Seduction (Club Destiny) (9 page)

Her agent was
clearly satisfied with her last submission, the book about the horse and the
barn owl that Ashleigh had pondered over for far too long. At least now it was
out of the way, and she could move on to her current project.

This one was
keeping her up at night, but not with worry. Her bout of writer’s block had
long since moved on, and she was writing furiously, the pages all but writing
themselves.

She had one man
to thank for her renewed burst of creativity. At least where the sex was
concerned. As it appeared, her hormones were roaring like wildfire, and she was
able to conjure up some juicy, erotic scenes, which worked out well for her
hero and heroine.

At least someone
was getting laid these days because it certainly wasn’t her. But then again,
she and Alex had come full circle in the dating game.

She had
committed herself to making just as much of an effort as Alex, although, at
times, she wondered if maybe she should resume life as she knew it before
moving back to Dallas.

For the last few
weeks, she’d been busy. Her social life had taken off like a jet airplane,
which meant the time she wasn’t spending with her grandfather and niece and
nephew, she was spending with Sam and Sierra. As for Alex, well, she hadn’t
seen nearly enough of him in the last two weeks for her wellbeing, but more than
enough for her sanity.

Apparently he
had gotten a look at her list of things she wanted to do, and he was bound and
determined to check off each and every one. There were a few items she hadn’t
written on her list, and sometimes she wondered whether they just might get
around to them as well.

To top it off,
he was being a perfect gentleman.

Too perfect in
fact.

So much so that
they hadn’t shared another kiss since the night he’d invited her over for
dinner. Ashleigh had no idea what was going on with him, but something was. He
was cordial, friendly, but nothing more.

On top of that,
something or someone was taking him away frequently. She didn’t think he was
going far when he left, but he was obviously going somewhere. One afternoon
when he had taken her fishing, something she had on her list, she’d thought
about asking him, but instead chickened out.

That had been an
interesting day, but not one she cared to relive. Apparently fishing was not
her forte. Too much down time in her opinion. But hey, to each his own and all
that.

Delving back
into her work, Ashleigh was trying to work out a scene that she was having
trouble with. A sex scene. Imagine that.

Lunch with Sam
and Sierra earlier in the week had provided her a little insight, but not
nearly as much as she hoped for. She’d gone with the intention of getting some
hopefully discreet details of what it was like living the ménage lifestyle.
Since she didn’t have any idea about the subject matter, she was hoping for
details from the experts so she’d gone out on a limb and asked for their help.

So how she ended
up sharing way more information with the two of them than they had shared with
her, she had no idea. Although she got a brief glimpse into what it was like to
be the focal point of two men, Ashleigh had found they were way more interested
in understanding how she was still a virgin.

And no, maybe a
twenty eight year old virgin wasn’t the norm these days, but it wasn’t unheard
of. By the look on Sam’s face, Ashleigh would’ve thought she was the oldest living
person yet to have ever had sex. It was comical actually. Kind of.

Much to their
dismay and her own, Ashleigh couldn’t answer the question as to why she’d never
had sex. There had been a couple of men in her life who had sparked her
interest, but they’d never made it that far. Could’ve been cold feet on her
part, or it might’ve been the hope that had been burning bright and obnoxious
in her chest for ten long years.

Either way,
Ashleigh would admit to having harbored some crazy, mixed up feelings for Alex
through the years. Anger, admiration, hurt, love. Pick one.

If she thought
about it – which she did... a lot – she could almost put a name to those
feelings. Infatuation. The man encompassed everything she hoped to find in a
lover – he was gorgeous, intelligent, and dominating. Yes, the last one
unquestionably had caught her interest when she was old enough to know what it
actually meant. Or what it could mean.

Ashleigh
remembered the day she met him. It was at her grandfather’s house and she’d
just gotten home from school. She’d been a high school senior, she remembered
that much. And in her teenage mind, he’d been much older than her, although she
didn’t know by how much. At the time, it hadn’t mattered one single bit. She
had fallen head over heels in love the moment she laid eyes on him.

It didn’t take
long for Alex to become a regular fixture at the Thomas household and in her
teenage dreams. He quickly began working as the head of security for XTX on a contractual
basis. Then he’d established a friendship with Dylan, which had Alex coming
around when her brother was home. He and Logan were friends – college roommates
if she remembered correctly – which meant Alex was invited anytime Logan was
present.

Needless to say,
she saw as much of Alex as she did her grandfather there for a while. At first,
she’d been smitten.

It wasn’t until
he started treating her like she had a contagious disease and if he came
anywhere near her, he’d be stricken with it. That didn’t stop him from sneaking
glances of her from time to time. She was aware of each and every one, but over
time, she grew irritated with his aloofness and she moved on.

Looking back on
it now, Ashleigh had been far too immature for him, especially considering the
age difference. At twenty eight, twelve years didn’t mean a thing. But at
eighteen or even twenty, it meant everything. They had absolutely nothing in
common. Other than a little physical attraction.

Then there was the
small detail of his marriage. By the time she met him, he’d been divorced for
years, but knowing he had been married, Ashleigh had accepted the fact that he
wasn’t likely going to be a one woman man, though she had no idea why they had
split up. She still didn’t know.

Not knowing the
story, she didn’t care to be enlightened back then, although now she was more
than a little curious. Just the fact that he had been married put him in an
entirely different category than any boy or man she’d ever met. Suffice it to
say, she kept her distance. And so did he.

Until that one
night.

The week before
graduation, Ashleigh had convinced Pops to let her stay in the guest house for
a few weeks while she got ready to go off to college.

Since Dylan
didn’t live at home at the time – he’d already gotten married to Meghan, and
they had even had both Stacey and Nate by then – Ashleigh had wanted to see
what it was like to live on her own as well. Reluctantly, Pops had given in to
her request.

To celebrate her
graduation from high school, Pops had thrown a party the likes of which
Ashleigh had never known before. There had to have been one hundred or more
people in attendance, yet out of all those people, she’d never seen Alex. Not
until he stopped by the guest house a couple of hours after she went home.

Being eighteen
and finally out of school, Ashleigh had a misconception of what it meant to be
an adult. And adults had visitors, so she’d invited him in.

That was her
first mistake.

He was more than
a little intoxicated, barely able to stand on his own, but she was all grown
up, she could handle anything he could dish out. Or so she thought.

They had talked
for a little while, neither of them having much to say because it was blatantly
obvious, they had absolutely nothing in common. Likely the dwindling
conversation had led to what happened next.

They had been
sitting on the couch, not much space between them, when Alex leaned over and
kissed her lightly on the lips. Her
first
kiss.

Ashleigh
remembered it like it was yesterday.

“What was that
for?” Ashleigh asked, shocked by the intensity of her body’s reaction to the
feel of Alex’s lips against hers.

“It was just a
kiss.”

Just a kiss?
There was nothing “just” about that kiss. She knew she shouldn’t push the issue
because it was evident Alex was intoxicated, but Ashleigh couldn’t seem to stop
herself. “Why’d you kiss me?”

“Don’t know.” He
said, leaning in a little more.

Ashleigh knew it
was going to happen again and despite the intense feelings that one kiss had
ignited she knew she shouldn’t want him. But the intelligent side of her brain
was being suffocated by her hormones and she found herself hoping he would.

Instead of
waiting for him, Ashleigh leaned in closer, her eyes locked with his before
catching a brief glimpse of his perfect lips. Before she knew what happened,
she was on her back on the couch with Alex’s impressive body on top of her,
pressing against her in the most delicious way, infusing her with heat and
longing.

“I shouldn’t
want you, Ashleigh.”

For the life of
her, she didn’t know why not. They were both consenting adults, and there was
something obviously between them. So when Alex pressed his lips to hers yet
again, Ashleigh gave into him, pulling him closer and giving back as good as
she was getting.

Shaking off the
memory, Ashleigh tried to push it away. She would not go there. Not right now.
Thinking about that night never did anything more than put her in a bad mood.

~~*~~

Alex tossed his cell
phone into the center console, throwing the truck in Drive. Pissed off and in
desperate need of a bright spot in his week, he pulled out of the XTX parking
garage and aimed the truck toward Ashleigh’s house.

After that phone
call, he wanted to simply turn off the ringer, hang out with the one woman who
would be able to make him smile at this point. That had been his plan all day
anyway, and though the phone call from Jessie had been somewhat expected, he
was going to pretend it never happened.

His ex-wife had
made it her life’s work to suck him into the mess she called a life, but today
he didn’t have the patience, nor the desire to try and rescue her from herself.
He’d been spending way too much time with her as it was trying to talk to her,
calm her down, or chase off that good for nothing boyfriend of hers.

Not today.

Ten minutes
later he was pulling into Ashleigh’s driveway, trying to get his bearings. He
was frustrated, and he knew he needed to take a minute to clear his head. The
last person he wanted to see his temper was Ashleigh. Having not seen much of
her in the last two weeks, showing up at her house unannounced was going to be
bad enough.

He needed to see
her. Need being the key word.

Ever since their
afternoon of horseback riding, Alex had purposely backed off a little bit. She
was getting to him in ways he hadn’t expected. The desire was there, but it
always had been. It was the other feelings stirring around inside of him that
had made him take some time to process exactly what was happening between them.

He wanted her in
ways he feared she couldn’t handle. And until today, he’d been able to reason
with himself. Today his need for her had intensified, and he wasn’t strong
enough to resist it. So instead of doing the right thing, he’d given in to
temptation, despite the perfect excuse to stay away for at least one more day.

After a few
minutes, his blood pressure had finally reverted to the more normal range, and
he exhaled a sigh of relief. It took a lot to get Alex riled up, but today everything
seemed to be stacking up against him. Even the thought of seeing Ashleigh was
getting him worked up but for an entirely different reason.

Alex exited the
truck, glancing at Ashleigh’s Tahoe parked in the driveway. At least she was
home. It would have been the perfect end to a shitty day for him to have driven
all the way there to find out she wasn’t.

When he made it
to the front door, he rapped his knuckles on the wood, pacing back and forth in
front of the door while he waited. A good minute later, he figured she wasn’t
going to answer. Thrusting his hands in his pockets, he stood on the porch for
a minute, wondering where the hell she might’ve gone.

Glancing around
toward the side of the house as he walked back to his truck, he stopped. It was
worth a shot.

Alex turned the
corner and saw Ashleigh sitting at a table on her back deck, her fingers flying
furiously over the keys on her laptop. For a brief moment, he just watched her.

She was
breathtaking. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a clip, and from where
he stood, it didn’t look like she was wearing makeup, which made sense because
she was still in her pajamas. He couldn’t ever remember a time when he was
still in his pajamas at three o’clock in the afternoon.

“Hey,” he called
out, not wanting her to see him standing there staring at her.