Caught Up in You by Roni Loren

serving her a glass of water.”
    “She got on her knees for me, man,” Wyatt said, looking out the side window, almost
     talking to himself. “I was ready to say no, that there was no way I could do this,
     go down that road again. But seeing her there, I couldn’t fucking stop the urge. The
     need to claim her welled up and took over. Orders started falling out of my mouth
     like I was possessed by some former version of myself.”
    Jace reached out and gripped Wyatt’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “Welcome back
     to the dark side, brother. We’ve got cookies. Hope you enjoy your stay.”
    Wyatt turned his head, his tone deadpan. “You’re not helping.”
    His brother laughed. “Come on. You’ve got a beautiful woman willing to play slave
     to you. And your business retreat issue is fixed. Embrace that. You’ve made this agreement.
     Now keep your word and stop stressing about it.”
    Wyatt sagged in the seat. His word. That’s what he’d given Kelsey. And he didn’t go
     back on a promise. Plus, if he was honest with himself, he was already in too deep
     to walk away. How Kelsey had felt against him tonight, the way she’d melted under
     his commands had lit a fuse that wasn’t going to burn out easily. Even the sound of
     her voice, those soft cries as she came kept replaying in his head like some song
     he couldn’t shake.
    He had to have her. And not only in his bed, but surrendering to his will, being
his
.
    He prayed that a week would be enough, that he wouldn’t get consumed by that need
     like he had with Mia . . .
    Because if he stripped Kelsey of even one ray of the light that seemed to shine from
     her, he’d never forgive himself.
    You’re older now, more in control,
he reminded himself. He wasn’t some lovesick college student. This was a sexual arrangement,
     not a relationship. Kelsey was
not
Mia.
    Yeah. Now to get himself to believe it.
    “Bring me to your place before you drop me off at mine,” Wyatt said, shoving the worries
     back into the dusty, dark corners of his mind and refocusing on the task at hand.
     He needed to take a page from Jace’s book and live in the moment for a change.
    “Okay. How come?”
    “Because I’m going to need you to open up Wicked for a private shopping session tonight.
     It’s time I use my investor discount, don’t you think?”
    Jace’s grin was pure mischief. “I thought you’d never ask. Hope you’ve got an extra
     suitcase to bring on the trip, bro. Because you’re about to get the kink hookup of
     the year.”
    * * *
    Kelsey sat on a bench outside of The Ranch, her leg bumping up and down as she waited for Wyatt’s driver to pick her up. She was suddenly
     having visions of those scenes in
Pretty Woman
where the stuck-up shop owners were giving Julia Roberts shit because they thought
     she was trash. Kelsey glanced down at her simple white sweater and jeans, hoping her
     outfit didn’t scream “Imposter!” to anyone who looked too closely.
    And what was Wyatt’s personal assistant going to think? Would Wyatt have told him
     or her that Kelsey was some new woman in his life, or would he have told the person
     the truth? The latter made her stomach churn. She’d been on the other side of judgment
     in her life too many times to count. She should be used to it by now—the upturned
     noses, the whispered comments, the passive-aggressive remarks. But, though she was
     more practiced at her outward response these days, that kind of judgment still chipped
     away at her with painful accuracy.
    So when the limo pulled up a few minutes later, Kelsey had gone into total mannequin
     mode—her smile stiff and her fingers clutching her purse like it held the Hope Diamond.
     But when the back door swung open and a petite, dark-haired woman slid out, all of
     Kelsey’s anxiety sloughed off her and puddled on the ground, relief swooping in.
    “Evan?”
    “Hey there.” Evan Kennedy smiled and hopped onto the curb to give Kelsey a