“Where’s Maple? I was expecting some delicious cake to go with this spiked tea.” Talia peeked over her shoulder at the locked up door beside my own and then back at the lunch platter on the table.

“Paul took her to wine country for a long weekend, so it’s just us. But I made a caramel cake.”

Brown eyes went round with shock but slowly morphed into glee as she sucked in a breath. “But Maple says that…you had sex!” She refilled our glasses with more lemonade, stamping her feet in giddy anticipation. “Tell. Me. Everything.”

There was no point resisting when she would pull it out of me anyway, so I took a long pull from my glass and told her all about LA. Only LA. “It was fantastic. Even better than I imagined it would be.”

“And now what?” Her brown eyes tried to peer into my soul, and like the coward I was, I hid in my glass. “Are you going to see each other again? Boink each other again?”

“Boink? Seriously?” What we did was much too hot, too primal for a word as silly as boink.

“That’s what you’re focusing on? That means…that’s why he’s been coming around so much for the past few weeks? You’ve been getting the D in the office!?” She fanned her face and shook her head. “I’m not sure if I’m impressed, jealous or mad I didn’t figure it out sooner.”

“I can’t help it, Talia. He touches me and even though I know I shouldn’t lean in, I do. I know he just wants to soften me so I’ll sell him the company, but I don’t care. And it keeps getting better so I can never say no.” I buried my head in my hands. “Does that make me…I don’t know, something? A nympho?”

She laughed until she cried, completely oblivious to the deadly stare I was shooting her way until I tossed a grape at her head. “Sorry, it’s just…no, you’re not a nympho. Sex feels good and when you first start having sex you’re kind of insatiable.”

“Were you?” Because even when he wasn’t around, I daydreamed about things I wanted to do to Blake, or relived things we’d already done to each other.

“Still waiting for it to wear off. Maybe I’m the nympho,” she said with a thoughtful frown. Then she looked up at me and braced myself for what she was about to say. “Enjoy it, just make sure you don’t fall for him.”

Yeah, because I hadn’t already had that talk with myself. “That’s easy for you to say, you’ve been doing this for two decades already.” She stuck her tongue out at my joke and tossed a grape at me. “Seriously, that’s my problem. I need to just stay away from him altogether.”

“I don’t see that happening.” She was right, but that was my only option.

“See these,” I plucked at the Tetris leggings I wore. “He brought these along with a Xena nightgown and chocolate chip cookies with candy in them.” It was silly and sweet, and that, combined with the sex, made it hard to remember that he was trying to take over my company. To essentially steal it from me. “I need to stop, but I can’t.”

It made me feel weak and pathetic to know that someone had such power over me. Especially Blake, because I knew he would drop me the minute he didn’t get his way, or the minute he did.

“You can’t really control whether or not you fall for him, especially when really good sex is involved. I’ve fallen for some real clunkers. But as far as the company goes, he can only do it if you let him. Fight back. Read over those shareholder agreements, I’ll bet there’s some good stuff in there you could use. The old timers have nothing but good things to say about Arden.”

“Thanks Tal, that’s a good idea.” I filed that information away for later, took a deep breath and asked about Kyle.

“I don’t know. I mean, he’s Kyle. Hot, dry and boring. But so, so hot. We’re only compatible in the bedroom but he insists on doing the whole dating thing, which…ugh,” she rolled her eyes and took three big sips from her glass.

“We’re a hot mess, aren’t we?” Both of us twisted up over men who weren’t good for us, but were damn good to our bodies. “Just tell me that at some point the sex will get worse or the effect will lessen. Please.”

“Nope. Usually they do something so bad that even great sex can’t make up for it, so we go back a few times to test that theory. And then we leave, remembering them as the jerk with the good sex.”

Shit. That’s not what I wanted to hear, and all through lunch and plenty of other topics, I couldn’t’ stop thinking about her words. If I kept sleeping with Blake he would get my company and…, “No, I can’t even think about it.”

“Then think about this. Connie Wood has shares and she believes takeovers are impolite.”

“You’re the best. I’m sorry that I’m such a wreck.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, we all have our moments. This is yours.” She glanced at her watch and stood. “I need to head out. Kyle and I are actually having a night in at his place, so by morning I’ll know where this is going.”

“Good luck.” I gave her a hug, some cake and sent her on her way. The rest of my day was free and I spent the morning cleaning, which meant I could be a bum or get a jumpstart on more work. Or I could sit on the couch and fantasize about the way Blake had taken me in a cave on a new hiking trail he’d shown me. He was insatiable and I wasn’t complaining.

A knock at the door pulled me from my thoughts and I grinned at my forgetful friend. “What did you forget this time?” It wasn’t Talia. It was Blake, looking sexy as hell in his boy next door jeans and crisp blue t-shirt.

“I forgot which shade of pink your nipples are, dusty rose or strawberry?” His words came out a deep growl and he stepped inside, kicking the door and locking it behind him.

I stepped back like his touch burned. “We’re not doing this again, Blake.”

“We already are.” His hand snaked out around my waist and pulled me close so he could taste my neck. “I know you feel my cock pressing against you and I bet if I slipped my hands into your panties, you’d be dripping for me.”

He was right. “This needs to stop.”

“But why stop when it’s what we both want?” I wanted to protest his words but he spun me around so we were face to face. “Kiss me.”

“What?”

“Kiss me. Prove you don’t want me by kissing me and walking away.”

I could do that. Easy. And I would, after a quick pep talk. Kiss Blake and walk away. Simple. I held his face in my hands, taking one last look into those deep blue eyes before I kissed him goodbye. Our lips touched and just like that everything was combustible. Blake tasted like coffee, one of those iced coffee drinks with plenty of sugar and I couldn’t get enough.

My body, my mind, all forgot that we were supposed to kiss him and walk away. His tongue clashed with mine, invaded my mouth while his hands explored my body, lifted me up against him so I could feel that he was just as ready for me as I was for him. I couldn’t stop this and he knew it too, because he carried me to the bedroom where we stripped down quickly and I climbed on top of him, took his hard length into my core and rode him until my mind stopped shouting that this was a mistake.

I knew it was bad, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

Not right now.

* * *

“The whole line will have a retro feel, but with a much better fit and the colors just a pop brighter. Plus, the limited edition part will drive people to buy.” I looked around at all the well dressed, perfectly coifed creative department, each of them looking at me with a blank stare. I was starting to feel like an idiot. “What do you think?” I thought it was a great idea, but I was high on sex, so maybe it only sounded good in my head.

April stood and stared at me until she broke out in squeals of delight. I think. “I love it! I have so many ideas with Chevron bibs, rainbow parkas and, oh my god, retro stripes!” I could only stare in awe as she went on and on, ideas spilling from her mouth like water.

“That’s all up to your team, but I’d like you to incorporate a way to fix a small gold number for the limited edition, make it seem more exclusive.” The room began to buzz with ideas and everyone’s head was now buried in their sketchpad.

April stepped up and hugged me, she was strong for someone so skinny. “We’ll have mockups for you by the end of the week Boss.”

I frowned. “Uh, April, it’s already Wednesday.”

“Oh, that’s plenty of time. Look how excited everyone is. I’ll have Talia book us for Friday after lunch?”

I still wasn’t used to having someone else solely responsible for my schedule, but it did free up a lot of my time. Lately it had been spent pretending to schmooze the shareholders, but I really just needed to see where each of them stood. Who was friendly, and who wasn’t. They were all friendly enough, but miles away from being trustworthy. Talia was right about Corrine Wood, but the rest were up in the air. Although it still caused me plenty of stress, I wasn’t as worried as I once was. Hargrave and his big legal brain had gone over each of the shareholder agreements with me. They had all been created at different times as Arden needed more funds, and because he knew his friends or business partners or whatever, he knew just what to include to screw them over if he had to.

I hated that I might have to, but I was prepared to.

Maxim Malone, shareholder and man whore, stepped into the elevator with me and flashed a grin that said he was picturing me naked. In his mid-fifties, Maxim had a head full of thick silver hair and light blue eyes which looked vibrant against his perma-tan.

“Ms. Masters, I had hoped after our last discussion you might take my suggestion. Women were meant to wear skirts.”

What he meant was that he’d talked down to me about my wardrobe and assumed I would listen. “I listened and then made my own decision, Mr. Malone. But now that I have you here, I’d like to talk to you about the shares you’re currently shopping around. I want first refusal.”

He looked at me like I just stank up the elevator and I rolled my eyes, of course he didn’t notice because once again his gaze was fixed on my cleavage. “I’ll consider it.”

“I really hope you do.” My tone was intentionally ominous, my confidence on a high note after Hargrave’s visit.

“Was that a threat?” He laughed like I was some damn kitten, practicing using her claws.

“Of course not, Maxim. It was a warning. I’d hate to see you find yourself without shares. That would be a shame after all the money you made over the years.” The bell sounded and the doors slid open. I stepped out first. “I may not be Arden, but I am a Masters, and this is my company now. I’ll do what I have to do to keep it. Remember that.” As soon as I stepped off the elevator, Talia was at my side in her ridiculous but fabulous heels.

“What was that about? It looked tense.”

“Oh that? That was me flexing my muscle and telling him that I won’t be pushed around.”

“Good for you. Some guy named Sly called but he refused to leave a message. Said you’d know what it was about and how to reach him.”

I smiled. He was the private investigator Hargrave had recommended. “He’s right. I do.” My phone buzzed in my pocket and when I caught a glimpse of the screen, I almost tripped over my own feet.

Blake sent a text. I have three words for you. Edible. Body. Paint.

That sounded much better than dealing with another Malone, or thinking about Blake fucking me while also buying up shares of my company. “Do I have anything that can’t be moved or cancelled?”

“No, why? You have a hot date tonight?”

“Not a date, but an evening that a trip to the salon will make a lot more satisfying.”

“Say no more, consider the day rescheduled. And grab some whipped cream, you won’t regret it.”

My mind raced with the possibilities and I grabbed my bag and jacket before hightailing it out of the office for the rest of the day.

Look at me, playing hooky for a guy.

Will wonders never cease?