Wilde Times (3 page)

She gives me a slow, seductive nod in response.

My underwear comes off quickly and I’m rewarded with a hungry lick of her full lips.

When I kiss her again I feel greedy and wanting. I want to possess Harley. I want to own her in every way. But I know it’s impossible. She can never truly be mine.

So I take what I can get on the borrowed time we have.

When I grab her and lift her off the desk again she squeals and laughs. No one would ever accuse Harley of being carefree, but that’s the way she is when we’re together. Normally she’s one of the hardest, most guarded people on the planet. But when it’s just the two of us she lets her guard down in a way I’ve never seen her do with anyone else. 

I place her on her feet again so that she’s facing the desk. As I move in behind her I shift her hair so that I can kiss her neck and play with her earlobe. A quick shiver overtakes her body in response.

I place my hands on her flat stomach and then ease my way down to her underwear. I slide the thong down until it’s close enough to the ground that she can step out of it.

Then I slide my hands back up her torso and pull her close, so the skin on her back is touching my chest.

“Can you feel how much I want you?” I whisper.

She nods. “I want you too.”

I grab the condom from the desk and quickly rip open the package. Within seconds I’m sheathed and pushing myself inside of her.

She is so wet and ready for me it takes every ounce of restraint I have not to come on the spot.

Harley and I have been hooking up for well over a year, but every time we’re together she excites me even more than the last time. Sex with her never gets old and definitely never gets stale.

“Put your hands on the desk,” I urge her.

When she does as I instructed I’m able to push into her harder and deeper. Even though she stifles her moan it still adds fuel to my fire. I grab both of her hips and thrust into her with everything I’ve got.

“Oh, God,” she cries then immediately puts her hand to her mouth.

The office is fairly soundproof, but I know she doesn’t want everyone in the place to hear our business.

“Come with me, Baby,” I whisper into her ear as I continue to recklessly pump into her.

“Yes,” she replies, nearly breathless. “Go…now.”

And with that declaration I continue my mission until I’m completely spent. Somehow she’s managed to totally drain the life force from me using her magic.

My entire body is glistening with a thin film of sweat when I finally pull out.

When she turns around to face me Harley is absolutely glowing.

“I take it that was satisfactory,” I tease.

“It was okay,” she teases right back.

I give her a mock frown. “I guess I’m losing my touch.”

“Maybe you’ll have to try again later tonight. With a little more stamina next time.”

It makes my heart ache when she says shit like that. I’m trying to stay away from her as much as I can. Maybe finally break the connection between us. And she wants more. She always wants more.

Not that I don’t want more of her. She’s like heroin and I’m like a junkie. But I’m trying my best to get clean and sober and quit the Harley addiction once and for all.

I know she’s also offering up more so that I’ll take her home tonight instead of taking home some random girl from the bar.

I head into the tiny bathroom that’s connected to the office. And I do mean tiny. With the sink and toilet crammed in as tight as they are there is barely room for me to stand. I remove the condom and clean myself up as much as possible. When I reenter the office Harley is pulling on her jeans.

I pick up her bra and shirt and hand them to her. After she slips on the bra and shirt I help her button it up. It’s because I still want to touch her. I still want her close to me. I don’t like to admit it, but when we’re apart it’s like something is missing. I try desperately to fill that void with other girls, most of them blondes who look like Harley. But none of them is Harley. None of them makes me feel the way she does.

I play with the bracelet on her arm. I gave it to her for Christmas. It’s the only thing I’ve ever given her. The only thing I’ve ever given any girl, other than a good time.

I’ve never seen her take it off of her wrist.

“We’d better get back to work,” Harley suggests. There’s a hint of sadness in her tone, like she’d rather just stay back here with me.

Or maybe I’m just reading too much into it. Maybe I’m the one who’d rather just blow off work and have fun with her the rest of the night.

But Harley is much too responsible to blow off work. And she likes earning money too much. And she earns a lot of it. She works double shifts nearly every day and rarely takes a day off. I’d say she easily brings in close to a thousand dollars a week in tips alone.

“You’re right.” I place a quick kiss on her nose and the gesture makes her smile.

“More later?” She lifts an eyebrow.

I don’t reply because I don’t want to commit to that. I’m supposed to be loosening the strings between us and that would not be conducive to any string loosening whatsoever.

If I’m smart I’ll pick up someone else and make sure Harley sees me leave the bar with her. Now that would be more of a string loosening.

Harley doesn’t say anything, but I can see the hurt in her eyes. “Back to work it is,” she says as she puts her tough-girl wall back up again.

She’s back to being the girl who doesn’t take shit from anyone and intimidates everyone.

Haymakers has already picked up, which means we’re in for a busy night. Cooper and Riley haven’t been too much help lately as all of their free time has been spent on wedding planning and combining their two households into one. But Cooper always made it clear that Haymakers was not his priority. He works fulltime on Wall Street. He and Riley only come back to town for long weekends and help out when they can.

I think it may be time to start thinking about recruiting some new employees—especially if we’re going to be losing Gracie once the baby arrives. I haven’t asked them yet, but knowing my brother, he won’t allow anyone to watch his baby but him and Gracie. I can only imagine the interrogation he’ll put me through before I’m allowed anywhere near his child, and I’m a blood relative.

The night is just like any other night at Haymakers. The regulars stream in and out of the bar. Groups of guys come in to watch a game and grab a few pints. Groups of girls come in to celebrate engagements, like Merilee and her friends, and some-times even divorces. The occasional tourist from the city will stop in for a burger and fries because they heard from somewhere that we’ve got the best in town. Of course they never bothered to probe any further to find out we’re the only bar in town and the only place that serves pub food.

Not much has changed in the past ten years since I started working here. And I imagine things were probably not much different when my dad ran the bar and his dad before him. The place has been in our family for generations. And it looks like there will be more generations of Wilde’s to take the family business when we’re old—at least Tucker and Gracie will be contributing to the gene pool.

The pace at Haymakers keeps us busy and I don’t have much time to scope the place for hot blondes to take home with me. I realize that as we get close to closing time I need to scan the bar for my pick of the night. The girl I’ll bring back to my house for a little rock and roll.

Harley’s been eyeing me the last half hour or so. There have been more nights than I’d care to admit where I got weak and brought Harley back to the house to spend the night.

Not that I don’t love every minute of holding her in my arms all night and waking up next to her. I don’t do that with the other girls I pick up at the bar. I don’t do cuddle time with one-nighters. If I can get them out of the house before the sun rises, even better. It avoids all of the embarrassment of the next morning when I usually can’t even remember their names.

I have to remind myself that I’m trying to quit Harley. That I’ll eventually need to completely let her go and every night that I bring home someone other than Harley is one step closer to that goal.

Out of the corner of my eye I catch sight of a cute little blonde walking out of the ladies room. She’s not as well-endowed as I normally go for, but she’s hot enough for a one-night stand. I watch to see where she’s headed. I don’t want to go after her if she’s sitting with a guy. As a bar owner that’s a big no-no. I only hit on single girls when I’m at Haymakers.

I breathe a small sigh of relief when I see that she’s with another girl, a rather large brunette.

“Tuck,” I shout over to my brother, who’s at the other end of the bar. “I’ll be right back.”

He gives me the stink eye in return. He knows exactly where I’m going and what I’m going to do. It’s a routine he’s used to. “I guess that means I get to lock up.”

“If you don’t mind.”

“Don’t take her to the back room. Gracie is resting back there. She needed to put her feet up.”

I shake my head. “Nope. This one is going home with me.”

“Have fun,” Tucker replies with a hint of disgust in his voice. It’s no secret that he’s not thrilled that I’m with so many women. Neither are my other brothers, Hunter and Cooper. They’re all one-woman kind of guys.

I would be too if I didn’t want Harley to have so much more than me. If I didn’t know deep in my heart that she deserves so much better than me.

Just as I’m about to make my way over to the pretty little blonde Harley steps up to the bar and grabs a rag to start her clean-up routine.

I feel a moment of anxiety because I know if I don’t make my move soon, as the bar is clearing out, the blonde and her friend will be out the door and I’ll be going home with Harley instead.

Merilee, Regina and their two friends make a point of stepping up to the bar before they finally leave for the night.

Regina says something to Harley, which I can’t quite hear, but I can tell it pisses her off. She would never lose her cool with a customer, but I can read every subtle change in her body language. The muscles in her arms have tensed and I can see the smile plastered on her face is as fake as they come.

Merilee is standing in front of me, just glaring at me. She’s not saying a word. She just has a look in her eyes like she wants to kill me.

I’ve screwed a lot of women, but rarely do they act like I’ve screwed
with
them. I make it pretty clear before we get busy that what we’re doing is a short term endeavor. It’s possible I may not have been as forthright in my younger days.

I exhale the breath I’ve been holding when Merilee’s friends finally exit and she follows, but not without one quick death stare back at me before she’s out the door.

“Do you think Merilee may have been overreacting just a bit?” I ask as Harley cleans the bar in front of me.

She raises an eyebrow. “Why the sudden remorse?”

I shrug. “We were together years ago and she still looks at me like she wants to kill me.”

“Poor baby.” Harley puts on a little fake frown. “Not used to women not adoring you?”

For once I’m at a loss for words. That doesn’t happen very often. I’m normally a guy who has a line for everyone and a comeback for every line.

“Maybe she has a right to be pissed at me,” I say finally. “Why would she carry something like that around if she didn’t?”

Harley looks at me like I’m crazy. “I didn’t.”

I furrow my brow. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing,” she says dismissively.

I can see something is wrong. There’s something she’s not telling me. “Talk to me,” I urge.

Harley catches my eye. “She’s not the only one.”

I can feel my stomach start to knot. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that she’s not the only girl whose virginity you took.”

Now my chest is starting to constrict. This can’t be possible. “And how would you know that?”

“You were the first guy I was with, Jake.”

I hear the words, but they don’t immediately register. There is no way Harley Davis was a virgin the first time we were together. I know she’s a lot younger, but she’s always been so mature, especially in that area. It always seemed like she knew exactly what she was doing.

I shake my head. “No.”

“No?” She sounds incredulous. Like she can’t believe I just said no.

I rake my fingers through my hair. “You were already out of high school when we first hooked up.”

Her hands are now firmly and defiantly planted on her hips. “So?”

I’m not sure what to say. I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. I would have never been with Harley if I had known.

Would I?

I nervously bite the inside of my cheek. It’s a habit I’ve had since I was a kid. “There’s no way. You were like eighteen.”

“I was nineteen, Jake.”

“Exactly. How was I supposed to know you were a virgin?” I wave up and down her sexy little outfit. “When you dress like that?”

“Would it have mattered?” When her voice cracks I know I’m in trouble. Harley is starting to get emotional, and she doesn’t  do emotions.