just begun so the feeling might dissipate the more time we spent together, but I had a good feeling that it wouldn’t.
28
Artemis
“You know, I never knew how peaceful this stuff was.” I saw Easton peer over at me out of the corner of my eye.
“Peaceful?” he asked. I was somewhere in a forest by a stream after Easton had flown me out of New York City yesterday. Things could have been far worse if we were being honest. I hadn’t had any expectations once I figured out where we were going and what we were doing for the weekend. Easton had a log cabin in the woods not far from where he had grown up. I thought we were just coming out here to escape the city for a couple of days. Lie around the house, fall asleep in front of the fireplace, that sort of thing before going back. Nothing too out of the ordinary. Earlier this morning over breakfast, Easton had asked me whether I wanted to go hunting or fishing, two of his favorite pastimes from when he was a child.
Obviously, hunting was out of the question, even though fishing was basically the same thing, just a lot less bloody and there were no guns involved, so here we were. I used to do this when I was a child, not the actual fishing part, but routinely escaping the city for one of our properties in the countryside. Rural Tennessee, however, was very different from the English countryside and nobody had ever flown me out on a helicopter for a date.
“Yeah, peaceful. Gives you plenty of time to think.” That morning, after gathering all our gear, we had walked ten minutes and found a stream. The water was clear and we could see all the way to the streambed, covered in smooth rocks. We had set up our chairs and gotten to work, trying to catch our lunch. So far, only Easton had been successful, catching a few fish which he ended up returning because they were too small.
I was having fun believe it or not. This had to be the most thoughtful date that I had ever been on. He had taken me completely out of my comfort zone, brought me to a fucking cabin in the woods for the love of God, but he was showing me how he used to live. It was strangely intimate that way. He had told me what his life had been like growing up, but I never knew what to expect when he said it. I was not used to working for my meals or sleeping in any establishment under four stars, but this was nice.
“Not sure how peaceful it was when we used to wake up at four in the morning to do it,” he said.
“Four in the morning?” I asked.
“Yup. Same with hunting. The earlier the better.”
“Aren’t you glad that you can just go to a sushi restaurant when you want fish these days?” I asked. He laughed.
“I guess. No sushi restaurants out here though so you better hope something bites.” Just as he said that I felt something tugging at my line. I stood up and started reeling it in.
“I have something,” I said, pulling, tugging my line back in. Easton put his line down and got up, standing next to me.
“You need help?” he asked me. No, I thought that I had it. With one good tug, the fish broke the surface of the water. I started laughing when I saw it. It was big, almost as long as my forearm. Easton grabbed the line and unhooked the fish.
“Look at that. Your first catch and it’s a whopper,” he said. It would easily feed both of us for lunch today. Just in case we didn’t end up catching anything, we had brought snacks. A couple of sandwiches, some protein bars, and packs of beef jerky which we ended up not eating. After getting back to the house, Easton grilled the fish with herbs and lemon and prepared couscous and salad to have on the side. I was surprised at how adept he was at cooking when I thought about the way he used to live. This was a date, after all, maybe this was just him putting his best foot forward.
We ate out on the rear porch again. In the short time that we had been at the cabin, it was my favorite part of the house. There was a little clearing out there where I had already spotted rabbits, squirrels, and deer. It was amazing how quiet and peaceful it was out there. I felt a little bit guilty about how much I want to come back after this visit even though I had not received an invitation.
“I think you should pay me for feeding you today,” I said. Easton laughed.
“Are you still working for me? Did I miss something?”
“No, just for the sake of my ego, I think. I’ve never had to do that in my life before but clearly, I’m good at it. I think I deserve compensation.”
“That’s cute. Well, you’re welcome.”
“For what?”
“Without me, you would have never found out that you were a talented fisherwoman.” I laughed that time. I didn’t think I necessarily wanted to be known as one, but it was still nice. After lunch, I volunteered to do the dishes. I was kind of sad all of a sudden. It was technically our last day since we were flying back out to New York tomorrow. Just a weekend didn’t feel like long enough, I wanted a few more days there. I wanted more days with him.
“Are you tired?” he asked me.
“No, not really. Are you?”
“No, I could use a bath though.”
“A bath?”
“Come on, let me show you something,” he said. He led me through the house to what I knew was the downstairs bathroom though I hadn’t visited it yet. There was a fire roaring in the real fireplace which he must have lit when I wasn’t looking. Close to the center of the room was a large iron bathtub that was already filled with water. The decor in the bathroom matched the rest of the house, rustic with modern touches. I noticed that the lights were dimmed and realized that he had been planning this for a little while.
“I’ve never actually gotten a chance to use the bathtub down here,” he said. If that was the case, I was more than happy to take it for a spin. We both stripped down and climbed into the water. It was the perfect temperature. Hot, but not hot enough to burn, which would still be pleasantly hot even after losing a few degrees of heat.
It was large of course, big enough to fit the both of us comfortably. Since getting here yesterday, nothing had really happened between us, even though this was a date. Being out in the woods where we were all alone seemed like the perfect place to act out all our wildest fantasies, but everything had been
surprisingly sweet and domestic until now. I wasn’t complaining, I didn’t want that to change, I just wanted a little more of what we did when we were in New York. I hadn’t seen the man naked since… I couldn’t even remember when. It was like we were getting to know each other all over again after a brief period apart. Like this was our actual first encounter, on top of it being our real first date. I giggled a little bit when I realized.
“What’s so funny?” Easton asked me.
“Nothing, I was just thinking about how long it’s taken you to finally get me naked once we got out here.”
“You think I took too long?”
“Yes, much too long.” He nodded his head beckoning me over.
“Come here then.” I slid over to him, getting between his spread legs. This was the best date that I had ever been on. Easton was rocking my world and he didn’t even know it. We kissed and the heat in the room went up. I ran my hands over his body, shocked at how much I seemed to have missed it. Work had been crazy these past couple of weeks and since the charity night was Easton’s debut, we weren’t technically working together anymore.
Shame, since he wasn’t available for me to do this any longer. Things would likely change once we got back to the city. All that meant was I had to take advantage of what I had right now.
29
Easton
I had never used the new downstairs bathroom since I had gotten it renovated. I didn’t know when I was going to get the chance, but this was the best way I could possibly use it. The bath could be filled up automatically and Missy didn’t realize when I got away for a while to light the fireplace. I was going for romantic. I wished I had some candles or something, but it seemed like I had gotten the job done even without them.
If I wasn’t sure before, I was sure now. There was this something between us, my plan worked. This was the intimacy that I wanted with her so much. Things were different this time. We were in the bathroom for one thing, but that wasn’t it. We were together because we wanted to be, more importantly, she had followed me here because she wanted to.
Admit You Want Me: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Irresistible Billionaires Book 3) Page 17
