RUSH (Montgomery Men Book 1) (21 page)

“What do you say you and me—” she leaned in farther, her lips hovering only inches from mine and trailed her soft, delicate tongue lightly over my lower lip “—go someplace quieter and get better acquainted?”

Now I’m a guy. And if a sexy, willing woman with a tight body and luscious tits threw herself at me, well, it would be wrong of me not to take her up on her offer.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued by your proposition.” I stood from the barstool, and the floor beneath me felt as if it literally fucking moved.

I stumbled forward, and she laughed when I wrapped my arms around her and used her for support. Once I was stable enough, I attempted to place some distance between us, but she had other ideas.

Little Ms. Eager gripped the back of my neck and pulled me closer, then covered my mouth with her lips. I stood there in the center of the hotel bar with a complete stranger shoving her tongue into my mouth as she practically dry-humped me.

I couldn’t think straight.

I’d wanted to forget. I’d wanted a distraction from the woman that deceived me and left my head so fucked up I truly didn’t know if I was coming or going.

Here was my chance.

For at least the weekend I could forget about it all. I could get lost in this sexy woman and hope that would give me the push I needed to get my life back on track.

I woke up still feeling hazy from a night of binge drinking. The longer I lay there in my hotel bed, the more memories of last night came flashing back.

The elevator, where an unfamiliar woman sucked on my neck as she rubbed her body against my hardening cock.

The hallway that led to my hotel room as we kissed and stumbled, knocking things over and catching the attention of the people in the rooms around us.

And then we were in my room, and there she stood before me, nearly naked and smiling.

Most men would have been on her so fast her head would spin, but fuck I stood there like a lost kid.

Because as I looked at the beautiful woman that wanted to give me a night to remember, all I could picture was Kinsley’s face.

Kinsley.

I’d said her name a million times in my head, and still it felt strange.

But that was her name. Kinsley was the woman I’d fallen in love with, yet she was just a lie. Everything about us was all a lie.

Still, I couldn’t bring myself to give in to the temptation before me.

I wanted to. More than anything I wanted to grab her, toss her on the bed, and fuck her seven ways from Sunday. But I just couldn’t do it. All I could do was turn my back to her and tell her to get dressed.

She argued and tried to convince me that she only wanted a weekend of the hottest sex of her life.

When those tactics didn’t work, she got angry. And when she realized nothing was going to change my mind, she left my room without even taking the time to put her dress back on.

I stretched out my arm to the empty space beside me and reassured myself that my memories of last night were accurate. Relief washed over me when I confirmed I was, in fact, alone.

There was no reason I couldn’t have gone through with nailing a gorgeous woman I didn’t know. Fuck, I had done that very thing more times than I could remember.

But I couldn’t make myself do it this time.

I couldn’t stop thinking about her fucking face or the sadness in her eyes when I walked away without a second thought. I had to get it out of my mind. Only I had no fucking idea how I was going to do that.

Now that I’d calmed down a little, I kept thinking I was missing something. Nothing about this made sense. Her feelings for me couldn’t have been just an act. What I felt for her was real too. We were real.

I refused to believe she and I didn’t have the connection I felt every fucking time I looked at her. Every time she touched me.

I thought I was ready to let go. I tried to force that idea into my head over and over. But in reality, she and I weren’t done yet.

Not until she told me why she lied.

I wanted the truth this time.

All of it.

KINSLEY

“I MESSED EVERYTHING UP,” I
slurred as my head lolled to the side. “He was amazing and the perfect man in every sense. Yes, he’s pigheaded and set in his ways, but he made me feel like I was the only thing that mattered.”

Lex looked at me without his usually sassy expression.

“I blew it, because I should have just told him everything from the beginning.” I lifted my wineglass to my lips and took a sip. I should have stopped drinking long ago, but I didn’t want this haze to weaken. Sure, being drunk didn’t fully take the pain away, but it made it hurt a little less.

“You were scared.” Lex looked at me with sympathetic eyes. I should have despised that look, only today I embraced it. I curled in closer to him and rested my head on his shoulder. I hadn’t had the type of support Lex was showing me in so long. He knew the truth now. And he understood. That was rare.

Hours ago, once I was able to pick myself up off the floor, I called Lex. He rushed over immediately and spent the entire evening with me as I rehashed what had happened between Ashton and I. I shared everything; about my past with Jase from the first time we met to watching him through the back window of the Suburban that whisked me away to safety.

And the moment he cupped my cheek and told me I was one of the strongest people he knew as tears ran down his face, I knew he was a true friend. He wasn’t angry that I’d lied, he was angry that I had handled everything on my own for so long.

Now I only wished I had the opportunity to tell Ashton the truth.

“He’s angry, but give it time.” Lex wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in closer. “He cares about you, Kinsley.” He chuckled lightly. “Feels weird calling you that,” he confessed.

And it felt weird hearing it. I’d never thought I would again.

We remained in this position for what felt like hours. Even though I didn’t cry hard, tears slowly seeped through.

I’d hurt a good man.

“I’m sure his brother the PI found out everything,” I explained to Rig. “And I don’t think Ashton will do anything with the information. Well, nothing other than continue using it as the ammunition he needs to keep hating me.”

“You’re being dramatic, sweetheart,” Rig assured me.

“You didn’t see his face or hear what he said. It was awful.” Every time I remembered the anger in his eyes, my stomach knotted with disgust. “I’ve tried to call him so many times I’ve lost count. I’ve texted him, and even Lex has been unable to reach him. Maybe it’s best if I just relocate.” The idea of leaving New York made my heart race with unease, but I was unsure of how to handle this.

“You aren’t going anywhere, kid. You need to relax,” Rig said calmly. Sometimes his lack of emotion drove me crazy. How could he not think this was all one fucked-up cluster of shit? Hadn’t he been paying attention?

“We’ll keep a lookout for any change in Jase’s activities. You need to keep your head held high and go about your life. Let us handle the shit.”

I rarely questioned Rig. After all, he wasn’t the kind of guy any sane person would argue with, but I was having a real hard time with this situation.

ASHTON

THE MOMENT THE WHEELS OF
my jet touched down on the runway of JFK, I got even more anxious. I’d cleared my head. I’d done all I could to dispose of my anger over her deceit. Now I was ready to get to the bottom of this.

I turned my phone on with the intention of calling Kinsley to set up a time to talk and was surprised to find multiple messages from Lex.

Hell, when I left for L.A. I had nothing from him. But during one weekend, he’d gone crazy.

Lex: Did you even give her a chance to explain?

Lex: I just spent hours consoling Kinsley. It should have been you holding her.

He called her Kinsley. My stomach dropped because that meant he too knew she’d lied about everything.

I didn’t take the time to read any more of his messages.

Instead I waited impatiently for my pilot to get his shit together so I could get the fuck off this plane.

Murray was waiting at the car with the door open and a scowl on his face when I stepped off the staircase leading up to the jet. “Bad weekend, Murray?” I asked as I got into the backseat.

When he shut the door without a response, I assumed I was correct.

“The office or your penthouse first?” he asked without turning to face me. Apparently my driver was equally irritated with me. Had my employees all gotten together while I was out of town and decided I was the bad guy in all this?

“Is there something you need to say, Murray?” I’d know the man for more than ten years. He was an ex-Marine and worked with Knoxville for a while before I hired him. He was more like family now then just a driver and all-around security guy. But that sure as hell didn’t mean I would tolerate his attitude.

“Just glad to have you back, sir,” he said as if that would be explanation enough.

When I stared at him through the review mirror without telling him where to drive, he sighed in frustration.

“Lex is, as you know, a bit insane,” he began, and I didn’t disagree because Lex was so much more than just insane, he was exhausting. I nodded. “Listen, Ashton, I don’t know what happened between you and Ms. Masterson, but Lex seems real unhappy about the outcome. He’s been down my throat for more than twenty-four hours, and on more than one occasion I’ve considered using my Taser.” I chuckled, and he turned around in the seat to face me. “I can promise you that I am completely serious.”

I averted my eyes. “She lied, Murray, about everything.” I closed my eyes tightly. “Her name is Kinsley Hellman, and she’s married.”

A silence set in between us. I’m sure he hadn’t expected that.

“So your office, then?” he asked.

I shook my head and finally looked up at him. “Stockman and Wright Law Office.”

His stare remained locked on mine. I knew he wanted to question my request, only he didn’t.

For the next twenty minutes, the only sound in the car was the soft rock filtering out of the radio’s speakers. Multiple messages were waiting for me on my cell, and those from Lex kept getting angrier. I skipped over them as his irritation wasn’t my top priority right now.