Thirteen

by Scarlett Finn

  Putting down his pen, he linked his fingers and peered at his sister. “Tay?”

  Slumping into a petulant hunch, she whined. “I want a new sister!”

  “Goddamnit, Tay,” he murmured. She threw herself on his desk, stretching her arms toward him, whimpering and whining like a toddler. “Lana is not—”

  “Not Lana!” she said, staying in her slump though her hands flattened. “Evie! I want you to ditch the square and get with the rock chick who drinks in the corridors and makes out behind the bike sheds! I love Evie!” Taylor pretended to cry, turning her face to the desk. It was so hilarious that he didn’t even know how to react. Taylor sucked in a breath and sat up straight. “If you don’t grab her now, we’ll lose her! She’s leaving at the end of the week, do you get that? Don’t you think she’s pretty? Evie’s so pretty! And she’s smart! And I know you’re not that into boobs, but she has nice ones, I’ve seen them!” So had he. “And she has legs. You like legs, right? And I’m sure if you just—”

  When he raised his hand, she stopped talking and sealed her lips. Trying his best to remain stern, he locked his finest parental stare on his sister. “You want me to get with… Evie?”

  Taylor nodded fast, giving him a broad, innocent grin that Evie would be proud of. Reaching to his phone, he hit speaker and dialed Evie’s line.

  “For the last time, Mr. Orion, I will not send you an up the skirt shot and it’s inappropriate that you keep asking,” Evie chirped down the line and he heard her keyboard working.

  “Can you come here?”

  “Hmm,” she said like she was pondering it. “Come? I’m sure I could if I closed my eyes and thought of something sexy like licking peach juice from the testicles of a ripped dating agency CEO… Hmm… interesting… that’s already working.”

  He tried to restrain his smirk. “Evie, just come to the office.”

  “Ok,” she said, like it was inconvenient. “But you’ll have to wait five minutes for me to finish blowing this UPS guy. He asked me to wear a FedEx cap… do you think that’s weird?”

  “Soon as you can.”

  He hung up the line and Taylor presented both hands to the phone. “How much fun is she? How can you not be attracted to that? I know for a fact there are a bunch of guys in the office who have asked her out.”

  He knew it too. “And she turns them down.”

  “Yeah, but they’re not you,” Taylor said. “You two are… I don’t know, sometimes it’s like there’s fire between you, like you’re super attracted, then it’s like you hate each other and the air around you gets frostier than the icicles in an Eskimo’s pussy.”

  With a slight disapproving smile, he tilted his head. “You’ve been spending too much time with Thirteen.”

  His sister wasn’t apologetic, not that he really wanted her to be. “She’s great! And if every other guy sees it, why can’t you?” Taylor whined. “Oakley, please! I never ask you for anything! I’m asking you to try, ok? When she gets here, you just… you look at her and see if you feel anything.”

  He felt a bunch of things when Evie was around. Horny was usually number one, especially in the office when she was playing everyone like a cheap club showgirl did her clients on heart attack night. Hmm, maybe he’d been spending too much time with Thirteen too… Never.

  “Taylor—”

  “If you don’t at least try asking her out, we’ll never know, will we? I know Lana complicates things, but there’s no spark between you two and… Evie is all spark, with everyone… even I’d sleep with her!”

  “She said the same thing about you.”

  “There you go,” Taylor said, and banged on the desk. “If you don’t snap her up, I’m taking her.” He must have smiled because she sneered. “You laugh all you like, Oakley Orion, but this is no joke. If you don’t ask her out, she’s going to say yes to another guy and you’ll have lost your chance.”

  But, Oak wasn’t worried. “She’s not going to say yes to another guy,” he said. “She hasn’t done it yet, has she?”

  “No, because she… because she’s…”

  Watching his sister trying to come up with an answer was the cherry on his cake today. “Because she’s in a relationship.”

  Taylor’s mouth opened twenty seconds before she gasped. “She is not! She would’ve told me!”

  Folding his arms, he swayed in his chair, trying not to be smug, though it was tough. “No, she wouldn’t.”

  “Why wouldn’t she—”

  “Because we agreed not to tell anyone,” he said. Suddenly, Taylor had nothing to say. “Evie and I have been together for weeks… Nine, actually.”

  Again, Taylor’s mouth fell open and while he was initially relieved to be telling the truth, his worry began to pique with each silent second that stretched between him and his sister.

  The office door opened. Taylor turned her chair as Evie came dashing in. She closed the door and got three paces toward the desk when she stopped and eyed Taylor, then him, then Taylor again.

  “Do I have something on my face?” she asked in a monotone then stamped her foot and wiped the corners of her mouth. “Shit, I told him to aim for the tongue, he said I was clear!”

  Leaving the desk, Oak went over and slid an arm around her waist. While she drew back a fraction and frowned at him, she didn’t whoop and run away until he tried to kiss her.

  “Evie,” he said.

  In her usual theatrical way, she brushed her clothes and smoothed her hair like she was offended. “I don’t know what kind of business you’re running, Mr. Orion—”

  “I told her.”

  But Evie didn’t get it, or at least she pretended not to get it. “Told who what?”

  “I told Taylor about us.”

  “Us,” Evie said, drawing out the word, she narrowed her eyes, acting like she had no clue what he was talking about. “I don’t know what—”

  “Evie, it’s time to tell her,” he said. “You know that… others agree.” Noel had said it was time to start including others in their relationship. “She came in here and told me to ask you out, what was I supposed to say?”

  If Evie flat out denied it, he was in trouble, Taylor might think he was making fun of her and that he’d expected Evie to go along with the ruse just to mock his sister. He’d never be that cruel. But what else could Taylor think if Evie denied it?

  But when Evie’s eyes slunk to Taylor, he turned to see his sister still sitting there gaping, stunned. “She doesn’t look like she’s taking it well,” Evie said, sealing her own mouth under a frown.

  Taylor gasped so loud the inhale was almost a scream. It was like she’d just broken water after three minutes holding her breath.

  Shooting to her feet, Taylor held out her arms to shake her hands at them. “Kiss him!” Taylor screeched at Evie.

  “No!” Evie said, pushing his chest when he turned to her. “You kiss him!”

  “Please, Evie!” Taylor said, clasping her hands together. “Please! Please, please…”

  Ok, so the toddler-like begging hadn’t finished.

  Evie lifted her triumphant chin and folded her arms. “The blinds are open. He doesn’t let me kiss him when the blinds are open.”

  “Oh my God, it’s true,” Taylor said.

  Oak stopped breathing when he saw the tears in her eyes. “Tay, why are you crying? I thought you wanted—”

  “They’re happy tears,” Evie explained. “Because she thinks we’ll live happily ever after.” Bending toward Taylor, Evie kept her arms folded. “We won’t. He snores and hogs the blankets and he never lets me win naked bingo.”

  Smacking her ass, he was pleased that she tossed a smile over her shoulder at him. “You watch what you’re sharing, Thirteen.”

  “Oh!” she called as she swaggered the half-turn to face him. “Oh, isn’t that rich, Mr. Orion? Who just told a whopper of a secret without consulting fifty percent of this partnership? And am I freaking out? No!”

  “You’re going to make me
pay for it later,” he muttered, wearing a smile.

  She half-shrugged and didn’t hide the truth. “Of course I’m going to make you pay for it later, I think Pavlov might be very hungry this weekend.”

  “It’s my birthday this weekend, you can’t withhold sex on my birthday.”

  Swinging her hips, she took slow steps toward him. Evie kept on coming until her body made contact with his. Still her arms stayed folded and she hitched up that stubborn chin again. “You want to watch me withhold sex on your birthday?” she asked. “I will be withholding all over the damn place. Withholding at your apartment, at mine, here in the office, at the restaurant, in your car, in the hotel and any other damn place you can think of.”

  Lowering to murmur in her ear so Taylor wouldn’t hear, he curled a hand around her hip. “And how powerful will you feel if the first thing I have to do on my birthday is eat your delicious pussy?”

  When she leaned back, her hips pushed into his. “Want me to put a candle in it?”

  He laughed. “No, the blowing is your job,” he said and lowered to kiss her.

  But Evie slapped a hand on his chest to stop him. For a second, she examined his expression and he couldn’t figure out what she was thinking even after her saucy smile got naughty. Turning him to the side so that they were both in profile to Taylor and to the window, she grabbed his neck, and leaped up to wrap her legs around his waist as she sank her tongue into his mouth.

  Well, they weren’t just out to Taylor now, they were out to the entire company. That’s what he got and exactly what he should’ve expected from his woman. He took the liberty of an inch, so she grabbed a fucking mile.

  He fucking loved her.

  Yeah, they were together, they were in love, and now they were official.

  Driving his hands under her skirt, he cupped her ass knowing that he’d probably just revealed her underwear to Taylor, but the others would be too far away to see it… he hoped. When Evie pulled away from the kiss, she tossed her head back and he had to grab for her weight to stabilize her. But she sighed out a long breath and he wondered if she didn’t feel kind of relieved too.

  He hadn’t heard the blinds opening, but there was Taylor in the corner by the blinds cord. She’d pulled them all the way back so there was no obstruction to the view of their kiss to the rest of the office, who were currently suspended in surprise, watching the show in the CEO’s office that was playing out like it would on a cinema screen.

  “Should I get my tits out?” Evie asked when he waved at the office when everyone began to applaud and cheer.

  “No, they stay in the bra until we’re alone,” he said.

  Taylor laughed, and Oak gave Evie back her feet and positioned her in front of him as she curtsied to the office and gave everyone a droll wave like she was the fucking Queen of England. All he could do was worship his woman and her confidence. Kissing her neck, he put his arms around her waist to hold her from behind.

  “Can I go back to work now?” Evie asked out the corner of her mouth.

  He was about to say yes, when Taylor pulled the blinds over and closed them.

  “No, no,” Taylor said. “We have to talk about this… We have to talk about the future.”

  “Oof,” Evie said, losing her rigidity in a slump. “What the hell is it with you Orions and the future?”

  “Evie doesn’t like talking about the future,” he said, adjusting his slacks as he went back to his side of the desk.

  “I want to know everything,” Taylor said, grabbing Evie and pulling her to the desk to seat them both on the guest side. “When did you first kiss?”

  “Uh…” Evie raised her attention. “Washington.”

  Taylor gasped, and slapped the desk. “I knew something happened when you two slept together on the couch! I knew it!” His sister glared at him. “You are such a liar!”

  But he held up his hands in surrender. “I am not! We didn’t do anything on that couch… that night.”

  Evie picked up Taylor’s hand. “He’s telling the truth… I think. We’d already had sex by then.”

  Again, Taylor inhaled; if she kept this up she’d have a sore throat later. “No way! When the hell did you first have sex?”

  “We had sex before Washington,” Evie said, dragging her fingers across the back of Taylor’s hand in a pronounced stroke.

  He heard how bad that sounded and from Taylor’s humph, she was putting pieces together. “You had sex before you kissed?”

  Evie took a second then grinned at him. “Oh, wow, we did.”

  “You’re just figuring that out?” he asked. “I thought women cared about that kind of shit.”

  “Other women,” Evie said, waving a dismissive hand. “Other women wouldn’t have been fine with you dating outside the relationship.”

  Oak pointed at her. “Hey, you date too,” he said because he didn’t want Taylor to think he’d pressured Evie. “And you were the one who said Lana—”

  “Lana!” Taylor exclaimed, grabbing on to Evie’s hand to tug them closer to each other. “Oh, God, how have you handled seeing him with Lana?”

  Evie tucked Taylor’s hair back behind her ear almost like a mother would. Oakley was amazed that she’d ever think she might not have it in her to parent when she was so amazing with Taylor. It would be better if the women took their conversation out of his office, but he wasn’t going to shoo them.

  Letting them have their gossip, he returned to proofing the contract he’d have to send out later, doing his best to ignore them.

  Picking up his pen and the document, he went back to making notes for his assistant who’d make the updates.

  “Lana was never a problem, she was business,” Evie said. “It’s not like Oak wanted her and I’ve been more relaxed about it since, well… you know…”

  “Yeah.” Taylor was nodding like she totally got what Evie was talking about. “Now I understand why you were so casual about that.”

  “So casual about what?” he asked, circling a section and making a notation in the margin.

  “You didn’t tell him?”

  When he shifted his eyes upward, he saw Evie shrug, but Taylor was too shocked for him to just let it go. “Tell me what?”

  “Kody had sex with Lana,” Evie said.

  The pen fell from his hand. “When?”

  “A couple of weeks ago,” she said, drawing a fingertip along the edge of his desk.

  Hitting the speaker button, he dialed Kody. “Hey, boss.”

  “Where you at?” Oak asked.

  “In the elevator, just getting back from the Regent meeting. They’re going to follow the plan you created for them, Charley and Ed are grateful. They’re going to make it. Are you looking for me?”

  “Yeah, come to the office,” he said and smacked the disconnect button as he glared at his girl.

  If she’d had information like that, she should’ve shared it with him. Something flew across his vision and he turned to see Taylor throwing paperclips at him.

  “Are you jealous? You can’t be with Evie and be jealous that Lana is looking elsewhere. Geez, Oakley, you’re supposed to be my role model for guys! You’re just as bad as the rest of them. Is there any hope of finding a decent guy?”

  “Oh, sweetie,” Evie said, putting an arm around Taylor to hold her tight. “Oakley’s driven by his dick just like every other male on the planet. It’s pride. It’s machismo. It’s—”

  “Bullshit,” he said to Evie who immediately lost her condescension to a smile. “You know I don’t care who Lana fucks and I know why you didn’t tell me she was sleeping with Kody.”

  Taylor rolled her head on Evie’s shoulder. “Why? You guys don’t talk to each other?” She sighed. “Please don’t break my heart and tell me this is a casual fuck fling.”

  “Oooh,” Evie said, parting from Taylor to smile at her. “Fuck fling. I like that. I’m using that… I just need to find a guy who I can have one with.”

  When Evie batted her eyes at him, h
e knew to stay stern, but she made it difficult. “No,” he said. “Weren’t we talking about marriage forty-eight hours ago?”

  “Ah, no,” she said, pointing at him and then a squealing Taylor. “He was talking about marriage. I was talking about him fucking around.”

  When the hell had that happened? “You were not!”

  “Uh, hello? Marilyn Monroe.” Yeah, okay, they had talked about that. Kody came into the office and right over to the desk, smiling at everyone. “Hello, Kody,” Evie purred in a deep, seductive lilt; she leaned back and traced a fingertip around the neckline of her top.

  “Hi, Evie,” he said, his smile growing nervous. “What’s up?”

  The marketing manager would have taken an answer from anyone, but Evie leaned toward him and threaded her fingers through his. “I heard you have a thing for Oakley’s women…”

  “Ok, Thirteen, enough,” Oak said. Taylor wasn’t helping with her giggling. “Are you fucking Lana?”

  Kody blanched, his jaw swung loose and he searched for something to say. Oak kind of wanted to make the guy sweat for a while. Not because he cared who Lana was hooking up with but because he was pissed at having been kept out of the loop as seemed to be a habit these days. The women in his life were taking over his company.

  “I… I’m sorry, man, it… just happened and—”

  “Thank fuck for that,” Oak said.

  Evie snapped her fingers at him. “And that’s exactly why I didn’t tell you,” she declared. “I knew you’d use it as an out. You’re going to dump her now, aren’t you? I fucking knew it, Oakley Orion. You’re as transparent as that fucking window back there. You’ve been looking for an excuse to—”

  “I can’t keep seeing her if she’s screwing another guy,” he said, but could tell she was never going to buy it.

  “Don’t give me that crap,” Evie said. “She’s been seeing you and the whole time you’ve been screwing me!”

  “That’s not even—”

  “Wait, what?” Kody asked, cutting him off. “You’ve been… you two… you’re… Fuck me!”

  “Well, apparently, I’m on your list,” Evie said, holding up two sets of crossed fingers.