Love to Hate: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Only Him Series Book 3) Read online

  “Will you just let me finish?” I smiled. I didn’t continue speaking again until he sat back down.

  “Okay, so yes, I went to see him and I paid him off. I paid off your debt and extra, so the man will never bother you again.”

  “You did... you did what?” Ashton barely knew what to say to that, and I could hardly blame him. I’d even shocked myself by doing something so brave, and maybe a little insane.

  “I don’t want him in your life anymore. I don’t want him anywhere near you, or us.” Finally, I reached across the table and I grabbed his hands to hold them tightly. The electricity buzzed between us; I could see it in Ashton’s eyes just as strongly as my own. Whatever there was between us, it hadn’t gone anywhere, and now we were much freer to explore that. “I wanted him gone, so paying him off was the best way to do that. I paid him off enough money to make him leave for good. He won’t even be in this city anymore, never mind troubling you. The issue is gone. There’s not a damn thing that you need to worry about anymore.”

  “But... but how can I repay you?” Ashton could barely breathe; his whole face was stunned and shocked. I could tell that he had so many questions, but he wasn’t sure where to start. “I don’t even know how to start.”

  “I don’t want repayment, as such, I didn’t do it for that,” I told Ashton truthfully. “But I do have a proposition for you. I don’t want you to answer it now; I want you to have a real think about it.”

  I paused for dramatic effect, but Ashton’s face simply remained pale and scared.

  “I want our companies to merge, I want to work alongside you, to create an even grander empire than before. Then that way we can both work together to get our reputations up on top.”

  Ashton still remained silent, and I was starting to fear that he might totally hate the idea.

  “I’m suggesting totally fifty, fifty, then your staff get to keep their jobs and to work with mine. I don’t think it’ll all be easy and straightforward, but it’ll be good, won’t it?”

  “I... I...” As he started to speak, I was starting to worry that Ashton was going to pass out in a moment. It looked like his lungs were squeezed tight. “I don’t... I can’t... I’m not...”

  “Anyway, don’t worry about it now, let’s talk about something else. Like I said, I want you to think about it, and there will be lawyers to help make things official. If you decide to, of course. I’m not putting any pressure. I know that this must be huge news.” I was babbling now, chatting for the sake of it. I just needed Ashton to say anything to stop me from freaking out. I felt like I’d overstepped my boundary, that I’d gone too far...

  Then Ashton leaned in and he kissed me hard, dispelling every single one of my fears. His lips mashed against mine, his hands clasped hard onto my cheeks, I could feel a tear rolling down his face.

  I touched my hands to his, and fixed him in place, loving the tender feeling to his skin. With his lips against mine, I felt whole. I felt like I could conquer the whole damn world. I just hoped that Ashton felt the same way that I did...

  Ashton

  My heart bulldozed loudly. I could barely breathe with all this information; it was far too much for me to take in, so instead of thinking of the right way to express my gratitude with words, I wanted to show it instead. As we kissed, I hoped that some of my thoughts were getting through. I wanted Jamie to know just how much he meant to me.

  I lolled my head to one side, desire fogging up my brain as Jamie’s mouth moved to claim my earlobe... just another part of my body I hadn’t realized would drive me crazy. Jamie was perfect; everything about him was perfect.

  “You’re... you’re...” I wanted to tell Jamie how I felt, but I couldn’t catch my breath for long enough to get the sentence out. My knees were knocking together. I felt like jelly, like I could barely keep upright anymore. It was just lucky that I was sitting down, because otherwise I might’ve fallen to the floor.

  Jamie moved up off his chair and he bumped the table out of the way with his hip. I could hear our dinner plates scattering everywhere, probably making a huge mess, but I didn’t care. My house could be messy all over, as long as I got to be with him. As Jamie’s body pressed closer to me and I could feel just how hot his skin felt too, my pulse rate ran completely away from me. I lost all control. I ached so badly for him that I feared the sensation might tear me apart.

  Then Jamie unexpectedly fell to his knees on my cold, hard kitchen floor, stripping the breath from my lungs completely. His green eyes twinkled brightly as they stared up at me, making me want to cling onto him and to never let him go. My feelings about this man were no longer mixed up and confused, and I didn’t think they ever would be again.

  As Jamie tugged my trousers down, taking my underwear flying away with him, my body was shocked by the coldness of my dining chair, but that shock did nothing to jolt the desire from me. My back arching in anticipation, my erection strained desperately, and that pounding need only became more intense.

  Jamie’s soft lips brushed against my thighs, his mouth drawing ever nearer to where I was dying for him, but he was teasing me and actually, I found myself relishing in the tantalizing anticipation. This relationship had flip-flopped and turned on its head very quickly; it was nice to just take one small moment to enjoy it.

  My thighs immediately tensed up as I sensed Jamie giving up on his game and moving in for the kill. I flicked my eyes open to stare down at him. I wanted to watch him devour me, since I had a feeling that it’d be the sexiest thing that I’d ever see and I didn’t want to miss the show.

  As Jamie wrapped those delicious lips around me and the wet heat of his mouth surrounded my shuddering cock, a guttural yell burst free from my chest. He slid his head up and down me, flickering his rough tongue absolutely everywhere and I felt like I was about to explode. Jamie’s mouth felt utterly phenomenal, and as his head bobbed faster and faster I yelled and screamed with an all-consuming hot buzzing bliss.

  “Oh God, Jamie!”

  As I called out his name, Jamie’s eyes met mine and I instantly fell deep into the abyss of love. It was difficult not to, with those wonderful green eyes twinkling at me while he took me right to the back of his throat, but I bit down on my lip to stop myself from crying that out.

  “Stop,” I finally felt compelled to command as I pulled Jamie’s head away from me. “Stop, I can’t. I need to be inside of you.” God I wanted to fill those sexy lips with my salty desire, to see it trickle down his chin, but there would be plenty of time for that.

  For now, I needed to be in him.

  Jamie held out his hand to me and he allowed me to pull him upright, then I led him out of the kitchen and into my bedroom. I’d tidied up frantically earlier, paying particular attention to this room. I didn’t want to be presumptuous, especially when I had no idea what Jamie was coming over to speak to me about, but now that we were here I was so grateful that I’d prepared sufficiently.

  I tugged my tee shirt off and tossed it to the ground, before spinning on my heels and giving Jamie a wicked smile. “So, I’m here fully nude. I suppose it’s your move.”

  I sat down on my sheets and watched as he launched into a sexy strip routine that was just for me. He hummed playfully and tugged his clothing off like it was a show. Some of his moves were a little clunky, but I appreciated the gesture all the same. It was wonderful to be able to have so much fun with the man I liked so much...

  And boy was he sexy! That helped a whole lot. He was muscular, his physique was amazing… all I wanted to do was run my hands all over his slick skin.

  Once Jamie was naked, he climbed onto the bed to join me and we kissed for a little while longer, our limbs intertwining with one another, but there was only so long that I could just kiss for.

  I moved him around onto his side, and I kissed him all over his neck and back. His muscles felt amazing next to my lips; I could wait to spend a whole lot of time exploring every inch of him... but right now I was too desperate to wait.


  “Mmm, Ashton,” he groaned, leaning into me. “You feel really good.”

  With that I grabbed onto Jamie’s hips and I slid my way into him inch by inch. As I connected our bodies, my heart raced. I felt breathless and dizzy, an intense heat consumed me whole.

  At first, I pulled Jamie back onto me slowly and gently, trying to prolong the wonderful sensations, but as Jamie pushed back, begging me to take him harder and faster with his body I couldn’t resist. My chest expanded and boiled. There was a fizzing in my toes. The bliss was building, and I could feel it creeping; my veins were filling with it.

  “Oh fuck, Jamie,” I gasped as my cock grew excited inside of him. I could feel myself twitching, swelling, and growing slick at the exploding desire drew nearer. “Oh, you feel so good.”

  I clung to Jamie as I could feel his body starting to fall apart, our orgasms trying to sync with one another, which to me only built our bond even more intensely. I could feel my emotions growing with every passing second, and if I wasn’t careful, I would end up telling him. It wasn’t that I didn’t want Jamie to know, I just didn’t want to freak him out. I didn’t want to push away the best thing that had ever happened to me.

  But as the desire screamed through my brain, I could feel my lips moving but I had no idea what I was saying. All I knew was that I was losing myself completely to this incredible man.

  Jamie

  “I just... I don’t know what to say,” Ashton gasped next to me as he tried to catch his breath after that amazing exploration of one another’s bodies. “It’s too much. I’ve never had anyone do anything so nice for me. I mean, the way you did that without me even asking you, it’s just so... so...” His voice grew thick with emotion; he could barely talk anymore.

  I flipped onto my side and propped myself up onto my elbow so that I could look at him. His beautiful brown eyes were wide with shock – that hadn’t yet managed to leave him – but there was a lot of happiness there too. It all felt worth it just to see that look. It made me want to do great things for him all the time.

  “Well, like I said, I don’t need an answer yet, it’s just an offer...”

  “Of course it’s a yes!” he confirmed with a smile, his whole body language relaxing. “I was blown away before, but it’s definitely a yes. I mean, I will have to speak to all my staff about it, to check that they’re comfortable with it, but yes. That sounds incredible.”

  “Well reassure them that I want us all to be happy. This will be about creating opportunities and keeping everyone in the jobs that they want.” I guess I hadn’t yet fully worked out the finer details of the plan, but I had no doubt that we could work through it together. Our combined brainpower could overcome everything.

  Ashton ran his finger down my cheek, touching me with a whole lot of love. It was crazy, things had flipped over to the other side, but I really did feel like I was falling. Maybe it was the stressful situation that we’d been through together that intensified things, or maybe it was just that I was finally admitting to myself how I was feeling. It had everything flooding over me a little too rapidly.

  “You make me feel more wanted than anyone ever has before,” Ashton admitted. “I’ve always been the black sheep of the family, ever since I was young, and that’s made me act crazy. All I’ve ever wanted to do was impress everyone around me, and you were the only one to notice that about me. I’ve failed over and over again, but this time I won’t. I feel like I’ve changed, like whatever it was swirling around in me has stilled. You’ve calmed me down in ways that I didn’t even know I could be calmed.”

  “Well I’m glad,” I ran my fingers through his hair softly. “Because you make me happy too. I didn’t realize how closed off I was until you came along. I focused so much on my business that I closed myself away. I need to make some changes too, and I feel like I can with you here.”

  “I didn’t know that about you,” Ashton muttered quietly as a reply. “I guess that there’s still a lot for me to learn.”

  “A lot for both of us,” I reassured him. “But I guess what I’m trying to say is that I want you to know everything about me. I haven’t had that before.”

  “This is going to be one insane journey.”

  “Yep, but at least we’ve already suffered some terrible times and we’ve survived it, so that’s got to be a good sign, right?”

  As I opened up to the man who used to be my enemy, a big bright smile burst across my cheeks. It felt so right to be lying here in this bed with him, wearing my heart on my sleeve. I really had always been shut down; I didn’t usually let anyone near to me. I wasn’t even sure why. It was just the way that I’d always been so I’d accepted it, but now I wanted to be set free.

  Ashton and I lay in each other’s arms for a while, just stroking each other’s skin and slowly drifting in and out of sleep. The romance bubble that we’d created for ourselves was wonderful, like a club that we were the only members of. I didn’t think I would ever want to leave it.

  ***

  As the sun shone through the window, my eye flickered open to look at the wonder of a brand new day. With Ashton next to me, cuddling his body into me, I knew that nothing would ever be the same again. Not only were we now bordering on becoming an official couple, we were also going to become business partners too.

  I glanced down at Ashton as he slept, his light snoring somehow making him look even more beautiful. I was so lucky to have that blond haired, brown-eyed gorgeous hunk by my side.

  Especially when I considered where we’d come from.

  I ran my finger lightly over him, tracing every inch of his skin, happiness boiling in my blood. Things were looking up now.

  I slid out from the bed and made my way into Ashton’s kitchen to cook him something nice to start our new union. As I flicked the kettle on and I cracked some eggs into the pan, I scanned my eyes around Ashton’s home once more. He lived in an apartment, just as I did, but that was where the similarities ended. My home was large and spacious, luxurious with high ceilings and all the gadgets I could possibly want. Ashton’s situation was so different. If only I’d opened my eyes to that sooner, maybe this petty rivalry would have been done much sooner.

  “Morning, gorgeous.” I jumped in shock as Ashton’s soft voice whispered into my ear and his arms snaked around my back. “I thought that you’d run away from me.”

  “Never again,” I insisted, as his lips buried into my neck, sending my heart fluttering like crazy. “You won’t ever have to worry about that. I’m in it now for the long haul.” I leaned back against his body, memories of last night still clinging to my skin. Ashton Carnn made me feel things that I didn’t know were even possible.

  Ashton twisted me round and he kissed my lips hard. “Good,” he murmured against my mouth. “Because I’m falling for you. I wanted to tell you last night, but I was afraid. In the cold light of day, I can see that actually it’s sillier not to say anything at all. You deserve it, especially after what you’ve done for me.”

  I grabbed onto his neck and pulled him in for a kiss, my chest swelling warmly with bliss. Hearing Ashton admit that was wonderful. It made me feel freer and happier than ever before. It was brave of him to do, and I knew it took a lot for him to say. It was only fair for me to admit the same right back

  “I feel exactly the same way. You make me feel amazing, and I can’t wait to see where this will take us.”

  Looking at the future now didn’t feel as scary as it once had. I actually felt excited to consider what might happen. It truly did feel like an adventure.

  I just hoped that it would work out in the way that I hoped...

  Epilogue

  Ashton

  “So, what do you think?” Jamie asked me nervously. “You like it, right? I know it’s big. It’s larger than what I’m used to.”

  “If it’s bigger than what you’re used to, then how do you think it feels to me?” I chuckled, glancing around the room with wide eyes. “It’s massive and really nice.” />
  “Enough room for me, you, my staff, your staff, and the newbies. This is an expansion; we need to make everything a lot bigger.”

  “And on a clean slate too... that feels amazing to me.” I still hadn’t quite recovered from having my debts paid off; it still overwhelmed me. Jamie wouldn’t let me pay him back with money though, so I’d just have to do it with hard work instead. I’d make a massive success of this and create some revenue that way... “This is going to be fab.”

  “Everyone will be here soon, are your staff excited?”

  “They are actually,” Tara especially had been buzzing ever since I first told her. Since she was the only person who’d been in it with me from the very beginning, her opinion was extremely important to me. The fact that she was happy meant that it was going to be amazing. “How about yours?”

  “They can’t wait! I think they’re looking forward to some new blood.”

  I paused for a moment, before turning to Jamie and staring at him square in the face. “There’s actually something that I want to speak to you about, before everyone else arrives.”

  “Oh no, you aren’t worrying again, are you? Everything will be alright, I promise. Just relax.” Jamie reached forwards to rub my shoulders, which I had to pull back from. If he began to touch me, I would lose my mind and everything would go tits up.

  “No, no, it isn’t that.” I sighed deeply and sucked in a few deep breaths to try and calm myself down. “It’s more about me and you.”

  “Oh yeah?” For the first time in a very long time, Jamie looked worried. His eyebrows knotted and he screwed his nose up a little bit. My heart melted at the adorable expression on his face. All I wanted to do was reach out and grab him, to comfort him properly. “What’s going on?”

  I started to shake. I could feel perspiration pricking on my forehead. “I know that it’s only been six months, and we’ve spent most of that trying to organize all the legal stuff involved in this, but to me I know that it’s right.” I’d practiced this speech in my head a million times, but I wasn’t sure that it was coming out as planned.