Brighton

 

Nicole picked me up at noon and drove me to Alex Burton’s office in the sky.

While The Bennett Corporation was housed in the historical district of San Francisco, Burton Corp was modern all the way. The building itself was nothing more than a heap of sharp asymmetrical lines that rose towards the clouds like a beacon of superiority. I didn’t like it at all.

Perhaps it was my guilt talking. I hadn’t told Ryland I was coming here because I had a feeling he wasn’t going to be pleased with this development.

We signed in at the front desk and rode the elevator all the way to the top floor. The interior was filled with squeaky clean glass and chrome at every turn, and I was afraid to touch anything for fear of leaving a fingerprint. I remembered thinking how Ryland’s building was fancy inside, but it wasn’t nearly as pretentious as this.

Three immaculately groomed receptionists greeted us as we stepped off the elevator and offered us a drink. I accepted a bottle of water graciously as my lips started to stick together.

My foot bobbed up and down while we took a seat and waited. It had been a while since I’d worn heels, and it felt a little strange. I was also wearing one of Ryland’s favorite dresses. White with a flared waist. It was the only stylish dress I had that fit my growing belly. Since I’d been pregnant, I’d been shopping for comfort, not style.

Nicole was wearing a Valentino business dress, looking cool as a cucumber. I didn’t know how she managed to stay so calm when my palms were sticking together.

“Quit fidgeting,” she whispered. “It’s going to be fine.”

“I just keep thinking maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” I said. “Don’t you think it’s weird that Ryland’s competitor has taken a sudden interest in our foundation?”

“He’s a philanthropist.” She shrugged. “Who cares what his reasons are as long as he donates to the foundation and spreads the word.”

I didn’t share the same confidence. But I didn’t have any more time to think it over because one of the receptionists appeared in front of us with a smile.

“Mr. Burton is ready for you now.”

She ushered us down the hallway and into his office. It was huge and completely ostentatious. The walls were a deep mahogany color, and they were filled with awards and photographs of Mr. Burton and some very notable faces.

When I swung my gaze to the real life version, I was surprised to find he didn’t really look at all like I’d imagined him. He was tall and lean and had dark appraising eyes and jet black hair. He oozed charm and sophistication, and his features were carefully schooled to reflect that, even as his eyes trailed over my body.

I suddenly felt very much on display.

“Please.” He gestured to the chairs opposite his desk. “Have a seat, ladies.”

Nicole and I both sat, and I wrung my hands together in my lap as he continued to watch me. It might have been paranoia, but I swore he hadn’t even glanced at Nicole yet.

“Miss Valentine.” He smiled. “It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve heard great things about you.”

“You have?” I blinked.

“Of course.” He tilted his head back in laughter. “San Francisco is really just like a small town when you take into account this industry. I would have poached you myself if I wasn’t certain that Ryland had no intention of letting you slip away.”

I shifted in my seat and gave him a weak smile. His words were friendly, charismatic even, but I wasn’t comfortable with him talking about Ryland. And I wasn’t dumb enough to believe that my credentials were in high demand. Nicole must have felt the same tension because she brought the subject around immediately.

“Thank you so much for meeting with us to discuss our foundation, Mr. Burton. We are so very pleased that you’ve taken time out of your busy schedule for this.”

“Yes, well…” He tapped a pen against his oak desk and leaned back in his chair. “We’ll get to all of that. First, I want to know something.”

He was looking at me. I swallowed and glanced at Nicole. She gave me an encouraging smile like all of this was normal.

“What would you like to know, Mr. Burton?” I asked.

“What I’d like to know is…” He leaned forward with a charming grin. “If you’d share one dance with me at the charity gala next week?”

My cheeks flushed, and I couldn’t hide it. Was he flirting with me? Surely he could see I was pregnant. It was blatantly obvious.

He held up his hands in a placating gesture as if sensing my discomfort. “Just a harmless dance,” he assured me. “I’ll be honest in saying that while I do appreciate a good charitable function now and again, they need to be beneficial for me as well in some way. And me being connected to your charity is good publicity.”

I didn’t see how those dots connected in his mind, but I didn’t really understand these things. Ryland was also forced to attend some events he’d much rather not because he said it was good for business. So I didn’t see the harm in having one dance at a public event with this man, even though Ryland was going to hate it.

“Okay,” I relented. “I guess that could be arranged.”

“Perfect.” He grinned. “Once that’s accomplished, I’ll be more than happy to make a rather sizable donation to your cause.”

“Thank you so much, Mr. Burton.” Nicole bobbed her head in excitement. “We really appreciate this opportunity to have you attend one of our events.”

He looked at me again and winked. “Believe me. The pleasure is all mine.”

 

***

 

Three days had passed since my meeting with Alex, and I still hadn’t told Ryland about it. I hated hiding things from him, but everything was going so well I didn’t want to ruin it.

The charity gala was on Saturday, and Nicole and I were out shopping for dresses. There wasn’t a large selection of maternity wear that I liked, and everything seemed to cling to my body too tightly. I grumbled in frustration as I shoved another silky gown back onto the rack.

“What about this one?” Nicole held up an emerald green dress.

I wrinkled my nose in response. Everyone always told me I should wear green because of my red hair, but it was so not my color.

“Well, I’m afraid that’s the last suggestion I have,” she said. “Should we try another store?”

I nodded, and we walked back out onto the street. There was a man leaning against the brick building across the way reading a newspaper. Normally, I wouldn’t have even noticed, but I’d seen him earlier while Nicole and I were having lunch too. That was all the way over by our apartment.

“Didn’t we see him earlier?” Nicole whispered.

“Yes,” I grumbled.

“This has Ryland written all over it.” She shook her head. “He’s so paranoid something’s going to happen to you.”

While my first inclination was to agree with her, there was something different about this guy. Mick often wore suits, but they were department store fit. This one looked like it had been seamlessly tailored to this man’s body, and I knew his shoes were real Italian leather because Ryland had the same pair. There was something suspicious about it because he didn’t look like a bodyguard. I mentally catalogued it as something else I’d have to bring up with Ryland later as we continued on to the next store.

 

By the time we finally got back to the apartment, I was exhausted. Shopping with Nicole should have been considered an Olympic sport. I set down my bags and kicked off my shoes before I went in search of Ryland. I found him on his weight bench, pressing out reps like nobody’s business.

Good Lord, he was sexy like that.

He had the music up, so he didn’t hear me come in. For a moment, I just stood in the doorway and watched his biceps flex as he lifted the bar above his head. His entire chest stretched and pulled, rippling down his abs from the effort. They were glistening with sweat, and I had the strangest urge to rub all over him. Chalk it up to the hormones.

With any other man, it wouldn’t have been sexy. But Ryland in this state had my panties clinging to me already. My eyes roamed over the trail of hair that disappeared into his black fleece track pants. I could see the bulge of his cock from where I stood, even though he wasn’t hard. I was having a hard time tearing my eyes away from it when he looked up and caught me ogling him. I grinned and shrugged in embarrassment as he hit pause on the stereo remote.

He sat up and leaned forward on his elbows, rubbing a towel over his face before he smirked.

“What’s up, baby girl?”

I walked towards him and slid onto the weight bench in front of him, wrapping my legs around his waist and pulling his face to mine.

“Miss me?” he murmured against my lips.

“Every second of every day,” I answered.

He crushed me against his chest with a groan, pushing my dress up my thighs with strong warm fingers. “Do you want to take a shower with me?” he asked.

“No.” I shook my head adamantly. “I want you just like this.”

He groaned again and then nipped at my ear. “Such a dirty girl.”

He tried to lift me up, but I placed my hand in the center of his chest and pushed him back down. There was something about seeing him in this position- vulnerable to me- that I really liked. And I had every intention of exploring it.

His eyes flared when I leaned down and flicked my tongue over his nipple, tasting the salt on his skin. He made a strangled noise in his throat that sounded very much like approval, so I did it again to the other side.

“Put your hands behind your head,” I ordered.

He arched a brow at me and gave me that look. The one that told me he was always in control and I had no idea who I was talking to.

“Do it,” I said again.

“Someone’s bossy today.” He flashed me an arrogant grin as he reluctantly put his hands behind his head and watched me curiously.

I stood up and peeled off every scrap of clothing I had on, discarding it on the floor before reaching down to tug off his pants. His cock lay heavy against his belly, already pulsing with need as he watched me.

I sat between his legs and glided my hands up his thighs, teasing his balls with the pads of my fingers. Ryland’s eyes grew heavy with lust, and his cock jerked in excitement.

I climbed over so that I was straddling his body and rubbed myself against him. I was already soaked with arousal, and I glided over his hard flesh with ease, watching his eyes close and lips part as he instinctively bumped his hips up to greet me.

I didn’t let him inside. Teasing him, I positioned him right where I needed him for the maximum amount of friction. There was something incredibly erotic about sliding all over his body like this while he lay powerless beneath me.

His biceps flexed and twitched, an obvious sign he was struggling to maintain his control. Ryland’s nature was to take over and dominate everything, but I knew sometimes he liked it when I took that control away from him too.

I reached up and cupped my breasts, and his eyes darkened, growing hungrier by the second. I was moving faster against him now, sliding along his shaft and grinding my hips down onto his. I pressed my hands against his chest and rocked back and forth while he rolled his hips to collide with mine.

“Christ, you’re beautiful,” he grunted. “I could watch you do this all day, baby girl.”

His words sent me flying over the edge, and I closed my eyes as shudders wracked my body. Ryland grabbed me around the waist and pulled me forward, drawing my breast into his mouth with long, deep pulls.

I whimpered while he continued to grind against me, fondling my breasts like a man possessed. He really was obsessed with them, but I loved this newfound kink of his.

The next thing I knew, his cock was throbbing beneath me as he spilled himself across his belly. His lips found mine with a searing kiss before he sat up to hold me in his arms. I looked down at the red marks his ministrations had left all over my chest, and he just sat there with a guilty grin.

“Someone’s being very greedy lately,” I teased.

His eyes were already heavy with lust again, and I could feel him swelling beneath me in preparation for another round. We were a hot sticky mess, but I didn’t care. I pulled him against me and kissed my way up the hollow of his throat, tasting his salt and skin.

“I love you,” I murmured.

“Love you too.” He pressed his lips against mine. “So fucking much.”