Just as the doors closed a hand shot out attached to a beautiful man with wavy caramel hair and sparkling green eyes. He looked vaguely familiar in the way that really gorgeous guys tend to and I couldn’t look away for even a second. He was hot as hell with a smile that held all kinds of erotic promises, but he also looked like a guy who knew his appeal and took full advantage of it. He probably wasn’t cruel as some were, or even mean, but careless all the same. And really nice to look at.
“You know, if you take a picture it’ll last longer.” His deep voice startled my own erotic thoughts and I chanced a quick look at the man beside me rather than his reflection and dammit the man was even hotter up close. And more familiar. “Nah. Pretty sure I’ll remember a face as pretty as yours.”
His amused laughed bounced off the walls of the elevator and I turned my gaze back to the doors, mentally going over a few points I wanted to remember before my meeting. “Do we know each other?”
I resisted the urge to groan at his tired pickup line but I did laugh, because he was way too hot for that. “Are you really using that line on a chick you met in the elevator?”
“I’m serious. You look familiar but different if that makes sense.”
It didn’t and I put him on the backburner as my phone buzzed and a message from my twin brother Lukas popped up.
Just found out who else is trying to buy KBBM. Walker Titus, we went to college together. Remember him? LS
Hell yes I remembered the handsome jerk who’d had two girls on his arm the weekend I met him. Since Lukas and I attended different colleges, we didn’t have the same circle of friends and I’d only visited a handful of times. Walker had been a beautiful, charming player who didn’t take anything seriously. I turned to study his features again and just like that they all familiarized in my mind. His hair was a little shorter, his skin a little more tan and the clean cut look had been replaced with a manicured beard. “Walker Titus.”
He smiled down at me, a sparkle in his eyes. “We do know each other. I rarely forget a face.”
“Just the names attached to them?” He laughed again, green eyes still trying to identify me.
“Something like that, but I’d have remembered if we slept together.”
“We didn’t. But you were the first person to hold my hair while I tossed my cookies into a dorm toilet.” Not my finest moment, but it was the most memorable of our three meetings.
“Holy shit. Lacey Sayers,” he said, his gaze like a caress up and down my body. “What a stunner you turned into!”
“I…what? Thanks.” I hated that he flustered me because what I knew of Walker was that he’d use it against me, and now that we were officially opponents for KBBM I needed to be careful.
“It’s true. Last time I saw you I recall a curly afro like thing on your head and baggy jeans with a shirt that was at least two sizes too big for you. This…I approve.”
I laughed. “Then I can now die a happy woman.” His laughter shouldn’t have been as sexy as it was, but dammit I loved a man who could laugh.
“Seriously. I’m happy Lukas sent you.” Instantly my hackles rose. Not that I wasn’t used to men underestimating me, I was because in the corporate world it was one of their favorite past times.
Still I was ready to tell Walker off. “Why?”
“Because I would have wiped the floor with Lukas. He’s smart as hell but a shit negotiator. I think you’ll be a much bigger challenge.” His words said he meant it more than in the professional sense, and the fact that it pleased me should have been a warning sign.
But I was having too much fun with Walker and his flirty banter and it needed to stop. He was the enemy and the last thing in needed was a conflicted romance like my brother had with his fiancée Poppy. “Good answer.”
“Thanks,” he said, voice filled with amusement.
“Too bad I’m still going to have to wipe the floor with you.”
He laughed and his shoulder brushed mine as the elevator doors slid open. “Looking forward to it, Lacey.” The way my name curled off his tongue send a spear of fire racing through my body and I made a mental note to stay the hell away from Walker Titus.
Walker
“I never would have taken you for a long lunch type of guy, Luke.” I stared at my oldest and closest friend, who I hadn’t seen in too damn long. He looked different in his expensive suit, but his blond hair was still a mess, signaling that my buddy hadn’t changed too much.
Luke shrugged. “I’m not, but shit man, you’ve been out of the country for more than a year. If anything is worth a long lunch, it’s the return of my wing man.”
I snorted at that because I’d spent the past year solo as fuck because that’s what I needed and wanted. “A little rusty at that, but I’m willing to help you get laid if you really need it.”
He glared at my goading words. “Still an asshole.”
“Some would say even more of an asshole.” The truth was that most people would say that and Lukas Sayers was probably one of the few who’d dare argue that fact.
“You seem different, Walker. Is this about Eve? I know the shit that went down with Eve-,”
I cut him off because I didn’t want to talk about the cheating, gold digging bitch that was my ex. “At first, yeah it was because of Eve. But after a few months, I stopping fucking every chick in tight pants and I started buying up radio and TV stations all over the world. In fact, business is why I’m back.” Securing KBBM was the first step in the business venture that brought me home.
“Damn man, I’m so glad to see you even if you do look a bit like you’ve been living in the mountains for the past year.” Luke smiled that same kind, good time smile he always wore.
“It’s good to be home, man.” And I actually meant that. Traveling was great. It gave me time to clear my head and get over the shit that had gone down with Eve, and then it allowed me to simply thrive. Hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue had been added to my portfolio which made my life of wandering damned fucking profitable. “Really good.”
“Did you bring me anything from your travels? A really hot Czech model, perhaps?”
“No babes, but I got you plenty of shit. You’ll have to come by my place to pick it up.” Everywhere I went I picked up something Lukas would like because other than my mother, there was no one else.
“This weekend?”
“What are we doing this weekend?” Lacey approached our table with a stunning redhead.
Luke groaned. “Walker and I have plans, what you’re doing is anyone’s guess.” He flashed a smile at her companion. “Talia.”
“Lukas,” she said stiffly, turning slightly towards Lacey, eyes going wide in a clear sign that she wanted to get the hell away from my friend.
Interesting.
Lacey paid her friend no attention when she turned to the hostess who wore a patient smile because that’s what they did in upscale establishments like this. “Do you think we could get a table for five?”
“Make it an even six,” Luke grumbled. “Blake was supposed to join us and I’m guessing Poppy too?” Lacey nodded and the hostess quickly showed us to a larger table.
“Thank you, Lissa.” Lacey smiled and whispered something to the hostess making her laugh. “See you tonight?”
“Fingers crossed.”
It was surreal being dropped back into life like this. Three months had passed since I returned to Oregon, but this was the first time I spent much time around anyone other than my employees. Mostly with my assistant and my COO. They were all lively and colorful, with their own lives.
“Take a seat Lacey, I won’t bite.” I heard Luke growl somewhere on the other side of the table, but I was focused on his sister, looking hot as hell in a purple dress with a little bow on the side, begging me to tug on it.
She dropped down next to me, cocked her seat to the side and crossed her legs, giving me a flash of lace top stockings. I fucking loved those damn things.
“Pity.”
“Maybe if you ask nicely.” Shit, was I flirting with my best friend’s sister? Right in front of him.
She leaned in, giving a glimpse of lace. Virginal white lace. Fuck yeah. “Under the right circumstances, I might even beg.”
I coughed to hide my surprise, but Lukas’ fist hitting the table drew our attention. “What the hell?”
“That’s my sister you’re flirting with and eye fucking,” he growled.
Lacey laughed beside me and placed a hand on my thigh. “Were you eye fucking me? Because I totally missed it. Show me again.”
Her long lashes fluttered, her skin had a soft flush that sent more blood to my cock.
“Aren’t you two on opposite sides of a deal right now? That sounds like a conflict of interest or an ethical violation of some sort.” He sat back, satisfied he’d doused the fire burning between us.
He was wrong. “I don’t expect Lacey to take it easy on me,” I told him but my gaze landed on her big brown eyes. “Whether or not we’re fucking.”
She sucked in a breath, lips parted perfectly for my own. Or better, my cock. “Agreed.”
“You don’t even like Walker,” Lukas tried again. In vain.
“I’m not sure I like him now, but have you seen him?” She winked at me when a tortured groan escaped from her brother. “Plus the more you don’t want this to happen the more I want it to.”
“Fine,” he grumbled. “Do what you want.”
“Already planning to,” she said, letting her hand crawl up my thigh just an inch. One scant fucking inch. “But thanks for your permission. I give you permission to bed my friend too,” she said, shooting Talia a pointed look.
I laughed my ass off at their shocked faces. Lacey was more of a firecracker than I remembered and it turned me on. She seemed like a woman who enjoyed life, work and pleasure. If she wasn’t looking for anything serious she’d be perfect.
For now. I leaned in. “Say yes.”
“To what,” she asked even though her eyes already said everything.
“Dinner, for starters.”
“I like food.” Her pink tongue slicked across her bottom lip and they were so full, so thick it was downright pornographic.
“Good, because I like to eat.” My grin was predatory and welcoming as I whispered in her ear. “I like food too.” She shivered uncontrollably and that small move was better than sexy lingerie and sexual gymnastics.
Her laugh hit me in the gut. It was warm and thick, sexy like New Orleans at night. In August. “Call me and ask, and we can go from there.”
Challenge fucking accepted.
Lacey
“Why are you so worried about this, Lace? We all know you can do it.” Lukas stared at me, wearing that perturbed older brother look that I’d grown to loathe.
“Maybe, but if I screw it up then it just puts more crap on Blake and that’s the last thing he needs right now.” Blake was counting on me and that on its own was rare because my older brother did everything himself. The fact that he wanted me to do this meant a lot and I didn’t want to let him down.
“So don’t screw it up.” Lukas leaned back in his chair, legs crossed at the ankles on one corner of his desk. “What’s the problem anyway?”
I let out a frustrated breath and slouched in my seat the way I did as a kid, when my mom was still around to care about such things. “The Shepherd siblings are delaying and I don’t know why or what to do about it.” It made me feel more out of my depth than all the months I’d spent poring over the paperwork for KBBM. Walker had probably had a dozen conversations with them and was close to making a deal behind my back.
Lukas stared at me, his blond hair, thick brows and light brown eyes were the masculine version of my own. “Find out why they’re stalling. Invite them to lunch and talk to them like they’re real people and not just an acquisition.”
“You think there could be a reason beyond invoking a bidding war between me and Walker?” Shit, I hadn’t even thought of that which only proved that I should stick to marketing and promotions and leave the wheeling and dealing to people like Blake and Walker.
“How would you feel about selling Peak Adventures, knowing how much work and sacrifice Mom and Dad put into it?”
I’d fight it with every ounce of power in me. Mom had sacrificed the most, ignoring her health to keep the house running while Dad built Peak Adventures to the success it was today. “Okay, point taken.” I scribbled a few notes on my tablet and lifted my gaze to meet Lukas’ serious one. “What now?”
“You and Walker, what’s going on?”
It was none of his damn business and he knew it. More importantly he knew I’d tell him so in lieu of an answer, so I crossed my arms and stared until the energy in the room grew uncomfortable. The truth was a week had passed since that wildly flirtatious lunch and he hadn’t called. I was disappointed and a tad hurt, but I knew it was for the best.
This deal with KBBM was too important and I couldn’t let anyone screw it up which meant I needed to keep him at a distance before he stole my panties, the deal and maybe even something I wasn’t willing to give up so easily. I convinced myself it was no big deal he hadn’t called because I’d heard enough Walker stories to know he’d probably met a woman on the street after lunch and still had her in his bed somewhere in the city. That was who Walker Titus was and I’d do well to remember that before he sucked me into his vortex and ruined my life. “What’s up with you and Talia?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said too quickly to be believable and I laughed. “Don’t you have some work to do? A deal to work out or something?”
“Both actually,” I told him as I stood and smoothed the red dress where it had bunched around my hips thanks to a few too many indulgent days over the past couple months. “Thanks for the advice, Lukas. Dinner tonight?”
“Can’t,” he grinned. “Plans.”
“Talia. Well it’s about damn time.” They pretended to hate each other but the truth was they were different in all the right ways. “Good luck and don’t screw it up.”
He grinned. “Yeah, thanks for that Lace.”
The conversation with my twin helped as they usually did because Lukas was the cool, logical one of us. I was the creative one who often led with my heart and more often than not, lived to regret it. But today I was focused on work, specifically on the work I’d been delegating while I dealt with KBBM. I checked in with my team and project leaders until I felt confident my department was running efficiently while I tended to this deal.
Just before I dialed Katelyn Shepherd, my phone buzzed on the desk. It was Walker. “Too late for that shit,” I grumbled and turned the screen face down. I would never be a man’s second choice again. More like again, again, since Walker wouldn’t be the first. I had a bad track record of guys who thought they could call me up when they were free, when work permitted, when they weren’t out with their buddies or my personal favorite, when they needed to trot out a well-connected woman as a dinner companion. Nope, been there, done that and got the scorch marks to remind me never to go back.
Fucking men. Useless except when it came to sex and spiders, and I’d learned how to deal with spiders on my own when I was nine and Lukas left one inside my favorite book.
With my resolve firmly in place, I pushed my cell phone away and picked up the office phone to call Talia because I was sure a baby and bridal shower were in our collective futures. “I can’t do it tonight, but let’s get together for lunch tomorrow and figure out dates, themes and details?”
I laughed. “Talia, you’re an organizational goddess.”
“Yeah,” she groaned. “Well someone has to do it.”
Her tone sounded weird but I was just getting to know Talia through my friendship with Poppy, so I didn’t want to pry. But tomorrow, over cocktails, I wouldn’t be so hesitant. “And right now it’s us, The Singles.”
Talia begged off and I turned back to work, signing off on commercials and ad space bet
ween digging into KBBM holdings as an idea took root in my brain. An alternative, or maybe just a much better idea. I didn’t know yet, but I would. Soon.
By the end of the day, I had a good handle on what I wanted to do and I called to invite the Shepherd siblings to a casual lunch that was officially on my calendar. I would take Lukas’ advice and see where it got me before I mentioned anything to Blake.
I was deep in thoughts of food, specifically what I would pick up for dinner, as I left the building, oblivious to my surroundings in my excitement about this new business idea. When I looked up I spotted a familiar face and tried like hell not to smile. “Walker.”
“You didn’t answer my calls,” he said easily, matching his relaxed posture by leaning against the limo, arms crossed over his chest and legs crossed at the ankles. He looked good. Sexy as hell, wanna bury my fingers in his hair, sexy.
“Some men might take the hint.”
He shrugged and pushed off the sleek black limo. “I’m not some, or most, men Lacey. You’ll see that soon enough.”
He was so fucking cocky. So arrogant and sure of his place in the world that I nearly resisted the urge to take him down a peg. Or two.
Nearly.
“I’m pretty sure I know exactly what I’ll see, Walker. You’re not as different as you like to think.” He was hot as hell and sexy as sin, but he was a bad bet for anything beyond a few hours of pleasure.
“Then I look forward to proving you wrong. Get in.” He pulled the back door open, ignoring the driver scrambling around the vehicle, nodding towards the door to urge me inside. “Get in,” he said again, this time his voice was deeper, more commanding.
God help me, but I got in. I totally fucking got inside.
With the devil.
I must be crazy.
Walker
“No, I don’t always travel by limo but it is easier to get work done while I travel from meetings to my businesses. Plus, this is nice back here. All this space and…privacy.” I slid across the seat, closer to Lacey, and let myself enjoy the way her pupils dilated and she licked her lips. I knew as her pink tongue dragged across her lush bottom lip that we would fuck, and that it would be white hot. The air around us charged until it damn near combusted.
Cowboys & Bosses Page 37
