Obsessed: Part Two (3 page)

I push my back into the cushions. My body can't stop. I'm rushing towards my release when I feel his breath on my clit. I whimper knowing that when his tongue touches me my hunger for an orgasm under his touch will finally be satiated again. I bite my lip
, as he tastes me. He delicately pulls my clit between his lips. I can't stop myself. I don't want to stop. I wrap my hand into his hair and push him into me. "Please, Jax, please."

"This is where I belong." He breathes against me before encircling my swollen clit again and again with his tongue. I let my body take control and take me over the edge. I moan loudly, clutching his hair with both hands. The desire races through my veins. He slows the pace. It feels like he's slowly and deeply fucking me with his tongue. I push my hips into him, wanting him to taste more, wanting to give him more. I'm near my edge when he moans deeply into me. I fall over the cliff and the pleasure tears through me. I feel it in every inch of my body. I'm so spent. I can't move.

"Beautiful." He barely touches my lips with his own and I taste both of us. "I'm leaving."

I open my eyes and he's there. So close. So tender. "But we didn't." I motion down with my eyes. I thought he'd want to be inside of me. I thought he'd want to feel me, all of me.

"Not yet," he whispers against my mouth. "I want you to take my offer. I want you to understand that I want a new life for you."

I scan his face. I want so much to kiss him and to tell him to stay with me. I want to fall asleep wrapped within the warmth of him. I just stare.

"Call a securities attorney tomorrow. Get him to contact me." He brushes his lips across my forehead before he stands up. "I want this done as soon as possible. I don't want it hanging between us."

I nod my head. He's slipped again. I can see it in his eyes. Tender, loving Jax has become ruthless, obsessed Jax in an instant again. He scoops up his suit jacket and I watch him leave through the corner of my eye.

"Thank you for coming." I awkwardly reach to hug him across the table. "Did you find the place okay?"

His eyes skirt around the room before he responds, "It's not really my kind of place, princess."

I smile at the familiar endearment. "I know, dad. But the steak here is great and I know how much you love steak."

His face lights up at the suggestion of a slab of beef cooked to perfection. "I don't even need to look at the menu now, do I?"

"I'll order for both of us. The train, it was good?" I feel my resolve loosening a bit. Summoning my father to Manhattan may not have been such a bad idea after all.

"It was great. I read the whole trip." He glances at my left hand as he stills. "Is Mark coming?"

The waiter approaches and I order our dinner before turning back to face my father and the conversation I've been dreading for the past six months. "He's not, dad. It's over."

"I told you so." The hairs on my neck prickle at the declaration.

"I know." I respond calmly. "You were right."

"What happened?"

"He cheated on me." I hate those words. I hate the taste of them in my mouth. I hope this will be the last time I ever have to repeat them.

"Mark?" he snaps back. "Our Mark cheated on you? I don't believe it?" The sarcasm in his voice is obvious.

I run my index finger around the handle of the fork sitting in front of me. "He did with many women."

"What women?" he says it with contempt. I can tell that he's angry. I don't blame him. He warned me. He told me that Mark was no good for me and now I have to concede before I can ask for his help.

"One was Liz," I mumble under my breath hoping he won't remember the name of my best friend.

"You're joking?" The words fly out accompanied by small traces of the bourbon he's drinking. I'm surprised he didn't spit the entire mouthful in my direction.

I breathe a heavy sigh. "I'm serious."

"What kind of people are you associating yourself with, Ivy?" his voice cracks.

"I had no idea, dad. I should have listened to you." I tremble knowing that I was too stubborn back when it mattered. My father was wise, he was strong and he was genuine. If his inner instinct had told him that Mark wasn't good for me that should have raised a red flag in my head. I wish I could undo the past few years. I wish I had taken my father's advice to heart.

He stands and I panic. He's leaving. He's so embarrassed by what I've done with my life that he's going to walk right out of this restaurant, get back on a train headed to Boston and I'll lose him again for the next few years. My eyes well with tears as I bury my head in my hands.

"Princess." His voice is right next to me. "You should have called me. I would have come and given Mark a piece of my mind."

I throw my arms around his neck and pull him to me. The overwhelming scent of his cologne takes me back to when I was a little girl and I would sit on his lap for hours while he read to me each night. This is my home. This is where I belong.

"You would have hit him, daddy." I giggle as I pull back to look at his weathered face.

"I could take him. I'd sucker punch him when he was texting on that fancy phone of his." He winks at me.

I laugh out loud. I feel a sense of calm and contentment. I haven't laughed like this with my father in so long. I finally feel anchored again. "Thank you for coming." I cup his cheek in my hand. "It means everything to me."

"You mean everything to me." He kisses my palm. "Now where's my steak?"

***

"No one can grill a steak like your mama could but that wasn't half bad." My father wipes the last remnants of mashed potatoes from the corner of his lips. "Now let's get to the nitty gritty of why I'm here."

I look across the table at him and I feel a nervous knot form in the pit of my stomach. "It's about Mark and some shares I have in his company."

"That real estate company he owns?" he takes a long sip of the water as he gazes over the glass at me.

"Yes." I nod. "He gave me ten percent when we split."

"It must be worth something?" He's scanning the dessert menu and running his finger across the page as if to check the prices.

"Someone told me it was worth ten million." I cringe as I say the number. My father comes from humble beginnings and although he worked hard to make a very comfortable life for my sister and me after our mother died, we didn't have anything in excess ever.

The menu falls from his hands onto the table as his jaw drops. Then, as if in slow motion, he shakes his head from side-to-side a few times. "I heard you wrong, princess. My hearing isn't what it used to be."

"No, you heard me right." I swallow the last few drops of red wine that have been taunting me from the bottom of my glass since before dinner arrived. "I was told the shares are worth ten million dollars."

"You're rich." A wide grin takes over his face. "You're rich, Ivy. Sell them back to him."

"No." I know this is the point where I should start explaining about Jax. I should launch into a detailed description about how we met and what he might or might not mean to me, but telling my father I'm involved with Mark's business partner can't go over well. I'd just mended one broken fence tonight; I didn't want to break another.

"Mark doesn't want the shares?"

"I don't know. We haven't discussed it." I shrug my shoulders and steady my breath before I continue. "Actually, Mark's partner wants to buy the shares."

"Sell them." He says it matter-of-factly as if there's no room for consideration of any other idea.

"Do you think I should?" I quiz wanting him to tell me it's the absolute best idea I've ever had.

He motions for the waiter before he turns back to me. "Will it mess things up for Mark if you do?" He throws me a playful grin.

I can't help but smile back before I nod.

"There's your answer." He winks before ordering something decadent off the menu for dessert. "You only live once, Ivy. Make him pay."

"You're exactly as I remember you, Ivy." His voice is deep and melodic and I'm surprised by how much he's changed since I was younger.  He's even more attractive. His jaw has filled out and his black hair is a perfect contrast to his deep blue eyes.

"I'll take that as a compliment." I try to smooth out a crease in the skirt of the red dress I'm wearing. "I'm thankful that you could see me at such short notice, Mr. Moore."

"It's Nathan." He motions to a leather chair situated directly in front of his desk. "I chased you with frogs when we were kids. I don't think Mr. Moore is appropriate."

I laugh at the memory of our shared childhood. "How is Sandra? I haven't spoken to her since graduation."

"She's still back in Boston. Well, actually she's living in Medord now. She got married. You knew that, right?" He leans back in his chair.

"No." I do little to veil the surprise in my voice. "To who?"

"Travis Mitchell."

"Shut up." I blurt out before pulling my hand to cover my mouth. "I'm sorry." I giggle at the wide grin on his face.

"I know, right?" He runs his hand over his chin. "He knocked her up right after graduation."

"She has a child?" I'm shocked hearing the sordid tale of my best friend from high school's adventures in marriage and motherhood. I can't believe she married the boy who had been shamelessly declaring his love for her since middle school.

"Two kids." He reaches across his desk to retrieve a framed photograph and hands it to me.

I bite my lip at my first look at the two angelic faces smiling at me. "They're so beautiful."

"Madison and Mackenzie," he says it with pride. "They're great. I go back at least once a month to get my quality uncle time in."

I smile as I try to absorb the information he's throwing at me. I miss Sandra. I need to call her and congratulate her on her life. "I envy her in some ways," I say quietly.

"Me too," he confesses. "But all of that and more can be yours as soon as you become Mrs. Mark Carleton."

"You heard about that?" I wrinkle my nose.

"Everyone back home heard about it. It was in all the papers." He cocks an eyebrow.

I sigh. I'm going to have to explain to my childhood crush that I'm no longer marrying the man everyone still seems to think I'm devoted to. "We're not getting married. That's part of the reason why I'm here."

"I'm sorry to hear that." There's no indication of emotion in his tone. "I wondered why you needed a securities attorney."

"My dad mentioned your name when he was here for dinner the other night."  I look past Nathan to the stunning view of midtown Manhattan that sits outside his windows. "He thought you were still in Boston. I was surprised when I realized you were here in New York."

"I moved out here a few months ago when I turned thirty." He chuckles before he continues, "I guess I needed a change of scenery."

"I love it here." I lock eyes with him. "It's been good to me."

"Apparently it has if you need my services." He grins as he opens a tablet. "What can I do for you, Ivy Marlow?"

"I own shares in Mark's real estate investment firm. I want to sell them." My stomach tightens as I say the words. I'm actually moving forward with this and as soon as Nathan gets involved, there's no turning back.

"Then I'll make sure you sell them." He pushes his chair back and effortlessly stands. He seems so much taller than I remember.

I follow his lead. "Is that it?"

"For today." He walks to wear I'm standing. "I'll have my assistant draw up a contract and he'll send that over to you this afternoon. Once you sign that I can access everything I need to and we'll come up with a fair asking price and start looking for an interested party."

"Someone is already interested." I blush when I say it.

The corner of his mouth turns up slightly. "I'm not surprised."

I stare into his eyes as my heart plunges back to my early teenage years. I'd swoon over pictures of him in Sandra's house and melt whenever he walked into the room. I briefly have a flash of what my life might have been like if he had actually taken notice of me when I was seventeen and desperately infatuated with him.

I shake my head to clear my thoughts. "I'll wait to hear from you."

He places his hand on my back before opening his office door. "I'll be in touch very soon."

***

"There you are, dear." Mrs. Adams greets me as I exit the taxi.

"What are you doing out here?" I reach for her arm, helping to steady her as she limps towards me through all the pedestrian traffic. "You should be inside."

"Nonsense." She scoffs as she allows me to lead her toward the shade of the building. "It's a beautiful day and I was just taking a small walk."

I tilt my head towards her knowing that she's way too independent for her own good. "I just wish you'd ask Oliver to walk with you." I try not to let my concern overtake my tone.

"That young man was here looking for you again." She stops mid step to point her finger at me. "You know the one."

"Jax." I say.

"Yes. I don't understand that at all. Who names their child
Jax? Is that short for something?"

I smile. "I don't think so. It's one of those hippie names."

She nods her head in agreement as I lead her into the elevator and press the button for our floor.

"Did you talk to him?" I ask hoping that my curiosity isn't carrying through to my tone.

"I didn't." She steps out into the hallway and starts in the direction of her apartment as I follow. "I saw him knocking at your door so I peeked out to see what was going on."
I try to stifle in a laugh. Mrs. Adams was definitely better than any security system I could have installed. Somehow she still was able to hear every small noise and knew everyone's business often before they even did.

"I was tempted to tell him to go away or I'd call the police." She fumbles with the assortment of keys trying to find the ones that unlock her door. "But I thought better." The door finally flies open and I guide her inside.

"I'll deal with him." I lead her to her favorite chair before I walk towards the kitchen. "Do you want your tea iced?" I call over my shoulder.

"Yes, dear, with lemon."

"Jax is actually going to buy the shares I have in Mark's company." I hand her the tall glass of tea before sitting across from her. "It's going to help me a lot."

"Whatever makes you happy, dear." She pats her small hand over mine. "Just be careful with your heart."

"I am." I stand to leave. "I have to be."