The Men On Fire: A Complete Romance Series (3-Book Box Set) Page 4

  I squeeze her hand. “But the thought of my hands on you—that’s okay?”

  She looks at me and I can’t tell if she’s blushing or not, but I’m pretty sure I have my answer.

  We stop and watch the sun get swallowed up by the sea. The colors of the horizon are brilliant. Usually I like to be out here playing guitar at this time of day. The sunset is quite inspirational. But now, I think I’ve found a different kind of inspiration.

  “Ivy, would you like to come back to my place for a drink?”

  “No,” she says, still looking out at the ocean.

  I try not to be too disappointed. But after the day we’ve had together, it’s hard not to be.

  Then she squeezes my hand and nods behind us. “My place is closer.”

  Relief flows through me as a smile overtakes my face. I have the urge to pick her up and carry her, but I don’t. I fear I’ve already scared her a little with comments of asking her out every night. But after what happened with Aspen and then Brooke, I promised myself I’d be truthful when it came to women. And it’s true—I want to spend every day with Ivy. I can’t even explain why I’m drawn to her. Maybe it’s the fireman in me wanting to protect her from whatever is behind those sad eyes. Maybe it’s the way she feels so much emotion when she sees a waterfall, or looks at a sunset, or when it rains. Maybe it’s her intense beauty.

  Whatever it is, I know we were meant to meet. And I plan on making the most of every minute we have together.

  She leads me up to her rental. She’s in a resort, just like I am. All the resorts on the beach are nice, but this one is a notch above the others. Every worker we pass seems to know her name and we are asked no less than three times if we need anything as we make our way through the grounds.

  “Welcome back, Ms. Greene,” a woman says as she holds the door to her building open. “Your bed has been turned down and the fruit you requested is on the counter.” She hands Ivy a flower—one a woman might tuck behind her ear.

  “Thank you, Leilani. Have a good night.”

  “Aloha, Ms. Greene. Enjoy your evening.”

  “That’s the concierge,” Ivy explains, as we get on the elevator.

  “You have a concierge? Just for this building?” I ask with a raised brow. “I mean there is one at my resort, but she sits behind the desk in the main lobby and services everyone.”

  Ivy shrugs as the elevator doors open. We pass by two doors on the way to hers and I notice it takes a lot more steps to get from one door to the next than it does at my place. When she taps her key card to the magnetic lock and the door opens, I can see why.

  The place is spectacular. It reminds me of the homes of a few of my friends. The friends who make millions of dollars a year playing professional baseball. I take a minute to look around at my opulent surroundings.

  “Your family must sell a shitload of flowers,” I say.

  “We do. But it’s just money, Bass. And money doesn’t buy everything.”

  I watch her put the lone flower down on the counter. There is something dark and distant in her eyes. A sadness like I’ve never seen.

  She sees me watching her and tries to paste a smile on her face. But it’s not genuine.

  “How about a glass of wine?” she asks, pointing to a bottle on the counter.

  “Sure.” I grab the bottle and go in search of a corkscrew while she gets some glasses from the cabinet.

  “We can have a drink on the balcony,” she says.

  I pour each of us a glass and we walk over to the balcony doors, my jaw going slack when I see her view. It must be the best on Kauai. Her balcony wraps around a corner and she has an unobstructed view of both the ocean and the picturesque island.

  We sit on the outdoor couch, sipping our wine as the stars become more and more visible in the sky.

  “Why was Aspen the reason you got left at the altar?” Ivy asks out of the blue. “I mean, if you don’t mind my asking. You did say you would tell me the story over dinner.”

  “I did, didn’t I?”

  She nods encouragingly.

  I take a drink of wine and then a breath, hoping I won’t be opening old wounds when I rehash the past for her.

  “I was in love with her,” I say.

  “You were in love with Aspen?”

  I nod. “You already know we met freshman year. We dated for a brief while, but we decided—well, she decided we were better as friends. So that’s what we were. Friends. And we quickly became best friends. We spent every minute together. I helped her get through some bad times when her parents died. She made me not feel guilty about leaving Juilliard and following my dream. We became roommates a year after we met and lived together until she moved in with Sawyer.”

  “Sawyer?”

  “That’s her fiancé. Sawyer Mills. He plays professional baseball.”

  “Oh, right. He plays for the New York Nighthawks, right?”

  “He used to, but now he plays for Kansas City.”

  “And you loved her the whole time?” she asks. “That must have been hard for you to watch her fall in love with someone else.”

  “You have no idea. But it was my own fault. I never told her how I felt. And I ended up doing some stupid things.” I shake my head, remembering how idiotic I was. “I was jealous when Penny started having feelings for Sawyer, so I moved in with Brooke. She was an old friend from school who I knew had always liked me. Then when Penny and Sawyer got engaged, I went off the deep end and asked Brooke to marry me. I didn’t really mean to. I was hurting because I knew for sure that Aspen and I would never be together. And I thought that maybe I was also losing my best friend.”

  Ivy puts her hand on mine. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s fine. I’m fine now. But Brooke saw right through me and when it came down to it, she didn’t want to be my second choice.”

  “Smart girl.”

  I laugh. “Yeah, she is. We still talk sometimes. It took me a while to contact her after she left me. But I needed to apologize. We’re on good terms now. Friendly, but not exactly friends.”

  “And Aspen? Are you still in love with her?”

  I take a drink of wine and think about her question. I’ve thought a lot about that very thing over the past nine months. And for the first time in almost five years, I know what the answer is.

  “No, I’m not. I love her. I’ll always love her, but like a friend. A sister. She’s happy with Sawyer and I can honestly say I’m happy for them. It took me a while to get there, but I did.”

  “So, why wait nine months to take this trip? Did you wait until you were over her?”

  “I had to wait until I had enough time off,” I say. “I had just started my job a month before the wedding. For the past ten months, I’ve been taking on extra shifts and saving up my vacation so between my accrued time off and all the favors owed to me, I could take these two weeks.”

  “But what about the other ticket? Brooke was supposed to come with you? Why not just bring someone else?”

  I shake my head. “There was no one to bring. Not that I haven’t dated since Brooke. I have. But not anyone interesting enough to share Hawaii with.” I lace my fingers with hers. “And now I’m glad I came alone.”

  “Tell me about Denver,” she says. “The one Aspen said might not be able to leave Missouri for the wedding. I assume they are related—Denver and Aspen.”

  “They’re twins.”

  “Oh, that’s nice. Are they close?”

  “Extremely. And it’s killed her to watch him go through what he has. He was falsely convicted of a crime and now he’s on probation and hasn’t been able to leave the state for a long time.”

  “What was he convicted of?”

  I shrug. “Some white-collar crime. Ponzi scheme or something. Aspen is one hundred percent sure he wasn’t aware he was defrauding people. In fact, she gave him her inheritance to invest and lost it all in the process. Denver would have never taken her money. I met him a few times. Before he was arrested
, he would fly up to New York so they could spend their birthdays together. Cool dude. He and I would jam sometimes. He likes guitar, too.”

  She puts her drink down and stands up. “Stay here. I have something I want to show you.”

  She goes inside and returns a minute later with a guitar. It’s nothing special. Old and weathered for sure. But it brings a smile to my face.

  I raise my brows in question.

  “Don’t flatter yourself, Sebastian Briggs. I didn’t get this because of you. There is a second-hand shop next to the market. I was browsing through the shop last week and came across this, so I bought it.”

  “You play?” I ask excitedly.

  She laughs. “Not much. I can strum a tune or two. Nothing like the way you can, though. I’m actually a bit embarrassed even to show it to you.”

  I hold out my hand. “Let me see it.”

  I spend the next few minutes tuning it. “It’s not half bad,” I tell her.

  “Can you play something?” she asks.

  “Of course.”

  I play the song I composed yesterday while I was watching her walk away from me on the beach. I finished it this afternoon.

  “That was beautiful,” she says when I’m done. “What song was that?”

  “It’s an original. I recently composed it.”

  “What’s it called?”

  “I call it Greene Eyes,” I say, looking deep into her chocolate brown ones, wondering if she understands the meaning.

  Her skin flushes and her tongue darts out to wet her lips. We stare at each other until I put the guitar down and lean in for a kiss. When our lips touch, it’s like nothing I’ve ever known. Her lips are soft. Delicate. Desperate.

  I was worried she might not want to be with me. I was afraid I was scaring her away. But in this moment it seems all she wants to do is get closer. And when I deepen the kiss, she climbs onto my lap. She devours my mouth with such anguish I can almost feel her emotional pain. Part of me feels like she’s doing this for the wrong reasons. But I don’t care. I need her, and she needs me, and that’s the only thing that matters right now.

  I stand up, holding her in my arms as I do. She reaches out to open the door. I carry her through, not bothering to close it behind us because I love hearing the sound of the waves crashing against the beach.

  I carry her into the bedroom and put her down on the bed. She quickly pulls away from me, rolling to the edge of the bed as if she just remembered something. She reaches over to put something into a drawer. A picture frame, I think. I didn’t see what, or who, was in it. But undoubtedly, it’s a clue as to why she’s here.

  “Kiss me again,” she says when she rolls back over.

  I crawl over her, hovering for a second so I can study the beauty of her lying beneath me. Then I lower my head to hers and taste her lips. They still taste like wine. She opens her mouth for me and I let my tongue explore hers again, this time more slowly and deliberately.

  She claws at my back like she can’t pull me close enough. Her hands are everywhere. They are on my arms, my ribs, my hair.

  When I reach a hand between us and caress her breast through her clothing, she moans and I’m instantly hard as steel.

  She untucks my shirt from my pants and pulls it up until I have no choice but to break our kiss and remove it. She works her hands under the waistband of my pants and boxer briefs and grabs the flesh of my ass. She arches her back as she pulls me into her.

  “Take my dress off,” she commands.

  “With pleasure,” I say, sitting up to straddle her as I hike her dress up and over her head.

  “Those, too,” she says, motioning to her bra and panties.

  Jesus. I’ve never been with such a passionate and demanding partner. It’s a huge turn on.

  As soon as I’ve rid her of her undergarments, I remove everything else I’m still wearing. Then I take a moment to appreciate her body. Her creamy white breasts and pelvic area practically glow in contrast to the rest of her tanned body. My cock stands at full attention, knowing what’s about to happen.

  I’m about to climb up her body when she rises onto her elbows. “Please tell me you have a condom. I mean, I’m on the pill, but, well … you know.”

  “I get it. You don’t know me from Adam. It’s fine, I’ve got one.”

  In record time, I get my wallet out of my pants and retrieve it.

  She narrows her eyes at me. “How long has that been in there?”

  I laugh. “Long enough for you to think I’m a respectable guy, but not long enough for it to have expired.”

  Her lips turn up in a half smile. “Good. Put it on.”

  I motion to her naked body that I’ve barely even touched. “Don’t you want me to—”

  “Please,” she says. “I need to feel you. I’ve never …”

  She stops herself, looking like she might reveal something I’m not supposed to know.

  “Whoa. Wait, you’ve never done this?” I ask, utterly surprised. The woman is twenty-four. And quite aggressive I might add.

  “That’s not what I was going to say. Of course I’ve done this.”

  “What were you going to say?”

  She raises a brow at me. “Do you want to talk, or do you want to have sex?”

  “Right.”

  I put on the condom and climb up her body. I use my fingers to see if she’s wet. I slide two of them easily inside her and then put my thumb on her clit.

  She cries out, “Please, Sebastian!”

  I’ve never liked the way my name sounded coming off someone’s lips more than I do right now.

  “Are you sure?” I ask, as my dick touches her entrance.

  “I need this,” she says, her eyes begging me along with her words.

  I lean down and capture her mouth as I push myself inside her. Her tight walls feel so good around me. I pull out and push back in, each time going a little deeper. She grabs my ass, forcing me to hit the end of her. We both groan at the sensation.

  “You feel so good,” I tell her.

  I increase the timing of my thrusts. She bucks her hips and squeezes me from inside. The sensation is almost too intense. It’s all so much. The dancing, the guitar, the sunset, the beach. It’s all a fantasy come to life and suddenly, she has become the woman of my dreams.

  My balls tighten and I pull back and bite my lip, needing to wait for her. I reach a hand between us and pinch her nipple. Then I angle myself to the side and rub her clit as I continue to pump myself into her.

  “Yes!” she shouts into the night. “Oh, God.”

  She spasms around me and I watch her face as her mouth falls open and her head lashes against the pillow beneath her.

  I thrust one final time, my powerful orgasm rocking my body as I still inside her.

  I collapse down onto her. “Jesus, Ivy. That was—”

  “Fast?” she says.

  I laugh, rolling to her side. “Hey, you were the one who wanted to speed things up. I promise you that next time, we’re doing it my way. I’m going to take my time with you.”

  “Next time?” she asks.

  “Yeah. Next time.”

  She lies back on the pillow, looking content. But not necessarily happy.

  “Do you have any bottles of water in your fridge?” I ask.

  “Yes.”

  “Stay here,” I say, getting up to fetch them.

  In the kitchen, I see the flower the concierge gave Ivy. I pick it up and bring it and the water back into the bedroom. I set the bottles on her nightstand and put the flower in her hair. I smile as I put it behind her left ear. The one that means she’s taken.

  She, on the other hand, doesn’t smile at my gesture. She sits up with her back against the headboard and covers herself with the sheet. Then she takes the flower from her hair and holds it in her hands, studying it.

  “Bass, I need you to understand something. I like you, I really do. But I don’t want you to expect more than what we have here in Kauai.”


  I narrow my eyes at her. “The flower wasn’t a marriage proposal, Ivy. I just thought that, well, since”—I wave my arm at the bed—“and we do both live in New York. I thought maybe we could, I don’t know, date.”

  She shakes her head sadly. “I don’t think so.”

  “You mean to tell me ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’?” I ask.

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  “Are you okay, Ivy? Did something happen to you?”

  She shakes her head again. “I need this, Bass. Maybe more than you know. But when you leave in twelve days, that’s when it ends. When I go back to New York, I’ll be a different person. One who isn’t capable of this. I know that makes me sound like a terrible person. One who will just be using you. And I guess I would be. But it’s all I can offer. I guess you need to decide if you want to take it or leave it.”

  I think about what she’s offering me. She’s more beautiful than any woman I’ve ever seen and she’s handing herself to me on a silver platter—no strings attached. It’s every guy’s fantasy. But then why does the thought of having her and then losing her eat me up inside?

  I study her. I study the broken girl with the sad eyes and one thing comes to mind. Sawyer Mills. He was the same way with Aspen at first. Unwilling to let her in beyond the terms of their arrangement. And if he could get past his issues, maybe Ivy could get past hers. But Aspen had months to get him to open up. I have twelve days.

  Ivy opens her bottle of water and takes a drink. She watches me as she puts the cap back on. “It’s a lot to ask,” she says. “And I’ll understand if you say no. But tonight was fun. I enjoy spending time with you. So I hope you’ll say yes.”

  “Under one condition,” I say.

  “What’s that?”

  “You do everything I’m going to do. You come with me on all my excursions and outings.”

  “You want me to give you the honeymoon you had planned?” she asks.

  I laugh. “Well, we already consummated our relationship, so yeah.”

  “You drive a hard bargain, Sebastian Briggs.”

  “In the words of some naked girl I know, take it or leave it, Ivy Greene.”

  A small smile creeps up her face. “I guess I’ll take it.”