by J. S. Scott
“Oh, so you didn’t really make Mia disappear for two years so her ex couldn’t harm her, and didn’t tell a single soul except your security? And you just happened to be in Colorado when that same ex had a fatal car accident?” Did Travis think she was completely blind and deaf? She was his assistant. She saw and heard everything that happened in his office for the most part.
“What the hell do you know about that?” Travis shot her a laser-sharp glance.
“I know that Mia called looking for you the day before she disappeared and she sounded upset. Then she disappeared the next day. Every single day after that, you had an early morning security meeting, something you’d never done before. You’ve never given a crap about your own security. And I know you distanced yourself from Kade and Max. Most of all, I know you didn’t grieve like I know you would if you thought something had really happened to your sister.”
“All that time, you knew?” Travis answered incredulously. “And you never told a soul.”
“Why would I? I realized you were somehow trying to protect her,” Ally asked, baffled. “Why would I jeopardize her safety? I’m your assistant. I’d never betray you.”
“How could you know for sure I was protecting her? What if I’d done something to her to try to get rid of her? I could have wanted her share of the stocks and the business.”
Ally snorted. Obviously Travis had never seen himself when he looked at Mia, his love for her showing in the depth of his eyes. Maybe he didn’t express himself well, but his love for his sister was evident. “Not possible,” Ally answered adamantly. “I didn’t understand everything that was going on, but I know how much you care about Mia, and that was all I needed to know.”
“He assaulted her, beat her, and blackmailed her,” Travis admitted hoarsely. “When I finally caught up with him, he bolted. I followed. He conveniently ran his car off a cliff. But I made it happen. I killed him. And I’ve never had one pang of remorse. I was just glad the bastard was dead so he couldn’t kill my sister.”
“I’m glad, too,” Ally affirmed.
“It doesn’t scare you that I’m a killer?” Travis asked, his gaze dark and unfathomable.
“No. You did what you needed to do to protect Mia. I’m just sorry you had to bear that burden alone.”
“I had to. I couldn’t risk Max and Kade giving away her location,” Travis said, his voice tinged with remorse.
Ally wondered if Kade and Max really knew the price Travis had paid to not tell them, taking on the burden of knowledge completely alone. “You love your siblings, Travis. I’ve always known that. I don’t think you ever missed one of Kade’s football games. Did he even know you were always there?” Ally had always been the one to make the arrangements for Travis’s jet to fly him to wherever Kade was playing, and fly him back the same day.
Travis shrugged. “I didn’t want to make him nervous. I just wanted to be there.”
I just wanted to be there. Ally suddenly realized that his statement really summed up just who Travis was: a man who wanted to support his siblings and didn’t care whether he ever got credit for being an incredible brother to them. More than likely, neither Mia nor Kade ever realized just how often Travis had been there for them without them ever really knowing about it. Did Mia know how much heat Travis had taken in order to keep her hidden and safe, how much he’d had to isolate himself from his own brother and brother-in-law? Did she know how much Max and Kade had resented him for what he did? Did Kade realize that Travis had made every one of his games, and how devastated Travis had been about Kade’s accident? He’d spent almost every waking moment at the hospital after his brother’s accident. “You’re an incredible brother, Travis Harrison,” Ally told him quietly. “I would have given anything to have someone like you.”
“Still don’t want to be your brother,” Travis answered belligerently. “I want to fuck you too much.” He got up and went to the kitchen counter, shaking her out some ibuprofen and handing it to her. “Take these. We’ll need to change those bandages.”
Ally took the pills from his hand and swallowed them with a sip of coffee. “They’re really just scratches, Travis.”
He scowled at her as he answered, “You don’t need to get them infected.” He winced as he sat back down.
“You’re hurting,” Ally commented suspiciously. “Did you injure yourself? I thought you were covered.”
“Just bruises from hitting the concrete,” Travis answered, blowing off her concern. “Not a big deal.”
“You’re in pain. Let me see,” she told him in a no-nonsense voice.
Travis obediently turned in his chair and lifted his shirt. Ally gasped as she saw a contusion the size of her hand on his lower back. She reached her hand out and touched it lightly with a fingertip. “Oh my God, Travis. I’m so sorry.”
“I landed on a parking block when I hit the ground. It will heal,” he replied gruffly.
“You might need x-rays. What if you broke something?”
“I didn’t. I’ve had enough injuries to know.”
“Are there more? Where do they stop?” Ally was appalled and sick over the fact that she hadn’t known that Travis had been injured.
Travis turned his head slowly and shot her the wickedest grin she’d ever seen. “Sweetheart, to show you all of them I’d have to drop my pants. But I’d be more than happy to show you if you’ll touch them all.”
Ally gulped, torn between wanting to see the bruises and knowing she really shouldn’t watch her billionaire boss drop his pants. “Are they bad?” she croaked.
“The one on my back is probably the worst. It’s where I hit the parking block. But I’ll be happy to show you.” He started to get up.
“No, no,” she said hastily. “I’ll take your word for it. But if the pain gets bad, we’re taking you for x-rays. I can’t believe you’re worried about a few little scrapes on me when you’re all bruised up. Are you hurting anywhere else?”
Travis slowly sat back down. “My cock is hurting. Do you want to touch it?” he asked coarsely, but the look in his eyes was teasing and devilish.
Ally’s whole face turned red, Travis’s blunt words leaving her speechless for a moment. “You have a dirty mind,” she chastised him lightly. “And I’m truly worried about you hurting.”
“I am hurting. And that’s the worse ache I have,” Travis told her bluntly as he eyed her hungrily.
His predatory gaze made her even redder. Hell, she hadn’t blushed like this since she was in high school. Travis had shown her another side of himself, and she liked it, liked him right now. But his feral gaze unnerved her in ways that had her almost panting to touch him. “You’re bruised up and you can still think about that?”
“Alison, I’d have to be dead to not want you to touch me,” Travis answered gravely.
Ally shivered, her core flooding with heat, her nipples going as hard as pebbles from the intensity of his stare. Problem was, she felt exactly the same way. She looked away from him, unable to bear the heat in his eyes. One second longer, and she’d be begging him to let her touch him. “No touching,” she told him much more adamantly than she felt right at that moment. “You need to heal.” Ally got up and put her empty mug in the sink, cradling her precious gift from Travis in her hand.
“I was afraid you’d say that,” Travis answered unhappily, rising to put his own cup in the sink.
“Thank you for this,” Ally whispered, gesturing toward the necklace. “It’s the most incredible gift I’ve ever received. It means a lot to me.” It wasn’t the monetary value, but the significance of the actual symbol, a sign of Travis’s belief in her writing.
Ally wandered toward the entry to the kitchen, heading off to the shower.
“Ally?” Travis’s voice sounded hesitantly from where she’d left him by the sink.
“Yeah?” She turned her head.
“Thanks for not betraying me,” he said hoarsely.
“You don’t need to thank me for that, Travis. You’v
e always had my loyalty.” And he had. He might infuriate her, but there was never a time she had doubted Travis’s integrity or his love for his family.
He nodded abruptly and turned away, leaving Ally wondering what had just happened between them. Their relationship had shifted, leaving her wondering if it were actually possible for her and Travis to become…friends.
Travis melted her with just one glance, set her on fire with his sultry voice and his naughty comments. But she had to ignore both, wait until he found another love interest. Being anything else to Travis except his employee and friend was dangerous. She’d already been devastated when she’d thought he’d betrayed her trust by getting her fired from Sully’s, almost running in front of a moving truck because she was so distraught. Ally could only imagine how bad things would be if she actually allowed herself to become more intimate than she’d already been with him. Travis left her raw and vulnerable, elated but terrified. Getting too close to him would be a mistake, and there would be no turning back once she allowed him in. His intensity would overwhelm her, and she’d be left to pick up the pieces of the devastation after the affair was over.
“Don’t fall for him, Ally. Keep him at a distance,” she told herself forcefully as she went up the stairs.
Her sense of self-preservation back in place, she went to take a shower, hoping she could manage to keep her resolve.
Travis stayed the entire weekend, never once leaving Ally’s house except to get something he was absolutely certain she needed. He’d left reluctantly on Monday morning, after Ally had insisted she would be fine without him. That weekend had been a revelation for her, showing her more and more just what an incredible person Travis could be in a different atmosphere away from the office. They’d watched movies for hours, played several games of chess, a game that Ally had always thought she’d excelled at…until she’d played a master like Travis. He’d trounced her every single time. And they’d talked. Sometimes they’d discussed inconsequential things, but he’d opened up a little about what his childhood had been like, being raised with a volatile and insane father. And she’d shared some of her own memories of being raised by an alcoholic and how isolated and out of control she’d felt when she was younger. By the time he’d left on Monday…she actually missed him almost as soon as he’d walked out the door. The house felt strangely quiet, and she hated having her coffee alone in the morning, not having anyone to talk to when she had something to say.
Tuesday and Wednesday, Ally was too busy receiving deliveries to really think about her loneliness. The doorbell rang almost nonstop, bringing so many deliveries that her living room was stacked with boxes, most of them containing items for a brand new wardrobe that Travis had provided. Of course, she’d called him to protest, and Travis told her to refer to her new employment contract, which apparently had a clause about him providing work attire.
Ally looked around the living room and rolled her eyes. Work attire? The room contained more clothing than an actual high-end boutique, everything from lingerie to ball gowns. And every single item fit perfectly, even the shoes and boots. How the hell had he known exactly what size to buy?
“Because he’s Travis Harrison and he doesn’t do anything without paying attention to every detail,” she whispered to herself, sitting down on the small space of her couch that was still available. “I can’t take all this stuff. There isn’t a thing in this lot that isn’t designer-made and horribly expensive.”
Ally started lifting boxes, finally locating her cell phone under some sinful lingerie.
I’m sending this stuff back. You only promised to get me a dress for Colorado. That’s more than enough.
She sent the text, determined to decide on one item for the ball in Colorado that she had to attend with Travis.
He responded moments later:
Can’t. It was all on sale and non-returnable. Don’t you like it?
Ally sighed, laughing out loud at the reference to a sale. Not very creative or believable coming from Travis. She texted him back.
It’s too much. One dress is good enough.
She was startled when her phone rang, already knowing it was Travis.
“Beautiful women should have beautiful clothes,” Travis said huskily in her ear before she could even say anything. “I do get to provide your clothing for you. Read your contract.”
“Is there anything else in this contract that I signed but didn’t read that I should know about?” she asked, frustrated, wishing she’d looked just a little bit closer at the contract Travis had asked her to sign over the weekend. But she’d assumed it was just the ordinary stuff, much like the employment contracts she’d signed for Harrison previously. Travis knew damn well that when he said things like that he threw her off-balance. She wasn’t used to being called beautiful or even remotely attractive.
“Didn’t you see the part about me being able to fuck you any way I want to as many times a day as we both want it?” he asked lazily, as though he were having a business conversation.
Ally’s entire body flooded with heat. Tired of letting Travis always get the upper hand with his sexual banter, she answered him in a fuck-me voice that she wasn’t even aware she was capable of producing. “No. I only noticed the clause that says I can drop to my knees, pull out your cock, and wrap my lips around it any time I want, sucking you until you come.”
She heard a hiss come from Travis’s end of the line, and she smiled a naughty little grin. Bang! Take that Mr. Dirty Talker!
The line was absolutely silent for a moment before Travis responded in a pained voice, “I’ll make you pay for that, Alison.”
“You can dish it out, but you can’t take it?” she asked innocently.
“I’ll be taking it,” Travis answered ominously. “Dinner tonight,” he demanded. “I’ll pick you up around seven.”
“Do I have a choice?” she asked in an exasperated voice.
“Yes. You can wear the red lingerie or the black. I pictured fucking you in both of them,” he answered hoarsely.
The line went dead, Travis obviously not willing to give her a chance to argue. She’d actually gotten to him, shaken him up a bit with her own slam back at him.
Maybe she should be upset that she hadn’t really talked him into taking some of the clothes back, or irritated because he’d just assumed she’d go out to dinner with him. But the only emotion she felt at the moment was a giddiness that bubbled up inside her at the thought of seeing Travis again.
She laughed and started going through the boxes for something to wear that evening.
Travis leaned back in his office chair and closed his eyes, trying not to look at the desk and picture Ally sprawled out on top of it, abandoned and desperate. He tried not to hear her husky moans of pleasure as she splintered apart as she came for him.
Fuck! He hated that damn desk. It was like torture working in his office every day, trying not to think about what had happened on top of that very desk. Sometimes he even swore he caught her scent every now and then, a ghostly aroma of what she had smelled like in her arousal.
Her words about sucking him off went through his mind over and over again, making his cock rock-hard, and his fists clench on top of the desk. “I need a new fucking desk,” he said harshly, thinking in reality what he needed was an exorcism. Ally haunted him almost every minute of every day. And it had gotten even worse since he’d spent the weekend with her, realizing how much he adored just about everything about her. Hearing about her childhood and her vulnerabilities just made him even more protective, more determined to make her life everything she deserved.
“You paid a fortune for that desk. Why would you want to get rid of it?” Kade’s voice sounded from just inside Travis’s office door.
Opening his eyes, Travis gave his twin a disgusted look. “I don’t.”
“I’ll take it if you want to replace it,” Kade said casually, closing the door and moving to drop into the chair in front of Travis’s desk.
Oh, h
ell no. No way was Kade going to be using the desk that Travis had used when he’d made Ally come for the first time. “No,” he answered angrily.
“Okay. Fine.” Kade held up a hand in defeat. “I thought I heard you say you wanted a new desk. I was just offering to take it off your hands. I wanted to see how Ally was doing. Have you heard from her?”
“Yeah. She’s doing okay,” Travis told his brother in a milder tone. “I just wish she was back. The office doesn’t run the same without her here.”
“You miss fighting with her,” Kade said teasingly.
“I miss everything about her,” Travis admitted. “She’s…efficient.”
“Her ex really did a number on her. Asha told me about it,” Kade replied, his voice tinged with anger.
“I’d like to kill him, but I think it would upset Ally,” Travis said morosely.
“You have it pretty bad for her, don’t you?” Kade asked quietly. “Don’t deny it, Trav. I’ve known for a while now.”
“How did you know?” Travis eyed his brother warily.
“I have it bad myself. I can see the signs. I think you’ve always fought with Ally to keep her at a distance. How long?”
Travis sighed, not wanted to admit it, but needing to talk to Kade. “Since the fucking day I hired her. There were more experienced applicants, people who had better qualifications. But I must be a damn masochist, because I hired her anyway. I couldn’t stand the thought of not seeing her again.”
“Does she know?” Kade asked quietly.
“She should. I tell her every damn day that I want to fuck her,” Travis grumbled.
Kade coughed hard several times before gasping. “Very romantic and smooth, Trav. Is that all you want from her?”
Was it? Travis didn’t exactly know. “I don’t do romance, and all I know is that the woman drives me crazy.”
“She was hurt pretty badly, Travis. Ally may act tough, but she’s fragile right now. Her self-esteem was battered. If all you want is a fuck, get it somewhere else.”