Thirteen

by Scarlett Finn

Moving her lips slowly, she felt how his dick pulsed as she massaged him. He liked her mouth and she liked to see him liking it.

  The room erupted with applause and Evie did her best to be discreet about sliding her feet out of Oak’s lap. Taylor and Lana straightened to face the table again.

  “He was good,” Lana said. “What did you think?”

  “Underachiever with an inferiority complex who’s desperate for his mommy’s approval,” Evie said, and took her eyes from the table to see those around her looking at her. “Oh, you weren’t really asking? Uh, yeah, he was cute.” Turning to a smiling Taylor, she combed her nails through her friend’s blonde locks again. “You have very pretty hair.” Picking it up, she pressed it to her nose. “It smells good too. What shampoo do you use?”

  “Something the salon gives me.”

  Screwing up her face, Evie shook her head. “Chemicals? In your hair? No… I mix my own shampoo and conditioner. I’ll give you some, it’s good. Smell,” Evie said, leaning to let Taylor smell her hair.

  “Wow, that’s really strong, what is it?”

  “A bunch of stuff, all natural,” Evie said and picked up Taylor’s tresses again. “But yours is so shiny. Do you use shine spray?”

  Taylor shook her head. “But look at yours, your hair is glossy and it bounces, it’s so much nicer than mine. Oaky,” she said, grabbing a length of Evie’s hair and combing it through her own so their heads were touching. “Whose hair is shinier?”

  Evie kept her expression serious, which wasn’t easy given that Oak’s was hilarious. With the top of his bottle in his lips and his arm resting over the back of Lana’s chair, he froze like he’d just been asked the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Whose hair is shinier? Mine or Evie’s?” Taylor asked.

  Evie loved this girl more and more every minute. Taylor adored her brother, his opinion was like gospel to her. “It’s dark in here,” he said.

  Taylor huffed. “Are you telling me you’ve never noticed?”

  “Your hair?” he asked. “No, Tay, I don’t give a fuck about your hair.”

  Dropping their combined hair, Taylor stroked a hand from Evie’s parting to her shoulder. “Evie’s hair is so bouncy. I want bouncy hair.”

  “Do you want to know why your hair is fucked?” Oak asked, putting his bottle down to straighten up. “ ‘Cause you go to that salon and spend thousands of dollars getting them to make it that fucking color.” Picking up his hair on the top of his head, he tugged it. “See this… I’m your brother. Brown, dark fucking brown, that’s what yours should look like.”

  Gasping, Evie turned to Taylor. “You’re a brunette. Of course! You’re a brunette!” Dropping her eyes to the table she thought about Taylor’s natural color. “Is your pussy dark?”

  “Oh my God!” Lana exclaimed.

  Evie clamped both hands over her mouth, but Taylor laughed. They weren’t supposed to talk about sex. Well, the guys weren’t supposed to, Taylor must view her as exempt. Good.

  Cupping her hands around her own mouth, Taylor leaned in to seal them around Evie’s ear. “I have it all waxed.”

  Taylor leaned back and when they made eye contact, Evie let her mouth open and she wrinkled her nose. “Really?” she mouthed. “Bare?” Taylor was blushing when she nodded. “Good for you,” Evie said, picking up Taylor’s hand in one hand and her wine glass in the other. “I go for the Hollywood myself, that’s thinner than the Brazilian but thicker than the Playboy. Which do you prefer on a woman, Oh?”

  “Suddenly I feel like I’m sitting at the wrong end of the table,” Oak said, his eyes rising to the ceiling.

  Evie finished her mouthful of wine and put her glass down again. “Oh, you’re no stranger to a bit of manscaping,” she said, but when his head tilted in time with his amused lips, she glanced at Lana. “Not that I know personally. But I can’t imagine that a man as high maintenance as Mr. Orion here doesn’t trim, you know?”

  Lana was red in the face, but Evie guessed that might be her natural coloring. “He’s… high maintenance?”

  “Oh? God, yes,” Evie nodded, keeping sincere eye contact. “You should see him in the morning when his bagel isn’t waiting on his desk. Phew! He’s in a funk all day. The rest of us are lucky to get out of the building with our jobs.” Looking at Taylor, she noticed that the girl had barely touched her wine. “Would you like something else to drink?”

  “I—”

  Twisting in her chair, Evie arched her shoulders back and bowed to present her breasts as she batted her eyelashes at Oakley. “The house wine sucks.”

  He didn’t even look at her breasts, but he did catch the waiter who was walking past. “Can we have a dirty martini and a cosmopolitan please?” he asked.

  Evie couldn’t believe he’d been so dumb as to forget to ask his own date. “Lana, what do you drink?” she said, doing Oak’s job for him.

  “Right, shit, yes, sorry, Lana?”

  “Uh… Appletini,” Lana said.

  Evie was impressed. “Flirty,” she said. The waiter took a step, but she leaned toward him and batted her eyelashes. “Will you bring him a Sam Adams, please? The strong one, whatever that is. Thank you, honey.”

  The waiter seemed to falter for a second, but smiled and disappeared. “Everyone set?” Oak asked, but she didn’t respond.

  “Ok,” Evie said, taking a breath and lifting her shoulders. “Where were we? Hair. Right.” Grinning, she leaned toward Oak and pretended to whisper. “See how I just deflected away from the whole carpet conversation?” Smoothing her hand out, she exhaled a whoosh. To his credit, he smiled, but he was shaking his head as he sat back. “Do you dye your hair, Lana?” Pointing to her head, Evie was explicit. “That hair.”

  “Uh…” Lana touched her hair and glanced at Oak.

  “Oh, he doesn’t care if you dye your hair,” Taylor said. “Oak hasn’t dyed his hair… ever… But he did get a girl’s name shaved into it once.”

  Twisting away from the table, Oak was getting his grump on. “Taylor,” he grumbled in warning.

  “You did?” Evie asked, catching her chin on the heel of her hand. “Did it get you laid?”

  “Nope,” he said. “Got me a black eye. Her brother wasn’t impressed.”

  Evie laughed in time with Taylor. Letting her eyes dance downward, she swung her finger at him. “Wait, are we talking about the hair on your head or…?”

  He just glared. “On my head.”

  “Your chances might have been better if it was down below,” Evie said. “She’d have gone down there to look at it and…”

  “Yeah, her brother would’ve loved that.”

  “All that event proves is that karma has foresight,” Taylor said. “How many guys did you punch for talking to me?”

  “Not as many as I hit for looking at you,” he grumbled.

  The waiter brought their drinks and Evie gave him the wine glasses to free up more space at the table. After he left they all shared a toast and relaxed. Then her clutch buzzed, and she popped it open to read the screen. It was her client for the Atlanta job she was doing after she was done with MatchMate.

  “It’s after hours, right?” Evie asked, lifting her eyes to Oak’s.

  “I guess,” he said.

  “You don’t mind if I cheat on you then,” she said, answering the call and surging to her feet. “Yes, Mr. Breen, it’s late where you are, if this call is going to be inappropriate, you’ll have to give me a minute to make myself alone.”

  “Miss Dewar, I wish to discuss the information we’re sending to you tomorrow,” Breen said down the phone.

  “Hmm,” she said, keeping her attention on Oakley. “It could go either way.” Lowering the mouthpiece from her lips, she spoke to the table. “Excuse me, talk amongst yourselves. Take notes on the salacious stuff and I’ll comment upon my return.”

  Breen knew how to talk.

  Everything he sent to her he prefaced with a phone call
to explain and make excuses. Like she didn’t already know that their company was in financial dire straits, and that their HR manager was responsible for the skimming operation that was putting them there.

  Evie had departed the table to cross the width of the dining room. Descending the four stairs to the narrow corridor that led to the restrooms, she went past them to the end where the space opened out for the fire escapes and janitor’s closets.

  Pacing there, she did her best to listen and appease, but she was really just desperate to get back to the table; she’d been having fun and that was rare. Someone took her elbow and drew her sideways into the doorway of a closet, out of view of the rest of the corridor.

  But she could smell Oak’s cologne before he put her against the wall and ducked to kiss her neck, so Evie didn’t have to panic, she could go with it.

  “Well, yes, Mr. Breen,” she said, stroking the back of Oak’s head as he tasted her. “I will do my very best.”

  “This is… it’s very important to us, Miss Dewar.”

  Oak’s teeth grazed her collarbone and she gasped, digging her nails into the back of his head to scold him, but he wasn’t dissuaded, in fact, his flat hand slid further down the wall as he lowered to kiss her breasts where they spilled over her neckline.

  “It’s very important to me too, Mr. Breen,” she said, pushing her shoulders against the wall to arch into Oak’s talented mouth.

  He scooped a hand under her boob and plumped it into his mouth, the suction would probably leave a mark, but she wouldn’t stop him, no way, not when he felt this good.

  “And we do need your help.”

  “I know, sir,” she said, her eyes drifting shut; her voice became a whisper. “I… I have to go. I’ll call you when I receive the documents.”

  Snatching her phone from her ear before Breen could say anything else, Evie managed to hang it up though God knew how she did. Skimming her hands down Oak’s back, she slipped her phone into his back pocket to free her palms for his chest.

  “I’m sorry,” she murmured, keeping her voice sultry, she slid her hands up over his shoulders into his hair. “Have we met?”

  “Nope,” he said, licking his way to her throat. “Saw you. Had to have you. Come to my room.”

  She loved that he played with her. Scrunching his hair, she opened her fingers. “Your hair is baby soft, but it’s thick… you should be in conditioner commercials. Can I wash your hair with my shampoo?”

  “If it gets you into my room, you can do whatever the hell you want.” Rising, he planted his palms on the wall and kissed her mouth. “I need you, Thirteen.”

  “No, you don’t,” she said and inhaled when he pushed his groin against her belly and she felt the full, pulsing weight of him pressing into her abdomen. “Pavlov needs me.”

  Showing his straight white teeth in a grin, his gaze was almost feral. “Ring the bell, baby… Ring it for me.”

  Raising her eyes to the top corners of their sockets, she tapped a finger on her lip. “Hmm…” Growling, he swooped down to try kissing her, but she turned her hand against his mouth. “You’re on a date with another woman, or did you forget?” His desire faded to panicked contrition, but she smiled. “I’m not angry, I’m saying you have to walk her back to her room… don’t kiss her.” He shook his head and she liked that he didn’t take his mouth from her hand. “I like Lana, she seems demure… ladylike.” Grinning, Evie caught his tie. “Not at all like me.” She felt him inhale, but pushed her hand tighter against his mouth. “I’m going to my room now… alone… You won’t let Taylor walk to her room alone, will you?” He shook his head behind her hand. Rising onto her tiptoes, she let her lips touch the back of her own hand. “You are the sexiest fucking man I have ever had the pleasure of inviting into my pussy… I’m going to let you kiss me now, and then you’re going to let me walk away.”

  Making eye contact, she asked for agreement and only once he gave it did she let her hand slide away. It wasn’t even off his chin before he’d stolen her mouth. She had to be clear on what was to happen, but she didn’t want to fight with him.

  When she’d said they couldn’t spend the night together, she meant it. This wasn’t the time to talk about her issues, she just wanted to be kissed by this man, the man who’d wormed his way into her consciousness.

  Evie didn’t know when it had happened, when she’d started to care about him, or when she’d started to want him to care about her. But as she wrapped her arms around Oak’s neck, she pulled him close and gave him as much pleasure as he gave to her.

  twelve

  Oakley had wanted Evie to come to his suite early and had deliberately left his own post to be here just in case she arrived before the others.

  But it was only after Ian, Kody, and Lana had shown up and gotten drinks, that his door opened and Evie came in with a giggling Taylor. Seeing them together warmed him with a weird sense of pride.

  They were bonding. More than that, they’d bonded. They cared about each other and that was important to him.

  He’d never be able to be with a woman who didn’t care about his family, and one thing Evie did for sure was care about Taylor; maybe more than she cared about him at this point.

  The women exchanged whispers as they approached the seating area, but when Evie spotted him watching her, she widened her smile and narrowed her eyes.

  Uh-oh.

  Was she about to bite him for something or was he going to have to start reciting baseball statistics in his mind?

  “You look very handsome today, Mr. Orion,” Evie said.

  Glancing left and right, he waited for the other shoe to drop. “I saw you at breakfast, Thirteen,” he said. Her and everyone else. He was getting tired of sharing her with every goddamn MatchMate employee who chose to sit with them… sometimes, that included Taylor. “Do I look different now?”

  She waved a casual hand and he noticed a sheet of blue paper in it. “Maybe it’s the light in here or something, but, wow, you are an extremely attractive man.”

  He couldn’t hide the amusement that twisted his lips. Ok. Well if she wanted to come on over and show him just how attractive she found him in this room full of people, he wouldn’t stop her. Except that fantasy was killed when Taylor laughed.

  “She wants something,” Taylor said.

  “Hush,” Evie hissed at her.

  Taylor went over to the bar to the coffee pot on the end.

  “Ok, Miss Dewar, what is it?” he asked, watching her clasp her hands at her lower back and twist left and right like an innocent schoolgirl.

  “I have a thing… it’s something you might have noticed about me,” she said, batting those seductive eyelashes.

  Oak let his gaze float down over her fuckable body. He’d noticed several things about her, most of which he wouldn’t list in present company.

  Sipping his coffee, he let her stew for a minute. “What thing?”

  “I like dating events,” she said, slowly, like she was confessing a shameful secret, though she did it in a loud voice.

  “You want to go on a date?”

  As her boss, he couldn’t be annoyed about that. He couldn’t even be annoyed as the owner of the dating agency she was a member of. As her guy…

  “Several,” she said, whipping out the blue sheet of paper from behind her back. She scampered to him and held up the flyer.

  Damn. She smelled good. He couldn’t even see her face because she was holding the flyer over it. But her body was within an inch of his, and the couch was right there behind him, if he just slid an arm around her back and—she shook the flyer. He cleared his throat and tried to focus.

  Speed-dating.

  It was a flyer for speed-dating.

  When he took the piece of paper, she walked away to join Taylor at the coffee machine though she didn’t pour herself anything. Good, if she was over there, he had a chance of remembering how to read English.

  “This afternoon,” he said. “In the convention center. You regi
stered?”

  “Yeah, she did,” Taylor said. “I think it’s a great idea. Everyone sits for an hour. Six minutes a date. After the hour, daters can decide whether to leave or not. It goes on all day, daters sitting and leaving every hour. There will be like three hundred simultaneous dates, it’s very cool.”

  “You want to go on three hundred dates?” he asked, reading the details on the flyer over and over.

  It was ridiculous for him to be this jealous about something that meant nothing. Evie wasn’t going to fall in love with another guy in six minutes and they weren’t even allowed to touch at these things, so she couldn’t be felt up either.

  “I’ll gather useful intel for MatchMate, I promise,” she said.

  “That’s not your job,” he said.

  But she had an answer for his every objection. “I’ll take Kody,” she said. “If we sit on opposite sides of the arena, we’ll gather twice as much data.”

  “I don’t want to speed-date,” Kody said.

  “Does it really matter?” Taylor asked. “I’ll do it.”

  “You will not,” Oak said, pinning a scowl on his sister.

  She was one woman he at least had some chance of controlling. He couldn’t handle having both the women under his protection vulnerable at the same time.

  “Why do you have a problem with Evie taking part?” Lana asked.

  Shit. Why did he keep forgetting about her? But there she was, sitting on the other end of the couch, her legs crossed, her spine straight, yeah, she was ladylike, Evie was right about that. He lifted his eyes to his woman who was staring right at him.

  “I don’t,” he said. “You want to go, you go.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Evie said, playing up her pout as she came over to sit beside Lana on the couch.

  “Now can we talk about Regent?” Ian asked.

  “Yes,” Oakley said, sinking down onto the couch.

  Hell. Why had he done that? He’d sat here now, he couldn’t move, but with Evie so close, he was mesmerized by her scent again. Right. No. Focus.

  “We have to do it,” Ian said, sitting on the opposite couch with Kody and Taylor. “It’s an excellent opportunity to expand.