Virginal Headlines: Love Between The Headlines

by Knoebel, Candace

  It infuriated me. Built a rage inside me that made my fingers itch to grab hold of his neck and snap it like a twig. Not for the marriage comment, but for the thought I’d do to Prim what he’d done to every single woman he’d married after Mom died. There were times I looked in the mirror, recognizing pieces of him reflected there.

  And that scared the fucking hell out of me.

  “Grayson.” Prim’s voice was so soft it was barely audible. Tucked so far into the couch she almost seemed invisible. She waggled her finger, beckoning me, then whispered, “Should I leave?”

  “No,” I said firmly, loudly. “I want you to stay. Witness his bullshit.”

  “An expose article could work in your favor as well, Grayson. You career would expand triple fold by writing about me.”

  “Absolutely not.”

  He cursed under his breath. “Damn it, Grayson. Must you always make everything so difficult?”

  I spun so fast his eyes popped wide. “And must you make everything about you?” I shouted. “You left her! Broke her faith when she needed you the most. And now you want me to help you clean up one of your bountiful messes?” My laughter raged with disbelief. “Leave.”

  He stood. Took a few steps forward, stopping beside me, his gaze pinned on the wall. His shoulders, always so stiff… so firm… bowed in. “Please, son. I will lose everything.”

  My chest vibrated with raw emotion. The wounds he left behind ripped clean open. The paper-thin years wedged between us, coated with his misdeeds. “Why should I care what you lose?”

  He sighed deeply, fingers trailing up to pinch the bridge of his nose. It was as if he were fighting his own personal demons and losing. I almost felt sorry for him.

  “Things… haven’t gone well as of late. My finances have taken a few hits. If she takes me to court, I’ll lose everything I’ve worked for. The team… it will be bought out from under me.”

  I looked over at him. “Why would you think I’d feel sorry for you after all we’ve been through?”

  “I know I’ve made mistakes. None of which I can take back. All of which were done in an act of selfishness. I know that now, even if it took me a long time to see it, but if you stood beside me. Helped clear up the story—”

  “You honestly think they’d believe me? The son who openly hates his father?”

  He didn’t even wince at the words. We were far past that.

  “That’s exactly why they’d believe it.”

  Everything I wanted to say clogged in the back of my throat. He was right. And it angered me to think so. If I were to help him, it would only add to his vantage. Make him credible.

  “Please.”

  One word I’d never thought I’d hear from him. One word I hadn’t thought he’d even learned how to use. And he’d said it twice in a matter of minutes.

  His gaze swam with desperation. An expression that didn’t fit his sharp, pointed features.

  Something inside me cracked, like a sidewalk splitting from new life. I didn’t want to help. Not one single ounce of me, except for a small sprout of a thing pressing through my chest where Prim had pried her way through.

  “And if I help you and you make a mockery of me by partaking in another affair, what then?”

  “There will be no other affairs.”

  I choked on his words.

  “After the divorce, I will not remarry.” His confidence was just a fraction. “As you well know, I’m not cut out for it.”

  My head shook as I glanced away from him, down to Prim still tucked into herself on the couch. There was a softness in her gaze. An openness, nudging me to embrace the chance.

  I looked away from him. “I’m sorry, Dad. I just… I can’t.”

  The anger that rippled over his face was red and hot. “Fine. If you won’t, then I’ll—”

  “I’ll do it.”

  It was Prim who’d spoken. “I can write the story for you.”

  “And just who are you?”

  “I work for Virago. You want a chance to clear your name, right? Then who better to write your story than a blog geared toward women? I’m incredibly good at what I do. And considering your issue is with fidelity, it would only help your cause to have a woman write on your behalf.” Prim was on her feet, marching toward us.

  Dad looked to me, an idea taking flight in his eyes. “You know, she may be right. Virago—a strong feminist blog—clearing my name.” His gaze fell onto Prim, a slow smirk worming across his lips. “All right. I’ll bite. I’ll give you the piece. I’ll have my people contact you.”

  Prim didn’t return the smile when she shook his hand. Her spine as straight as an arrow as words formed across her lips. “But let this be known, Mr. Pierce. Should you ever cheat on another woman again and I learn of this, the next piece I write will surely end you. I only hope you’re capable of learning from your mistakes. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

  My jaw was somewhere on the floor as she strode away, disappearing into the bathroom. More than likely to collect herself. I knew Prim, and that must have been hard for her, but damn was she sexy when she bit back. A lioness in the wild.

  “I can see why you like her,” Dad said with the faintest of smiles. “She has a spirit like your mother’s.”

  I tensed at the mention of my mom.

  “I’ll have my team contact her tonight.” He placed his hand on my shoulder in the most detached of ways. “You’re doing the right thing, son.”

  My teeth ground together. “I hope so.”

  And with that, he left.

  You’ve Got Gall

  “Prim?”

  It was Grayson. He knocked on the bathroom door, his tone hesitant and strained with worry.

  “He’s gone?”

  I couldn’t bear facing Mr. Pierce. Not after all I’d heard. Not after all I’d said.

  I didn’t know what came over me when I said those things to him. Strike that… I knew exactly where it came from, I just… I didn’t know I’d ever be able to say those things to a man like him. A man who used his power to buy his safety. It was men like him who were our biggest objective to overcome as women. Men like him Virago stood against… the very reason I wanted to work for them.

  And now I was supposed to write about him to protect him?

  The moment I realized what Mr. Pierce wanted, I knew I’d found a solution. One I couldn’t let slip.

  My thoughts swirled. How had it come to this? How had I found myself in Mr. Pierce’s clutches, right alongside his son? Write about Grayson and lose the potential love of my life or write about Mr. Pierce and lose what moral pride I took in my writing and in my career. A decision I didn’t know if I could stomach.

  A decision I’d have to stomach if I wanted to protect Grayson.

  “Yeah,” Grayson said, his voice pressed against the door. “I’m sorry you had to see all that.”

  I cracked the door open. Pulled him inside the bathroom by the collar of his shirt. His lips were against mine the moment we were near each other again. I felt his pain unwinding through his kiss. Heavy and dark. All those years, he’d been locked away in his heart, hiding from the monster that was his father. I understood now why Grayson found it so hard to commit. His fear that didn’t truly belong to him.

  He lifted me up. Sat me on the edge of the counter as our foreheads came together. “I don’t know why either of us agreed.”

  I moved a wayward strand of hair from his face. “Because he’s your father. No matter his discretions, that will never change, Grayson.”

  “Unfortunately.”

  “You know, her last words to me were for me to forgive him. That was her dying wish. And up until you, I’d never thought I could honor them. Up until you, I never thought I’d find peace.”

  My hands found his cheeks as I placed a small kiss to his nose. To his chin. To his lips. There was so much raw emotion warring in his maple gaze. Deep and harrowing. If I could… If I could just take an ounce of his pain away for him…

 
; He rested his forehead against my shoulder, holding me to him.

  “I just…” I chewed on my lip. “How can I write something that isn’t true? He just admitted he cheated. It goes against everything Virago stands for. I didn’t think it all through when I offered.”

  His hands gripped the counter next to my thighs as his head dipped down a little. “I know. Which is why it isn’t going to be written his way. If he wants your help, then he will have to do it your way.”

  “What do you—”

  His gaze caught mine. “He’ll have to rebrand his image. Publicly apologize. Put more focus into women’s foundations and such. If I know anything about my father, it’s that he will not lose what he doesn’t want to. He has safeguards in place. Back there, that was an act.”

  My eyebrows curved with confusion.

  “He needs this… yes… but as far as losing everything? That was a ploy to play on my sympathy. One that wouldn’t have worked if it hadn’t been for you.”

  His eyes found mine, the purest of emotion swirling in them. “Honestly, I wouldn’t trust anyone else to cover his story. Not when it will be touch and go.” A sly smirk spread across his lips. “Sleeping with the enemy has its perks, I suppose.”

  “Oh, so we’re enemies now?” Brushing him aside, I hopped off the counter. Moved over to the tub, turning the water on. “So, I guess, as established enemies, there must always be a line between us. One neither can cross.” Slowly, teasingly, I dragged a toe across the tile between us.

  He growled. Stepped right up to the edge of the line.

  “Ah. Ah. Ah.” I wagged a finger at him. “Stay over there, on your side.”

  Pain lanced across his face as I started with the hem of my shirt, pulling it up slowly, taking my time to expose every inch of my skin. When it was off, his growl deepened. Guttural and primitive. Next was my bra as I slowly slid the straps down my arms until the cool air greeted my nipples.

  “Prim,” he said through his teeth, his fists clenched by his sides.

  “Stay.” I slid my panties down. Picked them up and handed them to him. “A token of peace,” I said with a sly smile.

  Stepping into the tub, I slid my body into the water, the thrill of being watched tingling along my skin. Burning up my insides. I knew he wanted to take his time with me, but I was far past needing time. I’d given time twenty-three years of my life. And the truth was, I wanted him to see the only means of pleasure I had ever allowed myself before him. To let him in a little more.

  My hand slid between my legs as he stood there, watching. Waiting. My head tilted back as the waves of pleasure began to rise in the pit of my stomach.

  “Fuck, Prim.” Tension coiled in his words, just waiting to spring forward.

  My eyes opened. He was touching himself, too, and the sight of his body sent a spiking current down my middle. He was glorious. A rippled cavern of shadows and jagged edges. As his hand increased in pace, mine followed, my legs beginning to tremble, sending ripples through the water as I lost myself in him. For him.

  Within seconds, I was screaming out his name, eyes clenched shut as wave after glorious wave crashed over me. I heard a shuffle, then felt the water rise around me as he slid in with me. His hand moved between my thighs, fingers slipping slowly inside me, in and out, until he lifted his fingers and then sucked on them.

  “You taste like heaven,” he said, pulling me to stand. I welcomed his pain as my hand slid over his throbbing need. Up and down, tighter and tighter. I knew he was releasing everything he’d been holding in. And I wanted him to give it all to me. To use me as his purge. Tears swam in his eyes when his lips crushed mine. Hard, biting kisses that only made me want him more.

  Never had I ever felt passion as I did in that moment. And the pain that bridled so close beside it. Hand in hand, like twins.

  When he came, pouring onto the floor beside us, he clasped onto me, holding me tight to him. His face was buried in my shoulder as an outpouring of emotion released in his cry.

  “It’s okay,” I said, my fingers weaving through his hair as we tried to catch our breath. “I promise, Grayson.”

  I wasn’t ready to leave him come Monday morning. He agreed to ride with me to work. I was even able to point out the lady sitting outside her storage unit like clockwork.

  When I saw her, I knew everything would go the way I intended it to.

  “Are you sure about this, Grayson?” I asked as we stood outside my building. His hands were wrapped around my waist. Mine pressed to his chest. “I’ll have to tell Quinn everything.” Doubt crept up the back of my throat, pushing hollow laughter out. “Hell, I’m not even sure she’d allow me to write material that actually backed a notorious cheater.”

  His hands cupped my face, eyes twinkling with admiration. “If anyone can sweet talk the dragon, it’s you.”

  When I kissed him goodbye, I was on such a high I thought nothing could tamper with it. I was falling hard for a man the world had yet to scratch the surface on.

  Poppy stood in Brinley’s cubicle when I set my things down on my desk, laughing loud enough to bounce off the walls.

  “Hey, guys,” I said as I moved in. “How was your weekend?”

  “Brinley here had a taste of the D. And by taste, I mean…” Poppy lifted her hands in the air, bringing them in and out toward her mouth, mimicking the sacred act.

  “Poppy!” Brinley was instantly red. Bright as an apple. She shuffled papers, a mindless movement, as I waited for more.

  “So… is he the one?”

  “It was only the second date.”

  “And you boinked him?” Poppy shouted. “Not that I’m saying that’s wrong because women can fuck whomever they please, but you? Brinley shacking up on the second date? Whatever did your mother think?”

  “Ha-ha, very funny.” Brinley pushed Poppy out of her cubicle. “I knew I shouldn’t have said anything to you.”

  “Don’t be boring,” Poppy said with a pout. She spun on me. “How about you, little miss no call? Did you shack up with Lover Boy?”

  “Maybe.” I smirked when her already-frowning lips deepened in curve. She wasn’t going to pry anything from me. Some things needed to be private.

  “You two are no fun.” She plopped in her chair with her arms folded across her chest.

  After a few moments of silence, I faced her. I needed her if I was going to move forward. “Poppy… I’m not writing the piece.”

  Her face went blank.

  “I’ve got something better. Bigger.”

  Her eyebrow dipped.

  “Come with me.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward Quinn’s office, my heart drumming wildly against my chest. This could go one of many ways, and I wasn’t a fool to believe my way would actually be the outcome. But I had to try. For him.

  Quinn was on the phone when we appeared in her doorway.

  “Oh, yes. I heard. And we’re going to nail that bastard. How many wives has he had now?” she said into the receiver as she ran a nail file under her nails.

  My stomach did a hard, swooping plummet. I couldn’t let this story slip. It was my only way out.

  Laughter shot past her lips as a cold sweat pushed behind my skin. “One day, men will learn how to keep their dick in their pants. Unfortunately for his reputation, today is not the day.” She glanced up at us, then held up a finger. “Listen, I’ll call you later with an update on the article.” After hanging up, she peered up at us. “Yes?”

  “Don’t look at me,” Poppy said, her arms crossed over her chest.

  Quinn’s gaze moved to mine. “Do you have the article ready for publishing?” She glanced at the calendar suspended on her wall. “How many days are left?”

  “Seven.” I stepped into the office, barely able to hear my thoughts over my heartbeat. “But I don’t want to go forward with that story.”

  Slowly, almost lethally, her arms folded across the desk. “Come again?”

  I tried to swallow past the fear hoarding in my throa
t, but it was no use. “I have something better. Exclusive access to Alan Pierce’s story.”

  Her eyes widened, mouth parting.

  “I was with Grayson when his father came to his apartment yesterday morning.”

  Her mouth parted even wider. Wide enough to conjure heat behind my cheeks. It was there, unspoken in the air.

  I had dipped my toes into the land of sex.

  “He asked for Grayson’s help.”

  She snorted. “Of course he did. The pig. And I’m sure he’ll go running to Harrison with all the details.”

  “Actually, he refused. I was the one who offered to do the story.”

  “And that story is…?”

  “The true story. A reconciliation. Do you know how big it would be to cover his apology?”

  “Absolutely not.” Quinn slammed her hand down on the desk. “That goes against everything we stand for.”

  I took two steps forward, a fire lit within. “So you’d rather just give the story to Harrison then? Because that’s where he’ll take it if we don’t accept.”

  “Ooh,” I heard Poppy squeak behind me.

  The air froze the moment the words came out. My heart bucked against my lungs, blood filling with lead.

  She stared me down, chewing on my words. I held her gaze, refusing to give in even though my insides screamed to retreat.

  “Fine.”

  Air whooshed out of me. “Thank you so—”

  “But I want what you’ve written so far about the player piece. And all your notes. And I want the exclusive turned in on my desk by the end of the week. This story isn’t waiting for anyone.” She reached for a pen, twirling it in her hands. “You know, I underestimated you. You’ve got gall, Cherry.”

  “I’m not a cherry anymore.”

  A shadow of a smirk piqued at the corner of her mouth. “Are you in love with him?”

  I hadn’t really thought about that part of it. I knew what I felt for him was something I’d never experienced before. Something more real than any book I’d ever read.