She knew it was only supposed to be lust between them, but somewhere along the way, she had really started to care for Seth. Maybe if they hadn’t been forced to put off having sex, things might have been different. Now, she had gotten to know him more as a person rather than just a sexual partner and that could be bad. Despite the obvious enjoyment of each other’s company, he hadn’t suggested anything beyond sex. Never had there been the mention of an actual date. She was afraid that the delays at the Oceanix Resort could well end up breaking her heart.
It was Wednesday, and the official finish date for the installation was Friday. Mia hoped to finish on Thursday afternoon and surprise Seth that evening. She knew that he was having some painting done at his beach house, so he was spending every night at the hotel. She could barely control her need for him. Her desire for things to go further was also getting harder to ignore. Shit, maybe the old saying was right; Why buy the cow if you’re getting the milk for free? In this case, she was the cow and Seth had already tasted the milk. That was one saying she dearly hoped wasn’t true.
***
Seth was wired and edgy. Having Mia close for weeks had been somewhere between heaven and hell. She had done as he asked and not worn a skirt, but it didn’t help. She would look hot in a burlap sack. His cock had been hard so much that he felt like every drop of blood in his body stayed pooled there. He had missed meetings and was scattered on his calls. He cancelled anything that threatened to interfere with his lunch with her each day. He knew he sat riveted as she told stories of her childhood and later years. His brothers had actually been making fun of his unorganized state. His life seemed to be in some sort of free fall lately and he placed the blame squarely on Mia’s beautiful shoulders. Even Margie had long since stopped smirking at his behavior and now just gave him pitying looks. Hell, he had a longer relationship with his dry cleaner than he had with Mia, so why was he letting her practically take over his life?
As he sat brooding, his personal line rang and he absently answered. When he heard Ashley’s sultry voice on the other end, he couldn’t help but smile. They had grown up together and dated for about a year before she had moved away to California to pursue her true love: acting. She was now a regular on a daily soap opera, which she seemed to love. Their relationship had always been more a friends-with-benefits one rather than a great love affair. She was blonde, beautiful, and sexy, but best of all, a genuinely nice person. When she was in town, more often than not, they had dinner and sex. No strings, nothing exclusive, just two people who enjoyed each other both in and out of bed. He hadn’t seen her in well over six months so he was pleasantly surprised to hear her voice. He also shot a quick look toward the control room to confirm that Mia was still in the penthouse with her team working on the installation there. Fuck, why should that matter?
“Seth! It’s been so long, darling, I’ve missed you!” He smiled at the southern twang that working for years in California had never quite taken away. She told him that it was one of the reasons the producers of the show loved her so much; she was different.
“Ashley, it’s great to hear your voice. I thought you had forgotten about your friends here. I hear you are doing well, though.”
“Oh, I am,” she laughed. “We can save all of that for tonight, though. I’m in town visiting my parents for a few days and I would love to see you before I leave.” She lowered her voice to a purr, adding, “How about I come over to your place around seven?”
“Shit, Ashley, I’ve got a dinner meeting tonight that will probably run late. How about tomorrow night?”Margie walked into his office just as he was finalizing his plans for the next evening. When he ended the call, he couldn’t miss her frown of disapproval. Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, he asked, “What have I done now?”
Ignoring his question, she asked, “So Ashley is back in town?”
He smiled, knowing Margie had always liked Ashley. “Yeah, just for a few days, though.”
“You’re going out with her tomorrow night?”
He was puzzled by her sudden interest in his old friend. Other than making a few off-color remarks through the years about his fuck-buddy, she had never shown much interest in Ashley’s visits when she came by the office. “Yes, I am. Do you have a point?”
“Yes,” she snapped, “that you’re involved with Mia. Don’t you think it might be a bad idea to see Ashley?”
Beyond irritated now, he said, “I’m not ‘involved’ with Mia and there is no reason I shouldn’t have dinner with a friend if I want to. Now if that’s all, I need to get back to work.” He knew a verbal dismissal never worked on her and this time was no exception. He could see her physically digging in her heels.
“Oh, well, excuse me for misunderstanding. I guess the fact that you have been running around here like a schoolboy with his first crush the last few weeks doesn’t mean anything at all. I’ve never known you to put a woman ahead of work and yet you have cancelled at least five meetings lately so that you are free to eat with her. Heck, at this point, she probably thinks you don’t work at all. There are more hormones raging in this office between you two than in a strip club at happy hour.”
Seth could feel his face color at Margie’s comments. The fact that she was right about all of it made it even worse. He was helpless to hide his defensive tone when he said, “Can we stop making this into a big deal? Ashley and I are just having dinner. As for Mia, it’s just casual. Stop trying to see something that isn’t there.”
He almost preferred the anger in her eyes to the sympathy that filled them now. “You’re going to screw this up, and short of locking you up in the trunk of my car, there is nothing I can do about it. Mia is a nice girl, Seth. Give yourself a chance to have someone like that in your life.” With that parting line, she quietly closed the door behind her. Shit, he would have preferred if she slammed it.
When Mia walked in an hour later, he had once again moved his schedule around to have lunch with her. He knew he was a distracted companion at best with Margie’s words still echoing through his conscience. Was he grabbing onto Ashley’s visit like a lifeline to get some distance from Mia? Whether he admitted it to Margie or not, he knew where his evening would go lead with his friend. Making a date with her wasn’t only agreeing to dinner. He felt guilt eat at him as Mia sat across from him giving him her usual easy, genuine smile. She was so fucking beautiful his heart stuttered just looking at her. Could there be more between them than sex? Was he even interested in finding out?
“I’m not wearing any panties.” His body jolted as Mia’s words caught his attention. She gave him a devious smile as she watched him struggling to recover his composure.
“Honey, now might not be the best time to tell me that.”
She gave a soft chuckle before admitting, “It’s not true, but I had to say something to get your attention. I’d already asked you a question three times, but you were staring off into space.” Her amusement turned into a look of concern as she asked, “Is everything okay?”
He allowed himself a small show of public affection as he rested his hand over hers briefly. “Yeah, it’s fine. Things have just been hectic this morning. Speaking of, I heard about the latest delay with the cameras. Are you still looking at finishing on Friday?”
“That’s the plan. I know you’re ready to have your office back,” she joked.
“I’m also ready to have you under me again. Is that also part of your plan?”
Mia took a sharp breath, looking completely floored by his comment. He had been a bit surprised when he said it out loud as well, but it was the truth. It had been far too long since they had been together and he could barely think of anything other than sliding into her hot body again. “Yes, that is a big part of my plan. I would love nothing better than to go back to your office and fulfill your fantasy of bending me over the desk.”
Seth felt his cock harden at her provocative comment. She eve
n had the gall to lick her lips in a slow, tortuous display. Fuck! It looked like the gloves were coming off. The next forty-eight hours were going to be a strain on his self-control, especially if Mia wanted to tease him. He had started a verbal wordplay with her that might just end up burning him. He discreetly adjusted himself under the table before telling her, “Be a good girl or Margie might see more than she bargained for this afternoon.”
Mia grimaced, saying, “Something tells me it wouldn’t offend her.”
“That’s an even more disturbing thought,” Seth groaned. “How about we try to keep it together until Friday night and then all bets are off?”
She ran her hand over his thigh for a brief moment before whispering, “Oh, you are so totally on.”
Chapter Ten
“You know that’s gonna cost you another lunch, right?”
Mia smiled at Kyle, as he walked toward her from his UPS delivery truck. They had long ago formed a relationship based on bribery and threats. She bribed him with food and he threatened to leave her shipment until last if she didn’t. She loved him and his wife, Sandy, to death. Since he made daily deliveries to Danvers, she saw him more than she saw her own family. Despite their kidding around, she knew that when she was under a time crunch, he would make her his first stop of the day. Truly, he was the one man who had never let her down. “Wow, I was going to spring for dinner, but if you are going to let me off with just lunch, hey, I’m not arguing.”
Kyle raised his brow saying, “Dinner? Boy, this must be an important delivery. It’s not that I’m complaining about the usual Taco Bell, but I wouldn’t say no to a steak every once in a while.”
She staggered back dramatically like the thought was killing her, but she made a mental note to get him and Sandy a gift certificate to somewhere fancy, maybe even the Oceanix Resort. “I’ll see what I can do since once again, you are saving my ass.” In truth, she wanted to break out her victory dance. Getting the delivery of cameras first thing that morning ensured that they were going to be able to wrap things up a day earlier as she had hoped. Everyone on the team would be thrilled. Several had put off their vacations when the install ran later than planned. She waved as Kyle backed away from the loading dock. The shipping department was used to her running down to check shipments when she was expecting a delivery. They had even made her Employee of the Month for their department once because she usually stayed to help them sort the boxes before she went back to her office.
She ran into Hank coming out of the break room. He had a donut in one hand and a Diet Coke in the other. He saw her smirking at the combination and said, “There is no reason to add insult to injury, kid. When I go to the gym after work, I’ll only have to work the donut off. So, how are we looking at the Oceanix? We on schedule to finally get the hell out of there tomorrow?”
Mia wiggled her eyebrows and said, “I’ll give you one better, boss; we should be done today.”
He finished chewing his bite of the powdered-sugar treat before saying, “No shit, that’s good. Who did you have to bribe to accomplish it this time?”
She chuckled and said, “You know I never reveal my sources. As soon as I have Danny load the boxes in the van, I’ll be on my way.” She felt herself blush when she asked, “Um . . . are you okay with me taking a personal day off on Friday if there are no problems on the job?”
When Hank looked down at his shoes, she knew that the reason for her request wasn’t lost on him. Shit, how embarrassing. For all she knew, Seth had something important going on Friday and wouldn’t be able to spend the day in bed as she was hoping. It never hurt to be prepared though, right? She never took all of her vacation or personal days so she had plenty to work with.
“Sure, no problem. You better get going if you are going to finish today, though.” Her mouth dropped when he threw over his shoulder, “Give Jackson my best.” Yeah, the reason for her request hadn’t escaped him at all. Oh, well, a little embarrassment was well worth a day of Seth . . . naked.
***
Seth had cursed at his desk when he realized that he would have to miss lunch with Mia. He was scheduled to meet with the bank to discuss the possibility of building another Oceanix in Myrtle Beach. There was easily enough tourism and local traffic to support a second location. He was friends with his banker, Miles Keaton, which was not good when you wanted to keep a meeting brief. After meeting in his office at the bank for an hour, they were now settling down to lunch at a nearby bistro. He had already let Margie know that it would be the afternoon before he would be back in the office and he had asked her to let Mia know as well.
He had also failed to cancel his dinner date with Ashley. She had texted him earlier to let him know that she was picking up the ingredients for spaghetti and would be cooking for him at the penthouse tonight. She knew that was one of his favorite meals and after all of her trouble, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to cancel on her. After all, they were friends first and foremost. He had alternated between feeling like he was cheating on Mia for having dinner with Ashley and feeling pissed at himself. They had had sex once. There was no relationship. Sure, he was going to see her again tomorrow night, but there was nothing exclusive between them. Maybe he needed to see Ashley to drive that point home. This thing with Mia was messing with his head and he was tired of it. He didn’t want to feel anything for her other than lust. Sex was something he understood, and the sooner things were back on that track, the better. Maybe Ashley’s visit couldn’t have come at a better time.
Chapter Eleven
Mia slathered lotion all over her body. Her workday had ended just an hour ago and she had rushed home as soon as she had finished her final task. She had phoned Hank to let him know that the job at the Oceanix was complete. Seth had been out of the office when she left so it had been easy enough to leave without him knowing. Nick Merimon would officially contact him tomorrow to let him know that the work was complete. If Mia had her way, Nick would only reach Seth’s voicemail.
She opted for a short skirt with a slinky halter top. She thought he would appreciate being able to live out his fantasy of bending her over and pulling up her skirt. Truth be told, that had been on her mind every day while she was working. She couldn’t remember ever being in such an almost constant state of arousal as she had for the last few weeks. As much as she loved her job with Danvers, she had been tempted to ignore Hank’s warning and throw caution to the wind. Her nipples throbbed against the lace of her demi bra as she imagined his hands on her body again. Even her thong rubbing against her clit was almost enough to send her over the edge.
She had no idea what Seth’s schedule was this evening. The private elevator to the penthouse of the Oceanix Resort opened into the foyer with a view of the living room. The elevator code had remained the same during their three weeks of work there. She was slightly nervous about dropping in on him unexpectedly, but she hoped that it would be a surprise he would love. Everything about their relationship so far had been spontaneous and she wanted to keep it that way. She stepped into a pair of black heels and took one more look in the mirror before turning to grab her purse and keys. This was it, the wait was finally over.
***
Seth was in over his head and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. Had Ashley always been this aggressive and he just hadn’t noticed? Despite his obvious lack of encouragement, her tongue had been in his mouth once and her hands had wandered over his cock at least three times. Fuck, now her foot was running up his leg from across the table. If he thought not sitting right beside her would deter her, he was sadly mistaken. And if he didn’t know better, he would swear she had at least four pairs of feet and hands. He had known he was in trouble when she announced that she was finished with acting and planning to move back east. It seemed obvious that she was now looking for more than friends with occasional benefits.
He wasn’t sure how he was going to deal with her when he no longer had the semi-protection
of the dinner table between them. They had been friends for a long time and he hated to hurt her feelings, but he wasn’t sure how else to handle it. He wouldn’t have been interested in a relationship with her even if Mia weren’t in the picture. Dating her in school had been enough to show him that they didn’t have much common ground outside of good sex. He had always enjoyed her company, but tonight, he didn’t even feel like he knew the Ashley who had shown up at his door. This one seemed to have an agenda and he had a bad feeling he was it. His brothers had dealt with their share of women wanting them for the Jackson family money, but that was something he had never come across. Ashley was from a well-off family, so surely this wasn’t prompted by that. Biological clock ticking? She was barking up the wrong tree either way.
When dinner was over, he made a show of yawning. He gave her a sheepish look saying, “Sorry, it’s been a long day and I’m wiped out.” When she settled down close beside him on the couch, he knew that the not-too-subtle hint had rolled right over her head. Her hand was once again back on his thigh. His cock didn’t seem to be able to tell when his head was into it or not. Ashley had her hand close enough to feel the sudden interest of the traitor in his pants. The situation was becoming awkward in a hurry. He grabbed her wrist as it connected with his zipper, halting her at least temporarily. He used his other hand to pick up the television remote and the sounds of ESPN soon filled the room. He gave her a bright smile saying, “You don’t mind if I catch the scores, do you?”
Ashley puckered her lips into a pout. Before he knew what was happening, she had hooked a leg over his hips and was straddling his lap. In seconds, the short dress that she was wearing was over her head and lying in the floor. Holy shit! There was no bra in sight. Her perfectly erect nipples were now even with his mouth, and his cock was going crazy beneath her firm bottom. She rubbed seductively against him as she lowered her head to whisper in his ear, “Forget the scores, the bases are loaded. It’s your swing.”
Betting on You Page 6
