Ties That Bind Us (EBOOK PUBLISHED)

Chapter 2

I don't know why this bothered me so much. Normally, I would have been ecstatic to wake up to find myself alone, not having to deal with the morning-after mess. Something was different about this girl, though. I wanted to see her again, but she hadn't even left me that option. This was what we had agreed on, but somewhere along the line, I had been the one to develop feelings. What the fuck was happening to me?

We had had fun together, hadn't we? Had I missed something? Had she not thoroughly enjoyed every second right along with me? Of course she had. Her body responded to me like she had known me all her life, begging for more. It had to be something else.

Maybe she had a boyfriend. That prick from the restaurant. No, she wouldn't have been so quick to leave him if they were together. He couldn't be her boyfriend.

Maybe I was feeling this way because she had been the one to leave. She'd snuck out, leaving me alone in a hotel room after the incredible night we had shared. I had never experienced this shit before, and maybe that was why I couldn't get her out of my head.

Fuck my rules. I needed to see her again. I couldn't let her get away with that shit. I knew this was going against everything I had ever stood for, but I was going to find her. I was going to find her and fuck her out of my system. Surely that would take care of it.

I just had to figure out how I was going to go about that when all I had left of the girl were a few memories and a fake name. My guys were good, but nobody was that good. How was I possibly going to manage this?

My phone buzzed on the nightstand, flashing Micah's face as the caller ID.

"Hello?" I answered, still groggy and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"All right, shithead. Where are you?" Micah growled on the other end of the line.

"Good morning to you too."

"Did you forget what day it is? We were supposed to meet Dad at the warehouse an hour ago." He was clearly pissed off.

Damn it. In my confusion this morning, I had totally forgotten that we were meeting. My father was going to blow a gasket. The day I would take over for him as Don was fast approaching, and he was on me constantly about being more responsible. This probably wasn't what he had in mind.

"I'll take it by your silence that you forgot. You're lucky I covered for your ass. And that Frankie totaled his car last night so Dad had bigger fish to fry." He chuckled nonchalantly.

"What?" I shot up in bed. "Why didn't anyone call me? Is he okay?" I barked, shoving a hand through my dark-brown hair. Frankie was our little brother and a total troublemaker. This accident was just the latest in his long stream of recent screwups.

"He's fine," Micah assured me. "Might not be when Dad gets through with him, though." He chuckled. "Anyway, the meeting got pushed back, you want to grab some breakfast before?"

Most of what Micah was saying got lost when I stumbled into the living room of the suite and found her lacy panties still draped over the back of the couch. I bit my lip and groaned, reliving the moment I had slid them off of her last night, tugging gently down each toned leg, inch by inch. The memory was only second to the image I had in my mind of her walking out of here without them on. Damn, that did things to me I was ashamed to admit, and I was immediately transported back to the night before.

Last night

A few minutes after I heard the door shut, Jules sauntered back into the room holding two ice-cream sundaes. Mine with nuts, hers without. The hotel robe was held around her by the slip of a belt, and one wrong move would make the whole thing fall open. I was secretly hoping it would so I could catch another glimpse of her body. She handed me my ice cream and then climbed back into the bed next to me.