Chapter Ten — Remy

It took the maintenance man less than two hours to patch the hole in the wall. I’d vowed to myself I’d get over this Livvie affair by the time the new paint dried, but, it seemed that it was going to take a bit longer than that. I wasn’t sure why it was so difficult. It should have been simple. I should have thanked her for making it easy on me by voluntarily leaving the day after. I hadn’t had to ask, beg or lie to get her out of my house. She had just…gone.

But days later, she was still very much present in my mind and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why.

What was her hold over me?

If I hadn’t known better, I’d have guessed some type of voodoo.

The woman had me completely unraveled.

At first, I’d tried to blame it on my mother. It was a strategy that had served me well over the years. Her bursting into my penthouse had thrown off my groove and made it hard to get settled again once she’d left. Her threats to find a woman or suffer her wrath were still pinging around my mind. It seemed so ancient. How was it that in the twenty-first century, I was still being subjected to this level of parental control?

I knew it was my own fault. I shouldn’t have spent so many years jerking around from one fledgling business to the other. I’d always maintained control over aspects of my life. I had the perfect home, perfect car, perfect wardrobe. I’d traveled the world, seen things most people only dream of, and my sex life was wild, constantly changing, and always left me satisfied. And the best part was…I hadn’t even hit thirty yet. My mother might assume I didn’t have any plans beyond fucking around, but she was wrong. I had planned to save up and invest, spend my thirties building my restaurant empire, and then, maybe, settle down.

Maybe.

But now, my perfect life had come to a screeching halt and I was left white-knuckled and breathless at the derailment.

The most surreal part of it all was the fact that in the span of a week, I was already finding myself morphing and mentally changing my timeline. I wondered what Livvie would say if I ever revealed my secret ambitions to her. I wanted to know what it would be like to help her build her dream company and launch her to superstar heights in the music industry. I’d almost been willing to back-burner my dream in order to help her make hers.

And I barely even knew the girl.

Although, I’d been doing my best to learn as much as I could. When JJ had originally tracked her down, he had sent me her social media information and since she’d run away, I delved into a little bit of my own detective work.

It was entirely possible that I was crossing over the thinnest line between pursuit and cyber-stalking. It was like chasing an unquenchable thirst. It didn’t matter how much information I could find or pictures I could pore over, Livvie’s effect on me was still playing games in my head. Every time I closed my eyes, there she was…at first, it had been flashes of her parted lips as she panted my name, the slickness of the sweetness between her legs, the taste of her skin…

“Argh,” I groaned into the empty penthouse.

I’d been wandering around the huge space all weekend. Monday morning had rolled around and I knew it was time to get over it.

However I was supposed to do that.

Step one was getting the fuck out of the house.

I got my workout done, showered, and dressed in one of my favorite dark grey suits. I had no idea where I was going, but figured something would come to me.

I opened the door of the apartment and, as if my thoughts had brought her to life, Livvie was standing on the other side. Her hand was raised, poised to knock, and the look on her face would have been comical, except that I was pretty sure it was mirrored back on my own.

“What the—oh, my gosh…Remy,” she gasped, her breathless tone ringing in my ear and recalling the way she had panted into my ear as I’d teased her ear with my tongue.

“Livvie. Did you forget something?” I asked, forcing my voice to remain calm and collected, ignoring the hammering of my heart.

She took a tiny, nearly undetectable step backwards and I felt an instant need to take a step forward and fill the space she put between us. “Uhm,” she looked down at her pointed-toe heels. “I came to ask you something.”

“Shoot,” I replied.

She brought her head back up and her entire demeanor changed. She squared her shoulders and stared into my eyes. “It’s about the business. My business.”

I smiled at her extra emphasis. “All right. Come on in.”

“Weren’t you on your way out?” she asked, her eyebrow arched.

“I have time. Come in.”

She followed me through the house. I wanted to lead her to the bedroom and pick up where we’d left off before everything had gone wrong, but I knew that wasn’t what she came here for, although, if I had it my way—and I usually did—I’d find a way to fuck her before she’d left again.

We took opposing seats at the bistro-height table off the kitchen. I folded my hands and she twirled her fingers together, the only sign of a break in her otherwise flawless composure.

“I’ve given it a lot of thought. I’ve crunched the numbers, and although I hate to say this, I need your help. If you’re still interested, I’d like to see what can be arranged if you’re still interested in being an investor in my business.”

Hot. Sexy. Direct. I liked her style.

“So, you want me to be a partner in your business?” I asked.

“Silent partner,” she corrected, with a pointed tone.

I nodded. “Silent partner. Right. And, what would be my benefit?”

“I’d offer you twenty-five percent of all profits, with a reevaluation at the five-year mark. If things work out as well as expected, I should be able to return your initial investment, plus interest, at that point.”

I hid my surprise, but it was a ballsy strategy to come right out and tell me she planned to buy me out and cut me out of the deal in five years’ time. “And what if I don’t want to renegotiate? What if I want to stay in?”

Now it was her turn to be surprised. “What do you mean?”

“After five years, what if I don’t want you to buy me out?”

“We can talk and come to an arrangement that works for us both.”

“Hmm. And during these five years, how exactly do you see my role? As a silent partner?” I asked.

She squirmed a little in her seat and I’d have given just about anything to be able to read her mind. “You would be an investor, and if you were able to help with connections, that would be beneficial for both of us.”

“So, I imagine that would mean you and I’d be spending quite a bit of time together, then,” I added as a note.

“I suppose so,” Livvie agreed. Her blue eyes were edged with concern, and yet I had a trained eye, and could see the desire that she was trying so hard to conceal.

She could still be mine.

And I knew what it would take.

I stood up from the table and went around to her side. She reeled back in her seat, pinning her back to the chair, but her lips parted and the tip of her tongue flicked out and moistened them. It was a thoughtless gesture on her part, but to me, it was all I needed to know.

“What if I let you keep the twenty-five percent? What if there was something else that I wanted?” I asked.

The desire in her eyes went up in flames and she put up a hand to stop me, her palm pressing firmly against my chest. “Remy, no. I am not a bargaining chip in this deal. It’s twenty-five percent or it’s a no deal.”

“But I want you,” I whispered, pressing against her hand to test how close she’d let me get.

“Remy,” she breathed as I lowered against her, my lips dangerously close to hers.

Before I could capture her perfect pout, she shoved back against me and jumped down from her seat. She grabbed her purse off the table and started to leave the room, heading back in the direction of the front door. “I can’t do this.”

Fuck. Not this again.

I swooped around the kitchen island and got in front of her, blocking her path.

“Remy, what the hell? Just let me leave. I shouldn’t have even come down here. I should have known that with you, it’s a one-way ticket back to the bedroom.”

“Well, I like to think of myself as a flexible man. We could try the couch, the Jacuzzi, or hell, this island is about as sturdy as them come, and I do believe, at the exact right height,” I threw back, my smile feeling wolfish on my face as I stared her down.

Her lips parted, probably to throw out another flimsy protest, but I seized my moment and leaned down and took her lips with my own. She gasped into the kiss but then melted against me. My tongue pushed past her full lips and explored and teased her tongue and lips. I nibbled and sucked on her lower lip, loving the sweet sugar taste and the slickness of our lips crashing together.

The kiss left us both breathless and I had her backed against the wall within seconds. Her hands were hungry, pushing aside my jacket and clutching at the buttons as she tried to unbutton them blindly. Her hands slipped between the smooth linen of the shirt and fluttered against my bare chest. I lifted her up off the ground and her legs wrapped around my hips, locking behind my back. I started towards the bedroom and she played with the buttons on my shirt as I carried her down the hallway. I kissed a trail down her neck while carefully avoiding obstacles and the door frame as we burst into the master suite.

I laid her down on the bed and started popping off the rest of the buttons to my shirt.

“Wait, no, no, stop,” Livvie said, shaking away the glazed look of heat that had been in her eyes seconds before.

My hands stilled on the second to last button. “Well that’s a blow to the ego. Listen, I get that you think I’m some sort of arrogant asshole, but you don’t need to single handedly tackle my ego, you know,” I said, smiling down at her.

Her face shifted to an almost confused expression and she pushed up from the bed. “No, Remy, that’s not what I meant.”

I stilled her with my hand. “What are you doing?”

“I have to go.”

“But we didn’t even get through our first business meeting, here,” I joked, trying to push her back down.

“Remy, stop.”

I pulled my hand away. I might push the boundaries sometimes, but when a woman outright told me to stop, I listened.

Although…it wasn’t something I’d experienced very often.

Livvie smoothed her hair. “This can’t happen.”

I heaved a silent sigh—something I was accustomed to, thanks to my mother. “What’s wrong?”

“Remy,” she started, her blue eyes flicking up at me. “Who are we kidding? We can’t be business partners.”

“Because we want to fuck each other? What’s so wrong with that?”

She shot me a look.

“What if I promise to behave?” I asked, a twinkle gleaming in my eye.

She rolled her eyes, clearly not amused. “And what about all the other stuff? The stuff with…”

“My mother?” I finished, feeling my hard-on rapidly deflating.

“Like I said, this is too complicated. She’ll never approve of us working together.”

“Fuck what she thinks. This is my choice, not hers.”

Livvie bit her swollen lip and stared at me. “I’m sorry, this was a mistake. I just got so stressed with the numbers and the loan got turned down and I don’t know…” She tugged at her hair and forced it back into a slick ponytail as she spoke. “I have to go. Please.”

I stood firmly in place, blocking her exit. I didn’t know what to say to convince her.

“Can’t you understand? It’s hard enough for me to even ask for help. Not just you, I mean, anyone. I grew up fast…too fast…and I learned from a young age that you can’t count on anyone else. Only yourself. So, I don’t even want help doing this.”

“But you need help. Livvie, you have a dream, but it’s a big dream. The type of business you want to start is not a one-man—or woman—operation. You need help, whether you like it or not. I’m offering to help you. Don’t turn it down just because of some pride issue you’re hung up on.”

She reared back and I instantly knew I’d said the wrong thing. “Me, stuck on a pride thing? That’s rich, coming from you.”

She started to stomp away and I followed after her, grabbing at her arm to make her face me again.

“You don’t even have money. It’s all handed over by your mother. Remember, I was here. I heard the whole thing.”

Anger boiled up and I released Livvie’s arm as if it was suddenly made of hot iron. “So, that’s it, huh? You overhear one conversation and suddenly that makes you the expert on my life and finances?”

She backed down slightly. “I’m not saying I’m an expert, but according to her, you need to get your shit together or say goodbye to all this.” She waved her hands around the room for emphasis.

I didn’t appreciate the reminder.

“Oh, yeah, and she thinks I’m a whore. So yeah, I can’t imagine her making an exception for me, whether we agree to keep it professional or not. So it’s a moot point, really.”

“Fine. If that’s what you think, then why are you even here? If you truly think I’m a broke fuck who is scared of his own mother, then why did you come back?”

She stared at me for a moment, and I knew she was asking herself the same questions.

“I’m not here, remember? I’m leaving.”

She spun on her heel and this time, I didn’t even ask her to stay.