I haven’t come down from the high of watching the engine work perfectly, the media buzz afterward, and the knowledge that Antonio is hopefully crying in his Cognac somewhere in the city. I don’t want this day to end, so I stay until there’s nothing but quiet surrounding me. I’m the last person in the office building besides the nighttime cleaning crew.

“We did it, Daddy,” I say to no one before sipping the last drop of champagne from my glass. The celebration after the press conference was enormous. Thankfully, Antonio was nowhere to be found as we toasted to the future of Interstellar and the Mercury engine. “You’re not here to see it, but what we did…” My voice trails off as tears begin to fill my eyes, and I wipe them away. “I wish you were here.” There’s a bittersweetness to everything that’s happened today because my father missed it.

He would’ve been jumping for joy, always my biggest cheerleader. He did get the all clear to reenter the space program after he fully healed, but he declined because he didn’t want to leave me alone if something should happen to him on a mission. I never forgot what he gave up for me, and I think in this moment, he’s smiling down at me, wrapping his arms around me.

“No tears,” he’d say to me if he could. “Revel in the moment that you’re going to send people further into the heavens than we ever thought possible.”

I set the glass down and collect myself, allowing only a few minutes to grieve his absence before heading for the elevators.

All night, I’ve successfully avoided Antonio’s driver and the persistent calls that went on for more than an hour. Blowing Antonio off wasn’t easy, but it sure as hell was satisfying.

The elevator dings with each floor, growing louder the closer it comes to the lobby. I almost float out of the elevator and into the large, glass space that leads to State Street. If I weren’t so high on the events of today and buzzing from the champagne, I would’ve seen the black Escalade parked in front with Antonio leaning against it before I walked outside.

“Lauren.” He pushes off the car as I try to veer to the right to avoid him, but he steps in front of me. “Wait.”

I gaze into his blue eyes and try not to lose myself in them. “I’m tired, Antonio. It’s been a long day.”

Why does he have to be so damn hot?

“I just want to congratulate you.”

I gawk, completely caught off guard. “Thank you,” I say with my mouth slightly agape. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.” I start to walk away, proud that I was able to leave before something happened…again.

I know I sound bitchy, but for the love of all that is holy, I can’t let this man get to me. Under any other circumstances, I’d be in the back of the Escalade, shoving his dress pants down his legs. I’m trying to remain strong, using my bitch meter as the only means to try to chase him away.

“I still plan to takeover Interstellar.”

His words turn my insides cold, and I turn on my heel and stalk back toward him. “Excuse me?” I tip my head, wondering if I heard him wrong.

“I’m moving forward. Nothing’s changed. I want Interstellar more than I ever have before.”

Folding my arms in front of my chest, I glare at him. “You want Interstellar, or is it me you’re really after?”

He tucks a hand in his pocket, giving me a cocky smile. “Funny you should ask that. I have a proposition you may be interested in hearing.”

I should walk away. Hell, I should run. There’s nothing he could say or do that would make me want to agree to any proposition he’s offering. “You think I want to hear anything you have to say?”

One of his hands slides around my waist, pulling me close. “It’s more about you feeling what I have to offer.”

My breathing hitches from the contact and his words.

His cologne. His warmth. His hardness. Everything about him makes the very air around me evaporate. “Antonio.” I don’t know if I’m warning him, but by the sound of my voice, it comes out almost like a moan. Way to go, Lauren.

“Come with me, and I’ll explain. It may be the only way for you to save your company.”

I look around the streets, and they’re quieter than usual. There’s no security to usher him away, but then again, there are no witnesses to yet another display of inappropriate behavior on the part of Mr. Forte. “I…”

He leans forward, cutting me off, and brushes his lips against my ear so only I can hear his sexy words. “Give me one hour. It’s all I ask. If you don’t like my offer, I’ll have my driver take you right home with no strings attached.”

“One hour. After that, you’ll never contact me again. Deal?”

“It’s a deal, Ms. Bradley.” With his hand on the small of my back, he ushers me inside the waiting Escalade.

* * *

I tap my finger against the champagne glass I’m holding as I gaze out of the expansive windows of Antonio’s penthouse. I’ve been here twenty minutes, and he still hasn’t told me about the offer. It must’ve all been a ruse to get me back in bed.

“Come sit, please.” He taps the cushion on the couch. The very one that we fucked on the night Lou and Elizabeth met. It seems like a lifetime ago and something I wish I could take back.

Slowly, I move toward the sitting area, taking a seat out of arm’s reach from him. “You have forty minutes left. Get to the proposition before you run out of time.”

Antonio undoes his cuff links, tossing them onto the coffee table before rolling up his sleeves. I salivate at the movement as each muscle in his arms ripple. “Cozza has no plans to drop the takeover of Interstellar.”

“You’ve told me this already.” I cross my legs, trying to calm the slow burn that’s settling there while I watch him undo a few buttons on his dress shirt.

“I have the ability to call it all off,” he says nonchalantly.

“Do it, then.”

He clicks his tongue before grinning. “I’ve always been a winner, Ms. Bradley. I won’t freely give up my plans without getting something in return.”

My head jerks back. He seriously wants me to fuck him to get Cozza off our backs? “You can’t be serious.”

“It’s either you or Interstellar. I prefer to have you in my bed.”

“I’m not a whore, Antonio.” My lip snarls at the insinuation that I’d ever agree to his deal. I should’ve known his proposition would involve me spreading my legs again, but I wasn’t expecting it from a man of his caliber.

“Don’t make it sound so tawdry. All I ask is for one weekend. At the end of the weekend, if you hate my guts, I’ll call off the takeover and be on my way. But…”

“But, what?” I don’t even know why I’m still sitting here listening to his crazy proposal, but I am because I love my company and, well, that Antonio is fucking amazing in the sack doesn’t hurt either.

“But nothing. Forty-eight hours is all I ask.”

Antonio Forte has guts. I’ll give him that. Not many men would proposition someone, especially their enemy. If I leaked any of it to the press, it would end his career, but the bastard knows mine would end as well.

“No. We had one night together and it was okay, but I’m not repeating it.” I can feel the heat creeping up my neck at the lie, but hopefully my shirt hides my body’s betrayal.

“I’ll sweeten the deal.” His blue eyes twinkle as his cocky, self-assured smirk grows.

I set my glass down on the table, ready to walk out on the entire conversation. This is ludicrous. I don’t even know why I agreed to come here and give him an hour of my time. Because he does magic things with his tongue and cock, Lauren.

As I stand, he says, “If you agree to a weekend and stay for the entire time, I’ll give you the name of the mole in your company.”

I lower myself slowly back onto the couch. Besides sending Cozza running for the hills, I want to know who leaked our invention more than anything in the world. I want to have a chance to ruin their career much like they almost ruined my company. “You know who it is?”

He nods and leans back, placing his leg on top of his knee and relaxing against the couch. “The only way you’ll ever find out is to give yourself to me freely this weekend.”

“That’s dirty and verges on blackmail.”

“It’s not blackmail. I would never ruin your career over what happened between us, but if you want to know who your real enemy is, then say yes.”

What a giant clusterfuck. I’m screwed no matter what I do. If I give in and word gets out, it would kill my career. If I don’t say yes and don’t allow him to use me for a weekend, I would likely be giving up my company and never bring the mole to justice.

I feel trapped, and that’s not something I’m dealing with very well. I’ve never allowed myself to be backed into a corner like this, and I don’t want to blurt out an answer and regret it later.

“I need the night to think about it.” My stomach churns as soon as the words leave my mouth. I should tell him to go to hell, march out the door, and never look back.

“You have twenty-four hours until the deal expires. After that, I’ll move forward with the acquisition of Interstellar, and the mole will remain forever hidden.”

“You’ll have your answer by close of business tomorrow, Antonio. If I do agree to this, it’s only a weekend and nothing more.”

“Was it that bad?” he asks, running his index finger along his bottom lip as my eyes follow.

“What?”

“Being with me? What did you call it? Okay.”

I laugh at the serious look on his face. “You were good, but not the best.” God, I almost convince myself with the bullshit lie and wonder if he can see right through me.

“Lie to yourself all you want, Lauren, but I was there. I saw how you came, the way you moaned, and can still remember your sweetness on my tongue.”

Problem is…so can I.

* * *

Sleep doesn’t come easily. I spend at least a half hour tossing and turning as I replay the conversation with Antonio over and over again in my head. The nerve of that man to actually bargain sex for information and the very existence of my company. The crazy thing is, I’m actually thinking about saying yes.

It’s times like these, when I’m stuck with no one to go to for advice, that I miss my father most. He’d be a kind ear without judgment, and he’d help me work through the various scenarios and he’d warn me about how it could all blow up in my face in a heartbeat.

What would he think of me for even entertaining the deal? His dream was for me to reach the stars. In essence, I will be, or at least others will, because of the Mercury engine. Would he tell me to do it, to do anything to make it a reality? Even if it means selling my soul in order to secure the future of my company and everything I worked so hard to build?

Spending forty-eight hours with Antonio wouldn’t be awful. The man is sexy and killer in bed. If he were anyone else, anyone in the world besides the very man who’s trying to end my company, I would’ve already said yes. He and I would work under any other scenario. I could see the chemistry and sex turning into something more, something serious.

I push away the thought of having any type of future with him, knowing it’s a fairy tale I’m building in my overtired mind. What in the hell am I thinking? We’re nothing. We’re enemies and nothing more.

Could I say yes? I want more than anything to keep Interstellar a separate entity from Cozza, and finding out who the mole is would be an added bonus.

Then there’s Antonio. My life has been devoid of any type of sexual encounter besides the one-night stand with him that my body is screaming for me to say yes.

It’s only a weekend, right?

A weekend of sex. A weekend of orgasms. A weekend of him touching me and me touching him. The ache between my legs answers the question for me. Sliding my hand down my abdomen, I press a finger against my clit, trying to calm the throbbing that has settled at my core.

“Damn,” I mumble to myself, closing my eyes and picturing Antonio standing before me naked.

I dip two fingers inside, pumping them in and out, thinking only of him. The way he calls my name, rolling the R as he moans in my ear, sends me spiraling over the edge quicker than I expect.

Antonio Forte is seriously fucking with my head.