“I don’t care,” he said. “It’s worth it.”
To press his point, he ran his hands over her soft curves, squeezing gently here and there. Viv thrust her hips against him, her hungry mouth finding his.
Lifting her up, he felt his way down the dark hall and into his bedroom. After setting her on the bed, he switched the bedside lamp on. He’d been craving her for days. No way would he waste this time by keeping the light off.
He gazed down at her as he undid the first few buttons on his shirt. She lay on her back, angled up on her forearms, watching him with hooded eyes. Full, pouty lips. Soft, gleaming hair. Big, expressive eyes.
She was his for the taking, and he knew exactly how lucky he was.
Shucking his jacket, dress shirt, and pants, he got on his knees in front of the bed and pushed her dress up. Pulling her panties down, he ran his palm up the inside of her thigh and to her hot, pulsing mound.
Viv moaned and dropped her head back. Grinning to himself, he lowered his face between her legs and pressed a gentle kiss there. She relaxed at his touch, sinking into the mattress as he teased and stroked her.
With each second he touched her, his desire grew. It was a hot, fiery ball, brighter than the sun. Viv’s fingers dug into his shoulders, signaling that she was close to climax.
Slipping his finger into her, he guided her up and over the edge. Her cries echoed against the walls.
Grinning, Markus stood up and kicked off the remainder of his clothes. Viv’s face was flushed, her breathing ragged. Through her dress’ fabric, hard, tight nipples revealed how turned on she still was.
She sat up, pulling her dress over her head and throwing it on the floor. With a growl, he set upon her. Their lips locked, he unhooked her bra and tossed it to the side. Her panties joined the pile of clothes, leaving them both naked.
“Hold on.” He reached over the side of the bed and dug in his pants for his wallet. After how long he’d already waited for this, he didn’t trust himself to be inside her for a minute without a condom.
Back in the middle of the bed, he pulled her to him, but she flipped the switch and pushed him onto his back. Settling her legs on either side of his hips, she took hold of his dick and guided it to her entrance.
As he pierced her velvety folds, a lone moan slipped from her lips. Markus growled and took hold of her hips.
Hands planted on the headboard behind him, she slowly rocked back and forth. The view was amazing, with full tits swaying and looks of ecstasy passing across Viv’s face. He could have stayed there forever, watching her ride him.
She picked up the pace, her walls clenching hard around his length. She cried out with a release, and the sound of her pleasure did it for him. He let go and exploded deep inside of her.
With a heavy gasp, Viv collapsed onto his chest and tucked her face into the crook of his neck. He ran his hands through her hair, enjoying the slick feeling of their mixed sweat.
They lay there for a long time, listening to the sounds of traffic below. With her nestled against his chest and his arms around her, everything became perfect.
There were no secrets. No cache of diamonds. No risks to be taken. It was only them: perfect, and exactly where they needed to be.
Chapter 9
Viv
“Your resume is exceptional.” Bea Moore, the owner of Birds and Bea’s, put the paper down and squinted at Viv across the table at the front of the floral shop. “I don’t understand one thing, though.”
The skepticism in her voice made Viv’s back straighten. “What’s that?”
“I can’t pay you anything near what I’m sure HW Pharma has. Why on earth would you want to work at a little shop like this?”
“It’s something that I’ve always dreamed of doing.” Viv spread her hands. “My years with HW have been good, but it’s not the job for me. There are more important things than money.”
Bea smiled softly, and Viv could tell the older woman understood.
“You certainly have experience selling things. Do you think you’d have a hard time with flowers?”
“No, ma’am.” Viv giggled. “Not at all.”
“It’s mostly answering the phones and taking and running orders. There’s the possibility of learning to make arrangements, if that’s something that interests you.”
Viv nodded eagerly. “It definitely is.”
“Great, then. I have a few more people to interview, but I’ll give you a call next week. How does that sound?”
“Wonderful. Thank you so much.”
Standing, Viv shook Bea’s hand.
The walk out to the car, she grinned from ear to ear. Working at a florist might seem like a starter job to most people, something for students, but that wasn’t how it felt for her.
A job at Bea’s, though it wouldn’t pay much, would at least cover her bills. She had enough in savings for any emergency that might come up. And maybe she’d eventually get promoted and receive a raise.
Or, who knew? Perhaps she would open her own shop one day. Right then, the potentials felt limitless.
After buckling up, she called Markus from the car’s Bluetooth system.
“Hey, babe,” he answered. “How did your interview go?”
He’d taken to calling her ‘babe’ over the last few days, and every time she heard it, she got warm all over. It had only been a couple weeks since they’d gone to Nirvana, but they’d been hanging out a lot since then. She’d gotten lucky and had only been out of town for half of those days. Every night she was in Jacksonville, they spent together.
“She didn’t give me an answer yet,” Viv replied, “but I think it went really well. Are we still down for dinner?”
“Of course.” A muffled male voice on his end said something. “Hey, uh, I’ll be a little later than I thought, though.”
“Okay. How late?”
“Maybe thirty minutes. Ryder needs my help with something.”
While she’d been working the last couple of weeks, he’d been busy helping his friend renovate his house. Markus had taken her over there once to meet Ryder.
“How about I pick up dinner?” he asked. “Mexican?”
“Sure.”
She’d planned on going to Markus’ right from the interview, and her apartment was a bit of a drive away. It didn’t make much sense to go there. Maybe she could hang out at a coffee shop until he got home.
“Why don’t you go to my place now?” he asked, reading her mind. “Get comfy. I’ll text you the door code.”
“Okay. That sounds nice.”
She was already imagining all the sexy ways she could meet him at the door. Maybe she would only be wearing lingerie when he arrived home. Or maybe she’d be wearing nothing.
“What do you want from the restaurant?” he asked.
“Anything. It doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t matter?!” He made a noise of agony. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“Sorry.” She laughed. “It’s all kind of the same, isn’t it? Like, same ingredients in different forms.”
“As a lover of Mexican food, I’m personally offended that you think that. It’s definitely not all the same. But, since that’s how you feel, I’ll pick what we’re having.”
“I’m sure I’ll love it.”
They hung up, and she drove over to the grocery store near his building and picked up a bottle of red. Once inside his apartment, she changed and hopped in the shower. She’d already packed an overnight bag in anticipation of staying there, and had underwear and comfy PJs to change into.
Hopping from the shower, she ran a comb through her wet hair and braided it. Pulling on pajamas for the time being, she checked the clock.
Ten minutes had passed since she’d arrived at the apartment.
“Yikes.” She sighed.
It seemed like it would be forever before Markus got there.
In the kitchen, she rooted through drawers to find the wine opener. In addition to meeting him se
mi-naked at the door, holding two glasses of wine seemed like a nice touch. As she reached into the back of a drawer, though, something nicked her finger.
“Ouch!”
Pulling her hand out, she found a thin line of blood on her finger. A knife, probably forgotten about, had been left in the back of the drawer.
Leaving the wine for the time being, she padded back into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet.
Toothpaste. Aftershave. Floss.
No bandages.
“Hm.” She twisted her lips and thought.
Under the sink?
Nope. Not in there either.
What about back in the kitchen?
There was a black box on top of the fridge. Men, as she’d learned, were different from women. While her brain might find it completely logical to put a first aid kit in the bathroom, it could be Markus saw the kitchen as the best place.
Standing on her tiptoes, she grabbed the box and pulled it off the fridge. Its weight was unexpected, and it came down faster than predicted.
Setting the box on the counter, she took off its lid.
And then she stared.
The box had been so heavy because of the gun in it.
But it wasn’t the handgun that shook her. Though she didn’t own a weapon, plenty of people exercised that right.
No, it was the money and the burner phone. Stacks and stacks of cash, and the kind of phone that people who didn’t want to be tracked used.
She picked up one of the stacks and inspected it closer. Yep. Definitely real. Each bill was a hundred. By her guess, that meant thousands of dollars were in the box.
Not just a few thousand. Maybe ten thousand.
And what was with the burner phone? Who kept one of those lying in a box with precious goods?
A lump formed in her throat, and her hands shook. She dropped the money like it had burned her and, quick as she could, put the box back in its spot.
With her back against the counter, she clutched it and waited for the room to stop spinning. Okay, so Markus had a ton of cash.
So what? Maybe he was a touch paranoid and hoarded it. That was another thing that people who were normal did.
A memory came back to her. That of the glove compartment in her dad’s car. She’d opened it once around when she was eight, and he’d slapped it closed—but not before she got a look at the cash and gun in there.
Cash and gun. Cash and gun.
The words spun in her head, a sick, twisted song. Cash and guns were what crooks kept on themselves.
And the burner phone! The kind that was notoriously hard to locate.
Why did Markus have this stuff? And sitting right there in his kitchen, no less? Where had all of that money come from?
She pressed a trembling hand to her mouth and closed her eyes. She was overreacting.
No. No, she wasn’t. The moment that she told herself that, she lost her footing.
She could ask Markus about the stuff, but wouldn’t he just come up with some excuse?
She had to get out of there. The thought of him coming back at any moment and finding her reeling wouldn’t do. She needed some space to process what she’d found.
Not even taking the time to change out of her pajamas, she grabbed her things and headed for the door. Maybe Markus’ stash was innocuous.
God, she hoped it was.
Right then, though, it hit too close to home. It reminded her of something she’d spent years working to get over. She couldn’t face him in the state she was in, couldn’t face him with so much fear and doubt in her heart.
She had to get away, if only for a little while.
Chapter 10
Viv
That night was one of the worst sleeps of Viv’s life. After arriving home and sending Markus an excuse about skipping out in the form of a text about “a stomachache,” she collapsed into bed.
Rest didn’t come easy, though. She couldn’t stop thinking about the box she’d found and what it all meant. Finally, she gave up and rose an hour before her alarm, dressed, and trudged out the door.
That’s when she noticed she’d forgotten to grab the mail from the day before. Snatching up the small bundle, she flipped through it.
A letter from Florida State Prison made her freeze.
This made the second one from her dad. She still hadn’t opened the one from the month before. Why was he trying yet again to get in touch? You’d think her lack of response would have said everything.
Stuffing the letter under her car’s seat, she resolved not to think about the matter for the rest of the day. She had enough on her mind as it was.
On the drive to work, she listened to her favorite playlist and tried to sort everything out in her head. She needed to talk to Markus, that much was for sure.
And she would. Soon.
She just wasn’t ready yet.
That day the itinerary called for a meeting in Gainesville, a little over an hour away. Unlike a lot of her trips, Viv wouldn’t be making this one alone. Mr. Romano had offered to give her a ride.
She’d been in a good mood when she’d accepted earlier in the week. Now, she really wished she hadn’t done that. Right then, nothing felt better than solitude.
As she parked her car at HW’s headquarters, her phone buzzed with a text from Markus.
How are you feeling?
Good question. Seeing the text made her think she might vomit, actually.
She suspected he knew something was up and that she hadn’t been completely honest about why she’d ditched him, but since they hadn’t talked face-to-face, she couldn’t know for sure. Like the letter from her father, she was just gonna stuff this whole matter for the time being.
Going into work, she went through her morning routine on autopilot. Coffee in the break room. A quick hello to everyone. An email check and briefing of the day’s schedule.
At eight sharp, she met Mr. Romano in the main lobby.
“Vivian.” He smiled with shiny, white teeth that seemed too big and perfect to be real. “How’s my star sales rep?”
She cringed inwardly. It hurt knowing she was so good in a field she couldn’t wait to discard.
“I’m good,” she lied. “How are you, Mr. Romano?”
“Great. I’d be even better if you weren’t leaving in a week, though.”
She forced a smile as he opened the door and they went outside. “That’s kind of you.”
A car idled in front of the building, and the driver waited for the two of them to get into the back before zooming from the parking lot.
“Seriously.” Mr. Romano finished texting on his phone, then put it away. “You’ve done a lot for HW. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about your departure. If money is the issue, I can get something worked out.”
“That’s not it at all.” A tightness formed in her chest. She was getting tired of having to explain this to people. She was getting tired of people in general.
“I do appreciate it, though,” she said. “Thank you very much.”
“Really, Viv.” His thick eyebrows pushed together. “Name your price.”
Huh. He thought she was trying to play hardball.
“There is no price, Mr. Romano. I would like to get into a new field.”
“Oh? And what would that be?”
She hesitated. Bea still hadn’t called her back about the job at the floral shop, but she had her hopes up. “Flowers.”
There was a long pause, and then Mr. Romano broke into laughter. “That’s cute.”
He pulled out his phone again and stuck his face in it, signaling the end of the conversation.
Viv’s face burned. Though she didn’t know Mr. Romano well, she’d always considered him a decent guy. It was quite possible her opinion on that was changing.
From her purse, she heard her phone buzz. Another text.
That constricted feeling in her chest increased. If it was Markus again, she didn’t want to know.
“We need to make a
stop,” Mr. Romano said a few minutes later.
“Okay.”
They were on the highway, close to crossing the city limits.
“It shouldn’t take long,” he added.
Viv only nodded. She didn’t care. At this point, she was only along for the ride. It was important that she show up to work and go through the motions, but other than that, not much else seemed to matter.
Mr. Romano leaned forward and gave the company driver an address. They took an exit off the highway and passed by some gas stations and a trailer park before arriving at a nondescript office building with some warehouses and storage units behind it.
“Be right back.” Mr. Romano climbed from the car and strode into the office building.
Since there were no cars out front, she didn’t know who he could be meeting. Maybe he was only picking something up. Not that she cared much.
Sitting bored and with nothing to do meant all she could think about was her phone. With the draw too much, she dug it from her purse.
Sure enough, Markus had texted again.
Want me to bring you anything? Did you stay home from work?
Viv bit her lip. She always heard women complaining about guys not texting them back, and now that one was being super attentive, she couldn’t stand it.
Putting the phone back in her purse, she closed her eyes. That conversation about the box, as uncomfortable as it would be for her, needed to happen sooner rather than later.
The sound of the door opening made her jerk and open her eyes. Mr. Romano hadn’t been kidding about how long that would take. He was already back.
“Let’s go,” he told the driver. His attention turned to Viv. “Ready for the meeting?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. We wouldn’t want you slacking because you’re on the homestretch.”
He chuckled at the poor excuse for a joke. In the past, she probably would have forced a laugh, but since keeping her employers happy didn’t matter anymore, she didn’t so much as smile.
“It’ll be a good meeting, I’m sure.”
With that, she turned her face to the window.
She really should have driven herself to Gainesville.
Sinner - A Bad Boy's Baby Romance Page 6
