CHAPTER 5
Blake
Immediately after work, I met my best bud, Jaime Zander, at my sports club, Equinox, for a game of racquetball. Jay-Z, as I affectionately called him, was a creative genius. He ran a very successful advertising agency—ZAP!—and had created the award-winning advertising campaign that’d launched SIN-TV. “Television so hot, your screen will sizzle.” In the process, we’d become friends, having discovered that we shared many of the same interests, including kinky sex. He had a few years on me, but that didn’t impact our friendship. The big difference was that he was now married and the new father to a set of twins. And I was still single. A player like he’d once been before meeting his gorgeous wife Gloria, the founder and CEO of Gloria’s Secret, the world’s largest retailer of lingerie.
Usually, I squashed him. But tonight I was distracted, off my game. I missed several easy-to-get shots and ended up losing to him big time in our series of rallies.
Removing my goggles, I wiped sweat off my brows with my wristband. My breathing was shallow. I was beat and defeated.
“You’re buying tonight, Blakester.” An enormous shit-eating grin crossed Jaime’s heated face. Tradition had it the loser always bought a round of drinks at the bar that was part of the upscale sports complex.
Over two overflowing mugs of Guinness, Jaime and I caught up on business. His agency was handling the video presentation for the upfront—the highly anticipated May event at which we presented our slate of new programming to advertisers.
“Why won’t Gloria buy time on the network?” I asked. I so wanted Gloria’s Secret to be one of our advertisers. I’d given Jaime my business; it was only fair Gloria gave me hers.
“You know Gloria. It has to be a good fit.”
Like my cock? I mused. I dared not say this, knowing how fiercely possessive Jaime was of Gloria. He couldn’t even take a joke.
Jaime took a swig of his beer. “She’s only interested in the female 18-49 demographic.”
Anchoring an elbow on the table, I ran my hand though my hair in defeat. It wasn’t happening. Hardly any women watched SIN-TV. After another gulp of the foamy beer, I abruptly changed the subject—kind of. It was still about Gloria.
“How did you know that Gloria was different from the other babes you’d been with?”
Jaime shot me a perplexed what-the-fuck look. “I just knew. When I met her, I swear my heart got a hard-on.”
“Was she your type?”
“Hardly. I usually went for petite brunettes.”
Gloria was a blond Amazon. A towering, golden goddess.
“What made her different?”
“The challenge. She was hard to get.”
Newly engaged Jennifer was impossible to get. “Doesn’t being married cramp your lifestyle?”
“Being married is my lifestyle. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I look forward to going to sleep with Gloria and waking up to her. I love every minute I spend with her and the twins. They’re the loves of my life.”
A smile lit up Jaime’s face. It always did when it came to Gloria and the twins.
“Doesn’t the sex get old?”
“Not with Gloria. It only gets better.”
“How did you know you loved her?” Kill me now. I was beginning to sound girly.
“On a plane ride. Extreme turbulence. I knew if we went down, I wanted to go down with her. I couldn’t live without her.”
Jaime had almost twice lost Gloria. Nine months ago, she nearly died giving birth to their beautiful twins. Before that, they’d both almost lost their lives when this crazy Russian creep threatened them at gunpoint at a gala. I happened to have been there last year. It was total life and death insanity.
Jaime furrowed his brows. “Blake, why are you asking me all these questions?”
I took another gulp of my beer. “Just curious.”
“Bullshit. You’ve met someone.”
I felt my cheeks heat and guzzled the rest of the beer.
“Come on, man. Out with it. Who is she?”
“Just some girl I met last night.” With a shrug, I tried to sound nonchalant while Jennifer’s face filled every crevice of my brain. My cock tensed just thinking about her. Her lips on my mine. Those fiery green eyes. That cute little ass, pert breasts, and those long legs that seemed to stem from her rib cage. I had bopped by her office a dozen times today under the pretense of seeing how she was doing. The truth: I just wanted to see her. She must have thought I didn’t trust her or was a micro-managing stalker. I wasn’t about to tell Jaime that she was my new hire. That I was her boss.
“What’s she like?”
“She seems nice.” Shit. Nice wasn’t part of my vocabulary. I didn’t do nice. I didn’t like nice.
“Nice?” Jaime burst into a fit of laughter and almost choked on his beer. “That’s so not like you.”
Jaime was well aware of my reputation for hooking-up with starlets and models. They were a dime a dozen in Los Angeles. Kirstens, Kristies, Krystals, Kieras. I couldn’t keep them straight. Most of them, looking to make it in the business, didn’t mind my modus operandi:
Find.
Feel.
Fuck.
And forget.
Especially about a relationship. But I couldn’t forget Jennifer. She wouldn’t let me. I was going to see that pretty face every day for as long as she worked for me.
“Did you at least get her number?” asked Jaime, catapulting me out my mental ramblings.
Yeah, I have her number.” I twisted my lips. “There’s one little problem. She’s engaged.”
“Does she have a ring?”
“Not yet.”
Jaime polished off his beer. “Then she’s fair game. And since you’re buying, we’re having another round.”
“What’s my next step?” I asked as the playful waitress took our order.
“It’s no different than business or a game of racquetball.” Jaime slid his index finger across his neck like a knife. “Eliminate the competition.”