“Sure did. Best decision I ever made.” Josh looked at Trey and laughed.
“Glad to hear it,” Ty said, smiling. “You spoke to Derek lately?” he asked. He knew things between his brother and Josh were tense the last time Derek visited.
Trey raised his hand in greeting to someone on the other side of the room. “There’s someone over there I need to talk to. Just give me a shout if you need anything, okay, Ty?”
“Will do. Thanks, Trey.”
Ty turned toward Josh. “Derek told me what happened between him and Ashley back in the day, man. I’m sorry. That just doesn’t sound like something he would do, ya know?” Derek had admitted to Ty that he had slept with Josh’s wife, Derek’s former girlfriend, toward the end of their marriage.
“Bygones, Ty.” Josh winked at his wife Lexi, who was talking to her sister Sierra across the room. “He and Ashley were together first. I was an idiot not to realize he still had a thing for her. What the hell kind of friend was I to marry my best friend’s ex, right?”
“Still, we were raised to believe that’s a line you don’t cross, man. Derek told me that’s the reason he took the job in Arkansas, because he felt like shit about what he’d done and Ashley wasn’t ready to come clean with you about it.”
“Yeah, I know.” Josh sighed. “Now that it’s all out in the open, I was kinda hoping we could talk your brother into movin’ back home. What do you think?”
“Man, that’d be great, but I’m not sure if he’ll go for it. I think he’s happy with his life in Arkansas.”
Josh shrugged. “I don’t know about that, Ty. He’s been makin’ noise about missin’ his family lately. I think he’d like to spend more time with Dave’s kids, with him bein’ in the military and all.”
“Yeah, I know that’s true. It’d be great if he did come home, Josh. Mama and Pops aren’t gettin’ any younger, ya know?”
Josh shook his head and cupped Ty’s shoulder. “Maybe if we both start workin’ on him, he’ll cave under the pressure.”
Ty laughed. “No harm in tryin’, I guess.”
Luc approached and extended his hand to Ty. “There you are. I thought you’d never get here.”
Ty accepted his outstretched hand. “Uh sorry. I didn’t think I was late.”
“No, you’re not, but there’s someone in my office who needs to talk to you.” He pointed down the hall.
“You’ve been in there before, second door on the left.”
“Uh, okay. Mind tellin’ me who it is?”
Luc chuckled. “No way, you’re on your own, my man.”
Avery paced the room, waiting for a knock on the door or the deafening whisper of the doorknob turning. It had been two years since she’d laid eyes on Ty McCall, and during that time she had imagined this encounter dozens of times, but she feared the reality wouldn’t come close to her illicit fantasy. He would be furious with her and rightly so. She had snuck out of his house in the early morning hours without saying what she should have said to him. He changed her life that night.
Before meeting Ty, she had wasted her time with selfish lovers who were more interested in their own gratification than giving her pleasure. Ty had been relentless in his quest to take her on a journey that had opened a new world of possibilities for her. Since then, she had chosen men carefully, based on her new criteria. Unfortunately, she had yet to find a man who could rock her world the way Ty did that night.
She jumped when a soft knock sounded on the other side of the door. She had a frenzied thought of slipping into the coat closet to avoid him, but she knew Luc would oust her and humiliate her in the process.
“Come in,” she called out, cursing her voice when it cracked.
He opened the door slowly, scanning the room until his eyes landed on her. “Avery? What the hell are you doing here? You’re the person Luc said was waiting to see me?” He stepped into the room and closed the door, but he remained rooted firmly in place.
He wasn’t rushing to take her in his arms or tell her he was glad to see her, not that she’d expected forgiveness without an explanation for her deplorable behavior that night. “Sit down, Ty,” she said, gesturing toward a suede sofa in the middle of the ample seating area.
“I think I’d rather stand, if it’s all the same to you.”
She half-expected him to be cold, angry even, but her imagination hadn’t given her the tools to deal with his obvious outrage. “Uh, okay. Sure.” She positioned herself on the edge of the desk, facing him, while bracing her hands on either side of her body. “I know it’s been a while...”
He shook his head, looking disgusted at her attempt to make small talk. “Just tell me what the hell is going on here.”
“Okay, well I think I mentioned that I’m in the music business?”
He glanced at her legs where her silk dress rode up her thigh. “I seem to recall you weren’t into talking about much of anything that night, Avery. I guess now I know why, don’t I?”
She grimaced. “Ty, it wasn’t like that. Really.”
He crossed his arms and leaned against the closed door. “Are you gonna tell me you weren’t planning on bailin’ on me all along?”
She knew the color creeping up her neck would betray her so she dipped her head, trying to conceal her shame.
“That’s what I thought.”
“Look, there’s no excuse for what I did. I’m sorry.”
“Why’d you do it?” He pushed off the door and took a few steps toward her. “If you weren’t into me, you could’ve just said so. You didn’t have to cut and run like that.”
She held her breath as he continued to walk toward her.
“Though I gotta tell you, it sure as hell seemed like you were into me, given how many times you cried out my name that night.”
She would have dipped her head at his provocative words, but he placed his finger under her chin and tipped her face toward him. “No way. I’ve finally got you where I want you and you’re gonna give me the answers I deserve, or neither one of us leaves this room. Is that clear?”
She didn’t like being dictated to, especially by a man, but he knew he had her at a disadvantage and he obviously intended to use it to his benefit. “Fine. What do you want to know?”
He took another step forward until his thighs brushed her knees. “I want to know why you left that night and don’t even try and tell me it was because you weren’t feelin’ it ‘cause I know damn well you were.”
She held her breath when he braced his hands on hers and leaned into her. “I, I...”
He grinned and his gaze dipped to her mouth when she licked her lips. “God, what is it about you? Even now, I know you’re trouble, but you still manage to turn me on.”
Her eyes travelled down the length of his body, but his black blazer hung open over the black tailored dress pants, effectively hiding his arousal.
He gripped her waist and slid her off the desk, grabbing her with enough force to steal her breath as he ground his erection into her. “You need proof? There it is.”
“I don’t. I mean I...” She couldn’t form a coherent thought when her mind was caught in a time warp, replaying every stroke of his hand and thrust of his body as he claimed her over and over again.
He lowered his head until his forehead met hers. “Jesus. I never thought I’d see you again. Do you know I’d wake up dreaming about you for months after...”
“I know I shouldn’t have left the way I did,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”
He looked her in the eye. “Why the hell did you, Avery? We were amazing together. I meant what I said...”
She pushed against his chest, trying to stop him before he embarrassed both of them with another declaration. “I knew you wanted more than I could give you. I wasn’t interested in getting involved with another musician or anyone for that matter.”
“What’ve you got against musicians?”
She rolled her eyes. “Let’s just say I have a lousy track record with men. It seems I have a knack for falling for the guys who’re already in love with other women. Trey and Luc are prime examples.”
“Shit.” He took a step back, letting his hands fall to his sides. “You were involved with Luc and Trey?”
She nodded.
“I’m hoping not at the same time?”
She shoved him hard, causing him to stumble backwards.
He chuckled. “Hey, I’m sorry, okay? You can’t blame me for askin’.”
She glared at him, resenting his crude implication. “You mean because I was so quick to jump into bed with you, I must be a whore. Right?”
“What? No, hell no, I never thought that about you, Avery.”
She eyed him warily, trying to decide whether he was being sincere. “Then why did you ask that question about Luc and Trey?”
“Some people are into that. Who am I to judge?”
She wrapped her arms around her stomach, suddenly feeling sick that she could have been desperate enough to sleep with a man who obviously thought so little of her. “I don’t sleep around and I can promise you that when I’m in a relationship with a man, it’s him and only him.”
Ty grinned, revealing a flash of white teeth against deeply tanned skin. “I was hopin’ you’d say that.”
“Why?”
He wrapped his hands around her waist and drew her closer. “Isn’t it obvious, Avery? I wanna be your man.”
“Ty, I think you’ve misunderstood,” Avery said. She tried to take a step back to put some distance between them, but her backside bumped against the desk. “I asked you to come in here because I didn’t want you to be blindsided when we saw each other.”
He smirked at her obvious discomfort. “Are you trying to tell me you’re not interested in me?” He skimmed his calloused palms up either side of her bare arms while his hot breath chased the hair away from her ear. “Have you forgotten what it was like that night, darlin’? I know I made you feel things you’ve never felt before.”
She trembled when his hot tongue swiped the shell of her ear. “Oh God.” She leaned back on the desk, bracing her hands against the wood for support.
His eyes followed the curve of her breasts spilling out over the top of her strapless dress. “I’ve never stopped wanting you, and I don’t imagine I ever will.” He moved in, crowding her until their faces were mere inches apart. “I wanna kiss you.” He kissed her lips, tentatively at first, before using his tongue to further lower her defenses. He drew back long enough to whisper in her ear. “I wanna touch you and taste you and make you come again.” He didn’t give her the opportunity to respond before he assailed her mouth again.
She shook her head and tried to open her eyes, but she was afraid if she did she’d come out of this sensual fog and she wasn’t ready for it to end yet.
He slid his hands up her thighs, raising her dress until he was able to spread her legs and step between them. “I wanna make you feel what you felt that night,” he whispered. “I wanna hear you come with my name on your lips again.”
She shuddered at the visual image he’d created. “I can’t. We can’t...”
“Shhh,” he whispered. He eased her zipper down her back as he bent to kiss her neck. “Don’t think, just feel. Feel my hands on your skin, my tongue in your mouth, my...”
She flattened her hands against his chest. “I have a...” She tried to form a coherent thought as he bit and suckled her neck. “Policy against dating clients...”
“Hmm.” He continued to lick her neck, behind her ear. “Good thing I’m not a client, then.”
She braced her hands against his broad shoulders and summoned the strength to push him away. “But you are.” She took a deep breath, hoping the air would reach her oxygen-deprived brain. “Luc hired me to be your publicist.”
He shook his head, obviously struggling to focus. “My publicist?”
“Yeah, that’s what I do. I’m a publicist.”
He grinned. “That’s great. That means we’ll be seein’ a lot more of each other, whether you like it or not.”
She barely resisted the urge to slap him upside the head. There was nothing even remotely amusing about the fact that she had a client she couldn’t seem to keep her hands off of, no matter how hard she tried. Tonight she had been determined to apologize for her past behavior, outline the terms of their working relationship, and bid him goodnight. Instead, her carefully styled hair was a tangled mess, her lipstick a distant memory, and her couture dress was belted around her waist. “Ty, this is not funny. This is my career we’re talking about.”
He kissed her tenderly. “I get that, baby. I don’t wanna do anything to mess with your career. What happens between us will remain behind closed doors. No one has to know about it.” He winked. “Unless of course you want them to.”
She released a frustrated huff as she raked her hands through her hair, trying to restore some order. “You don’t get it, do you? I don’t believe in mixing business with pleasure. I have a strict policy against dating my clients, and that includes you.”
He took a step back, his eyes darkening. “That sounds an awful lot like a challenge.”