Chapter Three
Sierra pulled into the empty parking lot of Club Ryan, and parked near the entrance. In hindsight, her plan could have used some tweaking, especially this part, because she wasn’t even sure the door would be unlocked, let alone if anyone would be inside.
There’s only one way to find out!
She exited the car, smoothed down her skirt, and grabbed the messenger bag. The extra-long strap was perfect when worn diagonal across her curvy body, but on one shoulder, it made the protected laptop bang against her thigh. In any other circumstance, she would have shortened the strap, but the tedious task wasn’t worth it for a few short feet.
She locked her car, took a deep breath, and walked to the door. Much to her surprise, the big barrier opened easily, but she wasn’t inside the main part of the club yet. The small foyer had a ticket window on one side, and what looked like a tiny office on the other.
She pulled on the second door, and stepped inside the dim, seemingly vacant, extra-large room. A long bar filled up most of the wall to her left, and several high-top tables filled the center space surrounding a decent sized dance floor. The wall to her right housed several booths, but she didn’t see anything else.
As her eyes adjusted to the low light, she took her time and surveyed the room again. The second time around, she noticed a hidden hallway in the back-right corner, and a swinging door on the wall behind the bar. The swinging door was most likely a kitchen, so she opted for the hallway.
She took one step toward her destination, when a loud, booming voice echoed around the room.
“We’re closed.”
She looked in the direction of the voice, and stared at the severe looking man who seemed to appear out of nowhere. He wasn’t as tall as Graham, but he was far more intimidating, especially dressed in all black. The dark outfit matched his dark hair, dark eyes, and grim, almost deadly expression.
Surprisingly, the urge to run never crossed her mind.
“Sorry,” she said. “I’m… I’m looking for someone. Is Graham here?”
“Dude, you are taking forever! What the…”
Another voice filled the space, and Sierra quickly turned toward the friendlier sounding of the two, only to be met with the same dark image. The two men were nearly identical in every way except one. Mister Serious still wore a frown, and the newcomer had a huge smile on his face.
“…heck? Hi,” he said, smiling directly at her. She looked between the two men again, and opted for Mister Friendly.
“Hi,” she said. “I’m looking for Graham. Graham Roth. Is he here?”
“Graham!”
Mister Serious barked the word so loud she felt the sound waves echo through her, and her nerves kicked up a notch.
Graham was in the building!
Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to recover before Mister Friendly yelled.
“Grammy!”
“Grandma!”
Mister Serious barked again, but this time he started walking toward the hall.
“Graham Cracker Crust,” Mister Friendly called. He laughed, seemingly happy with his goofy creation, and yelled again. “Gram Master Tech.”
Sierra laughed, too, she couldn’t help it. The guy was good-looking—in a completely platonic way—and funny, and he immediately calmed some of her nerves.
“Grandma, get out here,” Mister Serious yelled down the hall.
“I’m coming, obviously,” a familiar voice said. “What’s with all the yelling? Why didn’t you just text me?”
“Because this is way more fun,” Mister Serious said, deadpan.
Both men moved so she stood in plain sight, and Graham froze.
“Sierra.”
The whispered word floated across the empty space, and she was shocked at the reverence it seemed to carry with it. She watched as his face slowly turned up in a smile, but otherwise he didn’t move.
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Mister Friendly laughed.
Mister Serious placed a hand on Graham’s back, and pushed him in her direction. The gesture seemed to do the trick, because Graham snapped out of his trance, and immediately moved toward her with purpose. He ate up the floor between them in a few long strides, and his smile seemed to grow with every step.
“Hi. I’m glad you came.”
“You are?”
The barely audible words seemed to tumble out of her mouth on their own, as if she had no control over her body, and her cheeks heated when she remembered his friends still watched them closely.
“Yes, I am,” he said. “More than you know.”
The admission seemed so personal and intimate, like something that would be shared between them in private, and yet he’d spoken it out loud. The fact that he didn’t try to hide, or act tough in front of his friends, made him even more attractive, and for some reason, he didn’t intimidate her. Instead, he somehow reinforced her confidence, and she desperately wanted to lose their audience so she could proceed with the plan.
“I brought a laptop,” she blurted.
“Huh?”
Her admission seemed to surprise them both, but Graham quickly recovered.
“Great,” he said. “Let’s take a look.”
He pulled the strap of the bag off her shoulder, and placed it on his own.
The sweet gesture, combined with the warmth from his hand, left her speechless, and she nodded dumbly. The bag itself wasn’t girly, in fact, it was marketed toward everyone, and she’d seen plenty of guys carrying the same or similar bags, but seeing the bag on Graham’s shoulder was different—better—and not just because it was her bag.
He was decidedly unlike than any other man she’d ever known.
“Ahem.”
The loud, not-so-subtle interruption made him chuckle, and he stepped to her side, turned, and motioned toward his friends.
“But first, let me introduce you to these guys before they freak out.”
Mister Friendly bounced on the balls of his feet, and actually looked like he might burst from excitement. Mister Serious looked like he wanted to kill her—or himself—she wasn’t sure which.
Graham placed his hand on the small of her back, and led her toward the two men.
“Sierra Bennett, this is Zach Hernden, and Aiden Chambers. Zach and Aiden are cousins, not brothers, even though they look almost identical, and they run our entire security program. They’re also two of my closest friends, and I trust them with my life.”
If it were anyone else, she’d roll her eyes at the campy introduction, but Graham wasn’t just anyone, and she detected the sincerity in his voice. For some reason, it was important to him that she like his friends.
She made eye contact with each man, and nodded.
“It’s nice to meet you, both.”
“Likewise,” Aiden said, curtly.
“Yes, he really is this severe,” Zach said, pointing at Aiden, “but you’ll get used to it. It’s nice meeting you, too, Sierra. Any friend of Graham’s is a friend ours, so let us know if you need anything. Graham’s giving me the evil eye now, so we’ll see you later.”
Aiden nodded his approval, and as if on cue, both men turned and walked away.
They went in the direction of the hidden hallway, but at the last minute, Zach cried out “FOOD!” and they walked through the swinging door instead.
“Are you hungry?” Graham asked.
“No, not really.”
Never mind that she couldn’t eat even if she wanted to. The bazillion butterflies in her stomach left little room for anything else.
“Me neither,” he said. “Let’s go to my office, and see what we can do about your laptop.”
“That sounds good.”
***
Graham led Sierra back to his office by rote.
Of all the scenarios rolling around in his head about how to see her again, having her show up at his work place hadn’t been one of them. In fact, he hadn’t expected her to contact him at all.
He wasn’t surprised by her bravery, anyone willing to pack up and leave their hometown to start over someplace else was brave, but her confidence had shocked him. The woman he’d chased down on the street earlier didn’t seem the type to make the first move.
Not that he minded. In fact, he was pretty damn ecstatic about it.
He smiled, and glanced down to where his hand still rested on her lower back. He could have removed it after introducing her to Zach and Aiden, or after directing her to the hallway that held their offices, but he hadn’t. The warmth of her skin, even separated by a layer of clothing, eased him in a way that only a mate could.
Her curvy body, on the other hand, had made his dick rock hard, and pushed his desire to mate into overdrive. The presence of his friends had been the only thing to—barely—curb his lust, but he was still semi-erect and desperate to find out what she had on under the sexy outfit she wore.
The simple denim mini skirt was paired with a flowy, light green shirt that complimented her shoulder length chestnut hair and steel gray eyes perfectly. It would be so easy to push up her skirt, rip off her panties, and sink his throbbing cock into her soft, wet core.
Images from all the ways he could fuck her in his office repeatedly flashed through his mind, and he wasn’t sure whether he preferred Sierra bent over his desk, pressed up against the wall, or bouncing on his dick in his chair.
Fuck me!
No wonder the rest of the men in his clan had seemed fit for an asylum upon meeting their mates. He’d fantasized about women before, but now that he’d found Sierra, the need to fuck, mark and claim his mate was powerful and all consuming.
“What?”
Fuck! Did I say that out loud?
“Nothing,” he said. “This is me.”
She moved to enter his office, and he forced himself to drop his hand and allow her to look around freely. If he hovered, or came on too strong, she might regret her decision to seek him out, and if that happened, it would be harder to convince her to trust him.
He closed the door, moved behind the desk, and unzipped the messenger bag. The tiny black laptop had been popular about five years ago, and though it had been well-used, it was still in good condition.
“Okay,” he said. “What’s wrong with this guy?”
There wasn’t much to see in his office aside from a few pieces of furniture and tons of electronics, but Sierra seemed to find these things fascinating.
He wasn’t fooled.
Her nerves were understandable, and he waited patiently for her response.
“Did you really mean it when you said you would do anything to repay your debt?”
She faced him head-on, and approached the opposite side of the desk.
“Yes,” he said, without hesitation. “Did you need help with something else?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I’m sorry, but the laptop was just a diversion, and there’s nothing wrong with it. I really came to ask you for something else.”
“Name it,” he said. “Anything you need.”
Sierra cleared her throat and lowered her eyes, and his bear stood up and took notice. The animal, like the man, didn’t like the suspense, especially because he got the feeling she wasn’t going to ask for something simple.
God, what if it was something illegal? If she’d figured out he was more than just good with computers, then she could potentially ask him for something immoral. He didn’t think she would, hell, no one wanted to think poorly of their mate, but he supposed the possibility was always there. Not everyone was a decent human-being.
But she is!
He still thought she was, but had he read her wrong? And if so, how far was he willing to go for his mate? The unspoken question nearly suffocated him, and deep inside his bear roared as a wave of nausea washed over him.
Mate or not, he couldn’t change who he was.
Her finger started moving, tracing an imaginary circle on the edge of his desk, and she cleared her throat again.
“I’m a virgin,” she said finally. She dropped her hand from the desk, stopping the nervous circles, and met his stare again. “And I don’t want to be. Could you… Do you think you could help me with that?”
Fuck yes!
Hell, was that all? She’d scared him with the suspense, but his fears had been unwarranted, and she’d succeeded in surprising him for the second time that day.
Sex with his mate was a privilege he looked forward too, not a god damned obligation, or a way to repay a dept. Getting her naked was one of his top priorities, but he also wanted—needed—more.
He needed everything, but he also needed time, and he could think of only one way to get it, so he quickly devised a plan of his own.
“Absolutely. It would be an honor to make love to you, honey, in fact, I hope we can do it more than once. I can’t wait to touch you all over, but that request is worth way more than a few cinnamon rolls, and I’m going to need a favor in return."
Her face blanched, and she took a step back from the desk.
“What kind of favor?”
His bear growled, and as he fought to keep the sound from escaping, he reminded himself that her retreat and suspicion wasn’t personal. Not really. She didn’t know him, didn’t know what kind of man he was or anything about their connection, and she had no way of knowing that he would never scorn or insult her.
She had no way of knowing that now, but that would soon change.
Especially if she agreed to his plan.
“Pretend to be my girlfriend for a couple of weeks?”
“Um…what? Why?” She took an involuntary step closer, as if her fears of rejection had disappeared. He knew they hadn’t, not completely, but it pleased him that they’d dissipated. “I’m sure finding a real girlfriend isn’t too much of a challenge.”
She found him attractive, and even though he hadn’t been worried—she’d seemed interested in him when they met on the street—he still liked knowing for sure.
“Finding the right girl is harder than you think.”
“Why? Is there something wrong with you?”
Her seemingly innocent question made him laugh out loud, and he liked the fact that she felt comfortable enough to tease him. Her response was important to him though, so he decided to answer honestly.
“It’s the glasses,” he said. “Most women don’t like geeks with glasses.”
“You’ve been hanging around the wrong women.”
The severity of her quick, honest response pleased him.
“Honestly, I don’t hang around any single women, but I doubt I could even if I wanted to. Most women don’t bother to give me a chance.”
“Well, they’re crazy,” she said, “because you’re…gorgeous.”
She giggled nervously, and bright patches of pink filled her cheeks.
She was so beautiful—just being herself—and he couldn’t wait to see her come apart in his arms.
“I think you’re pretty gorgeous yourself,” he said, honestly.
Her cheeks darkened, but she didn’t look away.
“So, what are the responsibilities of a pretend girlfriend?”
Fuck yeah!
“The same as a regular girlfriend. Dinner, movies, coffee, and anything else we decide to do. All of my friends are paired off, and worried about me, so, accompany me to group barbeques and brunches, meet my friends, convince them we’re happy, spend the night with me, leave stuff at my house, you know, the usual.”
“Is that the usual?” she laughed. “I don’t have a lot of experience with dating, as you’ve probably figured out, but all that seems really serious. Aren’t you worried about deceiving your friends?”
“No, not at all. Their relationships are all fairly new, and they don’t need to be worrying about me right now.”
“What will change in a couple of weeks?”
“They’ll see I’m capable of finding someone, that I won’t be alone forever, and they’ll back off some. The need to arrive on my doorstep unannounced will dissipate, and we can all get back to normal.”
“That doesn’t seem unreasonable,” she nodded. “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Great,” he said. “Let’s start by having dinner together tonight.”
“Tonight?” she laughed, nervously. “Don’t you have to work?”
“Nah,” he smiled. “I’m going to take the night off to be with my new girl.”