Seduction (Club Destiny) (20 page)

“Come on.” Cole
said, handing Alex the drink before turning back the way he’d come.

Alex followed
behind him, his stomach tightening in knots at the thought of what he’d just
witnessed.

When they
approached the table, everyone glanced up. Everyone except Ashleigh.

“Hey.” Sam
greeted, smiling as she leaned into Logan. “Where’ve you been?” She asked,
glancing from Alex to Ashleigh and back again.

“At home.” He
told her, unable to take his eyes off of Ashleigh. Even pissed, she was the
most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her long, glossy hair hung down to the
middle of her back, board straight and begging him to run his fingers through
it. Or better yet, to wrap it around his fist and pull her to him.

Alex shook off
the thought. Thinking about the last time they’d been together, in his office,
still made his dick throb in eager anticipation. Admittedly, Alex hadn’t
expected Ashleigh to give in to him, and when she did, she’d blown his mind.
Since then he’d thought of very little else besides all of the things he wanted
to do to her.

Not that it
mattered at this point; she wouldn’t even look at him. Side glances darted
between everyone at the table. The tension was obvious, and Alex could damn
near taste it.

He just didn’t know
what to do about it.

~~*~~

This was the
very reason Ashleigh hadn’t wanted to go out tonight. She knew with as many
people as were getting together, Alex would show up. The only person missing at
the moment was Dylan, and she suddenly wondered where her brother was.

“Has anyone
heard from Dylan today?” She asked, glancing at Cole and then Logan. She wasn’t
about to ask Alex, although if anyone knew, it would be him.

“I saw him at
the office earlier this morning, but I didn’t have a chance to talk to him.”
Sam offered.

“He’s supposed
to be here.” Alex contributed, but Ashleigh didn’t look at him. She could feel
his heated stare on the back of her neck, but she wouldn’t turn to look at him
because she was pretty sure she was too weak to resist him, no matter how
pissed off she was.

“How’s it going,
Alex?” Logan asked, apparently oblivious to the tension at the table, or
speaking up because of it, Ashleigh didn’t know.

“It’s going.”

Ashleigh grabbed
her glass, downing what was left and then stood from the table. She needed
another drink. And a moment to breathe. “I’ll be back.” She said to no one in
particular and then walked away, not making eye contact.

When she
approached the bar, she sat her empty glass down and smiled at Kane. “Belvedere
and Sprite, please.”

“You gonna
ignore me tonight?” The dark, seductive voice slid down her spine and made her
hands tingle. Why did he have to follow her?

“No.” She told
him, then making the mistake of looking at him. Those brilliant green eyes saw
more than she wanted him to ever see. “I was planning to ignore you
forever
.”
With that, she turned back toward Kane, who was sitting her drink on the bar.

Grabbing a five
dollar bill from her pocket, she dropped it in the tip jar and thanked him
before she turned away.

She’d intended
to go back to the table, at least there she could pretend not to notice Alex,
and she could certainly ignore him better, but when he put his warm hand on her
arm, she almost dropped her drink. Glancing down at the spot where he touched
her, she trailed her eyes back up his exquisite body until she locked eyes with
him once again.

“We need to
talk.”

“We don’t have
anything to say to one another, Alex.” She told him, doing her best not to pull
away. She needed to show him that she didn’t care. If only it were that easy.

“I need to
explain –” He began, but she quickly cut him off.

“There’s nothing
to explain. I get it. You’re bedroom has a revolving door. Since I’m not
interested in sharing, unlike my friends,” Ashleigh tilted her head in the
direction of the table Sam and Sierra were occupying, “I don’t have anything
more to say to you.”

When she tried
to walk away, he gripped her arm more firmly. “I don’t know what you thought,
but honey, you’re wrong.” His tone was laced with a hint of anger which only
fired her up.

“Thought?” She
said turning to face him fully. “I didn’t have to think anything, Alex. Your
girlfriend was courteous enough to tell me how busy you were. In detail.”

Ok, so maybe that
was a little lie, but the woman had told her Alex was in the shower. She’d also
hinted that he was busy and that if he had time, he’d call her back.

“That woman is
not my girlfriend. She’s my ex-wife.” He bit out, still holding her arm.

“Even better.”
Ashleigh’s stomach plummeted to the floor in one fell swoop. That was the last
thing she expected.

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

 Ok, so
that definitely didn’t come out the way he wanted it to. “I’m not seeing
anyone, except you, Ashleigh.” He told her, trying to recover the inadvertent
derailment of the conversation.

“See, that’s
where you’re wrong, Alex. You aren’t seeing me. Not anymore.” She stared down
at his hand on her arm before shrugging him off and walking back to the table.

Before he could
follow her, Dylan walked up.

Perfect fucking
timing.

“Woman
troubles?” He smirked before edging up to the bar and ordering a beer.

Alex wasn’t
about to go into it. Not even with Dylan.

“What’s Jessie
doing at your house?” Dylan asked, surprising Alex.

“What?” How the
hell did he know that?

“I called the
other night. She answered your phone. Please tell me you aren’t seriously
seeing her again.”

“Fuck no.”
Jessie was the last woman Alex wanted to be with. If he’d been smart, he’d have
cut ties with her all those years ago. Instead, he’d tried to do the right
thing, and he was beginning to think she was taking advantage of him.

“You might want
to let her know that.”

“It’s not like
that. Her fucking boyfriend beat the shit out of her again, and she called me.
I brought her home from the hospital, and now she’s refusing to leave.”

“Well, I suggest
you don’t leave your phone unattended.” Dylan said, taking a deep pull on his
beer. “You’ll have hell to pay if Ashleigh gets wind of this.”

Alex looked down
at his glass and then away.

“Fuck.” Dylan
didn’t need an explanation. “She knows?”

“She won’t let
me explain. Jessie answered the phone when she called too. I have no idea what
she said to Ashleigh, but your sister’s as hard headed as they come. She won’t
give me the time of day.”

“That’s
Ashleigh. She’s not big on second chances.”

If that wasn’t
the damn truth.

Dylan sauntered
off toward the table and Alex followed. Shit, he didn’t have anything else to do.
Might as well get the cold shoulder while he could. By the end of the night,
she’d have to hear him out.

Two hours
passed, and Alex wasn’t making any headway with Ashleigh. She was still
refusing to look at him, but he did notice she’d had more than her fair share
of alcohol, and she was in no shape to drive. Alex had cut himself off after
the drink Cole had gotten him earlier. He knew he needed a clear head if he
expected to talk to her and have any chance that she would listen to him.

When Logan hauled
Sam out on the dance floor, Alex decided to make his move. No way was he
letting Tag get his hands on Ashleigh again. Not if he had anything to say
about it.

Walking around
the table, he came up beside her and took her hand when she wasn’t paying any
attention to him.

“Dance with me.”
He told her, pulling her until she slid from her chair. She was reluctant, but
he could tell she was trying not to cause a scene.

A slow song came
on, which was right up his alley. Alex didn’t do that hard core, body grinding
shit. But this he could do. Within seconds, he had her pulled flush against
him, and his body was fighting a losing battle not to be affected by her
nearness.

Tilting her head
so she had to look him in the eye, Alex held her gaze. What he saw there was so
unexpected, his chest constricted. She was close to tears, and the sight of her
glassy eyes hit him like a punch in the solar plexus.

Leaning in, he
kissed her gently on the lips. She didn’t pull away, which was a surprise, but
she didn’t kiss him back either. Sliding one hand into her hair, he cupped the
back of her head and kept her face turned toward him.

“I’m not with
Jessie. Or anyone else, for that matter.” He told her, hoping she wouldn’t pull
away.

“It doesn’t
matter, Alex. You can see whoever you want.”

“I’m having a
problem on that front.” He told her, keeping her pressed against him. “The only
one I want is you, and you’ve been ignoring me.”

“It’s obvious I
can’t handle a man like you.” She said, but Alex barely heard the words. He
didn’t think she meant to say them out loud.

“What?”

“You were right.
I’ll never be enough for you.”

What the hell
was she talking about? When did he ever say anything like that? If anything,
Ashleigh was more than he deserved. “Who said that?”

“You did.” She
told him, then turned her head away, but she didn’t pull away.

“When did I say
that?”

“It was a long
time ago. It’s no big deal.” She said, trying to shrug him off.

Taking a step
back, Alex had to pull her off the dance floor and out of the path of the other
dancers before they were trampled. He took her hand and led her to the darkened
hallway where at least it was a little bit quieter.

“What are you
talking about?” Alex crowded her against the wall, blocking out the people
walking in and out of the restrooms behind them.

When she looked
up at him, she looked far away. “You came to the guest house that night, and
you told me I would never be enough for you.”

Alex didn’t
remember the night she was referring to and for the life of him, he didn’t
remember ever going to the guest house.

“I’m sorry.” He
said, knowing it wouldn’t change a damn thing, but if he’d ever said anything
of the sort, he couldn’t blame her for trying to keep distance between them.

“You remember?”
She asked, sounding both hurt and hopeful at the same time.

“No, baby. I
don’t.”

“Of course you
don’t.” Ashleigh sighed. “You kissed me that night.”

Alex dug deep
into the dark corners of his memory but didn’t remember ever having kissed
Ashleigh before recently. He was sure if he’d had those sweet lips on his, he’d
have remembered it. But he didn’t doubt what Ashleigh was telling him.

“But it doesn’t
matter, Alex. I think you’re right. I’ll never be able to handle you.”

Alex thought
back to the first time he’d had her or the many times after... she hadn’t had
any problem handling him then.

“Up until
recently, you were treating me like I’d break. I don’t want a man who’s going
to hold back from me.”

Alex was pretty
sure they’d gotten past that part because if the other day in his office, when
he’d fucked her ass like a wild animal, was anything to go by, he wasn’t
holding anything back. And neither was she. Before he could tell her as much,
she pulled away.

“I really need
to go.” She said, but then she swayed when she pushed away from the wall.

“I’ll drive
you.” He insisted, knowing she was far too drunk to drive.

“No. I’ll
drive... whoa.” Ashleigh put her hand on the wall to steady herself. “I’ll have
my brother take me home.”

“I’ll take you
home, Ashleigh. No arguments.” Alex was not going to let up on this. He was
taking her home.

~~*~~

Her muddled
brain told her this wasn’t a good idea. She should argue; she should go back to
the table and insist that Dylan take her home, but when Alex put his arm around
her, it felt too good to resist. As much as she wanted to be angry, Ashleigh
couldn’t deny that her heart hurt and being near him soothed that ache, even if
it was only temporary. Leaning into him, she allowed him to walk her back to
the table as he said their goodbyes.

Ashleigh’s eyes
met Sam’s and she saw the other woman’s concern. She hadn’t asked if something
was wrong, but there was no way her body language would have fooled anyone. And
now, she looked like a complete idiot, one who lacked a spine, allowing Alex to
take her home.

When he pulled her
along beside him, she put one foot in front of the other, although the room was
beginning to spin. She definitely shouldn’t have had that fifth drink. But by
the third, she was beginning to feel no pain.

Alex helped her
into his truck, even buckled her seatbelt while she sat back and closed her
eyes. That was worse. Forcing her eyes open, she tried not to focus on any one
thing for too long because her stomach began to churn.