Bare Skin: A Billionaire Romance (25 page)

Willow

W
here is he?

He's never late.

Leaning against the cool mailbox secured to the street, I scoured the busy sidewalk for his face. Kash was never late, and I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I was suddenly terrified.

He was always a man of time, being where he said, when he said. And if he was ever running behind, he always called. Digging my phone out of my purse, I checked to see if I had missed a call or a text.

But there was nothing.

This isn't like him.

He would've called, he would've let me know he was going to be late.

I'm right where he said to meet him.

The sound of sirens filled the empty air behind me, firing off with a loud, screeching hum. Two firetrucks and a cop car flashed like lightening as they flew by.

What the hell's going on?

It must be big.

A few people walking past me were mumbling to each other, and I tried to make out what they were saying. Their hands pointed in the direction of the emergency vehicles, eyes huge and looking stunned.

But I couldn't make out much more than,
'Did you see that, holy shit.'
As the other person nodded along and rubbed their forehead while saying,
'I know, that guy is something, mumble mumble, Ka....'

Did he say Kash?

Was he talking about my Kash?

Come on, Willow, it could've been a different name...

Karen, Caleb, Cathy. There were so many names that started off the same way. For them to be talking about the man I was waiting for, it had to be one in a million.

Shaking my head, I tried to force the worry down and away. He's running late, that was all it had to be.

But what if he's not...

Clutching my ribs, I walked towards the corner of the road to see if I could spot what the hell was happening.

The sirens still blared close by—
really close by.
And the soft muffled voices of a crowd of people were slowly trickling out into my ear.

Whatever it was... It was big.

My body shuddered with a flashback, a memory of the night my dreams had went up in smoke. The intense tremble rolled across my muscles, curling my stomach. Even after this long, and with my new found confidence as my paintings were selling like wildfire...

The memory burned.

Reaching the edge of the building, I leaned around the corner. And what I saw didn't register until my mind untwined the image trickling into my skull.

The firetrucks were parked, the cop car was stopped, all three blocking any traffic from heading up the road. There was a large mass of people all crowded around something I couldn't make out.

What the hell is going on?

Letting the curiosity feed my legs, I walked towards the giant group.

And that's when my entire world stopped.

Every muscle hardened, my lungs folded in on themselves, heart racing to unnatural beats inside my chest.

Kash was standing in the center of the crowd, his face strong and firm. His eyes were smiling, his cheeks were raised  up high, lips curved into a sultry grin.

Instantly my eyes welled up, the tears clouded my vision making everything fuzzy. Reaching his hand out, I grabbed his fingers. Kash's face was soft, but hard. His jaw was still defined even with the mask of hair, his lips were bright and perfectly framed inside his beard.

All I wanted in that moment was for him to kiss me, to kiss me and whisk me away. Tugging me into his chest, Kash pressed his soft lips against my forehead.

“Willow, I know you hate being the center of attention. But this, right now, it's worth it. When I met you, you forced my body to accept and give in to the feelings that hit my core. I wasn't sure at the time if I liked or hated those feelings, but I realize now that it didn't matter.”

“What are you saying? What is all this, Kash?” My chest trembled with electric pops, hitting the veins, and heating my entire body.

“What I'm trying to say...” Pausing, Kash ran his fingers through my hair, pulling it off my face. “What I'm saying is that from the first moment you stepped into my world, I knew you were special. And I'm willing to give you everything you deserve, that's why you're here, that's why they're here.” Rolling his arm out, he pointed to the firetrucks.

I hadn't noticed it before, but the firetrucks had a large canvas drop hanging from the ladders. It was blocking off and concealing whatever rested on the other side of it.

“What are you talking about?” My trembles turned to rolling waves across my skin, my whole body was shaking and I couldn't stop it.

“Willow, this is my gift to you. You stole my heart, you stole my world, and you gave me something I had lost long ago. You showed me life can't always be run by needs or words. Life sometimes just happens, and you can't control it. All you can do is embrace it.” As he slowed his words, his hand snapped up and dropped quickly to the ground.

The firetrucks rolled forward, releasing the backdrop. Driving my fingers to my lips, I almost fell over. Kash tightened his grip as he felt my muscles give way, holding me steady.

“Are you serious?
Are you fucking serious?”
I asked, unable to stop staring at the sight.

“Yes I'm serious. It's yours, Willow, it's all yours.”

The tears finally shed, flowing like rivers down my cheeks. I couldn't stop them, they were rolling and falling with such intensity that I couldn't even talk.

In the empty space that once held my dream, was a brand new building.

Kash had rebuilt the shop, from the ashes he breathed new life into the damned building. It was standing tall, boldly shining under the mid-day sun.

Fresh bricks had been laid to create the walls, two huge crystal clear windows encased a bright yellow door. There was a large wooden sign set in the top center, and burned into the hard canvas was my name.

'Forever Willow.'

“Are you serious?” I had no other words. My mind couldn't grasp what I was actually seeing.

It was the most beautiful sight in the world. It was my shop, my gallery, my dream. The home for my art, the place for others to come and see it, buy it, take it home.

His fingers swept the tears from my cheeks, cupping my face in his palms. “I've never been more serious, Lo. I love you, Willow, and for the rest of my life I will give anything to make your dreams come true.”

Flicking my hands up and down, I fanned my face. “I don't know what to say.”

I wanted to yell to him that I loved him too, I wanted to grab his scruffy jaw and kiss with him every emotion that had come to life inside me.

I wanted to fall over, I wanted to feel him wrap his arms around me, I wanted to nuzzle my nose into his ear and tell him that he had me forever, and that love wasn't even strong enough to describe what I felt for him.

“Do you want to go inside?” he asked, draping his hand over my back.

“Can we?”

“It's your place, you can do what you want.”

My place... My place.

He gave me back my dream, he gave me back my life.

Crossing the sidewalk, he handed me a silver key, pressing it into my palm. My hand was shaking, fingers wildly attempting to push the key inside. Finally, slipping it into the lock, I slowly opened the door.

The main room was filled with paintings, they were set on the walls, placed on easels, everywhere. Taking a closer look, my jaw dropped. “Are these...
My paintings?”

“Yeah, I'm sorry, I couldn't tell you. But I bought a bunch or your art without you knowing. I wanted to have them to fill this place. But I only bought ten of yours, the others you sold were legitimate. The rest of the paintings are ones I made for you. They were inspired by you and I wanted you to have them.”

That was it, my heart jumped into my throat, my chest squeezed around my ribs. “These are amazing.” Searching the pictures, I noticed a subtle difference between this art and the others he had done around the city.

These didn't bear the same symbol that I was used to seeing, there was no loop, no small dots. These were signed with his name, his real name.

Theodore.

“Kash, I don't know what to say.”

“You can say what you feel.”

There was too much to say. My head was a mess of everything he had given me, everything I was so thankful for.

Kash had brought life to my art, he brought confidence to my nerves, he treated me like I was a precious gift that had been laid at his feet.

And it all started with a tattoo.

His hand had transformed my body, but his heart had transformed my soul.

I finally felt the one emotion I had banished and cursed to hell. The one feeling that everyone needed and I forced away from fear.

Love.

Turing to face him, I let his eyes fill my soul. “I love you, thank you for this.”

And in that moment, I knew.

I was meant to find Kash, our two worlds had become one.

He claimed me, he made me, and then he stole my heart.

I was his forever.

Kash

M
y eyes glanced at the time.
Shit, I have thirty minutes, and I promised Lo I'd stop by.

A year ago, I would never have imagined that this is where I'd be. New investments were rolling in, my shop was at an all time high, and the woman of my dreams was resting on my arm.

It would be cliché for me to say my life could never get better, and that it was perfect. Because everyone says that when they're standing tall, but I felt deep down I had the right to say it.

My life is perfect.

But I didn't dare say it out loud. We all know what happens when you jinx your own life...

Something bad happens, and the world you grew to cherish and adore, comes crashing down in a torrent of flames. Everything around would turn black and crumble as if it was never there to begin with.

I hated the thought, and I didn't ever want to do anything to wake me from my endless dream. This was meant to last forever.

Grabbing my keys, I flew out of the condo Willow and I had moved into a few months back. It was a spacious two bedroom, set in a brand new high rise on the far end of the city.

I stumbled upon the building by chance, another flicker in the new life we had created together that seemed to just fall into place.

Late one evening, I was leaving a meeting with a small entrepreneur. The guy I met with loved to ramble on and on about his father in law, and his big time construction business. While we walked to our respective vehicles, he pointed to the giant building set behind the restaurant.

It was almost complete at the time, all the bones and skin were there, but the internal details were still under construction.

After a little creative talking, a handshake, and a phone call; Willow and I had first dibs on the place when it was finished. And James, the entrepreneur, had my help for basically no charge.

The elevator doors opened into the lobby, my feet scrambling to hit the marble tiles before they could even squeeze through the doors.

I didn't want to be late to my meeting, but I also couldn't just abandon my promise to Willow.

She came first, she always came first.

That's what I promised myself when she walked into my world. Nothing was more important to me than keeping her happy, and always keeping my word.

The walk took a few minutes longer with our new place, but my body was in overdrive. My quick walk was more of a light jog, and in my blazer; the sweat had started to trickle in light streams down my temples.

Wiping them away with the back of my arm, the giant sign of her gallery came into view. My hand shot out inches before my arm was even at a distance to grab it.

The cool metal felt like a relief as I yanked the door open, and the central air was even more welcoming as it washed over my face.

“Looks like it's a hot one today, you're sweating like a pig.” Willow's giggle snatched my heart, like it had so many times this past year.

That sound never got old, it was always soothing and melodic to my ears. I could listen to her laugh, to her voice, to her inviting moans, on repeat over and over. And I never wanted her to stop.

She fed my soul, she brought me back from the depths of my own carnage. Willow would forever hold my heart, and I was never letting her go.

“No, Love, that's not the heat...” Wiping my forehead, a playful grin filled my face. “That's just what you do to me, you naughty girl.”

“Is that right?” She wiped her hands on a small rag, smearing it in deep blue paint. “So all that manly wetness is from me?” Dropping the rag to the floor, she wrapped her arms around my neck.

“Would I lie to you?”

“About that...” Her finger came down to tap her chin. “Yes.”

A heavy chuckle hit my chest, my head falling back as I laughed. “Alright, you caught me. Yes, it's hot as hell out today. It also didn't help that I had to sprint here to see your new painting that you just finished.”

“Shit, that's right, I forgot about your meeting today.” Her hand crept up my neck, fingers teasing the ends of my hair.

Prickles shot across my skin, my muscles clenching to her touch. “It's no problem, you're more important than my meeting.”

A delicate smile lifted over her lips, her cheeks flushing in the prettiest shade of pink. “Kash, I love you.”

“I know you do, that's why I keep you around.” Her hand came down and smacked my chest, lips pursing to the side. “I'm kidding, I love you too.” Nestling my face into her neck, I gave her quick kisses all over her skin.

Willow let out a high-pitched squeal as I made my way down her neck and onto her collarbone. Her body wiggled like a fish out of water, laughing and pushing my shoulders back.

“Okay, okay, settle down,” she said between gulps of air.

“What? Am I hitting your sweet spot?” Driving my face back down, I kept kissing the area that made her body buzz with excitement.

“Yes, you are, and we don't have time for this. You have your meeting soon, and I want to show you something.”

Pulling back, my lips pouted, brows dipping up to the hairline. “Fine. But I think we can squeeze in a quickie. Hm? Maybe? You know I can't help myself around you, you drive me crazy.”