by Kyle Autumn
Lyra: Don’t say a fucking word to anyone or it’s both of our asses. But they got married and will be there in twenty minutes.
They fucking what?! I can’t put a coherent thought together before another text comes in.
Chaz: We’ll be there in twenty minutes. Thanks for covering for me.
Okay, then. At least he’s alive. Maybe not well, but alive. Married? Seriously? What in the actual fuck? And Lyra was there for it? I’ve been his best friend for years, but he didn’t tell me. Didn’t even breathe a word of it. Even after I’d apologized for being an asshole and crossing the line. He owes me. Big time.
That gets me thinking though, and I only respond to one text.
Me: Thank you. I owe you.
Before she can reply—if she is even going to—I send her another.
Me: Oh, and by the way, whatever you’re wearing will look better on my floor later. I hope you’re interested in that kind of repayment.
I receive no replies, which is almost worse for my brain. It’s creating all kinds of scenarios I never would have bothered thinking twice about before. Did I offend her? Is she pissed? Upset? Turned on? How pink are her cheeks right now? My heart is beating faster and faster after each thought. Now, I have to spend the next twenty minutes distractedly fending more board members off and letting them know that Chaz will be here shortly.
Which is exactly what I do until my angel walks through the doors to the ballroom. If I thought her work uniform did something to me, this version of her is about to make me come in my pants. Her tight-fitting, red dress hugs her curves in all the right places and shows her ample cleavage off. Her short hair is sleek and sexy, and I want to run my hands through it. And pull it while I fuck her from behind.
That last thought makes my pants grow seriously tight. I have to adjust myself before I move an inch. And take a few deep breaths to calm myself. Otherwise, everyone’s going to know what state I’m in. That would not be good.
She looks a little lost all by herself, so I make a beeline for her. I’ll gladly take one for the team to make her more comfortable here.
“I kept my mouth shut. Proud of me?” I ask when I reach her, a smirk on my lips.
She rolls her eyes at me. “Don’t even start.”
Her attitude won’t deter me. I get what I want, and I want her. So I offer her my arm, which she accepts. After another eye roll. But also after a smile. A small one, yet still a smile. Then I guide her to my table and pull the chair next to mine out. She raises a cheeky eyebrow at me, and I get another smirk. I’ll take them all if she’ll give them to me.
Once she’s sitting in her chair and her purse is on the table, I sit and scoot closer to her. Neither of us says anything for a few moments while she looks around the room, taking the whole scene in. As she does that, I study her. Her makeup tonight is different. More dramatic. And I find I prefer her with the minimal amount she was wearing this morning. But she’s still beautiful. Drop-dead gorgeous. The only woman in the room with my attention—that’s for sure.
When in the hell has that ever happened? The only time my attention’s taken up by only one woman is when I have only one woman in my bed. This woman is doing a serious number on my brain, and I’m not sure what to think yet. But I don’t have time to think about it any further.
“Thank you,” she says so quietly that I almost miss it.
My usual reaction would be to tease. Yet my gut reaction this time is to say, “It wasn’t a problem. Thank you for trusting me.” And I’m just as shocked as she is.
She full-on looks at me now, both of her eyebrows high on her forehead. “Wow. I didn’t think a side like that existed with you.”
I swallow hard. “If we’re being honest, I didn’t, either.”
Her face lights up a little. “Well, I’m honored.”
I’d do anything to keep that glow on her face. What can I do to keep that glow on her face? Ahh, yes.
I put an arm around her shoulder and lean closer to her. “You look beautiful tonight. I love that dress on you.”
After a moment of smiling, she repeats, “Thank you.”
Apparently, I’m ready to see her blush again. So I bend even closer, resting my lips against her ear, and say, “Well, you can properly thank me by proving me right and showing us both how great this dress will look on my bedroom floor.”
“There he is.” She pushes away from the table, and my arm falls from the chair. “I knew it wouldn’t last.”
“What can I say? It’s just who I am.”
Putting her hands in her lap, she says, “A total horndog?”
“Maybe,” I say, tilting my head. “Or maybe you’re so sexy that you bring it out in me?”
She hits me with a hard glare. “Seriously? Women fall for that shit?”
“If memory serves—and it’s something I’ll never forget,” I say, bringing my chair closer to hers, “you seem to have fallen for it before. Just this morning, in fact.”
Now, she looks away from me, but I don’t miss that pink on her cheeks. That gorgeous, adorable pink I want to put there every day. It makes my heart stutter in my chest. Skip a beat or some crazy shit. This woman and that color on her face might be the death of me. And what a sweet death it’ll be.
“I must have lost my mind,” she mutters under her breath.
“Oh, I don’t think you did. I think you knew exactly what you wanted and you were going to take it.”
“Then someone prevented that from happening,” she bites out, glaring at me for a moment before looking away again.
“So I was right. You do want me.”
When she brings her gaze to me, I wink at her. Her lips part as she sucks in a big breath, that pink becoming a little pinker by the second.
“Yeah, well,” she starts, swiveling her head to the side, “it’s not gonna happen.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because.” She crosses her arms over her chest.
She’s cute when she’s pouting. Way too fucking cute.
“I’d like a real reason,” I press.
“And you’re not gonna get one.”
“I think I deserve one. I did keep the secret, after all.”
That gets her to look at me. It takes a few quite seconds, but she finally says, “I’ve been hurt. Badly. And I won’t allow it to happen again.”
I’d normally have some snappy comment, some quip to take the seriousness away from the conversation. But nothing is normal with her. And nothing is normal about the amount of hurt blazing in her eyes. It has no place on her beautiful face. No right to have found shelter in her gaze. All I want to do is erase every hurtful memory she has in her head and replace them with good. With wonderful memories of me. Of us.
I cup her cheek and stare straight in her eyes. “I’ll never hurt you like that.”
We stay in this moment, gazing at each other, my hand on her cheek, for…I don’t know how long. More than a few seconds, but my entire life could have passed by me. And I wouldn’t have been mad about that, either.
But then she releases a shuddering breath and flicks her gaze away. “I wish I could believe that.” Something catches her attention before I can protest. So she rises from her seat, and if I’m not mistaken, she wipes a tear from her eye. Then she meets up with two women and hugs them before directing them back to the table.
Jesus. What just happened? It was like a switch had been flipped in my brain. Lyra turns me into a different person when I’m with her, yet some traces of me are too ingrained to let go of so easily. But I meant what I said. I won’t hurt her the way she’s been hurt before. Because I don’t ever want to see that anguish in her eyes again.
Chapter 4
Lyra
What a speech. Chaz is an incredible speaker, and it’s no wonder that he took his company from nothing to something major the way he did. He was destined to do it, so I’m not sure what he’s going to do now that he’s announced his retirement. Well, he’s probably going to do
unmentionable things to my best friend, but whatever. I wish I could be happier for them, but Blake has my head in a jumble.
I still can’t comprehend what happened this morning. And then earlier, at the table, when he took my face and told me he’d never hurt me like that… He doesn’t even know how I was hurt. That I was ready to give everything up for Roger and move with him across the country for his new job. That, even though we were practically engaged, he hadn’t even thought to ask me to go with him. How could two people be on such different pages? I’ll never know. But I do know that I won’t go through that again.
“What the hell was that?” all three of my friends ask me at the same time once we’re out of earshot of Chaz and Blake.
“What was what?” I ask, pretending that nothing happened.
Patti stops me by holding my arm. When I face her, she drops her hand and jerks her head in the direct of the men.
“That,” she says. “What was that?”
“Seriously,” Zo inputs. “You look crushed. What happened?”
I look at Shiree. “Your turn now?”
“Well, now that you mention it, yeah. A mysterious phone call earlier, your strange advice in the car… Now, this?” She reaches an arm out to touch my shoulder. “What’s going on? How can we help?”
I gaze at all three of my friends, weighing my options. Do I tell the truth? I don’t think I have a lot of time, so I say what I can to get some feedback.
“I kinda…met someone.” But, as we walk to the bar, I have to rush the rest out before all three of them start in already. “I don’t want to get hurt though. He’s not the kind of guy who’ll commit, I’m sure, and we all know that I’m the commitment addict. So it just won’t work.”
“But you like him,” Zo adds for me.
I shrug. “I barely know him.”
“So get to know him?” Patti asks.
I shrug again. “I could, but I don’t want to get hurt.”
Shiree takes the reins. “Okay, so here’s my advice. If you’re attracted to him and he’s attracted to you but he’s not the kind of guy to commit, then don’t go into it thinking he’ll commit. Do what he’ll do instead.”
Raising an eyebrow, I ask, “Which is?”
“Just have sex,” she tells me as casually as she’d tell me that it’s raining. “Because seriously How long has it been? Forever! Just don’t get your heart tangled in it.”
“Easier said than done,” I remind her.
“Maybe,” she says, lifting a shoulder. Then she grins a little. “But it sounds like just what you need to get that asshat out of your head. Roger doesn’t own how you feel now. So don’t let him. Get back on the horse, so to speak.” She winks at me.
Patti and Zo laugh, but they also nod encouragingly. Yeah, I laugh some too, but they’re not in my shoes. I doubt that it’ll be as easy as just sleeping with him.
The moment’s broken, however, when Chaz snakes his arms around Shiree and steals her away from us. She waves as they go, but I can barely force a smile. I make it happen, but Chaz doesn’t look convinced. Oh well. Shiree knows I’m a mess, but this is her wedding night. And I have Patti and Zo to look out for me. Everything will be fine, right?
“Hey,” Patti says, a small frown tilting her lips down, “I think Zed and I are gonna take off now that Shiree’s leaving.”
Zo nods. “Yeah. I have an early start tomorrow, so I should head out.”
Everything’s not going to be fine. My mission is in critical danger. But I can’t rely on others. Shiree’s right. I shouldn’t let how Roger treated me affect my current situation. Whatever the hell my current situation is.
“Oh, okay,” I tell them, trying not to let my disappointment show through. “I should probably go too. If you two aren’t here, I don’t know anyone else.”
“Are you sure about that?” Zo asks. “Because it looks like Blake is coming this way.”
Patti wriggles her eyebrows at me, but I wave it off.
“Oh, he was just being nosy earlier because I was with Shiree and Chaz. It’s nothing.”
“We all have secrets,” Patti mutters as she hugs me goodbye. It sounded almost…sad.
But then Zo moves in for a hug too and they’re off before I can question it. And I’m left standing there all alone when Blake approaches me.
“We seem to keep running into each other, don’t we,” he says casually. But his eyes belie the seriousness behind the sentiment.
“I suppose we do,” I reply, looking at the floor.
He tips my chin up. “Hey. An angel like you shouldn’t look so sad.”
I move out of his reach. “I’m not sad. Just alone at the moment.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re not alone,” he reminds me, gesturing to himself. His smirk is too sexy for his own good, and my heart leaps more than it should.
No. No emotions. Shiree said to not get emotions tangled up. I can do that. I’m a strong woman who doesn’t need a man, and emotions won’t rule me. End of story.
“You know what?” I square my shoulders and stand up straighter. “You’re right. I’m not.” Then I brush past him.
His hand on my arm halts me. “Where are you going?”
When I spin around to face him, I say, “To get my purse.”
He looks genuinely perplexed. “Then what?”
I take a step closer to him. Then another. And another. When I’m close enough, I lean up, put my mouth by his ear, and tell him, “Then I’m going to show you how good this dress looks on your bedroom floor.”
***
Blake
Hard as a fucking rock. Yep. That’s what this woman does to me—just with words. I can’t figure her out, and I fucking love it. I also love watching her sway her hips as she walks away from me, but only because I know she’s coming back. Watching her walk away for good, swaying hips or not, might kill me.
Okay, I can’t figure my own head out, either. And I don’t fucking love that. But I’m pretty sure she just said that she was going to fuck me, and I know I’ll fucking love that. So we’re going with it. Because I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me, but fucking her should get her out of my system. I’ve never wanted to go back for seconds, and she shouldn’t be any different.
Except that I don’t think I moved the entire time she was gone. Well, my dick did, but he has a mind of his own. I was frozen in place, unable to take my eyes from her. Now that she’s back, I unfreeze myself, ready to get this show on the road. Chaz is gone and I’ve done what I can to smooth things over with the board now that I’m CEO of the company, so I don’t see anything wrong with leaving now. I can only see everything that can go right by leaving now—with Lyra on my arm.
“Coming?” she asks once she realizes I haven’t yet followed her.
“You and me both,” I tell her confidently, smirking at her.
She rolls her eyes. “What am I getting myself into?” she mutters under her breath.
“Oh, it’s not what you’re getting into,” I inform her, guiding her out to the valet, “but what I am getting into.” I wink at her.
Another eye roll. Her eyes are going to fall out if she keeps it up. But I can’t say that I want to stop. It’s fucking adorable. And I’m not sure I’ll ever get enough.
When we reach the valet podium, I hand my ticket over and they bring my car out. I open the passenger’s side for Lyra to get in, and she gracefully does. Then I shut the door and head over to my side. In the driver’s seat, I start the car and pull away as quickly as I can. Before my angel can change her mind.
She smooths the skirt of her dress out as I drive. “Do you live far?” she asks, staring at her lap.
“Losing your nerve?”
“Nope.” She pops the P and looks at me. “You?”
I shake my head and laugh a little. “Never.” Then I wink at her again.
More eye rolling. But I get a small smile too. It’s addicting to make her smile. And blush. And be around her. Goddammit, I’m in b
ig fucking trouble. But I don’t even care. Not when I’m with her, anyway. She’s a drug I can’t get enough of, and I should be afraid that one hit of her will ruin me for life. But I’m not. In fact, I’m quite the opposite. Ready to OD on her in a heartbeat. She’ll be worth it. I can already tell. So I can’t get home fast enough. If only to get her into—and then completely out of—my system.
Thankfully, we make it to my place fairly quickly. Only a small amount of awkward silence filled the car, but it’s gone when we step out onto my driveway. My house is nothing like Chaz’s. That man has more money than he knows what to do with. I’ve been smart with mine, but I haven’t been smart with women. Just like he wasn’t until now. Now, he’s fucking married. Married. I can’t believe it, but all the best to him.
“It’s cute,” she says, which brings me back to now. “I like the flower gardens.”
“Someone comes by to do them. I don’t have the time or the patience to make my yard look like this,” I tell her as I usher her inside my home.
“That’s a shame,” she replies. “Gardening can be therapeutic. If I had space at my apartment, I’d definitely tend to a garden.”
I shut the door behind us. “And my life is about to get exponentially busier, so I don’t see it happening any time soon. But feel free to garden here whenever you’d like.”
She waves a dismissive hand. “I wouldn’t want to get in your gardener’s way.”
“Well, I wouldn’t mind it. You’re a lot easier on the eyes than he is.” I wink at her and then point to the stairs. “Shall we?”
She gulps, looks up the stairs, and then gazes at me again before nodding once.
“You sure?”
Again, she bobs her head.
Two yeses in a row. This is happening. So here we go. I whisk her off her feet, and she gasps, a surprised smile curving her kissable lips. Then I carry her up the stairs and take her straight into my room. There, I place her on her feet, take her hand, and twirl her around so I can help her out of her dress.