All Tied Up (Business of Love Book 2) Page 18

  She smiled. “You planned on buying me flowers?”

  “Well, I hadn’t actively thought about it, but you’re the woman I’m dating, and therefore, there were bound to be flowers cropping up in your very near future. Perhaps on your doorstep in the morning with a cup of coffee.”

  “That’s very sweet. It’s the thought that counts.”

  I chuckled. “Verity would disagree.”

  “Verity can suck my ass.”

  I snorted into my glass of wine. Giant red bubbles exploded against the side of the glass and sprayed my face, and Kim broke into hysterical laughter before being consumed by yet another round of fierce sneezes. Soon, we were both bent over in our chairs, clutching our ribs from laughing. Tears were streaming down our cheeks. We hadn’t collected our composure when our meals returned and we started eating. We snickered over our meals like preschoolers, sipped our wine, and poked fun at one another until the sky was a dazzling display of stars twinkling in the dark.

  We found our way once more to the top deck with more wine in hand and bare feet. A blanket had been laid out for us. It was supposed to be littered with red rose petals but I’d seen to a quick last-minute change, opting instead for a few lit candles.

  “Rick,” Kim breathed, “this is beautiful.”

  “We have it all to ourselves until you want to go to bed,” I told her.

  “We’re sleeping out here?”

  I nodded.

  Kim bit her bottom lip and tilted her head back to look at the stars. “You know, I could get used to this rich life of yours. But you have to make me a promise.”

  “Anything.”

  She looked at me out of the corner of her eyes and suddenly got very serious. “If I ever start to remind you of Verity, you slap me silly and make sure I snap out of it. Deal? Because my worst nightmare is turning into one of those money-crazed bimbos who spends all of her time getting her nails done and worrying over what shoes to wear with what outfit—”

  I silenced her by pulling her toward me and pressing my lips against hers. “I can make you a promise, Kim. No amount of money could ever spoil the good in you.”

  Kim blushed and averted her gaze.

  “There’s something I wanted to tell you,” I said.

  Her eyes slid back to me and her lips parted. “What is it?”

  I’d been meaning to tell her this all day but the timing hadn’t been right. I also hadn’t wanted to bring up Verity unless completely necessary. Kim and I were enjoying ourselves too much for me to waste a second or a breath on my ex. But this was important information for Kim to be made aware of. “I changed the locks on the house night before last. And I shipped all of Verity’s belongings to her father’s estate in the Bahama’s.”

  “I thought you told her you would put it all in a donation bin?”

  I chuckled. “Believe me, I wanted to. But sometimes it’s wiser to take the high road.”

  “Does it feel good to have all of her things out of your house?”

  It felt good to have Verity out of every corner of my life: my home, my heart, my head. All of it. And it felt even better to be sharing this moment under the stars with a genuine woman who wanted the same things I did.

  “It feels right,” I said.

  And so does this.

  Chapter 30

  Kimberly

  The scent of Rick’s sandalwood and bergamot cologne mixed with the salty sea air was doing something to my body. I was warm but there were goosebumps on my skin as he ran his hands down my arms to take one of my hands and lead me over to the blanket. We sat down, our hips pressed together, and lowered ourselves down onto our backs to look up at the stars.

  I felt like such an insignificant speck looking up at a universe of infinity.

  In all of this, all these stars and galaxies and lives and experiences, how did I get lucky enough to be the girl lying here beside Rick Garrett?

  I didn’t have an answer to my own question. All I could do was marvel at it all—how surreal and profound it all felt.

  “What are you thinking about?” Rick asked.

  I gazed up at him and snuggled into his side. He wrapped an arm around me. “You,” I said simply.

  “Me?”

  “You. Me. Us. How we’re out here. How I spent every day this past year wondering what it might be like to be with you, and now? Well, I don’t have to wonder. It’s magical.”

  He chuckled softly and pressed his lips to my forehead. “Not all the time.”

  “It sure feels like it’s all the time so far,” I whispered. Then I pushed myself up, swung one leg over his hips, and straddled him. He put his hands on my thighs and I leaned over him with my hands pressed to his chest. “If I’m being honest, this all feels a little too good to be true.”

  He gripped my thighs and I felt him getting hard between my legs. “I can spoil it for you if you want, just so you don’t feel like you’re losing touch with reality. What would do it for you? I could make some misogynistic comments or—”

  “Shut up.” I giggled. “You and I both know you wouldn’t dare.”

  “You don’t know me.”

  I rolled my hips. “Pretty sure I do. And you, sir, are no misogynist.”

  “Only in the bedroom.”

  I arched an eyebrow.

  He gave my ass a hard slap. “And you like it,” he said.

  He wasn’t wrong. I didn’t hate it. In fact, our last sexual escapade had been playing on repeat in my head ever since we got on the plane back in Nashville. I knew how our night was going to end and I’d be a bold-faced liar if I claimed I hadn’t been looking forward to it all damn day.

  Rick was a gentleman by day and a bad boy by night. He knew all the right places to touch to make me come unbound in his hands, and once I was vulnerable, he owned me and my soul until sunrise.

  I ran a finger down his chest. “What are the chances of any of your staff wandering up here and catching us?”

  “Catching us doing what?” he asked innocently.

  “You know what, smart ass.”

  His chuckle was deep and it vibrated against the inside of my thighs. “I may or may not have told them to stay below deck until we take things down to the bedroom.”

  What was the bedroom of a billionaire like on a yacht? I couldn’t fathom what sort of accommodations I’d be staying in tonight, so I shook the thought from my mind. For now, all I wanted was to treat him right and feel him inside me.

  I shimmied down his legs to sit on his thighs so I could undo his pants. He watched me work with his hands clasped behind his head. When I pulled him free of his boxers, I inched farther down his legs so I could lean over and tease him with my tongue. He sucked in a sharp breath that worked as a signal for me to begin.

  His eyes closed when I took him in my mouth and guided him to the back of my throat. I worked him over, nice and slow at first, and then I bobbed on his dick like I did it for a living. His fingers plunged into my hair and held me down. I moaned around him, gripped his thighs, and teased him with my tongue until he let me up for air. Then I did it all over again until he was too sensitive to take anymore.

  He wrapped an arm around me and rolled me over onto my back on the blanket.

  I licked my lips. “Can’t take anymore, champ?”

  “You’re playing a game you can’t win.”

  “I like my odds.”

  Rick ran his hands up my legs and pushed my dress up over my thighs and hips. He paused and peered up at me. “No panties?”

  I wiggled playfully beneath him. “Surprise.”

  “I don’t deserve you.”

  I propped myself up on my elbows and reached for his tie. Then I pulled him toward me for a breath-stealing kiss. When I released him, I could feel my cheeks burning. “Oh yes, you do.”

  Rick settled between my thighs and slid his hands under my hips. I lay back down on the blanket and looked at the stars as he ran his tongue up and down my aching pussy. By now, he must have known I’d be
en thinking about this all day, hence the no panties and how swollen and pink I already was. I’d been ready for this since ten this morning.

  And now that it was here, I was finally free to descend into bliss, to relinquish control, hand the reins over to him, and let him have his way with me. As someone whose job was to always maintain control, there was nothing sweeter than abandoning that course and letting all the unimportant stuff melt away.

  Rick sealed his lips over my clit and suckled gently as he eased a finger inside me. The sensations made my breath hitch in my throat and I clutched the blanket beneath me. He moaned against my flesh and gave me another finger. My eyes practically rolled back in my head. When he pushed upward, knowing the exact sweet spot, I came apart at the seams and he worked me over until I burst apart and came hard and fast with a cry I couldn’t hold on to.

  Clearly pleased with himself, he straightened up, a smirk playing on his handsome and talented lips. “I could listen to you come all night,” he said hoarsely.

  I hooked my legs around him and pulled him down to me. “That could be arranged.”

  His pants were still up, but his cock was out, and he ran the length of himself up and down my dripping pussy.

  He was a tease. A downright tease.

  And I fucking loved it.

  His kiss tasted like red wine and me. I was so turned on it was impossible to keep my hands to myself. I explored every inch of him and managed to get him out of his shirt while he continued to rub against me. I was a panting puddle of desire by the time he worked his pants down his thighs.

  “Do you have a condom?” I breathed.

  He pulled one from his pocket and twirled it in front of my eyes between two fingers. “Of course. You didn’t think I’d go through all of this work and then be unprepared for the big moment, did you?”

  “Oh baby,” I cooed. “The yacht was the big moment.”

  He gave me a devilish grin. “Careful.”

  “What are you going to do? Punish me?”

  He moved in close and nipped at my lips. Then he used my own words against me. “That could be arranged.”

  He handed me the condom and crushed his lips to mine in a desperate, breathless kiss. I sacrificed air for his kiss and clung to him. My hands were in his hair and cupping his cheeks and wandering down his neck. I traced his Adam’s apple with my thumb and relished the abrasive stubble on his jaw against my fingertips.

  When I could no longer stand to wait, I tore open the condom and somehow managed to roll it onto his cock. Then he dropped his hips and pushed against me. He slid inside me, pushing me open, filling me up until I thought I would burst. I held him inside me and he stroked my cheek and gave me sweet gentle kisses until I relaxed.

  Then his hand cupped the back of my neck hard. His fingers pressed in under my jaw. My lips curled in a smile as he pulled out and drove back in, testing me. When I didn’t cry out, he fucked me hard and deep and his fingers on my neck made me dizzy in the most glorious way. I lost all sense of who I was and where we were. I abandoned sense and clung to the pleasure of my second climax so fiercely that I was nothing but sex.

  Nothing but lust.

  Rick released my neck, pulled out, and flipped me over onto my hands and knees. I went without protest and stifled a cry when he filled me up again. He gripped my hips, held me down, and fucked me until I couldn’t hold myself up and I was face first in the blanket, which I used to smother the cries of yet another orgasm.

  Then I was on top riding him reverse cowgirl. My feet were on his thighs and he thrust beneath me while I rubbed my clit and descended into a fit of euphoria. Rick joined me, and when we were both spent, we settled back onto the blankets, half-naked, breathless, and sweaty.

  “Is your yacht soundproof?” I wondered aloud, fearing his entire staff had heard my cries.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “You’re lying.”

  “Also yes,” he mused.

  I giggled and kissed his bare chest. “Your poor staff.”

  He rolled over and held himself above me. His handsome face was framed with stars winking above him. I was certain it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Then he smiled.

  That was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

  “Screw the staff,” he said. “Tonight is about you and me. And we’re only getting started.”

  Chapter 31

  Rick

  I left Kim sleeping in the cabin when I woke at quarter after eight the following morning. I wandered down the narrow hall of the lower deck and found my blurry-eyed way to the kitchen, where the cooks were chatting over a pot of coffee. They saw to fixing two lattes with caramel drizzle on top and sent me off with a platter of fresh chilled fruits, four flavors of yogurt, and granola.

  I returned to the cabin with the tray of goodies and coffees and found Kim still sleeping soundly in the bed.

  I cracked open a curtain to let in some light and let her wake up slowly. If we didn’t have a flight to catch, I would have let her wake on her own, but we had a timeline to keep, and we both needed some nourishment to restore what we’d spent last night.

  When she sat up and saw the tray of fruits, she smiled. “Oh yeah. I could get used to this.”

  Kim began assembling her own bowl of vanilla yogurt with granola and fruit. She ate delicately and closed her eyes as she savored the fresh flavors. “This is heavenly.”

  I helped myself to some fruit as well and nudged her coffee toward her on the tray.

  “How much time do we have before we have to get off the boat?” she asked.

  “About an hour and a half. Enough time to shower, freshen up, and relax a bit. We’re already back at the docks.”

  “Plenty of time,” she said.

  Plenty of time and yet not enough. If I didn’t have to get back to work tomorrow, I would’ve suggested we prolong our little vacation a night longer. Then again, Chessie was waiting at home for me and I missed her dearly. I wasn’t used to spending a full night and a day away from her and I was excited to get back to her and find out how her night was with Jennifer. I’d sent them off to the movies with tickets and popcorn money, and Chessie had been thoroughly looking forward to it all week.

  “I had a good night with you,” Kim said. “How long do I have to wait before we can do this again?”

  “We can easily make this happen again sometime soon.”

  “How soon?”

  I chuckled. Her enthusiasm to spend time together delighted me. “How soon were you thinking?”

  “Tomorrow,” she teased.

  “Give me a couple of weeks. Then we’ll fly out again.”

  “Deal.”

  Kim and I enjoyed our fresh breakfast and a hot shower together, even though the shower left us a little pressed for time. Once we actually got out, neither of us felt much cleaner than when we’d gotten in. We perspired as we put our clothes on and complained about how sticky they felt against our skin.

  “You do not know discomfort until you try to put a bra on when your skin is all sticky like this,” Kim said as she performed magic behind her back and did up her bra clasp. She eyed me seriously. “No idea.”

  “You’ll hear no argument from me. Women are impressive creatures. Heels. Bras. Tummy controls—”

  “Fuck tummy controls,” she said sternly.

  I laughed. “I never said I thought they were a good invention.”

  “Good. Because that’s deal-breaker talk. Eventually, I’m going to fill out and I refuse to subscribe to the pressure of society by wearing a modern-day corset designed to make other people feel more comfortable when looking at you.”

  I arched an eyebrow. “All right. I sense this is a topic not suitable for how little time we have to get off this boat.”

  She gave me a cheeky smile. “Sorry. Easily provoked when it comes to that sort of thing. A friend of mine really struggled with her weight and self-confidence for a long time and she was always looking for something to make her look th
e way she thought she was supposed to in order to be beautiful. It’s hard when someone you love doesn’t see themselves the way you see them.”

  Kim slung her overnight bag over her shoulder, slid her sunglasses into her hair, and waited expectantly for me at the cabin door.

  “I’m coming, I’m coming.” I patted down my pockets to make sure I had all the important items: keys, wallet, and cellphone. Check. Then I fell into step behind Kim and let her lead the way out of the cabin, down the hall, and up the narrow set of stairs to the main deck. The staff was there to see us off and down the ramp. When our shoes hit the wooden dock, Kim wobbled.

  “Whoa,” she said. “Why does it feel like we’re still on the water?”

  “It’s a trick. After you get used to the movement of the boat, solid land always feels a little strange. Give it five minutes. It’ll pass.”

  “Trippy.”

  “Verity used to complain it would make her nauseous.”

  Kim rolled her eyes. “Of course, she did. Only she could find something to complain about after spending an entire night on a damn yacht.”

  Our shoes slapped against the wood as we made our way to the parking lot where the car would be waiting to take us to the airport. The dock was particularly crowded today. It was a sunny Saturday morning, just before eleven, and people were out and about and ready to take their own boats out on the water. Families with kids were passing lunches and coolers from the dock to the boat. Fathers ensured the inner tubes and water skis were on board before pulling away from the docks, and mothers applied sunscreen to noses and ears that were prone to burning.

  The sight made me miss Chessie. The next time we came out, we would definitely take her with us. But I had to move slowly. I wanted to make sure things with Kim were serious and headed somewhere before Chessie got invested.

  Things would be different with Kim. Chessie adored her. Whereas with Verity, there had never been much of a connection. It was one of the things that upset me the most when thinking about my daughter growing up. I wanted her to have a mother figure in her life who was strong, capable, and loving—who wasn’t afraid to show her feelings and talk about the hard stuff just as easily as she could celebrate the good stuff.