Burned

by Melody Anne

  “Thank you,” she gritted out, thinking over and over again that she had to be nice or risk losing her job. Tyler knew this and was thoroughly enjoying himself.

  “I figured out a lot of things about you in the last month. You should be impressed with yourself. You managed to intrigue me, and that’s more than I can say about most people.”

  “Such a self-absorbed remark, Tyler. Is that what I should be impressed about?” she asked. “And I wasn’t trying to intrigue you.”

  “What were you trying to do, then, Elena?”

  He sat down in the chair across from her. His legs brushed against hers beneath the table and she scooted back. He just smiled and extended his leg, and his foot was now toying with hers. She was going to be gritting her teeth a lot during this meal.

  “It doesn’t matter what I was trying to do,” she said before taking a breath. This wasn’t going to get them anywhere. “Can we get directly to business?”

  “Tsk, tsk, Elena. You aren’t being very hospitable right now,” he said. “Especially since we know each other quite … intimately.”

  Elena took a few deep breaths and unclenched her teeth before responding. “This is a business meeting. Let’s be professionals, and focus on business only,” she said in her best prim voice.

  “Yes, business. How is Timothy?”

  “My boss?” she said somewhat confused by the quick change in conversation. He nodded. “He’s fine. Though, I don’t know how you managed to convince him not to give me your name. If I’d been better prepared, then we wouldn’t be wasting your time at six hundred dollars an hour.”

  “I’m the client. If I tell your boss I want to keep my name anonymous until I’m ready to give it, then that’s exactly what he’ll do,” Tyler said before leaning forward. “As a matter of fact, he will do anything I ask of him because he’s a smart man and knows not to upset me.”

  Elena gasped at his audacity. “Who in the hell do you think you are?” Screw this job!

  “I thought you knew exactly who I am, Elena. Isn’t that why you decided to come after me with everything you had?”

  The gleam in his eyes reminded her of a hungry tiger. And Elena had no doubt that she was now his prey.

  “You’re clearly not a very savvy businessman. Do you even need an attorney, Tyler?”

  Her shoulders back, Elena didn’t break eye contact. If she showed him an ounce of weakness right now, he’d go right for the jugular. There was no use in making his kill any easier by exposing her throat to him.

  “Yes, I have a number of attorneys for a number of purposes. I need a new one now.”

  “For what exactly?” she asked.

  “You will find out, won’t you?”

  “This is about payback, isn’t it? I played a game with you, and now it’s your turn,” Elena said.

  He was quiet for several moments and then he smiled, though the expression didn’t quite make it to his eyes. He was certainly playing with her, and he wasn’t even trying to hide it. When he spoke next, she could barely keep up with his change in voice or topic.

  “I’ve had a very good day so far. I went to a job site with my brother Blake, had a nice lunch, and met with your boss. I’m feeling very relaxed. You don’t want to ruin my day now by making unfounded accusations, do you, Elena?”

  Oh, he was so damn smooth, so cocky. How had she ever thought she’d be able to go up against a man like him and win? It was impossible. The world was made up of the haves and have-nots. She was a have-not. He was most certainly a have. So she was screwed from the get-go.

  “I apologize if anything I’ve said or done tonight has somehow made you uncomfortable,” she said, though it took a lot out of her to say the words. Did she really like her job? She could work somewhere else, surely.

  Then again, he was the sort of man who would just follow her wherever she went. She’d ticked the man off and he was bound and determined to work up his own revenge plot. So she might as well accept it and hope he grew bored before he made too much of her life go up in smoke.

  “You know that you and I will become lovers, don’t you?”

  He said the words so casually that it took a moment for her brain to process them. When they did, her cheeks flushed, partly with anger and partly with excitement. She’d had a taste of what being Tyler Knight’s lover felt like, and that taste hadn’t been unpleasant. In fact, it had been too damn good.

  “No, Mr. Knight, we will not be lovers,” she told him in ringing tones — right before the waiter approached. Not again, she added silently.

  How mortifying — the waiter had to have heard her unfortunate comment. She couldn’t look him in the eyes, so she stared down at the menu instead.

  “What’s your preference in wine?”

  That Tyler had bothered to ask surprised Elena. She’d just assumed he was the type of man to make all the decisions. Or to try to, anyway.

  “I like light white wines,” she told him. She didn’t add, however, that the bottles she bought always cost less than ten dollars. “Though isn’t it taboo to choose a wine before you know what dish it’s to be paired with? Doesn’t that count as an extreme crime against social order?”

  Tyler laughed at her words. “Then I guess we’ll rebel against the rules tonight.” He made his choice from the wine menu and sent the waiter on his way to find the bottle.

  “Mr. Knight —”

  He interrupted her with his patented quirk of the eyebrows. “I’m Mr. Knight now?”

  “Yes, you are,” she said firmly.

  “Hmm. It’s kind of erotic coming from your lips, Elena.”

  Dammit! It didn’t seem that she could say anything at the moment without his answering with some sort of sexual innuendo. Hell, that didn’t even count as innuendo. Too blatant.

  “Really, we should get down to business, Mr. Knight. I don’t want to waste your time or your money, as I bill by the hour.”

  “Get down to business? Nice idea. In any case, I’m not in a hurry,” he told her. “And I have plenty of money.”

  Pig. She was most certainly in a hurry to get away from him. She almost said so. But discretion won out. “Why don’t you tell me exactly what you’re going to be needing me for?”

  The waiter brought in their wine and some appetizers which briefly interrupted their conversation. When the fellow left, Tyler spoke.

  “There’s plenty of time for you to figure that out. I will say, though, that our work together will last for several months — at least until I don’t find a use for you any longer.”

  Elena was dead silent for several heartbeats. He was letting her know in no uncertain terms that they were playing by his rules now.

  “As always, the gentleman,” she told him. “I’m sure you can easily find a lawyer far more qualified than I am.” She couldn’t put on a performance for months. No freaking way.

  “You are the woman I want.”

  Elena felt trapped. She wasn’t normally subject to claustrophobia, and the room, though private, was hardly small, but it seemed to be closing in on her. This couldn’t possibly work.

  “Until you get your payback, right, Tyler?” She was so flustered that she’d used his first name.

  He sat back, his head tilted slightly to one side as he gazed at her with something in his eyes that she couldn’t read. Maybe he just enjoyed throwing her off kilter. Maybe, just maybe, if she didn’t react, he’d stop. Maybe.

  “Payback? Maybe. Punishment? — that would be a nice idea … if I were into bondage. Hmm …” He paused as if to consider it, then shook his head and continued. “No, I don’t need special kinks to get me off.” Tyler lifted his wineglass as if to offer a toast, and then he took a drink. “I’m enjoying this relationship, I must say.”

  “We aren’t in a relationship,” she almost growled.

  “I disagree. I think we’ve been in a relationship since that little episode on my kitchen island,” he said, reaching across the table and taking her hand before she could m
ove it out of the way.

  Her words became stuck in her throat as he lifted her hand to his lips and began kissing her palm, then each of her fingers, acting like a lover. Damn if what he was doing didn’t feel incredible.

  Could a person both loathe and desire a man so desperately at the same time? It seemed a definite possibility. Hell — more than a possibility.

  “So you’re bent on destroying me,” Elena said.

  Tyler stopped kissing her hand but didn’t release it. She dug her fingernails into his palm, but at first that had no effect. When he finally let go, all he did was rise from his chair and move to the seat next to her. And he quickly took her hand again, though she tried to move it out of his way. A shudder passed through her when he rested their joined fingers high up on his thigh.

  “I don’t know where this game will end for us, Elena,” he practically purred. “But I will tell you that my main goal is pleasure — pleasure you owe me. We will finish what we started. And I suspect that it will be a hell of a ride.” He leaned closer, and his lips were now only half an inch from hers. “Kiss me now.”

  She nearly did exactly that, but she stopped herself a millimeter before their lips touched.

  “I’m not doing this.”

  “You will, and you’ll enjoy it.”

  “You might think that I should be flattered that you find me worth your interest, but I’m not flattered at all. I want no part of this game of yours.”

  “Yes, you do, Elena. I know how much you love to play games,” he said. “And I also know how much you want me. You’re doing a lousy job at hiding it.”

  “Look, Tyler. I’m sorry, okay? I should have known that I couldn’t possibly win. My game was foolish, and I regret it.”

  “The game has only begun, Elena. You started it, and I will finish it. There’s nothing you can do at this point that will cause me to lose interest.”

  “I was putting on a show, Tyler. I’m not that girl you met at the bar last month.” She let her hand go limp in his. “That girl doesn’t exist.”

  “I can find her again,” he said with a wolfish smile.

  Elena started casting about in her brain for any way to make this guy run off in terror. She had to. Ah! She just had to bore him to death. That shouldn’t be too hard. She wasn’t as fascinating as he seemed to think. She worked, spent time with her best friend, then worked some more. She devoted most of her weekends to working or volunteering. Piece of cake. Just being herself would drive this man away.

  “Did you know that the government poisoned alcohol during the prohibition killing tens of thousands of people?”

  Tyler looked at her with confusion. “What are you talking about?”

  “And did you know that a hundred acres of pizza are served in the US daily?”

  Tyler laughed before he pushed his chair a bit closer to hers, brushing his leg against her.

  “It won’t work, Elena,” he whispered.

  “Wh … what won’t work?” she gasped as his lips made contact with her neck. She really hoped he didn’t notice her leaping pulse.

  “Spouting random facts, trying to bore me. I can bring out the naughty girl in no time at all. You want me. You can deny it all you want, deny it to yourself and me, but I’ve got your number, if I may be a little trite.”

  Before she could respond, he took hold of the back of her neck and kissed her, not in a quick meeting of the mouths, but in a kiss that was full of possession and passion.

  When he pulled back, her body was on fire and she was glad she was sitting down, because her legs had turned to jelly. She wasn’t going to survive this — certainly not for months, if she had to work for him that long. She didn’t think she could even survive more than today.

  She had no defenses against this man.

  And he knew it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Insufferable …”

  “… jackass …”

  “… low-down … dirty rotten …”

  Elena had been storming around her tiny living room for the past hour, ranting and raving while her best friend and roommate sat on the couch and occupied herself, now and then, by munching on tortilla chips. Each time her friend smiled, Elena shot her a dirty look, which wiped the smile away, but only briefly. Piper clearly didn’t understand how serious this situation was.

  “Aren’t you going to say anything? I’ve been talking forever and I’m looking for advice,” Elena said, hands on her hips.

  “Oh, is it my turn to speak now?” Piper asked.

  “I’ve given you plenty of time to talk. You’ve just been sitting there with your junk food, not a care in the world.”

  “You’ve been ranting nonstop, darling. I think it’s great, but, no, you haven’t let me speak yet.” Piper laughed.

  “Well, I’m giving you a chance now.”

  “Do you want my honest opinion?”

  “Maybe I don’t,” Elena replied. “The way you asked that question isn’t exactly inspiring me.”

  “Too bad. I’m your best friend and sometimes that calls for tough love,” Piper told her.

  “Fine. Give it to me.” Elena was suddenly tired as her rage dimmed. She sat down on the far end of the couch from Piper, though the couch wasn’t all that big.

  “I think you like this guy — really, really like this guy.”

  Elena waited for more, but Piper was silent after saying the stupidest thing ever.

  “That’s ridiculous, Piper. I’ve just been going off — in great detail, I might add — on what I despise about him.”

  “Yeah, sure. But I have a minor remark about that. We don’t usually get so passionate about people who don’t interest us.”

  “This isn’t passion. This is fury. Fury that he’s forcing me to work with him,” Elena said.

  “You could always tell your boss there’s a conflict of interest with this client … because he’s had your legs wide open on his kitchen counter while he was doing naughty, naughty things to you with his evil tongue.”

  Elena hit her head violently with one hand. “I knew I never should have told you about that. But I don’t throw your mistakes into your face, Piper.”

  “That’s a lie and we both know it. If we can’t mock the ones we love, then who in the hell can we have fun with?”

  “Ugh! This has just gotten so dang complicated.” Elena sagged down and threw her arm over her face.

  “Of course it’s complicated, you drama queen. You tried to punish your old best friend from a million years ago who also happened to take your virginity. That same man also comes from a wickedly bad family, and he’s now become a very wealthy man who is sexy as hell. It was complicated the second you decided to carry out a revenge plot after having a little too much to drink.”

  “Okay, so I’m impulsive, and I have a temper. Once I decide on something, I have to see it through, though. You know that.”

  “Yeah, that’s called stubborn, darling, no matter how you sugar-coat it. Revenge isn’t so sweet after all, is it?”

  “You could at least pretend that you’re on my side,” Elena said.

  “I’m always on your side. You know that. If you kill this man, I’m your gal. I will help you hide the body and give you an alibi.”

  Elena finally smiled for the first time in hours, ever since that long and awkward dinner with Tyler. “I would do the same for you,” she said.

  “Good, that’s the Elena I want to hear from, not the crazy girl,” Piper said. “What are we going to do about this situation?”

  “I’m going to quit my job.”

  “We both know that’s not going to happen, so what are you really going to do?”

  “I don’t know. Avoid the hell out of him. Maybe if I’m careful to stay at least three feet away from him at all times, my boneheaded hormones won’t take over.”

  “Boneheaded? How Freudian of you. I see where your thoughts really are. You know, you could just get it over with and stay in bed for forty-eight hours straight. May
be that would get him out of your system. In and out of your system, so to speak.”

  “Don’t put thoughts like that in my head,” Elena said. “I hate the man.”

  “Are you sure about that? I’m not. I think you want his body so badly that you’re melting down. I’ve wanted a few guys that much. Too damn bad I did nothing about it. Now it’s Friday night and I’m stuck home with you instead of getting down and dirty with some hot stud.”

  “Piper, you talk a hell of a game, but we both know that you’re about as experienced in the bedroom as I am.”

  “Well, I have a much more vivid imagination than you do,” Piper said. “We both know that.”

  “Of course you do. You’re a librarian,” Elena told her with an epic eye roll.

  “Which is why I can never meet any hot studs. You know what they say about sex in the stacks? Stirring up the dust and all that? Well, it never happens. I make a point of going there at least once every shift and I’ve yet to get ravished.” Piper let out an elaborate sigh.

  “One of these days I’m going to hire some serious hottie. He’ll be waiting back there with a video camera set up, and then I’ll use the expression on your face for blackmail for the rest of your life.”

  “Oh, puh-lease, Elena. If I found a hot stud back there, I so wouldn’t give you a second thought. I’d just rip off my clothes and pounce on him. Jump his proverbial bones. Or bone, but definitely more than once.”

  “You’ve been reading far too many romance novels,” Elena said. “Maybe you should stick with the classics.”

  But her friend had effectively pulled her out of her grumpy mood, just as she’d known she would. That’s what friends were for, even if it sometimes took a while.

  “And you need to answer your phone the next time that man calls you,” Piper said. She shot a pointed look at Elena’s cell, which had buzzed several times in the last hour.

  “Nope. I’m off duty on the weekends — at least when it comes to Tyler Knight.”

  “Comes? Interesting word choice, as usual. But I thought he was a primo client that you had to make happy.”

  “I’ll just say my phone died if I’m asked about it. He never told me I had to be available for anything this weekend. Where’s the bottle of wine?”