A Love Worth Saving (Forever Yours Book 2) (8 page)

Chapter 15

Slumberous jade eyes stared up at him, then Ashley lifted up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

A shudder ripped through him and Reed marveled at how the simple press of her lips against his skin could bring such intense pleasure. He wanted, no craved, more.

“Ashley.” He lowered his head to hers, intending his kiss to be tender, gentle. A leisurely exploration of her sweet, velvety softness, but passion ignited the moment their lips touched.

His mouth took possession of hers with a savage intensity that shocked him to the core. Only this woman could fire this frantic, urgent need inside him.

She kissed him back with an eagerness that not only matched his, it surpassed it.

“Touch me, Reed. I need you to touch me.”

He cupped her ass and pulled her up against him, then did as she asked. He touched her. Raked his hands over her back, her hips, her thighs.

“Yes, Reed. Oh, God. Yes.”

She clamped her arms around his neck, anchored him to her, and gave a cry of satisfaction when his mouth crushed hers.

White-hot heat surged through him. Dear God, he was going to come. Right here. Right now.

His breaths came in short, sharp gasps. “Ashley!” Only she could drive him to the edge of insanity, balancing on a tightrope between pleasure and pain. “Baby, we need to slow this down.” It was going to be over too soon if she didn’t stop touching him, and she deserved better.

“I can’t. I need you, Reed.”

He scooped her up into his arms and strode into the bedroom. A light breeze blew in through the open windows, cooling his heated skin. With infinite care, he lowered her to the bed and onto the cotton sheets, then removed the oversized shirt she wore—
his
shirt—then eased the silk boxers over the curve of her hip.

He would never be able to wear either garment again without remembering the sight of them on her lush, ripe body or the feel of her soft, smooth skin beneath the palms of his hands as he slid them from her.

He gazed down at her, drinking in the supple curves of her breasts, her arms, her legs. Framing her face with his hands, he gazed deep into her eyes. “You are so beautiful.”

Tears pricked in the corner of her eyes and he kissed them away, then skimmed lazy fingers through the glossy mane of fiery hair fanned out before him, over her cheeks, down the long column of her elegant neck, and over the sculpted beauty of her shoulders.

He’d missed her, and not just the sex. He missed the way she snuggled up against him each night before she drifted off to sleep, how she fit perfectly into the crook of his arms, waking in the morning with her warm softness pressed against him.

He cupped one pert breast in each hand. “Perfect.”

She sucked in a deep breath when he brushed his thumbs over the tips of her rosy pink nipples. They stiffened into taut peaks. She moaned.

He lowered his mouth and suckled while his hands floated over her ribcage, her flat stomach.

She shuddered. “Reed, please.”

He continued the gentle torment, letting his hands glide down her thighs, over the curve of her smooth hip. Her breathing grew ragged. She squirmed, her head thrashing side to side.

He gazed down at the hectic flush in her face, the wild passion blazing in her eyes. Knowing he could give her such exquisite pleasure kindled a primitive satisfaction deep inside.

He parted her legs and then slipped his fingers into her hot heat. Her body bucked and bowed.

“I want you inside me. Please.”

How could he argue when he wanted the same? He levered up on his arms, hovering just above her and stared down into those stormy green eyes. Her lush lips curved into a glorious smile and she kissed him.

He trembled and drove into her with one powerful thrust.

“You, Reed,” she cried out. “Only you.”

Her hands roamed over his back, his arms, his hips. Hot, aching need stormed through him. He plunged into her again.

She sobbed. “Only you, Reed.”

Each little cry, each sob of pleasure, every tiny gasp she made brought him closer to the brink.

“Reed, Oh Reed.”

She wrapped her legs around his waist.

“Ashley,” he cried hoarsely. His release came in a shattering surge that jolted every fiber of his being.

A moment later, she hit the same peak with a shuddering moan.

Her arms came around him, tears filling her eyes. “I love you, Reed. So very much.”

Chapter 16

Reed shook. His pulse raced.

Ashley loved him.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to be. Theirs was a fun-only-nothing-serious affair with great sex.

Phenomenal sex, yes.

Love,
absolutely
not.

Love didn’t last. When it ended . . . He shuddered.
Get a grip.

He peered over at Ashley. She slept soundly. She was still recuperating. He’d let her rest.

He tossed back the sheet, got out of bed, and strode into the bathroom. After setting the temperature to a frosty ninety degrees Fahrenheit, he turned on the shower and stepped inside.

The cool water cascaded over him and the vicious tumult of sensations swirling inside subsided.

He wasn’t in love with Ashley. He’d gone too long without sex. Yes, that had to be it. Reed McNamara never had a serious relationship with a woman in his life. And that wasn’t going to change now.

He lathered up, rinsed, then turned off the water and stepped out. After toweling dry, he went back into the bedroom and dressed.

Ashley woke. Alone. She rolled onto her side and peered over at the clock sitting on the bedside table. Two o’clock. She’d slept for more than two hours. Reed had worn her out! She laughed, feeling happier than she had in weeks.

Her old clothes sat in a neat, folded pile on the dresser. She donned the leggings, but it was too hot for the sweatshirt, so she put the T-shirt she’d worn earlier back on and went in search of Reed.

She found him in the home office, sitting behind a sleek, ultra-modern, metal and glass desk, his head bent over. He was dressed in a pair of tan dress pants, a long-sleeved button-down shirt, and matching tie.

The complete antithesis of the Reed from earlier today. Her stomach sank.

He looked up at her as if sensing her presence.

“You’re awake. Good. I’ve got to go into the office. I thought we’d head back to the city after you have something to eat.”

His short, crisp tone set her on edge. The old work-a-holic Reed was back for sure.

“I’m not hungry. The chicken soup was filling.”

He gave a sharp nod. “Okay, then let’s go.”

They made the long drive in silence. When they arrived,  he turned to her.

“I’ll, ah, see you around.”

A violent tremor shot through her and her entire body seemed to cave in on itself. See her around? After what they’d just shared?

Idiot, idiot, idiot.

Nothing had changed between them. How could she have imagined otherwise.

You wanted to be wrong. You wanted Reed to love you as much as you love him.

A hysterical laugh bubbled up inside her. What a fool she’d been. Reed didn’t love her and never would. He wouldn’t allow himself to. His past experiences had turned him bitter and nothing she said or did would change that.

No matter how much she wished the opposite were true, she didn’t mean a damn thing to Reed McNamara. She flung the car door open, then turned to face him. “You know, sometimes you can be a real jackass.”

Shoulders squared, head held high, Ashley slipped from the car and walked with purpose to the main entrance of the steel structure that held the penthouse condo.

She wasn’t going to cry, she told herself as she rode the elevator to the top floor. He wasn’t worth it.

Her cell phone buzzed when she reached the front door. Maybe Reed had second thoughts? She yanked the phone from her purse and checked the caller ID.

It wasn’t him.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
“Hey, Nicole.” She made a determined effort to sound normal.

“Hey, Ash. How are you doing?”

Tears clogged her throat. She let out a strangled sob.

“Ashley?”

She didn’t respond. Couldn’t. Her breaths came in sharp gasps.

“What’s wrong Ashley?”

A loud wail escaped from deep inside. “Reed and I are getting divorced.”

Chapter 17

Reed arrived at the downtown offices of Paradis and McNamara at three O’clock which gave him plenty of time to prepare for his four p.m. meeting.

He stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the tenth floor. His cell phone buzzed. He pulled out and read the text from Max.

One word blazed across the screen.
Dumb-ass
.

He stiffened. Ashley hadn’t wasted any time telling her sisters about the divorce. It had only taken him fifteen minutes to get from the condo to the parking garage.

His phone buzzed again. This text from Nicole.
What the hell!

He shouldn’t be surprised. He’d known the families would be upset by the news, which is why they’d waited until after the engagement party to let them know.

The elevator opened and he stepped into the lobby and made his way down the hall.

Ashley’s words echoed in his mind.
You’re a real ass, Reed.
His gut roiled.

“I’ll see you around” had been a harsh thing to say, no downright unfeeling considering what had happened between them earlier. And that’s what he’d been going for. Cold-hearted bastard.

He’d gotten what he wanted. Ashley now hated him. Bile rose in his throat.

It was better this way. Easier, anyway, for her to loath him than go on loving someone who didn’t love her back. Couldn’t love her.

Reed walked into his office.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Daniela stormed into the room.

News travels fast.
He wouldn’t let her spark his temper. “Good afternoon, Daniela. What can I do for you?”

Daniela slammed her hands on her hips and glared up at him. “What the hell are you doing? You’re one of the smartest people I know, but walking away from Ashley has to be the most . . . unintelligent thing you’ve
ever
done.”

“I see you’ve heard the news.”

“Yes. You’re divorcing Ashley.”

He nodded.

“How can you stand there so calmly when you’re ruining your life?”

“I don’t see us splitting up as ruining my life. Things didn’t work out.”

She shook her head. “Did you even try?”

No
.
You ran like hell the minute things got tough.
“This is none of your business, Daniela.” He took a seat behind the massive oak desk, pulled out the file he’d been studying before he’d left the house, the papers Marsh had sent detailing the divorce settlement, and began reading where he’d left off earlier.

Daniela blew out a harsh breath. “Ashley is better off without you. She deserves someone . . . who is worthy of her.” She turned on her heel and strode out of his office.

Reed sat in the same spot staring at the same page he’d turned to four hours ago. Daniela’s parting words whirled around in his head.
Ashley deserves someone . . . who is worthy of her.

Ashley sat at the mahogany conference table in Dana Roberts’s posh Naperville office listening while Dana specified the last points in the divorce settlement.

Perspiration beaded on her brow, despite the climate-controlled room.

“Do you have any questions?” Dana asked when she’d gone through every detail.

“No.” Everything was as she’d expected.

“Okay. All you need to do now is sign at the bottom of the page.” Dana slid the document in front of Ashley and then handed her a pen.

Just sign on the dotted line and you’ll be a single woman again.
The pen remained poised in her right hand, hovering above the sheet.
Just do it. Sign the damned decree.
She scrawled her signature, then shoved the paper away.

“I’ll have a messenger return these to Marshall Kline today, and send a copy to you for your records.”

Ashley nodded. Her twelve-week marriage was officially over. She felt . . . nothing. No anger. No sorrow. No pain. Nothing. She sucked in a deep breath, let it out slowly, then gathered her things and rose from the chair. “Thank you, Dana.”

Dana cast sympathetic eyes in her direction. She extended a hand. “You’re welcome. Good luck.”

Ashley shook it, then strode from the office with her head held high.

Chapter 18

Reed woke to the sound of his cell phone ringing. He reached over to the bedside table in his Park Hyatt hotel room in downtown Chicago and snatched up the phone. “Reed McNamara.”

“Oh no, it sounds as if I woke you,” an unfamiliar female voice on the other end line crooned.

You did.
He glanced at the alarm clock. Nine o’clock.
Shit.
He’d overslept.

“Reed? Are you there? It’s Marilyn from Willard Properties.”

The real estate agent he’d contacted to sell his condo. “Yes, of course. How are you?”

“I’m fine. We have a buyer who’s submitted an offer on your downtown penthouse.”

That got his attention. “Great. How much are they willing to pay?”

“The wife has fallen in love with the place and doesn’t want to be outbid, so they’ve come in with a full-price cash offer.”

Reed let out a low whistle. “I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

“Then you’re accepting their offer?”

Reed grinned. “Hell, yes.”

“I’ll fax the paperwork over now. Congratulations.”

“Thanks, Marylin.”

“You’re welcome.”

No sooner had he returned the phone to the nightstand when it rang again.

“Reed McNamara.”

“Where the hell are you?”

He snorted. “Good morning to you, too, Daniela.”

“You’re over an hour late for your meeting with Howard.”

Damn.
“I forgot.”

There was a short pause and then Daniela’s voice crackled down the line. “You.
Forgot
? That’s not like you.”

No, it wasn’t like him at all, but he hadn’t been himself lately.

He couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, couldn’t concentrate for shit either. It was the reason he’d wound up here, at the Park Hyatt hotel.

He couldn’t stand being at the house on the lake a moment longer. Ashley’s presence lingered in every room. Her beautiful face and delighted sighs. The heady scent of her perfume that drove him mad with wanting. How that was even possible when she’d been there less than forty-eight hours was beyond him.

He’d tried to go back to the condo, but found no peace. Everything there reminded him of her, too.

“Reed?”

“Tell Howard I’m on my way.”

He arrived at the downtown office a short time later and found Howard seated in one of the two chairs placed in front of his desk. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

Howard frowned. “You look like hell, son. Is everything okay?”

“Let’s not play games. If you’re here to lecture me on how I’m ruining my life, Daniela has already beaten you to the punch.”

Howard let out a loud belly rumble of laughter. “You’re just like your father.”

Reed stiffened. “Excuse me?”

“Stubborn as a mule.”

Reed glared. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“He walked away from your mother because of his stupid pride.”

“Ashley asked me for a divorce, not the other way around.”

“Why, Reed? Did you ever ask yourself that question?”

“Look, things didn’t work out, that’s all.”

Howard laughed again. “Yes, sir,
just
like your father. Although, he finally smartened up. Wish I could say the same about you, son.”

“Smartened up? I think you’d be pissed as hell that he
smartened up
considering my mother divorced you and went back to him.”

“Ah, hell. We should never have gotten married in the first place. I knew she was still in love with him. She never made any secret about that.”

Reed frowned.

“That’s right. I knew she still loved your father.”

“Then why did you propose? And why would she accept? You were married for six years.”

“I asked your mother to marry me because I was lonely. My first wife and I did everything together. It was just the two of us for thirty years and then she died. I was alone for two years and then I met your mother. She made me laugh and I felt alive again. I loved her, but I wasn’t in love with her. Your mother knew that.”

Reed shook his head. None of this made sense.

“Don’t you see? She was lonely, too. And she believed your father would never come to his senses.”

“But he did. And she left you. For him. Didn’t that make you angry? Regardless of the reasons why she agreed to be your wife.”

Hard dark eyes bore down on him, and Reed sucked in a sharp breath.

“I’m gonna say something. And you may not like me much after, but it’s the God’s honest truth. I had thirty of the happiest years of my life with my Mary. If it had been the other way around, and she’d come back to me, I’d have left your mother without another thought.

“I wouldn’t have stuck around for all those years trying to make things work. But your mother isn’t like me. She’s a decent person who took her marriage vows to heart.

“And she didn’t leave me for your father. She had nothing to do with him the whole time we were married. Do you understand that?”

“If that’s true—”

Howard nodded. “That’s right.
I
left
her
. For someone else.”

All this time he’d believed his mother had been the one to walk away, to fall out of love. Again. But the relationship hadn’t been about love. It had been Howard who left. Why hadn’t she ever told him?

You didn’t let her. Wanted nothing to do with her.

Not just her. He’d wanted nothing to do with his father either.

Was sick of the games they’d played with each other. With him.

But, if what Howard said was true . . .

Howard stood. “Well, it’s been good seeing you, son.”

Reed frowned. “Where are you going? I still owe you an update on the Riverfront project.”

“I already know what’s going on. I met with Daniela two days ago on that.”

“Then why did you insist we meet today?”

Howard let out another hearty laugh. “Yep, just like your father. Clueless.”

He clapped Reed on the shoulder, then pulled him into a big bear hug.

“Take care, son.”

Reed stood there staring long after Howard left, his mind whirling with everything he’d just learned.