The Art of Temptation by Kayla C. Oliver (23)

I shifted on my knees, repositioning myself so that I could pull her dress free and drag it up over those lovely, impossibly long legs. Each inch of skin I exposed was another piece of flesh I wanted to touch and taste. I moved the fabric up her thighs, and when I pulled it that last stretch, bunching it around her waist, I swallowed thickly.

Her pussy was just as pink as those nipples, and it was not only bare, but also dripping wet.

Leaving her dress gathered around her waist, I let my hands move down. I cupped her first, and she groaned. “You’re hot and wet,” I commented, letting my finger slide along her opening, dipping just slightly between her lips to gather the moisture there. “Are you tight, too?”

She moaned, her hips bucking up toward my hand wantonly. “You won’t know until you put something in there—got anything handy?”

I laughed. “As a matter of fact, I do. I’ve got a couple of things to bury in you, baby. Wanna start with this?” I pushed two fingers past her lips into her hot, wet core. She gasped, then moaned as I put my fingers in to the knuckles.

Fuck, she is tight, I thought.

Her pussy spasmed around my fingers. I groaned. Fuck, I needed my dick in there now. My fingers pulled out quickly, coated in her wetness, and she groaned in protest.

“Please—” she started, but she didn’t have to.

I was already positioning the head of my dick at her entrance. My hands went to her hips, then slid lower and to the inside so that I could use my thumbs to hold her pussy open. I slid myself against her, gathering her moisture on my length. Then, finally, I put my head at her opening, and I shoved in.

She cried out. “Oh fuck!”

“Jesus,” I said at the same time, burying myself inside her to the hilt, filling up every bit of space until there was nothing left.

She arched her back, pointing her breasts to the ceiling, and pushing her hips toward me. Her hands clutched at the comforter beneath her, gripping tightly as I pulled myself out only to thrust inside her once again. I began to piston inside her, too worked up to even try to go slow, but she didn’t seem to mind. She cried out for God and Jesus and the devil all at the same time, her hips working hard to keep up with my breakneck pace.

My hands went down to her knees, lifting her legs up higher until I could throw them over my shoulders, changing the angle of entrance. She cried out in approval as I groaned. I caught a flash of those heels out of the corner of my eye and grinned wickedly.

There was little sexier than a woman being fucked in her heels.

I kept one hand on her hip as I plowed into her, the other wandering higher to her tits. I wrapped my fingers around one and squeezed her tightly. Her back arched in response.

I dove into her as hard and fast as I could, but when I felt myself get closer, I made a quick decision to let the hand at her tit drift lower again. My fingers found their way between her legs just above where I was sliding my cock into her. When I found the little bundle of nerves there, I knew instantly, because she let out a long, drawn-out cry.

In time with my rhythmic thrusts, I began to move my finger against her nub. I rubbed hard and fast, that little movement becoming more and more difficult as I felt myself get closer toward release. My thrusts became erratic, my body aching for the release that was building up hot and fast in my system. Just before I lost myself, I felt her explode beneath me. Her hands gripped at the comforter until her knuckles were white, her voice rang out through the room, and she arched those wonderful tits as she lost herself to oblivion.

I felt my own release power through me, unloading everything I had into her perfect body. For a moment, I was gone. My body was shaky, uncoordinated, and my mind felt like it was disconnected. When I finally came back to myself, I was leaning over her body, barely keeping myself from crushing her by supporting my weight on shaky forearms.

Our eyes met for just a moment, and I had a weird feeling that this was something more.

Then it was gone, and I pulled out of her. We both groaned. I found a towel in the attached bathroom and cleaned myself up. Then I threw a second towel to her. She did the same. As I zipped up my fly, she adjusted her dress until she was fully covered once more.

Both dressed again, we faced each other.

“You know this doesn’t mean anything, right?” I asked her calmly.

She barked out a cool laugh. “I’m not a schoolgirl, Mr. Reid. I know what this was. And I just want to remind you that this doesn’t mean I’ll be giving up.”

“Then our little competition is on?”

She smiled sweetly at me. “Agreed. Best of luck—you’ll need it.”

I escorted her out then and we parted ways. I was still a little loopy from my orgasm, but I had a weird, twisting feeling in my gut like this might have been a very serious mistake on my part. I tried to shove it away quickly, but it followed me home and remained even as I finally drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Ten

Trent

 

 

“Callum called. Again.”

I glanced over at Sara and raising my eyebrows at her, I said, “What did he want? And why didn’t he call my damn cell?”

She rolled her eyes at me. Sara was a little thing with dark hair and olive skin. She was Italian or Greek depending on who asked, but it didn’t really matter because she was 100 percent American in the end. The closest to Italian and Greek she got was the Italian sub she ordered from that sandwich shop down the street and the disgusting Greek yogurt in the fridge. I reminded her she was gross every time I saw her eating it.

“He said you’d ask that,” she answered, reaching for her memo pad. Clearing her throat, she said, “And I quote, ‘tell that bastard that I’m going through you’—he means me—‘because he informed me that I have to make this formal, otherwise it doesn’t fucking count. Sorry, Sara, I should watch my language’—he’s always been such a sweetheart, don’t you think?—‘tell that idiot to call me.’ End quote.”

I was laughing by the time she was done. Sara was a smart mouth when she wanted to be, and being the go-between for me and Callum usually brought that quality out in her. Shaking my head a little, I grinned down at her. “Guess that means I should give him a call, eh?”

She lifted a single shoulder in a half shrug. “It’s probably not a bad idea. He sounded a little rough around the edges, like maybe he didn’t sleep so well last night.” She pursed her lips together thoughtfully.

“Aww, is little Sara concerned about the poor little baby’s bedtime?” I teased.

Instantly, her high cheeks reddened, and she narrowed her eyes at me. She threw her memo pad in my direction half-heartedly. I dodged easily, laughing my ass off.

“You’re so immature!”

I only laughed harder. Sara had had a crush on Callum since college. When I used to drag Callum to that little Greek restaurant she worked at—because she looked the part and could fake an accent—she would be at our table every two seconds to make sure that Callum had everything he needed. I teased her mercilessly about it until she threatened to tell my grandmother that I was being mean. Although I was sure the threat still stood, I got away with a little light teasing now and again.

Annoyed with me, she stood up from her little corner desk and walked over to me. She snatched up the fallen memo pad and then spit her tongue out at me. Turning, she stalked off.

“Oh, yeah, real mature!” I called after her, but it wasn’t very effective given that I was still laughing.

Still chuckling over Sara’s schoolgirl crush, I headed toward my workroom, pulling out my phone as I went. I was going to call Callum and set up another meeting because I was already about 90 percent sure I’d sign with him. S&W could offer me the sun and they still wouldn’t be able to convince me to go to the dark side. I was about to dial him when I got an incoming call. As soon as I saw it, a wide grin spread across my features.

I knew she was only calling on behalf of S&W Publishing.

I knew that she didn’t think she was talking to Trent Parker, but rather his “agent,” Malcom Resner.

But I couldn’t help the thrill that rushed through me at the sight of Courtney’s name on my caller ID. Pulling myself together, I cleared my throat, let the phone ring two more times, and then answered.

“Hello?”

“Mal—I mean, Mr. Resner,” Courtney greeted me, coughing a little after nearly using my first name. “This is Ms. Hughes at S&W Publishing.”

My grin widened. She was getting used to calling me Malcom, which, although it was my middle name, I couldn’t help but view as progress. “Courtney, how are you?”

“I’m good, thank you.” She paused, then added, “How are you?”

I did a little fist pump. She was warming up to me, I could tell. “Doing better now.”

“Very cute, Mr. Resner.”

“I told you, call me Malcom.”

There was another pause. I could imagine her warring with herself now, with her cute little vintage dress and those ruby-red lips. Damn, she was beautiful. Finally, she sighed into the phone. “Malcom. I’m calling about Mr. Parker.”

“Oh, and here I thought you just missed me,” I teased lightly.

She gave a short laugh that must have been genuine, because she ended it abruptly with a cough. “Yes, well, sorry to disappoint. But the fact remains that I do need to discuss Mr. Parker’s schedule.”

I sighed. “Can I be honest with you, Courtney?”

“Of course. In fact, I’d prefer it.”

Which means I really should just tell her who the hell I am—but I’m not going to.

Because I wasn’t done with this. I needed to warm her up a little more, then make the big reveal. That way she’d be too smitten with me to really care that I had been lying to her about my identity.

That was realistic, right?

“Mr. Parker isn’t interested,” I told her seriously. Although I truly did want to keep chatting up Courtney and I had every intention of winning her over, I wasn’t going to sign with S&W.

There was a pause that was long enough I almost thought she’d hung up on me.

“Hello?”

“I’m here,” she answered. “You could have told me that when I picked up instead of wasting my time, you know.”

I frowned. I took a seat in my overstuffed lounge chair, reclining in it as I held the phone to my ear. “I didn’t think talking with me was a waste of your time.”

“Look, it’s not that I don’t enjoy our chats—”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“—but I’m on the clock. Officially, this is a business call.”

“And unofficially?” I prompted.

She hesitated. “Unofficially, I called to set up a meeting with Mr. Parker, but I’m not necessarily upset that we had time to… talk.”

I imagined a blush on her cheeks. A rosy color would look good on her, natural amidst the deliberately styled hair and the big eyes and those pretty button-down dresses. “Good. Because I’d like to keep our conversation going, regardless of whether or not Mr. Parker decides to sign with S&W.”

I waited after that. It was true. I wanted to keep talking to her, but I didn’t want to have to sign anything to do that. I was a notorious flirt, it was true, but that didn’t mean I was willing to get into the legal crap to win someone over. If I’d been willing to do that, I’d have been married already.

Yeah, right. Fat chance of that ever happening.

After a moment, Courtney responded. “Well, I can’t promise anything. But S&W is willing to promise Mr. Parker quite a bit.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure that S&W can offer anything to change his mind.” I waited a beat, then couldn’t help myself. “What can you offer?”

Instantly, I regretted asking that.

“I’m not going to offer that player anything,” she snapped at me. “I know how he is with women, and I want no part. This is purely a business transaction, and if he isn’t willing to consider the generous offer of Ms. McKenna, then I’m really not interested in furthering the conversation independently.”

“Whoa, whoa, easy honey,” I said, doing my best to soothe the feathers I’d just ruffled.

“Don’t call me honey.”

“Courtney,” I corrected myself. “I’m glad that you wouldn’t sacrifice your integrity just for a sale. I had that sense about you right away.”

“Are you trying to butter me up with flattery?” she accused.

I grinned. “Maybe. Is it working?”

She tried to resist, but I heard a laugh escape her lips. “Okay, maybe a little bit. But I still want to set up an appointment with Mr. Parker. Any chance of that?”

I held back a sigh. I realized instantly where I’d gone wrong here—she thought I was my agent, not me. Which wouldn’t be that big of an issue if she didn’t know what I looked like. But she did, so how the hell was I going to get a date with her if she recognized me? It was one thing if I had time to win her over, but I was quickly losing that time.

“I’ll pitch it to him,” I finally said, knowing already what “Parker’s” answer was going to be.

“Thank you,” she said sincerely. I could hear the smile in her voice, and it made me feel warm inside.

“You bet. Don’t hesitate to call, Courtney. I like our chats, too.”

She laughed again but promised she would when she got a chance. We hung up then, and I mulled over my predicament. How was I going to win her over when she thought Trent Parker was a total asshole?

“I’m going to have to do some serious work.”

Chapter Eleven

Marnie

 

 

Three days after the mind-blowing, spur-of-the-moment, complete and total brush with insanity that was sex with Callum Reid, I had lunch with Courtney. Although we were good friends, the kind that generally told each other everything, I hadn’t yet brought up my tryst with Mr. Reid. It wasn’t that I was ashamed—people had sex; we were both consenting adults—but I was a little embarrassed. It was Callum fucking Reid for Christ’s sake. Of all the guys to end my dry spell, he was not exactly the one I’d been banking on.

But, man, what a way to end a dry spell, I thought, picking apart my sandwich to eat each individual piece.

“You’re disgusting,” Courtney informed me matter-of-factly.

My eyes went wide, and I jerked my gaze up to look at her. I was so terrified that I was caught, so focused on how I’d gone all wanton lady with Reid the other night, that I didn’t realize she wasn’t talking about that at all. She was still looking down at her salad, mixing it all dutifully together, and I realized that she was talking about my eating habits.

“You’re gross,” I told her finally, a little breathless. “How can you just mix all those flavors together and expect them to be tasty? That’s just wrong.”

She lifted her shoulders. “Makes more sense. It all gets mixed up in my stomach. And at least I don’t have to touch anything with my fingers. Gross. Do you know how many things you’ve touched in the last twenty minutes that you don’t even realize?”

“No,” I said dryly. “If I knew that, I’d know what I’d touched, wouldn’t I?”

She flicked a piece of lettuce in my direction. “You know what I mean.”

I lifted a shoulder in a shrug, then popped a piece of my tomato into my mouth. I chewed thoughtfully. After I’d swallowed, I asked Courtney, “Any luck with Parker?”

She stabbed her salad aggressively, then popped the forkful into her mouth. With narrowed eyes, she chewed. When she’d swallowed her mouthful of rabbit food, she scowled. “No. I called Malcom—his agent—and according to him, Parker isn’t interested in signing with us. He swore he’d try to pitch it to him again, but I haven’t heard back from him in a couple of days. I’m starting to think it’s a lost cause.”

“Damn it,” I cursed. “It cannot be a lost cause. I need this too much.”

Courtney nodded. “I know. I’ll keep trying, but I have the sense that this doesn’t have anything to do with our offer. I think he just doesn’t want to sign with the company.”

My mind flashed to Reid. He’d been sexy; hotter than hell. He looked like one of those old-time movie stars, the kind who oozed sex appeal and were smooth as silk. They could do no wrong with their hands on a woman, and Reid had been the same. He’d touched me and suddenly my body went up in flames. Maybe it was just the dry spell being broken, but I didn’t think so. I had a hunch that he was simply good at sex.

And whether I wanted to admit it or not, I wanted to test my theory out. I wanted another piece of him. Maybe even a taste this time.

Jesus, Marnie, I scolded myself silently. Pull yourself together. He isn’t the only cock out there.

But he did have a damn fine one. And it felt incredible shoved all the way—

I shook my head. “It’s because of his connection to Reid,” I told Courtney, hoping to keep the glazed look of desire off my face. I didn’t know if I was successful, so I popped a piece of cheese from my sandwich into my mouth. I chewed the bite, then added, “Which means we’re going to have to use that against them.”

Courtney raised her eyebrows. She was munching on a bite of salad and took a minute to respond. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that we’re not going to win by trying to lure him over here with milk and cookies. We need something on him. We need to play him instead of letting him play us.”

“Okay, and just how do you plan to do that?”

I delicately sipped my iced tea, and putting it back down on my desk, I smiled sweetly at her. “It’s simple, my dear Court. We’re going to take that closeness with that bastard Reid—” That sexy, orgasm-inducing, sex god of a bastard. “—and make it a weakness. Instead of telling Parker that it’s loyal to stick with his friend, we’re going to tell him that it’s cowardly.”

Courtney’s brow furrowed, her red lips pouting. “What? How the hell are we supposed to do that?”

“Simple. We’re going to tell Parker that we understand why he’d want to go with his friend—after all, it’s been a while since he’s been with a new publisher. This book is the first in a new series, and maybe it’s not as good as the others. Maybe he’s not as sure of himself. You can’t blame someone for wanting to err on the side of caution, right? Who wouldn’t want a guaranteed cheerleader? After all, what are friends for…?”

I smiled as I watched Courtney’s mouth drop open in surprise. It took her a moment before she collected herself. Slowly, she shook her head. “You are a diva. A total evil, genius diva. And I one hundred percent support you.”

“Thank you.” I popped a piece of mayo-covered bread into my mouth. “We’ll make him think that going with Reid is a cop-out. That he’s only doing it because he’s scared of an honest opinion of his book. He’ll be so turned off by the idea that he won’t be able to go through with it. He’ll turn around and come crawling back to us. It’ll be a win-win.”

Courtney 100 percent agreed, but there was a portion of the plan that I wasn’t sharing with her. A personal portion that I deemed just as important as the professional one.

Don’t let Callum in again.

A one-night tryst in the heat of the moment, as a means of overcoming a dry spell, as a single moment of weakness I could forgive. I could let that go because no one was perfect. And even though Callum Reid was not just an editor at Tarvish Press, but the owner thereof, which happened to be the one company that S&W Publishing was in direct competition with, I could accept a single mistake like that.

After all, he was incredibly sexy.

But I could not let it ever happen again. I told myself a thousand times that it didn’t matter if I did see him again. It wouldn’t be a repeat performance, but I had a hard time believing it. There was this niggling little sense in the back of my mind that I wanted him. Bad. And that was unforgivable.

I can’t let him in, I told myself silently.

It didn’t matter what my libido was screaming. I promised myself that this was a onetime deal, and the best way to keep that promise was to stay the hell away from Callum Reid.

Chapter Twelve

Callum

 

 

We stopped by a street vendor outside of the café where Trent was trying to drag me, because I was tired of this fucking health food bullshit and he was being a pain in the ass.

“Two dogs, relish, mustard, and a diet soda,” I told the vendor, an older man with a bushy mustache that reminded me of that old video game with the plumbers. I paused, then glanced over my shoulder at Trent, who was eyeing the cart with a mixture of disgust and envy. I grinned and added, “Plus whatever this guy’s having.”

Trent glanced up at me, eyes wide and eyebrows raised. He looked like a damn kid with his hands caught in the cookie jar. It was hilarious.

“Oh, no, I’m good,” he tried to argue, holding his hands up to indicate he wanted no part of the heart attack in a tube that I was trying to sell him.

I snorted. “Please. You were all but eye-fucking those dogs. Just get one and stop pretending like you’re one of those health food hipsters who believes in everything from PETA to free-range.”

He scowled at me. “Free-range is a good thing. It’s better for the animals, which is better for the meat. Stress makes them taste bad.”

Rolling my eyes at him, I accepted my two hot dogs from the vendor. “Just order the damn food. You’re fucking killing me with this bullshit.”

“Say what you want, but if it weren’t for me and my health food bullshit, you’d weigh three hundred pounds and probably have a cardiologist on call.”

I ignored him as I bit into the first hot dog. Heaven, I thought. Ain’t nothing like a dirty water hot dog from an honest-to-God vendor. It’s not New York, but damn if it isn’t close. I couldn’t help but notice that despite all of Trent’s arguing, he was eagerly ordering three hot dogs—one to go, he claimed—all with mustard, relish, and two with sauerkraut.

When I raised an eyebrow at him, he only shrugged. “What? A man’s gotta eat.”

When I’d gotten my bite down, I commented, “Three? A bit hungry for a health food hipster.”

“I am not a health food hipster,” he snapped, for a second seeming legitimately upset. It passed quickly. “And the third one’s for Sara. She’ll be pissed if she figures out that I got a dirty water hot dog and didn’t get her one. And you know she’ll know.”

I laughed loudly at him, shaking my head a little. “Yeah, well, that’s what happens when you let a woman run your entire life like that.”

He choked down half of his first hot dog in a single bite, chewing obnoxiously. He spoke around the food in his mouth, telling me, “You just wait. You think you got your shit figured out, but one day it’s gonna hit you. Bam, like a freight train. And there won’t be any stopping it.”

“Stopping what?”

“Her. Whoever she is, she’ll sweep you into her embrace and that’ll be it. You’ll be toast. Then you’ll be getting extra hot dogs for her and sending her cutesy little text messages and wondering how in the hell you ever spent your life without her.”

I raised a single eyebrow at him in skepticism. “Oh? I’m going to get a secretary?”

Technically, I had a secretary already, but she didn’t really run my life. Mostly, she served a perfunctory position that ensured I didn’t overbook myself, and when I did, she straightened it out. On most days, she sat around doing her nails and talking to her friends on the phone. I didn’t mind paying her for it, because she did her job when I required it of her, but to say she ran my life was a joke. She didn’t have any more control of my life than I had over tornados.

He swallowed the rest of his first hot dog, then quickly started in on his second. “No. You’re gonna get a girl, and then she’s gonna lead you around by your dick. Worse, you’re gonna like it.”

My mind flashed involuntarily to the sexy woman I’d had just the other night, the way she’d come undone beneath me and around me. She’d been needy and wanton, and damn it all if she hadn’t been the sexiest woman alive at that moment.

Marnie McKenna.

I forced my gutter-swimming thoughts back to the conversation and forced myself to bark out a laugh at the suggestion that a woman might slip into my life like that. “I highly doubt it. You know my policy on that. I don’t have the time or the patience to deal with a woman—and she likely doesn’t have the patience for me. Why fuck with it? There are plenty of gorgeous women out there who are happy to ride me and leave me.”

Trent finished his second hot dog, and for a brief moment I wondered how in the hell he’d managed to devour two in the same space of time where I’d gone through only half. But that was Trent, so I didn’t linger on it.

“Besides, it’s not like you’re sleeping with Sara,” I pointed out. “And you definitely don’t have a long-term girl in your life.”

He shrugged, swallowing his last bite. He eyed the third one in his hand, like maybe he was considering downing that one, too, but seemed to think better of it. We both knew that Sara could be a beast when she wanted to be, and no one wanted to mess with that.

“My romantic life doesn’t really have anything to do with yours, you know,” he told me casually, grabbing my diet soda and taking a swallow. He made a face. “Jesus. Really? The only healthy thing you’ll do is a fucking diet soda? And you say the stuff I eat tastes terrible.”

“The stuff you eat does taste terrible,” I informed him, swiping my soda back. “And this isn’t healthy. It’s worse for you than the regular stuff.”

He waved me off. “I’m just saying that I don’t need that stability. I’m a damn writer. I’m riding high on my latest best seller this month, next month I’m starving on a street corner begging for change after the next flop.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. “That’s the way it goes. But you’re a routine kind of man. You need a woman who is routinely with you in the same way.”

I was about to argue with him over how ridiculous that was and how he should stick to writing fiction instead of waxing romantic philosophy when his phone began to ring. He dug it out of his pocket, holding up a single finger to indicate that I should stop talking for a minute while he took the call. I turned the other way, looking out toward Mount Rainier, to give him a little bit of privacy.

His voice was low as he spoke into the receiver, but I caught some of it. “Yeah… talked about it… set it up… Sara… restaurant… contract revision…”

I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help picking up and piecing together what he was talking about. It sure as hell sounded like business to me—which meant publishing. And since I was trying to muscle myself in between him and S&W Publishing, I was suddenly very interested in just what the hell that conversation was all about.

When he ended the call and shoved his phone back into his pocket, I rounded on him. “What was that all about?”

He lifted his shoulder. “Just business.”

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at him. “Business. What kind of business?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he insisted, but I wasn’t in the mood for whatever games he was playing.

“That was Marnie, wasn’t it?”

The accusation seemed to startle him, at least for a second before he could replace his surprise with an easygoing grin.

“Marnie, eh? Are you on a first-name basis with your great rival’s best editor? Or did I miss something?”

I could have kicked myself in the teeth for saying that. Jesus, why not just come out and say that I fucked her brains out the previous night?

For half a second, I seriously considered telling him just that. Then I thought better of it. He’d never let me live that down, and I had the feeling it would suddenly make my job of convincing him to publish with Tarvish a hell of a lot harder. And I just wasn’t interested in extra work.

So I kept my mouth shut about the fucking awesome sex and said, “Don’t change the subject. That was her, wasn’t it?”

“Maybe. She’s pretty sexy, don’t you think? Legs that run the length of the highway, right?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. It was stupid, I knew it was stupid, but I didn’t like the idea of him sitting in her office, staring at her legs, grinning cheekily at her while he flirted carelessly. She’d said she wasn’t going to offer him anything like that, but what did I know about her?

And why the hell do I care whether someone else looks at her?

Shaking my head, I sighed. “Yes, fine, she’s pretty. Can we focus on the fact that you are seriously taking calls from my biggest rival while eating dirty water hot dogs with me?”

“I already finished my dogs.”

I groaned. “Damn it, Trent! Focus! That’s not the damn point.”

“What’s the point again?”

I hated it when he played dumb. He’d been following the conversation all along, no question, and it irked me to no end that he could stand there and pretend like he was an idiot.

He is an idiot, I thought mercilessly. Just not the kind that doesn’t know what I’m talking about.

“The point is that you’re fraternizing with the enemy!”

Which, if I were being honest with myself, I’d been doing more of than him.

He cocked his head, giving me a considering look. After a moment, he said, “I have a meeting. That’s part of the wooing, isn’t it?”

“Damn it,” I said again. “I knew it. What’s she offering you? What’s in the contract? I’ll meet it and do better, whatever it is.”

I knew this wasn’t the smart way to negotiate. Under normal circumstances, it wasn’t the way I’d negotiate at all. I was more of a take-it-or-leave-it kind of man, but at that moment I was so worked up over Marnie—sexy, long-legged, no-panty-wearing Marnie with those freckles and all that perfect, delectable pink—that I didn’t care if I came off as desperate. All I wanted was to win.

Trent waved me off. “Don’t be an ass. We’re still working out the details. We’re negotiating the contract, and even if we’d settled on something, I wouldn’t go and tell you. That just doesn’t seem right.”

“You’re out of your damn mind, you know it?”

Trent didn’t care. He just shrugged, then checked his wristwatch. “Look, we’ll set up another meeting, okay? A legit business one and we can talk about details then. Otherwise, leave it alone. I’m not going to talk to Callum my friend about this.”

I might have stood there and argued with him all day, but what was the point? When he was set on something, that was it. There would be no ground to be gained. If I wanted to derail this, I was going to have to get creative.

My eyes landed on the last hot dog between us, gripped in Trent’s large hand. For Sara.

I had to bite back a smirk as I finally landed on a plan.

“Fine, you want to be a jerk, be a jerk,” I told him, holding up my hands. “Clearly if I want some prime business meeting times set up, I’m going to have to go over your head.”

His brow furrowed, the corners of his mouth turning down slightly in a frown. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that if I want a decent fucking meeting with you, I’ll clearly have to go through Sara.” I held out my hand, palm up. When he just stared at it, I wiggled my fingers. “Give me the hot dog. If I want to butter her up, I’ll need something to bribe her with.”

Finally catching on, Trent laughed a deep belly laugh, then shook his head. “You’re smart, I’ll give you that. Too bad you couldn’t put those brains to better use.”

“Just give me the damn dog.” He handed it over, and I made a face at it. “I can’t believe she likes sauerkraut. Nasty.”

He shrugged. “I don’t bitch. I just give her what she likes so she won’t get all Stephen King on me.”

“Stephen King?”

“Misery.”

I chuckled. “Good point. I think I won’t mention the sauerkraut.”

He nodded sagely. “Good call.”

We parted then, him heading presumably to a fucking meeting with the sexy, infuriating, pain in my ass Marnie McKenna, and me to charm poor, unsuspecting Sara.

 

 

I went to Trent’s home that he split with Sara, which was a condo larger than anyone in Seattle had any right to afford. It was funny because Sara’s income came mainly from working for Trent, and Trent’s income came from writing. In a way, he was supporting them both, though there was no question that Sara earned it.

I pressed the buzzer for the lower level, then waited. A second later, a sweet voice came through over the intercom.

“Yes?”

“Hey, sweetheart, this is Callum. Mind if I come up for a bit?”

There was a pause, then, “Of course. I’ll, uh, buzz you in.”

She did so and I headed inside. I headed toward the stairs, because the lower levels were used primarily for the kitchen and dining room while the second floor was the living space. That included both their bedrooms, an extended hallway that acted as Sara’s office, and a third room where Trent did his work. I’d been here several times, though usually Trent and I met away from those personal areas we liked to call home.

I made it up only a couple of steps before I spotted little Sara standing at the top. She smiled brightly at me, making her look even younger than she already did. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun, and she was wearing her reading glasses. She seemed to realize that at the same moment I did, because she blushed, then snatched them off her face.

“Hi, Callum, what a surprise,” she said, her smile so wide it looked like it could have hurt. “I, uh, wasn’t expecting you.”

She reached up and jerked her hair out of the messy bun, letting it tumble down past her shoulders. It was thick and healthy, dark and “exotic” to some, but all I could do was think of auburn hair tumbling across the pillows as she arched her back, pointing her breasts to the sky…

Damn it, I need to stop thinking about Marnie.

“Yeah, I thought I’d stop by and see how you’re doing.” I held up the hot dog. “I come bearing gifts.”

Her eyes glittered in pleasure at the sight of the dog. If I’d known it was so easy to please women, I’d bring them all dirty water hot dogs. “C’mon up, then,” she told me and turned around to head back.

I followed her the rest of the way up the stairs and then down the hall toward her little office. It wasn’t much more than a desk and a couple of chairs, but there was enough for both of us to sit and for her to work comfortably. In the end, I guessed that was all that mattered.

“Trent’s not here,” she told me apologetically, wincing as she said it, like I might be put out by the news.

I waved it off. “Oh, I know. We were out just now. I actually came to see you.”

Her eyes widened to the size of teacup saucers.

I knew it wasn’t fair. Sara had had a crush on me since forever it seemed, and I knew that at this moment, I was taking advantage of that. Using her affection for me wasn’t right, but I rationalized it to myself easily.

I wasn’t using it to get her into bed.

I wasn’t making her any eternal and everlasting love commitments.

I was just sitting here, giving her a hot dog and making some conversation. There wasn’t anything wrong with that, was there?

You’re an asshole, Callum Reid, and you fucking know it.

The problem was, I couldn’t make myself care right in that moment.

“I… well, I mean, that’s great. I, um, haven’t seen you in a while.”

“I know. I should really stop by more often,” I said by way of apology. “How have you been? I can tell you’ve got your work cut out for you keeping Trent in line.”

She laughed, a frilly little sound that was at odds with the well-put-together woman it belonged to. Sometimes she seemed wise for her years, and at other times she still seemed like a little kid. “Oh, um, thanks. I’m… I’ve been good. Not much excitement in my life, but Trent keeps it interesting. Especially with the whole S&W Publishing thing. I can’t believe he’s still even talking to them.”

She snapped her mouth shut abruptly, her eyes going wide as she stared at me in horror after what she’d just said. “Jesus, I’m sorry. Not that he’d ever—I mean, there’s no question he’s loyal—I think he’s just jerking everyone around.” She winced. “Sorry.”

I held up a hand and forced an easy laugh. Although it did irk me to think that he was in talks with some other publishing house, it wasn’t news to me, so I handled it well. “No, it’s okay. I want Trent to do what’s best for Trent. I have confidence that he’ll pick the best company in the end, right?”

I offered a winning smile, and she melted a little more.

“Yeah,” she agreed, nodding her head vehemently. “Absolutely.”

There was a long stretch of silence between us, and it was deliberate on my part. I let my smile fade and pulled my brow together, just slightly so that it pinched in the middle above my nose. I pursed my lips, not in anger, but in worry, confusion. I looked down and away from Sara, just slightly, as though gazing off into the distance.

“Callum? Are you okay?”

Bingo, I thought.

Shaking my head as though I was deliberately pulling myself from my thoughts, I offered Sara a half smile. “Sorry. Got lost for a minute there.”

“What were you thinking about just now?” she asked, because she was a sweetheart and just couldn’t help it.

I felt a little guilty, but not that guilty. I wasn’t doing any harm to anyone. “Oh, it’s nothing.”

She sat up a little straighter, pulling her chair in toward the table so that she was a little closer to me. “No, please, tell me. What is it?”

“It’s stupid,” I told her, reeling her in. “I just worry about him, you know? Normally, we’d have this meeting together—with the other publisher—and discuss whether or not they’re really giving him a good deal. But we had a little tiff, and now I think maybe he’s going to just go with it, because he’s mad at me. What if he makes a horrible deal? It would be all my fault.”

“No! Of course it wouldn’t be your fault,” she said instantly, her no a little louder than it should have been. She blushed in embarrassment but forged ahead, anyway. “And I’m sure he wouldn’t do that.”

I hesitated. “I’m not. He was pretty mad.”

She frowned. “I could call him—he’s got a meeting this afternoon, but…” She was reaching for her cell at the same time she was looking through the daily planner she had sitting on her desk. When she found whatever she was looking for there, she stood and made her call to Trent. While she began pacing, I stood quickly and pulled out my own cell. I found the camera function and positioned it over the planner. I took pictures, then turned the page. While she was on the phone, I flipped through as many pages as I could, finding scribbled-in meetings with locations and times.

Jackpot, I thought.

When Sara came back, she looked frustrated. “He’s such an ass sometimes. He says you’re being ridiculous and taking things too personally. He says you guys are fine, and he’s not going to make any rash decisions.” She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “I swear, you guys are like kids sometimes. But that’s good, right? No big deal, nothing to worry about.”

I smiled sweetly at her. “You are one hundred percent right, Sara. Thank you. I can honestly say, you’ve made my day better.”

She blushed again, smiling goofily at me. I feigned getting a work call and told her I had to go. She was disappointed but clearly still riding that little high I gave her from the compliment.

See? No harm. Everyone leaves getting what they wanted.

Chapter Thirteen

Marnie

 

 

Parker picked the coffee shop for our meeting, which was why I was stuck at this little hipster joint that was flooded with self-righteous, have no idea what the real world is like, “I liked that before it was cool” college students. It was enough to give me a headache from rolling my eyes, and the coffee was terrible to boot. I didn’t know what they put in it—or didn’t put in it—but your best hope was to drink it while it was scalding in an effort to burn off your taste buds before you had to suffer.

It had taken almost a week of wheedling and Courtney working things out with his agent, but I finally had another meeting with Parker. He was a pain in my ass, and I wanted to tell him as much, but I kept reminding myself of the promotion. Partner. It was all I’d ever wanted and, damn it, I’d worked hard to get here. I wasn’t about to let it slip away now because he thought he was all that and a bag of chips.

He’d spent the last twenty minutes ordering a cup of damn drip coffee just so he could flirt with the waitress. She looked about eighteen and giggled so much I wondered if she’d been inhaling the helium out of a balloon.

He’s still ordering coffee, I texted Courtney as I waited.

“Thanks, honey,” he told the pretty, ditzy little waitress. She giggled again, then wiggled her fingers before turning away and sauntering to the counter to get his coffee. Mine had already come out, and I would be on my second cup if it hadn’t tasted so disgusting the first time around.

Turning to face me, he smiled pleasantly, then leaned back in his chair. “I’m thinking of going with another publisher,” he told me up front. “What do you have to offer me that’ll change my mind?”

For half a second I thought he was talking sexual favors, but I quickly dismissed it. The flirtatious man who had been eye-fucking the waitress as he ordered had disappeared to be replaced by the calm, formal businessman in front of me. It was a hell of a change.

“I believe we’d begun discussions earlier on a contract,” I began, reaching for my sleek briefcase and setting it on the table beside us. I flicked open the locks, then popped the lid. Digging around for a moment, I pulled out the contract. “I believe we’d discussed e-book publishing rights—one year free, five years thereafter belong to S&W—free reign over the cover, edits to be discussed—”

“No drastic edits,” he corrected immediately. “You get to chew my ass over a plot hole, that’s it.”

I pursed my lips but nodded. “Or if your work violates our publishing guidelines.”

He waved this off like he wasn’t concerned. Honestly, I wasn’t either, really, but I wasn’t taking chances with this one. This was my shot at partner, and I wasn’t fucking it up.

“I also get last call on grammar and punctuation.”

He nodded.

I continued. “Movie rights—”

“Belong entirely to me.”

“Under the condition that you wait one year and allow us to look at sales before moving forward with production.”

“Sounds right.”

I glanced over the notes I’d scribbled over the contract after our initial meeting, making sure that I could meet Parker’s needs, but also that I could stay true to the company. The e-book rights were going to piss Dorian off, and the movie rights were a bitch, but I accepted that I’d be taking a hit there. Honestly, Parker was a big enough name that I was surprised he was willing to give up five years to us on the e-book.

Shuffling the papers, I laid them out in front of us, then folded my hands over them. I looked Parker in the eye and smiled. “Mr. Parker, I want you to know that we are committed—”

“To your own profits,” he finished easily. He held up a hand to stop the protests that were already bubbling up my throat. “Don’t worry, I don’t hold it against you. That’s just being in the business. I’m not worried about it. You make profits, I make profits, everyone wins. That’s not my concern.”

“Then what is your concern, Mr. Parker? I think we’ve been pretty generous here.”

He shrugged. “You have. I’m just not convinced. My last publisher was great—for several years. Then this last book they bungled so bad that not only would I never go back to them, but I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone else. How do I know that you’ll be any more consistent than that?”

I frowned. “With all due respect, sir, you don’t.”

His eyebrows rose in surprise, a small hint of a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.

I sat up taller, straightening my shoulders. “We are committed to our clients. And yes, this is a for-profit business, but you seem pretty savvy in regards to the business world, so let me break it down. If you’re happy, we’re happy. Why? Because we get better reviews. We get a better reputation. Suddenly, we’re the people everyone goes to. Which means we make more money. We can increase our profit margin and, ultimately, beat out the competition.”

I was talking about Tarvish Press, of course, but he didn’t need to know that. He probably did, anyway, but I wasn’t going to bring it up.

“That’s a lot of incentive for us to do our job well. And me?” I pointed toward myself for emphasis. “I’ve got a lot riding on this. I’m the one who bends over backward for my clients, because it makes my reputation better. Which means I get more clients. And you can guess that it all gets better for me from there.

“So, no. You have no guarantee. I can blow sunshine up your ass and make you a thousand promises that I probably can’t keep and you don’t believe I’ll even try to keep, or I can tell you how it is right here. I want your business. That’s for selfish reasons, but you’ll benefit from those selfish reasons. That, in my mind, is a win-win for everyone.”

I let my words hang there in the air, sinking in and hopefully swaying him over to my side. I knew I was fighting an uphill battle, but I had weapons in my arsenal. I hadn’t yet implemented my plan, but I would. If I couldn’t convince him to sign with us through the power of my words, I’d use less reputable tactics.

Before he answered, the pretty little waif of a waitress came back with his coffee. “Here you go,” she said brightly, giggling again, but he didn’t even seem to notice her this time.

Absently, he said, “Thank you,” but otherwise didn’t even look at her. His focus was on me and the contract, telling me that for all his flirting, he wasn’t so very invested in the opposite sex.

I wonder if the flirtatious behavior is just a front?

I didn’t have time to dwell on the idea, because he leaned forward then. Lacing his fingers together, his elbows on the table, he said, “That’s a hell of a speech you got there. I’m impressed. You know what you’re doing, I’ll give you that.”

“Then you’ll consider our offer?”

He pursed his lips together, which told me he was still on the fence, but he was thinking about it. Which was more than he was doing before. It wasn’t a win yet, but it still could be.

He was about to answer me when a voice behind me interrupted us. I froze as soon as I heard it.

“I have to assume Trent picked the place,” said Callum Reid, owner of Tarvish Press.

I was frozen in my seat, my blood boiling in a mixture of anger and an unprecedented, unwelcome rush of desire. He cannot be here, I thought, but he came around the corner and plopped down into the empty chair at our table. I could have killed him.

Or I could have straddled his lap and ridden him like we weren’t in public.

Forcing myself to remain calm, I didn’t even look at Callum as I said, “This is a private meeting.”

“In a public place,” he countered instantly.

Bastard. “Nevertheless, this is a meeting, and you were definitely not invited.”

“How did you even know where I was?” Parker asked, glancing at his friend. He didn’t seem all that upset about the intrusion—which annoyed me even more—but he clearly hadn’t told him where we’d be. It wasn’t the only reason I wasn’t chewing everyone’s ass right now.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Callum shrug casually. They were broad and muscular. I remembered the way he threw my legs over them and—

Stop. Thinking. Of. Him. Now.

And that command did absolutely nothing to help with my suddenly overactive libido. I felt myself growing wet between my thighs and crossed my legs at the knees in an effort to help with that. I hoped I was subtle about it, but it felt like everyone just knew that I was suddenly horny for this man who pissed me off so much.

“I have my ways.” He paused a beat, then added, “Plus, you would take her to a little hipster shitsplat like this.”

At least we agree on something, I thought dryly. Clearing my throat, I carefully turned to look at Callum. I regretted it almost instantly. His hair was thick and just a little less kempt than the last time I’d seen it. It looked like he’d run his fingers through it several times, and it was all but begging me to do the same. His eyes glittered mischievously, and for just a second, I could swear he knew I was thinking naughty thoughts about him.

Of course he couldn’t, but that didn’t change how I felt about it.

“Ha ha, very funny,” Parker groused. “I’ll have you know, this is a great little café.”

“Then how come you haven’t even touched your coffee?”

Parker made a face at him, and mentally I awarded a grudging point to Callum. He was an asshole, but he was right. “Excuse me, if you boys are done with your banter, I believe we were in the middle of a meeting?”

“Oh, of course! How rude of me,” Callum sort of apologized.

I had a brief moment of relief. Good. Maybe this asshole will get the hell out of here and leave us alone.

Almost instantly my hopes were dashed. “Where were we?”

My eyes narrowed at him. “We weren’t anywhere. This is a private meeting between myself and Mr. Parker. If you’ll kindly leave, we can continue.”

He waved me off like he was brushing off a fly. “Nonsense. Don’t worry about me. I’m just here to counteroffer everything you put on the table. After all, we are in direct competition. I feel like it’s only fair that Tre—Mr. Parker know his options.”

My hands formed into tiny fists that I desperately wanted to put through his face, but I resisted the temptation. “That is not how this works. As I recall, you had the nerve to steal him from my office when we’d already made arrangements because you couldn’t stand the idea that maybe he’d like to sign with someone other than you!”

“Now, now, no need to get rowdy,” he told me blithely. “All’s fair in love and war.”

“This isn’t love and this isn’t war,” I snapped. “This is business.”

Parker was glancing between the two of us like he was watching a Ping-Pong match, a smile already broken out on his face. He settled himself back like he was enjoying this, and it only added fuel to the fire.

“Don’t you mix business with pleasure?” Callum asked me. He was trying to be calm, but I couldn’t miss the way his voice dropped down low and came out like dark, rich silk. His eyes practically burned with the memory of what we’d done just the other night, and it took everything I had to keep the sudden fire within my own treacherous body from consuming me.

“No,” I told him between gritted teeth. “I don’t.”

“Ah, then it’s all business?”

“You’re an asshole,” I bit out. I wasn’t dumb enough to miss the suggestion, and the fact that had the gall to insinuate I had slept with him because of business was so appalling, so indignant, that I wanted to throw something on him.

Unfortunately, I’d actually finished my damn, disgusting coffee, and Mr. Parker had finally picked his up to sip at.

Callum shrugged casually. “It comes with the territory, baby.”

“Don’t call me baby.”

“Afraid someone might put you in a corner?” he teased.

My eyes narrowed into slits, and I was about two seconds away from smashing my knuckles into that handsome, sexy face of his. “More afraid that some asshole like you will come along and assume that it’s his place to tell me where I should and shouldn’t fucking sit.”

“Ooh, language. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

“No. I kiss other things.”

Oops. I hadn’t meant to say that. Really. I was trying to be clever and fast, my mind running on autopilot, and if I’d had a brain cell in my head, I’d have reconsidered that before it slipped out. But it had and I couldn’t snatch it back.

There was a long, silent pause as Callum stared at me like this was a challenge. Like he might whip his cock out right then and there to see what other things I liked to kiss.

And the sad part of that was that I really wouldn’t mind kissing him. I wouldn’t mind taking him into my mouth. I wouldn’t mind driving him crazy with my mouth and my tongue.

But that was beyond the point of inappropriate into downright dirty. Hell, given where we were, that was more like an arrestable offense. And the last thing I needed was to add a criminal charge to this day.

Jesus, pull yourself together, woman!

“I see,” Callum finally murmured, and I saw his gaze drop from my face to my chest and lower still. The table blocked his view of my legs, which were still crossed, but I was sure he was filling in the blanks.

Suddenly, Parker pushed his chair back from the table and stood. I’d all but forgotten he was even there. “Sorry to cut things short, but I have to go.” He looked between the two of us, his grin almost giddy, like a child’s. “But you two stay. Figure things out. Whoever wants to, call Sara. We’ll make another appointment.”

Then he fucking winked, and I didn’t know who that wink was directed to, but I told myself I didn’t care. This was all Callum’s fault, and I wanted to kill him for it.

I was fuming silently as Parker walked away. When he rounded the corner, I turned back to Callum. “What the fuck is your problem?”

His eyebrows rose and he let an innocent smile slip across his face. “Me? Nothing. Nothing at all. I thought we agreed that neither of us was going to back down. This is me not backing down.”

“Set up your own damn meeting.”

“Ah, but then I won’t get to see you,” he answered, his voice husky and his eyes dark with lust.

I shuddered involuntarily. “Do yourself a favor. Take a picture so that you won’t have that issue next time,” I snapped. Shoving my chair back, I stood. My legs felt shaky, and damn it all to hell if I wasn’t soaking wet between them. I needed release, in whatever form it might come in, and if I didn’t get the hell out of there now, I was worried I’d seek it out with the devilishly sexy man in front of me.

His eyes dragged up the length of my body like he was unfolding a Playboy centerfold. It should have pissed me off, but all it did was turn me on further.

“I didn’t know you were into that sort of thing,” he told me. His eyes flashed dangerously. “If I’d known, I’d have taken pictures the other night.”

My heart leapt in my chest. I thought of myself sprawled out beneath him on that bed. Of the way he’d jerked my dress down to expose my breasts, of the way he’d slung my legs carelessly over his shoulders and pounded into me until we both exploded.

That would have been one hell of a picture, and I admitted silently to myself that I wouldn’t have minded the souvenir. I just wasn’t interested in letting him have it to pass around the office.

“Fuck you, Reid.”

I turned on my heel and left as fast as my legs and the heels I wore would let me. I had to go before things got worse and I gave in to those baser instincts that were crawling inside me, begging for a very specific kind of release.

Behind me, I heard a laugh followed by, “You already did.”

That stupid son of a bitch.

Chapter Fourteen

Callum

 

 

I checked my watch. Only ten fifty. I was still a little early.

The restaurant was called The Little Egg, which sounded like a ridiculous name to me, but it served brunch and nearly all their menu items had some kind of egg in it. I’d never eaten here before and probably never would have picked it out on my own, but it seemed nice. Not over the top pricey to the point where you felt like you were being excessive, but not cheap either. A nice middle ground.

She’s got good taste, I thought to myself, looking through the menu.

The waitress came by a few minutes later. “Are you ready to order, sir?” She was pretty but worn down. She had bags under her eyes and wrinkle lines that were equal parts from worry and from laughing. If I had to place her, I’d guess in her late thirties or early forties. The wedding band on her finger told me that she was spoken for.

“I’ll have the special. Fruit for the side. And a coffee—just black, nothing funny in it.” I knew I sounded a bit like a curmudgeon with the coffee order, but I couldn’t help it. I just wanted a fucking cup of coffee.

She smiled a little at me. “Tired of the extra-frappe-mocha-chocolate-chip with whipped cream and cherries on the top?”

I actually laughed as I handed over the menu. “Exactly. Glad to meet a woman who gets it.”

Her smile widened. “Oh, I understand. My husband likes those coffee shop drinks with all the sugar, but I think they just wear you down. Coffee’s what gets you going.”

“Woman after my own heart. It’s a damn shame you’re taken,” I told her, mostly for the sake of flattery, but also a little serious. “Your husband’s a lucky man.”

She waved off the compliment, but I could tell it made her happy. “Don’t worry, hon. You’re young still. You’ll find yourself someone.”

She took my menu then and went off to put my order in. I watched her go, not quite sure what to think of her comment. I didn’t really think of myself as young most of the time, and I definitely didn’t think of myself as the type of man who was looking for someone. I didn’t need a partner—at least, not a romantic one. I was married to my work.

Right?

Before I could follow my mind’s troubling idle thoughts, the door opened and Trent held it as Marnie McKenna walked in after him.

Ah, it’s showtime, I thought with a small grin.

Slipping out of the booth I’d chosen for this little meeting, I made my way toward the two of them, falling in behind Trent, who hadn’t yet noticed me. Marnie picked a spot by the windows off to the side toward the back where they had a little more privacy. It might almost be romantic if she wasn’t such a hardass and Trent had any romantic intentions toward her at all.

I followed them up until Marnie sat down. She had to turn to slide into her chair, and as soon as she did, she saw me.

She groaned and I grinned.

“Jesus fucking Christ, are you serious?” she demanded. “You cannot be here again.”

“Actually, this is the first time I’ve been here. Seems like a nice place, though.”

I pulled up another chair to their table as Trent took his seat across from Marnie. My chair put me between the two of them, and I could tell already that she was not pleased. It gave me a little thrill to know I was already under her skin.

I’d rather be under her clothes, I thought, letting my eyes do a quick once-over of her.

She was wearing one of those power suits again. The top was a white blouse with loose sleeves, but it was tight across her chest and the top couple of buttons were undone, giving me a nice view of her cleavage. Her tiny waist was emphasized by the pencil skirt she was wearing. The material was tight as it followed the flair over her curves, then hugged her legs as it traveled down her thighs. Although it stopped just above her knees, a perfectly modest length, there wasn’t a damn thing modest about her.

Her hair was up in a deliberate twist of some kind that girls liked to do to be professional or fancy or whatever. I had the intense urge to reach out and yank her hair free until it spilled across her tits and down her back.

Fucking sexy.

“How are you, Callum?” Trent asked conversationally as he picked up a menu.

“Great. How about you, old buddy?” I emphasized the word buddy just to be a dick. Marnie obviously caught it because her eyes narrowed at me in anger or annoyance or both.

“Once again, I must ask you to leave,” she told me in what she probably thought was a calm, cool voice. But I heard the heat beneath it. She could pretend it was anger all she wanted, but the heat in her eyes was smoldering and deep. Desire. There was no faking that.

I settled into my chair, smiling broadly at her. “And once again, I must remind you that this is a public venue. I have every right to be here.”

“Here, maybe, but not at our table.”

She probably had a point there. I didn’t know the legalities of inviting yourself to someone else’s table, but I had a feeling there was the potential for trouble there. All the same, I knew there wouldn’t be any for me. For one, Trent would never let things get that far. Two, I had enough money to buy off most of the Seattle Police Department and probably the DA, too. And that was going the cheap way. I also had some very expensive, very good lawyers on call.

So, no, I wasn’t worried, and I sure as hell wasn’t leaving. Marnie seemed to pick up on that pretty quickly.

“And how are you today, Marnie? You look a little flushed.” I raised a single eyebrow at her, letting my eyes deliberately trail down her face, pausing at her lips only to continue down the long column of her neck to eventually dip down toward her tits.

By the time my eyes found their way back to hers, she was flushed and definitely pissed.

“You little bastard,” she muttered.

I laughed. “C’mon now, you know that’s not fair. I may be a lot of things, but no woman has ever claimed me to be little.”

Her eyes flashed. “Leave. Now. We have a contract to discuss.”

The mention of the contract reminded me that I was sitting here between Trent, the client I wanted to steal from S&W, and Marnie McKenna, the S&W editor who was trying very hard to stop me from doing that.

I frowned.

How the hell had I gotten so distracted by her that I all but forgot why I was here? Clearing my throat, I said, “Please, by all means. Don’t let me stop you. I’d love to discuss contracts. After all, I want to make sure Trent has all the details.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “Oh, shut up. You’re so full of shit. The only reason you’re here is to disrupt this meeting.”

“Which you’re doing admirably, I must say,” Trent told me genially as an aside.

Marnie shot him a glare but said nothing to him. She was still too focused on me. “Which just tells me one thing: you’re scared that you might lose.”

Being called scared was just about my least favorite thing on the planet. My eyes narrowed at her, and I leaned forward slightly, closing the distance between us. She smelled faintly of mint, lavender, and something else. Something a little sweeter. “I’m not afraid, Ms. McKenna. This game is in the bag; we both know that. I’m here to ruffle your feathers because I can.”

She opened her mouth to fire something back but snapped it shut quickly when the waitress stopped by. She was the same one from earlier, and her eyebrows lifted when she saw me there. “Find some friends of yours?”

Beside me, Trent openly laughed. Marnie scowled at him, but I smiled calmly at our waitress. “Sure did. Would you mind bringing my brunch this way instead?”

“You got it. And for you two?”

Marnie only ordered some green smoothie thing that she didn’t look too thrilled about, and Trent ordered a breakfast-brunch sandwich that had avocado and some kind of chili on it. Talk about disgusting. When the waitress disappeared again, I returned my focus on Marnie.

“Want to tell me what you’re offering Trent?” I asked her.

For a split second that constant expression of anger left her features in lieu of confusion. Like maybe she didn’t know why I was so hung up on this thing that she was offering Trent, the thing that was clearly making him consider her as a viable alternative to me, his best friend.

But the confusion slipped away quickly, replaced by the cool professionalism she probably tried to wear most of the time. “That’s really none of your business, Mr. Reid.”

I made a frustrated sound in my throat. “Damn it. Just tell me. You’re not going to win—you can’t. In the end, Trent’s going to choose me, because he’s a loyal guy. At this point, it’s mere curiosity.”

She seemed unimpressed. “Haven’t you heard? Curiosity killed the cat.”

“Good thing I’m not a fucking cat, then, isn’t it?” I snapped.

She grinned, pleased to have irritated me. She opened her mouth to say more but didn’t get the chance. A phone began to ring, and the three of us each checked ours to see where it was coming from. It wasn’t me. Glancing up at Trent, I saw him shake his head a little. It wasn’t him either. When I glanced at Marnie, I saw that she already had the phone pressed to her ear.

“Damn it, Courtney, now is really not a good time.”

Her face was flushed and she looked… tasty. Like a dessert that I wanted to lick the toppings off first before devouring whole.

“Goddamnit. Manny is such a pain in my ass.” She glanced down at her wristwatch, a delicate rose gold that went well with her complexion and looked good even though it directly clashed with her hair. “Tell him I’ll be there in fifteen minutes, traffic willing. And please put another pot of coffee on.”

She ended the call, looking almost as annoyed as she did when I popped in unexpectedly during her little meetings. But I took some pleasure in knowing that she didn’t look the slightest bit aroused. I was glad to know it wasn’t just annoyance that triggered that particular bodily response.

Guess it must just be me.

Turning to Trent, she held out her hand. “Apologies, Mr. Parker. I’m afraid that I have some business to attend to. I hope you’ll give my offer some thought, and please don’t hesitate to give me a call if you have any questions.”

She spared me little more than a glance, but the fire in her eyes when she did was enough to tell me that she was well aware of my presence. Maybe it was my own ego, but I couldn’t help but think she wanted me. Maybe just as much as I wanted her.

“Of course. It’s been fun,” Trent told her, grinning broadly, the bastard.

She left then and I could admit that I watched her full hips swaying the entire time until that perky, round ass of hers finally disappeared out the door.

“She is sexy.”

I jerked my eyes away from the door to find Trent watching me, that stupid grin still in place. I narrowed my eyes at him. “I can’t believe you’re still meeting with her. You can’t be considering this. Not seriously.”

He leaned back in his chair, folding his large arms behind his head like an impromptu pillow. His grin never faded. “What can I say? She’s got a lot to offer. Don’t you think?”

I ignored the suggestion, because I knew he was trying to bait me. He wasn’t interested in Marnie that way, I was sure of it. He was just jerking my chain, because he could. I wasn’t sure what pissed me off more. The fact that he was doing it or the fact that it was fucking working.

I need that fucking woman out of my head already.

Easier said than done.

“What’s she offering you? You know I’ll match it and do you better,” I told him, ignoring thoughts of Marnie and that perky little ass of hers.

Parker sighed dramatically. “Oh, Callum. If only you knew. I have to admit, this is a hard decision for me, but she’s very compelling—and she has something I want.”

My brow pinched; my lips pursed together. What the hell was he talking about? What could Marnie have that he would want bad enough to consider signing with S&W? Sure, they were supposedly a reputable company—not if you asked me, but unfortunately not everyone listened to my opinion on the matter. And yes, they had resources, but they didn’t have anything better than Tarvish did. Hell, Marnie was the only thing I could think of worth having from S&W that I didn’t have, and I was 99.9 percent sure that wasn’t what Trent was after. They didn’t really seem compatible, and he was pretty big on not mixing business with pleasure.

“Whatever she has, I’ll get it for you,” I told him after a moment, completely serious.

He laughed at me, a big old belly laugh, and shook his head. “Man, I don’t think you can offer me this.”

His grin hid a secret, and it pissed me off worse than anything else. I didn’t like him keeping secrets from me, damn it, and I didn’t like feeling like Marnie somehow had the upper hand.

“You’re fucking killing me, Trent,” I grumbled. “Just tell me what you want.”

He threw a few extra bills down on the table, a tip for the waitress. “Sorry, my friend, but this one’s not about you.” He stood then, tipping an invisible hat to me. “Gotta go.”

“You’re fucking serious right now.”

He said nothing, just kept smiling as he headed toward the door. I knew I was being overdramatic as I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation, but I didn’t care. This day had not gone according to plan in the least. What was really dumb about the whole thing? I was pretty sure that I wasn’t coming to these meetings just to disrupt Marnie’s chance of winning over Trent anymore.

No, I was pretty sure it was because I really did want to see Marnie and that wonderful body that begged me for a repeat performance.

“Jesus, how’d I fuck this up so badly?”

Chapter Fifteen

Marnie

 

 

I had it planned out this time. For sure, things would finally go smoothly. I’d ironed out a few of the kinks in the contract, talked things over with Dorian to make sure we could swing things, and was finally feeling like I had a real shot at this. Reid didn’t have a monopoly over Parker, though he sure seemed to think so.

“Bastard,” I muttered to myself as I shuffled the freshly printed pages of the new and revised contract on the desk in front of me.

I was in my office at S&W Publishing. Since the first meeting with Trent Parker, I’d picked public places—restaurants, cafés, even parks at his request—in an effort to make the business environment I was proposing more amenable, more friendly. But each time that son of a bitch Callum had shown up, right on time, fully aware we’d be there. He ruined it to the point where I couldn’t get a word in edgewise with Parker, and it was really starting to piss me off.

First that stupid hipster café.

Then the little brunch place.

It was the park after that.

Then the library.

Finally, I’d had enough. I wasn’t going to let him bully me around or intimidate me. I’d meant what I said when I told him that the reason he was interrupting was because he was nervous. I had him on the ropes. There was a chance—a good chance, I thought—that Parker might sign with S&W. Meaning Callum Reid was going to lose this fight.

In an effort to finalize the contract and seal the deal, I set up a meeting with Parker here at my office. I told Courtney to talk to Parker’s agent and set it up discreetly in an effort to keep the meeting a secret from Reid. With any luck, this would be private enough and secret enough that that asshole Reid wouldn’t show up.

Today’s the day, I told myself. I’m going to seal this deal and say hello to that wonderful partnership.

There was a knock on my door, and I straightened up, putting a calm smile on my face in an effort to hide my nerves. I needed everything to go smoothly, damn it. Needed it to.

“Please come in.”

Trent Parker pushed the door open and smiled at me in greeting. “Ms. McKenna. Good to see you again.”

“Likewise,” I told him, then gestured to the seat in front of my desk. “Please, won’t you sit down?”

He hesitated, his smile almost… apologetic. He scratched behind his ear, then said, “You know, I would, but I’m thinking this meeting isn’t going to be as long as you think.”

My brow pinched as worry washed through me. What in the hell had changed between now and the time I’d set up this meeting? I thought I was making headway with him. But I got my answer almost instantly. Behind Parker, the door opened again, and lo and behold who it was.

“Goddamnit, Callum Reid.”

His smile was wicked and taunting. It was sexy as hell, but it infuriated me to no end. He had some fucking nerve coming to my office and pretending like he had any right to be here.

I stood up from behind my desk, doing my best not to shake from rage. “This is not a public meeting, and this is not a public area, so I suggest you get the hell out of my office.”

Parker was busy admiring the walls of my office, but Reid only had eyes for me. They were sharp and heated, the way they always seemed to be when they looked at me. He was wearing part of a suit—button-down shirt, black slacks, a loosened tie that had subtle star-like explosions across it, but no jacket or vest. His hands were shoved down into the pockets of his slacks, making him look like some hardworking news journalist who chain-smoked and stayed up all night to get his next big article to the press the following morning.

It was sexy. Charming. And that just pissed me off worse.

“I didn’t see any No Trespassing signs—you should really get that replaced,” he told me, pointing to the phone that looked like it was still a rotary.

My rage blossomed like roses across my cheeks. That bastard. “I can see how class might intimidate you, but I assure you, my phone does not need to be replaced.”

His eyes narrowed at me. “I am the height of class, Ms. McKenna. Just ask anyone.”

“I’m not sure I want to talk to anyone who would tell me that you’re a class act.”

“That’s all right. I doubt they’d want to speak to you, either. No one likes dealing with a woman who just makes everything more difficult.”

My hands tightened into fists at my side. The nerve of this guy! “Women don’t make things difficult, Mr. Reid. They just have to wade through all the shit that men fuck up, and then they have to fix it. It’s hardly our fault.”

“Are you saying you’re in the garbage business?”

“Only if you’re saying you’re the garbage.”

Parker’s gaze had returned to us. He was glancing between us, his expression a little worried. “Um, you know what, guys? I think I’ll wait outside. You guys look like you need some alone time.”

I barely registered his words as he slipped toward the door to disappear, and Reid didn’t even glance in his direction. He was still staring at me like I’d stolen the last damn cookie out of the jar, then left the blame for him.

“If I’m the garbage, then you’re the one who’s been rolling around in it. I didn’t know you were so kinky.”

“Everyone slums it once in their life,” I quipped back.

He stepped closer. “Just once? I think you’re lying to yourself.”

“What could I possibly have to lie about? You were a moment of weakness—we all have them. I just had enough sense to walk away afterward.”

He barked out a laugh, moving closer again until there was only the desk—a suddenly very thin, small desk—between us. I could practically feel him, like he was sending vibrations my way. Sexy vibrations. I didn’t know if I bought into the whole pheromone crap, but right now it sure as hell seemed feasible. I was drawn to him, whether I liked it or not. It didn’t matter that we were fighting or even what we were fighting over. All that mattered was that there was the equivalent of a foot and a half of space in the form of hard wood between us.

“You might be sensible, but you’re kidding yourself if you think that you’ve walked away from anything.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I demanded.

“It means that you want me. Every time you see me, you think about what we did that night—and how you want to repeat it.”

I shuddered. I wanted to tell myself that he was fishing for things that weren’t there, but it wasn’t the truth. I remembered my legs slung over his shoulders. I remembered the way he fondled my breasts and slipped his fingers inside me first, only to demolish me with his cock a second later.

And yes, I fucking wanted to repeat it.

But I know better. This is dangerous. I can’t lose control like this, not a second time.

Even as I told myself that, my body was reacting to him. I found myself leaning over my desk at the same time that he was. I was aware of the way my blouse fell open enough to show the tops of my breasts. I knew that my skirt was skintight and that it emphasized my hips. This was a stupid, risky game to play, but damn if I didn’t want to play it.

“You think so?” I purred.

He smirked at me, his full mouth making promises to my body that I desperately wanted him to keep. “I know so.”

“Prove it, then.”

He reached across the desk in an instant, his hand going to the back of my neck and cupping it as he yanked me forward. Our mouths crashed together as I felt his other hand go to my waist. Suddenly I was being hauled over the desk, finding myself on my knees as he pulled my body to his. My breasts slammed against his chest, the nipples tightening as I reacted to the feel of him.

His mouth was hot, and his tongue was determined, demanding. It slipped into my mouth, tasting me. I groaned as his hands slid down the length of my body to my hips. He squeezed and jerked me closer still.

My legs automatically started to part so that he could slide between them, but my skirt was in the way. It was a pencil skirt and way too tight to allow me to open up. My hands reached down to the hem, jerking it up until the fabric was settled high on my thighs just below where Callum’s hands sat.

He practically growled low in his throat as I opened my legs, putting my knees on either side of his waist.

My hands moved to his body, feeling his taut stomach and the hard muscles there. He broke the kiss only to trail small, hot ones against my neck, traveling lower toward my chest. I sat up a little on my knees to give him better access. In response, he buried his mouth down the front of my blouse, popping another button open as his tongue slid along the line of my cleavage.

I shuddered.

My hands continued up his body, moving from his hard abs to his chest. I clutched at his shirt as his tongue slipped over the tops of my breasts, trailing along the line of my lacy bra.

I felt wanton and desperate. I clawed at his shirt until I managed to find the line of buttons on the center. I jerked them open impatiently, several popping off and scattering atop my desk beside me. I didn’t care and judging by the way his hands were pulling my shirt free from the waistband of my skirt, I was willing to bet he didn’t care, either.

I felt his hands slide beneath my shirt, finding bare skin there. His fingers were hot as they grazed along the small of my waist, then trailed up higher along my back. His mouth remained fixated with my breasts, his tongue slipping beneath the lace of my bra slightly, indicating that he wanted what was held tightly in place.

Opening his shirt, I exposed the hot, hard skin there. I had figured he worked out, kept in shape, but now I was positive. He was built like a fucking god, and damn if I didn’t like that. My hands caressed his muscles, making them tighten beneath my touch.

His hands made it to the back of my bra. I felt the snap come undone and the bra loosen. His teeth found purchase along the lace edge of the left cup and jerked it down. I felt cool air touch my nipple, caressing the already hardened tip.

When his tongue slid over the tip, I threw my head back and groaned. His lips engulfed my flesh, suckling my tit. His teeth worried over the nipple, then his tongue went back over it to soothe what little sting he’d caused.

His hands, satisfied that they’d freed my breasts, came around to the front this time. I felt them gently stroke along my ribs, just beneath my breasts, but they didn’t stop. He stopped only when he’d gotten to the very front of my shirt, then he jerked. Buttons went flying again and I knew that my entire shirt was ruined, but it was also open, and fuck if that wasn’t more important at that moment.

My hands were working to get his shirt off. I’d gotten it down his shoulders, but because he was still playing with my body, I couldn’t get it down any farther. But I lucked out. He was so determined to get my shirt off, that I got the chance to get his off, too.

We did each other a favor and each took half a second to slip our shirts off. His was thrown off to the side, and mine was left on the desk. His hands went to my bra again and he jerked it off, exposing me completely.

“I fucking love those tits,” he growled at me, then attacked them again, giving the right breast the same treatment as the left.

I felt alive, electric, beneath his touch. It made my insides feel as though they were building up for a launch, fire growing low between my legs. I knew I was wet, and I knew what I wanted.

While he continued to suck and nip at my breasts, my hands went lower. I found the waistband of his slacks. My fingers worked to free the button, then undid the zipper.

He groaned against my breasts as I reached into his pants and found his member. He was rock hard and as long and thick as I remembered. I wrapped my small hand around him and gave him several quick strokes.

He began to pant against my chest, his hips twitching automatically into my hand. “Damn it, woman.”

Normally, I might have teased him a little longer, but I was feeling desperate myself. I wanted to get this show on the road, damn it. My body was aching with need, and I just didn’t have the patience to wait while I teased him.

He actually shucked his pants off this time, showing off muscular legs that looked like they belonged to a runner. I had a quick urge to see his butt, because I had a feeling it was going to look good, but I told myself another time.

He grabbed my hips and jerked me forward until I was sitting on the edge of the desk. Reaching beneath my skirt, he found my panties and yanked them off. I felt them tear but couldn’t make myself mind. I felt cool air against my pussy and shuddered. His hands shoved my skirt up a little farther until he could see me. His eyes flashed with dark desire as he devoured me with his eyes.

“Touch me,” I shamelessly begged him, my core pulsing with need.

He obliged me eagerly, his hand diving between my legs to push three fingers in this time. I let my head fall back as I let out a cry.

“Fuck, you’re wet, baby,” he told me, his voice thick with need.

His fingers curled inside me, sliding against my walls. I cried out and shuddered. His fingers were fucking wonderful, but they weren’t all I wanted. I wanted more. I wanted his cock, and I wasn’t feeling particularly patient.

“More,” I managed to bite out.

He did as I asked by adding another finger. I moaned, even though it wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind. I was about to tell him he was an ass and that he knew what I meant when I felt his thumb press just above my opening. I let out a loud cry that was not at all appropriate for an office space. Heat and electricity raced through my body, throwing me into near immediate convulsions.

Jesus fucking Christ!

I found my release around his fingers, because I couldn’t resist against the flood his thumb freed within me. I slumped forward, my forehead landing against Callum’s shoulder, and I still felt waves of pleasure roll through me as his fingers slipped out. I was too lost in my orgasm to protest, but I didn’t need to worry about it.

A second later, I felt the head of his cock poised at my entrance.

Pressing forward, he plunged himself inside me, and we both groaned. I clung to his shoulders for support, and he held my thighs so that he could begin thrusting within me. I was still riding the coattails of my orgasm, and each long, fluid thrust made the pleasure intensify. His mouth found mine, pressing hot, sloppy kisses against my mouth as he continued to move within me.

We could have been doing that for hours or minutes. I couldn’t tell and couldn’t make myself care. His thrusts were urgent and slowly grew erratic until he finally found his own release. I felt him pulse within me, and then he slumped, his heart pounding against his chest, and it was only the fact that the desk was sturdy beneath us that we didn’t crumble right there to the floor.

Wrapped up in each other, we stayed like that for several minutes. Eventually, he softened and slipped from me, and he staggered back. He half fell into one of the chairs in front of my desk, still panting. He looked exhausted and sated.

I remained on my desk, not trusting my jelly legs to stand much less carry me anywhere.

What the hell am I doing? my mind finally asked.

I was still high from my orgasm, but my mind was starting to clear—and I was starting to realize how badly I’d fudged this. For the second time, I’d let Callum Reid in. Mostly literally, but I was starting to worry it was a little metaphorical, too.

Was I… getting attached to him?

Don’t be an idiot. It’s only sex, I tried to tell myself silently, but as I stared at him—still naked and sitting in my chair, which was endlessly amusing at that moment—I found myself thinking that he wasn’t just sexy. He was cute. And clever. And determined. The kind of guy who never gave up and went the extra mile.

Wasn’t that what all women wanted?

I tried to swallow that down, because my mind was being an idiot. He was Callum Reid. Owner of Tarvish Press. The asshole who was going to cost me my damn partnership if he didn’t give me a chance to work things out with Parker.

And yet…

“That was… excellent,” he said finally. He offered a sloppy grin, then forced himself up out of the chair. He winked at me, then reached down to grab his pants. I watched as he put them on. “I mean, hell of a time.”

Hell of a time.

I frowned a little, because this was what I’d been waiting for, right? Him to tell me that that was all this was. Nothing but a good time.

I cleared my throat. “You’re not so bad yourself.” I stood up then and shoved my skirt—the only article of clothing I was still wearing—back down my legs. When I grabbed my shirt, I frowned. It was ruined. Maybe I could sew the buttons back on, but it wasn’t going to do me much good today.

He was working on the buttons of his own shirt and laughed when he found a few of them missing. “You’re impatient, you know it?”

I didn’t say anything. I just put on my bra and slipped on my blouse like a coat. Maybe I can tuck it in and no one will notice?

I doubted it. Sighing, I accepted that I’d just have to go home and find a new one.

“Listen, thanks for today, but we’re still clear that this is just about tension, right? No long-term plans, not looking to break anyone’s heart. We’re just caught up in intensity. It happens.”

Forcing a small smile, I nodded. “Of course. What else would this be?” I tried to play it cool, but my heart clenched like I was upset. Which was stupid. Why should I be upset? There wasn’t a damn bit of reason for it.

“Good. Then I’ll go. And we’ll see who Parker chooses in the end. May the best man win.”

He winked at me, and I nodded once, then went around to the other side of my desk. I waved him off without looking at him again. “Best woman. I have things to do, if you don’t mind.”

There was a pause, and then the door opened and he left. I didn’t know what the hell was wrong with me, but I was starting to worry that maybe I had some legitimate feelings for Callum Reid. And that was a serious problem.

Chapter Sixteen

Marnie

 

 

After Callum left, I found that I wasn’t having much luck working, and honestly, I didn’t much care right then. Parker was my last shot at partner, and he was all I was really worried about. Since the meeting with him had been swapped out for an impromptu affair with Callum, I found myself a little bereft of work despite what I’d told him when he left.

About an hour after he’d gone—I had pinned my shirt closed for the most part, though my cleavage was a little deeper than usual—I heard a knock on my door.

For one irrational second, I thought it was Callum and that he’d come back to talk about what had happened again. Then the door pushed open and Courtney poked her head in. I realized what a fucking idiot I was and scolded myself for even wanting it to be Callum at the door.

“Yes?” I asked, looking back down at my desk—which I’d had to straighten up—so that I could pretend to be shuffling around important papers I was looking at.

When Courtney didn’t immediately answer, I forced myself to look up. She closed the door behind her and walked into the room, but I was more interested in the sympathetic expression on her pretty face.

“What?” I demanded, feeling my face flush.

“Are you okay?”

I swallowed thickly, then raised my eyebrows. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“The whole thing with Callum Reid.”

I froze. Jesus fucking Christ. Did she hear us? Oh God, she heard us! I thought the room was soundproof, but we’d been loud. Maybe the door had been ajar. Or maybe she’d seen the shit-eating grin on his face when he left. Jesus, what if she just put it together because of my damn shirt?

“I can totally explain,” I told her, the need to have her still think highly of me so intense that I felt like I was going to lose my damn mind.

Her eyebrows jumped up high on her forehead. “What do you mean? There’s nothing to explain. Reid’s a jerk and Parker’s an asshole for not making it clear that it’s not okay for him to interrupt meetings like that. I know you’ve got a deadline to sign him, but there’s still some time, right?”

I blinked.

She wasn’t talking about me and Callum’s affair. She thought I was upset about Parker.

The tension left me in a rush, though I admitted it would be nice to talk to her about what was going on. I didn’t have a lot of time for romance, and while she tended to be a little more cynical about the whole thing than I was—which was saying something, because I wasn’t exactly all unicorns and rainbows—she was also a little better versed in the language of love. I just didn’t have the time for it.

Not that this is love, I thought instantly. Just a crush. Attraction. Desperation, maybe.

“I… there’s really not much time left,” I admitted. “Parker’s going to make his decision in the next couple of days, and honestly, there’s not much more I can offer him. If I haven’t convinced him yet, that’s it. Game over.”

Her red lips pushed together thoughtfully. “That really blows. What an ass.”

I couldn’t tell if she meant Parker or Callum, but it didn’t much matter. I was pretty sure that it applied to both of them. I sighed, slumping back in my chair. “Yeah. Pretty much.”

Courtney eyed me, her brows pinched, her head tilted slightly to the side. After a moment of scrutiny, she said, “So, can we talk about whatever else is going on with you?”

I blinked. “What?”

She gestured with her hand toward me and my desk and my office in general. “You’ve been a little weird lately—and Callum was in here a long time. Did he say something to you?”

No, we didn’t say much of anything really, I thought but didn’t say.

I felt a blush trying to crawl its way up my face, but I didn’t say anything immediately. I wasn’t sure what to say. I could lie, but Courtney had been friends with me too long not to catch it. And… I kind of needed to talk about this.

I didn’t want her to know I’d been sleeping with Callum, but…

Leaning forward across my desk, I paused half a second, then said, “Okay, so I’ve had an epic dry spell, right?”

Her eyebrows shot up again. “Um, yes? You mean sex, right?”

I nodded. “Yes. Sex.”

“Okay, yeah, sure. So?”

Taking a deep breath, I said, “Well, the other night I maybe broke it.”

“Jesus, and you didn’t tell me! Good for you!” she squealed in delight, her eyes sparkling. “Why didn’t you tell me? Was he hot?”

I nodded immediately. “Yeah, really hot.”

“Damn. ’Bout time, lady. I was starting to think you just weren’t into guys anymore.” She paused a beat, considering, then added, “Not that that would be a problem. You just never seemed like a lesbian before.”

I waved her off. “I’m not. I’m still into guys and he was really sexy and the sex was seriously good.”

“So what’s the problem?”

I hesitated. “I think maybe it’s, um, starting to interfere with my job.”

She blinked. I watched as her expression slowly went from confusion to one of dawning realization. “Holy shit. You slept with Callum Reid! He’s your sexy, new lover!” Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was left hanging slightly open.

I thought briefly about denying it, but I didn’t see the point. Slumping back in my chair, I sighed and nodded. “Yeah, he is.”

“Well, holy hell, honey! I didn’t think you’d get back on the horse with him, but… Jesus.”

I nodded again. “I know, I know, okay? The man’s a total ass! And he happens to own the one company that Dorian would like to see burned to the fucking ground. I can’t be attracted to him, right?”

I was looking at Courtney with pleading eyes, hoping that somehow she could tell me that this was all nothing. That I would shrug this off, just like everything else that came my way, and then we could move on. That Callum Reid wasn’t the man who was going to linger in my mind like this.

But she didn’t tell me any of that. Instead, she smiled in sympathy, then shrugged her little shoulders. “Sorry, honey. We don’t get to pick who we fall for.”

“I am not falling for him!”

“You sure about that?”

No. I was definitely not sure about that, but he would be the absolute worst person to fall for. “I hope so,” I told her honestly. “Because if I do fall for him, it’s going to go bad for me. For my career and my personal life.”

She gave me a considering look, then said, “Maybe.”

“Maybe? What the hell is maybe supposed to mean?”

Sighing, she leaned forward a little. “It means that you never know. Maybe he feels a spark, too, and if you’re really attracted to him—and are worried enough about it that you’re talking about it—then maybe you should just bite the bullet and give it a try. You might be surprised.”

“I am surprised,” I deadpanned. “Surprised that you would give me advice like that. Usually you do so much better.”

She stuck her tongue out at me. “Oh, shut up. I’m just saying you shouldn’t write him off immediately.”

“What would we even base a relationship on? Sex?” I demanded.

“I think you guys have plenty in common.”

Narrowing my eyes at her, I folded my arms across my chest and fixed her with a stare. “Oh really?”

She nodded, smiling prettily. “Callum Reid is basically the male version of Marnie McKenna. Works for a publishing house.”

“Owns a publishing house.”

She ignored me, ticking things off her finger that were apparently similar between me and Callum. “Is stubborn.”

“Obnoxious, more like.”

She added an additional finger for obnoxious and winked at me.

“Ha ha, very funny.”

Grinning, she continued. “Loyal when it counts, devious when it works, a workaholic—I mean, you guys are ridiculously compatible.”

I frowned. I wasn’t sure if being compatible with Callum Reid was exactly a compliment, but I secretly acknowledged that she was right. We did have a lot in common, and not just that, we enjoyed having sex with each other.

“Yeah, well, there’s still one problem,” I told her seriously. “He thinks that this is just a one-off. Or, a two-off, anyway.”

“You slept with him twice? Damn! Way to end that dry spell.”

I waved her off. “Never mind that—would you focus, please?”

She shrugged. “Okay, so he thinks you were just a two-night stand?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Exactly. So all of this is a moot point, anyway. He doesn’t want anything more from me.” I tried not to sound so dejected, but I couldn’t help it. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, I was disappointed that Callum wasn’t an option.

Courtney gave me a sympathetic look, the third one in about ten minutes. “Maybe he’s just resisting, like you are. Honestly, I don’t know. But I think you should take a risk, otherwise you’ll always wonder if there was something there.”

“Don’t you have paperwork or phone calls to make?” I asked her ruefully.

She laughed at me, then stood up. Waving at me, she said, “Think about what I said.”

Right before she left, I called to her. “Courtney?”

“Yeah?”

“You sat in the chair where Callum’s naked butt was.”

She froze, and then she shuddered. “Ew, you are fucking gross. I need a damn shower.”

I laughed at her as she left, slamming the door behind her.

 

 

Trent

 

 

I’d put off making a decision for as long as I could. I needed to sign with someone soon, otherwise they’d have to fill up their quota for the year and I’d have to sit on my manuscript. Unless I wanted to do self-publishing, but fuck that. It was a pain in the ass, and while I appreciated how many self-publishers were out there these days, I didn’t want to deal with the hassle. My name was big enough that I could go with a well-known publisher, and damn it, I was going to. They could take care of all the hard stuff. All I had to do was write.

I had my phone in my hand. The number was already punched in, waiting, but I hadn’t quite made myself dial it yet. It sucked because I really was torn.

Not about my decision. I’d already decided I’d go with Tarvish. I’d been 99 percent sure from the get-go, and when it came down to the wire, I had to go with Callum. He had a good company, he genuinely thought highly of my work, and he was offering the same deals as Marnie was. In the end, our friendship was the swing vote, and it was enough.

Unfortunately, Courtney Hughes worked for Marnie McKenna and Marnie worked for S&W Publishing. So now I had to call Courtney and tell her I’d chosen not to go with them. It was the only shitty part of this deal. If I could snatch her up, I would do it in a heartbeat, but she still didn’t know I was Trent Parker. Instead she thought I was Malcom Resner, the agent.

Damn it, now I’m never going to get a shot with her, I thought sadly.

Sighing, I bit the bullet and called her. It took only two rings before she picked up. “Courtney Hughes, S&W Publishing, Marnie McKenna’s office.”

Something warm settled low in my gut at the sound of her voice. I could picture her sitting at her desk with her little vintage dresses and those wild, curling hairstyles. And of course the ruby-red lips. Gorgeous.

“Courtney, hello. It’s Malcom.”

“Malcom, good to hear from you,” she said, and it sounded genuine. “I was just about to call you.”

“Yes, I am available next Friday, but it has to be after seven,” I told her, grinning like an idiot.

She actually laughed, telling me that she was definitely warming up to me. “Very funny. Unfortunately, I am not available next Friday.”

“Damn shame. Any chance you can shuffle things around for me?”

“Not a one,” she answered amiably.

“Saturday, then?”

She paused. A thinking kind of pause. Like maybe she was actually considering my offer. “Well, I guess I could do Saturday.”

Yes! I did a silent victory dance, grateful to be alone where no one could see me make a complete ass out of myself. “Seven? We can meet at Tony’s. It’s a great little Italian place…”

“Sounds perfect,” she said, and I couldn’t believe she was actually going along with this.

“It’s a date.”

“Great. Now, I do have to ask you about Trent Parker…” She trailed off, switching to business mode in the blink of an eye.

I froze. Trent Parker. As in me. Oh shit. Did I just make a date with her as Malcom Resner, Trent’s agent? Sure as hell I did. Which meant she was going to be looking for him, not me, and she was not going to be happy about the truth when she found out.

Wow, I was an idiot. And yet… I didn’t cancel the date. And I didn’t tell her the truth.

Clearing my throat, I asked, “What about him?”

“Don’t play coy. Who is he gonna sign with?”

I let out a sigh. “Damn it. Don’t be pissed, but he’s going with Tarvish.”

There was a pregnant pause. I was worried she was going to tell me our date was off and that I was an asshole, but instead, she let out a short curse. “Damn. Well, okay. I’ll break the news to Marnie. Any chance he’ll change his mind?”

I shook my head, which she couldn’t see. “Not a one. He’s made his mind up.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“It is.” I hesitated, then just asked. “Are we still on for Saturday?”

She laughed. It wasn’t as bright as earlier, but it was real. “Yeah, we’re still on for Saturday. I have to go, but I’ll see you there.”

She promised to call and tell me what she was wearing on Saturday, though I would have no problem spotting her. But she didn’t know that, so I agreed. I needed a plan for how the hell I was going to work this out with being Trent Parker, but I decided I’d jump off that bridge when I came to it. For now, I had someone else to break the news to.

Chapter Seventeen

Callum

 

 

Trent met me in my office. I was a little worried because he’d insisted on giving me his decision in person rather than over the phone, and I didn’t think that sounded like a good thing. You tell someone in person when you’re trying to let them down easy, not when you’re giving them what they want to hear.

But I agreed to the meeting, and now I was left waiting for him to get here. He was a little late, and my mind was wandering. I was thinking of Marnie McKenna, because my mind was traitorous like that.

I thought of her long auburn hair and the freckles that were speckled delicately across her skin in delicious places that I wanted to kiss.

Marnie was becoming a real problem for me. It was one thing to have sex with a woman, but to have it twice was starting to invite trouble. Especially since it didn’t stop there. I dreamt of her writhing beneath me. I woke up to a hard-on and thoughts of her. She invaded my mind at any given moment, and it took me hours to get her out again.

It was driving me fucking nuts.

It’ll be over with soon, I thought to myself. One way or another. When Trent makes his choice, we won’t have to deal any more with each other.

I frowned. The thought didn’t settle me like it should have.

About twenty minutes later, the door opened to my office and Trent walked in. He looked all smiles and very pleased with himself.

Irritation spiked and I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re late, you asshole.”

He laughed at me. “Such a charmer, aren’t you?”

“Honeymoon’s over, sweetheart,” I answered smoothly. “You’ll either choose Tarvish or S&W. No point in laying it on thick now.”

“Excellent point,” he agreed.

I waited for him to tell me already, but he milked it. He waited patiently in the chair, in no particular hurry, and basically watched me lose my fucking mind.

“Jesus Christ, Trent, just tell me already! Who are you going to sign with?”

Trent’s smile softened. “Tarvish.”

I slumped back into my chair. “Really?”

He nodded. “Yeah. That’s always been in the cards. We’ve been friends for too long, and I know how you feel about S&W. I couldn’t betray you like that.” He shrugged. “And I worked things out so I get what I want anyway. Theoretically?”

That piqued my interest. “What exactly was Marnie offering you?”

He smiled at me. “Nope. Still not gonna tell you.”

I sighed. “Clearly it wasn’t enough.”

“Like I said. I get what I want anyway.”

I let the news sink in. I’d won. Trent was signing with Tarvish, and Marnie would lose the contract. Victory should have tasted like sweet ambrosia to me. But it didn’t. Instead, I was left with a sort of hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Maybe it was that I didn’t earn it. Marnie worked her ass off to try and get Trent to sign, but all I did was get in their way and happen to have an in with Trent.

All’s fair in love and war, I thought to myself.

We went over the contract one last time, and Trent finally signed, the bastard. We agreed on a delivery date for the manuscript and a publication date for the final product. After that, Trent said he had plans to take Sara out to celebrate and invited me along.

I shook my head. “Thanks, but I’ll pass. Not feeling it tonight.”

Trent lingered at the doorway for a minute, then shrugged. “Suit yourself. Honestly, though. I think you should just tell Marnie that you’re into her. You’ll be a lot happier, and probably she will be, too.”

Before I could think of how to respond to that, he was out the door, winking and throwing over his shoulder, “You never know. It could be true love.” I heard his laughter echo until the door closed itself after him.

 

 

Marnie

 

Just before I was leaving the office to get officially shitfaced at the bar in the hopes of forgetting how miserable I was—Trent Parker had gone with Tarvish and I hadn’t told Dorian yet—the door opened.

“I’m headed out, Court. If anyone needs me, tell them they’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

When Courtney didn’t respond, I glanced up and saw that she wasn’t standing in the doorway. Callum Reid was.

My body did its thing, responding to him instantly. I felt hot all over, and liquid heat pooled between my legs. My heart hammered in my chest, and my nipples hardened at the sight of him. It was ridiculous, but regardless of what was going on or whatever other feelings I might or might not have had, my body still wanted him.

Badly.

“What the hell do you want?” I snapped, because I didn’t like how instantly I was turned on by him. “I thought Parker would have told you by now. He went with Tarvish. Now will you leave my office alone?”

Callum scowled at me, then closed the door behind him. I froze. Visions of us doing it on the desk—again—flashed through my mind, and the wetness between my thighs increased.

“Not yet,” he told me.

Sighing, I straightened and let my shoulders slump. “What do you want, Callum? We’ve had our battle. I lost, you won. What more is there?”

For a second, he said nothing. He just stared at me like there was more, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to admit it yet. Or maybe I was just misinterpreting it and he was trying to calm himself down enough to speak. Either way.

“I just wanted to inform you that Mr. Parker has had a change of heart.”

I blinked. “What?”

He nodded. “He’s decided to go with S&W Publishing instead of Tarvish.”

Although he was saying those words, my mind was having difficulty processing them. I was left with this odd sensation of surrealism, and I wondered briefly if I was dreaming. Sexy Callum was in my office, so it was possible.

“He… why would he do that?”

Callum lifted his shoulders casually, then shoved his large hands into his trouser pockets. “I told him to.”

And just like that, the old familiar anger was back in full force. “You son of a bitch. I don’t need handouts, okay? I do a damn good job, and I don’t need your fucking pity.”

“Jesus, it’s a damn gift,” he growled at me. I liked how low his voice was, the way it seemed to rumble around in his chest first. “Stop being so stubborn and accept it already.”

“Gift?” I demanded. “Why would you give me a gift in the first damn place?”

“Because you’re fucking sexy and I can’t get you out of my head and I like you, all right?”

We both fell silent. It seemed like neither of us could believe what had just come out of his mouth. He likes me. I felt like a schoolgirl with a crush, giddy and a little stupid.

Shaking my head, I laughed at him. “Jesus, you’re an idiot.”

He grinned at me. “You’re a pain in my ass.”

Although I tried, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. He liked me. It was such a stupid thing to be giddy over, but I was.

“Does this mean you’re going to fuck me on my desk again?” I asked calmly.

His eyes flashed darkly, and his mouth turned into a wicked smile. “I was thinking we’d get drinks or something first, have a real date, but I’m not going to say no to an invitation like that.”

He came to me then, his hands grabbing for my skirt immediately and jerking it up over my legs. I helped him out by undoing my shirt buttons and pulling out my breasts, yanking them out of my bra to give him access. His hand grabbed for my panties and tore them off me, his other hand going to cup my mound.

Our mouths collided and I blindly fumbled with the zipper of his pants. I undid them, reaching for his massive cock. He was hard already.

We didn’t do it on the desk this time. Instead, he lifted me up by my ass and I wrapped my legs around his middle, putting my bare center against his hard member. Then he slammed my back against the wall. He pulled back enough to position himself at my entrance, then didn’t hesitate before sliding in.

I cried out, clutching at his shoulders. He entered me, driving toward his own release. The angle was perfect, putting friction on that little bundle of nerves above my pussy with each stroke.

His rhythm was hot and fast. This was about embracing what was between us, whatever that was, and just tossing caution to the wind.

It was glorious.

His hands alternated between holding my ass and massaging my breasts. His mouth kissed and sucked on my neck until I was pretty sure there would be a hickey later, and I cried out over and over again until we both tipped over the edge.

He lost himself in me, then slipped out. We were both panting, exhausted but sated. He once again stumbled heavily into my chair, but this time he jerked me down with him. I landed haphazardly across his lap.

For a while, we were quiet, but finally, I looked at him and said, “I just want you to know, I generally wear the pants in the relationship.”

He laughed, the sound rumbling low in his chest. “I’d rather neither of us wore pants. Or anything else. I like you much better like this.”

His eyes raked over my exposed breasts and dipped between my legs where my pussy was still visible.

“You’re impossible,” I told him, but I kissed him anyway. It was a real kiss, not fueled by anger or sexual drive. Instead, it was the start of something real. I didn’t know where it would go or whether or not it was a good idea, but I felt better for taking the risk.

When the kiss broke, he smiled at me. “A real date?”

I nodded. “A real date.”

“Maybe sex after?” he asked hopefully.

I laughed. “Nope, not this time. I don’t have sex on the first date.”