Iwasn’t sure what’d happened to change Alex’s mood from the time he called the owners of the dealership until now, but I could sense the shift from a mile away. He insisted that I drive the car off the lot, and I did so with the knowledge that I’d make sure to leave the keys with him when we got to where we were going.
We drove in silence for what felt like forever. He had been staring at his phone for the entire drive through the hills and until the ocean came into view, and I’d spent that time trying to remember whether or not I did or said something to offend him. We were having such an easy, goofy time, and the next thing I know, he looked like an old thundercloud.
“It drives nice,” I finally spoke. “I’m guessing that your driver—Henry, is it?”
“Yes,” he said distantly.
“I’m not sure if Henry’s going to enjoy chauffeuring your butt around with you in the front seat so close to him.”
I laughed at my silly joke—I was the only one laughing—and then I decided to drop it. It wasn’t my business to pry, so I tightened my lips as the GPS in the car told me to turn right on Pacific Coast Highway.
“How do you mute a group text?” Alex said with some frustration.
I grinned. “You probably shouldn’t have given my friends your number.”
“Seriously,” he said. “This is annoying as fuck. And it’s my idiot friends, not yours.”
I frowned. “Um, back out of the text,” I said, trying not to crash while merging with the other cars that were flying up PCH. “Then swipe on the text towards the left. See that bell?”
“Yep,” he said.
“Click on it, and it shuts them all up.” I chuckled. “Wow, as genius as you proclaim to be, and after working over Dick at the dealership, I can honestly say I’m shocked you don’t know how to mute a group chat.”
“I never had the need to know until one of my friends thought it’d be cute to start one.”
Alex’s energy was off, and it sucked. I was thoroughly enjoying him up until now. If I was honest with myself, I could admit I might’ve been falling for the man a tiny bit. Especially seeing him dressed down and without his hair styled immaculately. He was simple, all smiles, and I loved being on the receiving end of him holding my hand as he did earlier. It was a simple gesture, but I loved the sparks that left his hand and went into mine when he held it.
Maybe Nat was right; if I was going to get laid for the first time in years, it might as well be with a man who—she’d learned through the gossip circle at her salon—was exceptional in bed. I guess that rumor flew around from an ex-girlfriend of his named Summer. She’d worked there for a time, and from what Nat said, Alex dropped her ass after he found out she was adding her name to his credit cards and shopping the shit out of them.
I still don’t understand how that happened, but word gets around salons where everyone knows everyone, and there weren’t too many who liked this Summer character. I felt bad for Alex, but at least in this gossip mill, the women weren’t making out the man to be the asshole. They couldn’t stand her.
Maybe one day he’d tell me about it all, but I wasn’t going to be the one to bring it up. What if the guy liked her, and she buried him in debt or something? One thing was for sure, with the mood he seemed to be in now, I was sure I wasn’t going to be hearing about it today.
“Just park it here,” Alex said when I rolled up in front of his two-car garage. “No one messes with shit out here anyway.”
“I could easily see that since we’re in a gated community,” I answered with a smile.
“Are you cool if I take a quick shower, call for dinner, and then we kick back with some cocktails later?”
I stared at his expression. The man looked like he’d been given the worst news of his life. I didn’t want to press him, but I couldn’t handle the tension anymore.
“Are you okay?” I finally asked.
“Yes,” he ran a hand through his hair. “I’m just sticky from sweating in this long-sleeved shirt and delivering babies.” He half-smiled. “I’m sure you want to get cleaned up too?”
“Yeah,” I said. It was apparent that I would have to suck it up and hoped he perked up a bit. Maybe I was overthinking things. “Which shower do I use? The same—”
“Yep. The one in your room.”
He skipped up the steps like I was some creep he was trying to escape from in his own home. All I knew was that I didn’t do a goddamn thing that should’ve been offensive to him, so he could go kill someone else’s vibes. If he wanted to act like a little bitch, then he could bitch it up all night long by himself while I enjoyed the view of the ocean from his terrace this evening.
After dinner and sharing nothing but awkward small talk, I opted out of having a cocktail when I watched Alex down his glass of bourbon like it was water.
I fake-yawned. “I’m gonna call it a night.” His dark expression made me backtrack. Did he even want me here? His company tonight was worse than having dinner with a mannequin. Why was I putting myself in an awkward situation with some moody guy? I had no reason to stay here, no reason to apologize for whatever I did or didn’t do—fuck this weirdness. “It’s been a long day, and I think I should go. It’s only eight, and I need to work out some financial stuff.”
“Like what?”
“Like selling my condo. I think I’ll pull the listing and give it to Nat.”
“Why would you do that?”
Now I’m being interrogated? Does Mr. Brooding want to say more than two words at a time all of a sudden? “Because I haven’t said anything to my friends about it. I know I hurt my best friend’s feelings when I listed it behind her back, and I need to get back to reality before Monday.”
“The keys to the car are on the counter if you feel like taking off.”
His tone and voice were low, and I had no idea if he was being a dick or trying to convince me to stay. What I did know was that I wasn’t taking that car.
“I’m calling an Uber. Text me the address to the house so I can send for one.”
“The car I bought today is yours.” He rolled his eyes. “Take the car.”
“How about kiss my ass? I don’t need you buying my way out of this mess. I don’t need that particular car to begin with.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because whether I’m a goddamn executive or not, I don’t need to drive that car. It’s too much. If you’re into shit like that, then fine. Here’s one for you. I’m not.”
“I don’t get it,” he said.
“You don’t need to. Just text me your address. I really should leave.”
I know I was rude in some way or the other, but he wasn’t giving me very much to work with. He was a complete Richard-level dick.
I had my clothes shoved in my duffle, and I was heading out of the room when Alex’s tall frame stood with that saddened look on his face again.
“What happened to you today?” I asked, needing to get to the bottom of this. “I don’t mean to pry, but today has been really weird. It’s like you flipped a switch or something, and to be honest, it’s confusing.”
“The truth?”
“No, please lie,” I answered with sarcasm. “You know, since, in my recent experience, lying works out so well in the end.”
He faintly smiled. “Something happened on that phone call I made to the dealership’s owner that scared the shit out of me.”
I studied this worn expression and became more serious again. “I could tell something was up. Even now, you look like you were given horrible news.”
“I sort of was.” He closed the gap between us. He ran his knuckles along my cheek, pausing all my thoughts and brainpower with the sensation. “I was given a reminder that I could hurt you. Fuck.” He pulled his hand away as if my cheekbone electrocuted him. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, gripping the back of his neck.
He looked toward the opened doors of the bedroom’s balcony as if the ocean would give him refuge from whatever trouble he’d conjured up in his mind about hurting me.
“How would you hurt me?” I asked, confused. “Seriously, hurting me would be doing something like forcing me to drive that car you bought today.”
“How so?”
That somehow switched his gears, and his eyes met mine again.
I smiled at him. “Oh, I don’t know, suddenly we merge with your architect firm, fire most of the assholes from mine, and now, I’m living the high life while we continue to do layoffs? Something tells me you and I probably have hits placed on our asses already.”
Unexpectedly, he laughed, and his features softened. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Let me call an Uber and head back into the city.” I rubbed his arm, and now I was the one practically jumping in shock, feeling his hard biceps. “My God, man. Lift weights much? Your arms are—”
My heated cheeks nearly combusted into flames when Alex placed his strong hands on my shoulders and pressed his lips on mine. I wanted to fight him off and do the right thing, knowing he was my business partner, but who was I kidding? I’d known my ex-fiancé since our Freshman year in college, and that started with a friendship then moved into a disaster of an ending with him cheating on my ass.
I deserved this. I wanted this. I was all in whether Alex thought he’d hurt me or not. The only hurting that had better be happening is him fulfilling the aching need deep in my stomach that was begging me to let this man inside me.
I moaned into his kiss, my fingers twisting and pulling each side of his shirt while I worked to step on my toes to get more from his lips as his tongue swept through my mouth and forcefully tackled mine. His kiss was the perfect mixture of the warm bourbon he’d downed from earlier, complemented by a soothing taste that could only be Alex. If this man looked as delicious as he tasted, chances were that I would hurt his ass and not the other way around.
Alex’s groans escaped him through our bruising kiss and entered me, igniting energy that had been inactive between my legs for far too long. Alex’s fingers molded against my lower back, bringing me to close the last of the inches we had between us. I welcomed this gesture by bringing my hands up to run along his soft cheeks. The aftershave he used to remove the small growth that defined his sharp features was filled with a rich, robust, and spicy scent that I would never want to leave my senses after this insanely hot kiss.
Breathing through my nose wasn’t enough. Alex’s kiss was proving he may have been starved of kissing a woman in quite some time too. There was no way on this planet a man this gorgeous—who could take down any woman as his own with just his flirty wink—wanted to kiss my sorry ass this desperately.
I pulled away, my head light and spinning as I panted through short breaths. Alex didn’t let this deter him from moving his mouth along my cheeks and neck. His fingers gently maneuvered my face to offer him my neck while he massaged all along my jaw and chin to an area behind my ear that forced a jolt through my spine and made me gasp through soft moans of pleasure.
“Fuck, I’m going to…” I stopped myself. Lightheaded and swimming in ecstasy or not, I wasn’t sure where Alex was.
The man was on a fiery pursuit with his perfect lips to conquer my neck while his hands instantly moved down to come up under my shirt the minute I’d stopped talking.
“I swear to God if you come…” he finished what I almost revealed after he pulled his lips away from me. Then he cradled my face in his hands and smiled the sexiest, greedy smile I’d seen him put on display for me. “From just kissing?” His lips pressed into my forehead. “Then I’m marrying your ass.” He softly laughed.
“You think that’s funny, eh?” I arched an eyebrow after he killed the moment.
His eyes were darker and so hypnotic that I could tell he was probably holding back on his own. He wasn’t laughing, teasing, or implying that I was in desperate need to get laid. No, this was a look that a wild and starved man gave his lover right before he successfully quelled that appetite.
That’s when I ignored all sense, reason, or idea of what was happening between us. I’d never felt sparks fly or energy charge up for a release of anything like this until this moment. Both our eyes locked in this interesting flash of silence before my hands took on a will of their own and went directly to unbuttoning his jeans while he removed his shirt. His tanned skin highlighted the grooves that were dipped and formed in all the perfect areas that required hefty workouts to achieve. I explored his warm pectoral muscles with moist lips, feeling his hands in my hair. He gripped me tightly when I reached into his boxer briefs for his hard cock.
“Jesus Christ,” he said through clenched teeth, his fingers running through my hair. “Who’s the one who’s about to come now?” He breathlessly laughed in the sexiest tone, turning me into some daring and wild woman who smiled up at him in response.
Riding on this newfound and prominent personality, I walked backward toward the bed, each step helping encourage me to remove an article of clothing until I was completely undressed for the eyes of the most handsome man I’d ever known. From top to bottom, he was perfect and glorious. He was about to be all mine too. I was going to capitalize on this in any way I could, and Alex’s wolf-grin told me shit was about to get real, and I was going to love every second of this.
One long glance at his long, hard cock made me wonder if I should’ve waited this long to have sex again. If I wasn’t walking tomorrow—because I was gladly going to allow this man and his perfectly enormous cock to have their way with me—I was going to enjoy every last ounce of it.
“Yeah, apparently Alex Grayson won’t even kiss a woman while he fucks her. Won’t even look her in the eyes…”
My eyes snapped open when that gossip nugget about Alex’s ex was brought to the front of my mind as if Natalia were whispering in my ear. Jesus Christ, what a way to curse a fine thing that was happening right about now.
All ghostly and unexpected intrusive thoughts from my friend, as well as the surroundings of this room, evaporated when Alex moved his body between my legs, opening them further to accept him. I ran my hands through his hair when his eyes roamed over my face. The rumor that had floated into my mind was gone with the gust of wind that brushed over our bodies as his lips returned to the arduous kiss that’d started all of this.
I clung to his back, feeling my heart pace rapidly with Alex’s hands as they ran fluidly through my hair. His teeth gently captured my lips when I fought for air to calm down and enjoy these sensual feelings. I felt like I was a virgin again, but I was with the best man this time. I felt like I was floating out of my body in sheer bliss when I reached for Alex’s cock, enjoying him devouring my body as if he was drinking his favorite bourbon from it. His lips grew rougher when I opened my legs wider and ran his tip over my slick entrance.
“I need you inside me,” I panted, feeling a small orgasm ripple its way out. “I want you.”
Alex’s teeth seductively nipped at my bottom lip, and then he answered my desperate pleas for more. He gently moved his cock into my pulsating entrance, and a low groan escaped his chest while his nipping teeth bit down onto my lower lip.
The minor sting of his teeth clenching softly yet firmly onto my lip made me arch up and into his firm abs. He released my lower lip while he thrust further into me with sexy and growling curses under his breath. Once Alex was moving inside me, my breath hitching with each slow thrust, he took my hands into his, and I knew I was about to unravel every tightened nerve that had been longing to feel a man inside of me—not just any man, though. It was Alex I desperately wanted.
He gently swept his tongue over my lip that he’d accidentally softly bitten when his cock first entered me, and his kiss was so soft and passionate that I felt nothing but adored by this man. It was endearing to have him intertwine our fingers together and press the back of my hands into the soft pillows behind me.
“You feel so fucking good,” he panted out. “Your lip,” his lips came back over it with a soft kiss. “Shit, I told you…”
“Deeper.” I gripped my fingers against his hands. “Harder,” I challenged with a smile.
“I won’t fucking last. I’ve wanted this and you for too long.” He moved out a little then smiled that sexy grin again. “I’m holding back because I will watch you come, Dimples.”
I sighed when his thrust was deeper, and his mouth went to my hard nipple, devouring it, and that’s when any sensation of concern faded that I wasn’t prepped to take his nine inches of erotic beauty. I let my legs fall into the bed so he could take me as I moved my hips to get him onto what my insides were hungry for—his cock to find my G-spot and ride that until I came hard and long.
“Arch your hips into me,” he said in a breathless plea. “Come on. I’m bringing you all the way before I come.”
I did, and his knees dug into the bed after he held my hips and body in place. Jesus Christ, he just hit the fucking spot.
“Holy shit, you’re on it,” I said, caught with shallow breaths and my hands, going over his flexed ass that was maneuvering his cock to manipulate my G-spot. “Did you just fucking read my mind?”
His lips captured mine while he worked diligently to bring me a hard orgasm—one I’d only ever felt one other time during a one-night stand with a man who proudly admitted he could take care of me like that. The difference between that man and Alex was that Alex was putting everything into this—locking eyes with me, watching and studying me to make sure he was nailing the right spot. His moist lips traced my parched ones, lending me to lick my lips and taste his kiss directly after.
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. I need you to come, baby,” he said. “Squeeze my cock.”
I did, and Alex’s lips crashed into mine, raising me to another level—one I’d never been on before. Every move, smile, lick of his lips, and crushing kiss let me know we were close and explosive.
Alex’s hips thrust harder into that spot, and he caught my hands when I tried to grip his hips and control his movements.
“Ride my cock,” he said. “Fuck, just like that. You’re beyond tight. This is fucking unreal.”
I worked my pussy to keep up with Alex’s requests, allowing his cursing to confirm this shit was going down flawlessly. I felt my entire body tense, and I sucked in the first long breath as he forced his tip against my swollen spot, which was begging to release an orgasm that would possibly squeeze his dick off at this point. We moved, writhed, and kissed, and our eyes were both dazed. We were off in some other realm where our bodies had taken us to lose ourselves in each other.
When Alex grunted and bit down on his bottom lip, the energy boiling within my body clenched around his hard cock, and Alex sucked in a breath that sounded so fucking sexy. I whined and whimpered while I sprang into him, and Alex moved perfectly with me to stay on the spot that was delivering the freedom my pussy had waited for and deserved.
“That’s fucking right,” he smiled. “God, you feel so good. You’re so wet that I’m going to pin you to this bed and fuck you hard. You want that?”
“Hell yes, I want that,” I said, practically drunk on this man.
Alex gripped each side of my face and kissed me deeper than his cock was driving into me. Fuck, it was painful, but it felt so good to feel this man spreading my pussy open and filling it up. Once he found a rhythm deep inside me, his eyes rolled back in his head while another orgasm that hit from out of nowhere came roaring in to meet his cock as Alex pumped harder and deeper with each drive for more.
“Goddamn, your pussy is clenching the fuck out of me,” he said.
I closed my eyes, losing myself in the raw and unrestrained power of the man who looked more handsome than I’d ever seen him up until this moment. I moved my hands over the rigid muscles of his back—everything was taut and tense—and that’s when Alex groaned loudly, cussed, and with one last push, he rode himself into the orgasm I was so fortunate to feel twice.
As both of us steadied ourselves, I braced for the guilt that tended to follow when a person impulsively gave into hormones, the lack of sex, and the strong desire for it. I prayed to God this man didn’t regret the one thing we fucked up about—no damn condom.
I was on the pill, which covered the pregnancy aspect of the situation—and having just delivered a baby in the backseat of a car, that was pressing on my mind the most. I only wondered what Alex thought of it.
The fact that he was gently kissing along my chest, over my softening nipples before bringing his mouth to mine again meant he was still on a euphoric high, or he was ready to go another round. One thing was sure—I’d never felt this connected during sex before. We didn’t slam into walls. I didn’t flip him onto his back and ride him—which I certainly planned on doing for the next round if we had one. There was nothing overly exotic about this, but I saw in his eyes that this was us, discovering something neither one of us wanted to lose.
“I’m in love with you, Bree,” he softly said and laid his head against my chest. “I didn’t fully realize that until now.”
I played with the top of his silky soft hair as his fingertips ran goosebumps down my sides, and I contemplated what the man had revealed to me. We’d find out once he pulled out completely and this blanket of sexual appetites and cravings left us. I hoped to hell he meant it because I was starting to feel the exact words he’d just declared.
The hardest part would be getting over the fact that I didn’t believe love could be like this—fast and hard. It was like we’d both opened the floodgates. I could only speak for myself when saying that I’d given up trying to control my feelings about him. Maybe the culmination of the challenges in my life had led me to this. I couldn’t control my employees or finances, I couldn’t control my ex-fiancé, and I certainly couldn’t control my feelings for Alex.
I didn’t want to try to control things anymore. I was exhausted, and I’d denied myself happiness for so long because of my need to be in control of it all. I wanted to feel my feelings, not control them. Letting go opened a new world for me, and it seemed like I wasn’t the only one who was feeling this way.
I didn’t give a damn how it might look to anyone else—except for our employees. Something told me to keep that shit tightlipped unless, of course, James Mitchell’s lawyers were up for overtime with complaints.
I kissed the top of his head.
“I think I’m in love with you too,” I finally spoke.
He looked up at me. “You think? After that?” He smiled and kissed the base of my throat. “All right, then. By the end of this night, you’ll be screaming that you’re in love with me after leaving nail tracks in my back. I promise you that.” He rolled off of me, and I turned to my side, watching this model of a perfect male figure walk toward the exit of the room.
“Where are you going?” I asked with a laugh.
“I ordered chocolate for the cocktail hour you ditched me on earlier.” He grinned that devilish smile. “You’ll be having that with a fine glass of wine from my vineyard in a soothing bath.”
“What?” I laughed but loved the idea.
“Like I said, screaming you love me and leaving nail tracks in my back.”
He left with that flirty wink of his, and then I smiled, resting my head against the bed. The night was still young, and he seemed like he had a few tricks left for us to enjoy.
