Who’s The Boss?

by McCarthy , Erin

  “You don’t scare me. Then or now, Isla the Intimidator.”

  The memory of our first meeting amused me. “I can’t believe I called you an asshole five minutes after we met.”

  “You’re very mean.”

  That made me laugh. “Please. You called me a man hater.”

  “I didn’t realize at the time that you don’t hate men in general, you just hated me. I stand corrected.”

  The bartender was milling around, having set up the elaborate champagne station already. I offered him an appetizer. “What is it?” he asked, looking suspiciously at all the trays.

  “Fish and chips.” I didn’t tell him it was actually a sardine on a mash of English peas, with razor thin fried potato slices.

  He made a face. “No, thanks.”

  That was what I had worried about. Felicia’s guests weren’t exactly going to be wild for sardines, no matter what I called them. But the mini Yorkshire puddings would go over better. That was just beef in a puff pastry with horseradish and watercress.

  I ate one of the tiny appetizers myself, just to prove to the bartender it was delicious. Sean did the same, then asked him, “Can you get us a bottle of champagne?”

  He easily handed one over, which surprised me. Clearly no stickler for the bottle count. Or maybe he knew Sean was Michael’s brother. At any rate, I eyed Sean as I stirred my pan sauce for our beef Wellington. “What are you doing with that?”

  “Drinking it. With you.” He popped the cork handily and took two coup glasses from the bartender. “Here.” He poured and then handed me a glass.

  I took it, a thought entering my head that was not appropriate for a baby shower. I’d heard something about champagne heightening the sensation of a blowjob. All those bubbles. My cheeks went warm.

  Sean poured a glass for himself and raised it. He eyed me, his expression unexpectedly serious. “To us. A partnership.”

  It wasn’t clear to me what exactly he meant by that, but I liked the sound of it. We had turned a corner. One that didn’t really have anything to do with sex. Though I definitely wanted more of that. “To us getting along.” I gently tapped my glass against his. “Cheers.” I took a sip, then set my glass down. “Shoot, the sauce!”

  Sean reached out and stirred it. “The sauce is fine. You’re a pro.”

  I could get used to compliments from him. It was really damn enjoyable. “Thanks.”

  “Taste my cream,” he said, dipping a spoon into the bowl he had been mixing.

  I raised an eyebrow. He managed to make everything sound sexual. Or maybe that was just me turning everything dirty. “I trust you.”

  Sean ignored me. He slipped the spoon between my lips in a way that was more intimate than it should have been.

  “Mmm,” I said, closing my eyes briefly. The light sweetness exploded over my tongue.

  Then Sean shocked the absolute hell out of me by pulling the spoon back and kissing me. My eyes flew open and I started to panic and back up, but he wrapped an arm around me and held me firmly. I rationalized we were alone in the kitchen save the bartender, who seemed to have wandered away and most likely, didn’t give a shit. Of course, it was an open concept main floor so it wasn’t like we were hidden.

  But I couldn’t seem to find the strength to stop him. His tongue tangled with mine and the taste of the cream and the lingering champagne and it was all so sensual that my body practically melted against his.

  Finally I managed to tear my lips from his and I took a deep shuddering breath. Cheeks burning, I glanced around to see who might have witnessed us. Oh, yeah, there was Michael gaping at us from the living room. He was standing in front of Felicia, who was facing away from us, thank God, but bad enough Sean’s brother had seen us.

  “Michael is watching us,” I said, wiping my lip and turning back to the stove, stirring frantically. I needed my back to the room while I gathered myself together. When Sean kissed me, I felt it everywhere, like a warm waterfall, penetrating all my private parts. It was a problem.

  “I know, I just waved to him.”

  As usual, Sean sounded ridiculously casual. Angry and chill as fuck seemed to be his only two states of being. I’d seen him anxious while being trapped, but I wondered who Sean really was. What was underneath all that Chef Eight Dates bullshit. I shouldn’t care, but I did.

  Sean moved in beside me, his arm brushing mine. “Isla.”

  “Yes?” I forced myself to stop stirring the sauce that no longer needed stirring and glance over at him.

  “I want to see you. Go on a date. I want to spend more time with you.”

  It was completely unexpected. Yes, I knew he wanted to have sex with me but to actually go out on a date? Totally unexpected and strangely appealing. Though I wasn’t sure what he actually meant by a date. “I thought we were supposed to have gotten each other out of our system.”

  “That was doomed to failure from the beginning. I can’t believe I was even stupid enough to say those words out loud. I apologize again for them.” His green eyes were filled with sincerity and desire. “I like you. I want to get to know you better. It’s just that simple.”

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I guess I like you, too.”

  He grinned. “That must have killed you to say that aloud.”

  “It did.” I eyed him. “This is all not according to plan. If Nico ever found out we went out, he’d fire one, or both, of us.”

  “We’ll have to keep it a secret.” He said it was like it was no big deal. “What happens outside of Bone is a secret between just you and me.”

  “I just told you an hour ago I don’t keep secrets and you clearly suck at it too since you just kissed me when your brother is thirty feet away from us.”

  “He’s at least forty feet away from us.”

  I rolled my eyes and smacked his arm. Sean grinned. “You’re not funny,” I told him.

  “But I’m extremely good-looking.”

  The man was insufferable. And damn it, I was starting to find him funny. What the hell was wrong with me? “You’re also an idiot.”

  “Your words wound me.” He didn’t look in the least bit hurt. Instead he leaned in close to me and said, “Once the staff starts serving, let’s sneak into the guest room down the hall.”

  My inner thighs flooded with moisture. “You can’t be serious.” But I knew he was.

  I also knew I was going to do it.

  There was just something about Sean Kincaid that made it impossible for me to say no.

  No regrets. That’s what I had told him. I didn’t live my life with regrets.

  An hour later, I was dragging Isla downstairs, past Felicia’s office, to a workout room that was tucked in the corner and where no one who wasn’t familiar with the house would know it was there. This was only my fourth time in the house, and the first since Felicia had fully decorated it, but I had made note of this room because I had been jealous of the workout equipment, the massage table, and the steam shower that was adjacent to it.

  There was no way I was going to be able to talk Isla into a shower with me, but I figured I could talk her into a couple of other fun activities. The guest room had felt too risky and I was impressed with myself for thinking on my feet.

  “Someone is going to notice we’re missing,” she said, but she was also softly laughing as I tugged her by the hand. “You have five minutes, tops. Make it count.”

  I could do a lot in five minutes, but I figured we had at least ten. None of which I was going to waste talking. The door didn’t lock, which threw me for a second, but then I picked up a weight bar and set it across the door. That would prevent an interruption. I got the sense Isla wasn’t going to relax if she thought we could get caught.

  “What are we going to–” she started to say.

  Putting a finger to her lips to shush her, I murmured, “Just kiss me, Isla.”

  She slid her arms around my neck and parted her lips. That sassy smile she wore nearly did me in. I bent down,
took her mouth and tasted her again. The sweetness of the champagne and the cream both lingered and while I wanted to take my time, enjoy just the feel of her lips pressed on mine, I was conscious of the limited time frame.

  After a minute, I carried Isla several feet to the nearest wall and pushed her against it, harder than I intended, but in line with my intense need for her. Her back slammed into the drywall and a picture fell off the wall and hit the floor. She gasped.

  “What the hell was that?”

  I didn’t care. Not one damn bit. But I glanced down. “It’s a black and white photograph of a water bottle. Which is weird. It didn’t break, though.”

  I dropped my mouth to her neck and kissed her, feeling goosebumps appear on her warm flesh. Brushing a hand over the swell of her breast, I undid the button on her jeans, and slipped a finger inside her panties. She gave a soft moan and it seemed loud in the dark and silent room. Isla reached out and undid my belt, which made me want to close the deal. Now. I needed her now.

  “Take your shirt off,” I urged her, and I yanked my shirt over my head. I wanted to feel her skin on my skin.

  Her breasts were pushed high in her bra in a way that made my mouth water. I kissed and sucked the swell above the black fabric, before tugging the cups down to expose her nipples.

  “Yes,” she murmured, when my tongue flicked over her bare nipple.

  The sound of her pleasure made me want to work harder, take her higher. She clung to me as I drew her nipple into my mouth and sucked the sensitive bud.

  “More,” she urged me.

  That was one of the things I liked about Isla– she was straight forward. She told me exactly what she wanted.

  I sucked her opposite nipple, grazing my teeth over her. I tugged her jeans down to her thighs.

  “Is this what you want?” I asked, voice gruff, fingers teasing over her panties.

  It was a brutal tease. I was barely touching her, and Isla’s cheeks were flushed, eyes glazed. Her breathing was shallow.

  I wanted more, so much more, and clearly she did too.

  I wanted her to say it out loud, to tell me that she wanted my cock inside her.

  Isla didn’t disappoint. “I want you to fuck me,” she said.

  “I love that you know what you want,” I said, stripping down her panties. “I love even more that what you want is me.”

  That might have been the most honest statement I had made in awhile.

  Part of me wondered what the hell I was doing and why this woman drove me so damn crazy. Part of me knew there was no point in trying to analyze it. There wasn’t necessarily any explaining sexual chemistry between two people.

  Even as I stroked over her clit, then teased a finger inside her, I knew that was oversimplifying what was happening between me and Isla. It wasn’t just sexual chemistry. It was something so much more. I was starting to think she could be my person. The one that broke me out of my pattern of hit and quit dating.

  That thought terrified me. So I dug in my pocket and pulled out a condom. It was a Friday night habit to have one at the ready.

  “Open this,” I ordered, handing it to her.

  I undid my jeans and she unrolled it onto me without a word. I lifted her leg and settled it onto my hip. Staring into her eyes felt intense and when she still didn’t speak, I wondered what she was thinking.

  Without hesitation I thrust inside her.

  Isla’s back hit the wall and I lost all ability to breathe. Closing my eyes briefly I tried to process what was happening. That felt so good. So fucking good. I held her up against me with one hand, the other I placed my palm flat on the wall to brace myself.

  Then I pounded into her.

  It wasn’t easy, teasing strokes.

  Isla’s eyes rolled back. “This is really inappropriate for a baby shower, you know.”

  “Are you kidding? How do you think babies are made?”

  Isla laughed softly, then gasped as I lifted her leg higher so I was deep into her heat.

  It was just hard, deep fucking. Not too fast, not too slow.

  Isla came in seconds. She just cried out and let the orgasm sweep over her.

  Holy shit. She was so hot.

  I didn’t hold back. I pounded to my own explosion. Then we just stood there for a minute, trying to catch our breath. “That was amazing.”

  She nodded. “I second that.” But then she shoved my chest. “We need to go back upstairs.”

  “Can’t I just enjoy this feeling for a second?”

  “No.” She pushed me again, but then surprised me by giving me a kiss.

  When she was sweet like that, I’d do whatever she asked, so I pulled back and got rid of the condom. I fixed my jeans, while she did the same. I flushed the condom down the toilet in the powder room next to the workout room and washed my hands. When I came back Isla was already at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Let me go up first,” Isla said. “In case anyone is looking.”

  “Sure.” I nodded. I didn’t think it would take a certified genius to figure out what we’d been doing. Isla’s clothes were rumpled, her hair disheveled, and there was no reason for us to be downstairs. Michael and Felicia didn’t have a wine cellar down there.

  Personally, I didn’t care. But I just grabbed her hand, pulled her hard against me for one last kiss, then let her go to delude herself that no one was going to take note of her absence and appearance. I watched her go, leaning against the doorframe at the bottom of the stairs.

  Her ass in those jeans was a thing of beauty.

  “I can feel you staring at my ass,” she hissed, glancing back over her shoulder. “Knock it off.”

  That made me laugh. “Then stop having such a fine ass,” I told her.

  She waved her hand back at me and said, “Shh!”

  Being shushed by Isla was my highlight of my night, after being buried inside her in my brother’s workout room. I was still grinning when I went upstairs.

  Ten

  “So I’m not going to ask why you were kissing my brother. Or why the two of you disappeared for twenty minutes.” Michael kept his voice low as he leaned across me to grab a bite-size sticky pudding. He popped it in his mouth and raised his eyebrows at me.

  “Then I guess I don’t have to answer you since you’re not asking.” I watched Felicia beaming in front of her “Amelia” display, being photographed by a half a dozen people, including Leah, Savannah, and her former roommate, Javier. Dakota was flirting with the bartender.

  Felicia looked so beautiful. So happy. A piece of my heart just melted with love for my friend and all the wonderful changes in her life. Six months ago she’d been on the verge of being tossed out of the country and now here she was, expecting a little girl with the love of her life.

  “You know that Sean is not one to settle down, right?”

  That made all of my sentimental thoughts evaporate. “What?” I turned and stared at Michael. “So? What the hell does that have to do with me?” Everything about that question just irritated me.

  “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “Pfft.” I gave an actual snort. “You’re giving advice to the wrong woman. I don’t get hurt. I don’t fall in love.” I glared at Michael. “I don’t need to be warned to the fact that Sean is a perpetual bachelor. I saw that a freaking mile away.” I preferred not to be reminded of it an hour after he was inside me, but I wasn’t an idiot, thank you very much. “I was not born yesterday. Besides, what makes you think that there is anything more between us than a kiss?”

  Michael didn’t say anything. A minute ticked past.

  “What?” I demanded.

  He shook his head slowly. “Uh, that was a very strong reaction.”

  It was. Damn it. “That you’re going to ignore.” I reached for a sticky pudding. “This conversation never happened.” I walked away like we’d just conducted an illegal drug deal or international espionage.

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I started in the direction of my f
riends, swiping a glass of champagne off the table.

  But before I could get across the room, Sean’s mother stepped in front of me and gave me a smile that was as chilled as the champagne. “Hello. Isla, right? Felicia’s friend? I believe we met at Michael’s engagement party.”

  Mrs. Kincaid was old school Upper East Side all the way. Classy, icy, and coiffed. She was wearing a floral spring suit and was eyeing with me and up. There was no question she found my jeans and spiked heels an inappropriate outfit for a baby shower, and she wasn’t wrong. But I didn’t particularly care what she thought.

  “Yes, it’s nice to see you again, Mrs. Kincaid.” I smiled back, politely, wondering what the hell she wanted.

  “Thank you so much for preparing all this interesting food,” she said.

  I guess she wasn’t a fan of bubble and squeak cakes. She looked like she’d hate carbs. “It was my pleasure. Sean and I had fun with what Felicia wanted.”

  “How is that going, dear?” she asked, looking at me sympathetically. “Sean isn’t easy to work with. Oh, actually I suppose you work for him, don’t you? That’s even harder.”

  I wasn’t sure what she was trying to do. She obviously had an agenda but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Another mother, I’d assume she was trying to protect her son, but this woman seemed more capable of eating her offspring. At any rate, whatever her intent, it was ridiculous given her son was thirty-five years old.

  But she was Felicia’s mother-in-law and Sean’s mother so I was going to just grin and bear it. “Working with Sean has gone surprisingly well,” I said, which was the truth.

  Her lips pursed briefly. “You’ve slept with him, haven’t you?”

  She said it as if Sean were married and I was his homewrecking secretary.

  “I’ve never once been in Sean’s bed,” I said, with total honesty. “Excuse me, I need to check in with Felicia.”

  As I walked away, I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t help it. But at least Mrs. Kincaid was behind me so there was no way she saw the gesture.

  Sean, on the other hand, did. He’d also clearly heard what I had said.