by Inara Scott
“What about this?” He removed her bra and lowered his head to capture her nipple. Within minutes, he had her mewling under his touch, her hips moving rhythmically beneath him.
“Oh yes,” she gasped. “I like that, too.”
Then he moved lower, slipping off the tiny panties and giving his full attention to her wet, aching core. Too overwhelmed to hold back, she shattered into him, crying out with pleasure as her body jerked and shook.
He held her until she had stopped shuddering, and then, with a look that could have set her skin on fire, retrieved a condom from the pocket of his jeans before shedding the rest of his clothes.
“And this?” he asked, standing between her legs and stroking the outside of her thighs.
“Definitely this.” Zoe looped her legs around him, suddenly desperate to feel him inside her. He moved slowly at first, lodging himself deeply inside of her before pulling out and thrusting again.
“Harder,” she said, leaning back so he could go deeper. “Faster.”
He groaned and grabbed her hips in his hands, fitting her core tightly against him. Then he began to thrust in earnest, leaving her panting with every deep stroke. She could feel it when he tightened, inside and out, and her body reacted with another surge, drawing her back up the peak she had scaled only minutes before.
“You destroy me,” he whispered, low in her ear. Dropping any hint of control, he pumped against her until they were both slick with heat. This time, he exploded first, and she followed, over a cliff and into his waiting arms.
Chapter Twenty
Zoe’s assistant Mariana pressed the button on the side of her Bluetooth headset. “Zoe Riva’s office, can I help you?”
Zoe stood next to Mariana’s desk, flipping through her emails on her phone and trying not to get hopeful while Mariana took the call. It had been a week and half since she’d sent her materials over to Aims, and she was almost ready to give up. The thought that she might have wasted all the time and effort she’d put in to winning the account was downright depressing.
On the other hand, since she was now regularly having the best sex of her life, it was hard to regret too much.
“Mr. Aims would like to set up a time to meet with Ms. Riva?” Mariana gave her a huge smile and a thumbs-up while she listened to the other end of the phone. “Of course, I’m sure we can arrange that. Do you want to give me a few options?”
Zoe sucked in a breath and made a silent fist pump over her head, then did a totally unprofessional happy dance in the hall. “Yes!” she mouthed to Mariana, who grinned back as she calmly opened a screen on her computer.
She clicked around a few times and gave Zoe a worried look. “I’m sorry, none of those dates will work. Is Friday afternoon a possibility?” Mariana winced. “I see.” She nodded and made a note on a pad beside her phone as the voice on the other end continued for a few minutes. “I understand. I’ll talk to Ms. Riva and get back to you as soon as I can.”
She clicked off the phone and turned to Zoe. “Congratulations! This is great news!”
Zoe grinned and allowed herself a moment of pure satisfaction before firmly tamping down the excitement. “Okay, but this is just an interview, right?”
“Well, yes,” Mariana admitted. “But it’s still fantastic. The only problem is that, according to his assistant, Aims wants to wrap this up as soon as possible. And next week you’re traveling and then it’s Thanksgiving. And he does not want to wait until December to get someone onboard.”
Zoe groaned. She had to fly to Las Vegas Monday to help a client with an emergency trade secrets investigation that was scheduled to wrap up Tuesday but could last right until the holiday.
“How about this Friday afternoon, after my court date? Or maybe Saturday? I’m clear then.” She crossed her fingers she wouldn’t be forced to have a meeting on Saturday. That was her bridge day with the GPGs, and it would be her last session before Wednesday’s Bridge Gobble. It was also her last chance to engage in her subtle attempts to pump the GPGs for information about what was happening in Leticia’s garage.
Attempts which, thus far, had been entirely unsuccessful.
“Friday is a little complicated. Aims is hosting an award banquet for some of the Southcycle employees Friday night in Sonoma. He rented out a retreat center out there, and he’s leaving Friday morning to oversee the preparations. So the only option is to meet you out there in the afternoon before the banquet. Saturday he’s flying to New York.”
“Okay, then Friday afternoon in Sonoma it is.” A glimmer of an idea occurred to her. Maybe she and Connor could ride up to Sonoma together and stay overnight—she might even be able to convince him to let her ride behind him on his Southcycle, so she could honestly tell Aims that she’d experienced the bike. “Wait, is this just me, or all of us from the firm?”
“He’d like to meet one on one with you, but his assistant said you’re welcome to bring the team out if you want to introduce them as well.”
The idea of a romantic night in Sonoma with Connor fizzled out before it could even fully form. She obviously couldn’t fool around with Connor if Rafe and Luke were hanging around. Still, Mariana was right. It was great news. Even if she did have to bring Luke and Rafe instead of Connor. “Okay, that sounds good. I’ll check with the guys and let you know if they want to join in the fun and then you can confirm with Aims’s assistant.”
She headed down the hall and rapped on Rafe’s door, motioned for him to join her, and then moved on to Luke’s office. Standing in the doorway to Luke’s office, she broke the news with a beaming smile. “It looks like we’re in the running for Southcycle! Aims wants to meet with me Friday afternoon.”
“Zoe, that’s fabulous!” Rafe gave her a hug and a loud smacking kiss on the cheek. “If anyone can break through to that guy, it will be you.”
Luke cheered. “Well done! Where’s the meeting? Here or at the Southcycle offices?”
Zoe grimaced. “Sonoma, actually. He’s hosting a reception at a resort up there for some of his employees on Friday night. Long story, but basically, I need to go up Friday after lunch and meet him at the resort before his event.”
“At a resort?” Luke said, his smile fading. “Are you sure this is on the up and up? I mean, does he really need to meet with you in a private location?”
Zoe rolled her eyes. “It’s not a private location, you idiot.” Briefly, she explained the setup. “It’ll be perfect, actually. Gives me a chance to potentially meet a few employees as well. And he’s happy to meet with you two, by the way, he just wants to do a one-on-one with me first. Any chance you’re free Friday?”
Rafe consulted his phone. “I’ve got a two o’clock, but it’s only an hour or so up there, right? More in weekend traffic, I suppose. I could be out there by five, maybe five thirty at the latest. Maybe just a quick meet and greet before his event?”
“That works for me,” Luke said, looking at his own calendar. “Hey, that gives me an idea. We had our usual Friday night date at the Aspen planned. What if everyone went to Sonoma instead and stayed the night? Mason’s been tearing his hair out over wedding plans, and I know he and Tess wanted to check out some venues up there. You have your meeting, then we meet and celebrate afterward. We find a place to stay for the night and head back Saturday morning.”
“I love it,” Rafe said. “No reason to drive back if we don’t have to.”
Zoe’s mouth opened, then closed. She had a vision of Connor sneaking down a hotel hallway late at night and knocking on her door and wasn’t sure if that made her want to laugh or cry. Apparently taking her lack of response for assent, Luke dialed a number on his phone and put it on speaker.
In a minute, Mason’s voice came over the receiver. “Mason here.”
“Hey, this is Luke. I have a great idea for this weekend.”
Mason sighed audibly. “Does it involve staying home with my insane fiancée while she reviews dinner menus, looks at photography websites, and compares fonts for we
dding invitations?”
“No.”
“Then I’m in.”
Luke grinned at Zoe. “I should probably tell you that you’re on speaker. And Zoe and Rafe are here.”
Mason blew out another breath. “Have I mentioned recently how much I adore my crazy bride-to-be?”
“Hi, Mason.” Zoe couldn’t help but laugh. “Things getting a little tense in wedding land?”
“You’re a female,” Mason said, his voice strangled. “Can you explain to me the difference between hand-lettered invitations and printed ones? Because apparently this is a thing.”
“I wish I could. But we’re talking about Tess, right? The same Tess that still drives an ancient Ford Escort and wears that horrible army-green coat everywhere? Why would she care about hand-lettering wedding invitations?”
“She doesn’t, really, as far as I can tell, but she thinks we need to do something big and perfect for my family. Anyway, what’s the plan, Luke? And don’t say we cancel drinks on Friday, because Tess desperately needs to get out. Or rather, I desperately need for Tess to get out. She’s driving us both insane.”
“Any chance you want to go to Sonoma?”
“Sonoma?” Mason’s end of the line went silent for a moment. “Why Sonoma?”
“Well, I know you said Tess wanted to check out some venues up there, and it looks like the three of us need to be up there for a meeting Friday afternoon. I thought maybe we could just relocate our night out to Sonoma. Otherwise we’ll have to cancel drinks.”
“Oh, there will be no canceling,” Mason said fervently. “Let me talk to the guys and run it past Tess. She’ll probably want to invite Cece to come up as well.”
“Sounds great. Give me a call after you talk to them and let me know.”
“Going to be sunny in Sonoma,” Rafe said, glancing up from his phone as Luke hung up with Mason. “High seventy-two, low of forty-five.”
“Perfect,” Luke said. “Just right for a night away.”
“I’ll get it on the calendar,” Zoe said, heading back toward her office, her mind spinning as she tried to imagine how the night would go. It would be their first time with the whole group socially since she and Connor had started this crazy fling, and she had no idea how they would handle it. Could they really keep up the lies? Did she even want to? It had been two and a half weeks—not that she was counting—since her ill-fated scooter ride, and they didn’t seem to be getting over their crazy attraction. If anything, it only seemed to be getting stronger. Part of her actually considered suggesting they just come clean and tell the others, though the other part knew Connor wanted nothing to do with that. Being open about it would make it that much more real, and they’d been very clear from the start that neither of them was interested in more or real.
In the interest of not having a relationship, they’d carefully kept certain unsaid boundaries on their fling. She’d spent the night at his place a few times but didn’t leave any of her things there. He’d dropped her off at her apartment, but she hadn’t invited him to stay. They’d made love in any number of risqué places—including an empty office at the Livend offices after their usual strategy meeting—but didn’t hold hands in public.
Some days he texted her, some he did not. On Friday he’d worked late and didn’t call. On Saturday, she played bridge with the GPGs and brushed aside their not-so-subtle questions about whether there was anything happening between them, but then she drove out to Monterey with Connor and watched the sun set over the ocean. They didn’t mention the trip again and went their separate ways the next day.
They weren’t heading for happily ever after. Despite all the crazy passion and completely inexplicable emotions, they weren’t in a relationship. They weren’t. She reminded herself of that at least once day. Including now. Even if he did come to Sonoma—which, upon reflection, seemed like it could be a horrible idea—they would have to keep this thing a secret. It was what he wanted—no, what they both wanted.
With Luke’s voice ringing in her ears, she nodded grimly to herself. She didn’t need another failed attempt at a relationship. And that’s all this could ever be.
…
Connor stared at his computer screen, trying to make sense of the analysis illuminated there. While Zoe was still trying to extract information from Leticia, he’d been redoubling his efforts to learn everything he could about the cold fusion technology she might be testing. He could see how it might be promising—maybe even game-changing. Research was going on all over the world to try to create effective cold fusion reactors, and some of it was even going on in private labs.
But that didn’t make it something he wanted in his mother’s garage.
Despite the stakes, Connor found it extremely difficult to effectively study complex nuclear engineering when his memory kept serving up images of crystal-blue eyes and the sweetest heart-shaped bottom he’d ever seen.
She was driving him crazy. He thought about her during the day. Worshipped her body every chance he could get. Avoided Mason and Nate at work because he knew they’d figure out something was going on.
Then, daily, reminded himself of the terms of the deal.
They were just a couple of friends having sex.
Nothing more.
“Hey Connor, you got a minute?” Mason walked into his office and settled into a chair.
Connor looked back at his screen and the pictures of uranium fuel rods and sighed. “Of course.”
“Good. I just got off the phone a few minutes ago with Luke. It sounds like Zoe has a meeting up in Sonoma Friday and Luke suggested we all go up for the night. What do you say? Tess is driving us both crazy with her wedding planning, and I thought it would be good to get away. I already ran it past Nate, and he’s in.”
Connor blinked. Sonoma? His phone, which was sitting next to his computer, buzzed with a text message.
It was from Zoe.
His arm shot out to grab the phone before Mason could read who the text was from, and in his panic, he knocked it off the desk and onto the floor. Scrambling under the desk, he managed to catch the truncated message that appeared on the screen before he grabbed the phone and shoved it into his pocket.
Call me!
Shit.
Mason cocked his head. “Too much coffee today?”
“It’s my mom,” Connor said as he settled back into his seat, grasping for something to divert Mason’s attention. “She’s driving me crazy.”
This, at least, was entirely true.
“Well, you’d only be gone for a night. Back by Saturday afternoon.”
Connor hesitated, glancing back at his computer as he tried to formulate a response. What was he supposed to say? Did he want to spend the night in Sonoma with Zoe? Of course he did. Did he want to spend the night in Sonoma with Zoe and four of their closest friends?
No. Absolutely, positively no.
In fact, that was one of the worst ideas he’d ever heard. A small-group, romantic setting? Lots of wine?
It was one thing to sit across from Zoe in a meeting in their office and pretend nothing was going on. There, at least, he didn’t have to make much eye contact or speak to her directly. At least, not very often. But to have to talk to her in front of the group? Socialize? Maintain a friendly but uninterested veneer?
He’d have to be a male Meryl Streep to pull that off. And God knew he was no Meryl Streep.
“Let me see. I might have something on Friday.” Connor made a point of checking his calendar for an appointment he knew didn’t exist while Mason studied him across the desk.
“We had planned to go to the Aspen. You should be free.”
Right. It was really hard to fool your best friend when he knew everything that was on your calendar.
“You know, I’ll probably just stay in town.” He shrugged. “The traffic is horrible on Friday. It could take hours to get out there, and I’ve got a lot to do. But you all should definitely go ahead without me. Sounds like a great plan.”
“We’ll leave early,” Mason replied, clearly anticipating his response. “I’ll drive. You can bring your laptop and work in the car if you’re desperate.”
Connor searched for a new excuse. “I think my team has a game this Friday. You know I can’t miss that.”
“Your team is off for the next two weeks for Thanksgiving and school vacation. You don’t have another game until the first week of December. I checked.”
“You need a hobby,” Connor said.
“I have a hobby. It’s called keeping my fiancée happy. And she will be happier if everyone is together.”
When he still didn’t respond, Mason pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and placed a call. “Nate, can you come to Connor’s office?” He waited for a response, then said, “Good,” and slid the phone back into his pocket.
Nate appeared at the door a minute later. “Did we make another million dollars?”
Mason shook his head. “This is not about money.”
Nate slid his hand into his pocket and started to head back out. “Then I’m pretty sure I don’t care.”
“Sit.” Mason pointed at the seat next to his. “We’re doing an intervention.”
Nate sat. “I see. We’re interventioning Connor, I assume?”
“Maybe we’re interventioning you,” Connor grumbled. Mason clearly had a plan in mind, which did not bode well for Connor skipping out on Sonoma.
His phone buzzed again in his pocket. He pulled it out quickly to see that it was Zoe again.
Sonoma seems like a bad idea.
Right. Like he hadn’t already figured that out.
“Leticia again?” Mason asked.
He nodded miserably. Lying was not his forte.
“Everything okay?”
He nodded again. Now Nate was staring at him, wheels visibly turning in his hooded gaze.
“The truth is, Connor, we’re worried about you,” Mason said finally. “I’ve known you for years, and for the past couple of weeks, something’s different. You’re going home early, coming in late, and you’re distracted in all our meetings. And when’s the last time you went out on a date?”
