Imperfect Love: Tied (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read online

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  Tied

  “It was an instant attraction…never intended to be more than a quick lay.”

  ___________________________________________________________________

  PLEASE NOTE:

  Tied is expanded short story that began with Begging For More. This novella is about James Ashton, who you first meet in one of my previous releases, Toxic. You do not have to read Toxic to enjoy this story.

  Since then, James and Lindsay have also appeared in both Blow and Crush as secondary characters.

  I hope you enjoy learning about how their attraction flourishes into full-blown love.

  Also of note, James Ashton is an Upper East Sider, who also happens to be Noah Tate’s cousin.

  ABOUT THIS BOOK:

  I was rich, single, and connected, which meant a steady diet of beautiful women wherever I went.

  I really did think I had the perfect life.

  Until I went and married a supermodel I’d just met, and everything changed.

  Of course there were choices. But the word annulment meant giving her up, and I never give up anything. Still, I was a bachelor at heart, and having a wife, well, I didn’t really know what to do with that.

  After only forty-eight hours of marriage, I had already gone and screwed everything up.

  Now I have thirty days to prove to my new wife that I’m husband material. There’s only one problem—I don’t even know what husband material means. However, I’m certain that won’t stop me from excelling at it.

  My wife tells me it isn’t going to be easy. That I have numerous issues to overcome.

  First, there’s my jealousy. It needs to be tamed. Did I flip over the fact that her latest picture was causing men around the world to do dirty things all over the covers she graced? Hell, yes. I couldn’t help myself though. When her photo went viral, my caveman instincts kicked in, and I demanded she quit her job and stay home—barefoot and pregnant in my kitchen. I can work on that, right?

  Then there’s my mother. I need to convince her my new wife is not the money-hungry floozy she called her. Did my mother actually call her that? Yes. I can’t help it that my mother wants me to get rid of my new wife. The problem is what my mother wants, she always gets one way or another. Still, turning my mother’s opinion around can’t be that hard, can it?

  There are many other issues, but according to my new wife, those are minor compared to the biggest one—she says I will never be able to accept being tied down.

  Don’t worry—I got this one. I intend to prove to her in no uncertain terms that being tied up, down, or horizontal is just what this Upper East Sider needs.

  Chapter 1

  Not Alone for Long

  James Ashton

  I was alone. I knew I wouldn’t be for long. I never was when I came here.

  Awash in purple and black, with sexy low lighting, huge-ass chandeliers, and an enormous pair of ridiculous angel wings overlooking the ever-present glitterati, I was in the kind of place where finding company was, let’s just say—easy.

  Provocateur, the exclusive and super-swanky Gansevoort Hotel nightclub, was always filled with gorgeous party girls—models, socialites, scene-setters, and European jet-setters.

  Not to sound arrogant, but I had my pick.

  Leaning against the bar, I undid my bow tie and let it hang. Sipping my scotch, I scanned the crowd, zeroing in on the house dancers gyrating on the poles amid pulsing blasts of artificial smoke. The DJ was really amping them up tonight.

  I glanced at my phone and read the text message.

  Noah: Sorry Cuz, Olivia and I can’t make it tonight. Something came up after the fundraiser.

  Something came up.

  Right!

  More than likely he’s what came up.

  Noah Tate used to be fun. Used to being the key word. Marriage seemed to have sucked the fun right out of him, at least when it came to going out.

  Not expecting anything different, I stuck my phone back in my pocket and continued looking around.

  We were cousins, but we were also friends. His mother was my father’s sister. And even though after his mother died, our families didn’t get together anymore for holidays and special occasions, he and I remained tight.

  With marriage now in the picture though, I wasn’t so sure how tight we’d stay. That was one thing I wanted to stay the hell away from.

  What if it was contagious?

  Still scanning the room, my gaze landed on the front door where a vision in black had just entered with about ten other men and women—one guy, a little too close for my liking.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Her hair the color of flaming fire. Wild. Messy. Untamed. Her feline eyes. Fierce. Wicked. They were eyes that could burn a hole in a man’s heart. And that body. She had a body that looked hard and soft, long and sexy, hot as hell. And, oh fuck, that mouth. Lush lips. Full. Succulent. She was a mix of delicate, perfect, and oh so delicious. A devil and an angel all in one.

  “Hey, there you are,” Theo Lake said, placing his hand on my shoulder and wedging in beside me.

  Without looking at him, I pointed to the door. “Do you know who that is?” Theo knew everyone.

  “Oh, that’s Lindsay Mills and Jared Wentworth,” he said with a smile in his voice.

  The smile better be for Jared. I glanced at him for a fraction of a second. “Introduce me to the girl.”

  Theo made a face. “Later. Avery’s booth is ready.”

  “Great, man, we can make a pit stop along the way.”

  “I think we’d better do that later. Avery ordered champagne and is waiting for everyone to arrive before she makes some kind of big announcement.”

  My gaze went back to the door, but my Lindsay was gone. I didn’t care. I now had a reason to stay. A mission. But first things first—I had to take care of business. Please the masses. I slid my eyes back to Theo. “I’ll follow you. We wouldn’t want to keep Avery waiting.”

  Theo gave me a knowing glance. Sister or not, he knew she could be a bitch.

  I slapped him on the back. “But later, you and me, and that introduction you promised. How do you know her, anyway?”

  He smiled. “I don’t really. I’ve seen her around a couple of times. All I know is that she’s a Victoria’s Secret model and so are the group of women she’s with.”

  “Who’s the dude? Boyfriend?”

  “Not sure,” he laughed. “But he’s a model. I guess that’s how they know each other.”

  I bit my lip.

  Fuck me.

  I had to have her.

  “Come on,” Theo insisted.

  Theo and Avery Lake were deeply connected in Manhattan’s social circles. I hung out with them on occasion because…well, because they knew how to have fun. Avery wasn’t a woman I cared to be around that much, but when I was looking to have a good time, she always knew where to find one, if not, she created the fun herself. And after the night I’d had, I was looking to have a really good time, if you know what I mean.

  Earlier, I’d spent the evening with my mother at the annual Rockefeller Foundation Benefit. Hence the tuxedo I was still wearing. I’d left the jacket in my car and rolled my shirt sleeves up. I s
hould have probably gone home to change first, but I really needed a drink.

  Normally, promoting humanity throughout the world wouldn’t have felt like such a burden. However, my mother was in rare form. She had been for weeks. My father had taken off on another one of his sabbaticals, code for he disappeared again with a woman half his age. Don’t get me wrong, she had a right to be pissed, just not at me.

  Always the dutiful son, I had to listen to my mother bitch and moan to me in private and then carry on in public about how proud she was that her husband had gone on a pilgrimage to find inspiration for his painting.

  That wasn’t even half true.

  His painting began only after his binges of infidelity as apologies to my mother. You see, Charles Ashton was addicted to young models and often disappeared with them. In the past he’d always returned within weeks. Having gotten his fix, he knew when to drop them, but this latest excursion was going on three months. And needless to say, my mother was not happy.

  And we were all suffering for it.

  Julia Ashton was a Vandermore and her social status meant everything to her. She allowed my father his indiscretions only as long as he kept them discreet. Divorce, in her eyes, would be so much more tragic than having an adulterer for a husband. I found the entire charade ridiculous, but it worked for them. My father needed my mother’s money, and she wanted that perfect family image. He knew the score and when he was around, he played the dutiful husband brilliantly.

  Fucked up, if you asked me.

  But for them it was a match made in heaven—or maybe it was hell.

  Flashing lasers, the thumping bass, and the way the scotch burned going down my throat had me moving briskly through the crowd and glad the night was still young. I had a lot of steam to burn off.

  Avery had, as expected, managed to secure one of the best booths in the house. Private yet not entirely secluded, and close to the dance floor. But then again, the purple leather high-backed bench seats, the platform behind them with enough room for private dancers when requested, and the black lace walls were what made this place harder to get into than Fort Knox.

  The table was filled with uncorked bottles of Piper-Heidsieck, champagne flutes, and Avery’s crew—mainly socialites on the hunt for a husband. No worries; they knew better than to glance my way. Besides, I’d probably already had them. And they knew all too well bachelorhood was what I believed in. Marriage wasn’t even on my radar and never would be. After growing up with a front-and-center seat to the biggest fuck-up of a marriage on this planet, I couldn’t even imagine why anyone would think of tying himself to one person for the rest of his life.

  The very thought was mind-blowing, which is why when Noah got married, I went on a three-day binge.

  Taking a deep breath and hoping Avery had something exciting planned, I approached the table, smiled, greeted, and hugged and kissed the queen and all five Eloises. Two of them had landed dates, and I shook hands with the sorry sons of bitches, silently giving them my condolences.

  The booth was crowded, so I figured I’d stand, but Avery wouldn’t have it. “Make room for James,” she insisted. As soon as my ass was on the seat, she clapped her hands together and practically squealed, “I have some truly fabulous news for tonight.”

  Looking for the vision in black, my eyes were scanning the room as Avery spoke. Words escaped her mouth and they registered in pieces. “The jet is fueled and ready. Takes off at eleven.”

  I was only half listening to what she had planned for the night.

  My head was thinking about the supermodel. She and I would be the best outcome for the night.

  Don’t get me wrong, I knew I was making a hell of a lot of assumptions.

  The most important being the dude she was with wasn’t her boyfriend. Theo didn’t sound that convincing. Poaching another guy’s girl wasn’t something I was into.

  That didn’t mean I wouldn’t.

  Not that it mattered, she was nowhere in sight.

  Just as I was about to give up on ever seeing her again, I spotted her.

  She was close.

  So close.

  “James, you in?” Avery asked.

  Suddenly, I couldn’t move, couldn’t hear, couldn’t breathe. Avery started talking again, but I couldn’t comprehend a word she was saying. My gaze had landed on that vision I’d been looking for, and she was looking right back at me. This time I wasn’t letting her leave my sight.

  She was in the booth across from me, sitting right on the end. We weren’t even ten feet from each other, yet it felt way too far away.

  My cheeks grew wide all on their own volition. Fuck, I was smiling like a smitten schoolboy.

  Calm the fuck down, I told myself.

  She’s just a lay.

  But then she smiled back at me with an upward tilt of her lips that not only told me she’d noticed me, but that she liked what she saw, too, and all bets were off. My body acted on its own. My dick, too.

  I had to have her.

  As soon as I thought the words, any semblance of control I’d had went out the window and my cock went stone hard.

  Images of her and me, naked, slick with sweat, and rolling around in the sheets flashed through my mind. I couldn’t stop them.

  “James, are you listening to me?” Avery’s voice prickled through the air.

  Not wanting to be distracted, I nodded and kept my eyes on the gorgeous woman across from me. The woman who was now standing up, taking another guy’s hand, and heading toward the dance floor. It was the same guy she’d walked in with.

  What the fuck? Where had he come from? He wasn’t there a minute ago. Were they more than friends? Had Theo been wrong?

  I didn’t really care earlier who he was to her, but I knew I was about to find out.

  I practically drooled when she walked past me and I caught an up-close glimpse of what she was wearing—a knee-length tighter-than-hell black skirt and some kind of matching slinky top that showed off her taut stomach and beautiful tits. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her. She might have been walking with another guy, but her gaze never left me. It was like there was an electric current traveling between us and I knew what I had to do—claim her.

  Make her mine for the night.

  Standing, I didn’t bother to tell anyone what I was doing. I didn’t want to waste time.

  “James,” Avery called, annoyance clear in her tone.

  Ignoring her, I headed toward the dance floor. I have to say, in all the years I’d been coming here, I’d never stepped foot on it. Dancing wasn’t my thing.

  Tonight, anything she was doing would be my thing.

  The throng of people seemed to eat her up, and I lost her in the sea of bump and grind. The DJ had put on a seductive mix of current songs, clips and pieces that when spliced together sounded really dirty. And it seemed everyone loved it that way. The crowd surged around me, bouncing, wiggling, moving to the beat. Individuals. Couples. Triples. They all moved. Clusters joined together and broke apart in unison. The entire club had gone feral. They weren’t dancing—they were fucking with their clothes on.

  I was game for that.

  Instinct jabbed at my gut and I kept moving toward the center. The closer I got, the more people there were. Heat and sweat and laughter surrounded me. Women moved in front of me, pressing their bodies close to mine, trying to get me to move to their beat. So very much unlike me, I ignored them all. Not even a smile formed on my face nor did a short flirtation escape my throat. I had to find her.

  My blood surged through my veins when I spotted that mess of red hair bouncing. That body moving. Those hips rocking. As if she could sense my stare, she looked my way.

  Damn, she was beautiful. I was hit with full-on attraction. Instant lust.

  Step by step, I made my way toward her. The dude who had led her to the pits of hell was in his own world, as if he just liked to move. There was a decent distance between the two of them so whatever they were, it was far from intimate, or I told m
yself that was the case anyway.

  Normally, I wouldn’t be such an ass, or maybe I would—who the fuck knew, I’d never been in a situation like this. But without a second thought, I tapped the guy on the shoulder. He turned around and smiled at me.

  Smiled. At. Me.

  Yeah, he was definitely the one Theo was smiling at earlier. Not interested, buddy. I bobbed my chin toward the gorgeous vision in front of him. “Mind if I cut in?” I almost laughed at myself. I’d never used words like that before.

  Luckily, he didn’t deck me. It wouldn’t have been good for him. Instead, he started to dance a circle around me. “Sure, man, no problem,” he yelled over the music.

  With him out of the way, she was all mine for the night. She just didn’t know it yet. My eyes darted to hers and my body moved closer. “Lindsay, nice to meet you,” I said, getting as close to her as I could.

  She glared at me. Hmm…not what I expected. She practically swallowed me whole with just a glance, but I swore I could see her pulse throbbing in her neck in excitement. “How do you know my name?”

  “How could I not? You’re the most gorgeous girl in this place.”

  Was I good, or what?

  Those feline eyes assessed me, and I could tell she wasn’t impressed.

  Okay, on second thought, that might have sounded a little cheesy. I reeled it back. “One my friends knew who you were.”

  She nodded, but she still wasn’t moving.

  I was. And I was certain I looked like a damn fool. “Dance with me,” I said.

  She nodded again, but this time she smiled.

  Playing hard to get. I liked it.

  There was no hesitation in my movements. The music was loud. Seductive. Oozed sex. Sin. I didn’t try to talk over it. Instead, I followed its lead. I put my knee between her thighs and placed my hands on her hips.

  Grinding, moving, bodies swaying, we danced to the distinctive beat.