Wild Hearts (The Wilde Brothers #5)

Chapter 15

15

WALKER

I couldn't believe I was getting a second chance with my first love. If I was honest with myself, the only woman I'd ever loved. Being with her felt even better than I remembered. Her walls pressed around my bare cock in a way that made me feel like I was going to come way too soon.

I lowered my body over hers so that the friction would feel good for her.

"I feel so full," Addison murmured as she gazed at me with wonder in her eyes.

Was I the only one who made her feel like this? I wanted to think that what we had was special. It certainly was different for me, and I attributed that to the connection we'd built over time.

Then I kissed her, my cock moving easily inside her as the tingle built at the base of my spine. There was no holding back; I needed her to go over before me. I reached between us and touched her clit, her nipples grazing against the hair on my chest.

It was too much. As soon as she jerked beneath me and cried out, I followed her over, removing my hand from her clit and bracing myself on the mattress. I didn't want to crush her, but my muscles had liquified.

Her hands tangled in the hair at the base of my neck, and her legs wrapped around my hips. I'd never been closer to another person, and for once, I didn't feel the need to run and hide from anything. I could be myself with Addison. She'd seen every piece of me and wasn't scared.

I rolled to the side, pulling her with me so that her head rested on my shoulder.

We sat like that for a bit, both of us breathing hard before she said, "I need to go to the bathroom. It's messier without a condom."

That made me think she hadn't gone bare with anyone else but me. That felt good. "I'll take care of you."

I moved out from underneath her, wetting a washcloth before bringing it back to the bedroom to clean her up. Then I tossed it to the side, making a mental note to grab it before Dakota came home.

I gathered Addison to me, and she curled into my body, her fingers tracing a pattern on my chest.

"Being with you is better than I remembered, and that's saying a lot."

I wondered if it was because we were adults and had been through more than when we were younger. We knew what we wanted. I answered her by tightening my arms around her. I never wanted to let her go. The emotion threatened to bubble to the surface, but it was too soon. She wasn't sure about us, and I wanted her to come to the realization without any pressure from me.

We must have fallen asleep, because when I opened my eyes again, sunlight was streaming through the window, and I was still curled around Addison. She'd turned in the middle of the night, and I'd followed her, not wanting to lose that connection.

Reluctantly, I reached behind me for the phone I threw on the bed last night. I found it and opened the screen to see if Dakota had asked to come home. There weren't any messages.

"Is everything okay?" Addison asked, rolling onto her back so she could see me.

"No messages."

"That's good."

"I love having Dakota in my life, and now you." Everything was exactly as it should be. My mouth apparently had no filter in the morning.

But I saw the way her expression softened as if she was worried something had changed overnight and I regretted what we did. "I agree."

Her stomach rumbled.

I chuckled. "Breakfast?"

"I could eat."

"You can jump in a shower while I make you breakfast."

"Sounds decadent."

If she thought a man cooking for her was decadent, I wasn't going to have any difficulties spoiling her.

"Make yourself at home." I kissed her mouth softly, wishing I could have woken her up with my mouth between her legs.

I pulled on a pair of sweats and headed downstairs to whip up some eggs. When I heard the water turn on, I realized I liked having Addison in my space, using my things, and making my bathroom smell like her.

It was too soon to be thinking about things like moving her in, but I could easily see that's where we were headed. As long as she didn't let her head get involved. When she was worried about things, it didn't bode well for me. I'd already broken her trust, and it was going to take a lot to overcome her objections, even if she said she was giving me a second chance.

Our past might put a wrench into things. I couldn't let her backslide or think that we weren't the real deal. I'd prove to her that I was the man for her, and I wasn't walking away this time .

I'd have to keep trying to make an emotional connection with her, whether that was in the bedroom or a trip to our past. I was willing to do whatever it took.

By the time she came downstairs wearing one of my shirts and a pair of rolled up sweatpants, the eggs were done and the bacon was sizzling.

"Morning, beautiful." I poured her a cup of coffee and placed it in front of her.

She sat on the stool, cradling the mug. "I could get used to this."

"That's the idea." I winked at her before turning my attention to the bacon. "When we dated last time, we didn't own a house, and we didn't have a private space to be together."

Addison laughed. "Somehow we managed."

"We sure did." I placed the bacon on a paper-towel-covered plate, then moved it to the island. I plated the food, adding sliced avocados and strawberries, then sat next to Addison. "Dakota doesn't like when I add fruit. She said I'm too healthy."

"There's no such thing as far as I'm concerned. Keep offering it to her. I bet she'll come around."

I didn't want our relationship to revolve around Dakota, so I had to stop talking about her after every turn. It was so hard though, because having Dakota in my life was so new. "What are your plans for the day?"

"Work. We're busy with Christmas approaching. We have a lot of individuals and businesses working charity drives to compile gifts for the foster kids."

"I'll talk to my cousins today about what we can do. It might be too late this year but maybe next."

"We're actually looking for a space to do our annual fundraiser after Christmas. We do it to raise money for the kids to have school supplies and sports gear."

"Why don't you use the lodge?"

"I'm not sure we could afford such a large space. "

I scoffed. "You can use it for free."

Her nose scrunched in disbelief. "Don't you need to charge for it? You're a business after all."

It was important to her that I not give her things, so I said, "It's a tax write off, and we'll find a date that the room isn't already booked. How about that?"

Addison smiled. "I'd like to say it's a deal, but don't you need to talk to your cousins first?"

I smiled because it was one more thing that we'd have to work on together. "It's for a good cause. My cousins will definitely be on board."

"Let me know if it doesn't work out. No hard feelings."

"When I say I'm going to do something, I do it." That had only gotten more pronounced in the military. Words mattered. When we were kids, we talked about our hopes and dreams, but I never made concrete plans for a future with her. I never thought I'd be good enough for someone like her, who was headed for college and all that entailed.

L ater that week, the Wildes scheduled a business meeting to discuss the resort. We had these frequently to check in with every aspect of the business, to discuss plans, and any problems that arose since the last meeting.

"I'm concerned that the cabins aren't being reserved at the same rate as the rooms in the lodge," Oliver said as he looked at the spreadsheet on his laptop.

I frowned because this was my domain. "I didn't realize there was an issue with reservations."

"Do we know why? Have there been any recent bad reviews or comments made by guests?" Eli asked .

"I've been taking care of any issues in the reviews and fixing any problems. I make sure to respond to the reviewer too."

"Let me pull up the website and see if there's an issue with how the cabins are presented there," Eli said, and I followed suit.

"There's a tab for luxury cabins and one for rooms in the lodge. What else can we do to highlight them?”

"Are we pricing too high?" Oliver asked, and Eli bristled.

"Just because you wouldn't pay that price for a luxury cabin doesn't mean others won't."

"The online pictures could be better," I said. "They're a little dark. Would you like me to have them retaken? I can research photographers and prices and send you options."

Eli glanced at Oliver. "I have to agree. They are dark and uninviting. It makes them look old when they are brand new."

Oliver sighed. "I hate to put more money into the cabins."

"If we're not presenting them in the best light, and we're not getting bookings, I don't see what choice we have," I said as I scrolled through the pictures.

Eli leaned back in his chair. "We need to offer luxury amenities to secure the upscale guests. We need to get started on the spa."

"You know that's going to take time and money, and I was hoping to put that off for a while longer. I wanted to wait to see revenue from the cabins, and we just don't have it yet."

Eli leaned his elbows on the table. "You want to generate revenue from the cabins before we build the spa, but I think we need the spa to generate revenue. See the problem?"

Oliver ran a hand through his hair.

I held up my hands. "I have no idea what this would cost, but what if we added hot tubs to the cabins? I can price options, and I think that would be an easy add that wouldn’t require any changes to the existing structure. I'm fairly sure I could install them myself too, which would save us money. "

Oliver waved a hand at me. "It would be nice if every Wilde considered price when they pitched improvements to me."

"Dakota showed me a picture last night of a celebrity who got regular appointments with a masseuse, but they come to her house or hotel room. What if I called around to see if an in-cabin masseuse would be an option?" My head was buzzing with excitement.

Eli and Oliver stared at me, and I wondered if what I'd said was ludicrous.

"If you don't think the guests would enjoy that—" I trailed off, unsure if I'd overstepped.

Eli chuckled. "That's genius. There's no overhead. Most masseuses would carry their table. We could offer all kinds of options in-house. Why didn't I think of that?"

"You can still build a spa, but this would be an option in the meantime," I added.

"An option that feels luxurious. Who doesn't see celebrities posting pictures of their masseuse who comes to their room? Now the question is, would we offer it to the lodge guests too?"

"Why not?" Xander said, rocking forward in his chair. "It's extra revenue."

Eli sighed. "I love it. Good job, Walker."

"Who knew you were hiding all those ideas? You should have been coming to these meetings years ago," Xander said.

"I didn't realize how much I would enjoy business." I loved keeping up with the reservations and ensuring the cabins were ready for new guests. "I love those cabins. Obviously, it's our house, and I want others to enjoy them too."

Eli rested his elbows on the table. "So you'll look into masseuses, photographers, and hot tubs? That might be too much for one person."

"I don't mind. Besides, I'm a little behind since I haven't been working in the business since I enlisted."

Eli held up a hand. "Noelle's looking for more work to do around here. Once she cleans up the decorations for the holidays, that part of her business closes down. What if we offered her this? She could do the research here or at home and interview possibilities."

Xander nodded. "I'm all for it."

"You don't think she'll get upset?" Oliver asked. "Noelle doesn't like being treated like a charity case."

"She is not a charity case. Noelle is smart and resourceful. She was talking about expanding her decorating business to be more of a personal assistant option. She wants to offer her services to guests here. If they want fresh flowers, or baked goods delivered to their room, or even a recommendation for a yoga class. She'll research options, provide the information, and even deliver the products to their door."

I ran a hand through my hair. "That would be a great option for our guests. I saw that when I was researching ways to improve our customer service. I hadn't realized that Noelle was interesting in doing that."

"She's always looking for a way to make money. We've talked about offering her donuts in the mornings too. We can try it and see how it goes. For the assistant service to work, we'd need to find a way to make it easy for a guest to request her services."

"She might already be working on a website, but what if we added the option for personal assistant and massage services to our existing app?”

Oliver sighed. "Any changes we make to the app are expensive.”

"What if we used the spa money for the app additions? Then pushed the spa further into the future. I think we need the options now if we want to remain competitive," Eli said.

"It's not a bad idea. If we can offer services without the physical spa, then I think we'd be okay."

"Why don't you call Noelle and see if she'd be interested? In the meantime, we'd need to develop a way for people to book her services," Oliver suggested.

"I can do that." I wrote a checklist in the note section of my phone. "Oh, I almost forgot. Addison wanted to know if she could hold a social-services fundraiser here between Christmas and New Year's. I offered her the room rent-free. I thought we could write it off, but if you're not okay with that, I'll help her find another option."

"We do a number of charity events per year, and we have room in the budget for one more, especially because that week isn't busy. We have several nights open. Want me to text you the dates?" Oliver asked.

"Please." And then to Eli, I asked, "Are you okay with this?"

"We're always willing to get involved with community charities and events, especially one that's close to our cousin."

I was fairly sure Eli was talking about Dakota and not me, but it made me feel good that she was officially part of this family. "I appreciate that."

Xander pushed back from the table, his phone ringing. "It's Killian's assistant."

"Take it," Eli ordered.

He pushed Accept on his phone and put it on speaker. "We're all here."

"Killian's injured. He didn't want me to call you, but the doctor said he has to take a few months off and do physical therapy. I thought it would be a good idea for him to go home. He has you guys, and I can find him a top-notch therapist in the area."

Eli swore. "He won't be able to compete? He's going to be a bear."

Riley chuckled. "He's already a bear. He doesn't even know that I'm talking to you."

Eli frowned. "He didn't want you to let us know he was injured? "

"He's a baby when something like this happens. He's going to be sidelined for a while, and I don't want him around this scene. He'll push to work out too soon and reinjure himself. His agent wants him off the grid to focus on his recovery."

"We'd love to have him home. But I'm not sure that's what he wants," Eli said.

"He doesn't have a choice. His management team wants him in a quiet place for the foreseeable future. If he wants to keep his contract and endorsements, he'll lay low and take care of himself."

"Are you traveling with him?" Xander asked.

"I won't be able to, but I'll check in with you guys," she said.

We got off the phone with his assistant and sat in silence for a few seconds.

Xander blew out a breath. "Sounds like Killian is coming home."

Killian thrived on his success as a snowboarder. He wasn't one to slack off. "He's not going to be happy about it."

Oliver tipped his head toward Eli. "You said Noelle is looking for extra work. You want to hire her as his personal assistant while he's in town? It's a good start for her business, and she can keep an eye on him."

"They were close back in the day," Eli said.

"It's not a bad idea," Xander continued.

"I'll talk to Noelle about everything we discussed," I stood, gathering my things, happy to help out in a meaningful way.

Eli stood and shook my hand. "We're grateful to have you home, Walker."

Xander chuckled. "Soon all the Wilde boys will be in one place."

"God help us all," Eli murmured.