Tyler's Undoing (38 page)

About ten minutes later, he put his truck into park. “Keep the blindfold on, beautiful. I’m going to get out and help you. Don’t you dare peek, or I’ll bring the wrath down on you.”

He got out of the truck and came around to my side. Holding both of my hands, he led me slowly up a couple of steps where, I heard the slide of a lock and a door opening. When I giggled, the noise echoed in the room.

“Where are we?”

Slowly, Tyler untied the blindfold and lowered it. When I opened my eyes, I gasped. It was the place I had
wanted
to buy for my restaurant, but was told someone had bought it. The place wasn’t built to be a restaurant, so there was still a lot of work to be done, but it was in a prime location and we had a ton of space to work with. It would be the ideal place to own a restaurant.

“What are we doing here?”

Tyler smiled and walked to the middle of the room. The hardwood floor was dark cherry, the walls a deep beige with an elegant wrought iron spiral staircase leading to the top loft. It was everything I could ever want . . . classy and modern.

When he turned around, he spread his arms wide. “It’s all yours, Kacey. Well, yours and Bree’s.”

“I don’t get it. How is it ours? The realtor said we were too late.”

Tyler walked toward me and put his arms around my waist, pulling me to him. “You
were
too late, but I used my magic and persuaded the new buyers to sell it to me.”

Exasperated, I shook my head. “Yeah, but at what cost? You shouldn’t have done that, Tyler. I can’t imagine what you spent. How much do I owe you now?”

With a mischievous grin on his face, he led me toward the spiral staircase and I followed him up. “Well, now that’s what we need to discuss. I figured you would owe me the money for the place, which I know you already have, but then you would also owe me interest.”

“Interest?”

When we got to the top of the stairs, I didn’t realize how huge the loft was . . . and there in the middle of it all, was a bed of cream-colored wool blankets with pillows scattered around. Picking me up in his arms, Tyler led me over and set me down on top, covering me with his body.

“Yes, interest,” he murmured heatedly. He lifted my gray Rushing’s gym T-shirt over my head and tossed it onto the floor. “The removal of this shirt paid for one percent of the interest. Do you want to pay off more?”

Biting my lip, I unfastened my bra and slid my arms out. “How much did that pay off?”

“Hmm . . . let’s see,” he replied, lowering his lips to my breast. Closing them over my nipple, he moaned, suckling it. “That’s another one percent because you taste so fucking good.”

While he licked and sucked my nipples, he slid my shorts down my legs and I kicked them off. Now that I was completely bare, he swiftly got to his feet and took off his own T-shirt and lowered his black gym shorts before spreading me wide again.

“So how much does this pay you back?” I asked. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he pushed inside of me, gently.

He kissed me softly on the lips and smiled. “Unfortunately, that’s where I have to draw the line. You’re only allowed to pay me back two percent a year.”

“But that means I’ll owe you forever,” I gasped and bit my lip.

Thrusting harder, he bent down and sucked that lip between his, never taking his gray gaze off of me. “I don’t see the problem in that, beautiful. It means I’ve got you for the rest of your life.”

Lifting up on his elbows, he reached between my legs and fondled my clit, rubbing it with the pad of his thumb. Arching my back, I groaned as my orgasm started to build and spread throughout my body. Pushing deeper, he knew I was about to come and so he picked up his pace and held me tight, releasing inside of me at the same time I exploded all around him. Breathing hard, he laid on top of me for a minute, and kissed me.

“So what exactly does it mean when you say you’ve got me for the rest of your life?” I asked curiously. We were together and we loved each other, but we hadn’t been together long to really consider our future.

Holding onto me, Tyler flipped over onto his back to where I was now straddling him. He reached behind the pillow, pulling out a small black box, and handed it to me. “I know we haven’t been together long, but I know what I want . . . and I want you.

“You’re my future, Kacey.” I opened up the box and inside was a Las Vegas keychain, with a set of keys on it. He pointed to the largest one. “This one here is the key to this place. Yours and Bree’s names are on the deed already.”

“Tyler,” I breathed as the tears welled in my eyes.

“And this one,” he said, pointing to the other, “is the key to my house. I know I don’t have a ring right now, but I know in time we’ll take that step. I don’t want to wake up another morning without you being the first thing I see.” He lifted his hands to my face and pulled me down to his lips. “All I want is to hear you say yes . . . that a future with me is what you want. I love you, Kacey.”

“I love you, too.”

Kissing him gently, I held the keys tightly in my grip and knew without a doubt what my answer would be . . . what it would always be. As the tears flowed down my cheeks, I made love to him again and again, whispering the same word against his lips.

Yes.

“ARE YOU IN love with him?” Colin asks.

We’d just walked through the door of my apartment, only long enough for me to sit my bags down and grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

We were in Vegas because Colin and Bradley had a baseball tournament. Well, that, and to be with my best friend, Gabriella. That’s what I told myself anyway. Deep down, it was because I knew Ryley was going to be there too, fighting. Seeing him again had only awakened what I kept buried inside of me.

I didn’t know what to tell Colin as he stood there looking at me with those bright green eyes of his. The eyes which belonged to a man who was everything I could ever want—smart, loving, caring, and sexy as hell. Not to mention he had a body to die for. Colin was our school’s star pitcher, and on his way to bigger and better things in the MLB.

I still haven’t answered him yet, but if I let the truth come out of my mouth, I won’t be able to take it back. Not even a day ago, I was afraid I was pregnant with Ryley’s child. It was the scariest moment in my life, but what frightened me more was the look in Ryley’s eyes when he thought he was going to be a father. He wasn’t ready . . . hell, I wasn’t ready.

The only problem was, right after I left him for Colin, he went straight back to his old ways with his identical twin. It’s like I was erased from his mind, no longer the girl he fell in love with.

I have too much pride to go back to him, knowing he’ll be whoring around with other women. Colin’s a good guy and he deserves more than a woman whose heart’s divided. I love him a lot, but I’m
in
love with someone else.

“Ashleigh, please,” he murmurs, taking my hands. “You’ve avoided me all day. Did something happen while we were in Vegas?”

I was never good at lying, and Colin’s always the first person to know when something’s wrong. Sitting down on the couch, I take a deep breath and close my eyes. My stomach is in knots because I know I’m about to break another guy’s heart. Colin’s my safe place, my guarantee at a normal, functional relationship. I just know that if I stay, I’ll never be fully happy. He doesn’t own my heart, but he shares a part of my soul.

I have to make a choice. Opening my eyes, the warm tears fall down my cheeks.

Colin doesn’t speak because in my actions he already has his answer. He lowers his head and slowly lets go of my hands, running them through his hair.

“I don’t think I can let you go, Ashleigh. At least, not without a fight.”

Sighing, I wait for him to lift his head, and when he does I lean in to give him one last kiss. “I’m sorry, Colin, but you don’t have a choice.”