Travis stayed the entire weekend, never once leaving Ally’s house except to get something he was absolutely certain she needed. He’d left reluctantly on Monday morning, after Ally had insisted she would be fine without him. That weekend had been a revelation for her, showing her more and more just what an incredible person Travis could be in a different atmosphere away from the office. They’d watched movies for hours, played several games of chess, a game that Ally had always thought she’d excelled at…until she’d played a master like Travis. He’d trounced her every single time. And they’d talked. Sometimes they’d discussed inconsequential things, but he’d opened up a little about what his childhood had been like, being raised with a volatile and insane father. And she’d shared some of her own memories of being raised by an alcoholic and how isolated and out of control she’d felt when she was younger. By the time he’d left on Monday…she actually missed him almost as soon as he’d walked out the door. The house felt strangely quiet, and she hated having her coffee alone in the morning, not having anyone to talk to when she had something to say.
Tuesday and Wednesday, Ally was too busy receiving deliveries to really think about her loneliness. The doorbell rang almost nonstop, bringing so many deliveries that her living room was stacked with boxes, most of them containing items for a brand new wardrobe that Travis had provided. Of course, she’d called him to protest, and Travis told her to refer to her new employment contract, which apparently had a clause about him providing work attire.
Ally looked around the living room and rolled her eyes. Work attire? The room contained more clothing than an actual high-end boutique, everything from lingerie to ball gowns. And every single item fit perfectly, even the shoes and boots. How the hell had he known exactly what size to buy?
“Because he’s Travis Harrison and he doesn’t do anything without paying attention to every detail,” she whispered to herself, sitting down on the small space of her couch that was still available. “I can’t take all this stuff. There isn’t a thing in this lot that isn’t designer-made and horribly expensive.”
Ally started lifting boxes, finally locating her cell phone under some sinful lingerie.
I’m sending this stuff back. You only promised to get me a dress for Colorado. That’s more than enough.
She sent the text, determined to decide on one item for the ball in Colorado that she had to attend with Travis.
He responded moments later:
Can’t. It was all on sale and non-returnable. Don’t you like it?
Ally sighed, laughing out loud at the reference to a sale. Not very creative or believable coming from Travis. She texted him back.
It’s too much. One dress is good enough.
She was startled when her phone rang, already knowing it was Travis.
“Beautiful women should have beautiful clothes,” Travis said huskily in her ear before she could even say anything. “I do get to provide your clothing for you. Read your contract.”
“Is there anything else in this contract that I signed but didn’t read that I should know about?” she asked, frustrated, wishing she’d looked just a little bit closer at the contract Travis had asked her to sign over the weekend. But she’d assumed it was just the ordinary stuff, much like the employment contracts she’d signed for Harrison previously. Travis knew damn well that when he said things like that he threw her off-balance. She wasn’t used to being called beautiful or even remotely attractive.
“Didn’t you see the part about me being able to fuck you any way I want to as many times a day as we both want it?” he asked lazily, as though he were having a business conversation.
Ally’s entire body flooded with heat. Tired of letting Travis always get the upper hand with his sexual banter, she answered him in a fuck-me voice that she wasn’t even aware she was capable of producing. “No. I only noticed the clause that says I can drop to my knees, pull out your cock, and wrap my lips around it any time I want, sucking you until you come.”
She heard a hiss come from Travis’s end of the line, and she smiled a naughty little grin. Bang! Take that Mr. Dirty Talker!
The line was absolutely silent for a moment before Travis responded in a pained voice, “I’ll make you pay for that, Alison.”
“You can dish it out, but you can’t take it?” she asked innocently.
“I’ll be taking it,” Travis answered ominously. “Dinner tonight,” he demanded. “I’ll pick you up around seven.”
“Do I have a choice?” she asked in an exasperated voice.
“Yes. You can wear the red lingerie or the black. I pictured fucking you in both of them,” he answered hoarsely.
The line went dead, Travis obviously not willing to give her a chance to argue. She’d actually gotten to him, shaken him up a bit with her own slam back at him.
Maybe she should be upset that she hadn’t really talked him into taking some of the clothes back, or irritated because he’d just assumed she’d go out to dinner with him. But the only emotion she felt at the moment was a giddiness that bubbled up inside her at the thought of seeing Travis again.
She laughed and started going through the boxes for something to wear that evening.
Travis leaned back in his office chair and closed his eyes, trying not to look at the desk and picture Ally sprawled out on top of it, abandoned and desperate. He tried not to hear her husky moans of pleasure as she splintered apart as she came for him.
Fuck! He hated that damn desk. It was like torture working in his office every day, trying not to think about what had happened on top of that very desk. Sometimes he even swore he caught her scent every now and then, a ghostly aroma of what she had smelled like in her arousal.
Her words about sucking him off went through his mind over and over again, making his cock rock-hard, and his fists clench on top of the desk. “I need a new fucking desk,” he said harshly, thinking in reality what he needed was an exorcism. Ally haunted him almost every minute of every day. And it had gotten even worse since he’d spent the weekend with her, realizing how much he adored just about everything about her. Hearing about her childhood and her vulnerabilities just made him even more protective, more determined to make her life everything she deserved.
“You paid a fortune for that desk. Why would you want to get rid of it?” Kade’s voice sounded from just inside Travis’s office door.
Opening his eyes, Travis gave his twin a disgusted look. “I don’t.”
“I’ll take it if you want to replace it,” Kade said casually, closing the door and moving to drop into the chair in front of Travis’s desk.
Oh, hell no. No way was Kade going to be using the desk that Travis had used when he’d made Ally come for the first time. “No,” he answered angrily.
“Okay. Fine.” Kade held up a hand in defeat. “I thought I heard you say you wanted a new desk. I was just offering to take it off your hands. I wanted to see how Ally was doing. Have you heard from her?”
“Yeah. She’s doing okay,” Travis told his brother in a milder tone. “I just wish she was back. The office doesn’t run the same without her here.”
“You miss fighting with her,” Kade said teasingly.
“I miss everything about her,” Travis admitted. “She’s…efficient.”
“Her ex really did a number on her. Asha told me about it,” Kade replied, his voice tinged with anger.
“I’d like to kill him, but I think it would upset Ally,” Travis said morosely.
“You have it pretty bad for her, don’t you?” Kade asked quietly. “Don’t deny it, Trav. I’ve known for a while now.”
“How did you know?” Travis eyed his brother warily.
“I have it bad myself. I can see the signs. I think you’ve always fought with Ally to keep her at a distance. How long?”
Travis sighed, not wanted to admit it, but needing to talk to Kade. “Since the fucking day I hired her. There were more experienced applicants, people who had better qualifications. But I must be a damn masochist, because I hired her anyway. I couldn’t stand the thought of not seeing her again.”
“Does she know?” Kade asked quietly.
“She should. I tell her every damn day that I want to fuck her,” Travis grumbled.
Kade coughed hard several times before gasping. “Very romantic and smooth, Trav. Is that all you want from her?”
Was it? Travis didn’t exactly know. “I don’t do romance, and all I know is that the woman drives me crazy.”
“She was hurt pretty badly, Travis. Ally may act tough, but she’s fragile right now. Her self-esteem was battered. If all you want is a fuck, get it somewhere else.”
Travis slammed his fist down on the wooden desk, making everything on the surface rattle. “Don’t you think I’ve tried? I don’t want anyone else. I can’t do another woman. I just want her. I want to kill any man who looks at her, anyone who hurts her in any way. I want to give her anything and everything she wants. I want her to be happy, dammit.”
Kade grinned at Travis. “Why didn’t you try to take her away from her asshole ex before?”
“Because I didn’t know he was a bastard. I thought she was happy. I’m an asshole, Kade. Everybody knows that. I thought she was better off with a nice guy.”
“And now that she’s single?” Kade prompted.
“She’s mine,” Travis growled. “I’m not giving her a chance to hook up with another loser. If she wants an asshole, she can just take me.”
Kade chuckled before he answered more seriously, “It’s your turn, Travis. You’ve spent your whole life taking care of the business, the employees, Mia, and me. It’s time for you to figure out what you need.”
“I need her,” Travis replied desperately. “Christ. I don’t know how you do it. How do you need a woman so much and survive?”
Kade smirked. “You don’t. So you make damn sure you get her.”
“She’s stubborn,” Travis grumbled. “She doesn’t even want to take the new clothes I bought for her. It’s in her damn contract. I provide her a new wardrobe.”
Kade grimaced. “Women are funny that way. Asha did the same thing.”
“And what did you do?”
“I ignored her protests. She got over it eventually and took them from Maddie as a gift from her sister.”
“Ally complains pretty loud,” Travis answered unhappily, knowing she’d make it difficult for him not to hear her. But he’d still try to ignore it. He wanted her to keep the clothes. Christ! It wasn’t like he couldn’t afford it.
“I know,” Kade said happily. “It’s one of the reasons I think she’s perfect for you.” He hesitated before asking, “What would you have done if Ally hadn’t found out her ex was a dick? What if she had actually gotten married?”
“I don’t know,” Travis answered honestly. “I tried not to think about it, tried to tell myself it didn’t matter. But if it came down to that day, that moment, I’m not so sure I wouldn’t have done just about anything to keep it from happening. The only thing that had ever stopped me was the possibility of ruining her happiness. Shit! I have no idea how I never noticed how tired she was, or how miserable things were for her. I didn’t know she had to work in a damn bar to make ends meet. I thought she had the perfect life, the perfect fiancé who was getting ready to start a prosperous career. I wanted her, but I didn’t think I was the best thing for her.” He was a murderer and an unfeeling bastard. He’d wanted Ally to have someone better than that.
“And now?” Kade asked solemnly.
“Now I’m taking her. After understanding the bullshit she put up with for years, even being with me would be better than that. I’d treat her good, Kade. I’d give her whatever she wanted.”
“Nobody knew what Ally was going through. She hid it very well. It isn’t your fault. I don’t think any of us could see beneath her tough exterior,” Kade told his brother thoughtfully. “I think she just needs a man who cares about her. From what Asha tells me, Ally’s self-esteem got hammered pretty badly. This asshole has obviously been knocking her down mentally for years.”
“He killed her dreams,” Travis said harshly. “Not only did he betray her and leave her stuck with his bills, but he didn’t support her writing either.”
“Ally writes?” Kade asked, surprised.
“Yeah. Incredible stories. She’s talented, and I’m not just saying that because I have a hard-on for her. She has a gift, and he never encouraged it. He made her give it up, manipulated her into thinking everything was her fault or her responsibility. All that the bastard wanted was a meal ticket to get him through school. I’m pretty sure he actually had no intention of going through with the wedding at all. He just played on all of Ally’s weaknesses to get her to support him.” Travis clenched his fists on top of the desk, wishing he had his hands around Ally’s ex’s neck. “She’s so damn smart and beautiful. I don’t know how he managed to convince her otherwise. But he did. Bastard!”
“Sometimes we don’t always see ourselves the way others do, Trav. If someone beats you down long enough, you start to believe it,” Kade replied sadly. “Ally obviously doesn’t see her own worth anymore except for her work. She may be confident in her job, but not in her value as a person. Look at what happened with Asha.”
Travis knew what Kade was saying was true, knew what it was like to be beaten down until you couldn’t see reality. He, Kade, and Mia had experienced that during their childhood and adolescence. Luckily, they’d all had one another. Travis had a hard time comparing Ally to Asha, their personalities on the surface so different. Asha was quieter, shyer. “Asha’s getting better.”
Kade nodded. “She is. But you and I both know that it takes time to undo years of conditioning. Asha and Ally have very different personalities, but I think the reason they became friends is because they understand each other in the ways that really matter.”
“How can I fix her?” Travis asked huskily.
Kade laughed. “She’s not a car, Travis. She’s a woman. They’re much more complicated.”
“No shit. And you aren’t much help.” Travis glared at his twin.
“I think you’ll figure it out. If you really care about her, that’s all that really matters. It’s a hell of a lot more than she’s had in the past.” Kade rose and strolled to the door. He turned around as he opened the door, looking first at Travis and then at his desk, and then smirked. “I think I figured out why you have a love/hate relationship with that desk.”
Travis watched as his brother left the office, letting the door close quietly behind him, still trying to figure out exactly what Kade meant by that comment. Certainly, Kade couldn’t know…
Shaking his head, Travis glanced at the clock, convinced that Kade could never guess why he was really having a “desk frustration” problem. It was three o’clock. Damn! Most days he didn’t give a shit what time it was for any reason other than appointments. Now, he willed the damn clock to move faster.
Irritated, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and sent a text to Ally.
Six o’clock instead of seven.
There. That was one less hour he’d have to wait. At least he’d get to see her sooner. If Ally wasn’t ready or she didn’t get his message, then he’d just wait…or think of something else to fill the time…
He put his phone back in his pocket and turned back to his computer, wondering if he’d completely lost his mind, and thinking he was the most desperate, pathetic guy on the face of the earth. What the hell difference did an hour make?
His phone pinged that he had a text, and he dug it out again eagerly. It was from Ally, and there were no words, just a picture. He touched the image and it came up full screen, a photo of the delicate red lingerie with barely there red panties and a red garter belt.
Travis almost dropped the damn phone.
He groaned quietly and decided that an hour was going to make a hell of a lot of difference.