by Marie James
“What was that noise for?” Alexa asks.
“It’s expensive and I feel weird spending Kaleb’s money.” I explain.
Lorali nods her head in agreement. “I get it. I hate it when Ian demands I spend his money.”
Alexa laughs. “You are both crazy as shit! Your man wants to spend money on you; spend his fucking money!”
Lorali shakes her head and laughs. “Ian has too much money. He just throws it around; even wasteful with it.”
Alexa huffs. “Has he asked you to sign a prenup?”
“I wish he would,” Lorali mumbles. “I don’t want him to ever think that I’m with him because of his money.”
“Do you plan to talk to him about it?” I ask Lorali. I may need to mention it to Kaleb as well. I have no clue about his finances but it is apparently something we need to talk about.
“Hell no!” Lorali exclaims. “He keeps telling me to quit my job because I make so little he doesn’t see the benefit of it. He wanted me to take over the charitable donations sector of his company.”
“Why don’t you,” Alexa asks.
I watch her shrug her shoulders. “I don’t like rich people. Ian’s not like most wealthy people. I don’t want to do that every day.”
Alexa laughs. “Lorali, you already work around very rich people with your job.”
“Good point,” Lorali says.
“Lor?” I begin. “I was hoping I could ask you a favor.”
“Anything,” she offers.
“Think you can host Mom and Dad and possibly a brunch the Saturday after the wedding? Kaleb’s house is only big enough for his mother and cousin that are coming in to town for the ceremony.” I smile big and bat my lashes.
“That won’t be a problem at all. If you have any others you need to house they’re welcome as well,” She offers.
“Thank you,” I tell her as I slide back into the dressing room to change back into my street clothes.
I buy the dress and find a lovely pair of shimmery flats at the next boutique. I also find a gorgeous hair clip to wear that has beautiful pearls and tiny green butterfly. Perfect for my wedding day; perfect for Kaleb.
“What do you guys want to do now?” Alexa asks as she hands several bags to Ramon for him to place in the trunk.
“Lunch!” I bark out. I smile at the speed in which I answer her.
“Getting your appetite back I see,” Lorali says as she opens the back door for us all to slide in.
“Seems like it. At this stage in the game it is either eat or sleep. I’m tired all the time.” I explain.
Less than twenty minutes later we are being seated in a fancy Italian restaurant. If I’m not tired now I will be after I’m loaded down with pasta!
My cell phone dings and I smile when I see it is a heart from Kaleb. I love spending time with Lorali and Alexa but I can’t wait to get back home to him.
“So what are you guys doing for your honeymoon?” Lorali asks as she grabs a seasoned breadstick from the basket in the center of the table.
“Kaleb has one week of vacation left before the end of the year. He said something about maybe Reno.” I smirk. “I don’t care where we go as long as the bed is comfortable.”
Alexa full on laughs. “That’s my girl!”
I giggle. “That’s not exactly what I meant. I’m so tired all the time. The books say it’s normal, but I literally take naps all day long.”
“That bad huh?” Alexa asks.
“Yes. I think today is the longest I’ve stayed awake since before I was…taken.” Crap I didn’t want to think about that right now.
“I bet you’re bored. Staying home all day while Kaleb is at work with nothing to do. I’d take naps too.” Alexa offers.
“You guys could always take this summer off and come hang out with me all day.” Lorali laughs like it’s the craziest suggestion in the world.
“I’m actually thinking about opening my own spa.” Lorali and I both tell her how wonderful of an idea it is.
She shrugs her shoulders. “Garrett has an incredible business mind and he thinks I’d be happier if I made the executive decisions.”
“Are you having trouble at work?” Lorali sits back in her chair as I sneak another bread stick.
“Not really. Elite is just a little stagnant right now and the owners aren’t very progressive. It’s hurting the company but they aren’t ready to make changes.” She explains. Alexa manages the spa at a very high end resort and she’s very good at her job, but you can only do so much when your hands are tied by the owners.
We both nod. I don’t even want to think about my job right now. Just the idea of going back to that school makes me nauseous.
Chapter 9
Lorali
“You’ve been acting weird all day,” Ian says as he unzips the back of my evening gown. “Want to just tell me about it? Or do I need to fuck it out of you?”
The discussion about the prenup with the girls last weekend has been running on a constant ticker in my head. Having a prenup is not stressing me out; knowing when I bring the idea up that Ian is going to shoot it down is what bothers me. I hold my finger to my chin in contemplation with a grin on my face. He will be slightly more agreeable once his sexual appetite is sated.
“So be it,” he growls as he pulls the lace of my bra down and his lips suction to the tip of my breast.
Sequin covered lace and silk pool around my feet as Ian sucks my painfully hard nipple into his mouth. Before I even register that his hands are around me, my strapless bra snaps open and joins the ridiculously expensive dress at my feet.
Suddenly he grips my hips and I hear my panties rip; then feel the chill as the cool air licks at my blazing core. He’s so aggressive and needy tonight and I love it. I bite the top of his shoulder, spurring him on and reach for the buttons of his tuxedo pants.
He pulls his mouth from my breast and my nipple hardens further from the loss of the warmth. I quiver as he watches with hooded eyes as my hands work feverishly to undress him. He looks magnificent tonight in his tailored to perfection Armani tux, but now he needs to get out of it.
“Help,” I plead as my fingers start working the tiny buttons at the bottom of his shirt.
He begins working the bow tie loose from his neck and then starts on the buttons at the top meeting me in the middle. Next we each take a sleeve and set to work on the cuff links at his wrists. He, of course, finishes first and as his hands sweeps to the wrist I was working on; I let him take over as I work his pants and briefs down his hips.
Hitting my knees in front of him, my hot mouth wraps around his tip as soon as it is clear of the fabric. His hiss makes me smile around his rock hard length and entices me to take him to the back of my throat.
“Fuck, baby. That feels good,” he praises as his fingers work my mane of golden hair from the pins holding it in a messy chignon, allowing it to fall over my shoulders and down my back. He forcefully takes a handful and begins to dictate the speed my mouth runs over his cock. My hands on his thighs register the tremble in his muscles.
“Enough,” he grunts as he rips my mouth off of him.
I rise up and step free of the fabric at our feet. Suddenly I’m air born in his arms and then tossed on the bed. Before I can catch my breath I’m flipped on my stomach and he’s pulling my hips up.
With his hand wrapped once again in my hair he tugs my head back at the same time he slams inside of me. My core begins to tremble immediately, the tiny inner muscles rippling along him and begging for more.
He’s relentless as he pounds in and out of me. I know he’s acting this way because I smiled and spoke with a gentleman at the gala tonight while waiting for our drink order to be filled. There was nothing remotely inappropriate with our interaction, but from the feel of it Ian feels the need to remind me that I’m his.
“Mine,” he spits out just as his hand lands in a stinging slap on the apple of my right ass cheek.
It sends me over the edge, causing
wave after wave of clenching spasms to devastate my body.
Just as I begin to sag lower on the bed, exhausted from the orgasm he just gave me he grabs my hips and forces me back up. Folding over my back, “there’s more,” he promises in my ear.
Each thrust of his is met with a soft moan or whimper from me. Our sweat slickened bodies move against each other as he slides in and out of me easily. I can feel the remnants of my orgasm as it flows down my thighs. His fingers make contact suddenly with my clit and I gasp as my body responds to him immediately.
For the second time in less than ten minutes my body is convulsing and gripping his cock. He roars as he is engulfed into his own release and I collapse on the bed, pulling him down with me.
“Jesus, Ian,” I finally manage with a laugh. “I should talk to other handsome men more often.” My giggle stops suddenly when he pinches my nipple.
“You did it on purpose?” He asks incredulously.
I turn in his arms so we’re chest to chest. “No, but I may from now on if that’s how you react.”
He’s slipping from the frame of mind I need him in for the conversation we need to have. I position my chest over him and kiss his lips. “I only have eyes for you, Ian.” I kiss him again but settle once more against his chest, exhausted from the two very incredible orgasms he just blessed me with.
I close my eyes and smile against his chest as his fingers trace up and down my back with a whisper like calmness, the gentle touch welcome after such an aggressive session.
I open my eyes slowly so I can watch my finger trace around the magnificent tattoo on his left pectoral muscle.
“I wanted to talk to you about something,” I begin and wait for him to respond. A low murmur is all I get so I continue. “When I was out with the girls last weekend, Alexa brought something up.”
“Well this sounds like trouble,” he responds playfully.
I swat at his chest softly. “She,” I pause, mild trepidation running over my body. “She asked me if you had given me a prenup to sign.”
“We don’t need one,” he says softly, his demeanor unchanging.
“I think we do,” I whisper. He doesn’t respond and that combined with the lackadaisical way he continues to lightly stroke my back is becoming maddening. I expected a fight from him. I geared myself up for one and instead he is just throwing the idea out of the window and seems like he won’t even consider it.
I pull my head back from his chest so I can look in his eyes. His hand calms on my back but his eyes are closed.
“Ian?” I ask softly in an attempt to get him to look at me.
“Hmm?” He offers without opening his eyes.
“Can we talk about this?” I pull further away from him and sit up by his side, forcing his hand to settle on my thigh.
I watch as he slowly opens his eyes and realizes how serious I am.
His hand gently begins to caress up and down my leg. “What’s there to talk about?” He grins salaciously at me; his eyes pinned to my breasts.
“We need a prenup, Ian.” I repeat myself, growing more annoyed. This garners his attention and he brings his line of vision to my face.
He pushes himself into a sitting position so we are both sitting on the bed facing each other.
“Why?” He asks simply.
“I don’t want people to think I’m after your money,” I answer and drop my eyes to my hands that are now clasped together in my lap. “I don’t want you to think I’m after your money.”
He laughs deeply and the sound makes me snap my eyes back to him; the look on my face stopping it immediately.
He clears his throat, apparently still entertained by this conversation. “Baby,” he says and lifts my chin up by a finger when I begin to lower my eyes again. “I know you’re not after my money.” His smile takes over his entire face, his incredible hazel eyes sparkle at me. “You complain anytime I spend money frivolously.”
I frown at him. “Other people,” I begin.
“I don’t give a fuck about what other people think, Lorali,” he interrupts me. “And,” he says before I can respond. “Even if we do have a prenup, how would they even know?”
I shrug my shoulders noncommittally.
“Are you afraid I’ll cheat on you?” He questions softly.
“What? No!” I shake my head. “Why would you even ask that?”
“Most prenups are for protection of assets and the protected party loses more if they have cheated on the unprotected spouse.”
“I don’t think that way at all, Ian.” I tell him and hope he can see the level of trust I have for him in my eyes and my expression. I’ve never had trust issues, aside from the asshole boyfriend from high school. Alexa is the one who struggles with trust since she’s been betrayed so horribly.
“Then why do you insist on one?” He reaches out and clasps my hands in his; both of his thumbs stroking the delicate skin of my wrist as he speaks.
I shrug because I’ve already told him, but he does not want to listen. “I have no other way to prove that I’m with you for you, and not your money.”
“Will you quit your job?” He asks softly.
“Seriously?” My face and the tone of my voice changing slightly to include the irritation he’s just caused me. Where is this coming from?
“Yes. Will you quit your job and stay at home?” He repeats.
“No of course not.” I shake my head so he sees my response twice.
“You don’t make very much money working there.” His thumbs continue their stroke of the inside of my wrist.
“That’s not the point, Ian!” I huff and want to do nothing more than jump off the bed and take a shower, alone. “I have that job because working for the paper is what I’ve always wanted. The money was never a consideration so long as it was enough to support me.”
I watch as he raises his eyebrows at me. “Exactly,” he says.
I tilt my head at him slightly in confusion.
“If you wanted me for my money, you wouldn’t work. You would quit your job, take my black AmEx, and spend your days shopping.” He explains.
I glare at him. He is being so nonchalant with this whole conversation. He has an incredible point, but still.
I gently tug my hands away from him and stand. “I guess I’ll call everyone tomorrow then.”
“Everyone? Why would you call any one?” He asks as he stands from the bed and reaches out for me.
“To let them know the wedding is cancelled.” I turn my back to him and walk toward the bathroom. With my hand on the door I turn back to look at him, registering the pure shock that is on his face. “I won’t marry you without one.” I close the door gently and lock it.
Chapter 10
Garrett
The phone call I got from my accountant has put me in the foulest mood. In my absence over the past couple of months, things are not lining up the way they should. He hasn’t figured out exactly what is going on but something in the books isn’t right.
He began by wanting to question me as to whether or not I’m extorting money from my own damn bar and I shut that shit down real quick. No fucking way I’m stealing from myself. To what end? Pay fewer taxes? Give me a fucking break.
There has to be a simple explanation for it, but even knowing that irks the shit out of me. I blaze through Ampere without even talking to anyone as I head back to my office. The only interaction anyone gets is the slight head nod to Johnny who is, as diligently as ever, checking to make sure the bar is fully stocked and ready for tonight. Saturdays are always incredibly busy and Johnny has handled practically every one on his own the last two months. I have full faith in him.
Closing the door behind me, I settle in at my desk and turn my computer on. I have absolutely no chance of finding whatever mistake is being red-flagged at my CPA’s office. I’m not an accountant, that’s why I hired one, so I don’t have the ability to determine what’s wrong.
I lean back in my chair and roughly run my hands over m
y face. I love this club but this is the very last place I want to be today. It’s begun to get harder and harder to leave Alexa in the bed on the weekends. My peak work hours are when she’s off. The peak times at her spa are the hours before mine, the men and women getting their treatments and pampering before they head over to places like Ampere. We’re like two ships passing in the night, with her having to stay up late until I get home or being late in the morning since she has to be to work so much earlier. It’s wearing us down.
A knock at the door brings me out of my self-imposed pity party.
“Come in,” I grunt at the noise.
Johnny sticks his head in. I can tell he’s apprehensive and that’s my doing. I’m sure he felt the difference in my attitude when I came through the front door. Normally I would stop by and say hi, or in the least verbally acknowledge the people as I pass by.
“Got a minute?” he asks, still in the doorway.
“Sure, man. Have a seat.” I hold my hand out and point to one of the chairs in front of my desk.
The sound of the knock on the door and the interruption almost pissed me off but Johnny is the least annoying person that could have been on the other side.
“Bar ready to go?” I ask so we can move this impromptu meeting along. I was in the middle of feeling sorry for myself and I’d like to get back to it so I can get over it and never have to be bothered with it again.
“Of course,” he answers with a smirk. “You alright?”
“Yeah, you know? Same ‘ol, same ‘ol.” I begin shuffling papers on my desk to avoid eye contact. The last thing I need is a heart to heart this afternoon.
“You seem,” he says cautiously, “distracted.”
I sit back in my chair and sigh. Johnny is practically my manager; this is something I should be able to speak with him about. “There are some discrepancies that my accountant found in the paperwork.”
He tilts his head in contemplation. “Like someone mistyped some numbers? Or left a zero off or something.”
“Fuck. I hope that’s the case.” Is it too early for scotch?
“That was an issue I had at my bar. The accountant figured it out. I’m shit at math.” I watch as he crosses his left leg over his other knee at the ankle.
