“Come back to my place tonight,” Ash said.
“I can’t,” Kallie said.
“It doesn’t have to be anything else than this. But this club. It isn’t my thing. It isn’t my style.”
“What is your style?” she asked.
“Come back to my place and I’ll show you.”
“I can’t leave Eris.”
“Eris is fine. Look at her and Jeremy. They’re hitting it off very well.”
Ash watched Kallie’s gaze as she looked over. He sneaked a peek of the two of them and watched as they grew comfortable on the couch. Eris was all smiles and Jeremy’s fingers were already threaded with hers. He had gone in for his own kill and he was working. He was charming the pants off Kallie’s best friend. Jeremy leaned in for his move and planted his lips against Eris, and she didn’t seem poised to turn him away. Rather, she leaned back down onto the couch and wrapped her arms around Jeremy’s neck.
“See?” I asked. “Perfect couple.”
“For the night, maybe,” Kallie said.
I looked down at Kallie as my eyebrows rose to my hairline.
“Eris isn’t a commitment girl.”
“Then it’s a good thing Jeremy isn’t the commitment kind of guy,” Ash said.
“Hey, Jeremy!”
Ash’s booming voice made Kallie jump, and Eris shot him a dirty look.
“What?” Jeremy asked.
“You think you could keep an eye on Kallie’s friend there? I think the two of us are going to go talk.”
“What? You’re abandoning girls’ night?” Eris asked. “With him?”
“Says the girl lip-locked with the owner of the club,” Kallie said with a grin.
“One of the owners,” Jeremy said. “And I won’t leave her side. I promise.”
“You sure about that?” Eris asked. “Because I can be quite a handful.”
“Good thing I’ve got big hands then,” Jeremy said.
Ash looked down at Kallie and saw her toss a wink to her friend. Jeremy and Kallie were soon back to their own personal lip-lock, and Kallie was leaning heavier into his body. Ash took her hand and guided her away from the glass encasement. Away from the club and the loud music and the smoke and the drinks. Pouring out into the nighttime of New York City, Ash breathed a breath of fresh air. A gust of summer wind kicked up and fluttered Kallie’s dress, and he watched a smile cross her cheeks. He could already see her relaxing outside of the chaotic hustle and bustle of the club.
Seems like it wasn’t really her type of place either.
Chapter 7
Kallie
If Kallie thought the yacht was luxurious, then Ash’s penthouse was something out of Palaces Monthly. His penthouse apartment was huge. Full of expensive furnishings. Everything was top of the line and looked brand new. The smart home technology controlled everything from the locks to the blinds to the tinting of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Even the colors of the dimly lit lamps that bathed the suite in a luscious glow. James’s riches had nothing on Ash. What James lived in and lived with was paltry in comparison. The buttery leather chairs were smooth against Kallie’s fingertips and the blond cedar floors were waxed to perfection. Everything had a place. A time. A purpose.
“You live here?” Kallie asked.
“I do,” Ash said with a nod. “The penthouse used to belong to my father until he and his third wife moved across town. Theirs is larger than this one.”
“Is that possible?” she asked.
“I guess so,” he said with a shrug.
Kallie couldn't imagine anything lusher than his apartment. But she noticed that Ash took it all in stride. Like it didn’t affect him. Like all of this was simply normal for his life. Even the life she led with James, none of this was normal. Having actual silver trim that lined the crown molding of the walls wasn’t normal. Having a minibar in the corner with its own temperature-controlled environment wasn’t normal. Having four decadent bedrooms that each had its own decked-out bathroom wasn’t normal.
Jet tubs and marbled walk-in showers that turned into steam saunas. A private hot tub off the balcony suspended over the city with a glass bottom. A wall in every bedroom someone could touch like the screen of a phone. Or a tablet. To access internet or pull up a movie or stream porn or whatever the heck it was people did with entire walls that acted as touch screens!