Getting to Her: A Sapphire Falls BONUS Novella (9 page)

But then it hit him. She hadn’t come all this way to tell him she didn’t need his money.

She’d come all this way to see him.

“I wasn’t the only one to say no. I couldn’t have been.”

“No,” she agreed, pushing back from the desk. “You weren’t. But you were the only one who did it out of spite.”

“You think I did it out of spite?” he asked, truly surprised.

“Didn’t you?” she tossed back.

He watched her as he thought about how to respond. He hadn’t done it because she’d left him on the riverbank. He’d known she would leave. He’d been disappointed, but not surprised.

He’d done it because he wanted her to want something from him.

Nice? No. Mature? Not especially. Effective? Apparently.

“Madam Mayor,” he said, lowering his voice. “We’re done talking about the building project. It’s over.”

She looked taken aback. She crossed her arms and lifted her chin—her sign of bravery. “Fine.”

“Now I want you to walk to my office door. And when you get there, you have a choice. You can either walk through it and shut it behind you. Or you can stay on this side of it. And lock it.”

She stared at him. Her mouth formed a little O and her arms dropped to her sides.

“Wh— What?”

“You heard me.”

She’d heard and she’d understood. She had a choice to make. If she stayed, she knew exactly what was going to happen.

No, actually that wasn’t true. She couldn’t know exactly what would happen. Because she didn’t know that Ty had become her dream lover over the past seven years.

But she had an inkling.

She pulled her shoulders back, licked her lips and turned away from him.

Ty hated it but he watched her, not knowing what her decision would be and unwilling to do anything else to influence it.

She got to the door and gripped the doorknob. But she didn’t even pause. She pushed the door shut, stepped forward and turned the lock.

“Come here.” The command was gruff and low.

Ty came out from behind his desk as she walked back toward him on those fuck-me heels. Oh yeah, she was definitely leaving those on.

He moved to the front of his desk and leaned back on it as he had when she’d first come into the office.

“Take your clothes off. Shirt first.”

On that riverbank, he’d been a kid. He hadn’t felt like it at the time and, looking back, he thought he’d done okay that night. She’d had an orgasm. She’d been happy.

But the hints of dominance from him had turned her on. He saw that even clearer now. He’d also been sweet and loving. He’d made love to her that night, even if she didn’t know it. And she’d walked away. He hadn’t been surprised, but it had hurt. He could admit that. To himself anyway.

She was walking away today too. Her life was in Sapphire Falls. She was the mayor, for God’s sake. His life was here. His training and career was going well, but it was a Silver medal hanging in his trophy case, not a gold. That meant he wasn’t done yet. So this wasn’t going anywhere any more than their time at the river had.

So he was doing this his way.

If she didn’t like it, all she had to do was say the word.

But he’d be damned if he was going to be sweet and loving and romantic this time.

Hailey pressed her lips together and worked on not shaking all over.

It was quite a feat.

She had adrenaline on top of adrenaline coursing right now.

She’d been worked up coming to Ty’s house in the first place. She’d been prepared for their meeting—or as prepared as she could be to face Ty one-on-one for the first time since That Night, as she’d labeled it in her mind. But there was no amount of preparation that could make her relaxed and casual around Ty. She was very aware that they hadn’t been alone since then. She was very aware that it had been seven and a half years since then. She was also angry—and hurt— that he’d made her talk to his lawyer. As if they were strangers.

And yes, okay, the bar and grill had been a dumb idea. He could have told her that. Hell, she wasn’t even sure he’d realized that. He had been so intent on saying no that he hadn’t even really given it a chance.

That’s what pissed her off.

Well, that was what
should have
pissed her off.

Instead, she’d had her feelings hurt and, yes, she’d felt regret. She’d regretted that after all the times he’d made her feel good and noticed and appreciated, she had panicked and hurt
him
by running away that night at the river.

But he’d overwhelmed her. He’d amazed her. He’d rocked her world. Because the sex had been amazing, but the feeling of being in his arms afterward had been…enough to make her want to spill all her secrets and fears.

Secrets and fears she
couldn’t
tell him. She’d clung to his adoration for so long. There was no way she could be honest with him and risk losing that or ruining the way he looked at her. She
needed
to be able to conjure the memory of his smile, the way he teased her, the compliments, the way he looked at her as if she was beautiful and brilliant.

As she’d left the river that night, she’d known that she was giving up collecting further memories. But at least she could keep the ones she had intact. And she knew that the next time she saw him, he would look at her with anger. But that was better than disillusionment.

Hailey started unbuttoning her shirt.

She’d wanted to see him. She’d told herself it was to make him finally answer her face-to-face about the project. Then she’d told herself it was for the satisfaction of seeing him feel bad when he realized they didn’t need him after all.

But the minute she’d stepped into his office, she’d known it was because she missed him and that, pathetic as it was, talking to and arguing with his lawyer felt like a tiny connection and she knew he was at least thinking about her for a few minutes whenever his lawyer related his most recent conversation with her. Now that the project was up and going and they didn’t need Ty’s involvement anymore, those phone calls would stop and Ty might not think about her again until they ran into each other on the street in Sapphire Falls.

She’d wanted to come and make one more impression.

The last button gave and she shrugged out of her blouse, letting it fall to the floor behind her.

She was still mostly covered, the white silk camisole as modest as many of the dresses she wore in the summer. But it was sheer and she knew Ty instantly noticed how her nipples had hardened.

She was practically vibrating with adrenaline and desire.

“Now the cami,” he commanded.

God that voice. Shivers of heat went through her and goose bumps erupted on her skin from head to toe. She loved that deep, commanding voice.

At the river there had been hints of a more demanding side. But Ty had always been a sweet kid with a crush around her. It was as if that demanding side was being awakened but hadn’t been fully realized yet. That night she’d felt loved and cherished.

There was nothing about the way he was looking at her now that seemed soft enough to be considered cherishing.

He was looking at her with heat and…
purpose
. That seemed like the best word.

As if he knew exactly what he wanted and he intended to get it.

There was a definite edge to him now.

She had been following him and his sport and she knew the kind of physical and mental toughness that went into competing at the level he was at. It wasn’t hard to believe that would carry over into other things. He had to be goal-oriented and driven.

If he applied that to seduction, she was a goner.

She slipped the camisole over her head, leaving her in only a small white lace bra.

“Bra.”

One tiny word and her whole body reacted. She was hot all over, hot and wet in key places. And he hadn’t even touched her yet.

Yeah, she was a goner anyway.

She reached back and unhooked her bra, letting it drop to the carpet.

She stood proudly in front of him, reveling in the way his eyes darkened as his pupils dilated. She knew Ty had been with many beautiful women over the years. He’d just ended a somewhat volatile, very public relationship with a fellow Olympian. They’d been seen in public either all over one another or practically engaged in mortal combat. It seemed they burned hot whether it was for good or bad.

Still, Hailey was confident in two things about herself—she could get anyone to do anything she wanted, and she always looked good doing it.

“Now the skirt.”

He hadn’t moved, but she could see his fingers digging into the desk where he gripped the edge and she fought the urge to smile. He wasn’t unaffected. That’s all she needed to know.

She slid the zipper down the side of her skirt and let it slide to the floor. She stepped out of it, facing him in only a thong and heels.

“Thank God it’s red,” Ty muttered as he came off the desk suddenly.

She opened her mouth to respond but then he was there, almost on top of her, his hands in her hair, his lips on hers.

The kiss was hot and hungry. It was like the kisses at the river but…more. He held her still for the strokes of his tongue over her lips and then her tongue as she opened for him. He tasted every corner of her mouth before he let them both up for oxygen.

“Say yes,” he said huskily as he kissed down the length of her throat.

She tipped her head back and felt his tongue along her collarbone. “God, yes,” she said.

He backed up, bringing her along, his hands still on her head. He turned and lifted her onto the edge of the desk and stepped between her knees. He bent his head and ran his tongue around one nipple while rubbing his thumb over the other. As if an electrical wire connected her nipples to her clit, she felt the shocks of heat and desire shoot through her.

Then he went to his knees in front of her. He dragged his hands from her breasts along her ribs, over her stomach and to her thighs. He pushed them open and leaned in, pressing a kiss to the silk covering her clit.

“Ty!” Her hand tangled in his hair, hanging on as he moved his mouth and tongue, wetting the red thong.

“Pull it out of my way,” he told her gruffly.

With a shaking hand, Hailey moved the thong to the side.

She was hot and wet and ready for him and she prayed she wouldn’t orgasm with the first touch of his tongue.

He leaned in and lapped at her and it was really close. She gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut.

At age eighteen, having never done it before, Ty had given her an orgasm with oral sex. She could only imagine that he’d had some practice since then and she prepared to embarrass herself with the fastest orgasm in recorded history.

But he let up after the first lick and instead eased two fingers into her.

She gasped and let her head fall back, but she was a little safer this way. It still felt amazing, but the key to her orgasms was her clit for sure. Without stimulation there she had a hell of a time climaxing and she’d given up trying. Guys liked it when girls played with themselves anyway, so if the guy she was with wouldn’t help her out, she had no problem giving them both a hand.

Ty pumped his fingers deep a few times before withdrawing and standing up.

She opened her eyes to find him stripping. Grateful that she hadn’t missed that, Hailey hungrily drank in the sight of his rippling muscles under taut, tanned skin.

He’d been gorgeous at the river, a young, virile, horny guy.

Now he was a man. His muscles had been sculpted by more than farm work and running. Now he was specifically honing his body for elite performance. He watched what he ate—or so the sports articles she’d read said—he had a strict workout schedule and he did everything from taking vitamins to meditating to, as he’d said, avoiding red meat to get the maximum performance from his body.

And it showed.

Holy crap.

Hailey didn’t think she’d ever seen a more beautiful male body in her life.

And one of the most beautiful things was how hard and hot he was for her.

Tyler Bennett had always been popular with the girls, but now, he could have any woman he wanted. The Olympian he’d dated had been gorgeous. He’d been briefly linked to a couple of up-and-coming Hollywood actresses. He’d done a magazine layout with some models.

He could have—and probably had—worked off his sexual urges with almost anyone.

But he was still hard and throbbing for her.

He wrapped a big hand around his cock as she watched and gave it a long, firm stroke.

Her inner muscles clenched and she felt herself subconsciously lick her lips.

“Yep, I told you next time it would be
your
hand. And mouth.”

He
had
said that. The words from almost eight years ago came back clearly.

“You wanna be on your knees, Madam Mayor?”

She paused. There was something about calling her by her title that he clearly liked.