Seduction (Club Destiny) (19 page)

The second he
had the door closed behind him, he dialed Ashleigh’s number.

No answer.

Imagine that.

Son of a bitch.

No matter how he
tried to explain, this was not going to work out the way he wanted it to.

~~*~~

Ashleigh couldn’t
believe what she’d just heard. Some woman had answered Alex’s cell phone. Worse
than that, the woman said he’d have to call her back because he was in the
shower.

That bastard.

Although they
hadn’t talked about being exclusive with one another, Ashleigh had assumed as
much. How could she not after all the things they’d been doing and that wasn’t
even including the sheet scorching sex.

Shame on her,
apparently.

When her phone
rang a few minutes later, she just stared at the screen as it lit up with
Alex’s name and number. There was no way in hell she was going to answer it.
Not now. Not ever. As far as she was concerned, they didn’t have anything more
to say to one another.

So why did she
want him to explain? Why did she want to give him the chance to tell her
exactly why that woman was at his house and that it wasn’t because he was a
slime ball and sleeping with her while sleeping with other women.

That was her
heart talking, not her brain.

Ignoring the
phone, Ashleigh grabbed her laptop and went out on the back porch. It was dark
outside, but the small light fixture and her computer would provide enough to
do what she needed to do.

It was true,
readers wanted emotions when they read the stories they loved. They wanted heat
and lust and chemistry. Ashleigh could give them that at the moment because she
was angry and hurt. No better time than the present to put it all down on
paper.

At least this
way, she might possibly be able to keep the tears at bay. She was fairly
certain that once she let them go, there’d be no stemming the flow, and she
just might drown.

How had she been
so stupid?

***
~~ *** ~~ *** ~~ ***

By the time the
weekend rolled around, Ashleigh had successfully written another one hundred pages
and ignored just about as many calls from Alex. They had nothing to say to one
another, so she wasn’t sure why he bothered to call.

She’d been
tempted to answer a couple of times, but she reminded herself how smug that
woman sounded on the phone and thought better of it. One time, just so she
wouldn’t be inclined to answer it, she tossed her phone in her underwear
drawer.

Ignoring it had
become second nature by now, but when it rang Friday afternoon, she glanced at
it just because. Grabbing the phone, she hit the answer button.

“Hey.”

“Let’s go out
tonight.” Sam’s sweet voice rang through.

“Where to?”
Ashleigh definitely wasn’t opposed to the idea, but going to Club Destiny
wasn’t going to be her first choice although she knew it would be Sam’s.

“Where else?”

Anywhere?
Ashleigh
wouldn’t voice it, but that was her first thought. She didn’t want to run into
Alex. Worse, she didn’t want to run into Alex and another woman.

She might be a
little less emotional, although the anger still burned like acid in her gut,
but that didn’t mean she was willing to test her limits. Avoiding his calls had
been hard enough. Thankfully he hadn’t bothered to stop by because she was
positive she wouldn’t have been able to ignore him then and she wasn’t about to
let him see what he’d reduced her to.

However, she’d
known deep down that Alex wasn’t up for grabs when it came to his heart, and
this had proven that point. She just wished it didn’t have to be quite so
painful.

“What time?”
Glancing at the clock on her computer, she wondered how much later they could
push it. It was closing in on five o’clock.

“Let’s meet at
eight. Drinks. Dancing.” Sam said. “We’ll have fun.”

“Is Sierra
going?” Ashleigh wanted as many people as possible in the event she had to
sneak out. She didn’t want to leave her friend alone, just in case.

“Yes.” She
confirmed. “So are Logan, Luke and Cole.”

Great. One big
happy love fest. Just what Ashleigh needed to top off a not so impressive week.

“Alright.” She
found herself giving in. Staring at the walls was beginning to wear on her
nerves and though she might run into Alex, at least she could get out of the
house for a while.

“Perfect. See
you there.” Sam disconnected the call and Ashleigh clung to it like a lifeline.

She really
should have said no.

~~*~~

When Logan
called to invite Alex to Club Destiny, he’d been hesitant, but if there was a
possibility that Ashleigh would be there, he was going. Come hell or high
water. Or Jessie.

For two days,
Jessie had been driving him crazy. She was crying all the time, giving him one
sob story after another about this or that and Alex was growing increasingly
more irritated with her.

He tried to be
friendly, but she was refusing to go home and Alex needed her to get back on
her feet. His white knight days were coming to an end. At least when it came to
rescuing his ex-wife.

She was part of
the reason Alex had only tried calling Ashleigh, not going to her house
insisting she talk to him.

Now it would
look like he was trying to save face and there would be no way to explain
Jessie’s presence at his house. Only a select few even knew about his long ago
sham of a marriage, and Alex tried to keep it that way. Logan knew of course.
He’d been around at the time. Dylan knew because Alex had shared that much of
himself with his closest friend.

But neither of
them knew why he had gotten married in the first place because Alex didn’t want
to share Jessie’s hardships with everyone. Another way he tried to protect her.
Again, at his own expense.

“Where are you
going?” Jessie asked when Alex walked through the living room an hour later.

“Out.” She
didn’t need to know more than that.

“Where to?” Her
voice was closer as she followed behind him.

Turning on her,
he stopped just outside of his kitchen. “Does it matter?”

A conditioned response,
Jessie flinched and took a step back. Alex didn’t concede to her timid reaction
this time, he merely turned away from her.

“Did I do
something wrong?” Jessie asked.

Yes. You
overstayed your welcome
. “No.” Alex barked. “Shit. Jessie. Look.” He turned
to face her again. “Don’t you think it’s time you went home? Hell, I’m paying
for the damn house. I’d rather someone live in it.”

Fuck.
He hadn’t meant
to go that far. Jessie knew as well as he did who paid for the house. And the
utilities. And her car. Shit. There wasn’t a damn thing the woman did pay for,
except food maybe. As thin as she was, Alex even wondered about that.

“I’ll get my
stuff.” She turned on her heel and headed across the living room.

“Wait, Jessie.”
Following behind her, Alex thrust his hands in his pockets. He hated this shit.

“What?” She
turned on him this time, furious. “I get it. I’m in the way. Cramping your
style. I’ll go home.”

Alex wished she
was serious about that, but he knew better.

“Tomorrow.” He
told her. “I’ll take you home in the morning, Jessie. Stay here tonight. I’ll
be out late, so just stay here.” It wasn’t what he wanted to tell her, but he
couldn’t bring himself to throw her out of his house, even if he wanted to.

A subtle nod was
her response. She’d won again. She always won, but Alex was pretty sure she
knew that.

An hour later,
Alex pulled into the underground parking garage at Club Destiny. He needed a
drink, and a couple of hours of mindless entertainment to help him get past the
week he’d had. Having Jessie at his house for damn near five days was way more
than he could handle. Not seeing or talking to Ashleigh for that amount of time
had been even more frustrating.

Walking in the
back doors, Alex nodded his head in greeting to a couple of people he recognized
and then went in search of Logan and the others. He stopped suddenly when he
saw them sitting at a table in the corner, all seven of them. Luke, Cole, and
Sierra were sitting across from Logan and Sam, talking. Tag had just stood from
the table, smiling that devilish grin that seemed to attract the ladies, but it
was what he was doing that had Alex ready to knock that smile right off his
face.

He was holding
Ashleigh’s hand, leading her to the dance floor.

With his hands
balled into fists, Alex turned away, making a beeline for the bar. He needed a
drink.

“Hey, Alex.”
Kane greeted him when he approached.

“What’s up,
man?” Alex tried for normal, but his words came out with a hint of the
irritation building in his gut.

“Not much. I see
the whole gangs here tonight. What’s up? Someone else getting hitched?”

Alex laughed,
not a hint of amusement in the gruff sound. “I’ll take a shot of whiskey. Make
it a double and I won’t bother you for a little while.”

“Sure thing.”
Kane disappeared for a moment before returning with a glass tumbler filled with
liquid gold.

“Thanks.” Alex
took the glass and turned back to the floor, his eyes immediately zoning in on
where Tag and Ashleigh were dancing much too close for Alex’s peace of mind.

He wondered how
Sam was taking it. For the last couple of months, Tag had signed on to be the
third in Logan and Sam’s relationship and from the bits of gossip Alex had
received, the three of them were having more fun than ever. Apparently being a
third lacked the jealousy associated with being in a relationship, or so it
would seem.

Alex wouldn’t
know because he didn’t share his women. Ever. His friends were all into the
threesome thing, and that was all good and fine where he was concerned. To each
his own and all that. But Alex couldn’t do it.

He didn’t share
well. Which was another reason he and Jessie hadn’t lasted more than a few
months. There had been a brief time during the marriage that Alex wondered if
he should actually try to make a go of it. They might’ve gotten married so
Jessie could get out of her abusive father’s house, but it had been a
monumental step for Alex.

That brief
thought had died a painful death when Alex learned Jessie was sleeping with a
couple of Alex’s buddies. Since she had been seventeen at the time, Alex had
vowed not to touch her, regardless of whether they were married or not. His
friends didn’t seem to have a problem with it.

And now, leaning
against the bar, watching Tag hold Ashleigh close, he knew he’d never be able to
share her. Having another man’s hands, lips, or any other body part on his
woman didn’t do it for him. Logan got off on it, big time, but Alex didn’t want
her anywhere near another man.

The red haze was
damn near blinding him, but he had to remind himself that Ashleigh wasn’t his.
It didn’t matter that they had sex. It didn’t matter that he knew she had been
a damn virgin that very first time, even if she hadn’t told him as much.

The thought
still made his dick hard. He was the only man she’d ever been with and up until
a few nights ago, he’d planned to keep it that way. But Jessie had to go and
interfere, answering his damn phone, and now he didn’t even have a chance to
explain because Ashleigh wasn’t having any of it.

Not that he
blamed her. He’d been on that side of the fence a time or two, and he hadn’t
listened to any explanations either. If you stepped out on the one you were
with, you deserved to be left. But he hadn’t. He never would either.

A cold blast of
fury raced up Alex’s spine when Tag leaned down and kissed Ashleigh on the
lips, a laugh breaking loose from the man’s chest as the two of them walked
back to the table.

“What’re you
hanging out over here for?” Cole’s deep voice broke into Alex’s thoughts.

Alex turned to
look at him, but didn’t say a word. He wasn’t sure he could speak at the
moment. When Cole turned and looked back to see what Alex was looking at, he
knew.

“It’s nothing,
man.” Cole told him. “Nothing at all.” Stepping in front of Alex, Cole crossed
his arms over his chest.

“What?” Alex
tried to play dumb, but Cole wasn’t having any of it.

“He’s trying to
get her to smile. Something’s obviously wrong, and she needed a little cheering
up.”

Alex knew
something was wrong. She wasn’t answering her damn phone, that’s what was
wrong. He needed a chance to tell her what was going on.

“Why don’t you
join us?” Cole asked, then turned to Kane. “I’ll take a beer and get Alex
another one of these.”

Alex looked down
and realized he’d downed his drink entirely. Too bad the whiskey wasn’t numbing
him the way it should.