by Nikki Paris
Lena groaned. “He’s just clueless about what it’s like to be in need, Ash! He was whining this morning about his fiancé buying the store brand of toilet paper instead of the fancy-ass kind he likes. I just can’t even when he’s like that!” Lena threw her hands up in the air and groaned again.
I laughed. “Tom is a princess, we know this, but he helps bring in money for the kids, so can we just forgive him for it?”
Lena glared at me. “We need more people like Camden. Camden gets it, and the kids respect him.”
I nodded as I drove to the coffee shop. “Yes. Camden is perfect for the youth outreach stuff, and Tom is perfect for the fundraising stuff. They have different sets of talents.” Although, I was reasonably sure that Camden’s list of talents was quite a bit longer than Tom’s. Ah, shit. Now I was thinking about sex again. What would Lena think if she knew I was fucking Camden?
“Fine, Ash.” Lena squared her jaw and stared out the window. After a minute or two, she turned back to me. “But Camden’s great, right? Like, I picked a good intern.”
“You did, Lena. Again, I very much appreciate you taking care of that for me.” I bit my lip. I wouldn’t tell her. She was so proud of her newly found interviewing skills. I didn’t want to make her feel bad for accidentally hiring my post-divorce conquest.
When Lena and I returned with the coffee, Elliot and Camden were still out. Tom sat sullenly at his desk, earbuds in. Lena marched up to him and presented him with an espresso. “Tom, I apologize for losing my temper earlier. I appreciate your perspective here at Bright Starts.”
Tom rolled his eyes and pulled out his earbuds. “I’m sorry, too. Thanks for the coffee.”
“Nice conflict resolution, kids!” I laughed and set my coffee down to slow clap.
Tom and Lena both rolled their eyes. I started to walk back to my office when Lena said, “Hey, Ash? What if we have Camden take care of the slideshow this year? That way, Tom and I will have less to argue about.”
I nodded. “Okay. I’m sure he’ll be happy to help.” Camden had already been the one taking pictures at the youth outreach events, anyway. He got a lot of shots of the kids actually enjoying themselves. He took pictures of my ass, too, but that was beside the point. The pictures he took when he wasn’t screwing around and flirting with me were great.
I got back to my office and sat at my desk with a sigh. I’d only taken one small sip of coffee when my phone buzzed with a text. I picked it up and frowned. Maddox?
Hey, Ashlyn, it’s Maddox, in case you deleted my number. It’s been a couple of months since we last talked. How are you?
I scoffed and set my phone down. Since we last talked? Did he mean since we signed the papers that officially voided the sad life we’d built together?
My phone buzzed again. Taz said he saw you at a bar a few weeks ago, getting all hot and heavy with some guy. I know it’s not my business anymore, but, are you being safe and responsible, Ash? STI’s are still a thing.
God, he was so controlling. I’d almost forgotten how stupid he always made me feel — like I was his poor little Ash. He had to look out for me because I wasn’t strong or smart enough to make my own decisions. Maddox treated me like that even before we started trying to conceive. Aria pointed it out to me once, but I laughed it off. Aria’s head was always full of crazy ideas, but sometimes, she was spot on.
I felt anger and resentment brewing beneath the surface and texted back, Fuck off, Maddox. I’m doing just fine, and I’m not your problem anymore.
I know we’re divorced, but I’m still allowed to care about you, Ashlyn.
I rolled my eyes. Maddox had stopped saying, “I love you,” about a year ago. Instead, he started saying, “I care about you.” It was the tiny, subtle things my ex-husband did that whittled me down and made me feel broken and unlovable.
Tears started to burn the corners of my eyes, and I shoved my phone into my desk drawer. Thank God that Elliot had taken Camden away. I would die of humiliation if Camden ever saw me cry. I just wanted him to think of me as his smart, sexy boss forever.
As long as we could keep it uncomplicated, maybe Camden was precisely what I needed. Maybe I didn’t need to make this stop.
9
Camden
Ash sighed loudly from her desk.
“What’s up, Ash?” I grinned at her.
“Can you just like, go work in the hall or something?”
I laughed. “I’m sorry. Why?”
Ash rolled her eyes. “Because the sexual tension is unbearable! I knew we shouldn’t have gone out for drinks on Friday.”
I grinned and walked over to her desk. “Are you thinking about my dick, Ash?” I put both hands on the edge of her desk and leaned forward, so I looked right into her eyes.
“No.” She bit her lip. “Your tongue.”
“You do like my tongue, don’t you?” I grinned at her and leaned forward just a little more. Our lips were only a few inches apart now. Friday night was scorching hot.
“Not here. We’re taking a long lunch.” She stood suddenly and headed for her office door. She yanked it open and nodded at me to follow. “Lena, Tom, we’re going to do a working lunch. We should be back in a couple of hours.”
I kept my eyes to the floor and followed Ash out to her car. As soon as we were both inside, she leaned over and pressed her lips into mine. Hell. Yes. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, and her hands and lips devoured me. I cupped her breast with one hand and tangled the other in her hair. Fuck. She smelled good and felt even better. “Are we doing this here?” I laughed.
“Ugh.” She pulled away, looking drunk off of me. “Right. Let’s get out of here.” Ash peeled out of the parking garage and drove toward her apartment. I tried to keep my hands out from under her skirt, but I just couldn’t do it. “Stop!” She shot me an angry look. “Do you want me to crash the car?”
I laughed and pulled my hand from under her skirt. “Okay, boss.”
A hint of a smile played on her lips. “Don’t say that. It makes me feel so dirty.”
“Then I should say it more.”
She laughed now. “No! I’m not dirty! I’m a really nice, perfectly average person.”
“Wrong, right, wrong.” I grinned at her.
“What?” We pulled up to a red light, and she shifted her gaze to meet mine.
I held up a finger for each point I made. “Wrong, you’re dirty. Right, you’re a really nice person. Wrong, you’re not average.”
I thought maybe she blushed a little. “Wow.” She shot another glance at me before turning back to the road. She let out a cute laugh and shook her head. Her blonde hair was curly today, and I couldn’t wait to bury my hands in it, maybe pull it a little. “You’re either a sweet guy or a huge, shameless flirt that will say anything to get what you want!”
“It’s the first one.” I grinned and rested my hand on her upper thigh, this time on the outside of her skirt. She still thought I was just a hot, fuck-able college kid. There was so much about me that she didn’t know, but she seemed determined not to let us get close. With Ash, it was either tight and professional, or fucking and teasing.
She pulled up to her apartment, and we made our way inside. As soon as the door was closed, Ash pressed herself up against me, kissing me and shoving her hand down the front of my pants. Damn. She was just going for it. I tugged my shirt off over my head.
We stumbled toward her bedroom, kissing and grinding. Ash did her sexy moan, followed by a gasp when I grabbed her ass. She locked eyes with me. I pressed my forehead against hers, both of us breathing like we’d just run a 10k. Ash shoved me down on her bed and climbed on top of me, straddling my hard dick. She rocked her hips and sighed as she unbuttoned her shirt and slipped out of her bra.
She arched her back, closed her eyes, and said, “You’re so hot. I didn’t know sex could be this hot, Camden.” Ash leaned forward, pressing her naked breasts against my chest. I’d never be immune to the feel of her hard nipples pressing in
to my skin. That would always make me want to fuck her.
“You still have condoms, right? You’re not using them up on other guys?” I teased her nipples with my fingertips.
She gave me a sexy smile. “Would that make you jealous?”
“Am I allowed to be jealous? If I were jealous, that would mean this was becoming a thing, Ash.”
“Ugh.” She sat up straight, and I drank in the sight of her perfect tits. “This isn’t a thing, Camden. It’s just hot sex. We’re allowed just to have hot sex. And you happen to be the only person I’m currently sleeping with, but that doesn’t mean anything.” She stood and slid her black skirt down. “Condoms are in the top drawer.”
“Yeah. I get it.” Why did I feel a weird pang in my chest? Casual sex had never bothered me before. Hell, it didn’t bother me now. I sat up and pulled open her nightstand drawer. My hand accidentally closed around a wedding ring. I should have pretended I didn’t see it. I should have just grabbed a condom from the box and fucked her, but I said, “Ash… was it an ex-husband? Not a boyfriend?”
“What?” Her voice sounded tight.
I turned and held up the ring.
Her eyes filled with pain, and she looked away. “Yeah, this was a terrible idea. We should head back to the office.” Ash grabbed the skirt she’d just discarded and hurried to put it back on.
I hated the pain in her eyes. I hated the asshole that had divorced her and hurt her. I stood and wrapped my arms around her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” She snapped and pulled away from me. Ash turned to face the window and crossed her arms tightly over her chest.
“Ash, you can talk to me. What happened?”
“No, see, this thing works because we don’t talk, Camden. I don’t want to talk! I just want to fuck and forget and move on!” She still wouldn’t look at me.
I rubbed my jaw and stared at the floor. I understood that she had some pain in her past. I realized now that it was more than I’d initially thought, but her words still hurt me. “So, this is nothing to you. You don’t want me to know you, and you don’t want to know me.”
Ash sighed and picked up her bra. “It was only supposed to be a one night stand. I wasn’t supposed to ever see you again.” She put her bra back on and ran her hands through her hair. “It just got complicated, and I can’t fucking do complicated anymore!” A single tear slid down her cheek.
Oh, hell. It wasn’t like I enjoyed seeing girls cry or anything, but seeing Ash cry felt like someone had tossed my heart into a blender. Hell. No. “Hey, come here.” I wanted to do anything I could to make her tears stop. “We don’t have to be complicated.” I reached for her, but she wouldn’t let me hold her.
“Camden,” she said and leaned against the wall. “I think we need to stop this before someone gets hurt.”
I sat on the edge of her bed. What if I was already hurt? What if I was falling for Ash, and all she ever wanted from me was sex? “Okay.” I rubbed my jaw. “Are you going to fire me?”
She gave me a half-smile. “No. I just can’t sleep with you anymore.”
I nodded and smirked at Ash. “I mean, you can definitely try not to.”
She laughed and shook her head.
A new thought entered my mind. I wanted Ash to take me seriously. I wanted to truly get to know her and be there for her. Maybe, if we took sex off the table, I could do it as her friend. Then we could bring the sex back and it would be even better. Maybe she just needed a little time.
“Okay. Let’s stop sleeping together.” I put my shirt back on and tossed Ash’s shirt to her. “But, that means we could just be friends now, and friends talk to each other. Friends get to know each other. A friend could tell another friend all about an ex-husband, and then those friends could go egg his house together.”
Ash gave me her stunning smile and sat next to me on the bed. “You are twenty-four, aren’t you? Real adults don’t egg houses. We key cars, Camden.”
I laughed out loud and nodded. “Do you bash headlights, too? Or is that taking it too far?”
Ash let out a low whistle. “That’s taking it way too far.” She grinned at me. “Wow, I’m appalled that you would even suggest that.”
I laughed again and patted her knee. “All right, we’ve established that you are almost as funny as I am. Humor is a good quality in a friend.”
She gave me a sideways glance and lifted my hand from her knee, setting it back in my lap. “Okay, friend, I’m still ridiculously attracted to you, so you need to keep your hands to yourself.”
“Okay, boss.” I laughed when she rolled her eyes. “Will you tell me about your ex-husband now?”
Ash stared at her hands for a solid thirty seconds before answering. “We met in college. We were married for four and a half years, but we just didn’t work.” She shrugged. “It sucked a lot to get divorced, but it sucked less than being married to someone that didn’t love me.”
Ash looked sad, and my first instinct told me to kiss her or say something stupid to make her laugh. “I’m sorry. He’s definitely an ass.”
Ash laughed. “I didn’t even tell you anything about him.”
“Don’t have to. He hurt you. That makes him an ass.”
“It wasn’t all his fault. We had issues that just couldn’t be solved.”
I nodded. I wanted to ask what the issues were, but I knew I shouldn’t press my luck. “Can I give you a friendly hug?”
She narrowed her eyes and then nodded. I pulled Ash into my arms and fought the urge to kiss her. This new “friend” arrangement was going to be hard, but there was no way it would last more than a week. Ash and I couldn’t keep our hands off each other.
10
Ash
I looked up when Aria walked into my office. She usually stopped by to visit and volunteer once a month. She didn’t look pregnant yet. Not that I was worried about that.
“Hey, best bitch!” She smiled and headed for the empty chair in front of my desk. “It’s good to be back! I miss this place!” Aria sank into the chair and glanced around my tiny office. It used to be our tiny office.
“Yeah, too bad, you’re a sell-out that wanted to make money in your career,” I teased.
“Hey, now!” Aria shot me a dirty look. “I still volunteer when I can, and I donate monthly to this cause with all that career money. You can’t do shit without money, Ash.”
“I know, I know. We appreciate your generous donations. I just have to give you a hard time.”
Aria rolled her big brown eyes at me. Then she leaned forward. “When does he get in?”
“Who? Elliot? He’s in his office.” I stared hard at my computer screen. I knew exactly who she meant. I opened my desk drawer and pretended to search for something while I avoided the conversation Aria wanted to have.
“No, dumbass, Camden.” She grinned and batted her eyes when she said his name. “The hot intern that you’re trying to stop fucking? The guy that you’re trying so hard not to like?” It had been three days since Camden and I had decided to stop sleeping together and just be friends. Three days of torture.
“Morning.”
My eyes snapped up, and Aria clapped her hand over her mouth.
Camden leaned against the doorframe looking so damn sexy in dark jeans and a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He took a sip from the mug of coffee in his hand and grinned at me. He’d absolutely heard Aria talking about him.
“Good Morning!” I said, a little too brightly. I was sure my eyes were wide, and there was an excellent chance that I was blushing. “Camden, this is Aria Prior. She was one of the original founders and my best friend.”
Aria stood to shake Camden’s hand. She was going to say something that got me in trouble. I could tell from the mischievous look in her eyes. “Camden, it’s great to meet you! I’ve heard that you’re a hard worker.”
Camden laughed and glanced over at me before saying. “I do what I can to make Boss happy.”
Aria
looked way too thrilled with the way this conversation was going. “Ash can be a little hard to please, so I’d like to offer you my congratulations on satisfying her.”
Camden’s grin was so sexy. “Satisfying her has never been an issue for me. I will say, though, that we do our best work out of the office—”
“Camden!” I covered my face with both hands.
He laughed. “Ash, I was going to say that we do our best work at the youth outreach events.” He smirked and raised his eyebrows. “What were you thinking?”
I wanted to strangle him. And ride him. It wasn’t okay for someone to be as hot as he was. There was no way we’d be able to stop sleeping together, especially when he kept giving me those flirty, sexy eyes while making innuendos about me with my best friend.
Aria burst out laughing. “The tension in this room, guys…” She cleared her throat. “I’m going to say hey to Elliot. Should I lock the door when I go?”
“God-dammit, Aria!”
She let out a slightly evil laugh and walked out of my office.
I bit my lip and stared at the floor. I could feel Camden’s eyes on me. When I looked up, he grinned at me and sipped his coffee.
“What happened to ‘just friends?’” I asked, with a glare.
“I tease my friends, Ash.” He sat at his desk in the corner of my office. “Besides, my good friend Aria and I were just discussing work and my performance as an intern.”
I rolled my eyes. “Did you get a headcount from the Denton Community Center for today’s event?”
“Absolutely. They said they usually have about twenty-five to thirty kids that show up regularly, and up to fifty if there’s food.”
“Great. Elliot confirmed that the landscaping company, the bakery people, the writer, and the tech boot camp guys will be there.” Today’s event was about career education. “We need to leave in fifteen, so we have time to set up.”
“Okay, boss.” Camden grinned at me while he sipped his coffee.
I rolled my eyes. “Are you ever going to stop saying that to me?”