Lola

“SO TELL ME something,” Grayson prompted once our entries had been cleared away and the mouthwatering dessert was set before us. I hadn’t been able to eat the entire thing, but what I’d managed to eat was decadent. The food and wine really were divine, and the company — to my utter dismay — was equally as good. I’d lost count of how many times I’d laughed throughout our meal. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had so much fun with a member of the opposite sex that didn’t include naked mattress dancing.

“What’s that?” I asked, picking up my wine and finishing the last of it. I was on my third glass and already feeling happily warm from the inside out.

“How did you get into the business of giving relationship advice?”

“What do you mean?” I asked around a mouthful of crème brûlée with no shame whatsoever. The dessert was pure heaven. I wanted to marry it and have little baby raspberry crème brûlées. Before I swallowed the last of what was in my mouth, I was already shoveling in more. “You know,” I said after I managed to swallow. “You might want to get your own, because I’m totally not sharing this.” I pulled the plate closer to me and wrapped a protective arm around it so Grayson couldn’t steal any of my precious.

His low, raspy chuckle was almost as good as my dessert. Almost. “I take it you like it,” he said, his voice filled with amusement.

“Soooo good,” I groaned, my mouth full once again. It was tart and sweet and silky with a hint of chocolate from the truffles. It was officially one of my favorite things on the planet.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it.” He smiled at me. “But you still haven’t answered my question.”

It took my sugar-addled brain a second to remember what he’d asked just a minute before. “Oh yeah. Sorry.” I swallowed the last bite and delicately wiped my mouth with the cloth napkin, barely able to hold myself back from licking the plate clean. “Well, it’s not a very interesting story, really. Daphne, Sophia, and I all went to college together. Daph was the only broadcasting major out of the three of us and got a job hosting a late-night show for our campus station. We used to go with and keep her company since she was there mostly by herself, and one night we were screwing around when a girl called in crying about how her boyfriend cheated on her with her best friend.”

“If Daphne was the only one hosting, how did you and Sophia get roped in?”

A sneaky smile stretched across my lips as I recalled that particular night. “Let’s just say tequila helped. What I didn’t mention was that the three of us headed to the station after an Alpha Phi luau.”

“Ah.” He sat back in his seat and regarded me, his stupid sexy eyes doing that attractive glimmer thing again. “I see.”

“Yep.” A wine-induced giggle worked its way from my throat. “To be honest, we didn’t even remember what happened until the following day when we all got called in. Daphne was scared she was going to lose her job, but they ended up making it a three-person show instead. It just kind of snowballed from there. More girls started calling in, asking advice, and we just gave them our opinions. It was more a fluke than anything else. The three of us have never really had much luck in the relationship department, so when we weren’t offering advice, we were telling our own dating horror stories. People seemed to love it and” — I held my arms out at my sides — “here we are ten years later.”

Silence ensued after I finished my story, and the inquisitive way he studied me from across the table made my skin start to tingle. It was like he was trying to see inside me and figure out all my secrets. I began to fidget in my seat, disconcerted by the intensity of his stare. When he finally spoke, his words were just as confusing as his expression.

“You said have.”

I cocked my head to the side, not understanding. “Excuse me?”

“You said the three of you have never really had much luck with relationships, not had. You spoke in present tense. Does that mean you still find yourself unlucky?”

I forced myself to swallow the sip of wine I’d just taken, the liquid going down painfully in my suddenly tight throat. On top of attractive, rich, and funny, it would appear that Grayson Lockhart was intuitive as well. “I don’t do relationships,” I answered, once I was able to work the uncomfortable knot from my throat. I tried my best to appear unaffected by the insightfulness of the question, but the truth was I’d suddenly gone from comfortably relaxed to on edge in a split second.

“You don’t do relationships?”

“That’s right.”

His gaze grew curious and I could’ve sworn his lips twitched with a suppressed smile. “May I ask why?”

I shrugged, staring longingly at the empty dessert plate before answering. “I just don’t believe in them.”

“You don’t believe in them,” he repeated.

“Yep.” I popped the P, growing frustrated at his repetition of my answers. “And can you please stop repeating everything I say like I’m some wackadoo?”

He lost the grin he was fighting and full-on smiled, making my belly swoop pleasurably. “I’m sorry. I just don’t understand how you don’t believe in relationships. I mean, you offer relationship advice as a profession.”

I spun my wineglass by the stem as I thought on how to answer. “Well, all adults know Santa and the Easter Bunny aren’t real, right? But they still pretend for their kids. It’s kind of like that.”

“Wait.” Grayson’s eyes grew huge with mock disbelief. “Santa and the Easter Bunny aren’t real? Sonofabitch!”

“Shut up,” I giggled. “It’s a belief that’s been engrained in me from a young age, starting with my dysfunctional parents.”

“So you learned by example, then.”

“No, not necessarily. You know the phrase ‘Once bitten, twice shy’? Well, I’m pretty sure that phrase was coined for me. It wasn’t just my parents who turned me off relationships — believe me, I had my fair share of disasters on my own. And if I wasn’t living it, I was watching my friends be cheated on or taken advantage of. As time passed, I just decided it wasn’t worth it. I’m happy with how my life is. I don’t need a man in it to feel complete.”

It was the very same argument I’d given a million times throughout my adult life. You couldn’t remain single in my particular profession without some explanation, after all. The more I spoke that scripted argument over time, the more I actually started to believe it until it just became a way of thinking. But for some reason, sitting across from Grayson Lockhart, speaking those familiar words just felt… underwhelming. I felt like a fraud, a feeling that was completely foreign to me.

“I have no doubt that you can be complete without a man in your life, Lola. But don’t you ever get lonely?”

I picked up my wineglass and took a long fortifying sip. “Nope.” And normally that was the truth. Usually I ended my days with a comfortable sense of contentment. I had a great job, great friends, a fabulous apartment. My life was amazing simply because I’d worked my ass off to make it so. But for some reason, Grayson’s sudden appearance had turned everything in my cozy little world on its head. Thanks to his question, that contentment I felt on a regular basis was replaced with something not at all pleasurable. Stupid men, always messing with stuff.

“Well, what about the people you know who have been in healthy, loving relationships for years? Take my parents, for example. They’ve been happily married for almost forty years.”

“There’s an exception to every rule,” I answered simply. “Your parents are the exception. I learned a long time ago that only a lucky few get to call themselves that. Most people are just the rule.”

His penetrating gaze sent a shiver down my spine. I had the acute sense that he could read every lie I was telling, clear as day. Fortunately, he seemed to realize my growing unease at the current topic and took pity on me, changing the subject to such things as my friendships with Sophia and Daphne, and how I liked working with my best friends every day.

The waiter finally brought the check, and I watched as Grayson pulled a credit card from his wallet and slipped it into the small black billfold. It was then that I noticed he had really nice hands. They were large with long fingers that looked like they could hold tight to my hips while—

Get your shit together, Lola!

My mind had quickly dived straight into the gutter. I gave my head a small shake, trying to clear it of all the ridiculous thoughts that were suddenly bombarding me.

I wonder if what they say about the size of a man’s hands is true?

Damn it, Lola!

I totally blamed Grayson for being so… so… damn yummy!

“Lola?”

My gaze jumped from his hands back to his eyes, my cheeks suddenly warm with embarrassment that he could possibly see the desire written all over my face.

“You okay?”

“Y-yeah. Yeah, I’m good. Sorry. Too much wine, I guess.” I pasted on a smile and balled my hands into fists in my lap to keep from fanning my face. Stupid sexy jerk with all his sexiness.

Grayson stood and extended one of those strong, manly hands at me as he said in a low rumble, “Let’s get you home, then.”

My lady parts might have actually quivered. Quivered! He had the most seductive voice when he talked all quietlike. He sounded so good I’d have gladly listened to him read the phone book, or the back of a shampoo bottle, or the label that came on the back of the cookie dough packages warning not to eat it raw.

Swallowing against the sudden dryness in my throat, I placed my hand in his and let him help me from my chair. Just as I knew it would, his large hand completely engulfed mine.

You can’t stand this guy, I reminded myself. He’s the devil. He’s a manipulator. He schemed to trap you into fake-dating him. You. Do. Not. Like. Him.

The silence that enveloped us as he led me through the restaurant and out onto the sidewalk had me feeling like a jittery mess. Not because it was awkward but because it wasn’t. The knowledge that I actually enjoyed being around Grayson sat like a lead weight in my belly. I was discombobulated by the warring feelings taking place inside me. I liked him, but I didn’t want to like him. He wasn’t a guy I could use and then disregard like a pair of worn-out shoes. He was nothing like the men I was usually drawn to. He was too powerful, too masculine, too… all-consuming.

He was dangerous to my mental well-being.

Not to mention the fact that he was my boss.

“I enjoyed tonight,” he murmured, pulling me from my unpleasant thoughts.

“Yeah, me too.” I allowed myself to look up at him and smile as he opened the back door of the waiting town car. I moved to step in but his grip on my hand tightened, halting me between his large body and the car door.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, glancing up to find him looking at something over my shoulder.

“Don’t look,” he warned as I went to turn my head. “There’s a photographer about twenty feet away.”

My back shot straight at his quiet words. “Are you serious?” I whispered, drawing his eyes back to mine. Something in their green depths flashed, an almost wickedness that heated me from the inside and set me on edge all at the same time.

A Cheshire grin stretched across his lips as he leaned in closer, releasing my hand in order to wrap his arm around my waist. “Looks like you’re going to need to put on a good show,” he said in a low rumble. “Hope you’re a good actress.”

Before I could question Grayson’s puzzling statement, his mouth crashed down on mine in an unexpected yet captivating kiss that stole all the air from my lungs. My lips parted on a surprised gasp, giving him the access he needed to slip his tongue inside. He tasted of wine, decadent chocolate, and tart raspberries from our dessert. The flavors exploded against my tongue and I moaned appreciatively.

With my body no longer under my control, my arms lifted to twine around his neck as my mouth dueled with his. It was, by far, the most delicious, enthralling kiss I’d ever experienced in my life. For the first time in more than ten years, I found myself melting into a man and allowing him complete control.

By the time he pulled back, I was so kiss-drunk that I probably would’ve given him anything he wanted. I stood in a stunned haze, my eyelids fluttering open as my tongue darted out and ran along my plump, sinfully bruised bottom lip.

“That was….” I breathed as he smiled down at me like the cat that got the canary. Then he spoke, effectively shattering the perfect moment into a million tiny pieces.

“That’ll surely make for an interesting piece in tomorrow’s edition.”

Sonofabitch. I’d been played and hadn’t even put up a fight. His words pissed me off at the same time as they strengthened my resolve. There was no way I was going to allow myself to get stupid over some guy. Not again. Not ever. He was a pain in my ass, nothing more. And once my job was safe and Grayson’s reputation was cleared, I was determined to put this entire ridiculous debacle in my rearview mirror.

Or at least that’s what I told myself.

Unfortunately, my traitorous body didn’t seem to be on board.