Chapter Eleven

Hadley

The minute Blake’s lips hit mine, my body lit up and all of the hurt, anger, and confusion I’d been feeling for the past week melted into pure unadulterated lust. Talk about sensory overload! While memories of our night together danced through my brain, my mind screamed, push him away, you idiot, while my jacked-up hormones demanded I stay and finish the deed. God, this man knew how to kiss. Needing more, I arched deeper into the kiss. As if sensing my capitulation, Blake let out a sexy sounding growl. I whimpered in reply. What was it about this guy that made me lose all inhibition? His large, very capable hands grasped my ass, forcing a groan from my lips. My groan quickly morphed into a gasp when he lifted me off my feet. Instinctively, I wrapped my legs around his waist. A part of me recognized that this was a bad idea, but I couldn’t seem to stop.

“Yes,” I breathily gasped, when I felt the wall at my back and his very hard, very thick, erection rub against my core. The sensation against my clit was almost unbearable. Blake’s lips grazed a burning path up my neck. Need blazed through me as I tangled my hands in his hair and pulled him in deeper. More, I chanted over and over in my mind. All rationality scattered to the wind when his hips began to undulate in a slow, smooth rhythm. I was completely and utterly out of control. An orgasm began to percolate at the base of my spine and I knew it was going to be huge.

“Christ, you feel good,” Blake ground out. His sexy, growly voice, in addition to his porn-worthy hip thrusts, tipped me right over the edge. As I opened my mouth to scream, he slammed his lips down on mine, and the full force of the orgasm roared through me. It was so overwhelming that, had I been standing, it would have knocked me clean off my feet.

“I need inside you,” he panted against my lips.

“Yes,” I panted back, still riding the aftershocks of my orgasm. The second the word left my mouth, he dropped me to my feet and we both began to strip. I had my zipper down and was about to shuck off my pants when there came a knock at the door.

“What?” Blake shouted.

“Incoming!” a voice called out. It sounded like Zane.

Blake froze mid-strip, before letting out an angry, “Fuck!” His eyes jerked to mine and he shook his head, as if realizing he’d just made a colossal mistake. “Stall for five!” he shouted through the door. Turning back to me, he murmured in a low, regret-filled voice, “Damn, Hadley. I’m sorry. This was a bad idea.” My face flamed with humiliation. What in the world was I thinking? I’d just been given the fourth best orgasm of my life—fully clothed, no less—and was seconds away from having sex...in the office where anyone could walk in! Clearly, I’d lost my head.

“God, I’m sorry. I’m such an idiot,” I stammered, as I quickly put myself back together.

Suddenly, he was looming over me. “Look at me,” he whispered in an irresistibly soft voice. I lifted my eyes to his and found myself instantly trapped by his golden gaze. The man really was way too beautiful for his own good. My heart skipped a thousand beats when his lips turned up into a sinful smile. “I’m not sorry it happened,” he rasped. “I’m just sorry I can’t finish it.” Believe me, so was I.

“Blaaaaaaake, are you in theeeeeere,” an annoyingly high and very feminine voice called from the other side of the door. I watched his eyes close and his shoulders slump in defeat. So this was what incoming meant. Zane or whoever was trying to warn Blake. Nice. Yep, I was definitely the idiot. Before Blake sucked me back into his sexual orbit, something that was apparently very easy for him to do, I sidestepped over to the door and pulled it open. My heart twisted at the beauty that was standing before me. She was tall and super-skinny with long blonde hair and a nice fake rack—just how Blake liked them.

Smiling brightly, when inside I wanted to curl up and die, I said, “He’s all yours.”

“Hadley!” Blake called out from behind me.

“Who’s that?” I heard her ask before their voices were cut off by the closed door.

I’m the idiot who apparently can’t learn from her mistakes! I thought, as I made my way down the hall and into the kitchen.

An hour later, I was experimenting with my take on a yellow tail, seaweed, and avocado salad, while trying not to think of Blake and that woman, when Cat walked in. One look at her face and I knew something was wrong.

“What?” I asked.

“Are you okay?” she countered.

“Not really. What’s wrong?” I repeated.

“Zane’s called an impromptu all hands-on-deck staff meeting in two hours and wants a full menu tasting.” I gaped at her. Surely she was joking.

“Please tell me you’re joking?” I asked. She shook her head, and I panicked. “What? Crap! I’m not ready. I mean, I am but I’m not. Crap! He should have given more notice!”

“You can do this. Now, tell me what you need.”

“I need my staff. I need more time. I need my head examined. Shit, Cat!”

“I can give you the first. The others you’ll just have to do without. You’ve got this, Hadley,” she assured me.

After a few deep breaths, I whispered, “I’m good. I can do this.”

“I know you are and you can. I’ll send the girls back to help once they arrive. Kick ass,” she called out, before disappearing out the door.

“Shit,” I whispered. Then I got to it.

Two hours later, I stood in front of a roomful of people, some of whom I recognized, while others I’d never set eyes on, and presented my menu ideas. Zane, Hunter, Cat, Wayne, a woman I didn’t know, and Blake, were the taste testers. I was sick with nerves. I was used to cooking for my teachers but never for this big of a panel, and never with so little time for preparation. It didn’t help that Blake was there. I could feel his eyes on me. It also didn’t help that the gorgeous woman who interrupted us was also there and also watching me.

“This is divine!” Wayne exclaimed when he tasted my seafood mac and cheese.

“Shrimp?” Zane asked.

“Shrimp and crab,” I acknowledged.

“It’s good, but there are a lot of people with seafood allergies out there,” the mystery woman commented.

“I can make it without seafood,” I responded.

“I prefer the mousse cupcake,” Hunter said, spitting bits of cupcake all over the place.

“You’re supposed to taste the desserts last,” I scolded, trying not to laugh at the sight of Wayne as he wiped cupcake spittle from his glasses.

“Say it, don’t spray it,” Blake chastised, and I had to force myself not to look over at him.

“I’m not sure I like this seaweed salad,” mystery woman stated, her face screwed up in disgust.

“Who are you again?” I asked.

“Sorry,” Hunter told Wayne when he noticed him cleaning off his glasses.

Wayne replied with a blinding smile. “Oh, the things I could do to you with that cupcake,” he hummed in a sing-song voice. The look of horror on Hunter’s face was too funny, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “I think the food is absolutely divine,” Wayne added, shooting me a conspiratorial wink.

Realizing that he was trying to deflect attention away from Miss Negative who clearly didn’t like my food, I mouthed, “Thank you.” Wayne had just been elevated to my new best friend. I could see Blake scowling at us out of the corner of my eye and wondered what his problem was.

“Martha is a member of the hotel board,” Zane said, responding to my earlier question.

“I like the salad,” Cat haughtily announced, as if she was a food critic or something. “It has just the right amount of zest.” I had to give it to her, she was good. Too bad the salad contained zero zest.

Zane nodded his head in agreement. “Good zest, the salad stays,” he commented. Martha scrunched up her nose, but otherwise, didn’t say a word.

“I like yawo tail,” Hunter said, his mouth once again filled with food.

“MmmmHmmm, I like your tail,” Wayne sang, staring down at Hunter’s groin area. Hunter shot him a dirty look and Wayne responded by licking his lips in a slow, lewd manner.

“Wayne,” Cat scolded.

“I think the menu is solid,” Blake suddenly announced. “How about we move to the music?”

Blonde Barbie from his office stepped up beside him, and gushed, “I think that’s a great idea.” Blake caught me scowling at her and shot me a questioning look, which I ignored, of course. It wasn’t as if Cat hadn’t warned me about him. Still, having it shoved in my face every five seconds was beginning to grate on my nerves.

“So we’re all in agreement about Hadley’s menu?” Cat asked. The answer being a resounding yes, I could finally relax.

I was doing just that, while at the same time trying to ignore how Barbie kept brushing the side of her boob against Blake’s arm, when I heard Wayne call out, “I bet Hadley could do it!” Once again, all eyes shot to me.

“Do what?” I asked, clearly having no clue what they were referring to.

“Play for Patrice,” Wayne answered. Oh, God. Please tell me he did not just volunteer me to play the piano. And who in the world was Patrice?

“You play the piano?” Blake asked, his deep voice reflecting his surprise.

I started to shake my head, when Wayne screeched, “Does she play? She’s only the best piano player evah!” Shut up Wayne! I screamed inside my head. That’s it! I was officially denouncing my new best friend.

“Hadley played for you?” Cat asked. Oh God, please tell me this wasn’t happening. Two nights ago, when I thought no one was around, I sat down and played for a moment. One little, bitty moment. I didn’t see Wayne standing there until it was too late. He didn’t mention it, so I thought he might have missed it. I was wrong. Cat used to beg me to play for her. Her eyes swiveled from Wayne to me, and I could see the hurt in them. Dang it!

Glaring over at Wayne, while inwardly cursing his big mouth, I attempted to change the subject. “Who’s Patrice?” I asked.

“That would be me,” Barbie responded, wiggling her fingers at me. My eyes snapped to Blake and he shot me a knowing smirk. Barbie was an employee? Since when?

“Don’t you have a regular piano player?” Martha questioned.

“Yeah, where’s Saul?” Hunter asked.

“He had a family emergency,” Blake answered, still staring at me with that knowing look on his face. Okay, so possibly I’d misunderstood the situation.

Reluctantly accepting defeat, I focused my gaze on Barbie. “What song do you need played?” I asked on a sigh.

“Can you play “Save the Last Dance for Me?” she asked, the glint in her eyes betraying the falsity in the sugar sweet tone of her voice. Barbie clearly didn’t like me.

“Sure,” I muttered as I made my way over to the piano bench and took a seat. I slid off my shoes and flexed my toes before placing them on the pedals. “Nod when you want me to start,” I instructed. After a few minutes of super annoying throat exercises, she turned to Blake and blew him an air kiss. Maybe I wasn’t wrong after all.

“Begin,” she snapped. Oh, I was going to begin alright. Anger coursed through me as I counted out an opening beat and began to play. Barbie belted the first few lines of the song, and I had to admit, she was good. Her hand suddenly shot into the air and I stopped playing.

“Could you, like maybe, hit the correct tempo?” she asked, even though we both knew she was the one who was off tempo.

“Sure, Patsy, I’d be happy to,” I responded with an equally sweet smile. Her eyes narrowed at me and someone in the crowd coughed out a laugh. I was pretty sure it was Wayne.

We started again. After the first two lines, I slowly sped up the tempo. Instead of calling me on it, she also sped up. This happened a few more times. I sped up and she sped up. Pretty soon, we were racing through the song. By the time we hit the chorus, I was playing in warp speed and she sounded like one of the Chipmunks. When the song finally ended, no one said a word.

“Wow, that was just...someone please help me. I’m at a loss for words,” Wayne finally commented.

“Fast,” Hunter replied.

“Entertaining,” Zane mused.

“It was awful,” Barbie wailed, and burst into tears. Then she raced from the room. Of course, Blake went after her.

“I think it went rather well!” I exclaimed, and the room exploded into laughter.