Chapter 13
Vanessa
Warm lips on my neck scared me to death. I sprung up in a panic, nearly breaking his nose in the process.
“Christ, Nessa! Relax.”
It took a few seconds for me to remember where I was and who with. Hazy images of talking well into the night, having sex again, and passing out sometime afterward slowly filtered into my mind. I blinked over and over until Kyle’s face came into focus.
Seeing how his long fingers gripped the bridge of his nose, forced me to say, “I’m so sorry. But you’re lucky I didn’t karate chop your throat. I live alone, and I never have overnight guests.” I craned my neck, scanning his dark room. Who didn’t have a clock in their room? “What the hell time is it?”
“It’s seven.”
I calmed slightly, but not much. “I need to go,” I said, hopping out of bed barely caring I was naked… yet again. As I darted around picking up articles of my clothing, Kyle remained laying on his back with both hands behind his head. His sculpted abs were on full display, smooth and utterly lickable. Beneath the pale gray sheet, one of his best assets was also on full display, without being on full display. The fabric lay over his dick, making it so you could see the entire outline and every defined ridge as if he were naked.
A jolt of lust traveled right through me, halting all my thoughts and movements as I gawked at the magnificent specimen not three feet away. His throaty chuckle was what snapped me back to reality.
“What are you laughing at?”
“For a second I thought those gorgeous green eyes were going to pop right out of your skull.” With that, he flipped the sheet off his bottom half and gave me a full monty. “Better?”
My mouth watered at the sight of him. I would love nothing more than to hop back on that fine man to really start my morning right.
“Call in sick,” he voiced what a tiny cell in my brain chanted, and as that little fucker kept chanting… Do it… Do it… all the other cells immediately overrode it. They reminded it, and me, that I hated my horrendous job, but I needed my horrendous job.
“I can’t do that.” Irritation caused me to again fiddle with the hook and eyes on my bra as I made a mental note to throw the damn thing out.
“Sure you can. You pick up your phone, call the asshole, and say, ‘Mr. Asshole.’” He forced his voice to sound somewhat feminine.
“I don’t sound like that.”
“You’re right.” He cleared his throat and added a sexy rasp. “’It’s Vanessa Monroe. I’m not feeling well.’ And then you hang up.”
Aiming a remote that he picked up from his side table, one click had the white pleated shades rising almost ceremonially. “Look what a beautiful day it is. We can have breakfast, fuck, and then you can come make your concoction at the lab.” Once the blinds reached the halfway point, he tossed the remote. “Oh, we can also fuck at the lab. I’ll pull out my white lab coat for the occasion.”
By now I had managed, how I didn’t know, to get on my panties, bra, and one leg of my jeans. I hopped around trying to get the other leg in when he bolted out of bed and caught me around my waist. We fell together on the center of the mattress, and I never knew what hit me when a long finger slid my bra down and warm perfect lips latched onto my nipple.
“Kyle! You’re trying to get me fired. I can’t do this right now.”
He lifted his head long enough to ask, “If you get fired, would you be able to collect unemployment?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t pay my bills.” No response came because he moved to my other breast, sucking my nipple over the bra.
“I’ll make you a deal.”
“No. No more deals. You’re a con artist.” His head popped up and an electric smile lit his face. Those pale blue eyes sparkled in the morning daylight. “What?”
“Con artist? I like that title.” I released a long groan out of frustration. Did this man ever get annoyed, angry, or even insulted? Unfazed, he continued, “If you manage to create something my staff likes, I’ll hire you.”
“Hire me? Are you insane?”
“Nope. Think about it. I’m offering you a golden ticket out of Asshole-ville.”
I shoved him with all my strength, causing him to land beside me with an umph. “You dick!”
“What?” he asked, amused at my outburst. “I told you I’m a man with a plan.”
“You’re fucking me, Kyle. That’s the only reason you’re offering me the most demented plan I’ve ever heard.” I huffed my way off the bed to resume getting dressed.
He pulled himself up and stood a foot away in all his naked glory. The space that separated us felt like a magnetic force field. I had to stop myself from catapulting my body onto his and maybe even sliding down him while dragging my lips over every dip and valley until I was on my knees.
This man could flip a switch in me like no other. It felt extremely foreign, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it. All I knew at that moment was I couldn’t give in to him. No matter how much I wanted to.
A devious expression crossed over his face. “Okay. I’ll drive you home.”
Narrowing my eyes suspiciously, I asked a stupid question. “Why don’t I trust you?” A million other questions raced through my mind. Should I? Was this his way of having the upper hand? Was I reading too much into our arrangement? Was I passing up an amazing opportunity?
He raised both hands, palms up, and shrugged. “Honest. No tricks. We’ll pick up breakfast on the way to your place.”
“But I’m all the way down in SoHo and we’re uptown.”
“So?”
I heaved a sigh and shook my head. “And then you have to drive all the way back up and over to Queens.”
“And?”
There he continued to stand, naked and sexy as fuck, failing to understand my point. It should have been an awkward moment. Kyle’s cock sticking straight out, practically winking at me. Me with one pant leg on, one off, one boob in, one out. But when he closed the distance, kissed me, smacked my half denim clad ass, and said, “Be ready in five,” it felt normal.
“Miss Monroe!”
“Fuck off,” I mumbled while grabbing my notebook and pen.
Kyle managed to get me to work with ten minutes to spare. Having been there only an hour so far, all I kept thinking while typing up his stupid meeting notes was, I should have called in sick.
Thank Christ, he was scheduled to leave this Thursday for ten days. But the days leading up to his departure were the absolute worst. Today’s errands consisted of going to the dry cleaners and Bloomingdale’s for a new navy tie because his old one was a casualty of Russian dressing yesterday. But, the pièce de résistance was going to Duane Reade for a new nose hair trimmer. Granted, as gross as that was it was better than staring at the coarse black strand that hung out of his nostril.
After I finished transcribing his notes, following a few more orders, and fetching another cup of coffee for his lazy ass, I headed out.
As I stood in the drugstore staring at the various types of nasal weed-wackers, Kyle’s words telling me to call in sick again played over and over in my head. The man was right; I should have faked the flu. Maybe I should go stand in the cough syrup aisle and have someone share their germs with me.
My phone vibrated and my first thought was to ignore it. For all I knew Mr. Boyd needed me to schedule a waxing appointment for him. With a huff, I plucked my phone from my handbag. Thankfully, it wasn’t Mr. Asshole but instead Mr. Flirt.
“Hi, Kyle.”
“Hey, gorgeous. How’s your day?”
I looked at what was in front of me before answering. “Just fabulous. Do you know much about nose hair trimmers?”
“Um… wouldn’t you rather use tweezers?”
“Oh my God! It isn’t for me, you jackass.”
Kyle let out a laugh. “Whom else would you buy nose hair trimmers for?”
“My boss. Ugh. I told you my job sucked.” Not wanting to discuss the grooming habits of my boss, I changed the subject. “How’s your day?”
“Much better than yours, except it’s unproductive. I’m sitting at my desk and all I can picture is your naked body lying on it.” He sniffed. “I can still smell you.”
The lower half of my body clenched at the memory. “That is a much better visual than what I’ve had to endure today.”
“See, you should have listened to me. It’s not too late, you know. Don’t go back to your office.”
“What part of I need my job don’t you understand? Do you think I’d be running bullshit errands all day for Mr. Boyd-Who-Annoyed if I didn’t need to? There are so many other things I could be doing right now, but those things don’t pay me.”
“I’d pay you.” My nose crinkled, not that he could see it. When I didn’t reply, he said, “Not to fuck me, to work for me. I’m not that big of a prick. Hell, I’m not a prick at all. Don’t confuse me with Soren.”
I laughed. “Yes, I know. But, working for you while fucking you is a major conflict of interest. Plus, what would your other employees think about you hiring someone without a modicum of the necessary experience or education?”
“As far as my other employees, I’m the boss and won’t be questioned. As far as your other concern, I’m not going to stop fucking you, so…”
Before he could continue, my phone dinged. “Hold on, Kyle. I’m getting another call.”
“Yes, Mr. Boyd?” What could he possibly need now?
“Miss Monroe, when you go to the pharmacy, please pick up some motion sickness pills and also some diarrhea medication. You know how I always get the runs while I travel.”
I may have just thrown up in my mouth. “Yes, sir. It’ll be a bit since I just left there.” A lie, but it would buy me more time out of the office.
“Fine. Just make it quick.” He hung up.
“Asshole.”
“What did I do now?” Kyle’s voice startled me.
“Oh.” I let out a laugh. “I forgot you were on the other line. That was my boss, I need to pick him up medicine so he doesn’t get the shits while he’s in Paris.” This time Kyle was the one who remained silent. “Anyway, I should go.”
“Nessa, are you sure you don’t want to take the rest of the day off?”
“I can’t. Mr. Boyd is going away in a few days, so I’ll get a break then. For now, I’ll grin and bear it.”
“When do you want to come and play in the lab? I’d love to smell what you would create.”
Why he thought I’d make a good chemist or perfumist was beyond me. Did I dare tell him I almost set our lab table on fire in class when I overheated an experiment? Nah, I’d let that slide. “Soon. Maybe when my boss is out of town I’ll be able to take some time and come over.”
“Or, you could come over tonight. I’m getting some new oils in and we can test them out.”
My phone beeped again. “Ugh, shithead is calling me again. I’ll talk to you later.”
Once back at the office, things didn’t get any better. I sat at my desk and stared at the picture of my girls and me at Brae’s wedding. What a day that was. Thankfully, this picture was taken before my hair was messed up and full of hay. That memory made me smile.
Our dresses were gorgeous, as were the bouquets we were holding. If I thought back, I could still smell the flowers. Maybe Kyle was right and I would have a knack for combining scents. I set the picture down and went back to typing a proposal for my boss.
Kyle began to take residence in my brain. It wasn’t something I was comfortable or familiar with. His whole plan of sex with no strings still made me a bit nervous. Especially since the man had no clue how to follow rules. Truth be told, I didn’t mind spending the night at his place. His bed was like sleeping on a cloud where mine was like sleeping on this desk.
When I glanced at my phone, it was time to call it a day. Thank, Christ! I shutdown my computer, slung my purse strap on my shoulder, and was just about to leave when I heard, “Miss Monroe!”
Fuck me.
What the hell could the man possibly need now? An enema? I pushed my chair in and walked over to his office. “Yes, sir?”
The jackass grinned at me. “Were you leaving?” He glanced at his gaudy gold watch. “It’s not even five yet.”
When I looked at my phone, it read 4:58 p.m. Prick! “Did you need something?”
“Yes, can you please make me a dinner reservation for tomorrow night at that French restaurant I like? I need to take my lady out to dinner since she’ll be missing me.”
“Of course.” Who in the hell would go out with him? It must be a gold digger. God knows she wasn’t dating him for his looks or personality.
“Then you may go afterward.”
I almost saluted him, but it would have been with my middle finger. Instead, I smiled and walked away. Kyle was right. I should have called in sick.