B00BR2BOUU EBOK (30 page)

***

We went up a few flights of
stairs, past the accommodation levels and to a door which read ‘Roof Top Garden’.
Fortunately, there was nobody up there as it appeared everyone was downstairs
in the bar. I watched him roll a rather large heavy pot plant in front of the door
in order to prevent anyone from disturbing us, then he stood back, and brushed
his hands together looking quite happy with himself. He turned and made his way
towards me, once again displaying a sexy, desperate need for me. I threw my
arms around his neck, as our lips and tongue reuniting again. I automatically
went up on my tippy toes for the need of extra height, so he wrapped his arms
around my lower waist and lifted me, spinning us both around. Deep down, I knew
I needed to stop him, to let him know I had boundaries now, and rules. I had to
let him know that I was not putty in his hands and that I could resist him if I
wanted to. The problem was, I obviously did not want to, and he knew it.

“Bryce?”

“Uh huh?” He did not want to
break our kiss.

“Stop kissing me.”

“No, Ms. Summers, are you
crazy?” I giggled, which seemed to do the trick and break the kiss, so I pulled
away while I had the chance, and looked into his compelling eyes, eyes filled
with complete joy, and eyes filled with love for me.

“Sit down, I have a few
things I need to say.”

He sighed then conceded. “I
know.” We walked over to the cast iron patio setting near the brick balustrade
and took a seat. I inhaled a few deep breaths, and quickly ran over a few
things in my head before actually opening my mouth to speak.
Right, do it.

“Rick came up Tuesday and
stayed.” I watched his body go rigid, so continued instantly. “He needed to see
the kids, and they needed to see him. It also gave us a chance to talk.” He
didn’t move, just sat there quietly, letting me speak. “I’m not angry with him
anymore, and I’m not angry with you anymore either. Don’t get me wrong, I’m
fucking hurt by what you both did, but I’ve also come to realise this is all
partly my fault too.” He went to object, so I hushed him, not only with my
finger and sharp ‘shhh’ but also with my piercing stare. “Yes, I am partly at
fault. I flirted with you and crossed too many lines when I shouldn’t have, and
that was wrong. Rick deserved better than that. Now, that being said, he knows he
fucked up, and he knows he should never have accepted the money. He also now
realises that you and I are in love, and he pointed out that if he had
recognized that before accepting your money, he would never have taken it.” Bryce
rolled his eyes, and that pissed me off. “Don’t sit there and fucking mock
him.” My tone seemed to shock him. “Rick and I have been together for a very
long time, Bryce, and he loves me very much. So, yes, I believe him when he
says he has made a huge mistake.” He shifted in his seat and showed the first
sign of worry. “You should never have offered him money Bryce. Did you not stop
and think for one second that I would find out eventually?”

“I knew you would find out.”

“Yet, you did it anyway,
knowing how disgusting, hurtful, and wrong it was. I knew you were hiding
something from me, and I gave you many times to confess, instead you chose to
lie to me by omission.”

He leaned forward and clasped
both his hands together.

“Yes, I knew how wrong it
was, it tore me apart every time I saw the hurt you felt and every time you
blamed yourself. It fucking killed me, Alexis, and it frightened the hell out
of me to think that when you found out what I had done, you would leave me. I
couldn’t tell you because I had to show you just how much I loved you first, to
make you see that no matter what happened we would overcome anything. Hunny don’t
you see? All I could do before the truth came out was convince you that we
belonged together, and that I couldn’t possibly love anybody as much as I love
you. You know that, don’t you?”
I do, how could I not?

“Yes, I know you love me, but
things have changed. Rick did not cheat on me, and that was a big factor in
deciding I was going to start a new life again.”

Bryce squinted his eyes and
clenched his fist.

“What?”

“Nothing, I just don’t
believe it.”

“Believe what?”

“That Claire set him up.”

“You saw the photos, Bryce,
it was clear he did not want her there.” I noticed the pained look on his face.
I think he desperately wanted Rick to be guilty.

“Things aren’t always what
they seem Alexis, I will find out the truth.”

 “You need to stop with the
creepy research, Bryce. It’s wrong.”

“No. Research plays a vital
part of what I do and who I am. What I need to do is make sure my research is
fool-proof, which obviously it wasn’t in this case.”

“No, Bryce, it wasn’t.” We
sat there in silence for a minute stubbornly assessing each other. “I’ve
decided I am now single, unattached, and neutral. Switzerland if you may.” He
let out a laugh and sat back smirking. “Do you find that funny, Mr. Clark?”

“Yes, very.”

“Why?”

“Because you are not single,
Ms. Summers, you are mine.” He smirked at me, making me lean forward with a
confident, lust fuelled stare.

“Correction, Mr. Clark, I was
yours. I am not anymore. I am no one’s, not yet anyway.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE

He grabbed my face and sealed
my mouth with a hungry kiss. I gave into him for a second, then bit his lip and
pulled back. He clenched his fist and twitched his eye, but still looked amused,
obviously not taking me seriously.

“Bryce, I’m serious. I am now
single. Rick will stay at his parent’s house until he has bought himself a nice
new home with the money you gave him, therefore, I am now single and officially
on the market.” He ran his hand through his hair, contemplating what I had just
said, then raised his eyebrow and shook his head in conceit.

“In that case, Ms. Summers,
can I ask you out on a date?” I felt my face rise into a smile, even though I
willed it not to do that.

“Yes you can, anybody can.”

“No they can’t.”

I scoffed. “Yes they can,
it’s up to me whether I say yes or no.”

“Can Rick ask you on a date?”
Ah now you are getting it.

“Yes, Bryce, he can and he
will. He has told me he is not going to give up on us. He wants a new start,
and like I said before, I am now unattached and available.” He leaned forward,
grabbed hold of my chair, and dragged it closer to him until we were
practically nose to nose.

“You are not available, my
love. If he wants to fight for you, I will show him exactly what a fight is.”
Oh
shit, he is so lusciously protective and sexy and possessively hot.
“Tell
me something, Hunny, when he touches you here...” He placed his hand on my
thigh, sending pleasurable waves of sensation directly in between my legs. “When
he touches you here, do you feel what you are feeling now?” I whimpered at his
touch.
No, not really, not for a long time anyway.
I didn’t say anything
because he already knew the answer. He opened my legs and ran both hands up
them, then grabbed hold of my arse and lifted me onto his lap. “Do you honestly
think he can fight for you over me?”
Don’t answer that, Alexis.
I ran my
hands through his hair, he groaned ever so slightly, making me clench my pelvic
floor.

“I have to give him a chance,
Bryce. Our whirlwind romantic week is over, and it’s now back to reality for me.
I have a home to keep, kids to clothe, feed, wash, love and play with. I cannot
just abandon all that.” He looked at me strangely.

“Why would I think you’d
abandon that?”

“I don’t know, we’ve never
really discussed me as a package.”

He gripped me tighter and
looked me up and down. “And you are quite the package, my love.”

I smiled at his compliment.
“Seriously, Bryce, I know you want me, you have made that very clear, but do
you want me and my children? That’s the question.” I hopped off his lap and
walked to the brick balustrade. The view from this roof top was somewhat funny
compared to the penthouse, as you did not get the dramatic effect, nor the
perspective that being forty-three floors up can give you. Instead when I
looked down from here, I found one man taking a piss, offering no assistance
when trying to untangle my head.
Nice!
Bryce walked over and put his
back to the wall.

“Alexis, I want you, only you...”
My heart sank, what did I expect? He would want to wake up one day and
automatically have two children? “I want you, Hunny, and your children are a
part of you. So, yes, I want your children too.” I turned to look at him. “I
love kids, and although I’ve only met Nate and Charlotte once, I can see so
much of you in them both, there is no way I would not want them and love them.”
The relief I felt at the mention of those words was enormous.

“They would have to want you
too, you know? You might have impressed me with your incredibly good looks, hot
body, mind-blowing bedroom antics, guitar playing and cooking skills, but that
will not work on them.”

He crossed his arms. “Two
words my love: helicopter and 4Life.” He raised his eyebrows at me, which made
me laugh.

“Funny that, that’s probably
all it’s going to take.”

He pulled me to him and
secured me in his arms. “I will do anything to have you in my life, whatever it
takes Alexis, I will do it.” I kissed him again. I didn’t want to wait any
longer. I missed the taste of his mouth, the smell of his skin, the feel of his
hair through my fingers as I grabbed it. I missed his sometimes short, rough
stubble that prickled my cheeks and tickled my neck as he made his journey
south. I missed the way my body responded to his touch, from the tingling in my
lips to the moan that resonated from within my throat. I missed how the muscles
in my pelvis would clench and pulse, the way my nipples would firm, and how my
leg would sometimes automatically lift for him to take hold of. All these
things came to life from just one simple touch. “Alexis, I want my cock inside
of you, now!” He groaned.

Oh, fuck!
My breathing was fast and short. “I want your cock
inside of me too, but I don’t sleep with men before I date them.”

He broke away from me. “Well let’s
go on a date, now.”

I laughed at his plea. “Sorry,
I’m busy.”

He found my playfulness
amusing. “When are you available, Ms. Summers?”

‘Well let’s see... Tomorrow
is out, and Saturday I’m going dancing with my girlfriends. Sunday is a school
night...”

“I don’t go to school.”

Ha-ha, very funny.
“Monday, I go back to work.” He smiled. “Um, I’ll
call you, okay?”

“Monday, I am not waiting any
longer than Monday.”

“Well that depends if my boss
keeps me back on Monday.”

“He might just do that.”

“Good. Now come on, I need to
go back downstairs, plus there is a really good band on tonight and the lead
guitarist makes me ‘cumvulse’ when he plays.” I went to leave, but he held my
hand out at full stretch.

“I will not lose you again,
my love, ever. If you want me to fight for you I will, but it will only prolong
the inevitable.”

“Bryce, it’s not about you
fighting for me, or proving your love for me. It’s not about a competition
between you and Rick. It’s about me and my children finding our feet without
their father then reassessing what we want and need as a family.”

“You need and want me.”
Grrrr,
yes, but? But? Fuck!

I pulled him along. “Fuck,
you are infuriating.”

He laughed as I dragged him
along, then grabbed my hips and whispered in to my ear, while rubbing himself
against me.

“Fuck, your arse in denim
does things to my cock.”

I loved his sexy compliments.
“Shut up and move this potted plant.”

***

We walked back into the bar
and a couple of slightly intoxicated men gave Bryce their manly approval by commenting
on our absence.

“Nice work, mate, that didn’t
take you long.”

“You showed her how it’s
done!”

He tensed ever so slightly,
so I squeezed his hand to reassure him that they did not bother me at all, if
anything their behaviour was laughable. Carly was still at the bar and if my
eyes did not deceive me, I could swear she just wrote down something on the
back of a coaster and slipped it to Lucas.
Nice work, Carls!
Jen was in
deep discussion with Lucy, and they seemed very comfortable with each other, that
was until we stopped right next to them, and they both stopped talking.

“Lucy, I’ve missed you. You
were fantastic up on stage.” I gave her a hug.

“It obviously worked!” She
smiled at Bryce.

“Yes, but we have a lot of
things to work through and sort out, so let’s just say it is a work in
progress.” Jen smiled and nodded in approval.

“So, Alexis, seeing as we are
now dating, can I buy you a drink?” I rolled my eyes at him, but secretly loved
his naughty stab at me.