Secure Love (Wet & Wild Series, #3)

by Lexy Timms

  He lost himself in her. Bucked and thrusted until he was a sweating mess. His lips sloppily danced around her body, kissing as much of her as he could find. His hands fisted her hair, curling tightly into her wavy copper tendrils as his tongue plunged into her mouth.

  It wasn’t long before he felt Kallie shivering again, her pussy milking his cock. And this time, he gave her what she wanted.

  “Pretty Kallie. Yes. Fuck me, you’re so tight.”

  He spilled into her thick threads of cum meant only for her in the first place. She arched her back into him and he could feel her tits pressing into the lean divots of his torso. He bit down into her breast, leaving teeth marks behind as she pressed his face farther. He sank into her, filling her to the brim until their juices were spraying out onto the floor.

  “Oh, Ash,” she said with a whisper.

  He collapsed on top of her, his cock still sheathed within her pussy. But before he could even catch his breath, she pushed him off her. Got up from the floor and quickly walked behind her desk. She ducked down, almost as if she didn’t want him seeing her any longer, and he sat on the floor with his brow furrowed in confusion.

  “Okay,” Kallie said as she kept reaching for tissues. “Deal sealed.”

  “What?” Ash asked.

  “Now that we got that out of our systems, we can keep this professional,” she said.

  Ash felt his heart sink as Kallie started gathering up her clothes. He sat there naked with her arousal coating his skin while she desperately tried to wipe him off. Stacks of tissues piled up in her trash can as she furiously cleaned herself down. She’d never done that before. She’d never felt the need to clean herself off after having him against her.

  Did he misread something?

  “Why don’t you come over here and let me hold you?” Ash asked.

  “That’s okay,” Kallie said as she started getting into her clothes.

  He watched her look up at the laptop before horror washed over her face. She reached up quickly and pressed the space bar, and he bit back a grin. All of that had been captured on her voice recording.

  “We should play that back,” he said playfully.

  But instead of responding, all he heard was the electronic sound of crumpling paper fill the room.

  “What was that?” he asked.

  “I’m sure I can remember your list of demands,” Kallie said.

  “Did you delete it?”

  Kallie shot him a look before she stood up, fully clothed. While he sat there on the floor, buck fucking naked.

  She picked up one last tissue and wiped off the chair they had been on. Like it was marked with something she didn’t want to touch. His heart sank to his stomach as he picked himself up and began to put his clothes back on. He needed to find a way to melt her new icy, serious demeanor. None of that was going to bode well for him and his plan if she kept him at arm’s length.

  Though, apparently, she had no problems fucking him while at arm’s length.

  “Whenever you’re ready to continue, you can sit down in your seat,” Kallie said.

  Ash nodded his head as he put the remainder of his clothes back on. His suit coat smelled of her and it pained him to put it on. He’d be blanketed in her scent for the rest of the day, but instead of being reminded of a beautiful memory, he would be reminded of her icy cold attitude toward him.

  This wasn’t the way he saw his day going.

  He sat down in the chair and crossed his leg over his knee, like it was business as usual. He watched Kallie type up a few notes, probably notes from the recording she immediately deleted. He waited patiently as he threaded his fingers together and settled them into his lap, silently picking at his nail beds.

  A habit he hadn’t indulged in years.

  The things Kallie did to him were remarkable. He’d never been nervous with a woman.

  Not until her.

  “Okay, there’s only one more thing to decide,” she said.

  “And that would be?” Ash asked.

  “We need to brainstorm destinations for you to settle in.”

  “The location doesn’t matter,” he said.

  “It does, just like the amenities in that location. You don’t have to pick a location, but you do need to have some in mind. Let’s start with a specific region of the world.”

  “Well, halfway around it isn’t far enough.”

  Ash watched Kallie laugh and he closed his eyes to take in the sound.

  “Well, if you fly all the way around the world, you’re back at square one. So help me help you, Ash.”

  “Then halfway across the world sounds just fine to me,” he said.

  “Any particular countries in mind?” she asked.

  “Out of all the countries I’ve been to, there’s a few I’ve wanted to go back to. Germany. Italy. Indonesia.”

  “Oh, Indonesia would be a good one for what you’re looking for. Especially if you want to be treated like a local,” she said.

  “I loved Bali when I visited.”

  “Then let’s put Bali, Indonesia, on your list,” she said.

  “I could get one of those bungalows directly over the ocean.”

  “You could jump from your balcony every morning and hit the waves.”

  “Yes, definitely put Bali on that list. In fact, that’s the only place.”

  “The only place?” Kallie asked.

  “Yes. Bali, Indonesia. That’s where I’m going to end up.”

  “You don’t want to travel there and make sure first?” she asked.

  “Well you don’t want to travel with me. So no.”

  “Why would I have to travel with you?”

  “You’re my life organizer. If I’m going to be trying out places for me to plant my roots, then you need to be with me. You know, to keep me on track.”

  “I can do that just fine from a phone or a videoconference. I do it all the time with my clients,” she said.

  “But being treated like a local has to be experienced,” Ash said.

  “I see what you’re doing, and it isn’t going to work. I have a business to run, Mr. Worthington, and I don’t make it a habit of jetting off with my clients and leaving the rest of them to suffer.”

  Hearing her address him by his last name was like a punch to the gut, and he knew he had to convince her to come with him. He had to get her to Bali so they could rekindle what they had on St. Barts. All they needed was to get out from underneath all of the pressures they’d succumbed to in the city. He knew that he had to convince her to travel with him.

  It was the only way.

  “Well I am a client of yours,” Ash said. “And I will be a high-paying client. If you want the high-end clientele, then you have to be willing to travel to them as well as with them. It’ll be something about your business model that has to change. Your office is actually a bit pointless. You take phone calls and work from your laptop, which is something you can do anywhere. You can bring your laptop and your cell phone with you and keep your same schedule, but still help me in the process.”

  “My office isn’t pointless,” she said.

  “But your work does travel. Hence why you could come with me, give one of your needy clients a first-rate experience, then get paid a first-rate price as well as be given a first-rate testimony.”

  “Ash, this isn’t how—”

  “Every high-end business does it, Kallie. Interior decorators fly to their clients. Fashion choreographers fly to their designers. Chefs and bartenders and even maids, they all travel to their clients. To their employers. You don’t grow a business from an office, Kallie. You grow it by getting out there with it. Plus, if you really want to see the entire project through, you’ll have to come with me once I settle anyway to help set up my new place. Right?”

  He watched Kallie sigh as she closed her eyes. He knew he had her. All she had to do was say “yes.” He’d take care of everything else. Whatever she needed, without hesitation.

  “Fine,” she said
curtly. “I’ll come with you to Bali. But we’ll be in separate hotel spaces until you find where you want to touch down. Then we’ll move you, but I’ll still be in the hotel.”

  “I wouldn’t expect it any other way,” he said with a grin. “Thank you.”

  “For what?” Kallie asked.

  “For being there so I can get it right this time.”

  And for the first time since he stepped into her office yesterday, her face softened toward him.

  “You’re welcome,” she said. “We’ll get you back on your feet and headed in the right direction.”

  But what Ash hoped was that she would be by his side when he decided what direction to go in.

  Chapter 14

  Kallie

  She stood in her apartment, packing her things for the private flight out. She couldn't believe what she was doing. As easy as everything was, Ash had thrown her life into another spiraling whirlwind. The man lived for storms, which made her snicker. Of course he did. He’d weathered that ocean storm back on the island with such grace and ease, and she was beginning to figure out why. His entire life was a storm, and all the quiet moments were just blips on the radar in between.

  Ash Worthington wanted her to keep him organized.

  What a world it had become for her.

  Even though Ash told her to bring her laptop and cell phone with her, she knew she could never afford the international plan. And depending on where they went in Bali, there was no guarantee that the internet would be strong enough to sustain the quality video feed she required for her videoconferences. So once she was done packing for her trip, she sat down and slowly began to clear her schedule.

  “Yes, this is Kallie Semple calling. I was wondering if we could shift our videoconference to the beginning of next week.”

  “Hello there, I’m so sorry to bother you. It’s Kallie Semple calling. I was wondering if we could shift our meeting to the beginning of next week? I’m sorry it’s such short notice, but a client of mine has an emergency and I promised them I would be there for them. Mm-hmm. Yes. Thank you so much for being so understanding. And yes, it’s a service I provide to all my clients.”

  “Kallie Semple calling, how are you doing? I was wondering if we could move our in-office meeting to Wednesday of next week? Lunch is on me for the inconvenience, I’m so sorry.”

  One by one, Kallie managed to chisel away at her schedule, clearing the rest of the week and weekend so she could be in Bali. After she talked to her last client and relieved herself of their requirements until the beginning of next week, she shut down her laptop and set it on her bed. She continued to pack, looking up the weather for Bali on her phone so she could pick clothes accordingly. She’d never been to a place like Bali, and the last thing she wanted was to stand out like a sore thumb.

  Then, Kallie’s phone rang.

  “I know it’s you, Eris,” she said as she put her friend on speakerphone.

  “I got your text. Why the hell are you going to Bali?”

  “Ash has hired me to help his life get off on the right foot again,” I said.

  “Are you fucking kidding me? You know what he’s doing. He’s trying to get you out of the city and woo you back into his world.”

  She cringed at the harshness of her words as their little tryst in her office came crashing back to her mind.

  “Even if that’s what he’s trying to do, I’ve got fail-safes in place. I’ve made sure he’s booked us two hotel rooms instead of one, and I’ve got an emergency reserve of funds in place if I need to catch a plane ride back.”

  “I think I should go with you,” Eris said. “You know, to keep him in his place.”

  “You’d kill him if you saw him.”

  “Exactly. I’d keep him in his place.”

  “Eris, this is strictly professional. And in exchange for my help, not only is he paying me four times what I quoted him, but he’s also going to give me a video testimony I can use to open myself up to high-end clientele. He’s single-handedly going to drive me to a place I never thought possible with my business.”

  “Uh-huh. And it’s worth being cooped up with him in Bali?”

  “Yes, it is,” Kallie said. “It’s worth every second I’ll have to bat him off me.”

  “At least you’re not going into this with any illusions.”

  “Trust me, I’m not.”

  “Though I think you do want things to work with Ash.”

  “I do not,” Kallie said.

  “You do. And once you admit that to yourself, then you can protect yourself. Just because you want things to work doesn’t mean they can.”

  “I don’t want things to work between us.”

  “Lying to yourself is what got you into this mess in the first place.”

  “No, you pushing me to do things I didn’t want to do is what got me into this mess.”

  “You can blame it on me all you want, but this has always been our friendship. I’m a soundboard for what you want to do, and then I have to convince you to do what you already know you want to do, so that if it backfires you have someone to blame. But not this time. This time, you need to admit to yourself what it is you really want, whether or not it’s achievable,” Eris said.

  Kallie sighed as she shoved the last of her things into her suitcase. She zipped it up and sat on the edge of the bed, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. What the hell was she supposed to say? That despite everything, she still wanted to love Ash? Still wanted to try and make some sort of a life with him?

  “I do wish things would work,” Kallie said. “But I’m under no illusions that they will. In fact, they can’t. The media would tear us to shreds the second they figured out we were together. And I told him that.”

  “Good. Now that I’ve heard you say it, it makes me feel a little better about you going on this trip,” Eris said.

  “Yeah. I’m sure.”

  “He’s hurt you before, Kallie. And the only real predictor of future behavior—”

  “Is past behavior. I know. You really should’ve been a psychology major,” Kallie said.

  “I don’t want to see you get hurt again. They’ve tried to destroy you, Kallie. But you’re still standing. Without their help, without their praise, and without their money. That business is yours, and if you feel this is the way to get it to where you want it to be, then I support you. So long as you know he’s not doing this just for your help, and so long as you know that you can’t go running back to him.”

  “I hear you, Eris.”

  “Good, because I want you to be completely certain about this before you go halfway around the world with this guy.”

  “And I am. You have to trust me, okay?” Kallie asked.

  “I do. I do trust you. I just don’t trust your heart sometimes.”

  “Then that makes two of us,” she said with a sigh.

  “When are you leaving?”

  “Tonight. His jet leaves at eight.”

  “Ah, the private jet. Jeremy’s family has one of those.”

  “I still can’t believe you’ve been with him this long.”

  “There’s something about him. I don’t know. He’s fun, and it lasts however long it lasts,” Eris said.

  “Uh-huh. I’ll poke you about that statement more when I get back.”

  “When will you be back?” Eris asked.

  “Sometime next week. My meetings strike back up on Tuesday, so even if Ash isn’t flying back then, I will be. And a week should give me time t—”

  Kallie caught herself, but she knew she’d already put one foot in her grave.

  “Time to what?” Eris asked.

  “Nothing,” Kallie said.

  “Oh, no. Kallie? Time to what?”

  She sighed into the phone and pinched the bridge of her nose again.

  “Look, just don’t go crazy, okay?”

  “It’s never good when you start with that. What is it?” Eris asked.

  “There’s a small part of me tha
t’s going with Ash to Bali to see if we can really work things out. I figured a week away from the city and being dropped into one of the few places that didn’t care about our drama would give me time to decide whether or not it’s something I want to go for.”

  Kallie listened as the phone call went silent.

  It was never good when Eris was silent.

  “I mean, I look at it this way. I’ve been researching Bali, right? And it’s practically paradise. At least, the part of Bali Ash wants to set up shop at. And if we can’t find a way to reconnect in that paradise, then we don’t stand a chance.”

  “You want to give this man one more chance. You’re serious,” Eris said.

  “A part of me is, yes.”

  “Enough of a part of you to actually have thought this out.”

  “I love him, okay!”

  Kallie fell back onto her bed as Eris sighed into her ear.

  “I love him. I love Ashly Worthington. And I want to give him one last chance. I don’t know if he’ll squander it or fuck it up, but I’m prepared to walk away if he does. But I’m not ready to let him go yet. I was ready to let James go at our wedding. I felt it in my gut. I was ready to let him go when I got back to the city after he sent me that idiotic necklace. But I’m not ready to let Ash go. I’ll kick myself for the rest of my life if I let him go before I’m ready to do it.”

  Kallie closed her eyes and waited for Eris’s chastisement. But instead, she got something she didn’t expect.

  “I want you to call me every night,” Eris said. “I’ll help you foot any bill you rack up. But I want you to call me every night, or every morning. I want you to touch base and I want you to keep me updated. If my best friend is going to be halfway around the world trying to rekindle some bullshit mess with a man who’s succeeded in making her feel like shit, then I’m going to be in the loop. None of this ‘going without talking for days’ mess like we did on the island.”

  “Okay,” Kallie said. “I promise.”

  “And I have to admit, your plan is a good one. If you guys can get away from it all, then maybe you stand a chance of at least getting to know each other more and figuring out what’s going on between you two,” Eris said.

  “Yes. Exactly. It’s still business. I still have a task to do. He’s still hired me for a job, but I’ll be careful to guard my heart. I can figure out the facts without allowing my emotions to run away from me.”