Take Me (Lessons in Seduction #2)

by Sophie Holloway

  As hard as it was not to beg him to stay just a little longer, she hadn’t waited this long to lose her virginity with a quickie. “What time is it? I should probably—”

  There was a knock on the door. Eva pulled on her pajamas as Jack went to answer it, checking his watch on the way to the door, “Nearly nine.”

  Nearly nine. Nearly nine!

  “Shit! I have a sales meeting this morning!” She rocketed out of bed and dove into her bag, rummaging for her work skirt and blouse. She grabbed the first pair of underwear she could find and piled it all together, wondering if she would be able to go another day without washing her hair.

  When she turned around, ready to make a mad dash to the shower, she nearly bumped into a giant room service cart. She smelled bacon and coffee—heavenly, considering she hadn’t had anything to eat since lunch the previous day. Her mouth began to water.

  She looked questioningly at Jack, who stood there in his three-piece suit, looking every bit as delicious as the food smelled. He said, “I thought you’d want breakfast.”

  She lifted the cover on one tray to reveal a pile of fruit-filled Danish. “Me and what army?”

  “I’m sorry. I know you love Danish, but I wasn’t sure if you were a bacon or a sausage girl.”

  He knew she loved Danish? It was true, she absolutely did, but she couldn’t recall having eaten breakfast with him recently. During the brunch meeting where they’d made this arrangement, she’d been far too nervous to eat a thing.

  But somehow he remembered, making her wonder if Jack had been paying closer attention to her all these years than he’d let on.

  “Are you eating?” she asked, feeling shy again, though she’d just bared herself to him in a way she never had to anyone else.

  “I’m not hungry,” he said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He took a sip of it, stretched the kinks out of his neck, then checked his watch. “And I’m afraid I’m late enough already. I’ve got to go. But stay as long as you’d like. You had a hard night. Maybe you can cancel your meeting and get a massage at the spa, enjoy yourself.”

  She wasn’t sure why that made her spirits plummet. Maybe because she could think of nothing she’d like better than to spend a long, lazy day in bed with Jack, enjoying that breakfast and each other. She pushed aside the thought of them making love, laughing, feeding each other Danishes like they were part of some cheesy Hallmark channel movie.

  What part of “he has sex for sport” or “he’s late enough already” don’t you understand, dumbass?

  She straightened and said, “No, I have to go, too. The head of finance is coming in with a big…” She trailed off. Since when had he ever cared about Eva’s Organics? She waved a hand. “I’m swamped today. Lots of meetings.”

  They stood there regarding each other in an awkward silence, as if neither knew how to say good-bye.

  Jack, not knowing what to say? Impossible.

  Finally he slipped his briefcase off the table and started toward the door. Before he could reach it, though, he turned back to her. “My penthouse is in the West Village. Nine Barrow Street.” He fetched a key ring from his pocket, then pulled a key off it and handed it to her. “I won’t be there until later, I’m afraid. Will you be all right on your own?”

  She laughed nervously. “Of course. This city is my home, too, Jack.”

  “I understand that. But after last night, I want to make sure you’re safe.”

  She hugged her clothes to her chest, touched by his concern. “You heard the officer. It was just a burglary.”

  “I have a great deal of respect for the NYPD, Eva, but I’m not sure I believe their wait and see plan is the best course of action.”

  Her brows drew together. “What would you do?”

  “For one, I wouldn’t line up to be a victim.”

  Victim. Was that what she was now? “Well, I don’t want that, either.” She also didn’t want to think about it anymore. “Anyway, thank you for letting me stay in your apartment. I appreciate the offer. It’s very…” Out of character? Strange? Intriguing? “Generous of you.”

  He must have realized what she was thinking, because he shot her a wry smile as he reached into the pile of clothing she’d been holding to her chest, and pulled out the pink lace thong she’d put there. He crumpled it in a ball and deep-sixed it in the garbage can.

  “Have a great day,” he said coolly, giving her one long, last smirk before disappearing out the door.

  Chapter Six

  Jack

  Jack was used to the prickly atmosphere at the Fiorini Group. He’d always been a favorite of the ladies there, but the Fiorini Group was still very much a men’s club. When Antonio was at the helm, Jack was the Head Asshole, the guy who always got people by the balls. As a result, he was sure the water cooler gossip about him wasn’t the best.

  So he kept his nose clean. He didn’t make mistakes. He didn’t cut corners. And for fuck’s sake, he didn’t work banker’s hours.

  At least, he never used to.

  He slipped quietly into his office, trying his best not to call attention to himself. There were no outward signs that someone inside was gunning for his job, but his mentor Leonard had told him to keep his head down and an ear to the ground, and that’s what he’d planned to do. Little had he known that the last remaining Fiorini would make it so incredibly hard to concentrate on anything that didn’t involve her sweet, hot pussy.

  Fuck, watching her get herself off had been indescribably hot. It was worth any amount of office fall out, though he still hoped to slip into his office unnoticed.

  Unfortunately, the second he opened the door, Christof rounded the corner.

  Busted. That asshole had to have a radar for this shit.

  Jack threw his briefcase on his desk and put his hands up in surrender. “I know. I know. I owe you the report on the Continental properties. It’s in my inbox. I’ll send it over in twenty minutes.”

  “I already got it from your assistant,” he said.

  Jack flipped open his laptop and frowned. Marcy wasn’t supposed to be sending Christof anything without his go-ahead. How many times had he told her that? He hadn’t had time to give the report his third and final once over, and this concerned some of the most high-stakes properties in their portfolio. He’d have to have a talk with her later.

  “Then what else can I do for you?” he said calmly. Other than give you plenty of reason to bust my balls for being late?

  “Nothing,” Christof said with a satisfied smirk. “You catch that Islanders game?”

  He shook his head. Like he had time to think of playoff hockey with Eva occupying his mind. “Didn’t have the time.”

  “Epic,” Christof said.

  The conversation ground to a fantastic halt. Oh, Jack could’ve thought of a thousand ways to keep it going, but at that moment, all he wanted was the brown-nosing slimeball out of his office. He fell into his chair and started to read an article from Business Insider someone—likely Leonard—had placed on his blotter. The title was Orion Industries Takeover of Fiorini Group Imminent?

  Orion Industries. The name surprised him. There’d been talk that someone was feeling them out about making a bid, but Jack was taken aback that it wasn’t one of the big industry players. He’d never even heard of Orion Industries.

  Christof clapped his hands together, stirring Jack from his thoughts. “I’ll leave you to it, then,” he said, backing out of the doorway.

  Amazing. The guy can take a hint. “Hey, wait a second,” he said suddenly, still studying the article. “What do you know about these people?”

  “Orion?” Christof jumped at the question, as Jack had sensed he would. The guy had a bit of a Napoleon complex. Barely five foot six, the only way he’d ever be able to stand over most men was by proving he was the smartest guy in the room, so he never hesitated to flex those muscles. “I know they’re big. Rumor is they’re European. German, probably. They’re keeping a low profile, definitely.”

&n
bsp; Jack stared at him, waiting for him to continue. But Christof merely shrugged.

  The man prided himself on being the eyes and ears of this place. If that’s all he knew, Orion was truly secretive. Unless Christof knew more than he was letting on, something very strange was going on.

  Jack was reminded of Leonard’s warning that the takeover might be originating from inside the company. If that was true, Jack couldn’t trust anyone.

  After Christof left, Jack made an attempt to Google the mysterious Orion Industries, but he didn’t come up with much. In fact, what Christof had given him was a hell of a lot more than he was able to substantiate online.

  There weren’t any corporations matching the profile he was looking for. He found several companies going by the name of Orion Industries, but none of them appeared to be involved in real estate in any shape or form. He replayed Leonard’s words in his mind, growing more unsettled by the moment.

  Something’s very, very off about this. Nearly as off as a man going to all the trouble to break into Eva’s apartment just for a look around.

  Thinking of Eva for the hundredth time that hour, he picked up his cell phone and found the number to the security company Stella had used. He called and spoke to the receptionist at Coby and Associates, making an appointment for a consultation on Friday, wondering if he should set up some private investigation of Orion Industries, as well.

  There had to be someone who knew something. A company didn’t just come out of thin air and make a multi-billion dollar deal.

  After lunch, his thoughts returned once more to Eva. He imagined her going about her daily business without underwear.

  He could picture how sexy she would look in that sheer blouse, the tight pencil skirt, and those heels. His cock thickened as he imagined her getting all worked up during the day, turning so hot and bothered that by the time she returned to his home, she could barely control herself. She’d shut the door, fall onto his couch, and run her hands between her legs, as she’d done that morning.

  Fuck, she had looked so seductively innocent when he caught her touching her pussy, so sweet and yet so naughty as she moaned and writhed on the sheets. To think she’d done that before, picturing him, made his dick even harder.

  It was that image that made him nix his plans to work late. He told himself that it wasn’t right to let Eva see herself in, and that he should be there to make sure she had everything she needed. His head said it was only hospitable, but his other head had something more wicked in mind.

  At the end of the day he managed to sneak out, this time without any of his associates noticing. When he reached the West Village and took the elevator to the penthouse, he breathed in sharply, thinking of the way she’d cried out his name as she’d come, bucking against her own hand, the smell of her arousal filling the air. He needed only one thing right now—to surround himself in that scent, in Eva.

  He was so eager to touch her that he actually groaned aloud when he stepped out of the elevator and saw who was waiting in the hallway outside his door instead.

  Lucy.

  Fuck, hadn’t he told the doorman to keep her out? All Jack needed was for Lucy to run into Eva. She would probably rip Eva to shreds with that caustic tongue of hers. Lucy knew how to play nasty, something she’d managed to hide from him while they were dating.

  They’d dated for—what? Two months? It couldn’t have been more than that. Two months was his limit. After that, things got dangerous. Women got clingy, expecting declarations of love and commitment, and all the other things that Jack wasn’t into.

  He’d dropped all the usual lines with Lucy—it’s not you, it’s me; you’re a lovely girl, a fascinating person, but this isn’t working; we’re just in different places.

  Most of his exes eventually got the hint, but not Lucy.

  In the beginning she’d been so breathtaking and so fun. She was a hand and foot model, and the rest of her wasn’t lacking in the looks department, either. With her gym-toned body and long, platinum blonde hair, the woman was a stunner. She knew how to take care of herself and was wild and adventurous, with a ravenous sexual appetite that Jack hadn’t been able to resist.

  It was only after their relationship went sour that she started to reveal her true colors. What lay beneath the killer looks and vibrant personality was a healthy dose of crazy.

  “Did you get my gift?” Lucy asked as he reluctantly moved to meet her in the hallway in front of his apartment.

  He kept his head down as he searched his jacket pockets for the spare key the front desk had given him. “Which one?”

  The fact was, he’d gotten all of them. Lucy had them delivered to his office, something he’d told her months ago needed to stop. Not that she had listened.

  “The tickets? To Cabo? For Memorial Day?” She grinned. “I know you’ve always wanted to go.”

  He frowned. Had he ever said that? At the tail end of their relationship, she’d started to remember things he’d said that he was certain had never escaped his mouth. Like wanting to go to Cabo with her. He’d never said that, but she certainly seemed to believe it.

  “I have to work over the holiday, Lucy,” he muttered.

  He didn’t expect this would deter her. Nothing did. He had told her point blank it was over. More than once. But yet, here she was.

  “Oh well. I can always shift that date around. Change fees aren’t a big deal.” She laughed as she reached into her bag, pulling out a bottle of pinot noir. “At least we’re together now.” She wiggled the wine back and forth. “I thought we could order Thai and catch up?”

  “Now isn’t a good time,” he said, glancing at the door to his apartment and wondering if Eva was already in there, waiting for him.

  “Come on, Jack,” she said, lips pushing into a pout. “You haven’t responded to any of my texts. How am I supposed to keep up with all your news?”

  She’d sent him at least a dozen texts this week, and more the week before. He’d been steadily deleting them. “I’m sorry, Lucy I have plans.”

  She smiled seductively at him. “Break them.”

  He gritted his teeth. “Can’t.” He wouldn’t, couldn’t open the door to his place until he’d gotten rid of her. If he did, she would weasel her way inside and never leave. “Can I call you a cab?”

  She held her ground. “You know you want to break your plans,” she murmured, reaching into her bag and pulling out a small leather box. “Look, I brought a new toy for us to christen.”

  She lifted the lid and pulled out a chain of anal beads. He watched her hold them out, not particularly surprised, but not in the least bit interested, either. Lucy was all about new sex toys. During their first few nights together, Jack had been thrilled to find a woman with a sexual appetite as ravenous as his. But she suffered from ADD in the bedroom, constantly pushing the envelope, wanting new, different, exciting…more.

  That was all well and good up to a point, but Lucy took things way too far. She was like a carnival ride—fun for the first few go-rounds, but all too soon your stomach was in knots and you were begging to get down.

  Jack had made his great escape from her after she had suggested they invite one of his male friends into the bedroom and she’d thrown a fit when he said no way in hell.

  That’s when her true colors had started to shine through. Like now.

  Who shows up un-fucking-invited on their ex’s doorstep with anal beads and plane tickets to Cabo?

  “Ready to play, Jack?” She loosened the tie on her coat, parting the folds of the fabric, revealing her naked body to him.

  He ran his eyes over her surgically-enhanced tits, slim waist, and hairless mound. There was a time when she’d been tempting, but now irritation was the only emotion bubbling under his cool exterior.

  Of course she wouldn’t have anything on underneath. She lived to get under a man’s skin, and if he refused, she would fight to worm her way in, whatever the cost. Considering all the texts she’d been sending him lately had included pi
ctures of her anatomy and detailed descriptions of what she’d do to his cock, he should’ve expected something like this, but he’d foolishly hoped she would go away if he ignored her long enough.

  He set his briefcase down and crossed his arms, refusing to touch her, even to help cover her up. Jesus Christ, how had he ever found this woman attractive? Looking at her now, all he could see was the crazy. But that was her trick. She knew how to hide this side of herself at the beginning, and she had sure kept it under wraps. “This isn’t going to happen, Lucy.”

  She moved toward him, but he stiffened, reaching one hand out to grip her shoulder, holding her at arm’s length.

  “Oh come on, Jack.” She went for his pants, reaching for his cock. “You know you want me.”

  “Stop it, Lucy. Now,” he boomed, batting her hand away, his calm finally breaking. He stepped away from her and reached for his phone. “I’m calling you a cab.”

  “Am I interrupting something?” a soft voice asked from behind him.

  Dread coiled in Jack’s gut as he turned to see Eva standing in the open elevator, staring at them with wide eyes.

  Lucy’s eyes narrowed. She had the decency to pull her coat back over her naked body, but she didn’t tighten the tie. She rolled the anal beads between her fingers and said, “Yes, you are.”

  Oh, fuck.

  “No, Eva,” he said, biting back the urge to tell Lucy where to go. “I’m glad you made it safely. Lucy was just leaving.”

  Lucy raked her eyes from Eva’s head to her toes, then smiled thinly. “Oh, is she your plans, Jack?”

  “She’s a family friend who’s staying with me for a few days,” he said.

  “Oh, how benevolent of you,” Lucy said with a laugh, practically dancing down the hall to meet Eva. “You’re taking in the neighborhood strays. It’s nice that you don’t discriminate, Jack. You’ll even take the chubby ones, as long as they suck that massive cock of yours well enough, hmm?”