Wildest Dreams (Dreamers Series Book 1) (2 page)

Ember hadn’t seen her brother in years. He had left for Stanford University when she was twelve. He came home during the summers but never got to spend as much time with her as he did before he left. He had always done anything for Ember, even though she was seven years younger than him. He was her best friend, and in his eyes she could do no wrong, even getting pregnant at eighteen. Most of the family felt that way about her older sister, Jade, and looking back that may have been what brought her and Ridge so close together, but whatever the reason was, she was very appreciative of it. Ember knew that even if he couldn’t take her and Kaylen in he would come up with some plan to help her and that made her feel better.

When Ridge left for college, she felt like her whole world had closed in around her. She didn’t have many friends in school because most of the girls only wanted to hang out with her for her money. They were so mean and hateful that Ember didn’t want anything to do with them.

The day she turned sixteen, her parents took her to the car dealership to pick out her present. That was where she met Reece, who was twenty years old and all trouble. With his bronze skin, muscles and honey colored eyes that captivated her, he had her under his spell from the beginning. His dark blond hair had been shoulder length at the time. However, he was also a silver-tongued devil, able to mesmerize anyone he desired, so it was no surprise that when they met him, her parents had no idea just how wrong he was for her.

The thought almost made Ember laugh out loud. How could she have been so blind all those years? She turned eighteen a few months before graduating high school and then had Kaylen two months later. Until then he had always made her feel special, always telling her how much he loved her and his life wouldn’t be complete without her, but after she got pregnant he stopped saying things like that. Eventually, he seemed more interested in what she could do for him than in actually being with her. Even though he stopped telling her that he loved her, he was still a very jealous man and was reluctant to let her out of his sight. It made it difficult for Ember to work and further her education. Her dream was to become a doctor, but she knew he would never allow her to go to school that long. She did eventually convince him to let her go to nursing school since she could do it in two years. He grew more agitated with her as the course took longer and longer to complete, though. She was so exhausted working a full-time job and going to school part-time and then coming home to take care of Kaylen that each year she would end up taking fewer classes so that four years later she was still working on the two-year degree.

The navigation system told her to turn off of the highway as she got closer to downtown. She was able to find a parking space close to the entrance of the garage and pulled in. As she drew closer to the front door of the tower, she caught her reflection in the glass of the door. She stopped and looked down at her clothes and groaned.

When Ember had left the apartment, all she had time to do was grab Kaylen and go. She didn’t pack, and unfortunately, it was still a few days from payday. She did go to the local superstore to grab some comfortable sweats and t-shirts for them to wear on the trip back home and some snacks to keep Kaylen happy.

She pulled her long, wavy, black-cherry hair out of a messy ponytail and let it fall loosely around her face and down her back as she opened the door and slowly stepped inside. Just as luck would have it, a gust of wind blew her hair over her face, causing her to trip. She caught herself and stopped to push her hair back and brush her fingers through it again. She felt out-of-place as she walked into the lobby, but it was too late to turn back now. There was probably not one person in the room who was in a suit or dress that cost less than one hundred dollars.

The receptionist looked uncomfortable even acknowledging Ember, let alone answering a question from her. It was probably a good thing then that Kamella had told her where Ridge’s office was. She headed straight toward the elevator. She had made it about halfway across the lobby when she heard someone calling out.

“Excuse me! Hey you!” The security guard wasn’t even trying to be discreet.

Ember looked over her shoulder to see the large muscular man coming up quickly behind her. How was she ever going to get this guy to believe she was the sister of the president of TTO Oil dressed like this!

“Excuse me, miss, but you can’t be in here. There are strict rules that only employees and their visitors are allowed to go up in the tower.”

Taking offense at the man’s harsh tone, she said the first thing that popped into her head: “How do you know I’m not an employee?” She glared at him accusingly. After she said it, she could have laughed at his expression. He was obviously bewildered, but it didn’t take him long to regain his composure.

“Ma’am, if you’re an employee, please produce your badge. You should also be aware that you probably won’t be an employee long wearing sweats into work, just sayin’.”

Ember sighed. “Okay, I realize that I don’t look like I should be here, but I promise my brother is an employee here, and I’m here to see him. It’s important.”

“If your brother is an employee here, then we can call him, and he can give me permission for you to use the elevator. What’s your brother’s name?”

Here goes nothing
, Ember thought. “Ridge Tatum.” She stood up straight and looked the man in the eyes without flinching.

“Pardon?” She could tell by the way he raised his eyebrow he wasn’t buying it.

Ember let out another quieter sigh. “Look, I’m here to see my brother, Ridge. He doesn’t know I’m here because it’s a surprise. I really need to talk to him.”

“Yes, well I would love to be able to have a sit down with Mr. Tatum and just shoot the breeze too, but that’s not going to happen either,” said the guard. Ember knew he was attempting to intimidate her with his expression and condescending tone, but little did he know who had raised her.

“I’m sorry,” she leaned over and looked at his badge “Kevin, but I
will
see my brother today…”

Before she could finish her sentence a deep, smoky voice interrupted, sending her heart racing, “Is there a problem, Kevin?” She glanced to her left as the most incredible-looking man she had ever seen came walking up. “I believe the young lady said she’s here to meet with her brother.”

“Mr. O’Neil, I apologize. She said that Mr. Tatum is her brother, and I just thought that”—he shrugged slightly and looked Ember up and down before glancing apologetically at her— “since she had already lied and said she was an employee, she was just here to try to weasel her way into the tower.”

“I never actually said I was an employee. I asked how you knew I wasn’t,” she replied timidly.
Did this Adonis just laugh at me?
She could feel the color rush to her cheeks as she blushed.

“No worries, Kevin. I’ll take it from here.” He gave the security guard a slight smile, dismissing him.

Her unexpected defender headed off toward the elevators at a leisurely pace, apparently expecting her to follow. She stood there for a bit before she remembered how to move her legs. They passed the first set of elevators, and she realized he must be leading her to one in the back for the Executive floors only.

“O’Neil? You’re Blake O’Neil.” It wasn’t a question. “I remember you. You came home with Ridge one summer from college.” She blushed again remembering the crush she had on him then, even though she had only been fourteen at the time and he was twenty-one.

“Yes.” Not stopping, “And you’re Ember. Ridge mentions you from time to time when we have a chance to talk about anything besides work.” He glanced at her, “You had blond hair.”

Surprised that he even remembered her, she just nodded.

He smiled down at her as the elevator opened and he waved her in. She hesitated and sighed.

“Hope he told you about my fear of elevators?” She looked up at him but couldn’t hold his gaze more than a few seconds. Blushing, she smiled shyly and looked away. He chuckled and then cleared his throat when he realized she wasn’t kidding.

She slowly stepped into the elevator and moved to the back. She leaned her head against the back wall and closed her eyes. She was trying to regulate her breathing when she felt his arm up against hers, and she looked up in shock. He had moved so that he was standing beside her touching her arm. She was sure that it was supposed to be a reassuring gesture on his part, but little did he know the closeness of his body was not helping her to relax at all.

As the doors began to close, he looked down at her again, his eyes so dark they were almost black. “It will be over before you know it. Close your eyes if you need to.” He reached down and took her hand in his. She hoped that he couldn’t feel her shaking, but at least she imagined he would just think it was the fear of the elevator and not him. Truthfully, she had already forgotten where they were. She leaned her head back again and closed her eyes and breathed in his fresh scent that smelled like the ocean. She imagined him holding her hand on the beach. She tried to fight the blush she felt creeping into her cheeks again as if he might know what she was thinking.

It didn’t take long for the ding alerting her they were at their destination, and she heard the doors opening. She opened her eyes and was in awe of the room before her. She let go of Blake’s hand and stepped off of the elevator, but not before the receptionist caught them holding hands.

She was still looking around at the beautifully decorated lobby when Blake spoke, making her jump. “Follow me. I’ll take you to his office.”

Standing in the hallway of offices, he gestured to the one at the end. “Ridge should be in there. I don’t think he has any meetings today.” The office was all glass with beautiful thick navy blue drapery creating the privacy behind it and making the glass more like a mirror to those attempting to look in.

Looking up at Blake she said, “Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done without you back there. You’re like my knight in shining armor.” After realizing what she just said her face immediately grew hot, and she quickly looked away.
Oh, my word! Why did I say that out loud? Well, at least I’ll never have to see him again.

She caught his smirk in the glass as he began to turn, “It was my pleasure. Good luck.” and he headed back toward the lobby.

Could that have possibly been any more awkward? She glanced at herself in the glass and took note of her choice of clothes and had to stifle a giggle, thinking that would have run anyone off. She looked down at the hand that he had held and flexed her fingers, remembering how warm his touch had been. He had helped her in the elevator, and she was now standing in front of her brother’s office because of him; if he hadn’t shown up when he did, she might have been kicked out of the building altogether. He really had been her hero in a way.

She stepped forward to the door with “R. TATUM” in large gold writing across the window. She took a deep breath and knocked quietly. The butterflies were back.

CHAPTER 3

“Come in,” came the husky voice on the other side of the door.

Ember pushed the door open and stepped inside, not knowing what to expect. Her brother was standing at a giant window on the other side of his office. She hadn’t realized how large this room was from the hallway. She did notice he had decorated it a lot like their father’s study at home, though. His large desk was sitting in the center and piled with papers. Ridge had never been the most organized person. She smiled.
Some things never change.
The walls were a dark tan and the wood in the room was white while the leather for the chairs and the couch were a dark chocolate brown.
A couch, really?
She had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

“Where’s the kitchen? You would think with this much room you could have added a kitchen.”

He stiffened at the sound of her voice and then looked over his shoulder at her. His steely blue eyes reminded her so much of their father, but the smile that crossed his face when he saw her was nothing like their dad.

“What are you doing here?” His tone was not accusatory, but one of excitement and disbelief. She felt ashamed that she had ever thought he would be upset to see her.

“Hi Bubba, I’m home.” She shrugged and smiled at him as tears started to well up in her eyes.

“Are you okay? What about Kaylen?” His smile faded as concern filled his eyes. He turned from the window, walking toward her, but stopped beside his desk as if he was afraid to come any closer.

“We’re okay. Well, I’m all right physically.” Her brows furrowed. “I'll be better in time. Can you talk right now? Should I come back later or it can wait until tonight at dinner? I just wanted to see you.” She was so nervous she was fumbling over what to say.

“I have all the time in the world for you, Sis.” He was not going to let her leave, and she had a feeling that if there had been any meetings, he would have canceled them all.

She walked over and wrapped her arms around him. When she leaned her head on his shoulder, she began to cry softly. He held her in his arms rubbing her back to comfort her the same way he had the last time he saw her.

“Tell me what’s going on so I can fix it.” Ridge was always trying to fix her problems. To be honest, he was always trying to fix everyone’s problems. He may have been 6’2” and 190 pounds, but he was just a big teddy bear. She was sure his heart made up over half his weight.