Affairs & Atonements (8 page)

He cupped her buttocks, his fingers desperate for the feel of her between her legs. And when he found her core, he pushed them deep into her through the thickness of her jeans. She bucked, her body arching into him.

He dragged her head back to him, his other hand roughly grasping her hair as he brought her mouth to meet his.

Christy felt her body grow limp, her cream now wet and dripping against her panties. She was helpless and completely at his mercy, unsure of what to deal with first; the fingers penetrating the hole between her folds, or the tongue that daringly pushed forward into her mouth, teasing it, taunting it.

He picked her up easily, carrying her at his hips. She wrapped her legs around him tightly, her lips still locked onto him, her tongue slithering into his mouth, fighting back.

He positioned her carefully so his hard arousal immediately met her moist slit and then began rocking against her. She let out a soft cry, her heart racing against her chest walls, her leg spread wider to get a better feel of his hot length inside her.

His mouth trailed wet kisses wildly down to her bosom. His fingers tugged at her shirt, trying to prop them out of her jeans, eager to feel the warmth of her naked skin against him.

She caught a reflection of their wild entwined bodies in the mirror across her and she grew hotter with desire.

Just a little more,
she thought.
One more minute won’t hurt.

“Christy.” His voice pierced into her thoughts. “I wanted you so bad. You don’t know what torture you put me through these past three days.”

Three days…,
she repeated in her head.
Had it been three days already?
All she could remember was how she had almost dropped when she had first seen him in that coffee shop. He still wielded power over her just as he did when she was young. She had thought that she had been long over him, but the moment she had spotted him through the window of the coffee shop, her body had frozen. She had to take a stroll into town in a desperate attempt to muster courage to face him. And she thought she had until she stepped into that coffee shop. He had immediately taken her breath again… like he was doing now.

“Ashton,” she said aloud. “Ashton, we need to stop.”

He didn’t hear her, tugging the ends of her shirt, his hands weaving its way under it.

She caught her breath, her heart racing madly as she felt the hard tip of his cock press against her sensitive clitoris. She bit her lip hard, trying to prevent a cry from escaping her.

“Ashton.” She trembled. “Stop… please.”

She caught his hands before they could find their way to her breasts and pulled them away.

He looked up at her confusedly, his eyes still drunk with passion.

She slithered her legs down his body and he stepped back to give her room.

“What’s wrong, Christy?” he asked, his voice heavy with concern.

“Everything’s wrong.” She moved away from him. She needed to put some space between them. His nearness stifled her. And she never really could think clearly knowing that each time he’d touch her, she’d lose all control of herself. She palmed her forehead, her temples pulsing fast against it. “Ashton, you’re engaged. Isn’t that why you came to find me?”

He stared at her, slightly muddled. She had thrown a bucket of reality over him and he was still trying to emerge from it without looking like a sex-crazed idiot.

“I… yes.” He flustered.
How could he have forgotten about Naomi?
He ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m… sorry.”

“When are you leaving?”

He cocked his head with disbelief. “What?” They had almost been on the verge of making love a second ago and now suddenly she was eager to have him leave? “You want me to go?”

“No! I didn’t mean to sound like that.” She shook her head with confusion. “I don’t know what I’m trying to say anymore. I should go.”

She strode quickly towards the door but he caught her by the elbow and swung her to him. He stood there briefly, holding her in his arms, relishing the feel of her body against him. His hand cupped her face, his cock stirring at the mere touch of her. He wasn’t ready to let her walk away.

But then he dropped his hand and stepped back from her. His life was in Philadelphia. He had a fiancée. This was nothing but a dream, a fantasy.

She stood at her dresser, shaking uncontrollably. She pursed her lips tightly, trying to stifle her sobs.

How could he do this to her? How could he just reappear in her life and stay to cause such havoc? He should have left them as they were. She was fine without him. She and Ash would have been fine without him.

*****

He took off his shirt and wiped the sweat dripping down the side of his face as he studied the newly painted balcony rails above him.

“That looks very good.” Margaret nodded with approval. “Not bad for a man who spends much of his working hours in an air-conditioned office.”

Ashton grinned. “Thanks. Is that for me?” He pointed at the glass of juice she niftily balanced on a tray.

She smiled and handed it over to him. “Thought I’d show you a little appreciation after seeing you slave at those rails all morning.”

He clasped the glass gratefully, loving the feel of the cold drink against the palm of his hand. “Thanks.”

She shrugged her shoulders and glanced over at him cheekily. “You know, you can’t walk around bare-chested like that. This is a very family oriented place. We don’t want the women drooling over a half-naked man roaming the grounds and leaving their husbands in a very jealous fit.”

He chuckled. “I need to get some decent clothes to continue with work around here. I never actually had planned to get my hands dirty.”

“You’re intending to stay a little longer?”

“I can take an extra week off. I saw you needed your garden fence mended. The edges of the raised beds are also falling apart. I’ll head into town later in the day and get the materials needed. I’ll probably get some decent work wear while I am at it.”

She grew quiet, staring up at the balcony rails again. “It has taken a lot for Christy to turn around and become the person she is now. I remember she was so vulnerable when she first arrived at Lily Grove. She didn’t trust anyone at all. She was this frail thing who was always looking over her shoulders in case someone tried to hurt her.”  She pulled in a deep sigh.

“I won’t hurt her, Margaret,” he said slowly.

She nodded and gently rubbed his arm. “I know. I know. But it’s not me you should be convincing.” She pointed at the rails. “You’ve done a good job on those rails. Why don’t you sit with me and help me design a new garden?”

He smiled. “I’d love to. Let me clean up this site first. Meet you in the kitchen in two hours?”

“I’ll see you then. In the meanwhile, I could chase Jane on the laundry.”

Ashton recalled the young, blonde girl who had naively let him into Christy’s office that first day he arrived at the lodge. “I hope she still isn’t feeling too bad about blowing Christy’s secret.”

Margaret waved her hands at him. “Don’t you worry about Jane. She gets over things so quickly. It’s a wonder she remembers anything at all. She’s a good kid though. A good worker too. She just needs to be pushed to get on to her tasks or she ends up in her own little fantasy world, day-dreaming about who-knows-what.”

*****

Christy watched them in the distance as she walked by towards the family quarters. They stood together laughing. She had already guessed that Ashton had won Margaret’s heart. But they still seemed too close for her comfort.

She didn’t know what she had been thinking when she had fallen subserviently into his arms last night. But she was certain now she couldn’t trust herself with him. She reminded herself to keep well clear of him. He never wanted to stay and he sure didn’t want to be riddled with a ten year old boy. She drew in a meditative breath, trying to calm her anxiety down. The man was engaged and clearly off-market. If Ashton couldn’t maintain an ethical distance, then it was her responsibility to ensure that he did. His life was back in Philadelphia. If she played it carefully, he might just leave them in peace.

Her eyes wandered over his naked torso, his body glistening in the heat. If Ashton had been unbearably handsome in his youth, he was deathly majestic as a man. Her eyes lingered delightfully on his well-defined form until she noticed some of her female guests do a double-take on seeing the lodge’s new handyman in his bare glory.

She frowned. She needed to have a word with Ashton on semi-nudity if he was determined to continue parading himself around the property.

“He sure is handsome.” Jane sighed, breaking into her thoughts. “I wouldn’t blame you if you fell for him all over again.”

“It won’t happen, Jane.” She huffed. “He’s engaged.”

“So you’re saying there would have been a possibility had he been a free man?” Jane asked, amusement lighting up her eyes.

Christy glared at her.

“Have you forgotten already that you’re the reason I have…him…,” she spat out. “Lingering about here?”

“I’m sorry.” Jane lowered her head apologetically.

Christy immediately felt remorseful about chastising the young girl for what had been an honest mistake. She hadn’t known that Ashton had no knowledge of JR’s existence.

She sighed. “No, I’m sorry. It was bound to happen sooner or later. And thanks to you, JR knows his father now.”

“I know, right!” Jane cheered up. “That’s what I think too.”

Christy rolled her eyes. Trust Jane to recover from her scolding almost immediately.

“Help me get the dry-cleaning laundry out of the SUV,” she said, hoping some work would get the girl busy and stop yapping anymore about the man who was dangerously on the verge of toppling her life over for the second time.

They strolled over to the vehicle and Christy pulled open the hatchback, leaning deep in to reach for the laundry baskets.

“You usually use the crew cab for the laundry.” Jane noted.

“Yep,” she replied, tugging at one of the baskets. “Unfortunately, someone else has taken captive of the truck. And until he leaves, it looks as if I would have to resort to this.” She lifted one heavy basket and passed it onto her. “You take this one and I’ll come back for the other two.”

“Four baskets only?” Jane perked her lips.

“It’s better than last week.” Christy shut the door. “We had only one then. That got me worried slightly. So, I’m going to avoid complaining about having four.”

They walked quietly towards the family quarters and into the living room.

“We have a few rooms empty as well,” Jane mumbled. “That is certainly fewer guests in comparison to the same time last year.”

“Factors change each year.” Christy dismissed as she began hanging the clear crisp bags of clothes onto the portable garment rack. “For one, there’s that new bed and breakfast up the road.”

Jane turned her mouth up in distaste. “Rainier’s Lodge may be all brand new but it doesn’t compare to Lily Grove. One look at Lily Grove and it screams aesthetic. We have a horse stable for those love riding, large grounds, situated next to the forest reserve
and
a better view of Mount Rainier.”

“One look at Lily Grove and any one can tell that it’s old, falling apart and in a great state of disrepair.”

“Some people call that vintage.”

“Regular people call it debilitated and decrepit.”

Jane sulked and Christy slapped her back fondly.

“Don’t you worry.” She assured the younger woman. “I’m doing all I can to fix it up. It’s not always going to be like this. Once we’ve weathered the storm, we’ll be fine.”

“It’s good that Ashton’s helping out with much of the repairs. That’ll save you a lot in your budget.”

Christy grimaced. She wondered if it was a genuine saving. For some reason, she felt she was going to pay heavily for all he was doing on her property.

*****

He cleared his throat on seeing her in the living room.

She glanced up at him and then returned to her baskets of dry-cleaned clothes.

“Umm… is Margaret here?”  he asked.

“No,” she said, continuing to hang the clothes on the rack.

He shifted awkwardly at his feet, unsure of what he should do. Clearly, she didn’t want to speak to him. She had been avoiding him all morning. Had he gone too far with her last night? He clenched and then unclenched his fingers. He had lost entire control of himself. But that’s how he always had been with Christy. And now as he watched her work at clearing her laundry, all he wanted was to wrap his arms around her and hold her close to him.

“Do you have any more baskets that I could get for you?” He offered.

“No, these are the last of them,” she said, and then added with a small smile, “Thank you.”

He put his hands in his pockets, thinking of how he could carry on a conversation with her without appearing as if he were prying into her private life. He didn’t understand why it was important that he should win her trust back.
For JR
, he told himself. She was his son’s mother and that meant he would always be linked to her for the rest of his life.

“Do you offer dry-cleaning services for the guests as well?” he asked her.

“Well, it was only the next logical step after offering laundry services.” She looked down at her log book, cross-checking the items.

“Great. That means I wouldn’t have to go searching for a good dry-cleaner,” he said light-heartedly.

“If you need anything cleaned, just talk to Jane. She’ll give you the details,” she let out flatly.

“Right.” He reddened.

She noticed he was dallying about her.

“Where do you get them dry-cleaned?” he asked.

She slammed her book shut and stared up at him, trying to understand why he was taking so much interest in her dry-cleaning services. She decided against giving him a curt reply. People only bothered with curtness when there was some hidden emotion involved. And she wanted to sound as indifferent as she possibly could.

“I have a contract with
Yoo and Mi’s Dry-Cleaning.
I get a commission for each basket and my guests get a discounted rate,” she explained.

“What do the dry-cleaners get?”

“Great reviews, promotion,” she replied tersely. “What exactly are you trying to say? That they’re losing out on this deal?”

He shrugged. “Just saying four baskets isn’t much for a business to survive on.”

“It was one last week.” Jane cut in, wheeling in an empty garment rack.

Christy rolled her eyes. When was Jane ever going to learn to keep her mouth shut?

“One? Has business dropped?” he asked curiously.

“It’s doing fine,” Christy replied quickly. “Jane, check on the towels, would you?”

“Yeah sure,” the younger woman said and then sat heavily into a couch. “I’ll just rest my legs first for a while. I’ve been at it with the laundry for almost three hours now.” She picked up a magazine and fanned herself with it, eyeing Christy, silently urging her to talk to Ashton.

No!
Christy mouthed, warning her to stay quiet.

“Have you met the dry-cleaners, Ashton?” Jane began.

“No. There hasn’t been any reason to.” He smiled.

“They’re great people. Kim Mi Young is a wonderful woman. She’s the ‘Mi’ in
Yoo and Mi
. She’s called Mary now though. Anyways, she’s the one who came up with the offer.”

“Oh, they’re Koreans,” he said.  “I was thinking ‘You and  Me’ as in English.”

Jane laughed. “Perfectly understandable. I think it’s a really clever play on their names. Anyways, the Kims were new in town and they needed some promotion. When Christy decided to check them out on rates, Mi Young immediately took the chance and asked to go permanent. Things had been going well between us until that new lodge opened up the road. We didn’t expect to lose so much of the business.”

“But I’ve heard guests raving about Lily Grove. Why do you think you’re losing any business?”

“We have some loyal clients. But new clients aren’t exactly too attracted to the disrepair the lodge has fallen into,” she said sullenly.

“That’s enough, Jane,” Christy said sternly.

“I’m only trying to thank him.” The woman sulked, picking herself up from the couch. “You should tell him about the problems the lodge has been facing, Christy. The man’s not only good with his hands; he’s an advertising executive as well. He couldn’t have turned up here at a better time. He might even come up with a solution none of us has ever thought of.”

“There are towels in the washing, Jane. They need to be hung outside,” Christy said with a glare.

“Yeah, right. It’s not like you’re gonna listen to what I say anyway,” Jane grumbled as she walked out of the room.

“She maybe young and a little magpie, but she means well,” Ashton said. “I hope you won’t penalize her for it.”

“Yeah, I know. She’s only twenty-three, but she has been with us for seven years. Her story isn’t quite the rosy one.”

“She reminds you of you and that is why you put up with her.” He raised an eyebrow.