by Bobbi Brattz
“Thank you for coming by, girls. I have a lot of plans to work on. Tell your mom I appreciate her thinking of me.”
At the sound of Rae’s voice in the hallway, Mateo stood and walked to the door to listen to what she said. Plans? What kind of plans?
The front door closed after the women said good-bye, promising to visit again soon. Mateo wanted nothing to do with them, yet his curiosity got the better of him as he stepped into the hall and stopped Rae from returning to her room.
“What was that all about?”
Rae wrinkled her nose. “You stink, Mateo.”
She walked past him and headed for the patio instead. To his surprise, she stripped off her dress and walked naked to the pool, diving in. She swam back and forth a number of times before climbing out and patting her body dry with excruciating slowness until he thought his shorts were going to burst from the pressure of his hard cock.
When Rae completely ignored him and went to her room through the patio doors, he was ready to follow but thought about her comment. He took a sniff of himself and realized she was right. He stank! Mateo looked at the calendar and realized he had an appointment later that afternoon with a client. Before heading for the shower, he tossed the rest of his drink into the sink and placed his glass in the dishwasher.
I have to pull myself together!
* * * *
Rae heard Mateo turn on the shower in his room and sighed with relief. His drinking was getting worse every day. Glad that Mateo never locked the office, Rae slipped in to look around. Though designed for a man with deep mahogany wood and rich colors of reds and blues, Rae felt a sense of peace in the room. She imagined Mateo spent a lot of time in it.
The heavy odour of alcohol made her wrinkle her nose. She walked over to the window and opened the curtains then slid the window up to allow some fresh air in. After talking to Moki, Rae had a good plan set up to make Mateo face the music. The only thing she regretted she couldn’t fix was the issue with Piers. Vowing to figure that out later, Rae walked over to the bar and peeked into the wastebasket. There were three empty bottles of brandy in it but not a sign of food. For the past week, Mateo had avoided her like the plague.
Not anymore. He’s going to stand up and take notice, or I’ll have to just spill the beans about my love for him and take it on the chin. I shudder to think of him laughing in my face, but Moki doesn’t believe he will. It’s time to bring the emotional coward out of his corner and make him be honest, not only with me, but with himself.
All thoughts of revenge began to flee as she realized that what she truly wanted was to have him admit he loved her. The thought of him brought low by love didn’t excite her though. Rae didn’t want his money, his prestige, or his belongings. She wanted his heart. If he was willing to give up all other women and be happy with her and the baby in his life, she’d be the happiest woman alive.
Dressed in a red corset, white garter, fishnet stockings, and six-inch heels, she felt sexy and desirable. Moki assured her that Mateo couldn’t resist the feminine yet kinky outfit and would fall on his knees to please her. She leaned over the desk, her back to the door as soon as she heard footsteps in the hallway and waited.
* * * *
“Come to the office, Yan, and I’ll pour you a drink while we talk. Pardon the mess, but my housekeeper is on vacation and I have little time to clean up after myself.”
“That’s not a problem. I’m a bachelor, too, Mateo. Though it’s a little early for a drink, I’ll gladly have one with you. It was a long flight.”
With a welcome grin, Mateo opened the office door and froze in place. Staring back at him was a set of the most perfect ass cheeks he’d ever seen, encased in a white garter and red G-string. The long legs ended with hot red heels that made his mouth water.
Though he couldn’t see the woman’s face, he thought she looked a lot like Rae. Even though he cleared his throat, the only way he could tell she knew he was there was the way she shifted her shapely hips in answer, a chuckle low in her throat.
“Ah…look, Miss, I’ll have to ask you to leave. This is a business office.”
When she turned around to face him, his stomach did a belly flop. Rae was dressed to the nines in an erotic outfit that made he senses reel. She also wore makeup that was subtle, yet sexy as hell. His groin swelled on impact as she offered a knowing smile.
“Hello. Welcome. I thought I’d…oh, I see you have company.” For the briefest moment her cheeks flushed a becoming pink before she took a deep breath and began the most incredible feline walk toward him.
“I was going to clean your office for you, but you came too soon.”
The innuendo wasn’t lost on him, and his business associate chuckled.
Rae held out her hand.
“Hello. I’m Mateo’s flavor of the week.”
Her words sounded degrading, yet she appeared to be pleased about their sexual relationship, and that bothered him on a level he’d never been on before. Before he could speak, Yan bent over and kissed the back of her hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I can see that Mateo has good taste in every aspect of his life.”
“Yes, apparently he does. Will you be staying for lunch, Mr…?”
“It’s Osaka, Yan Osaka, and I’d be delighted if you’ll join us.”
“Of course I will, though I’ll have to change into something a lot less…comfortable.”
Speechless, Mateo could only stare at Rae and wonder at the change in her. She was a siren, flaunting her charms and flirting outrageously with Yan. Once he’d cleared a bit of the fog in his brain, he took a deep breath as a jealous rage began to fill his mind.
“Rae, go get changed. That is a ridiculous outfit.”
She pouted up at him, her flaming red-painted fingernails caressing his nipple as they brushed back and forth over it.
“But, Ku’uipo, I thought you’d love this. I know you prefer me naked, but after all, I am your model, so I dressed the part.”
“Rae…” he growled, taking her arm to walk her to the door. He couldn’t stand the thought of another man looking at the way her breasts rose and fell in the push-up bra, the narrow waist, and the soft swell of her hips as she shifted on those ridiculous shoes he’d thought sexy only seconds ago.
All I want to do is hide her away in my room and pound my cock deep into her pussy until she begs for release. No! Better yet, I’d take her on the desk from behind, the way she’d been when I opened the door. Searing heat roared through his groin, his shaft harder than iron.
“That’s okay, Mateo. I’d love to have Rae join the meeting. Since she’s your model, perhaps you can share her like I shared a few of mine with you when you came to visit.”
“Yan, she’s not…”
“Nonsense, Ku’uipo. I’d love to share you with Yan. He’s a very handsome man. Unfortunately, Yan, I do have to make lunch. Perhaps later?”
Yan pulled out a card from his pocket. “If you want to model for me, call anytime. I’d love to have you.”
Rae released a sultry laugh that grated on Mateo’s nerves. She tucked the card between her breasts and ran her fingers along Yan’s jaw.
“How sweet of you to ask. If I do continue to model when Mateo is finished using me, I’ll be sure to call you first.”
Ready to turn her over his knee and spank her, Mateo led Rae to the door.
“See you later, lover boy,” she whispered, blowing him a kiss.
He slammed the door in her face as his cheeks burned with anger from the sound of her muffled laughter.
When he turned back to Yan, he was about to tell him to go screw himself before he’d get a chance at Rae, but the man held up a hand to stop him.
“You don’t have to say a word. I can see that she’s all yours. You are one lucky bastard, Mateo. I hope someday I’ll find someone who loves me like she does you.”
“Loves me? Rae doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“Really? You’d better take anot
her look, my friend. Her eyes spoke volumes. She wants you and only you.”
Mateo walked over to the bar and pulled out a fresh bottle, pouring them both stiff drinks and mulled over what Yan had said. As a psychologist, the man knew people well, so Mateo had little reason to doubt his viewpoint.
For the next hour during their meeting, he had a hard time concentrating as images of Rae bent over his desk flew through his mind. He wanted to grab hold of his cock and stroke it until he found bliss, but Yan was there and he had to wait. He swore to himself that he’d remedy that later.
* * * *
After Rae changed into a pretty Hawaiian dress and fixed her hair, she made a casserole for lunch with a fresh salad and opened two bottles of wine, one white, one a rich burgundy.
When the doorbell rang, she hurried to answer it, wondering who would visit Mateo. He seldom invited people to his home since she’d been there.
When she opened the door, her jaw dropped open in surprise.
“Lance?”
“Hello, honey. I came to see if you were all right. After that mess in Canada, I just had to make sure.”
Lance pushed past her and dropped his bags then circled her waist and pulled her close for a long kiss. She was so shocked that she stood there and let him.
“Rae, what’s going on here?”
The couple broke apart as though caught doing something wrong. Rae wiped the dampness from her lips and stared back at Mateo’s fury-filled glare.
“This is my ex-husband, Lance.”
“That doesn’t explain a thing.”
“Ah, Dr. Love Shark. I finally get to meet the man who humiliated my wife.”
Lance stepped forward with a smirk on his face and held out a hand to Mateo, which was ignored.
With a grimace, Lance dropped his arm and switched to a heavy dose of charm that Rae hadn’t seen in five years since they married. She wondered what he was up to since he always had an angle for everything he did.
“Thank you for taking such good care of her. I know it’s been hard on you with all that poor publicity, but I’ve come to take Rae home with me. We’re going to start over and renew our vows.”
Blinking like she’d just had a bucket of cold water thrown in her face, Rae was about to protest when she realized that Lance’s arrival would benefit her plan.
She threw her arms around him and cried, “Oh, honey, I thought we were through. Do you really mean that?”
Mateo ignored Lance and pulled her to his side in a possessive gesture as though to keep her away from her disgruntled ex.
“You aren’t going with him. You’ll stay here with me where you belong!”
“Why don’t we talk about it over lunch? I’ll set another place for Lance. It’ll only take a minute.”
Breaking away from Mateo’s grip, she rushed off to the kitchen, her heart racing. Moki was right. He’s jealous!
While she fought to bring her heartbeat back to normal and train the butterflies in her stomach to fly in formation, Rae rushed over to the stove and took out the casserole then brought it to the table. It only took a moment to put another place setting together.
Once the salad was in place along with the assortment of dressings, she called out, “Lunch is ready.”
The entire time she worked, not a sound came from the hallway.
Maybe Mateo threw Lance out on his ass…I hope.
The door swung open, and all three men walked in. Mateo appeared to be holding back annoyance with difficulty, his jaw clenched and his body stiff as he glared at her.
She gave him a coy smile in return.
“How nice. Now we can sit down. I’ll sit here, Lance you sit on one side of me, and Yan, you can take the chair on my right.”
Mateo sat down in a huff across from Rae, while the other two men fought over who’d hold the chair out for her first.
Rae released a fake giggle and sat down.
“It’s so nice to have company. I spend most of my days eating alone recently. Mateo is far too busy to join me. There was a time he never let me out of his sight.”
“I swear I’ll never let you out of mine again, Rae, if you’ll give me another chance,” Lance said, taking her hand and kissing the palm.
“Oh, Lance. What’s gotten into you? You are so romantic.”
Once she was able to extract her hand, she fought the urge to rush to the kitchen and scrub it with a Brillo pad.
“I’ll serve.” As she stood, Rae made sure she leaned over far enough to tantalize Mateo with the sight of her bare bosom as her dress parted slightly. She reached further to take his plate and caught his gaze. The sparks of passion sent tingles up her spine as she relished his jealousy.
He really does want me. There’s no way he can hide that from me now.
Finally she sat down and placed her hands in her lap.
“Would anyone care for some wine?” she asked, her gaze sliding from one man to the other.
“I’d love some red wine, Cinderella.”
“I haven’t heard you call me that in years, Lance. How sweet. Let me pour for you.” Once again she stood to get the bottle and leaned over far enough to give Mateo another peek at her virtues.
When his large hand snatched the bottle away, she started, and stared at him.
“I’ll do that. Sit down,” he snapped.
“Mateo, are you always so rude to your models?” Yan asked, watching him with a confused expression.
“No, actually, my Mast…uh, Mateo can be quite sweet when he wants to.”
The domination name of Master brought his eyes up to meet hers once again while he was pouring wine for Lance. The rich red liquid overflowed as she caught the heat of burning desire.
“Darling, you’re spilling.” Her breathless murmur didn’t change a thing as the entire group remained frozen in a tableau.
Lance finally grabbed the bottle and stopped the spill.
“Oh, dear. I’ll get a towel to clean that up.” Rae leapt to her feet and raced to the kitchen, leaving the men in the dining room. The look on Mateo’s face thrilled her. She was sure he recalled their night of wild passion when he’d played Master, keeping her imprisoned in the harness while he punished her.
Her grin could have lit the sky by the reflection she saw on the stainless steel range hood. She grabbed two towels and raced back to the dining room, making sure her expression was one of a motherly hen and not full of the thrill of conquest.
“Here you go, Lance. Oh, you have some wine spilt on your shorts. Let me help you wipe that up.”
“He can wipe it up himself!” Mateo’s bark made her pause.
She fought a grin and instead offered a reprimand.
“Mateo, you are being rude to our guests.”
“I’ll do it, Rae.”
Lance dabbed at his shorts while she mopped up the table, feeling Mateo’s eyes burning holes into her body as he watched in moody silence.
Yan chuckled once and fell quiet also.
When everything was in order, Rae sat down once again.
“Perhaps you could pour your own wine, Yan. I don’t think Mateo is paying attention today.”
“Oh, he’s paying attention, Rae. Don’t doubt it for a minute,” Yan said.
She turned to look at him and saw the humor in his eyes. She was sure he knew exactly what was going on between her and Mateo.
“Let’s eat. I made enough to feed an army.”
For the next hour, she flirted and laughed with Lance and Yan while Mateo stared at his plate, not touching his food except to play with it.
It was the most thrilling hour she’d ever had in his presence because she knew he wanted her and for once she was in control.
I should have invited other men here before and maybe he’d have realized it. I can’t wait to see what he’ll do next. Perhaps it’s time to turn up the heat.
“Mateo, why don’t we put Lance up in the spare bedroom next to mine?” she asked sweetly.
His chair flew back
, crashing to the ground as he stood and strode from the room without a word.
“What did I say?” she asked with false innocence. “Eat up, gentlemen. I have a cobbler for dessert.”
Shortly after Mateo disappeared into his office the doorbell rang. “Oh, please excuse me gentlemen.”
When she opened the door, she was surprised to see a security guard. I can’t believe how many people are coming to visit yet not one is a reporter.
“Hello, Miss. I’ve come to escort Lance Hooper to a hotel.”
“But I thought he’d be staying here.”
The burly guard shrugged.
“Dr. Mano said to escort him to a hotel in town, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Okay. I’m sorry, Lance. I guess Mateo knows best.”
Grasping her hand, Lance lifted it to his mouth and placed another kiss on it. She fought the urge to cringe.
“I’ll see you later. Would you like to have dinner with me? Perhaps we could go somewhere and be alone so we could…talk.”
The heat in his eyes didn’t fool her for a minute. She could tell he was up to something, yet since he was available, she decided to use him like he had her all those years.
“I’d love to, Lance, but I have dinner planned with Mateo tonight. I’ll see you in the morning perhaps. Mateo is usually still in his office then, so I can slip out.”
“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea, Rae. Mateo won’t approve.”
She turned to see that Yan stood behind her, grinning ear to ear, and her back went up, determination setting in.
“I’m not his possession, Yan. I can do what I want.”
“Still, you should let him know where you are at all times after last week. There are many sharks around.” His gaze slid over to Lance, who bristled at the intended innuendo.
So he sees Lance for who he is, too. What a smart man.
“The biggest shark of them all is in his office, Yan. I’m better off staying out of his line of fire. Did you see how grumpy he was at lunch?”
As Yan chuckled, Lance tugged her hand so she’d face him.
“I’ll come here and get you at ten o’clock, Cinderella. You’ll definitely be safe with me. After all, we have a history.”
