Chapter Eight

Cole sat at his desk and tried for the millionth time to clear his head. It was bad enough when he’d spent the whole night tossing and turning and fantasizing about having the gorgeous redhead in his bed, but now he was at work, and he couldn’t get thoughts of her out of his mind.

She’d been stunning at the party. More than stunning, but it wasn’t the picture of her in the gorgeous dress that kept running through his mind. No, it was the mental image of her wearing those ridiculously frayed, black, cotton shorts and the white shirt that she’d worn to bed. She’d tiptoed down in the middle of the night to get a glass of water and never even noticed him sitting in the armchair in the corner of the living room. He’d only gotten a glance at her, but it was enough to see her unrestrained breasts pressing against the fabric of the shirt.

Instant erection.

He’d gone in to the office on Sunday just to get away from her, and here it was Tuesday, and he still couldn’t get the sight of her out of his head. He’d wanted to press his mouth to the white fabric of her shirt and tongue her until the shirt was transparent around her nipples. He wanted to rip the shorts down and press his hands between her legs and see if she was as wet as he was hard.

“Mr. Parker?”

Biting off an oath, Cole straightened as his secretary knocked hesitantly on the door. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I think there’s something wrong with the intercom on my phone. I couldn’t get through to you.”

There was nothing wrong with her phone. He’d just turned his off to keep from being disturbed. “It’s fine. What do you need?”

“Garret is here to see you.”

Of course he was. Cole wanted nothing more than to turn the man away, but he was their press release manager, and they needed him now more than ever. He’d heard that Wiltshire was sniffing around the engagement party, no doubt trying to find some dirt on them to take to the press. Nodding, he motioned with his hand for her to let him in.

Garret Mason, the unofficial Parker brother, was Blake’s age, and a teenager from the wrong side of the tracks when he’d stolen from Blake. Rather than turn him in to the cops, Robert Parker took him in as the one and only act of charitable kindness of his entire life. Cole always suspected that Blake was the driving force behind Robert’s decision to be Garret’s benefactor. He and Garret were thick as thieves, and for a while, Cole was as well.

It wasn’t until Robert told Cole that there would never be a position for him at Parker Industries and hired Garret, that the growing rift between the two men split wide open. Garret hadn’t known, and for that, Cole tried not to hold it against him, but some things were just hard to let go.

Robert had seen potential in Garret but not in his own son. How was Cole supposed to feel about that?

Garret walked into the office and closed the door. “You left before I had a chance to thank you,” Garret said quietly.

Cole cocked an eyebrow. “Thank me for what?”

“For stopping by the party. Lisa said you brought a girl with you. I would have liked to meet the woman who finally captured your attention.”

“You’re not here to talk about Dana,” Cole said darkly. He didn’t want to talk about her. “And you’re not here to talk about the party, so why don’t you just cut to the chase?”

Garret pulled out his phone and sat it on the desk. Curious, Cole picked it up and immediately grimaced. In one of the society blogs, there was a picture posted of him and Dana. The caption commented that he was whisking his mysterious girl away for a weeklong cruise and insinuated that his vacations meant more to him than the business. “Please tell me that you’re not going on a cruise right now,” he growled.

“I am, but it’s not what you think.” Cole handed the phone back to him. “There are several business contacts that are going to be on that cruise, and they’ve proven difficult to reach in the past month. I’ve got some ideas that I’d like to share with them. Having Dana along makes it easier for me to explain my presence.”

“What business associates?”

“The CEOs of Hoag International and King’s Packaging will be there.” It wasn’t a lie. There were several high rollers on the cruise, but they were the only two that Cole would even consider doing business with. Not that he really had anything to say to them. They were just his cover in case someone like Garret questioned his sudden trip on the cruise. “Besides, I promised Dana that I’d take her away since I’ve been so busy lately.”

“This is not a great time for you to take a vacation.”

“You’re getting married.”

“First of all, I’m not getting married right away,” Garret said sharply. “And I’m not a Parker brother.”

Cole cocked his head and stared at his old friend. “Aren’t you, though?” he asked quietly. When he’d been fifteen, he’d jumped out of the tree house after Blake and Garret to prove that he was just as brave as they were. He’d landed on a rock and busted his knee, and it was Garret and not Blake who had helped him back to the house and hollered for someone to take him to the hospital. Blake had just laughed. “At least my father thought so.”

The last part was said in bitterness, and Garret briefly closed his eyes. “Cole, I wish things could be different between us.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

There was a beat of silence before there was another knock at the door. “Enter,” Cole barked.

Jeanine stuck her head in again with a pained look on her face. Too late, Cole realized he never turned his intercom back on. “I’m sorry to interrupt again, but there’s a woman claiming to be your girlfriend here. I was going to call security, but she’s saying that things might get a little ugly if you don’t let her in. What do you want me to do?”

“By all means, let her in,” Garret said with a grin. “I’d love to meet Cole’s girlfriend.”

“Christ,” he muttered. What the hell was Dana doing here?

Without waiting for an invitation, Dana blew past Jeanine and gave the pretty woman a frosty look. “Is it really so hard to believe that I could date someone like Cole?” she demanded. “Why do you people look at me like I’m chopped liver? I have a lot going for me!”

Oh hell. Something had gotten Dana riled up, and Cole didn’t want to see that famous redhead temper of hers go off like it had at the coffee cart. “It’s my fault, sweetheart,” he said hurriedly. “I don’t talk about you much here. You’re too much of a distraction.”

He rose from the desk and hurried over to her with the intention of walking her out of the office. Jeanine was glaring at Dana, and when he put an arm around her waist, she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him close. Rising up onto her tiptoes, she pressed her lips to his. It was quick, close-mouthed, and far too chaste, but it stirred something urgent and powerful in Cole. Pushing him away, she whipped her head around to his secretary. “You can go now. I’d like some alone time with my boyfriend.”

“What the hell is going on with you,” Cole muttered under his breath as Jeanine stalked out and closed the door.

“Are you kidding me? She took one look at me and decided that I was trash. Cole, I’m tired of being…” Her voice trailed off when she realized that they weren’t alone. “Oh! Mr. Mason. I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize that you were here.”

Garret got up and stretched out his hand. “Call me Garret. Do we know each other?”

Groaning inwardly, he watched as her cheeks grew hot with embarrassment. Garret narrowed his eyes. “Wait, I know you. You used to have curly hair, right? Dana something or other? Didn’t we just fire you?”

Pinching Cole hard, Dana glared at him. “See? Some people remember the help!”

Garret stared at them. “What is going on? Are you two really dating? Weren’t you the one who had her fired?”

How was he going to explain this to Garret? He opened his mouth, hoping that a decent lie came out, but Dana put her hand on his chest to stop him. “It’s my fault. I wanted to spend some more time with him, so I got the job without him knowing, but my boss wasn’t my biggest fan. We butted heads, and then she publicly pinned her mistake on me and forced Cole’s hand. I really wish he’d let me quit. I really wanted one of those public you can’t fire me! I quit moments, but my relationship with Cole is more important than the job, so I went quietly.”

Cole was rather impressed. That was a pretty decent explanation. He may have to pay her a bonus when this was all over with.

Garret cleared his throat and nodded. “Obviously life with you is never boring. I’ll just let myself out. Dana, it was wonderful to meet you.” This time, he did shake her hand and took a moment to kiss the top of her hand. Even though Cole knew that Garret was head over heels for his fiancée, he still felt a streak of jealousy. When the door closed, leaving him alone with Dana, he rounded on her.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Are you kidding? I’ve been trapped in your condo for three days. I had to sneak out and hail a cab just to get here. When I agreed to this, I didn’t think I’d be a prisoner!”

“You’re not a prisoner,” he growled. “You can go wherever you want. You just need to call Lee to come get you.”

“And how was I supposed to know that? Every time I try to leave, the doorman at the front tells me that he’ll get whatever I need. You left no instructions. The only books in there are textbooks, and I can’t figure how to turn on the television. I’ve cleaned your whole penthouse three times, and it was already clean to begin with. I went back to my apartment to get my plants so at least I’d have some company. I seriously considered knocking on the doors of the people living below us just so I could have someone to talk to!”

Something in him snapped. Grabbing her, he hauled her up against him and brought his head down for a searing kiss. It was meant to punish, to warn her of what would happen if she pulled another stunt like this, but the moment his mouth touched hers, he forgot everything except for the way she felt pressed against him. Her curved body molded against him, and she shivered as his thumb stroked the back of her neck. A small moan escaped her, and he took the opportunity to invade her, sweeping his tongue inside to get his first real taste of her.

Fuck me. She was sweet and warm and more than willing as she melted in his arms. The bruising kiss became something more real and far more dangerous. His whole body responded to her, his gut tightening and his cock hardening as he walked her to the wall and pressed harder against her. When her leg rubbed up against him, he groaned and wrapped his hands beneath her round ass and lifted her until he could nestle his erection against the apex of her legs.

“Lift your shirt,” he demanded hoarsely. “I need my mouth on your breasts.”

Inhaling sharply, she grunted and pressed her hand to his chest to stop him. “Wait. Wait, it’s too fast, Cole. We can’t do this.”

Suddenly, he realized that he had her pressed against the wall in his office. If she’d been wearing a skirt, he’d probably already be sheathed inside her.

What the fuck was wrong with him? Immediately, he released her and stepped back. She dropped to the floor and almost fell, but when he reached out to help her, she shrank away from him. “I’m sorry,” she babbled. “I just…”

“Compose yourself,” he growled harshly. “I’ll tell Jeanine to call Lee to take you home. I’ll make sure he’s at your disposal for the rest of the week so we don’t have this problem again.”

Unable to trust himself to be near her again, he stormed out. Not wanting to cause a scene in front of his secretary, he willed himself to control his anger. Nodding curtly to her, he asked her to call Lee. When she picked up the phone, he headed to the executive elevators and went all the way down. He didn’t stop until he was outside, breathing in the fresh air. Only then did he finally admit that he’d made a huge miscalculation in hiring Dana.

Beneath the sweet mouth and innocent eyes was a seductress powerful enough to take even him down.