Boundless Desires (His Dirty Secret Book 4) (4 page)

“So where do we go from here. Tyler?” She was almost afraid to ask, but it was a question that she needed to know the answer to.

Tyler smiled his slow, sexy smile at her, and she felt herself finally relax. “We go wherever we want, and we do whatever we want when we get wherever it may be. And if that sounds confusing, it really isn’t. It just means that we don’t let anyone dictate how we should feel or what we should do.” He leaned across the table and planted a decisive kiss on her upturned lips. “Sound like a plan to you?”

“It sounds wonderful to me.” She beamed a smile back at him, feeling happier than she’d felt in a long time, even though she still wasn’t a hundred percent sure what the future held for them. But, when all was said and done, who did?

“Okay, baby. How about you go jump in the shower while I make a quick phone call? Then I’ll clean up and we’ll go do something?” He stood up, and for the first time since they’d started talking, she noticed his nakedness.

“Are you sure we need to go anywhere?” Isobel wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, and he laughed and swatted her ass as she walked past him to go into the bathroom.

“Get a move on woman. You’re way too much of a temptation. And Isobel…” She paused and looked over her shoulder at him. “Thank you for being honest and telling me everything.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Tyler. Honesty and trust are important to both of us, and if I hadn’t told you it would have felt too much like lying to you.” She smiled, blew him a kiss and went into the bathroom, turning the shower on and stepping under the hot spray with a content sigh.

A short time later Isobel came back into the bedroom wrapped in a huge white fluffy bath towel. Her hair was hanging wetly down her back and her face was flushed from the heat of the water. She looked beautiful and relaxed, and Tyler felt his cock stir to life again.

He ignored his body and walked towards her, giving her a quick kiss in parting as he continued on into the bathroom. “I won’t be long,” he called. “Oh, and make sure you wear something stunning. We’re meeting with Jessica in thirty minutes.” With that, he closed the bathroom door, leaving Isobel stood there spluttering after him.

“What? Tyler, you can’t tell me that and then nothing else.” She called out to him, raising her voice above the sound of the water falling in the shower. “Why are we meeting her, and when was it arranged?”

Completely ignoring her questions, Tyler shouted back out to her. “Just get dressed, darlin’. It won’t look good if we’re late, although it would be amusing to see her warped brain jump to all the wrong conclusions as to
why
we might not be on time.”

Isobel gave a frustrated sigh as she moved across the room towards the closet, pulling out her nicest outfit and dragging the clothes on quickly. Just how quick did he think she could be? Didn’t he understand that when a woman was going to meet up with the ex of her boyfriend, she needed to take time on making sure that she looked her very best?

By the time Tyler came out of the bathroom, she was dressed and her hair was up in a shabby chic chignon. She was putting the finishing touches to her makeup, making sure that she didn’t use too much, when Tyler came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. His towel fell unheeded to the floor and she felt the hardness of his cock as it pressed up against her ass.

“Quit that, you tease, or Jessica won’t be wrong in her assumption as to why we’re late.” Isobel pushed back against him in an attempt to move him away, but all she succeeded in doing was to increase the contact between them and make her breath catch in her throat as she felt a wave of lust shoot through her.

Tyler saw her expression in the mirror and laughed out loud. “You know that you couldn’t give a damn if she did know why we were late,” he teased. “In fact, you’d probably gloat just a little bit to make her jealous.”

It was Isobel’s turn to laugh and she waved her mascara wand at his reflection in a mock threat. “Go and get dressed before I turn you into a clown with my makeup.”

“Yes, ma’am. Anything you say, ma’am.” He held his hands up in surrender and backed away from her, feigning fear while his eyes laughed at her.

Isobel finished applying her makeup while Tyler got dressed, and in next to no time they were ready to leave. Before they left the room, he pulled her to him for a hug, and then gave her a couple of instructions with regards to the meeting they were about to have.

“When you see Jessica, you make sure that you do
not
lower your gaze. You look her in the eyes with your head held high. Do you understand?” Isobel nodded to show that she did. “Good girl. You do not back down from anything she may have to say, and you make damn sure that you hang all over me if that’s what you feel like doing.” She smiled at the thought. “Remember, Isobel, I am yours,
not
hers, and it’s about time that she realized that fact.”

Isobel positively glowed at his words, especially when he said that he was hers. It was a good thing to hear and it made her feel wanted and cherished.

“One last thing.” Isobel quirked an eyebrow to show she was listening. “Remember that you are an absolutely beautiful woman who knocks the socks off of that old sow. She knows it and she feels threatened by it, and so she damn well should. Any man worth his salt would choose you over her any day of the week, but I’m the lucky one who gets to take you home and wake up beside you tomorrow morning.”

She felt close to tears. He had always praised and complimented her, but this felt different somehow. It was almost as though he was making a declaration of some sort, although she wasn’t sure of what.

With a decisive nod of the head, Tyler laced his fingers in hers and opened the room door. “Right then, let’s do this thing.” He walked out of the room with her in tow and they headed for the elevator that would take them down to the ground floor hotel restaurant, and to Jessica.

~
Chapter Four

~

Isobel felt her stomach churning as they walked towards the dining room. Tyler had kept her hand firmly held in his, but she walked slightly behind him as they wound their way through the tables of other diners so she didn’t have a clear view of the room and didn’t know if Jessica was already there or not.

As Tyler came to a stop she had her answer. “Hello, Jessica. I’m glad you could make it.” His voice was cool, to say the least, and Isobel wished that she could have seen his face as he addressed his soon-to-be ex-wife.

“Tyler, darling, of course I came when you called. Haven’t I always?” Her voice dripped with false airs and graces, and Isobel felt herself cringe as she listened to the woman speak, imagining the fake smile that the bitch had plastered on her face.

“Hardly, Jessica. In fact, if I remember correctly, you were always too busy with some function or shopping spree to attend any meetings I called.” His voice was brusque, and Isobel was glad that she wasn’t the one on the receiving end of his words. Tyler gave a gentle tug on Isobel’s hand, pulling her out from behind him so that she was in full view of the dreaded woman they were meeting. “I believe that you’ve already met Isobel, my girlfriend.”

“Oh! I thought this was a meeting between just the two of us, Tyler. I didn’t realize that you would be bringing your latest dalliance with you.” The sarcasm in Jessica’s voice was like nails on a chalk board, and Isobel felt herself bristle at the unmistakable attempt to make her feel uncomfortable.

Tyler gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, and he was just about to reply to Jessica when Isobel beat him to it. “Oh, didn’t you know, Jessica. Tyler and I go everywhere together. We just can’t stand to be apart, can we baby?” She looked up at him and batted her eyelashes, and he choked back a laugh as he leaned down to give her a kiss.

“Absolutely not, my love. Just the thought of being away from you for any length of time just about kills me.” He nipped at her lower lip playfully and the moan that escaped her wasn’t feigned. “And I may have had a few ‘dalliances’, as Jessica so rightly mentioned, but you are most definitely my last one.”

“Oh please. You two are going to put me off my lunch with all your pathetic simpering.” Jessica’s voice was cold, and Isobel and Tyler both turned to look at her in unison.

“Get used to it, Jessica, because Isobel and I are a permanent item, and if you don’t stop trying to meddle in our relationship you’re going to jeopardize any chance of me ever giving you any kind of divorce settlement.”

As he’d been talking, he’d pulled out a chair for Isobel to sit down on, and he followed suit by sitting next to her, taking hold of her hand again once they were seated comfortably.

“What you need to understand, Jessica, is that it doesn’t matter what you say or do, you will never scare me away.” Isobel made sure that she kept her voice as steady as possible so that Jessica would be in no doubt as to how serious she was.

“Is that a fact, little girl?” There was no mistaking the venom in the woman’s voice. “Not even if I tell you that he’s nothing but a sick and twisted pervert who likes to abuse women in the bedroom?”

“Jessica…”

Isobel cut Tyler off, laughing with genuine amusement as she addressed his ex-wife. “You think that he’s a pervert because he likes to dominate and give orders during sex?” She could see Jessica’s mouth drop open in surprise and she instinctively knew that Tyler’s face mirrored hers. “Did you even try to get to know him and why he likes what he does? Did you even try to learn to like it yourself, or are you so much of a control freak that you couldn’t bear to even think about it other than in the beginning when you let him believe that you were into it too.”

Jessica was sat there aghast while Isobel spoke; her mouth wide open as she spluttered for a response.

“In fact, Jessica, I think that’s your problem. I think that you’re a closet dominant and having anybody controlling you sexually is a turn-off instead of a turn on.” The more that Isobel thought about it, the more it made sense to her. “I think that you need to find a man who likes to be dominated sexually and give it a try. You never know, you might stop being such an uptight bitch if you can let yourself be the real you in the bedroom.”

The sound of silence that met her words was almost deafening, and for a split second she thought that she’d gone too far. But then Tyler let out a loud guffaw of laughter and Isobel felt herself relax a little. “Now why on earth did I never think of that? She’s got you spot on, Jessica.”

The woman in question hadn’t said a word in response; she just sat there open-mouthed with her face flushed and her eyes shooting daggers at Isobel. When Tyler spoke, however, she found her voice. “She doesn’t know the first thing about me, and neither did you. God knows why we stayed married for so long. I can only assume it’s because I pitied you so much that I just couldn’t stand the thought of hurting you by leaving.”

Isobel and Tyler both laughed at that statement. It was obvious to them both that Jessica was simply trying to save face, and now that Isobel knew that Tyler wanted to be with her regardless of the chance of him losing his financial empire, she could afford to be magnanimous and feel a little sorry for the woman.

“Jessica, what’s done is done and dragging out all of this unnecessary animosity between us isn’t going to make things any better.” It was time that Isobel tried to be the voice of reason. “We all know that you don’t love Tyler, and it’s obvious that the only reason you’re trying to cling onto him now is because you’re afraid of where it’s going to leave you financially.”

Jessica started to say something, but Isobel raised her hand in a firm way and stopped her. “There’s nothing wrong with that, Jessica. In fact, I think I would be more confused and concerned if that wasn’t the case. But you really do need to take a look at the paperwork that Tyler’s brought with him. I’m sure that you’re going to be very satisfied with what he proposes, and if you accept his offer you’re also going to be a free agent, able to openly go out and have fun with whomever you want without fear of the press blowing everything up out of all proportion.”

Jessica and Tyler were both staring intently at Isobel as she talked, obviously wondering where she had pulled her reasoning head from. For a brief moment she wondered if maybe she’d gone too far. This was Tyler’s business, after all, and not hers. But one look at Tyler’s approving smile put her mind at ease and she relaxed back into her seat.

There was silence at the table for what felt like an age, but then Jessica gave a tinkling, brittle laugh and clapped her hands slowly. “Bravo, little mouse. Bravo. Tyler, I must say that if I had met her without you being involved, I might have actually grown to like her. She has balls, I will give her that.” She reached forwards on the table and slid the manila envelope that Tyler had placed in front of him towards her, putting it in her oversized purse and getting to her feet.

“She does make a lot of sense, so I’ll have my lawyer look these over and get back to you with my reply. I’m sure that you can expect me to make a few changes to suit my requirements.” She picked her purse up from the table. “I don’t think I’m in the mood for lunch after all, so if you’ll excuse me?”

Isobel and Tyler also stood up from the table. “I don’t think any of us feel like eating.” Tyler looked at Isobel and gave a sexy smile. “Not food, anyway.” Isobel felt herself blush at his blatant innuendo, and then her eye was caught by a commotion in the lobby.

Tyler followed her gaze and in amazement the three of them stared at what was going on just outside the door to the hotel bar. Two members of the hotel staff were forcibly removing an obviously drunk and belligerent Marcus from the drinking area. He could be heard complaining loudly, stating that he ‘wasn’t drunk’ and they ‘had no right to refuse to serve him’.

Looking at each other Tyler and Isobel burst out laughing, although Tyler could have no idea who the drunken man was. “What on earth is going on?” Jessica sounded horrified at what she was witnessing. “Do you know that man?”

“No, thank God.”

“Actually yes, I do.”

They both talked at the same time and an awkward silence ensued as Tyler looked at Isobel with one eyebrow raised questioningly. “And how exactly do you know him?” His voice wasn’t stern but it was definitely curious.

This could go one way or the other but there was no way that Isobel was going to avoid the question or lie to him. “That’s Marcus, Tyler. He’s the man I told you about earlier.”

Before Tyler could say anything, Jessica jumped in. “Oh, does sweet little innocent Isobel have another man on the side?” She sounded absolutely thrilled at the idea, but Tyler soon put her right.

“Don’t judge everyone by your own standards, Jessica. Marcus is Isobel’s ex-boyfriend from years ago.”

An idea came to Isobel’s mind. “Actually, Jessica, remember what I was saying about you needing to find a man that you could actually dominate? Marcus would be absolutely perfect for you. In fact, I think it could be a match made in heaven.” She was only part way joking, and the idea definitely had some merit.

Judging by Jessica’s thoughtful expression, she thought so too. “Is he attached?” she asked Isobel and there was a definite note of interest in her voice.

“Not to my knowledge.” Marcus has never been the sort to play around and see more than one girl at a time in the past, and Isobel didn’t think he would have changed in that aspect. “Why don’t you go and introduce yourself, Jessica? I really was being serious when I said that you would be perfect for each other. And did I mention that he’s a pro footballer who makes millions in sponsorships every year?”

“He does?” Jessica’s expression had turned from being thoughtful to interested in a heartbeat. “Maybe I should go and introduce myself. Would it be okay if I use your name, Isobel, just so he doesn’t think I’m some kind of gold digging fortune hunter?”

Isobel did a good job of hiding her glee, and the smile she gave Jessica was as genuine and friendly as she could make it. “Of course you can tell him I sent you over. I’m not sure if it will do you any favors because we didn’t really part on the best of terms, but with your charms I’m sure you’ll win him over in no time.”

Without saying another word, Jessica quickly walked off with a wave of her hand, her high heels making a staccato sound as she hurried to catch up with Marcus. Isobel turned to face Tyler and found him sat back down with his head in his hands and his shoulders shaking with laughter.

“I don’t believe you just did that.” He could hardly speak for laughing. “I can’t believe you’re actually match-making between my ex-wife and your ex-boyfriend. You are absolutely priceless, Darlin’.”

Isobel gave a little chuckle of her own. “I must admit to having an ulterior motive, Tyler. If those two hook up they’ll give us some much-needed peace.”

“Yeah, and they really are well-suited. I don’t know two people who deserve each other quite as much as they do.” He stood back up from the table, pulling out his wallet and throwing down some money for the waitress. “I know we didn’t eat but that’s no reason for the waitress to go without her tip.”

Isobel reached up and planted a soft kiss on his lips. His thoughtfulness towards other people was just one of the many reasons why she loved him so much.

“Why don’t we go back to our room and pack up our things? I don’t have any more meetings or business to attend to in Miami, and I can make a quick call and have the plane fueled and ready to go within the hour. I just want to be home with you so that we can finally relax and spend some time together.”

With a smile, Isobel took hold of his hand and gave him a gentle tug. “That sounds like the perfect plan to me, Tyler. Let’s go.”