Some creative searches resulted in a much more entertaining book series that their sweet Ashleigh was responsible for. The kind that carried a certain disclaimer on them – for mature audiences only.
As it turned out, Ashleigh Thomas was moonlighting as Ashton Leigh, writing some downright provocative stories that Alex admitted to getting caught up in. It hadn’t taken him long to recognize the side of Ashleigh that wrote about deep, dark fantasies and sexual exploits so outrageous, he wondered where the hell she had learned about them. Had he not experienced a few himself, he might’ve been blushing by the end.
Gripping the steering wheel with both hands, Alex tried to rein in the hunger that ignited in his soul whenever he thought about her and those damn books. At the moment, the last thing he needed to be thinking about was Ashleigh and sex when he should be paying attention to the hordes of cars and trucks around him.
Navigating Dallas’ traffic required skill and total concentration on a good day. Friday afternoons generally didn’t qualify as good as far as congestion standards went.
As he sat on the highway, at a complete standstill, Alex reviewed the directions. Based on his knowledge of the city, the drive to Ashleigh’s should only take about fifteen minutes. However, he’d actually have to be driving first.
It had been a long time since Alex had looked forward to doing much of anything, but anticipating the reaction on Ashleigh’s face when she saw him was quickly becoming the highlight of his day.
It’d been ten long years since he’d seen any hint of interest on her face, but she’d been a high school senior when Logan McCoy had introduced Alex to Xavier Thomas. At seventeen years old, she’d captured his eye with her beauty, but not much else. Over the years, Alex had become close to the Thomas family, building a friendship with Dylan and a strong working relationship with the family’s patriarch, Xavier.
Alex had barely gotten his business off the ground when Logan had introduced him to Xavier, and it wasn’t long after that Alex landed the largest client CISS had ever known. So, over the years, Dylan had become a regular fixture at the Thomas home, and as he’d watched Ashleigh grow up, he’d found himself more and more captivated as the years went by.
In order to ensure his admiration didn’t turn into infatuation, he’d kept as far away from her as possible, only it appeared that seemed to be a colossal waste of time. Since she’d continued to ignore him, avoiding him whenever possible, Alex found himself only wanting her more.
Then the years of denying the lust he harbored for the woman he couldn’t have all came to a screeching halt the night of the Christmas party when Alex held Ashleigh in his arms. That night, his need to have her escalated. For a brief moment, he swore he’d seen interest in her eyes, but she had quickly masked it, followed by that sweet, dismissive smile of hers.
Now she was coming back for good, and the timing couldn’t have been better. Alex knew that Ashleigh would be a challenge, but hell, besides having more business than he could keep up with, what else did he have to do?
Chapter Three
*** ~~ *** ~~ *** ~~ ***
Ashleigh pulled into the driveway of her new house in record time, traffic on a Friday afternoon unusually light coming into Dallas. She was never one to enjoy driving, and she couldn’t say she was anxious to have to do that trip again, but at least she’d had some time to think and... sing. Although she was fairly certain what she was doing wasn’t in any way associated to singing. At least not in a good way.
She smiled.
Who cared.
Parking her Tahoe beside a big, black fancy truck that Ashleigh couldn’t place, she wondered who was there. The movers were, she could see them traipsing back and forth across her lawn hard at work. Her brother was there, his all too familiar ranch truck was parked near the street.
Curious, she grabbed her purse, opting to leave the rest of her things until she was certain she had a place for them. If she was right, her house would probably look like that moving truck had thrown up in the middle of her living room because there was no way they would know where to put anything.
She wasn’t halfway up the front walkway when Nathaniel – everyone called him Nate – came bounding out of the front door, a mischievous smile on his handsome face. The boy looked so much like his father, it was uncanny.
“Aunt Ash!” Her nephew exclaimed, coming right at her with his arms open wide like he was seven, not seventeen.
“Nate.” Bracing for the impact, Ashleigh laughed out loud when he stopped suddenly, standing right in front of her and waiting for her reaction.
Ashleigh walked right up to him, letting the much bigger boy embrace her.
“Ummm... Nate?” She smiled, taking a step back. “Did you know you aren’t a little boy anymore?”
Nate’s whiskey brown eyes danced with amusement. “Yep. No more boy. All man.” He said in a Tarzan-like imitation.
“Last time I saw you, I could’ve sworn you were shorter than me.”
“Doubtful.” Nate remarked, looking thoughtful. “I’m having a hard time coming up with anyone who is as short as you are.”
Slapping his arm lightly, Ashleigh laughed. At five feet eight, she was by no means on the short side. It wasn’t her fault that the men in her family seemed to steal all the inches, every one of them, including Nate as it turned out, stood over six feet tall.
“So, what do you think of my new digs?” She asked him, turning to look at her little house.
“Impressive. I’m gonna have to grab my fishing pole and come hang out sometime.”
Grinning, Ashleigh looked up at him. She wasn’t sure the little stock tank behind the house even had fish, but if anyone would find out, it would be Nate.
“Where’s your dad?” Hefting her purse up on her arm, she turned toward the house.
“Inside. He’s talking to Alex.”
His words had her stopping in her tracks, before glancing back at the black truck in her driveway. She should’ve known. Pretending she didn’t care, she forced a smile. “Have you been to your new school yet?”
“No.” Nate didn’t look at her, keeping his eyes on the expanse of water they could see from where they stood. “Dad’s taking me up there in a few minutes.”
“You excited?” She knew he wasn’t, if his expression was anything to go by.
“Anything will be better than where we came from.” He admitted, turning back to the house, but not moving.
Ashleigh knew from talking to her brother Dylan that Nate was having a hard time at school, and it had nothing to do with academics and everything to do with the cruelty of the kids.
Just last year, the Thomas family had been shocked by Nate’s revelation that he was gay. Although not a single one of them had any issues with it, including Xavier, her grandfather, which had surprised the hell out of damn near everyone, not everyone seemed to be as accepting as Nate’s family. Ashleigh wasn’t sure whether it was the small town, or just ignorance that had the kids being so cruel, but either way, Nate seemed to be dealing with it.
“At least the year is almost over, right?”
“I wouldn’t quite say that. We’ve still got the rest of this semester.”
“Oooh. A semester. That’s like what? Eighteen more weeks?” Ashleigh laughed.
“Fifteen, thank you. Don’t make it longer than it has to be.” Nate teased.
“Sorry. I’ll work on getting my facts straight next time.” God she missed her nephew. He’d always been the fun loving, exuberant child who had kept them all on their toes. Despite the difficulties and the challenges he seemed to be facing, it was good to see he hadn’t changed much.
“Well, I’ve put it off as long as I could.” She told him, turning back to the house. “Time to check out the chaos.”
Steeling herself for the chaos, better known as Alex McDermott – but she wouldn’t tell Nate that – Ashleigh followed her nephew up the steps to the house. The front door stood wide open, the screen door propped open with a sm
all box – great, the box read “panties and bras”.
Lovely.
Every light in the house was on and the low sound of people talking filled the space. As soon as she was inside, Ashleigh remembered everything she had loved about the house the first time she saw it. Her realtor hadn’t seemed too excited about showing her the place, apparently it had been on the market for quite some time, and she hadn’t figured it would be what Ashleigh was looking for.
It had taken one trek through the house, and less than five minutes for Ashleigh to turn to the woman, telling her to draw up the papers. After seeing at least twenty other properties, Ashleigh had been sold almost the minute she stepped inside.
Open, airy, it was just what Ashleigh was looking for.
The back wall was nearly all glass which offered a serene view of the small pond and a handful of trees. The inside was warm and comforting, something that struck Ashleigh immediately. Dark wood floors and cream colored walls, along with stone accents on the fireplace, and the bar that separated the kitchen from the rest of the house, had caught her eye immediately. The rest was a bonus.
Speaking of bar. From where she stood, just inside the front door, Ashleigh could see her brother who was animatedly talking to the man she’d dedicated way too many thoughts to for the last decade. Alex’s back was to her, and she fought the urge to stand there and stare at him while he was unaware.
Right. As if anything ever got past him.
Alex McDermott and all of his sexy as hell goodness was a weak spot Ashleigh had never been comfortable with. The man was hot as sin, but Ashleigh had sworn off his type at a young age. Or maybe it was just him that she’d sworn off.
Not that he didn’t visit her in some of her hottest dreams. But during waking hours, she did her best to avoid him. Living so far away had made that easy, but apparently being this close, and the fact that he worked with her grandfather, Ashleigh would have to put forth some effort to keep him away.
Time to change the locks.
“What’s he doing here?” Ashleigh asked Nate, tilting her head in the direction of the kitchen, keeping her voice low, and trying to sound interested, but not interested.
The look Nate shot her way said he wasn’t buying it.
“He’s quoting the alarm system Pops is having put in.”
And why couldn’t her brother have done that? She didn’t ask the question out loud because she knew Nate wouldn’t be able to answer, and she was pretty certain her discomfort was obvious, no reason to sound defensive on top of it.
Apparently she was going to have to have a conversation with her grandfather. She was forever grateful for him, and his need to make sure she was taken care of, but when it came to Alex, Ashleigh would rather go without.
Dylan’s voice got louder, and then a deep, booming laugh echoed through the house, making Ashleigh turn to look at her brother. He was laughing. It was a rusty sound, but only because she knew he hadn’t been doing much of it over the years. It was the sweetest thing she’d heard in a long time.
Sitting her purse on the counter, she cleared her throat, getting Dylan’s attention. He smiled, his eyes locking on her, but the man whose back was still to her didn’t do more than tilt his head to the side, a mischievous grin tilting his beautiful mouth.
Damn that man.
She suddenly wished she had checked her face in the mirror before she came in. Not that it would matter much. Wearing yoga pants, an oversized sweatshirt, and her hair in a messy ponytail, she’d dressed for comfort, not to come face to face with the hottest man she’d ever laid eyes on. But she didn’t care what Alex thought. Or so she tried to convince herself.
Her appearance was the least of her worries anyway. Right now, she’d have to make every effort just to breathe.
“Hey, how was the drive?” Dylan asked, his dark eyes holding a hint of amusement. The mischievous grin on his face didn’t help either.
“Uneventful.” She said, stepping around the bar and into the kitchen, keeping her eyes trained on her brother and not the other man standing so easily against her counter, who appeared not to be giving her the time of day, although she knew better.
“You remember Alex, don’t you?” Dylan asked by way of introduction.
Did she ever.
“I do. Nice to see you again.” Ashleigh gave him a brief glance, then turned back to her brother. “What’s going on?”
“Pops asked Alex to stop by to install a security system.” Dylan restated what Ashleigh already knew. “Now that you’re here, I need to run Nate by his new school. We’ve got to pick up a schedule or something.”
Maybe she should offer to take Nate. The dead last thing she needed was to be left alone with Alex. Not if she was expected to keep her sanity.
She’d grown accustomed to her body’s unruly reaction to the man over the years, but that one night at the Christmas party just a few weeks before had nearly sent her hormones on strike.
“Why don’t you stay? I can run out and pick up dinner.” One last ditch effort to keep her brother close was worth a shot.
“Can’t. Maybe tomorrow.” Dylan replied as he nodded back to Alex, then turned toward the front door. “Oh, and Pops said he got held up, but he’d stop by tomorrow to see how things are going.”
Right. Held up her ass.
The old meddling man was interfering, that’s what he was doing. For the life of her, Ashleigh couldn’t fathom how Pops would think this was a good idea. Her and Alex?
“I’ll walk you out.” Alex offered, and Ashleigh shot him a glare. He graced her with that sexy, seductive smile that she had thought about way too many times.
Damn that man.
She fought the urge to watch him walk out the front door. Then she fought the urge to lock it and keep him on the other side where he belonged. One of the movers caught her attention as he headed toward the back of the house.
Great. They were setting up her bed.
That was clearly what she needed - more temptation. Couldn’t they have waited to get her bedroom set back up until after the cocky, arrogant alarm guy left?
Of course not.
Karma was a pushy bitch, trying to test every one of Ashleigh’s limits. And Alex McDermott was so far beyond off limits Ashleigh couldn’t even see the warning signs from where she stood.
Her body wasn’t heeding the warning signs anyway. And that was after only two minutes in his presence.
When he was around, her skin was too tight, her entire body felt flushed, and she would never have to worry about cold weather again because he heated her from the inside out.
Sex. That’s the first thing that came to mind when Alex was anywhere in the near vicinity. Hot, sweaty, rip-your-clothes-off-and-throw-them-around-the-room sex. And Ashleigh would be the first to admit she constantly had sex on the brain, but that was only because she was an erotic romance author. The only reason.
Well, that and because she’d been introduced to Alex McDermott all those years ago.
With a sigh of disgust, she dropped her head. She had to get over this freakish infatuation with the man.
She needed some air.
Ashleigh made her way to the back deck, her eyes eating up the spectacular view it afforded her. This was the reason she bought the house. The water looked like glass, reflecting the warm glow of the sun, the crystal blue sky, and the brilliant green tree line that reminded her entirely too much of Alex’s eyes.
Shit.
Mind. Gutter. Damn it.
Squeezing her eyes closed for a second, she fought off the image before once again opening them. Taking in the calm, smooth water, she remembered the real reason she bought the house. Inspiration.
Giving up the view from her Lake Whitney shoreline had been the hardest part about moving. When she’d glimpsed the pond through the plate glass windows, Ashleigh had been inspired. Being a writer, she took it where she could get it. Although the small pond wasn’t as elaborate as the lake, Ashleigh still felt at peace here.
A quick gust of wind blew across her skin, somewhat cooling her overheated libido, and once again reminding her of the reason for the unseasonal heat wave in her girl parts. Why in the world would Pops set her up with Alex McDermott? Didn’t he know how flustered the man made her?
Wait.
On second thought, she hoped not. She did not want either man knowing the affect Alex had on her. Ever.
For as long as she could remember, Ashleigh had been fighting her body’s reaction to the man and doing her best not to let on that she felt any sort of attraction to him. Except for that one night when she’d lost her mind, but she was almost certain Alex didn’t remember anything about that night. Copious amounts of alcohol tended to do that to a person.
She’d tried to drown the images out of her brain once or twice – obviously it didn’t work after the fact.
“Nice view.”
Ashleigh stilled. Alex’s deep voice resonated through every single one of her nerve endings, sending a shiver down her spine that had nothing to do with the crisp afternoon air.
“That was part of the appeal.” Ashleigh said, once again focusing on the water, not bothering to turn around.
“I can’t disagree there.” Alex’s voice grew closer as he made his way to the edge of the deck.
Against her better judgment, Ashleigh did look at him then. The gleam in those emerald green eyes told her that he wasn’t talking about the pond. “What are you doing here, Alex?”
“Putting in a security system.” He said flatly, pretending he was interested in the view.
“It’s a good thing you don’t get paid by the hour.” Ashleigh retorted. “You waste a lot of time.”
“I wouldn’t classify this as time wasted.” The growl in Alex’s rich, deep voice washed over Ashleigh’s senses, sending a warm shiver across her skin.
“I better go check on the movers.” Being close to him was too much.
Seduction (Club Destiny) Page 2
