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Coming Clean
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Stay the Night Who You Are
BlakeNow or never. I took a deep breath, wishing it could have been never. But that wasn’t how I rolled.“I haven’t been completely honest with you,” I started, expecting more of a reaction than the one I got.Aston calmly chewed her food, glancing down at the table before motioning for me to continue. The words came out in a rush. “My last name isn’t Carlton. Carlton is my mother’s maiden name and my middle name. My real last name is McAllen. I’m Wayne McAllen’s son.”There, I said it. I waited for surprise to color her features or for a burst of anger to come. I half expected her to call me a liar and to run from the room screaming. Instead, she didn’t look surprised at all.If anything, she looked relieved. “I was wondering when you were going to tell me.”My jaw threatened to drop. “You knew?”She nodded, embarrassment flashing in her eyes.“After you left, Tiffany looked you up,” she admitted. “I was going to wait for you to tell me everything yourself, but then she found out an
Stay the Night Stay With Me
ASTONHoly crap! I did it. I actually did it.I had no idea where the courage to do it came from, but I had wanted to kiss him all night. Out of nowhere, I saw my opportunity and I took it.It felt so brazen, so bold. So freaking terrified and yet so damn turned on. Blake seemed to be drinking it in though, like a dying man who found a spring in the desert, so I kept kissing him.The tables turned when he brought his arms around and took what he wanted from me. I loved every second of it.His tongue stroked mine possessively, low noises of pleasure coming from the back of his throat as he explored every nook and cranny of my mouth. His hands traveled up my sides, running up my back and into my hair.Changing up the pace of his kiss, it turned hungry. Frenzied. We clawed at each other, desperate to get to each other. My fingers fumbled with his shirt, stupidly reaching until I found the hard nubs of his buttons.He did the same to me, his hands much surer and defter than mine. Within s
Stay the Night Get What He Deserves
BLAKEWhen I woke up, Aston was still sleeping in my arms. Her hair was splayed out across my chest and shoulders, her one hand resting on my heart.Her breasts brushed against my side as her chest rose and fell in a gentle rhythm that told me she was still fast asleep. I relaxed my head back against the pillow. No way was I moving and taking the chance of waking her.If I could have, I would have drawn the blackout curtains to make the night last for the rest of the day. The sun was rising over the ocean, making the water shine like a mirror and illuminating the bright blue sky.Unfortunately for me, the new day brought its own problems. I didn’t want my bubble of peace with Aston to burst. I honestly didn’t want the night we had together to end, so I lay completely still, stroking her hair as I tried to figure out what the best way would be to give her the news.If the Palo Alto numbers came back the way Danny was convinced they would, I was going to have to tell Aston that we were
Stay the Night Maybe You Knew Her?
BlakeExactly two hours later, Aston and I were walking down to the beach together. It was a beautiful day, made even more so by the radiant girl beside me. She was dressed casually in a blue sundress and sandals with shiny little studs on them that caught the light as we walked.We didn’t hold hands, but she stuck close enough to my side that I could smell the vanilla scent of her shampoo. She peered up at me, rose gold framed sunglasses covering her eyes. “So, want do you want to do first on your clear-your-head party?”I shrugged. “I didn’t really plan for this, but how about we just keep walking for a while?”“Sure.” She grabbed my hand and jerked me off the promenade toward the beach. “But if we’re walking, I want the sand between my toes.”Chuckling, I followed her. “I can do you one better. How about the waves at your ankles?”“I knew there was a reason I liked you,” she said, then flushed. “I didn’t mean—oh, whatever. Yes, let’s go walk along the shore.”Aston kicked off her s
Stay the Night The Numbers
ASTONI could only just make out Blake’s eyes beneath the aviator sunglasses he had on. They widened slightly when I asked him about the cuts. So it was true then, I could tell from just that one slight movement that it was.While I waited for him to answer, I tried to brace myself for the inevitable news. Blake lifted a hand to his hair, running it through until it came to a rest at the nape of his neck. He lowered his eyes to mine, then gave his head a small nod.“Yeah, it was. I’ve been going around this week to the branches that haven’t been cutting it these last few months. It was brutal, but I would rather have it be me than anyone else who had to do it.”He didn’t say it out right, but he didn’t have to. What he meant was that he would rather be the person to go out and make the cuts than have it be his brother. I didn’t know his brother from a bar of soap, but from what little I had heard about him and had seen of him on the news, I understood why Blake felt the way he did.Bl
Stay the Night I'm Responsible
Aston“I should have seen it earlier.” I could kick my own ass up and down this beach all day long for missing it. “If I’d had more experience, I would’ve figured it out before you had to show me.”“But remember, the branches don’t get sent the same numbers I do,” he reminded me. “Trust me, Aston. You’ve done everything right. There are people at fault here, but you’re not one of them.”“Even so. It’s my branch, my people, my responsibility. Promise me that if the cuts have to made, you’ll let me tell them and do it my way.” Most people probably would’ve begged to let Blake or someone else from corporate deliver the news or have asked for corporate protocol so they could try to absolve themselves from any blame.But that wasn’t me. If it came down to cuts being made, it was up to me to make them. The least I could do was to try and soften the blow. Whether it was policy or not to do it, I intended on promising anyone affected that I would hire them back as soon as I turned the branch
Stay the Night It's Your Job
BLAKEIt was cloudy when I woke up the next morning. Cloudy with a chance of kicking my brother’s ass if he hadn’t sent those numbers yet. Rolling out of bed, I headed straight for my laptop.I was done waiting for him. The email would either be there or it wouldn’t, but I wasn’t waiting for Danny to call the shots anymore.He and I were going to have a serious talk today. Sighing, I rubbed my eyes and stretched my arms above my head while I waited for my computer to fire up.Danny had another thing coming if he thought I was making any further cuts without a fight. While some cuts had been justified, I was becoming more convinced than ever that what Danny ordered had been excessive.It no longer felt like Danny wasn’t sending me the numbers because he forgot or was busy. It felt like he was keeping them from me on purpose. I thought it was just about New York, but I was starting to suspect it was more than that.It was taking too long for it to only be about New York. Danny thought h
Stay the Night One for the Road
Blake“Don’t play that card with me. I wouldn’t be doing Dad a favor, I would be doing one for you. Now, usually I wouldn’t mind, but I’m not yanking people’s livelihoods away on a whim you can’t even justify with actual numbers showing that it’s necessary.”Danny spat out a string of curses. “Could you just do this one fucking thing, or do I have to drop everything else and come over there to do it myself?”“No.” It took everything I had to keep calm, but I managed it. Only just. “That won’t be necessary. I’m coming back to Florida to settle this. Today. I’ll see you later.”“Don’t you dare come back here before you get it done, Blake. I’ll—” I didn’t listen to whatever threat he was about to make. I was done with him for now. Pulling the phone away from my ear, I punched down on the disconnect button and brought my phone to my forehead.I wanted to slam the phone down on the floor or hurl it off the balcony, but I tossed it on the table next to me instead.It was about time I stood
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