Dirty Sweet Cowboy

“Are you just about ready ?”

“Just another moment,” I say, waving him off. Then I think better of it. “Actually, Perry? Can you come here for a minute ?”

He reenters in the room, pulling the plastic sheeting from my dry-cleaned suit. This beautiful Asian girl spilled a daiquiri all down the front of me yesterday. I’m sure it was an accident .

“I’m sure the speech is going to be another winner, sir,” he begins .

“Perry, why are there people in the executive suite ?”

He shakes his head emphatically. “There’s no one else on this floor,” he says. “You booked the whole floor .”

“No, there are definitely two women staying in the executive suite .”

“I’ll have them removed immediately!” he huffs, clearly offended .

“No… don’t do that,” I shrug. I almost still feel her weight in the palms of my hands, her smooth skin, the sweet gust of air that burst from her lips and landed at the pit of my throat. “Just give me some information. Names, backgrounds, that sort of thing .”

“Right away, sir !”

Perry hurries off, and I force myself to look at the slides again. Arrowing back and forth, I try to remember the last time I gave this speech. Philadelphia, I’m fairly certain. Tech conference. Now, a lot of those bastards really will get lucky. Maybe I inspired a few of them .

I know I inspired that cosplay girl. I could see her all the way in the back of the room, so ready and willing it was like a lighthouse. Like a neon sign: fuck me. She was pretty good. Eager and big-titted, bouncy hair, and a giggling warcry when she came .

But then I think about her again: the girl from the hallway. She went completely the opposite way, into silence. Still she had that deer-in-headlights look that women sometimes get. Maybe she recognized me. The interview in Rolling Stone really did a lot for my reputation. People believe that rock star stuff if you say it long enough .

“Does the name Ava Harrison ring a bell? Bea Tyde?” Perry asks, reentering the room .

I stare at him, unbelieving. “What did you say ?”

He approaches with his hands out apologetically. “It seems there was a double-booking error. Their rooms were given away, so some newbie at the front desk decided to book the executive suite on this floor. Can you believe that? The nerve of her !”

I hold up a hand, stop . “I don’t care about that. Let them have the suite. But did you say… Ava Harrison ?”

Perry nods. “Yes… wait, isn’t she from your old neighborhood? Did you know her ?”

I swallow, hard. I knew her. My best friend… former best friend’s younger sister. I remember her in the swimming pool, stroking back and forth in a bikini that was still a little bit too big for her. She liked to pretend she didn’t know I was watching. But I was. I remember making a mental note that taking her sweet, innocent ass was at the top of my to-do list .

And then after all the drama between our families, I guess the to-do list got scrapped .

“I’m sure I can find them another room. I’ll have a talk with the manager .”

“No, don’t do that,” I say, snapping my laptop closed and standing up. “It will be nice to be reacquainted, I think. We have a lot of catching up to do .”

Perry scowls, but I know he’ll do as I ask. He is always the first one to defend me, to make certain my orders are carried out to the letter .

I am supposed to have this floor to myself, but what’s the harm in sharing it? Maybe Ava could be a little bit of fun. Little taste of home, as they say. She certainly isn’t a little girl anymore. Now lush and curvaceous, she’s exactly the kind of woman that I want. Someone strong. Someone who can take anything I throw at her .

Could she do it? Certainly worth finding out .

Chapter 24

AVA

I n the morning, it takes me a really long time to wake up. I come out of the dream little by little, not sure of the separation between the dream and reality, emerging as though I’m coming up from the bottom of a deep pool of water. I feel like I’m waking up, but the dream stays with me, embracing me, caressing me, making me warm everywhere .

I’m not alone. Ethan is with me, staring so intensely that I tingle all over. Shivers race across my skin, back and forth like waves lapping at a sandy beach. He wants me. I can tell. And I know that he can see how much I want him too. It’s almost too much .

I sigh, moaning, and the sound pulls me back to reality. My eyes open and I am fully awake, but still confused. I’m alone? But it felt so real… and my body is still pulsing, throbbing .