My hand trembled as I shook his, only making the situation more awkward. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Rhodes.”
As if on cue, the elevator door opened. I shot them both a quick smile as I slid in. I pressed the lobby button twenty times before the door began to slowly close.
Come on . . . close. Close.
“Melissa, hold my calls. I’ll be right back,” I heard him say before he slipped between the closing doors. This couldn’t be good. The door slid shut, and we began to descend.
“So, running from me again?”
6
Cole
“You have to be kidding me.” She whispered under her breath and shook her head after she pressed the lobby button.
This was going to be fun.
Besides, it was hard to resist her tantalizing scent of jasmine and citrus—the same scent that had been taunting me since I tasted her that night. She stood near the keypad, her hands fidgeting as she played with her nail polish. She looked so innocent, not like the sexy vixen I was with last Friday night.
“What is it? Cat got your tongue?” I reached for the emergency stop button. The elevator lurched then steadied as I moved closer to her, guiding her to the corner of the elevator.
Like a hunter stalking my prey.
I reached above her and turned the security camera away so it couldn’t record us in the corner. She looked up at my movement, and I caught her eye as I brought my arm down and rested it on the wall beside her. Her blonde hair was perfectly aligned with her beautiful face. I struggled against the urge to take her right there in the elevator.
“Look, about the other night,” she began, looking back down at her hands.
I guided my hand under her chin, forcing her to look at me. Her deep green eyes had my cock awake and growing in my pants. As her tongue glided across her lower lip, I imagined her mouth around my cock while those green eyes stared up at me. I needed to taste her again.
“Step back, love, so we’re completely out of the view.” I pointed to the camera above.
She quickly stepped back. Her body crashed against the hard steel wall, and I heard the air escape her lungs. Invading her personal space, I moved closer so that our bodies were pushed against one another.
“We can’t . . . uh, we can’t do this.”
Her pulse raced under my hands on her neck. I reached up slowly, threading my hand through her hair, resisting the urge to pull on it. “I just want to know why you ran out on me,” I said softly against her swollen lips. Lips that were pleading to be kissed.
“It’s… complicated,” she murmured.
“Why is that? Did you get yours in the limo and then back out?” I slowly ran my hand along the nape of her neck.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she spoke. “I don’t do one-night stands,” she explained, opening her eyes. “Not anymore.”
I skimmed my thumb over the skin of her neck. “Why is that?” I brought my hand to the hem of her skirt, lifting it slowly. I felt the edge of her stocking attached to a garter, and my cock twitched as I pushed up against her, bringing my lips to her ear. “Come back to my place, Kat, wearing nothing but these.” I pulled on the elastic, letting it smack against her smooth skin.
“Cole, I can’t. We can’t.” Her words said one thing, but her body told me something else. Her breath came out in spurts and she sucked in her lower lip.
I pushed her skirt higher, sliding my finger across her thigh-highs. “I can be very persuasive.” The small whimper that escaped her throat only enticed me more. “I promise to make you ache with pleasure.” I slid my finger back and forth against the delicate material. “I can take you right here if you want.”
“Please, d—”
I brought my lips to hers, and she responded, allowing me in. Her tongue wrestled mine as I ground my cock against her abdomen. She melted in my hands, letting me guide her body how I wanted. I explored her mouth, imagining what it would be like to have my cock shoved between her soft, plump lips.
As I moved my hand to pull down her panties, the emergency bell rang, disrupting us. Reaching over, I released the brakes and pressed the fifth-floor button as I pulled away from her. Intoxicating. That’s what she was. Her eyes, her smell, her hair, her skin.
I fixed my erection and looked over at her. “You know where to find me.”
She didn’t speak. She just stood there, flustered, against the wall. When the door opened, I walked out, not looking back. I hoped I’d left her high and wet and needing me just as she had done to me on Friday.
I wasn’t one to chase women, but I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I had jerked off multiple times to my memory of her, but never once was it as satisfying as I hoped.
I walked around the fifth floor looking for no one in particular. I needed a moment to regroup so I wouldn’t be the asshole who got caught walking out of the elevator pitching a tent.
Not that it would be the first time.
When I purchased the building, I designed it so that my elevator, the only elevator that came to my office, wasn’t available to anyone else. You needed to have a meeting in my office for it to open on your floor, and there was no way to access it unless Melissa sent it to you. Not being caught fucking in there was a breeze, but walking away without showing my erection was a different story.
I called for the elevator with my master key card, and moments later it appeared. The elevator was empty, but I could still smell her. I walked back to the conference room, and she was seated next to Howard. What I wouldn’t do for her to be kneeling under my desk. Focus, Rhodes.
“Sorry for the delay. I had some business to attend to downstairs.”
Howard began to question Evan’s coworker, and I tuned him out. This case was an inconvenience. I’d only agreed to represent Evan as a favor to my father. His father and mine were business partners. This was a favor I couldn’t object to. I’d personally found that Evan was a waste of a man.
Howard’s inquiry had everyone’s attention, but I focused solely on Katherine.
This time she wasn’t taking notes. She was cracking her fingers, fidgeting, and watching the time pass on her watch. I knew she wanted to be anywhere in the world but in this conference room and I reveled that I did that to her.
After Howard finished, we all stood to part ways. “Howard,” I began, “as always, it was a pleasure. I’m hopeful we can take care of this without a trial. Speaking of which, I believe I’m missing some information about the case. If it’s not too much trouble, could you please have Miss Wolf bring me a copy of your files by the end of this week?”
She snapped her head up, and I couldn’t help but smirk at her reaction. I wasn’t done with her yet. Whether she liked it or not, I was going to find another way to see her again.
“Of course. I’ll have her bring them over to you right away.” Howard extended his hand. “Stay well, Hunter.”
I watched as she walked toward the elevator with Howard. She was not getting rid of me that easily.
7
Katherine
My heels clicked on the hardwood floor as I entered my house, turned, and slammed the front door with all my might. Lila was still in her pajamas, picking at her breakfast, but I didn’t say hello as I passed her. I headed straight for the freezer and took out the black-raspberry, chocolate-chip ice cream, then stomped over to the drawer and grabbed the first spoon I could find. I popped the lid open and brought a spoonful of delicious, creamy goodness to my mouth.
“Bad first day?” Lila questioned. She was eating cinnamon French toast as she scrolled through her iPad.
I closed my eyes briefly letting the cream melt in my mouth and cool off the anger that coiled through my vein. “The worst first day.” I took another big spoonful and shoved it straight into my mouth. Brain freeze got the best of me.
“Gosh, Kat, how bad was it? You’re not even breathing between bites.”
“Bad previous intern,” I mumbled between spoonful’s. “Cole is the
lead defense attorney on the case.” I managed to get that last bit out before I swallowed.
“What? That makes no sense. Put the ice cream down for two-seconds and explain.”
I pushed the pint across the granite countertop and right into Lila’s hands. “There’s a big case I’m working on. The intern who wrote the cheat brief for it was a complete moron. I had to do it all over again, which took most of the morning. But the kicker of the day? Cole, the guy from Quay, the one I let finger bang me in his limo before I walked out of his penthouse choosing not to fuck him . . . He’s Cole Hunter Rhodes, the defense attorney on my very first big case. Not to mention, I’m almost certain he’s the same Rhodes Caleb knows, which means he’s probably going to be hanging around. And to make matters worse, he pinned me in the elevator and whispered sweet nothings in my ear. And I swear to freaking God I wanted nothing more than for him to have me right then and there.” I walked back to the freezer and pulled out a new flavor.
“Katherine, you can’t eat your problems away with ice cream.”
I turned to her with a defiant grin on my face. “Watch me.” Lila knew what I craved most when I was hysterical was a pill to calm me. One little hit of oxy would do the trick. But I was now sober, so ice cream was the fix I needed.
“I never met Caleb’s friend Rhodes. Are you sure it’s him?” she asked, and I shrugged. “Well, besides that, what are you going to do?” She took the small spoon from her lips. “You know you can’t sleep with him if you’re working on the same case.”
“Geez, Lila, I wasn’t going to sleep with him. I know I can’t. Forget the meaningless sex and self-pity, self-loathing, I would never put my career on the line like that. It will all blow over. I’m pretty sure his fine piece of ass has no problem getting laid. Ugh.” I shoved another spoonful in my mouth.
I was secretly jealous that it wasn’t me who would be under him. Why did he have to be so good looking and his voice so sultry and his hands so manly? Why did he feel like he would be better than any other drug? The way he held me in the elevator . . .
My core throbbed the same way it had a week ago at his touch. I had almost lost complete control of myself. I’d wanted nothing more than for him to take me, and I’d been so close to begging him to just do it. I wasn’t my usual composed self around him, and that only added fuel to the fire when I thought about him. His strong hands wrapping around my thigh, squeezing my breast, tracing my neck, pulling my hair . . . His soft fingers brushing against my skin, tormenting me through my lace panties . . . A little pill to bring me higher. Make it that much better.
You’re not that girl anymore, Katherine. You know your worth.
I scooped a giant spoonful and closed the lid. One last bite to calm my raging need for him.
“On a different note,” Lila began, “Caleb has the opening of his restaurant tonight. Want to come?”
“No.” I sighed feeling exhausted. “I need to catch up on some cases.”
“Ugh. I guess I’ll go solo, but he said you’re invited for lunch anytime you want. I even told him your motto.”
I giggled. “If it’s free, it’s for me,” we said in unison.
“Tell him I wish him all the best, but I know Kitchen Step is going to do phenomenal.”
“I will. And I’ll tell him you can’t make it to the opening night, but you’ll go to his mother’s friend’s gala on Wednesday night.”
“A gala, Lila?” I shook my head. “No.” I stomped my feet like a child.
“He got a table for all of us.” She folded her hands under her chin. “Please, come with us. I’m pretty sure there will be plenty of single bachelors there who you can start something with.”
I brought up my index finger. “One, I don’t want to be your third wheel.” I popped up my second finger. “Two, I’m not on the prowl or looking for a boyfriend. I’m focused on my career right now.” I sat on the barstool next to her and dropped my head to the cool countertop.
“You’re coming. And you will not be the third wheel. I invited Ben.”
She pushed the pint back over to me, but I needed something salty. Shoving the pint back in the freezer, I pulled out the open box of Cheese It’s. “Okay.” I sighed and shoved a hand full of orange squares in my mouth. “Since Ben is going, I’m down,” I said in between bites. “What’s the gala for?”
“Who knows, I’m just going for the free food and booze.”
“Liar.” I smiled. “You’re going to be in Caleb’s arms.”
She stuck her tongue out at me, but we both knew the truth.
After my ice cream and crackers vent, I took a quick shower then curled up with my laptop. I Googled every possible Evan Seymour in the Tri-state area. I clicked from one Internet article to another, and after I found his personal information and all of his social media sites, I tried piecing the puzzle together. Natasha was suing him for unfair and deceptive business practices and slander. How was I going to prove that? I needed tangible evidence if I was going to make this story stick.
“Are you done sulking over your shitty day?” Lila asked, knocking on my bedroom door before opening it.
“I'm not sulking. I'm just frustrated.” I closed my laptop on my lap.
“Well . . .” She walked in with her iPad in her hand and sat on my bed. “You're not going to like what I found out about Mr. Come-Hitter Rhodes.”
“You need to stop with that horrible nickname.” I shook my head.
“Whatever, it will catch on eventually. But look, I did some digging on Mr. Pin-You-In-An-Elevator?”
“Better,” I teased, and she laughed.
“Remember that night we all went out?” I nodded. “ Caleb had invited a bunch of his buddies out for a good time. I knew he looked familiar, but since I was pretty intoxicated, it didn't register until you gave me his full name.” She handed me the iPad.
“You looked him up?” I asked.
“What?” She laughed. “We both know you were going to do it eventually. I just beat you to it. Him and Caleb are friends. Their family’s vacation together and from the scoop I got from Caleb he is the same Cole you are working with. He even did the same internship you’re doing with your professor. He graduated from Yale, went to Harvard Law, has his own firm, and is one of New York’s most eligible bachelors according to Page Six,” Lila said, leaving me the tablet so I could see for myself. “Oh, and he comes from one of the richest and philanthropic families.”
I ignored her last comment and got right to work. I could not let Cole distract me from what I was responsible for. Once I realized how great an attorney Cole was, I grabbed my phone and paid an old buddy a call. I needed to get all the dirt I could on Evan if we were going up against Cole. It rang twice before he answered.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Poochie. It’s Katherine.” Poochie and I had crossed paths my freshman year of high school. I’d left every part of high school behind me except him. He was the only one I’d stayed close with because he knew the ugly and loved me anyway.
“You know, no one calls me that anymore, Kat.” He chuckled into the phone.
“Whatever. You’ll always be Poochie to me. Officer Morales is too formal.” I bit down on my lower lip as I built the courage to ask him for a favor.
“So, what’s with the call? Who do you want me to look up this time?” His husky voice pierced through my ears. Anthony “Poochie” Morales was only about five-ten, but his voice would scare the crap out of anyone.
“Evan Seymour. He’s a mortgage broker in Manhattan, thirty-one years old.” I held my breath and crossed my fingers.
“Okay, Kat, I got you. I’ll have him checked out, and I’ll get back to you.”
“Thanks, Future Detective Pooch,” I joked. “Seriously though, thank you, Anthony. This could be a big help.”
“You know I’m always here for you. And you know, my phone does work all the time, not only when you need a favor. I know you’re some hotshot in New York and all, but don’t forget the litt
le people.”
“I could never forget you, Poochie. You know that.”
* * *
By Wednesday afternoon, I was relieved that I hadn’t been asked to go to Cole’s office with the file he requested. I felt weak and powerless when I was near him, something that was new to me. I’d always used sex as an escape from life or for an itch that needed scratching. I assured myself that I was the one in charge. My mother’s ex-husband had taken all the power from me, but random sex with strangers left me unscathed and reassured that I was in charge. It didn’t help, though, that I always felt worse in the morning.
The few times Cole and I had been together, it felt as if he had control over me, as though I couldn’t will myself to move away from him. Not the same way Step-Daddy Dearest had taken control of me. Cole had power I’d never felt before. He was a man who made it known that I was what he wanted. I felt desired by him. So, the farther away I stayed, the better. Not to mention, he was opposing counsel on my case. Big fucking conflict of interest.
The only thing helping my crazy urges to eat ice cream or knock on Cole’s door was the text I received from Poochie earlier in the day.
Anthony Morales: Call me Friday morning. I got the dirt you needed.
I didn’t understand why he couldn’t pick up the phone or tell me over text, so I sat in my small five-by-five cubicle and watched the clock, counting the hours until work ended. I contemplated calling Anthony myself when another text message came in.
Sarah: Hey, Kat, the kids and I miss you! Just wanted to remind you that I have your last check here.
My brain computed the amount of time it would take to get to Sarah’s before I had to get ready for the gala tonight.
Me: Ok! I’ll swing by after work.
Indiscretion Page 4
