13. Callum
CALLUM
I guide her to the same booth we occupied the last time. The same bartender is here. Henry tips his chin in our direction and hurries over. Ivy is her usual warm and bighearted self, flashing him a smile. “Good evening, Henry. How are you tonight?”
Henry smiles, clearly pleased that the boss lady remembers his name, especially since he’s not wearing a name tag tonight. “I’m terrific; thanks for asking. Would you like a Long-Distance Lover again, or can I interest you in another drink?”
Ivy taps her chin, glancing at the drink board, furrowing her brow. “Hmm. What do I want?”
That’s my cue, because I can recall her words perfectly. Will you order for me? I don’t want to have to think.
“I bet she’d like a Sweet Fate,” I say, and she nods, whispering a thank you just for me.
“And for you, sir?”
“I’m going to go crazy again and have an iced tea,” I say, since I’m still on the clock.
He tells us he’ll be right back, and when he’s gone, I turn to the woman I can’t get out of my mind. The woman whose mind I need to know.
“Tell me, are you stressed about tomorrow night?”
She nibbles on the corner of her lips and glances at the redhead, then back to me. “Yes, a little.” She sighs heavily. “Okay, that’s a lie. A lot.” She taps her fingernails on the table. “I want it to go so well, Callum. Most of the board members are coming. So much is riding on this.”
I shouldn’t do this, but the need to touch her, to comfort her is overwhelming.
I run a hand along her back, and it seems to calm her.
I can feel her relaxing as I talk. “It will. I know my team has done everything on the security side. I know you’ve done everything on the marketing side.
And Stone’s music is incredible. It’s going to be great. ”
She nods several times, but it’s like she’s reassuring herself. “I know, I know.”
She arches against my hand, asking for more. I rub a little harder. And yet, she’s still looking at the trio. They aren’t quite as touchy-feely as last time, but there’s something content, almost glowy, in the woman’s expression.
Ivy can’t look away. She stares unabashedly as I run my hand along the fabric of her dress. She licks her lips, and her breath hitches.
Ah, hell.
There are risks you take and risks you protect others from taking. I’ve got to do something. “You’re watching them, beautiful,” I whisper, taking a step toward risk.
She nods subtly, then murmurs, “Yes.”
It sounds like a confession.
And I’m going to enjoy all the sins she wants to share. I want to be the one she confesses to. I slide my hand lower, to the small of her back. “What do you think they just did?”
“They fucked her.”
Whoa. This woman. She does not mince words.
“Made her feel dirty, gave her what she wanted,” she adds, her eyes a little glassy, her voice rich with intoxication.
I adjust myself in the seat. This conversation is quickly sending all the blood in my body in one direction. South.
“And did she love it?” I ask.
Ivy nods vigorously. “She loves it when they take care of her. When all their focus is on her. She’s greedy, and she needs it from them,” Ivy says, licking her lips.
And suddenly, my mission has become crystal clear.
Henry swings by with the drinks, and Ivy tears her gaze away from the trio, tapping her nails on the table again.
“Your drinks, Ms. Carmichael and Mr. . . .” he trails off, since he doesn’t know my name.
Hardly anyone does.
That’s the point.
“Thanks, Henry,” I say, since I prefer not to be known.
“You’re welcome, sir.”
I smile at that. But in the meantime, Ivy’s tapping her nails faster, worrying at her lips with her teeth.
When he leaves, I set a hand over Ivy’s, trying to settle her. “Relax. Tomorrow will be great. Your parents would be proud of you. I’m proud of you.”
She looks at me, her blue eyes big and vulnerable. “Thank you. For knowing what I need.”
And the thing is, I do know what she needs. I think I know what she needs better than anyone. And what she wants too.
Stone’s words of wisdom echo in my head, right along with Dad’s.
But it’s my heart that’s taking over with its wild beating.
The way I feel for her is almost too much to handle.
It’s staggering, and I want to give her everything she needs and deserves.
I cover her hand completely with mine, and she lets out a sigh, then takes a drink.
I do the same and move closer, my lips near her ear. “I know what you need, beautiful. You need what they have.”
With a quiet gasp, she turns to me, her blue eyes blazing. “Why do you say that?”
I slide my fingers through hers. “Every day you worry about living up to the legacy of your parents. Every day you want to make sure you’re doing right for the people who work for you.
But there’s only one thing that makes you let go at the end of the hard day behind the desk.
I could give you something to look forward to tomorrow night. Something that’ll help you let go.”
A flush crawls above her breasts, up her chest. “What’s that?” Excitement drips from her words.
I run my fingers through hers, slowly, torturously. “After the show,” I say, taking my time, setting the stage, savoring the wild passion in her eyes, “why don’t I arrange for two men to give you all your filthiest fantasies?”
There’s a second where maybe, just maybe, I’m worried I’ve crossed a line.
But the look in her eyes tells me the opposite. Tells me I just offered Ivy her deepest, dirtiest dreams. And the way my dick throbs tells me that I want nothing more than to give her all she desires.
“How do you know I want that?” she asks, but she’s not questioning me. Her tone is laced with longing.
“I watch you. I see what you want. And I’ve fucked you and made love to you. I know what you want. And I don’t want you going to anyone else to get it.”
As I say those words, my choices start to crystallize. I’m going to be the one who takes care of her needs. All her needs. No one else. I don’t trust a soul with this woman but me, and my best friend.
“I don’t want to go to anyone else, Callum.”
“You need to be safe. A woman like you, beautiful, wealthy, known all around this city—you’re not going to go out and find just anyone. If you want a threesome, I’ll make it happen for you, and I’ll make it safe for you. I’ll make sure you’re protected, because that’s what I do.”
She looks me in the eyes. “You and Stone?”
I smile. “I’ll have to ask him, but I feel confident he’ll say yes,” I say with a laugh.
She laughs too. “Because he has a voracious appetite?”
I shake my head. “No, because he gets along with you. Because he likes you as a person. But more than that, because I’ll tell him what it means to me. That I need to keep you safe while you live out your fantasy. That’s why he’ll do it.”
Her brow pinches a little bit. “You’re not interested in touching him, are you?”
I shake my head. “Beautiful, I’m not interested in men.
The only pleasure I’m interested in is yours.
In giving it to you. In realizing it for you.
But I don’t give a shit if another guy’s in the room when I’m fucking you, or when I’m making love to you.
Because all he’s going to see is a man who wants to take care of the woman he’s obsessed with. ”
She trembles all over, and it’s gorgeous. “You’re obsessed with me?”
“Ivy Carmichael, I want you in every way. I want you more than any man has ever wanted any woman. And all I want is to give you everything.”
“Oh, God,” she murmurs, her eyes floating closed for a second.
I’m so tempted to haul her in close. To plant a bruising, punishing kiss on her lips. To take her upstairs and spend the night bringing her endless pleasure. But she has late-night meetings, and I have to get her there safely.
I brush her hair off her shoulder. “Think about it. Say the word, and I will make it happen for you.”
She grabs my tie, tugging me close. “I have to go. I don’t want to go.”
“I don’t want you to go either.”
I don’t know what happens after tomorrow night. I don’t know what it might mean for the two of us.
But I know this much. I need to be the man to make her fantasies come true.
So, I’m going to have to figure out what that means when it comes to my ability to do my job.
Because she is so much more than work to me.