Chapter 24
Tyler
The moment she kissed me, I knew it was over.
I never wanted to know what it would be like to taste her, but once I did, it proved my worst fears.
That night, that first night when her father forced me to marry her, I had been awestruck when I saw her in that cheap gown.
I hadn’t planned on marrying her. I was going to call his bluff, but first, I wanted to see the goods.
What made this man so confident that I would agree to his ridiculous terms?
To his blackmail? It had been years since we had met again in the flesh, and the first thought I had was I should be the only one to kiss her, to touch her, to fuck her, to make love to her.
That last thought made me recoil in fear.
I had never thought of a woman like that.
And when we finally were alone, all I could think of was kissing her.
I could not stop looking at her mouth. It was a scary feeling, and I resolved never to find out what it meant.
Until today. I spent most of my life trying to get rid of it—dating all kinds of women hoping I would forget her.
But I never did. And anyone I spent time with did not measure up to that night.
Even in the haze of the aftermath of our fucking—I would not call it lovemaking—she still enamored me.
The feeling of self-disgust for being weak around a woman did not come.
Instead, I felt oddly pleasant, satisfied with our encounter, and thinking of a second one.
It was midday, and I wanted nothing else than to eat Saffron Channing’s pussy for lunch.
She would like it; I know she would. The way she came apart—twice, mind you—told me all I needed to know. She was as obsessed with me as I was with her. We could—
The buzzer on my office phone went off. “Tyler,” Matt’s voice boomed through the speaker. “Your twelve thirty is here.”
Saffron jerked off the table as though waking from a trance. “Oh, my God!” She reached for her clothes, putting them back on one by one. “I can’t believe I just—” She didn’t have the confidence to put into words what just happened, but I did.
“I’m not over you,” I said, my gaze on her ass. “I think that’s obvious now.”
She glanced over her shoulder mid-shoving up her skirt, that sweet ass disappearing behind fabric.
“And you’re not either,” I added as she buttoned and zipped the garment.
“It doesn’t matter. This should not have happened. You have a girlfriend.”
Not anymore. I broke off, if you could even call it that, with Lauren on the night of the marathon weekend. Forcing a relationship with someone who I couldn’t give two shits to call after a date was a bad idea I should never have entertained. Even Lauren had understood.
“I knew you didn’t like me like that,” Lauren had said with a sad smile. “I assume the woman we saw is the one who has your heart? You could not stop staring at her.”
She was correct in principle. I don’t know about my heart, but Saffron had my cock in a spiritual chokehold, and I was tired of ignoring it.
I had spent the entire week trying to forget her, doing everything I could to avoid her, and this included deliberately not reading her emails.
But when I couldn’t skip a meeting she was holding, and I had to confront her, all the defenses I built crumbled.
“Tyler?” Matt said again through the phone.
Saffron grabbed her blouse that was lying next to me and put it on. “Aren’t you going to answer him?” Her gaze ran over my disheveled appearance. “Unless you want to have a meeting with your twelve thirty with your cock hanging out. Or maybe you’re going to fuck them too.”
I got up. “The only one I am fucking until I have cleansed out of my blood is you.”
She scoffed. “How romantic. I don’t think your girlfriend is going to like that.”
“I’ve chosen to become a faithful husband to my lovely wife.”
She paused. “What happened to we’re separated and can see other people?”
“Is that what you want to do after we’ve just ripped each other's clothes off and fucked like demons during work hours?”
“Mr. Hawthorne?” Matt’s voice boomed again.
Saffron blushed.
“We have to purge this thing that’s within us before fully calling it quits, don’t you think?”
She shook her head. “That’s an insane proposition. You don’t even like me.”
“When has that ever been a hindrance?”
She straightened her blouse, grabbed a foundation case in her purse, checked her appearance, pulled her hair back, closed the case, and grabbed her bag. “You’ve gone crazy, Tyler Hawthorne.” And cat-walked out of the office.
“Mr. Hawthorne?”
I sighed and answered the call. “Tell them to give me five minutes.” I searched for my mobile phone and found it lying on the floor.
Must have fallen off the desk during our intense session.
The desk was a mess. Pens, books, and decorative items were strewn all across the floor and on the desk.
Maybe five minutes was too little time. I would need at least ten to right the office as well as myself.
I sent a text to Saffron.
Me: See you this evening?
Saffron: ???
Me: Your place or mine?
Saffron: The devil’s.
I chuckled and threw the phone on the desk and got to dressing myself and cleaning my office. I also needed an air freshener. The room smelled of sex.
◆◆◆
Ivy’s bakery was not as busy as usual. According to her, traffic slowed in the later hours unless there was a special.
She wasn’t around, but her son Lake was there.
He was working as a server as mandated by his father, Damien.
Children should learn how to fend for themselves in the real world without the dependence of a trust fund, according to him, and he wanted his first-born to be the most independent of his kids.
Lake seemed to take it on the chin. He worked diligently and didn’t mind working under his mother.
But that also could be because he liked the patisserie.
When I entered, Lake smiled at me from behind the counter. I waved at him and went to look for a suitable place to sit. I chose a table with a window beside it in the bakery corner. A few minutes later, Lake came to hand me a menu. “Who says I want to order?”
He chuckled. His growth spurt had made him tall and gangly, but at sixteen, he was finally getting into form. The Sinclair-Hawthorne features were starting to show, and a few young teenage girls were surreptitiously glancing at him.
“You are bringing in a lot of customers to this establishment, it seems.” I gestured to the girls.
He glanced at them. “I don’t think that’s my doing. They like our food.”
“Riiight. Anyway, I would like a coffee. My usual, nothing more.”
“One macchiato coming up.” He took the menu back, and as he was walking away, a familiar face came into the bakery.
My heart stopped when I saw her. She was still wearing the same clothes she had worn earlier in the day.
I wondered if she was still pantiles because she had left them in my office. My groin tightened.
Saffron was greeted by Lake, who then directed her to the counter.
She ordered something, and when she was done, she turned to face my direction, scanning for a place to sit.
She froze when she saw me. She was about to leave when I jumped out of my seat and caught up with her when she got to the door.
“Please stay,” I said.
She held the door and spoke without looking at me. “It’s my fault. I had forgotten this is your sister’s place.”
“Not at all. Can you please take a seat?” I wanted to take her hand, but I was afraid she would fling it away.
She didn’t, though, even if it seemed she was contemplating it. I led her to my table and indicated to Lake to bring Saffron’s order to us. She took a seat and glared at me. “What do you want?”
“I just wanted to talk, that’s all.”
She cast her gaze away from my face. “You know there’s nothing you and I have to say to each other outside of work, and I don’t think this is a business meeting.”
“Who says it isn’t? I’ve been trying to reach you, and you haven’t been picking up my calls.”
She blanched, dug into her purse, and checked her phone.
I was right about sending the texts, but the reason I wanted to speak to her had nothing to do with work.
However, it was the only way to make her listen to me.
She apologized and then said, “I didn’t know you wanted to discuss the budget. I thought—”
“That I was trying to get into your panties again? How could I do that when you left them in my office?”
Her blush was so cute it made her look younger than her thirty years. She glanced around. “Give me my underwear, you perv,” she whispered.
“In here? What? You think I carry it around?” I flashed a grin. “You guessed right.” I put my hand into my inner jacket pocket, and she shot up and grasped my arm.
“What the fuck, Tyler!”
“I’m kidding! But they’re staying with me.”
“Why? So you can use them as a cum sock?”
“Yes, exactly. What can I do? You’ve refused to assuage the pain in my loins.”
“Ugh… I would have thought a man like you would not be so—”
“One macchiato and one pumpkin spice latte,” Lake said as he placed the drinks on the table. His gaze flicked to Saffron, and a note of recognition appeared on his face. “Oh! You were here the other day! Mom said you—”
“Thanks, Lake.”
He noted the abrupt tone in my voice and drew back, but not before he winked at me.
I had no idea what Ivy told him, but it could not be good.
She probably assumed Saffron was my girlfriend and ran with it.
Thinking of which, maybe staying in here and having a coffee with Saffron might fuel the rumors.
“Wanna go for a walk?”
Saffron raised her brows. “You want to talk business over a stroll?”
“I want to stretch my legs.”
She didn’t trust me, but she got up anyway. The streets were busy, but there was minimal jostling. The rush hour was almost over, and strolling didn’t feel like you were slowing down people in the rush.
“Like I said,” Saffron started, “if you want the best, then an extension is the way to go. The hotel is coming along well. And if you read the emails you sent me, you’ll agree with me.”
“I read your emails all the time.”
She snorted. “No, you don’t,” and took a sip of her coffee. “I can tell Matt’s the one I’m speaking to nowadays, not that I am complaining. He’s a lot more professional than some people I know.”
“Trust me, I read them. I just don’t reply to you, that’s all. And you’re right. I do want this hotel to be the best.” We turned around the corner onto a new street, this one busier than the last. We were walking aimlessly now, not that I cared. “We will extend the budget.”
“Thanks.” Saffron sounded relieved. She exhaled and thrust her hand into her jacket pocket. “What do you plan to do with the hotel? Are you going to keep it?”
“No.” I took a sip of my own drink for the first time. The macchiato had an unexpected earthy taste that went down my throat smoothly. “I want to sell it to Massimo. He seems interested. Or at least he was until…”
“I told you I am working on finding out who it is. Speaking of which.” She took a giant sip of her coffee. “I have some files I found amongst my father’s things. He was opening multiple bank accounts in my name without my knowledge.”
“Interesting. You can send me the files, and I have my PI look into it?”
She paused. “You hired a PI?”
“I like the initiative you’re taking on this, but maybe a professional might be better suited for the role.”
She gave me a side-eye. “You don’t trust me. Is that it?”
“Not at all. I don’t think you’re the one blackmailing me.”
She stopped dead in her tracks. “That’s a first.”
“Listen, now that I have thought about it, it doesn’t make sense for you to sabotage a business that you’re reliant on. And also—” I held myself back from throwing an insult that might come back to bite me. Now that I wanted to sleep with her, insults were not going to get me in her bed.
“Also what?”
“Nothing.”
“Also because you saw where I stay and how tiny the place is? Is that what you wanted to say?”
“You said it, not me.”
She clicked her tongue and resumed strolling.
“Your place is nice,” I said.
“But…”
“Nothing.”
She gave a small shake of her head. “You keep saying that, but—” Saffron was bumped by someone walking past fast, the cup in her hand sloshing all over her white blouse. “Fuck!”
I had no time to save her coffee, but I managed to save her from hitting the concrete by holding her in my arms as she stumbled.
“Are you okay?” I said, trying not to think about her breasts pressing against my chest. Or the way her supple body felt, reminding me of the act we performed this afternoon.
The wet liquid was now seeping onto my shirt as I righted her again.
Her cup rolled on the ground while I held mine away from her so she wouldn’t get wet again.
She pushed away from me and glanced down at her blouse. “Ugh. This was my favorite one.”
“Come on.” I jerked my head forward. “Let’s get you cleaned up. My place is close by.”
“It’s fine, I think I can get back—”
“Not like you can walk like that. I have a car.” I pointed to my car. My driver had been slowly driving the car along with us.
A faint frown tugged at her brow. “You’ve had a car following us the entire time?” I took her arm and marched her towards the vehicle, but she didn’t resist.
“It was following me. You just happened to be next to me.”
“Yeah, right.”
I didn’t respond. I was just happy she was going to my place.