Paradise City: Harrison Series Book 1

by L. L. Ash

  A vest peeked through and a thin black pencil tie hung from his neck. Cuffs exposed with links made of silver and onyx.

  “Wow,” Tyler said when he saw me.

  I grinned shyly at him through my eyelashes as I approached. All surrounding eyes were on me, mostly grinning, with a few slack jaws.

  “You’ve got to be the luckiest damn guy in the world,” the guy Tyler had previously been talking to observed.

  “I am,” Tyler agreed, his eyes never leaving me.

  I took his hand silently and while Tyler called goodbye to his friends, we made our way out.

  “I want to kiss you but I don’t want to mess up your lipstick,” he said with a laugh.

  “You can kiss me after dinner,” I told him.

  “Who said anything about dinner?”

  “I just assumed. You like food too much to let an opportunity to go somewhere fancy pass you by.”

  He ducked his head and groaned.

  “I’m so predictable!”

  “I wasn’t expecting this,” I said and waved my hand behind us. “You surprised me.”

  “Good, hopefully I can get one or two more surprises in this evening,” he whispered in a sultry voice before opening my door.

  The sun was going down as we pulled into the parking lot of what looked like a French restaurant.

  “You going to get escargot?” I asked as a joke.

  “Yep!” Tyler said brightly.

  I rolled my eyes, preparing myself for an awful culinary experience.

  Flowers grew all over the lattice around the building. Vines trailed up just like you’d see in a movie where the main characters are at a fancy restaurant.

  We went through the arched wood and glass doors before stopping at the maitre d’ station.

  “Do you have a reservation?” She asked in a polite voice.

  “Harrison,” Tyler told her and she flipped a page in a book on her podium.

  “Ah, Mr. Harrison. We’re glad to have you today. Please follow me.”

  “How’d you get a reservation? If we’d have been any longer we’d have missed it!” I whispered to him.

  “I reserved the table for the entire night. So we could come when we wanted.”

  I thought about that for a minute, wondering how much that must have cost him.

  The hostess led us up some stairs to a private balcony looking over the city. Tyler pulled my chair out and I sat as gracefully as I could manage before he took his own seat before the woman smiled at us.

  “Your server will be with you in a moment. Have a wonderful evening,” she told us and went back toward the stairs.

  “No menus?” I asked and looked at the the beautiful wrought iron table we’d be dining at.

  “Call me presumptuous if you want, but I ordered for us already.”

  “Presumptuous,” I told him with a smile.

  He grinned, but our moment was interrupted by a small team coming up the stairs.

  “Good evening,” a man in a suit and bowtie said as he approached us. “Your wine….”

  Just then one of the waiters following the man stepped forward, placing two shiny glasses on the table and a cooler with a popped bottle of wine.

  Another server put a roll of silverware inside a napkin, basket of sweet smelling bread and small plates in front of us.

  “Thank you,” I said quietly and the servers smiled before disappearing back down the stairs.

  “Is there anything I can get that can make your evening more comfortable and enjoyable?” the man in the suit asked.

  He must be the maitre d’ for the restaurant.

  “We’d appreciate as little interruption as possible,” Tyler told him. “Just food and wine. No need to check up on us.”

  “Certainly. I shall talk to your waiter and make it explicitly clear.”

  “Thank you,” Tyler said and nodded, dismissing him.

  The man went slowly back down the stairs and Tyler turned back to me. His smile was glowing.

  “Well you have quite the setup going here,” I said with a soft laugh.

  “Nothing is too much for the most beautiful woman in the world.”

  I scoffed, but my heart melted a little.

  “What did you order?” I asked after a moment of silence.

  “I got a sampling of everything. I like showing you new things so I thought we’d get a lot of firsts in tonight.”

  “Like escargot?”

  “Like escargot,” he agreed.

  We heard someone come up the stairs and I straightened my back.

  “Good evening,” A nice young man said, wearing a white shirt, black vest, tie and slacks. “I’m Geoffrey I’ll be your server tonight.”

  He placed a plate of hors d'oeuvres in the center of the table beside the bread.

  “Will there be anything else you’ll be needing until the main course?”

  “No, thank you,” Tyler told him and with a nod of his head, Geoffrey went back to the main restaurant.

  Tyler reached for the bottle of wine and poured half glasses for each of us before he picked up a tiny fork and a snail shell.

  “Ok, here it goes….” he said and dug into the shell.

  He pulled forth a nasty, slimy, greasy black thing that looked like an ogre's booger.

  “You’re not really going to make me eat that are you?” I asked in horror.

  “It’s not as bad as it looks,” he said and held out the fork for me to take the offering.

  “You first,” I tried.

  Anything to put off having to eat that.

  Tyler just shrugged and put it in his mouth.

  “See? It’s not bad.”

  He picked up another and dug out the meat. As he held it out again I just sat and stared at it.

  “Just open your mouth and I’ll put it in,” he said with a laugh.

  I grimaced, then did as he asked.

  It hit my tongue and immediately I tasted salt and butter. It wasn’t so terrible. Then a funky aroma hit me as I began to chew on the rubbery morsel.

  I gagged and quickly swallowed, disgusted that I’d actually eaten that.

  Tyler laughed at me and I scowled at him.

  “You don’t have to eat any more,” he said, still giggling to himself.

  I avoided the snail shells on the plate and went instead for what looked like a pastry.

  We had a little small talk but mostly ate until our entrées arrived.

  The food was amazing, and the atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable. Tyler had done an amazing job on planning the day. I just sat there and grinned at him.

  When they brought out dessert Tyler sat up and dug into his chocolate lava cake with gusto. He’d become quiet and no conversation I started stuck longer than a couple of comments.

  I ate the crème brûlée with relish until I noticed Tyler wringing his hands in his seat, his cake only half eaten.

  “Are you ok?” I asked him, putting my fork down.

  “Sam,” he said, taking my hand across the small table. “I love you with all my heart. You are everything to me. You’re my entire future, and though that scares the hell out of me, I knew that I could never live without you. I need you in my life, for however long I have left.”

  He got out of his chair still holding my hand and moved to stand by me before dropping onto one knee.

  My hand whipped to my mouth so fast it made a funny popping-slapping sound against my parted lips.

  “Sam, you’re my sun and my moon. You’re the woman I want to call my wife….”

  He dug into his pocket with his free hand and fumbled to open a small black velvet box.

  “Will you give me the opportunity to try and make you the happiest woman in the world, as you make me the happiest man? Will you be my wife?”

  I couldn’t form an answer in my slack-jawed state, but I eventually saw the anxiety and nervous energy radiating from Tyler as he painfully waited for an answer.

  I managed a nod. The fear drained from
his face and he beamed with a brilliant smile.

  “Yes!” I finally squeaked. “Yes! Yes!”

  If it was possible, his grin grew and he pushed the beautiful cushion cut diamond with a diamond halo that trailed down the sides of the thin white gold band onto my finger.

  “Oh, Tyler….” I said breathlessly.

  When he slipped the cold metal on my finger, tears began to fall out of my eyes. He looked up at me from his position on his knee in front of me before putting a hand around my neck and gently pulling my head to his.

  The kiss we shared was unlike any we had shared before or would ever share again. It was a kiss so full of emotion, of promise and anticipation of the future.

  His jaw worked against mine in a slow, intimate exchange that completely melted me into jello.

  “I love you,” he said as he pulled away an inch. “Thank you…. I promise I won’t ever make you regret saying yes.”

  I just smiled tearily at him and nodded before saying, “I love you, too, Ty. I will love you forever. You are everything to me, too.”

  He smiled then kissed me again before standing up again.

  “I’d like to show you something, when you’re done with your dessert.”

  “You think I could eat after that?” I asked with a laugh.

  He grinned and pulled out his wallet. He tucked a few bills underneath a glass before standing and helping me out of my chair.

  “We don’t need to wait for the check?” I asked as we headed for the door.

  “Took care of that ahead of time,” he said with a laugh.

  I laughed too, then caught a glimpse of the big ring on my finger. It had to be more than a full carat in the center.

  The maitre d’ caught sight of us on our way out and gave a smile and small nod before he motioned a server upstairs.

  Tyler and I got into the car giggling, so high on happiness that we were in danger of losing our grasp on gravity and floating away.

  We drove for about 15 minutes until we came to a hill, going up the slight grade on dirt tracks until we reached the top. The land was flat with sagebrush and desert grass, and a large concrete pad sat on the property.

  Tyler got out of the car, came around to my side and helped me out before we meandered to the concrete.

  “This is ours,” he said, squeezing my hand. “This will be our house. The home we raise kids in, the place I hope we grow old together.”

  He looked at me and got a good look at the tears falling down my face again.

  “Do you like it?” he asked me.

  “It’s beautiful!” I told him, throwing my arms around him.

  We stood that way for a long time.

  “Let me show you,” he whispered in my ear before taking my hand and boosting me up onto the concrete pad.

  He jumped up onto it and walked me around.

  “This will be the formal living, the library, and the entry right where we’re standing….”

  We walked a little more.

  “A powder room, then the kitchen is here,” he said pointing to the right. “The dining is here, right between the kitchen and the family room over there on the left.”

  He kept pulling me along, back toward the entry.

  “The stairs are curved and floating that go up to a loft and 4 bedrooms with 3 baths. And there’s an office here on the first floor with it’s own bath in it. Right over here.”

  I had a hard time imagining all the things he talked about, but he was so excited it rubbed off on me.

  “Ty,” I laughed and tripped in my 5 inch heels.

  He paused and pulled me in for a powerful embrace. The whole world revolved around us at that moment. Nothing in this world could be more moving.

  “Do you like it?” he asked again as he took my head between his hands, looking deeply into my eyes.

  “I love it,” I said, unable to tear my gaze away.

  I didn’t want to, anyway.

  “I’ve got one more surprise for you,” he took my hand, pulling me back toward the car.

  He jumped off the foundation and put his arms out to help me jump down. We shared another breathtaking kiss before we got back into the car and headed back to the strip.

  When we pulled into the front of another hotel instead of the Triton I was surprised.

  “What are we doing here?” I asked as Tyler’s door was opened by the valet.

  “Today is about us, not the hotel. I didn’t want it to get in the way tonight. Tonight it’s just you and me.”

  The thought made me blush.

  Tyler opened my door and handed the keys over to the valet, and got a ticket before leading me in.

  I’d never been in this hotel, and the sights were fantastic. It was the fancy new one that’d just been built the year before.

  Chandeliers dripped from the ceiling and elegance was the standard. We got through the casino and made it up the elevator to our floor. It stopped on 21 and I followed Tyler out into the hallway.

  He looked one way, then the other and said with a laugh, “It’s weird not knowing exactly where everything is in a hotel.”

  I laughed with him and just followed. We went the wrong way at first, so we turned around and paid attention to the little plaques with room numbers and arrows pointing the way.

  Chapter 16

  We made it to our room giggling, and after Tyler got his card out he swiped it and held the door open for me.

  “When did you do all this?” I asked him as I fumbled for the light switch.

  I found it and all of a sudden the room came to life. The light faded on and the curtains slid slowly open. Opulence would be the only word to describe the suite. Rose petals laid on the floor, making a trail toward what could only be the bedroom.

  “When did you have time to do this?” I asked with some shock.

  “I might have recruited Connor’s help for the room,” he said and moved his foot across the trail of fragrant petals.

  “Connor knew you were going to propose tonight?”

  “I had to tell him in or else he wouldn’t help me. He said he wouldn’t go out of his way just to help me get laid.”

  I burst into laughter and looked around at the lavish room.

  “Between him helping with the room today, and making some calls in my office over the last few weeks, I’ve been able to keep it a big secret.”

  “I didn’t know I liked surprised until today,” I told him and stepped in front of him slowly.

  “I didn’t know I liked planning them until a few weeks ago.”

  “Thank you. Tonight has been magical.”

  Tyler pulled his phone out, held down the power button and put it on the table by the door.

  “Hopefully it’s about to get even more magical,” he told me and turned me around, fingering the clasp on the neck of my halter-style dress.

  Once the clip was loosened the entire dress tumbled down, past my hips and pooled on the floor leaving only a small strip of fabric around my hips.

  “You’re so beautiful, Sam,” he whispered hoarsely. “You really are my everything.”

  Instead of responding, I just got on my tip toes and pressed my lips against his.

  As we stumbled through the front room, I managed to not stab Tyler’s foot with my heels and found my way back-first to the bedroom and the luxurious bed.

  “Be gentle with me tonight,” I whispered. “Love me slowly.”

  “I’ll give you the moon if you asked,” he whispered back.

  We each slowly removed articles from his gorgeous suit, stopping only when we were only clad in our underwear. Tyler gave me one last kiss, then pushed himself to his knees, gathering one of my legs in his arms. He took his time unstrapping the heel, then let the leg go gently and went to the other one to do the same.

  When the shoes were gone he held onto my leg, pressing the inside of my ankle to his stubbly cheek, closing his eyes before pressing a kiss to the knobby bone there. His lips blazed a trail slowly up the inside of m
y calf, pressing kisses to the skin every few inches.

  My whole body was on fire, tingling from my toes to my breasts and back down to my core. His lips forged up, kissing and lapping with his tongue along the sensitive skin on the insides of my thighs. My breath hitched until he stopped right before my most sensitive part and moved to start over on the other leg. The exquisite torture burned and ached within me. My pelvis contracted with intense longing and my breasts begged to be touched and loved. I almost cried out for him to end the torture until he reached the top of my thigh and skipped over my hips and pressed a kiss to my lower belly. A whimper of distress escaped me until his lips closed around a puckered nipple. Lightning flashed inside me, shooting streaks of energy through my whole body. Everything tingled and my hips bucked involuntarily.

  “Ty,” I begged in a breathy whisper. “Stop teasing me. I can’t take any more.”

  He ignored me and moved to the other breast, pulling the tip between his lips and squeezing the flesh with his hand as the other closed around my ribs, lifting my chest to meet his mouth.

  Another whimper and I clamped my hands into his hair and around his head, pressing him closer, if that was even possible.

  I began to feel the tell tail spasms in my pelvis, my core grasping at thin air for something that wasn’t there.

  “Please?” I managed to beg again.

  My voice was so quiet I hadn’t been sure he’d heard me until a moment later when he dragged a nipple back, letting it pop out of his mouth audibly before snaking down my stomach again. When his lips touched my thighs I almost cried in relief. Only a few moments later he dragged the lace panties off me and I felt his lips kiss my most sensitive parts, his tongue breaching my core. My breath whooshed out of me with a soft cry. I pushed at his head and shoulders breathlessly as the sensation became too much for me, until I felt that throbbing ache burn hot. I clung onto him, silently begging him not to stop as breath came in and out of me in pants.

  That hot sensation filled my stomach, arched my back and seized my womb in a tight fist before releasing it into a fall of throbbing felicity.