by M Dauphin
“What the hell do you mean you can’t meet today?” Pete, a college student I sell to, growls into the phone.
“I’ll shoot for later, but I have business I have to take care of tonight, Pete,” I say calmly, trying not to hang up on this entitled asshole.
These kids rely on these fucking drugs, and as much as my wallet loves it, I can’t forget the truth of the matter.
I own a company. That comes first.
“You better. I promised Delta Pi a good time tonight, Max.”
“I think you’ll be able to handle it, Pete. I’ll message you later.” I hang up before I can rip him a new asshole about speaking to me like that.
I’m his dealer... not the other way around.
“Hey man, you about ready?” Deig asks, leaning on my door frame.
“You just let yourself in now?” I grumble, tossing another shirt on the bed. Fuck, why is getting dressed suddenly so hard? It’s like I’ve not been doing this for the past almost thirty years.
“Yep. I knocked six times. No answer means you’re either still sleeping or dead. This morning neither of those are good options, so I let myself in to make sure I didn’t have to resuscitate you.”
I chuckle and shake my head, rummaging through my closet for a shirt.
“What the hell are you doing?” He walks over to the bed and thumbs through the shirts I’ve deposited. I huff and take a drag of my cigarette. “You’re going to lose your deposit you fuckwad,” he grumbles.
“They can keep it. I need this right now.” I pull a black t-shirt out of the closet and stare at it, then rip off my white shirt, riddled with holes, and throw on the black one.
Pants next.
Walking over to the second closet in this room, the one that houses the pants and shoes, I strip off my boxers and throw on the pants I wore last winter in Chicago. She seemed to like these.
‘Dude, really?” Deig whines. “Bare ass and all? Fuck, man.”
“I never invited you in here,” I say. “A man has to get dressed.”
“Right, of course. Are you ready yet?” He sighs and walks to the door.
I zip and grab my black combat boots, throwing them on before grabbing my wallet, phone and keys.
“Coffee,” I say, walking past him and into the kitchen.
“We have a half-hour, Max. Traffic takes at least twenty. You really want to push it this close?”
I pause mid pour and look back at him, watching him reaching over to snuff out my cigarette in the sink.
“You’re coming with?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.
“I thought I would, yes.” He narrows his eyes at me.
I try not to show my disappointment… but there’s no need for him to be there today. I’m not letting him sit behind me the entire project and micromanage. That’s not how we work.
“Okay,” I clip, taking a drink of coffee. The heat burns on the way down, but it helps take the edge of anxiety off.
“Did you think I wouldn’t?”
“I just don’t know what you’re going to do all day,” I answer, shrugging. After grabbing my travel lid, I slam it on my mug too hard and almost spill hot coffee all over myself. Shit, Max, get your shit together.
He lets out a chuckle and stands up.
“Chill, Max.” He laughs. “I just have to grab a deposit from her, then I’ll be heading out for the day.
I let out a breath and shake my head, smiling back at him.
“Sounds good. I thought she gave you the check yesterday, though?”
“She did, but it’s not the right amount. Need to get it fixed.” He smiles, waggling his eyebrows. “I’m not mad though. She’s nice to look at.”
I nod in agreement and we head out to the parking lot. Luckily he heads to his Mustang before I can tell him not to ride with me today. Obviously it would have been worded nicer than that, but if he rides with me then I know he’s not leaving. Having his own car means he can leave whenever he has what he came there for.
I never told Deig about what happened with Nora; there’s no need to. He’d just worry that I’d screw up this job. There’s too much money involved for him to start worrying over and fuck things up. Somehow, the more he worries and frets, the worse we do on a job, because he ends up bothering me more and it’s just too much. Deig’s an amazing business partner, but with everything in life he’s a worry wart… but that also means he has his shit together.
For the most part.
The whole drug thing is a little sidestep from his otherwise calm life, but I like pushing his limits. Well, that and he likes the paychecks. It helped pay cash for the Mustang he’s currently following me in.
We pull into the parking lot behind the boutique just as Nora and her friend are opening the door. I see her eye the truck, grimacing, and smile to myself. Her hair is piled on top of her head; short bangs almost cloud her eyes, resting on top of her sunglasses. She uses her hand to shield the sun to get a better look at my truck as I pull into a spot at the back of the lot. Her face twists in disgust.
Well, well, Miss Priss. Not much of a loud truck fan are you? I’ll change your mind about that.
Sunglasses over her baby blues and the short dress she’s wearing today tells me she’s looking forward to this about as much as I am. I’m grinning at her from behind my tinted windows. She has no clue who’s inside this beast and I love it that way. Watching her take out the trash, cringing when she pulls open the dumpster lid, makes me smile even more. My eyes narrow at Ava, standing at the door and glaring at the truck.
I watch her call for Nora, then nod to me and I know I’ve been had. Nora turns and looks back at my truck, wiping her hands together as a grin slips on her otherwise calm features.
After grabbing my bag, I take a deep breath and steel myself for the day ahead. I need to be able to do this job, and do it fucking good, without screwing things up. I also need to taste her again. Just sitting in the truck has a chub already starting… I can’t fucking start the day on a new job with a chub.
“You ready?” Deig asks, walking over to my door. His eyes lock on Ava’s and he smiles and waves, gaining the same response from her. She’s pretty, but she’s no Nora.
“Yea,” I huff, taking a final drag of my cigarette. Tossing it on the ground, I use the tip of my boot to put it out and notice Nora glaring at me.
“Hopefully it won’t take too long here. Most of the work you should be able to do from home, right?” Deig asks, walking alongside me.
“Yea,” I mumble. It’s not a lie, but I don’t plan on working from home on this job.
I plan on being wherever Nora is.
That little shit show yesterday when her ‘boy toy’ walked through the doors made me decide this is worth the long game. I know for a fact she’ll be worth it, but I have to play my cards right. If I storm in there and demand we continue what happened in Chicago I’ll be sorely mistaken. I have to play the friends to lovers card. That way when Prince Charming finally cuts out and leaves her high and dry for next week’s flavor, I’ll be there to pick up the pieces.
“Morning boys,” Ava announces, smiling at us. I nod and look over at Nora.
“And how are you two beautiful women doing today?” I ask, breaking out the panty-melting smile. I know girls like it; it’s always helped me with keeping women in my bed.
At least it used to.
Right now however, it’s just gaining a glare from Nora.
“Those things are so gross,” she says, staring at me.
“What?”
“Cancer sticks.” She crosses her arms in front of her and I try my hardest not to flick my eyes to her tits perking up at me, but fail miserably. She catches me, of fucking course, and a small grin slips on her lips.
Oh game on, princess.
“I know.” I shrug, walking past her and into the building. I hear Deig chuckle nervously behind me and pray he doesn’t go into one of his apology rants. I fucking hate when he does that.
“So lad
ies, where am I setting up shop?” I turn and ask when I get to the end of the hallway that obviously leads out into the store. Ava looks over at Nora and Nora raises an eyebrow.
“I guess the office,” she answers, nodding to a door I’m standing near. I smile and follow her into the office. It’s a pretty open space, all things considered. The boutique itself isn’t the largest, but it works somehow. The walls in here are white—bright fucking white—and there’s a corner full of racks and hangers and other shop shit that needs a home. I raise my eyebrows at the clutter on the desk and chuckle to myself.
Miss Priss is so unorganized.
And it’s kind of hot.
“So, you can sit here,” she huffs, sliding papers aside on the desk next to what looks like hers. “Ava never comes in here, she’s not all for the business side of things; she’d rather be out there.” She smiles up at me then looks around. “Sorry for the mess.” She cringes.
“It’s good. I work better when things aren’t perfect anyway.”
“Weirdo,” she mumbles, shuffling the papers unnecessarily and making me grin. She’s nervous, that’s evident in her constant fidgeting.
I take my time opening my laptop and setting up my space. All of this is completely unnecessary; being here isn’t something that I need in order to do my job correctly. It sure is something I need in order to get back in her pants, though.
We’ve been brought on for graphics and some marketing, but we have yet to talk specifics. So if I get any work done today, I’m going to need to know what exactly it is we’re doing for her.
“What do you need from me, Nora,” I say, keeping my voice low as I load up my computer. When she doesn’t answer immediately I glance over at her to see she’s frozen in place. She pauses; slowly taking in a breath, then turns her head to look at me. Her mouth is slightly open, her face flushed, and damnit if she doesn’t look even sexier than she did when we first showed up today.
“Work, Nora, focus,” I whisper, grinning. Fuck she’s sexy. Like, the hot librarian look today. I need to get this work done so I can fuck her on this desk and get the fuck out of here.
She glares at me for a moment, before straightening her stance and grinning at me. Slowly walking over to her bag, she bends over, her skirt hiking up her backside, showing me a taste of what I want, then walks a paper over to me. I grit my teeth, tight jaw and eyes locked on hers as she sways her ass back to me.
“This.” She breathes heavily, setting the list on the desk in front of me. She winks at me before walking back to her desk. With a tight jaw, I lock my eyes on the paper and try my hardest not to watch her sway that ass back across her office.
“Hey, Nora.” Ava barges into the office, then pauses as she sees the look on my face and the flushed cheeks currently occupying her best friend’s face. I try not to grin at the situation and wonder momentarily if Nora told Ava about us.
“What?” Nora looks completely out of it, breathy voice, and absolutely turned on.
“Um… You? You okay?” her gaze keeps flicking between the two of us and it’s all the control I have to sit here and pretend to keep working on this blank screen.
Fuck I’m never going to get this job done.
“Fine, why?” Nora clips.
“Marcus needs a different check. You wrote this one out for a few hundred too many,” Ava says, laughing. “Thanks for not stealing money from us, man.” She looks over at me and I grin and nod, then go back to the paper in front of me.
“Right. Um…” Nora starts to fidget on her desk again, then pauses and takes a breath before looking over at me. “I’ll be back, then we can discus my needs,” she blurts, her eyes widening as soon as the words slip out of her mouth. A grin slips over my features and I nod.
“Got it. I’ll go over this and be ready for you,” I say, winking at her.
She huffs then storms out of the room, Ava hot on her heel. I wonder if she’s told her about me? I bet she didn’t. Nora doesn’t seem like the type of girl to blab something like that. Not right away anyway.
She seems different.
The door swings open not three minutes later to Ava, glaring at me.
“Whatever the fuck you do, do not fuck her over. I swear to God I’ll murder you.” She growls the threat, taking me by surprise before slamming the door, leaving me to wonder what the fuck that was all about.
I know exactly what that was all about. That was a result of Nora telling Ava everything.
I guess there’s a lot more I need to learn about the beautiful Nora Avondale.
I sit here and look over the list she handed me; a chicken-scratched list on a torn piece of paper. Honestly, she hides her disorganization well.
The items, hopefully listed in no particular order, are all over the place.
New sign
Logo
Scratchers
… Scratchers?
Shirts
The list goes on; some full sentences detailing what she wants and others I can’t exactly make out. This isn’t a list; this is a brainstorm sheet that she probably brought with her everywhere. And by everywhere, I mean everywhere. It’s wrinkled and torn and there’s scratched out areas.
Jesus, she’s a mess.
How the hell does someone like her keep a business like this looking so great in the front room, but then the minute the curtain closes she’s a complete disaster? She needs me in more ways than one, that’s very apparent.
Ten minutes after Ava decides to threaten me with my life, Nora walks back into the door and closes it behind her.
“Sorry,” she says, watching me carefully.
I grin at her and stand from my chair. The intense need to be next to her, to smell her, comes over me so I walk across the room and smile brightly when I see her push herself back against the door. From what I remember, that smile got to her last time. I mean, the smile gets me a lot of places, but with Nora it gets me what I want. I stalk closer to her, ignoring the work that needs to get done today, and enjoy watching her body start to react to my nearness. The hitched breath, the pebbled nipples showing though her dress, the goosebumps on her soft skin; all unspoken signs she’s turned on.
“What are you doing?” Nora whispers, watching me move closer to her until I have her boxed in, my hands resting on the door next to her head.
“What I should have done yesterday,” I whisper. My eyes flick to her lips. We’re so close I can feel her breath on me as her lips part. Nora’s body relaxes, her eyes searching mine, every now and then flicking to my lips.
I should do it. I should just fucking kiss her. It won’t fuck this job up at all.
But before I can do anything, the knock on the door happens.
Again.
“Nora, Nick is here,” Ava announces.
Well, that’s one way to kill the mood.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers, her fingers touching her lips gently as her eyes search mine for acceptance to her apology.
“You have company.” I grin, backing away and heading back over to the desk.
She blinks a few times before leaving me to a silent room.
She didn’t look at me today like I was a stranger. She remembers. I could see her replaying the last time my hands were on her when I had her pinned against the door.
She remembers, but she’s fighting it. I can take that.
Nora’s not going to be easy. Nora isn’t going to want to revisit Chicago…. Not in that way.
I’m going to need to break her in; make her get used to wanting me.
Slowly.
And then make her mine.
Deep breaths, Nora.
Deep breaths.
“You okay?” Ava whispers in the hallway. One man on the other side of the door dressed in the sexiest ‘no fucks given’ outfit possible, and one in the front of the store that probably paid more for his shoes than the one in the office did on his entire wardrobe. Two totally different men, both wanting my attention… when did my life turn into a setting
for a soap opera?
Was I really going to let him kiss me?
Yes. Yes I was.
“I’m okay,” I manage, smoothing my skirt down for the hundredth time. Steeling myself, I take a breath and head out to the front of the store.
“Hey,” Nick says, walking over to me and immediately wrapping his arms around me. He’s warm. He’s familiar.
But he’s not Max.
“Hey,” I mumble into his chest. “What’s up?” I push away from him to talk to him, but he doesn’t let me get too far with his hands resting on my arms, gently caressing my skin.
“Just checking in. Making sure you’re okay and you don’t need anything.” There’s a twinkle in his eye today and he’s being more possessive than he’s ever been.
Then again, I did tell him today’s the day we start work with Smudge.
“Everything’s great.” I smile, backing away from him to get out of his grasp. “Max is in there right now drawing up some drafts,” I lie. Actually, I need to get in there so I can tell him everything I meant on that paper. It’s been one interruption after another today and he’s, so far, had a wasted day here.
“Right now?” Nick asks, looking down the hall to my closed office door. I roll my eyes and make myself busy re-folding some of the clothes on the tables.
“Yes. Right now.”
“Why’s the door closed?”
“So there’s no distractions,” I huff. “Listen, I really need to get back to him and make sure he doesn’t need anything. Can I call you later?”
Nick eyes me, then his eyes flick around the shop, taking in the few customers currently shopping and Ava sitting at the counter, trying her hardest to pretend she isn’t straining her hearing just to see what’s happening over here.
“Yea,” he sighs. “That’s fine, babe. Good luck.” He pulls me to him and plants his lips on mine, so harsh I barely have time to react before he pulls away and nods over at Ava before walking out of the front door.
The customers chuckle, Ava gapes, and I need to remember to breathe.
“I’ll be in the back. You… Run this…” I wave my arms around to Ava and she laughs and nods with a worried look in her eye.
