Redeeming You: An Enemies-to-Lovers Cocky Boss Romance (Only You)

by Vic Tyler

  “Not bad,” I admitted.

  “See, even you like nuts,” Maria laughed. “What did you get?”

  “Stracciatella. Can’t go wrong with chocolate.”

  “I wanna try,” she said, opening her mouth.

  I glanced into her mouth, imagining what it’d feel like around some other excited part of me. My eyes moved back up to her eyes. For someone who looked as demure as her, she was incredibly forward. Definitely not a virgin.

  It was almost fun flirting with her, not knowing if I was going to back home with her or not. She was practically throwing herself at me, but I still wasn’t jumping to bring her back to my place. Especially when we’d have to see each other every day.

  “Careful,” I said, feeding her a spoonful of my gelato. “Something else might fall in there.”

  “Like what?” She smirked.

  “If I answered that, we’d have to bring that sexual harassment case back up.”

  “It’s only harassment if it’s unwanted,” Maria said, licking her lips.

  They glistened with that shiny coating of saliva and gelato. My loins stirred, the physical stimulation unstoppable, but my mind replayed her words as a sinking feeling gripped my chest, a dark memory threatening to surface. I gulped, trying to shove it back down, desperately focusing on the woman in front of me to further harden my cock. Welcoming any distraction, even an inappropriate one.

  “True.”

  Fucking lame. My brain switched gears, racing and arguing frantically with itself about bringing her back to my apartment.

  I want her. I didn’t need to remind myself of that. It was true, through and through.

  But was she worth breaking my rules for?

  I need to fuck her.

  But at what cost?

  I was going to have her taste those nuts she seemed to fucking love.

  But bringing her to my apartment was a boundary that couldn’t be unbroken.

  Damn, I don’t know how I was thinking about anything else while my imagination was running wild with all the things that pretty little mouth could do wrapped around my cock.

  I continued, “Hard to tell if it’s unwanted until someone’s tweeting #MeToo.”

  “That happen to you before?” she asked, cocking her head.

  I scoffed. “Never.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Then how do you tell if you’re making unwanted advances?”

  “I don’t make any,” I said. “Women are the ones making unwanted advances on me. Some men too.”

  “Must be tough to be you,” She said, sarcastically, rolling her eyes again. “So good–looking and popular with the reputation of a sex god.”

  I snorted into my gelato. “I’m sure you’ve had no shortage of boys wanting to stir up your milkshake.”

  “Gross,” Maria giggled. “Well, it’s hard to compare a sex god and a milkshake.”

  “Mm you slurp down the cream of one, and the other is cream in your cup.”

  She laughed until she cried, probably because of the alcohol. Let’s be honest. That was lame. But I couldn’t help but laugh too. Her laughter was so light and contagious.

  “Who knew Mr. Angsty–Artist had a sense of humor?” She was gasping for breath, cradling her stomach.

  Pft. “Who said he didn’t?”

  “Anybody would think so with that frown you always have on like someone is always pinching your balls,” Maria said, pointing at her own exaggerated frown.

  I rolled my eyes. “You seem to have a fixation on testicles, Lennox.”

  “I’d prefer ‘a healthy appreciation for some good nuts.’” She winked.

  “Maybe I should be filing a sexual harassment claim.”

  “Am I making unwanted advances?” she asked, her head tilting to the other side now.

  “No.”

  “Good because I don’t know how much more forward I have to be for you to kiss me already.”

  Her expression was serious, those big chocolate irises pinned on mine. They were dark enough usually, but they looked even hazier in this light. I was used to women aggressively planting their lips on mine and me just going with things as they came.

  Alright. This was fun. I’ll reward her. Nevermind the fact that kissing her was only the beginning of everything I wanted to do to her.

  I suddenly grabbed the collar of her blazer and pulled her towards me, her eyes widening in surprise. Our cold lips crashed together, the vanilla and pistachio blending in our mouths. Her lips were full and soft, and her tongue eager. I probed into her mouth, edging deeper and deeper. Her tongue met mine, swirling and flicking suggestively.

  My hand snaked around her neck, cupping her nape. Her hands roamed my chest greedily, her fingers grazing up my neck. Her fingers felt like icy silk as she delicately traced my jaw.

  Someone whistled loudly from across the street, shouting obscenities and bringing us back to our senses. We pulled away reluctantly. The sexual tension was heavy with our faces naked with desire.

  Fuck it. Fuck her. I need to fuck her. I tossed any reservation about taking her back to my place out of the window. I was about to ask when she suddenly spoke up.

  “I should get home.” Maria tore her eyes away and looked down at her hands. “Gotta get up early for work tomorrow.”

  Jesus. What.

  My mind raced, playing back what just happened. Did something go wrong? I was pretty sure she was into the kiss just as much as I was. I briefly thought about trying to convince her otherwise but then figured a real sexual harassment case wouldn’t be worth it.

  “Sure,” I said, calling her an Uber.

  I took a few deep breaths, disappointed, and hoped that my dick would soften soon so I could walk without it being painful or awkward.

  Not that it wasn’t already awkward. After I called for the Uber, we made some klutzy small talk, just filling the silence until the car came. At least I didn’t have a mast in my pants, so I’d deal with my aching blue balls when I got home.

  I sighed a whole lot the whole way back to my apartment. I don’t know what the hell happened, but what a night. I replayed the events of the night. Too much food, candlelight, and wine, I figured. It was the wrong combination of factors considering this was supposed to be a work dinner, fueling us to go beyond acceptable boundaries. It would probably be better to go back to a professional relationship at this point. Jesus, what a fucking mess. This was turning out to be the exact reason why I had my rules in the first place.

  A couple weeks passed by, and it was too busy for any more flirting, especially after that blunder of a night that I resolved to delete from my memory.

  I pretended like nothing happened, and Maria followed suit.

  We went back to our previous dynamic — with me barking orders and her mouthing back.

  Then it was Friday, the first day of the Vogue shoot.

  This day had been going too well.

  Normally Fridays were pretty good. But like I said, this day had been going too fucking well.

  But that was what I always thought before Pervert Cooper stepped through the door. There was no reason he should ever enter the doors of my studio. But occasionally he dropped in when the photo shoots for our collaborative projects happened. Those were days that ended with each surface of the studio scrubbed down to an inch of its existence with bleach.

  The one saving grace was that Cheddar wasn’t here. Some of the other models from different agencies were scheduled today for a test shoot, so she wasn’t needed. Cooper took a strangely unhealthy interest in Cheddar. Maybe it was because Grant and I made sure he was nowhere near her. He’d been trying to pull strings since the beginning to make sure she signed onto projects that he was directing, but this was the first time he succeeded.

  “Is there a reason why you’re here, Cooper?” I asked coldly when I saw his doughy, sniveling mug.

  Cooper was a big, fat, old man with beady eyes and a permanent sneer. He looked like Danny DeVito’s uglier brother, reminiscent of Glutton
y from Fullmetal Alchemist.

  “Reed,” he drawled. “I’m here to look after my girls.”

  He gave a toothy grin, looking around, and the models behind me scurried away, flashing a weak grin or avoiding eye contact altogether.

  “They’re not your girls, and as long as you’re not here, they don’t need looking after,” I snarled. “Your presence is disturbing everyone’s work, so if you’d kindly go back the way you came.”

  “I’m here in Reuter’s place,” Cooper said breezily. “She couldn’t make it, and I’m here to make sure you’re doing competent work. We don’t want anything less than the best, do we?”

  Ugh. A throbbing pain in my head threatened to unfurl into a full migraine. A little angelic conscience of Grant popped in my head, his pipsqueak angel voice chiming in, ‘Now don’t go causing trouble, Benji ol’ boy.’

  I dragged out a flimsy fold–out chair and put it against the far wall by my desk, where none of the models were going to be near.

  “Sit,” I snarled. “Don’t fucking move.”

  Cooper grinned at me and moved the chair a few inches. I gritted my teeth, reminding myself he was picking a fight. Not fucking worth it.

  The mood in the studio was strained. But the models were all seasoned professionals, so everything on the set in front of me was going smoothly. I sincerely and foolishly thought the day would end without Cooper instigating a sexual harassment suit until I heard an angry cry from the back.

  I turned around to find Maria fuming, standing a few feet away from Cooper, whose ass was still firmly planted on the plastic chair. My stomach wrenched violently into the pit of my stomach.

  “What the fuck did you do?” I snarled. My voice rose with increasing intensity.

  He held his hands up innocently, beaming with disgusting smugness. “Your employee fell in front of me. I was helping her up when she just happened to yell.”

  “You tripped me,” Maria said incredulously. “And then you had the nerve to start feeling me up.”

  “Honey,” he drawled condescendingly. His face peered at her with a pitying look. “Who would want to touch you when there are all these lovely ladies around?”

  Cooper winked at the nearest model who quickly turned her look of horror to the wall behind her.

  “Get the fuck out, Cooper. Or I’ll throw you out myself.”

  “We’re not done with the photo shoot.” Cooper pointed, motioning to the set behind me.

  “We won’t be until you leave.”

  No one moved for a few seconds. When Cooper realized I was serious, he sighed and then heaved his fat ass up. He smirked and whispered something to Maria, who stiffened and stared daggers at him.

  He just had to get the last word, didn’t he? I fisted the back of Cooper’s clothes and dragged him towards the front door. His face swelled into a veiny purple color as he blubbered vague threats. I heaved him out, locked the door, ignoring his roaring on the other side of the window as his fists banged the door, and walked back to the studio without a second glance.

  “Sorry, everyone,” I called out, trying to placate the room when my own fury was boiling. “We’ll take five and reconvene without that tumor in our midst.”

  I turned to Maria who was silently stewing.

  “Are you alright?” I asked softly.

  She took a few breaths. “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” she said, heaving a deep breath. “I’m going to finish this up.”

  She motioned to the prop box she had dropped, picked it up, and walked off. My mouth swirled with the taste of iron. I accidentally clenched my teeth down on the inside of my gums. Everything looked crimson. Inhale deeply. Exhale completely.

  God better watch that fucker’s back, or better yet turn a blind eye, because I was going to kill that bastard.

  The rest of the shoot finished without a hitch, as expected. It had gotten pretty late when Maria and I took down the set. The large room echoed with the sound of us moving things around, but the silence between Maria and me felt tangible and heavy.

  “I’ll make sure Cooper doesn’t come around again,” I finally said. “He’s a real creep. I shouldn’t have let him in at all. Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Mhmm.”

  Then silence.

  “What did Cooper say to you?” I finally asked, curiosity getting the best of me.

  “Nothing important.” She scowled.

  “It put you into a bad mood, so I want to make sure you’re not taking it to heart,” I said, stopping to look at her. “Cooper says stupid shit.”

  “I’m not in a bad mood,” Maria snapped. “But I’m getting there with this needless questioning.”

  Annoyance nipped at me. “I’m worried, is that a crime?”

  “You don’t have worry. I can take care of myself.”

  “You should let someone step in and take care of things for you, especially if they can do something. Especially when it comes to people like Cooper.”

  “And what about people like you?” Maria froze as though she regretted saying that and then bit her lip. But she looked up resolutely, facing me squarely.

  “What?” I said, incredulously.

  She took a deep breath and turned to face me.

  “What do I do about people like you?” she repeated.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Hot rage started flooding my veins. “What the hell do I have to do with Cooper?”

  “You’re offering to help when you’re not exactly a safe haven,” Maria scoffed. “Notorious womanizer, seducing half of New York into your bed. Have you made enough notches in your belt or is it just rags now?”

  “Comparing me to that loose–handed rapist is too far,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’ve never done anything anyone didn’t want me to.”

  “Because you never do anything, isn’t that it?” she retorted. “You just wait for the next woman to offer herself to you and then toss her away after you get off, right?”

  “Is that what Cooper said to you?”

  She sighed exasperatedly but didn’t say anything else.

  “Lennox.”

  “It’s nothing that concerns you.”

  “Well, you’re fucking concerning me, so it’s not nothing, is it?”

  She took a deep breath. “He said that you’re waiting for me to come onto you.”

  I cursed under my breath. Seriously? “Jesus, that’s what’s getting you so worked up?”

  She bristled slightly. “He asked how much you —” she made finger quotes in the air. “‘That STD–ridden manwhore’ is paying to fuck my slut cunt before you get bored and move onto the next floozy and that he can’t wait until my legs are spread wide open for public business.’”

  I winced. God, he was so tacky.

  “He’s just trying to get under your skin. He gets off on riling people up.”

  “But it’s not untrue, is it?”

  “What? Of course, it’s not true. I assume you have perfect control over when you spread your legs.” She fumed even more, and I winced. Shit. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “God, I should’ve never gotten involved with you,” she said, throwing her hands up in frustration.

  Irritated, I pointed out, “You were the one coming onto me.”

  “Yeah, you made that perfectly clear as you proceeded to ignore what happened a couple of weeks ago.”

  “You left,” I emphasized incredulously. “Right after I kissed you.”

  “Because drunkenly sleeping with my boss is not how I want to spend a night.”

  Maria turned on her heel and stormed off.

  “Lennox, get your ass back over here,” I growled.

  “Work hours are over,” she yelled over her shoulder. “I don’t have to listen to you.”

  “Yes, you do. Why the hell are you bringing that up now? What does this have to do with Cooper?”

  “Nothing,” she snapped, turning around. Her eyes flashed angrily. “I told you I don’t need your help. I have en
ough self–respect not to throw myself at your feet. Do you think every woman will just grovel at your every word and give in to your every whim? That I’m just going to jump you or strip down and say, “Yes, sir, please fuck me, sir”?”

  Alright.

  So, as a flimsy disclaimer, I don’t know what the fuck happened.

  Whenever I thought about this moment afterward, I still don’t remember what I was thinking — or if I was thinking at all — when I grabbed her and pressed my mouth into hers.

  Maria struggled for a couple seconds, pushing her hands against my chest before dissolving into it. Her hands stopped pushing, instead grazing and tracing every line in my torso. My hand wrapped around the back of her neck, pulling her into me as though that would bring my body any closer, any deeper into her. I needed her to feel every lick, every suck, every bite in our kiss.

  She tasted like sweet confusion. I was already addicted.

  When I finally let go, we were both panting, our eyes locked and all our emotions bare on our faces.

  “Fuck.”

  Jesus, what did I do? I buried my face in my hands. Fuck, what did I do?

  “You should go.”

  “Why —” Maria’s voice broke, strained. “Why did you do that?”

  “I don’t fucking know.”

  My anger shot through my body, my self–control dwindling fast. I needed her far away if I wanted to sort myself out.

  I snapped up, looming darkly over her dainty frame, and snarled, “You’re right, little Miss Lennox. I’m not a good fucking guy. I do whatever the fuck I want, and I take everything I goddamn want. But I’m being awfully generous and giving you an out right now. So leave.”

  Every part of me was writhing in turmoil — my head, my chest, and my dick. I was losing restraint fast. And Maria was just standing there, so small and delicate, staring at me with those wide innocent eyes. She was a doe in front of a fucking wolf. I was going to ruin her if I touched her.

  Her hand reached out, and my cock stood fully erect. I fucking warned her. And now I was going to fucking ruin her. I gripped her wrist and yanked it towards me. I caught her as she stumbled forward, pulling her upwards into me and planting my mouth on hers again. I squeezed that tiny waist tightly against my body. Even if she wanted to, there was no stopping me now.