Chapter Two
Liv
My skin prickles with desire as Mason’s last two sentences explode into a full envisioned fantasy. Before he has a chance to walk out of my office, I imagine his strong taut forearm muscles flexing as he lifts me up and slides my skirt over my ass. I desperately grab his zipper and free what is sure to be a rock-hard cock before he moves my panties to the side and slips inside me. It’d be easy…just his mere presence turns me on. I’d tightly grab onto his dark black hair that’s just long enough to slide my fingers through and clutch for purchase. The day-old stubble would scrape the softness of my skin as he kisses down my neck and fucks me against the barely tinted windows for the entire city to see. His long sleeve button up shirt would be easy to pop open so I could bite onto his shoulder to keep me from screaming so loud the whole damn office would hear. He’d look into me, through me, with his sinister chocolate eyes while his hips slammed into mine over and over and over and…
I shake my head, trying to rid myself of the thought. As hot as Mason Finn is and as tantalizing and seductive he is, I can’t ever cross that line. There are many times I’ve wanted to, but I’ve worked too hard to get this job and screwing my boss’ son is career suicide. I’d be labeled as the woman who tried to sleep her way to partner. No, Mason is off limits, and even it was an option, he is too much of a loose cannon. I’d have to tape his mouth shut. However, that doesn’t keep the butterflies from fluttering every time I see him. It wasn’t long ago I realized it wasn’t just a physical attraction I have for Mason. It was like I hated him one minute and the next it hit me how great of a guy he is when he thinks I don’t notice.
Settling at my desk, I pick up the day’s schedule, finally scrolling through it, and roll my eyes when I see “Evelyn Marx” written down under ten o’clock. Why my sister feels like she needs to make an appointment to see me by taking up a spot that potential clients could fill, I don’t have a clue. I slam the paper down and walk with purpose outside of my office. I halt in my steps when I see Mia Vale, another partner’s daughter, leaning over my assistant’s desk. What I only can describe as jealousy instantly consumes me. She and Mason are laughing, neither one of them noticing that I’m standing there.
I clear my throat, causing the blonde to jump back and stand at attention. Her eyes widen as she looks between Mason and me. He doesn’t turn around, but I can hear him chuckle.
“Is The Siren behind me?” he asks Mia, causing her eyes to widen even further.
The Siren. Yeah, I know they call me that. I take it as a compliment. A siren to me is someone beautiful but who takes charge. I’m sure they have other reasons for it, but I don’t care. That nickname gives me an arrogance of respect from them.
I step to the side of Mason’s desk. His eyes scan the side of my body – from my peep-toe pumps, up my legs and landing on my breasts. I feel my nipples harden under his perusal. When his eyes finally find mine, I’m so turned on that I forget why I came out here in the first place. How he can do that to me, I have yet to figure it out. Mia shifts, breaking the spell and I look at her.
“Mia.” I call her name, but I have to clear my now parched throat. “Mason has work to do.”
She nods, turning on her heels. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Awe,” Mason says in his deep menacing voice. “You scared her away.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “She shouldn’t be over here. Talk to her on your own time.”
He smirks. He fucking smirks before leaning in and asking, “Are you jealous?”
“No!” I sneer. “Why would I be jealous?”
Mason stands up. He’s tall. Over six feet and very intrusive over my five feet six. I have to lean my head back to look at him when he says, “Because she seems like competition to you.”
“Pssh.” I wave a hand at him, trying to even my voice. “There is no competition.”
“You’re right,” he whispers, his minty breath blowing across my ear. “I’d take you the minute you grant me access.”
I think he does it to get to me. Not once have I ever taken Mason seriously. He’s worked for me for about a year and at the beginning things were cordial. He was broody over the fact that his father didn’t just outright give him a job. There were days when he would barely speak to me, and then all of a sudden there was a shift. I had come into the office on the weekend to grab some plans I needed to work on before Monday, and he was here, helping his dad move some furniture around. I was wearing cut off shorts and a tight tank top. He stared at me so intensely that I thought my clothes were going to disintegrate right there on the spot. It didn’t help that my mouth watered at the sight of him that day. He looked casual. Fun. Carefree. I think that Saturday was when everything changed between the two of us. It was after that he started making inappropriate comments and I started fantasizing about him making good on them.
“Back up, Mason.” I weakly demanded.
He complies – barely – giving me just a few more inches of space. “Did you need something?”
I had to search my brain, wondering why the hell I came out here in the first place and interrupted their flirting session. He makes me lose all my concentration. I jut out my hip, placing a hand on it. “My sister. Why did she make an appointment? Why didn’t you patch her through when she called?”
He finally sits back into his leather chair, pushing the mouse around to wake up his computer. “Because you always tell her you are busy. She wanted thirty minutes with you, uninterrupted.” He smiles, turning to face me. His eyes take in my popped out hip, and he winks. “As would I.”
“Mason!” I scold. It’s like he can’t help himself.
“Anyway, you’ll just need to suck it up.” He raises a brow.
I emit a growl. “Fine, but after today she is not allowed to make an appointment unless she has bought a plot of land and now wants to place a building on it, got it?”
“Yes, sir!” He salutes me, earning him an eye roll.
***
I’ve successfully avoided Mason for the better part of the morning, burying my nose into the new dental office designs I’m working on. It’s not the most creative project I’ve worked on, but I can’t always get the best clients, and it’s been nice putting a spin on an otherwise mundane building.
At precisely ten o’clock on the dot my phone rings from Mason’s desk. “Oh, Livvy.” He draws my name out. “Your sister is here. Can I send her in?”
I push the button to respond. “Yes, please, and stop calling me that.”
A boisterous laugh comes from behind my door. I’m glad he thinks it’s funny. That cute little nickname started about a month ago, and I fucking hate it.
My sister walks in, looking more beautiful than I have ever seen her before. She is younger than me, but you’d think we were twins. If you look at us now, you wouldn’t see it but any given weekend or holiday when I’m not dressed up for work, you wouldn’t be able to tell us apart. Her long dark mess of curls cascade down her back, the left side pinned back by a beautiful clip. Unlike mine, her eyes are adorned with eyeliner and eyeshadow that make the green of her irises pop. While I’m wearing an uptight skirt suit, her body’s curves are being accentuated with a flowered sundress that hits just above her knees. Her French manicured toes on display between her strappy tan sandals. She looks carefree, and her smile shows me she has something to tell me.
I stand up from my desk, embracing my little sister in a hug. A squeal comes from her mouth as she pulls back and takes me in. “Liv! I’ve missed you.”
Laughing, I shake my head and sit down in one of the two seats in front of my desk. “You just saw me last week, Ev. It’s not my fault you missed family dinner this weekend because your boyfriend whisked you away to the Poconos.”
Her right leg crosses over her left as she takes a seat in the chair beside mine. “I know but it seems like forever, and I just have the best news.”
“Is that why you called Mason for an appointment?” I ask, raising a brow. “You know you didn’t have to do that?”
She crooks her head to the side. “Really? Then why didn’t you return my call yesterday? I needed to make sure I had your full attention.”
I smile. She’s right. I did send her to voicemail yesterday. “Well, you have it. Tell me your news.”
Her cheeks rise, teeth coming out on full display before she whips her left hand out and screams. “TREY AND I ARE GETTING MARRIED!”
My breath hitches and I almost go blind at the site of the rock that adorns her delicate finger. I muster up as much enthusiasm as I can and grab her hand. “That’s amazing, Ev! What a gorgeous ring!”
And it is, but that ring could have been mine. Not that I’d want to walk around with something that huge and looking overpriced but Trey was my boyfriend until three years ago. Until he wanted a housewife and not an architect wife. And until he told me we were done because of “creative differences.” Then two years later, he found someone who was willing to stay home, bear his children, and cook for him after a long day at work – my sister.
At first, I was mad. How could they both betray me like that? But was I really betrayed? He didn’t cheat on me. They didn’t do anything behind my back. How could I be mad if, now I realize, I didn’t really love him? We weren’t meant to be. While there is nothing wrong with being a stay-at-home wife and mother, it just was never something I wanted to do. Designing buildings was my dream, and if he loved me, truly loved me, he wouldn’t have asked me to change that.
“Is this awkward?” Evelyn breaks up my thoughts and stands. “Oh my God, this is awkward. Liv, I am so sorry.”
I follow suit, rising to my feet and bringing her in for another embrace. “No! No of course not. I’m so happy for you.”
She grips me tighter before pulling back to look at me. “Good! Because I want you to be my maid of honor.”
This gives me the first genuine smile of the day. “You do?”
She nods. “Of course I do. You’re my big sister. I want you by my side at the wedding. It would mean the world to me.”
“I’d love to, Ev!”
Clapping her hands giddily, she squeals again. “Okay! So, our engagement party is this Friday on The Spirit of Norfolk. Seven o’clock but you need to be there early for pictures.”
Furrowing my eyebrows in confusion I ask, “The Spirit of Norfolk? Evelyn, that books out months in advance. How are you able to get the Spirit on such short notice?”
Her face turns pink. “Well, Trey and I may or may not have been planning this for a while.”
“You’ve been planning what for a while?” I step back. Their entire relationship wasn’t hidden from me but now I feel like maybe I might have missed something. Something major.
“We’ve been engaged for six months.”
I gasp.
What the fuck?
“Six months?” I ask. “You’ve been engaged for six months and didn’t tell me?”
She shrugs, but it’s far from carefree. “We just wanted to wait. See if maybe you’d meet someone so we wouldn’t feel so bad flaunting our wedding planning in front of you, but we just couldn’t wait any longer.”
“I’m sorry.” My head shakes back and forth in disbelief. “I just don’t understand.”
“Well.” Evelyn starts, ignoring the fact that she just blew my mind, and not in a good way. “Trey proposed on Christmas while we were at his parent’s house. Everyone knows. We were waiting for the right time, and it just never came up. I honestly thought you’d get a boyfriend or something by now so you could have a date to everything.”
Anger surges through my body but I hold it down. I won’t give her the satisfaction of getting me upset. “I’ll have a date.” I blurt out without thinking it through.
Her eyes light up like she didn’t just tell me she, in fact, betrayed me the past six months. Hid her ring, hid her planning, and hid her lies! “You’re seeing someone?” she asks, almost in disbelief.
I stand tall, embracing the lie I just told. “I am.”
“Well, you never told me you were dating a guy!” She acts offended.
I point to her ring. “You didn’t tell me you were engaged.”
Evelyn giggles and starts walking toward the door. “Touché! I guess we both have our secrets.” With her hand on the doorknob, she looks back at me. “Bring him Friday. I can’t wait to meet him.”
With those parting words, she is gone, leaving me to drown in the bullshit she just dumped on me. I can’t believe they have been engaged since Christmas and didn’t bother to say anything. I never thought my sister would keep something like that from me, and to say it was because she was hoping I’d be dating someone. What kind of shit is that?
My throat suddenly dries up. A lump forming so large it’s hard to swallow. Now I need a date. I have four days to find someone willing to escort me to an engagement party for my sister and potentially for her wedding. I mentally go through the list of men I’ve casually seen over the past couple of years. Besides knowing that none of them would be on board with it, I don’t want to see them either. They are in the past for a reason. I just don’t think I have a choice.
One glance at my schedule for the day tells me that I have just over an hour before my next appointment. I take my cell phone off the charger and start scrolling through my endless list of contacts. Each time I come across a name of someone I think may be willing to do this for me I write down the name on a notepad.
Fifteen minutes later, I’ve compiled a list of just five names. I walk to the door of my office and close it so Mason doesn’t hear me begging. No, not begging, asking for help. While strong independent people don’t lie to their sisters so they don’t look like a loser, they do ask for help when needed. Or they could’ve just told the fucking truth.
Nevertheless, I take on the task of calling them one by one. Ticking them off as I go.
David is now married.
Jude has moved to California.
Victor, a friend from high school, has a girlfriend.
Steve has changed his number.
The fifth and final guy that I might have been able to convince to help me has joined the military and is now deployed.
After crossing off the last name on my “pretend to date me for the wedding” list, I let my head fall onto the desk. I’m so frustrated. This really sucks.
A few minutes later, I pick up my coffee cup, the contents now cold, and decide I need a walk to the breakroom for a fresh cup. I don’t normally drink anything caffeinated so close to the afternoon, but if I’m going to call my sister and tell her what a damn liar I am then I’m going to need all the energy I can get.
When I return to my office, I find Mason smirking at his phone. I should tell him that now isn’t the time to screw around but to be honest, I just don’t have it in me to get into it with him. Placing the cup of hot coffee on my desk, I take a seat and grip the list of guys in my hands, ready to roll it into a ball and throw it in the trash can but something catches my eye. It’s a sixth name – one that I didn’t add to the list myself…Mason.
Confused I look up to the doorway, finding my assistant leaning into it. When he stands like that, his hand in his pocket and looks like he has no care in the world, it does something to me. Butterflies begin to flutter in my stomach.
“Do you need something?” I ask not yet putting two and two together.
He points at the white sheet I hold in my hand. “I’ll be your date.”
I laugh. A loud, boisterous laugh. I take a timid sip of my coffee. “You’re crazy, Mason. That won’t work.”
He pushes further into the office. “Why not, Liv? You need a date, and I’m willing to do it on two conditions.”
“No.”
His head cocks to the side, his brown eyes looking amused. “I don’t see why not. I’m the perfect solution.”
I lean back into my chair. “How so? We hate one another.”
“That’s completely false, Livvy.” He counters, stepping closer to my desk. “I heard it all. You need a date for the engagement party and the wedding. With that, you also need someone believable. Someone who can’t keep their hands off you. Someone you are as attracted to as they are to you.”
This earns him an even bigger laugh. “Okay, Mason. Now you’re not only crazy but you're delusional. I am not attracted to you.”
I don’t move as he walks around my desk, situating himself behind me. A shiver runs down my spine when he whispers in my ear, “God, Liv. Every time you walk into view I get so fucking hard. If you ever gave me the opportunity I would destroy your pussy with my tongue.” He licks my ear. “And with my cock. You’d be ruined.”
My chest heaves up and down. His fingers begin to untwist my bun. He grabs a handful of hair and continues. “You’re trembling. Tell me I’m wrong. Say it won’t work.”
I can’t disagree. He’s right. Despite our arguing in the workplace, I know that out in public we would be believable. “Okay.”
Startling me, he stands up straight and begins to exit my office. “On two conditions.”