Jason Sutherland was in an excellent mood as he strolled into Travis Harrison’s top floor office, and he smiled when he saw a pretty blonde woman sitting behind a desk right inside the door. She had to be Ally, Travis’s assistant with whom he’d spoken earlier that morning. Her looks were just as appealing as her voice. Not that he’d ever notice her in a romantic way. But she appeared to be just as charming as she’d sounded on the phone.
“Mr. Sutherland?” The woman rose from the chair and gave him a friendly smile that surprised him.
He was used to a sly, artificially bright welcome from women, and looks that sized up him and his bank account at the same time. Hope Sinclair, Grady’s younger sister, was the only woman who had ever really treated him like a person rather than an eligible billionaire. In fact, Hope had always treated him with a little too much nonchalance, and way too much like an older brother for his taste—until the incident that had happened at Christmas when he’d seen her in Amesport. “Ally.” He grinned back at her, taking the hand she offered him in welcome. “It’s very nice to meet you in person. Please call me Jason.”
Ally took her hand from his and nodded as she answered. “It’s nice to meet you, too. Thank you for calling this morning. Mr. Harrison is expecting you. I’ll call him.”
“He’s already here,” a low, irritated baritone announced from the other side of the office. “Come in, Sutherland.”
Jason looked toward the voice, feeling underdressed in a pair of jeans and a buttoned-down shirt when he looked at Travis Harrison. Grady had already warned him that Travis was an intimidating son of a bitch, according to Simon, and now Jason knew why. The dark look on Travis’s face was almost homicidal, and Jason had to work to keep a straight face as Travis glanced at Ally in a proprietary manner and then back at him again. Really, Jason didn’t care that Travis was openly an asshole, and wasn’t the least bit daunted. He’d rather have a man be openly hostile than have him smile to his face and then stab him in the back. He had a feeling he’d always know exactly where he stood with Travis Harrison, and that was fine by him.
He winked at Ally as he passed her desk and sauntered into Travis’s office.
“She’s off-limits,” Travis growled at him after he’d closed the office door.
“She married?” Jason asked innocently, taking a seat in front of Travis’s desk.
“No,” Travis rumbled, sitting down behind the massive oak desk.
“Involved?” he pushed, smirking as Travis scowled at him.
“No.”
“A relative?” Jason knew damn well she wasn’t related to Travis, but he was starting to really have fun yanking Harrison’s chain. He guessed that misery really did love company.
“Hell, no,” Travis replied, disgusted. “But if you touch her, I’ll kill you.”
Bingo. Jason knew he’d hit a nerve. “She’s very nice, and very pretty—”
“I told you—”
“But I’m not interested,” Jason finished with a grin.
“You gay?” Travis asked, actually looking hopeful.
Jason shook his head, nearly hating to squash Travis’s relief that he wasn’t heterosexual. Shit, Travis had a real thing for Ally. Obviously, the man thought that any guy who looked at her wanted to fuck her because he was so obsessed with the idea himself. And Jason knew exactly how that felt. “No. But my affections are otherwise engaged.”
Travis picked up a pen and twirled it thoughtfully between his fingers, scrutinizing Jason so thoroughly that it almost made him want to squirm. Hell, Jason had gone rounds with the biggest boys out there, sometimes more than once, but Travis was in a whole different league. Not meaner, exactly. Just…different.
“I didn’t know you were engaged, or even had a girlfriend,” Travis admitted, dropping the pen on his desk.
“I’m not. It’s…complicated,” Jason confessed, leaning back in the chair and giving Travis a disgruntled look.
“Ah…unrequited lust. You want to fuck her, but she doesn’t want you. It sucks, doesn’t it?” Travis finally commiserated, shooting Jason a knowing look.
That wasn’t exactly how it had gone with Hope, but close enough for him to answer, “Big time,” Jason affirmed, starting to feel a strange affinity with Travis. The poor guy had a serious case of blue balls over his secretary, and that situation was obviously uncomfortable because Travis had to be in close proximity to Ally all of the time.
“So how serious are you about managing this foundation with us?” Travis asked, changing the subject, obviously satisfied that Jason wasn’t going to pursue Ally.
“My time is valuable, and I flew here from the East Coast. I’m extremely serious. I’m not only willing to donate, but work the investments to keep the charity solvent as long as the overall plans are workable.” Jason wanted to be involved, needed to do something valuable. He had more money than he could ever possibly spend over several lifetimes, even if he bought every toy he wanted. He admitted to himself that he was restless; he needed something more important to work on than just increasing his own wealth.
“It’s workable. I figured out most of the plans myself,” Travis answered arrogantly, pushing a thick folder across the desk. “We can go over to Kade’s office and go over it with him. This is an important project for both he and his wife, Asha.”
Jason stood, ready to get busy. He needed the distraction right now. “Kade Harrison. He was a hell of a quarterback,” Jason said, following Travis to the door of his office.
“Still is,” Travis replied, opening the door to his office, and turning back to Jason. “He just doesn’t play anymore. Hell of a businessman, too.”
Jason smiled at Travis’s back as they left the office. Travis Harrison might be raw, but he obviously was fiercely protective and proud of those he cared about. As far as Jason was concerned, that type of loyalty was better than false charm, and rare in the circles that they both traveled in.
Ally smiled at Jason as he walked past her desk, and he grinned back at her, wondering absently if she knew that she had such a ferocious protector, and that Travis’s feelings for her, like his own for Hope, were about as far from brotherly as feelings could get.
“I’ll be in Kade’s office,” Travis snapped at Ally.
Judging by Travis’s not-so-gentle treatment of his assistant, Jason doubted she knew a damn thing. But he nearly laughed when he saw her dismissive attitude, acknowledging Travis’s comment with a small nod, but not appearing the least bit afraid of him. In fact, she’d almost ignored him, not even looking up from whatever work she was doing on the computer.
She challenges him.
Jason smirked as he followed the other man down the hall to Kade’s office, wondering just how long it would take Travis to crack.
She isn’t getting married. She broke up with her asshole of a fiancé. She’s available. She’s available. She’s available.
The mantra drummed in Travis’s brain as he drove his Hennessey Venom GT around his racetrack for the first time, testing out the speed and handling of the new vehicle that had just arrived earlier in the day. Ordinarily, he would have been itching to get the vehicle up to the fastest speed possible, completely focused on examining its capabilities, but today wasn’t an ordinary day.
Today is the day I found out that Alison Caldwell isn’t engaged anymore.
Driving at deadly speeds and thinking about Ally Caldwell really didn’t mix, but his cock was hard, and it wasn’t from the throbbing engine of the vehicle he was currently driving. It was her fault; his erection was due to the fact that the blonde menace in a tight skirt was actually single for the first time since she’d become his employee.
His fingers tightened around the steering wheel as he expertly maneuvered around a curve, barely lowering his speed as he hit the straightaway again. God, the vehicle was sweet, but all he could think about was how much sweeter fucking Ally would be, having her panting his name beneath him as he made her come over and over, until all she could think about was him.
Four years and thirty-two days he’d dreamed about just that scenario; one thousand, four hundred and ninety torturous days of blue balls that no other woman could cure. Except her. He’d been in trouble since the day she’d walked into his office for an interview, slightly breathless and nervous. His dick had twitched in his pants immediately, making him want to reach out, pull her onto his lap, and make her even more breathless until they were both completely sated. Why in the hell he’d gone ahead and hired her he never understood. He must have been feeling masochistic, because her sweet, guileless beauty had haunted him every damn moment since the day he’d hired her. And her intelligence and sharp tongue both annoyed the shit out of him and challenged him. There was nothing more that he wanted than to tame the little tigress, make her yield to him until she purred.
I need to just fuck her and get her out of my system.
Rounding the curve again, Travis accelerated, moving the car to an elevated speed after getting used to the feel of the handling. He tried to concentrate on his new vehicle. Having paid well over a million dollars for the speed demon, he should be more enthusiastic about driving it. He had more expensive cars, but he’d wanted to add this particular vehicle to his collection for a while, had anticipated its arrival because it was so damn fast. Today, he wasn’t getting the same high he usually did in acquiring one of the fastest vehicles in the world.
Because of her!
“Dammit!” he exploded, frustrated. He knew better than to drive like this when he wasn’t concentrating. He slowed the vehicle down and finally pulled it into the garage, one of his mechanics waiting for him at the door.
“She’s fast, boss, huh?” the mechanic asked excitedly.
“Very,” Travis replied, leaving the engine running as he exited the vehicle. “Can you put her away for me, Henry? Take it for a spin if you want before you shut it down.” He had certain people he trusted to drive his cars, and Henry was one of those few mechanics he’d trust with any of his vehicles.
“Thanks, boss,” the older man said enthusiastically. “You leaving?”
“Yeah. I’ll probably be back tomorrow night,” Travis affirmed, heading toward his Ferrari F12, the car he had driven to the track. The Ferrari was fast, and it was comfortable. Since he generally didn’t do suicidal speeds outside of the racetrack, he could appreciate the beauty of the Ferrari, but didn’t require the acceleration some of his other cars gave him on the track.
“Kade will love this car,” Henry commented as Travis walked away.
“He will. But I’m not letting him drive it,” Travis replied wickedly, flashing Henry an evil grin. He knew Kade would be salivating over the Hennessey, but Kade had his own damn toys. The garage was full of expensive race cars and motorcycles. Maybe in a few months, Travis would break down and let Kade give it a try, but not on the track, and not at reckless speeds. Kade was an expert at handling bikes, but he wasn’t as good with cars. The last thing Travis wanted was to see was Kade injured again. It had nearly killed him when his brother had had the accident that ended his pro football career. He couldn’t watch his twin suffer like that again. It had taken Kade two years of rehab to even be functional and be able to walk without relying on crutches. Kade deserved every bit of happiness he was now experiencing with his wife, Asha, who was pregnant and expecting their first child.
Although Travis couldn’t even begin to understand having that type of relationship with a woman, the same loving relationship his sister Mia had with her husband Max, he was good with it because his siblings were happy.
“He’ll be mad,” Henry warned.
Travis waved as he got into his F12. “He’ll have to get over it,” he replied gruffly, closing the door of the Ferrari and strapping himself in. He watched as Henry got into the Hennessey and entered the track, taking it easy with the expensive vehicle as he rounded the first lap.
I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to do it.
Travis wanted nothing more than to hightail it over to Sully’s Oasis and see if Ally was okay. Yeah, she’d been okay for a few years now, but that had been before he knew that she worked there as a bartender, without a decent man in her life to watch out for her. Now, all he could think about was other men salivating over her as the drinks she served got them more and more drunk. Intoxicated guys were dangerous. Ally was dangerous to intoxicated men. Fuck! He wished his damn cock would just explode into tiny little pieces and put him out of his misery. He put his hand over the denim-clad bulge, wondering if it just might.
Night after night, all he could think about for the last four years was Ally going home to some other asshole, letting him touch her, fuck her until she screamed. Apparently, that hadn’t happened. The bastard hadn’t even appreciated what he had with Ally, while Travis would have given his right nut to have her in his bed. She’d never talked much about her fiancé, and now he knew why. Too damn tired from working two jobs, she probably did nothing but focus on work. God knew that she was a hard worker. He’d put her through the wringer over the years, and she’d never complained about her workload, never stopped the string of sassy remarks coming out of that sexy mouth of hers. Now, he regretted being so hard on her, but it had been his way of creating some kind of distance between the two of them.
He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, reliving the incident this morning, the mouthwatering fragrance he’d inhaled into his lungs when he’d gotten close to her. All he’d wanted was to freeze that moment, absorb the light, flowery, intoxicating scent of her skin until it filled every cell in his body. He wanted her just that damn desperately. Maybe Ally was a tough woman, but he’d seen the flash of vulnerability in her eyes hidden beneath her sarcastic comments this morning. And he hadn’t liked it. How could she not know that she was probably every man’s wet dream? He knew for a fact she was his only wet dream, had known it for the last four years and thirty-two days. That’s how long he’d been beating off while fantasizing about Ally. He hadn’t been able to stop himself from getting close to her after she’d let down her guard, letting her know how damn beautiful she was earlier today. Ally was a fighter, and he hated seeing that hurt look in her beautiful green eyes, unhidden by those sexy, naughty librarian glasses she wore every day that drove him half crazy. The glasses fueled his fantasy of stripping Ally of every prim and proper notion from her brain and making her come until she became a wanton woman, needing nothing except him. Was it the glasses she usually donned for most of the day that had kept him from noticing the dark circles under her eyes, and how tired she looked? Or maybe it was just the fact that his dick was hard every moment that she was in the same room with him, and he’d been too damn defensive to notice. Grudgingly, he admitted that fighting with her kept her at a distance, which he desperately needed. But even that wasn’t really working anymore.
He’d barely contained himself from pummeling Jason Sutherland today, just because the guy smiled at Ally. Sutherland was supposedly an irresistible lure to women because of his golden good looks and money, and Travis didn’t want the man—any man under the age of eighty—near Ally ever again. She’d just gotten rid of a loser. Not that Sutherland was a loser, and Travis had actually ended up liking the guy. But he didn’t like Jason when he was touching Ally, and he hadn’t liked her touching Sutherland either. The smile she had given Jason this morning had slammed him right in the gut, making him wonder why he’d never seen that relaxed, happy look directed at him.
Maybe because I’m an asshole whenever she’s around? Admittedly, he was an asshole most of the time. Okay…maybe all of the time. But there was never a moment that he didn’t feel out of control about Ally. He’d just learned to rein it in because she was involved with another guy. He hadn’t had a choice. But had he known that she wasn’t happy, what that bastard was putting her through, he might not have been as hesitant to poach on another man’s territory. In fact, he would have done it quite happily and without remorse had he known that Ally wasn’t being treated the way she deserved to be treated. She might piss him off more often than not, but he hated the thought of her not being treated right by a man who supposedly loved her.
He started the ignition, waiting for it to fire up. Maybe it would have been better if he hadn’t known about her situation, if he was completely ignorant of the fact that her prick of an ex had hurt her. But now he did know, and it was driving him completely insane. She was working too hard, pushing herself too much. She could end up sick, collapse from exhaustion. Or some prick at the bar could decide she looked ripe for the picking. He was angry with himself that he hadn’t noticed before because he was too busy trying to get a grip whenever she was near him.
I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to do it.
Everything she was going through at the moment could be easily solved, her bills could be paid, and he could pay for her house. Travis scowled. Well…maybe not that house. He didn’t want her living in a home where her ex had banged another woman. Stupid bastard! But he could get her a different home. Hell, he could even help her get into an MBA program if that’s what she wanted. He could do it with a simple phone call. For some unknown reason, all he really wanted to do was make her smile, have her look at him like she’d looked at Jason this morning.
I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to do it.
Shortly, he’d have to spend four days in her nearly constant company on the trip to Colorado. If she ever learned exactly why he needed her to be there, he’d get nothing but scorn and disbelief from her. He’d never tell her. That had been decided before he’d ever insisted on her being there. She’d never have to know.
He wondered irritably what in the hell had possessed him to give her two weeks off. He hadn’t gone more than a few days without seeing her in the last four years. The office would probably fall apart while she was gone. Oh hell, who was he kidding? He’d probably fall apart. Being able to see her, even if they were throwing insults at each other, had been the only thing that had kept him balanced. And she’d still be working at the bar every night, with horny, inebriated men slobbering all over her.
I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to do it.
Nope. He wasn’t going to do it. Travis Harrison did not do anything to draw attention to himself. Making a vow to himself and his brother after his parents had died, he’d clawed to get the Harrison name out of the gutter, make it respected again. And for the most part, it was. There might be an occasional article in the tabloids, but none of it really scandal. There had been talk when their sister had returned after going missing for a few years, and it had been news when Asha had been found and recognized as his brother-in-law Max’s half-sister. But he’d deliberately and carefully never given the news something to talk about in the Harrison family. Not that he hadn’t done anything that could possibly be newsworthy after his parents’ deaths, but he made damn sure that the press never found out. Other than that, he’d kept his goddamn control, and he wasn’t about to lose it.
Travis released a frustrated groan and put the car in gear with a little more force than necessary. He executed a precision turn, the tires squealing as he left the pavement and started down the dirt road that led to the freeway.
I’m not doing this. I’m not. I’m not going to stalk the woman like some kind of lunatic with a dick that’s about to explode! I have control. I’ve always had control.
“Fuck it!” Travis growled, stopping the vehicle while he pulled out his cell phone, looked up the location of Sully’s Oasis, and programmed the address of the bar into his navigation system. Christ! Did she have to work in that neighborhood? The bar wasn’t far from the Hudson clinic, the same place where Simon’s wife, Kara, had been attacked by drug addicts. Didn’t Ally have any sense? And what the hell was wrong with her ex that he actually let her work in that area with drunken men?
Shit! It’s a public place. I can just stop in for a drink.
Travis was doing it, and he no longer gave a shit about the repercussions.