I stared up, unable to tear my eyes away. I knew I was being rude… rude to my employer, no less. But I’d never seen him outside of glossy mag covers or newspaper headlines… He was Mr. Boothe’s senior business partner, and the head of a multibillion dollar company right here in LA. I figured he would be here tonight, but I never expected more than a passing glance and hopefully the balance due on tonight’s job. One thing was for sure, pictures didn’t do him justice. And pictures never made a good girl like me go weak in the knees and damp in the panties. But he did. And he wasn’t letting go of my hand…

“We’ve never… I mean… this is the largest event we’ve done, Mr. Chase,” I rambled, annoyed at losing my composure, even for a moment. I took a deep breath and felt the confines of the black satin covering my breasts. “If there’s anything that doesn’t meet your expectations…”

“You’ll be the first to know,” he said, in a voice so deep it seemed to resonate inside me. He gestured with his chin, but didn’t take his eyes off me. I felt the sudden awareness that he was as aware of my breathing as I was. “Your work is exquisite… exotic, to be sure. And yet surprisingly tasteful…” He ran his eyes over the sculpted cake and I felt myself blushing as I watched him. Even his glance, touching the sugary imitation of flesh, struck me as embarrassingly intimate…

He was well over six feet, forcing me to tilt my head far back to meet his eyes. They were grey, the color of storm clouds, and his hair was thick, black, with a hint of curl that brushed the tops of his shoulders. The shadow of unshaven skin along his jaw made me ache for the feel of it… to discover if it was silky or coarse… For a second, I imagined how it would feel along the insides of my thighs…

“Thank you, sir,” I said, a little too softly. He bent down as if to hear and I caught a woodsy, earthy scent that made me dizzy… “I should get back… if there’s nothing more I can do.”

He smiled and his eyes grew even darker under their thick brows. He held my hand quietly, a moment longer… as if weighing a thought…

“Of course,” he replied finally, letting go of my hand and leaving it chilling in the night air. “I should get back to my guests… and not keep you all to myself.” He turned away. I watched as he took a step, and then looked back over his shoulder. “Miss Parrish?”

“Sir?”

He gave me a look that made me ache inside with a need I couldn’t even put a name to.

“Come and see me…

before the evening is over.”

“Who in god’s name was that?”

Reese caught up with me as I was putting out a fresh spread of cookies. They were iced in petal pink, and more than suggestive of a woman’s most delicate places… “I’ll lay odds that’s a man who’s never heard the word no…”

“Christopher Chase himself,” I breathed quietly, trying not to stare as he talked to a couple at the edge of the crowd.

“...Hmmm… and good enough to eat,” Reese answered back smoothly. “So did he like what he saw? What did he say?” She frowned slightly, trying to smooth the ivory marzipan on the centerpiece. Some wise ass had taken a bite out of the female figure’s behind, leaving a sharp outline of teeth behind.

“I think he was pleased…,” I said, trying to remember his words. Mostly all I remembered was how he’d made me feel… “I’m not entirely sure if he said.

Here… let me…” I took out a small tub of icing and filled in the missing chunk of cake. “We’ll just avoid that spot when we carve these two up at the end of the night. We’re supposed to have it all plated before the fireworks start.”

“Well, so far so good,” Reese said, trying to readjust her tiny costume to cover more. “Honestly, I was a little worried about tonight. Bachelorette parties are one thing… you’d expect them to want erotic pastries. Just as a cute gag, you know. But people like these… the elite of the elite. I wasn’t sure what kind of night this might turn out to be…”

“I know,” I answered. “It’s why I wrote it into the contract that we’re strictly professional. You hear things sometimes… about how these parties can get a bit on the wild side.” I shot her a sidelong look. “No one’s gotten out of line with you…?”

“Nope, sorry to say,” she said, waggling one brow at me. “But then I’m no fresh faced kid, like you and Tammy.” She handed me a tray of empty champagne flutes. “I’ve got wizened divorcee written all over me.”

“Bullshit,” I whispered under my breath, trying to contain my grin. After twenty three years of living under my grandmother’s roof and confining sense of propriety, I still got a childish thrill from using words she’d find shocking. I glanced over at a male guest who was nibbling at the pink peak on one of our cupcakes and shivered with forbidden pleasure. How much of our company’s new direction was really about becoming competitive… and how much was my own late-blooming defiance…?

“You’re sexy as hell in that outfit, Reese. And I’m not quite as fresh as you think.” I grinned and looked over toward the bar where Tam was shaking a martini. “But I think we should both keep an eye out for Tammy…

Tell you what. You two can take a break and I’ll cover the bar. By the time you get back, it’ll be time to pour the champagne for the finale. I’ll take care of that while you guys slice up the cake.”

“Thank god,” Reese sighed, waving a hand for Tam to head over. “I may not be able to walk in the morning if I don’t get twenty minutes out of these damned heels. I’m getting too old for this…”

I scoffed politely, but smiled in sympathy. My feet were aching too, but I headed toward the bar with a fresh rack of glasses. There was less than an hour left before the fireworks, and by one a.m. we would be five thousand dollars richer…

There were small slate-topped tables set near the polished steel bar, candlelight flickered from the center of each one. They were tall and narrow, with couples and groups clustered intimately around them. Glasses clinked gently and sparkled, reflecting the flames. The noisy energy from earlier in the evening was beginning to mellow now, and there were couples who had moved into the darker corners of the rooftop, seeking a moment of privacy. I noticed Sutton, the man who’d hired us, speaking to Tam. His face was close to hers and there was something fleeting in her expression… like a look of distaste…

But she walked away with a tray of drinks, and he took her place behind the bar. A couple wandered up and ordered their drinks. Sutton smiled congenially and pulled the pretty blonde who was with him behind the bar. He stood behind her, his arms around her, helping her pour a scoop of ice into a cocktail shaker.

“Miss Parrish,” he smiled warmly as I came closer, his eyes shining brilliantly. “You don’t mind if the host plays bartender for his guests, now do you?” His voice was deep and cajoling, thick with the pleasure of the evening. “I just wanted to introduce Victoria here, to the pleasures of making a Cosmopolitan.” I stood, holding my tray of glassware, watching as he covered the shaker and put it into her hands.

“Tell me what to do next,” the blonde purred, her eyes as bright as Sutton’s. He shifted his body half a step forward until his chest was pressed tight against her back. I blinked, unsure why the air seemed filled with a strange tension. I watched as her hands began to move, not understanding why I couldn’t seem to look away. The ice clattered inside the steel cup and she started to shake it harder. Her breasts, barely contained by her dress, bounced… rubbing at the insides of her arms as she moved faster. The couple across from them seemed too interested in each other to notice, but I felt mesmerized. Not so much by what I was watching… but by how it was making me feel…

“That’s right, Vicki,” Sutton murmured into the side of her neck. “Just like that… just a little more… and it’ll be perfect...”

Shocked by my own confusing reactions, I sucked a mouthful of cool night air and forced myself to look away from them. I walked to the far end of the bar, determined to focus on doing my job. I knelt down discreetly, and slid my tray of stemware underneath. But when I started to stand up again, I saw…

The girl’s dress was hiked up and tucked into the narrow belt surrounding her waist. She was exposed completely, panties gone, and stood on the tiptoes of her stiletto heels. Sutton’s slacks were open at the zipper.

All but the last inch of his thick, dark cock was pushed far up inside her…