Captured Secret (The Captured Series)

by Raynne, April

  My breakfast was healthy, no thanks to Ty. He got bacon, eggs and syrup on everything. I opted for oatmeal and fruit. Shopping with Ty is an experience. I get the impression that he goes in and grabs like five items every time he runs out of something. Come to think of it, the shopping list has gotten excessively longer since I started working for him and at this point, I’m truly doing all of his shopping just like Emily did. He seems uncomfortable making simple decisions and I giggle as I point out that I shop FOR HIM with ease. He’s like a child as I turn down many requests for crap food. It totally makes me wonder how the hell he keeps that sexy body, well, just that…sexy.

  We lug in the loot and put everything away. Surprisingly, he does in fact know where everything goes. I’m in a tight, peach, sleeveless V-neck shirt and some dark brown khaki shorts and strappy brown sandals. I planned on changing the shirt into a little tee that I had left here, and is now stored in ‘my bathroom’ so I could clean. However, our morning has been so drawn out, I will just have to fit Friday cleaning in when I can between clients.

  I’m wiping down the kitchen counter when Ty leans on it. “The first one is a high school friend of mine and Pierce’s. We’ve known each other forever. She just got back in town from traveling. Be nice. She’s the typical rich girl and is going to complain how rough life is now that she has to get a job.”

  “Um, I’m always nice to your clients.”

  “I know, but she is going to drive you crazy with her sob story.” A sly smile plays on his chiseled face.

  I continue wiping, and he starts to put the cups away. “What’s her story?”

  “We graduated, she went to college and majored in who knows what. She took off to travel, party, and live off her parents. They’re tired of it and demand that she get a job. So, she got her real estate license. Hence, today I’m taking the photo that she’ll use. You know that typical, ‘I’m definitely the one you want to buy property from’ realtor pic?”

  I giggle, roll my eyes and say sarcastically, “I know the pictures you’re talking about, and this one sounds like she’s had a hard life.”

  “Oh, well, if you ask her, she’ll tell you just how hard. But, she’s a friend and a little desperate. So, I’m gonna take the photo, edit it, and she can walk out with a hard copy. Just didn’t want you looking at me like I was losing my mind.”

  “You run the show, so whatever you say, I’ll do.”

  Bright, white teeth blind me. “I’ll have to remember you said that.” He walks away before I register what just happened. Yes, I just said I’ll do whatever he says. Oh, shit.

  I thrash the wipe, and head after him for a take back. An extremely cute woman walks in and lays eyes on Ty. An ear-piercing squeal hurts my ears as she catapults herself into his arms. “OMG! I’ve missed you! How are you?” He sets her down and she runs her eyes over him and never gives him a moment to answer. “Oh my, you have not changed! You are still one tall drink of water.” I laugh out loud. That’s an old saying and it sounds weird coming out of her mouth. She’s maybe five feet tall, dark cropped hair and has a little extra weight on her bones. Her face is pretty and she locks her eyes on me and keeps her happy smile. I already like her…no cattiness here. “You have a girlfriend? Like, no way, Ty! She is absolutely gorg! I’m so happy you are dating again!”

  Ty is super comfortable with her. Yet, he looks a bit uncomfortable with her accusations. “First, I’m good. Second, I miss you too. Third, she’s not my girlfriend.” I walk up. “Amber, this is my friend, Stella, and my assistant here at the studio.” I beam, extend my hand, and could not be happier to be his friend/assistant. So me losing my flipping mind was all I needed to do to get what I want? I giggle inside seeing myself cursing and yelling for any little thing. I said I wanted fucking Subway for lunch! Gaaahhhh!

  They catch up as Ty sets a soft light behind her. Amber walked in the door with denim capris and a white button down shirt on. She threw on a business blazer, and from the waist up, she looks the part of a professional realtor. I anticipate Ty, fix her hair and adjust her clothes as he photographs her sitting and standing. My reward is a breathtaking smile of appreciation.

  I reset the studio after Ty clicks off the pictures. They browse through them and she quickly picks the one she likes. Ty starts touching it up lightly as she sits on his desk. “So, are you and Pierce coming to the party tonight?”

  Ty keeps his eyes on the computer. “I’m not. Not sure about Pierce.”

  “You should come, Ty. We haven’t all been together in forever, and Nikki’s parties never disappoint. Annnnnd…since you’re not dating, you could maybe leave with a prize at the end of the night. I could name a dozen girls that are going that would be putty in the hands of Ty Caulder. You should have met him in high school, Stella. Girls would give their right arm just to be, like, seen with him.”

  He smiles at her playful tone, picks up his phone, and I can tell he’s texting. “Thanks for embarrassing me, and as enticing as you make that seem, I’m gonna pass. I don’t need to go party with old high school friends to get a prize at the end of the night.”

  “Oh, I know you don’t. Just come. Don’t be such a bore! Come please, it will be so fun! I’m texting Pierce right now, and he’ll get you there. Yay!” I sit next to Ty and log into the laptop. Amber’s texting away and her expression changes. “Sorry, I so didn’t think about if Lacey would be there. That’s why you don’t want to come, right? She hasn’t come too much lately, but I wouldn’t put it past her. We girls try to be nice, but well, she’s a slore.”

  Ty looks like she hit the nail on the head. “I just got a text from Pierce and I forgot we are all going to Club Azul tonight. That’s why we didn’t commit to Nikki’s party.” I’m calling bullshit on that statement. I understand why Ty doesn’t want to go, but it sucks if someone is taking you away from what you really want to do. I know for a fact without asking that he text Pierce and told him if Amber texts or calls, we have plans. I didn’t think we, or at least I, was doing anything tonight. Ty and I have a trash the dress session in Cocoa beach tomorrow morning and have to be up and out by like 7:30 am. Club Azul sounds fun, though. Well, if I’m invited. I guess I just assumed us meant me as well.

  “Well, you know where we are. It’s at Nikki’s, and it’ll be nice as the sun goes down, and then it will get fucking wild from that point on.” Ty shows her the finished product. Amber’s fast clapping tells me she approves. Ty gives her a hard copy as I swipe her credit card. I wish I made that much for a little over an hour’s work.

  Amber leaves, and Ty turns in his chair and motions for me to come toward him. I get up and my body instantly starts to sizzle. My legs spread wide as he pulls me to straddle his legs. My knees are bent, and the slight reposition he does in the computer chair, along with his massive hands gripping behind my knees, brings us as close together as we can get.

  It feels as though seeing Amber and talking to her has brought up some unpleasant feelings for him, so I break the ice and say to his intense face, “So, you are going to pass up a prize at the end of the night?”

  “No, I’m most definitely not passing up a prize. It’s just not going to be anyone I went to high school with, and I am most definitely not going to find her at Nikki’s party.” His eyes never leave mine.

  “Well, what does the prize look like? If you tell me, and I see her, I’ll tell her she’s one lucky girl. Oh, and does she get to stay the night? Is she one you bend your rules for?”

  His lip turns up on one side. “She is staying the night. We have to get up early so we might as well get up early together. I do, in fact, bend my rules for this one and this one only. Hmmm…to describe her…” He twirls my hair behind my back and rests his other hand on my thigh. “She has this amazing long hair. I like it best when she curls the ends a little or when she piles it high on top of her head in a messy, sexy look.” I can’t help but smile. “Her eyes are as green as a meadow. They’re big and have these long eyelashes, but they are reall
y expressive, and they tell me everything I need to know about her. She’s not very outspoken, so I look to her eyes a lot when I need to know what she’s thinking.”

  It’s an instant reaction to look down. If he can read my eyes at this moment, then he will see the love I have for him. Well, damn. Tell me I did not just fucking say love.

  Ty’s voice pulls me back out of my head, and I dare to look up as he pulls my chin up until I meet his eyes. “Her face is very beautiful. Her boobs are perky and they fit damn near perfect in my hands and mouth. I have to mention that her nipples are rosy pink and my tongue just wants to lap at them again and again. Her waist is small.” He wraps his hands around my waist and slightly massages me. “Her hips are rounded, but in great proportion to her little body. She has this ass that makes me have to rip my eyes off of it every time she turns away. It’s almost painful when I have to look away. And well, my dick is instantly hard thinking of being inside her perfect, little pussy.” Who the fuck just moaned? Oh shit…it was me! I’m about to die of embarrassment. He chuckles at my outburst. “And she makes these insanely sexy noises when I fuck her. My dick wants me to permanently be inside of her. Stella, can you feel how my body reacts just by talking about her?” My hands are, and have been, on his neck kneading the hard muscles.

  My reply is simple, “Yes.” Because, I do. His erection has me slightly grinding against him.

  “Let me continue. I mean, if you see her, I want you to recognize her. My prize, her legs are toned and long. She wears these short shorts that make me drool. Inside, she’s really a very sweet girl. She works hard, thinks of others and worries way too much. I know there’s more to her than what she shows me. Something deeper and her eyes tell me I have a lot to learn.”

  I release his neck and slide my hands down his shoulders to his strong arms. Our fingers lace together and he squeezes my hand. My voice is small, “Wow, I bet she will be surprised to know you have all those compliments. You’ll have to remember to say them at other times and not only when your perfect dick is inside of her.” He laughs out loud. I’m not really sure what’s so funny about what I said. It’s kinda true, but my heart is a pool of goo knowing he thinks so many wonderful things about me.

  “You’re probably right. I’ve never claimed to be really smooth with women.”

  “Shut the front door, Ty. Amber just said that you have your choice of women tonight if you go. Do not dumb your game down for me. I know there are others. I know there were many before me. And no doubt, there will be more after.”

  He breaks eye contact and says, “First off, there are no others, and to be honest, have I ever used any game on you, Stella?”

  I think about it, and think about it harder. He’s not some pick up line doucher. He doesn’t try to manipulate me with bullshit lines. Never has. I mean he says a lot of nice shit to me when we are having sex, but so does every guy. I’ve never seen him sporting major swag when talking to me or any other woman. So the answer is no. “Well, you haven’t, but I really don’t require any game from you, Ty. Sadly, and I’m sure you know because it’s beyond obvious, I haven’t been very hard to get.” Cause shit, I haven’t. “And as for any other woman, I guess I’ve never seen you be anything other than you, but honestly, you don’t need it. The women usually do a double take, and turn to mush if you look their way, much less speak to them.”

  He looks a bit pained. Huh? “Exactly.” He rubs my arms softly. His eyes are still downcast. Funny, Mr. Open Book is having a hard time saying whatever is in that active mind of his. “For fear of sounding like an ass, you got it right. It’s always been just my looks. It makes it easy to get what I want, and when I want it, but people are shallow. They only want to see what they want, and in turn, they make you into what they want you to be in their head. Does that sound crazy?” He looks up at me finally for reassurance.

  “No, that’s not crazy at all.”

  “So, I wasn’t all stud of the chicks in high school, because I gave it everything I had. They made me into what they wanted. I really wasn’t all that experienced sexually until I started seeing Lacey exclusively. The girls at school assumed I was overly experienced, so they were too intimidated to make any advances other than innocent flirting.” He snickers. “High school is so ridiculous. I was at a baseball game my freshman year. A senior girl asked me a question about one of our coaches who was job shadowing our manager. She thought he was hot and he was only, like, two years older than she was. So I answered her and we talked for a little bit and became friends. She thought I was cute, but way too young. So thanks to our friendship and us talking in the halls, I was labeled as basically an experienced guy, because see, I only talk and flirt with older girls. You know I’m not shy by any means. Maybe I was back then, more than I realized. I walked around as if I had a shit ton of confidence, but I was very lacking in that department. Not in sports, when I was doing those, I was in my element. Girls didn’t really want to get to know me. They just wanted to be seen with me and my boys for the notoriety. It sounds stupid now to say, but Lacey taught me a lot, sexually and other wise.”

  “I can understand that. Honestly, we all pretty much do that now as well. I mean, we instantly decide who someone is before really meeting them and getting to know one another. So, you were opposite of me? You got your, um….experience after high school?”

  He coughs in his hand with a stupid smirk. “No, maybe I wasn’t clear. I had a lot of sex in high school, thank you very much. But they were always all giddy and they didn’t push me for more because they were so sure that I wanted just sex. But no one ever asked, so I never said anything. I was young and thought that I would move on to the next one. But yeah, with Lacey, she was the longest relationship I had. I dated girls in school but they never lasted very long. I actually went crazy in the last two years. I have had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. I’m a young, single guy and honestly, I don’t have to work very hard at it. Women just give it up so easily. I learned that relationships are crap, and one nighters work very well for me.”

  “I’m so not asking you, stud muffin, how many ladies you have been with. I really don’t want to know which notch I am.”

  “I wouldn’t ask if I were you, Stel.”

  I don’t. We turn the conversation lighter and stay busy through the afternoon. It felt a bit overbooked, but I was not complaining. My mind wandered over Ty’s words. It’s crazy. No high school guy is really looking for love or for a girl to see the inside of them. Normally, they just want what’s between your legs and if they can get that steadily, then that’s when you become a couple and the I love you comes into play. Ty was looking for love, young. I guess we all were, but he just doesn’t seem the type to be tied down. It’s obvious he found love with Lacey, and thanks to her, doesn’t want it ever again.

  The more I find out about this man, the more I understand him to an extent. Absent mom, only child. He definitely had to be a bit lonely, yet, I can so not imagine him lacking in confidence. However, I too have a mom that could care less. Ultimately, no matter how tough, hard, confident and put together that exterior looks, one lacks something on the inside. You dwell on why everyone’s mom loves them and ponder why yours doesn’t. And shit, you’re a child with minimal faults…what did I do wrong? Why am I such a shit head that my own mom can’t love me for who I am?

  I walk in our condo at about 7 pm and Zoey is on me like white on rice. “Ty and Pierce have been texting, we are going to club Azul tonight. So we are dressing up and showing some skin tonight. Pierce is at his place catching up on some personal shit, so it will be just you and me getting ready.”

  We head to her room. “Hey Zoey, I’m actually staying with Ty tonight. I have to pack a couple sets of clothes in case I get wet at the beach. It’s my first trash the dress shoot, and I’m super excited.”

  “Trash the dress…who cares! Where will you sleep? With him?”

  “No, the small office has a bed, I’ll sleep there.”

  “Just
get wild, Stella and jump in bed with Ty.” We giggle. “But, remember the consequences. You only get it once, so you better be on your A-game and really make it count.”

  It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell her what’s going on with Ty and me. I miss her, and I want to open up so badly. I feel guilty, because I’ve never hidden anything from Zoey. Like nothing. I need her advice. I need her to tell me to run the other way and grab my heart back from the one that will one day look at me and say I told you it was temporary, Stella. I need something new and exciting and it’s been a good run.

  I would die if he found someone that sparked his interest and gave that relationship a go with her, but in reality, it wouldn’t surprise me. I am so sure, when I’m with Ty that he has all these feelings. Yet, when we are apart, the first thing I do is reassure myself that I’m wrong. I have to drill it into my thick skull that I’m standing right there in front of him, and I have my heart on a silver platter offering it to him. He sees it. I know he does, but I have to realize that he just doesn’t fucking want it.

  I hear my name loud out of my best friend’s mouth, “Stella, what planet were you just on?” The time is now. I should just say it. She would be so supportive, and helpful, and I wouldn’t feel so alone in this. But I chicken out.

  “I don’t know…let’s pick out some outfits.” She picks out a sexy outfit for us both using both of our closets. I take a body shower and curl the ends of my hair. I mean duh, Ty just told me he likes it that way. My makeup is super thick and dark. I love when I look like me, but a sexier version. We make some sandwiches, eat, and meet Pierce and Jaxon over at Ty’s where we take a short cab ride to, Club Azul.

  This club rocks! It’s all blue lighting everywhere, and anywhere you look, there are completely different shades of blue from the cups and straws, to the curtains hanging in weird patterns all across the ceilings. The bar looks like it’s an ice bar, but in reality it’s not. The music vibrates in my chest as we find a little table to stand at as the boys get drinks.