And then, he bowed his head and kissed her.
Right there.
In front of his building, employees, guests and visitors alike, James Arias kissed Hannah Sawyer like there was no tomorrow, and God help her, she loved it.
Chapter 2
Fuck, she tasted good.
In fact, scratch that. She tasted like heaven. No, better. What tasted better than heaven?
James’ subconscious was too busy reveling in finally getting another sample of Hannah’s lips to really compare, but all he could think about was how kissing her, having her writhing against him was better than the short drive around the compound in the Orion had been.
That baby packed over four years’ worth of research and investment into one souped-up ride.
How could one woman’s kiss beat that?
It shouldn’t have been possible.
And yet, it was. She was. She always had beaten everything around him.
He devoured her, knowing she might not let him near her again this lifetime. He’d been stunned, then hurt by her opinion of him, and everything within had urged him on. Inspired him to grab a hold of her and then quieten her. Take those words from her lips and change her opinion of him.
Only trouble was, he was as into the kiss as she was. There was no manipulating this, no making her see sense. He was as lost to the wonder that flared between them as she was. And that was a terrifying fact.
But the terror couldn’t hold him for long.
He wasn’t capable of anything other than kissing her while she was in his arms.
With a shudder, he let his tongue do some talking of its own. He explored her mouth, reveling in the pressure as she pushed back, exploring him, not passively taking his kiss but taking him too. Making him feel. Making him wish they could go to his office and make this public scene more private.
He shuddered as she wriggled against him, her belly pressing against his cock in a way that would have had his eyes rolling in his head had they not been firmly closed. He pulled back only to nip at her bottom lip. Tugging it away from her teeth, he thrust his tongue into her mouth and groaned as she moaned back.
Sisters were a no-go area.
It was part of the bro code.
The little minx in his arms, had she not been a sister of the man who was more of a brother than a friend, would have been conquered many years past. He’d always had his eye on Hannah, and he’d make no bones about that.
Even now, though he felt guilt on Aidan’s behalf, he equally admitted that he couldn’t help himself. That she robbed him of all control, and though that admission should have petrified him, when he was with her, he felt nothing but the glory of the moment. She made him feel alive, like when he went skiing off-piste in the danger zones. Had his heart flaring to life, like when he was skydiving.
There was danger here too. Adrenaline. But the peril came from a whole other different source.
Labor Day had been an anomaly. Or so he’d thought.
She’d taken his world and tilted it on its head. All with one kiss. Not even a grope. Nothing deeper than an illicit meeting of their mouths that had informed him they were more than equals on that footing.
He’d never expected another chance, but he’d been hoping for an opportunity.
Praying, more like.
With a shudder, he grabbed a hold of her hips and pressed her harder into him. She made him feel like a teenager again. He wanted to push her into the Orion and claim her there and then.
Company be damned.
Instead, he cupped her ass and molded the tight cheeks in his palms. Fuck, she was perfect. So perfect. She fit into his hands like she was made for him, and the terrifying thing was, he wondered if that wasn’t a lie.
He’d never felt like this before. Never wanted to either.
Almost like those thoughts were a catalyst for karma, the sound of a throat clearing penetrated the lust-filled haze that had befallen him. His eyes popped open, and he quickly noticed that Hannah hadn’t heard the noise at all. He tried not to be too satisfied by that, and promptly failed. She was into this, as into him as he was into her.
Thank fuck.
She’d always been distant. Unlike the rest of her family who had welcomed him with open arms. Maybe that distance had intrigued him, he wasn’t sure. Now, it hurt to know why. She didn’t trust him, and he wanted, more than anything, to prove the exact opposite.
That he was worthy of her trust.
Actions, they said, spoke louder than words. So, while he could have rubbed her nose in how into the kiss she was, instead, he acted the gentleman he’d been raised to be. Carefully, he pulled back, nipping and teasing her with flicks of his tongue, nibbles of his teeth, until he pressed his forehead to hers and let their breathing wash over the other’s mouth.
Wow, that had to have been the most intense kiss he’d ever experienced.
The throat, belonging to someone he wanted to kill, cleared itself again.
The noise triggered Hannah into jumping back like a startled cat, while James cavalierly turned to the intruder. Spying the security man on the door, he glowered at him, watching with pleasure as the idiot flushed and ducked his head. “Sorry, sir, but the Japanese investors are about to come down. I didn’t think…”
Reckless.
Hannah was right.
How could he have forgotten that meeting?
The only reason he’d been test driving the car around the compound today was because Aidan had wanted him out of the way while he handled that meeting.
They were both the public faces of the company, but they had their own tasks and specific duties. Aidan spoke Japanese; James, Russian and Mandarin. They dealt with certain investors alone.
But, reputation and respectability were everything to the people here today and he’d almost wrecked all of Aidan’s hard work with one stupid kiss. The Japanese were already wary around him. Unfortunately, the gutter press had taken a liking to James a while back, and they tended to be there, filming all his exploits for prosperity.
Doing business with a man who regularly skydived, thought nothing of taking part in illegal street races, and was generally the antithesis of a CEO, never put the Japanese at ease. He couldn’t really blame them. He doubted he’d do business with himself, either.
“Thanks, Eric,” James said on a sigh, stunning both the security guard and Hannah by the looks of it with his gratitude. The last thing he needed was a scolding from Aidan, but neither seemed to realize the importance of his saving face, and as Eric stumbled away, he glowered at the woman who was intent on driving him around the bend.
“I know his name,” he told her waspishly. “Why does that come as such a surprise to both of you?”
“How is that possible?” she whispered, pressing a hand to her mouth. He watched as she explored the tender pouting morsels with her fingers.
Good God, she was hot.
But Hannah was also taken. And worse than that, she was his brother’s sister!
Okay, so that sounded far weirder than it had to be, but Aidan was like blood to him.
He had to remember that.
Now his dick just needed the memo. Hell, more than that. His heart did.
Hiding a groan and wishing he could adjust himself, he instead stepped toward her, scowling when she jerked back a step.
“I’m not going to attack you,” he growled.
“No? What was that kiss then if not an assault?” she snapped back.
Her umbrage dissolved his irritation. It probably shouldn’t have but totally did. He laughed. Watched as she tucked a stray strand of her wispy angel-blond hair behind an ear he wished like hell he could suck. She was beautiful.
Maybe not model beautiful, with those freckles on her nose, and the glasses hiding her glass-bottle green eyes. But to him, she was better than any Secrets’ Angel. Her sandy blond hair hung about her shoulders, framing plump rosy-red cheeks. She was wholesome. Looked like she’d just come in off the farm, and he’d
have loved, at that moment, to have seen her come in off the farm with a maid’s costume on. All rosy and pink, tits swelling over the hem of her ruffled blouse. Ugh. His cock jerked to attention at that image, an image that could have stayed true to form if it wasn’t for the delicious pantsuit she wore instead. The tailored linen conformed to her tiny waist and the curve of her ass. Even better, the silky blouse she wore underneath her jacket clung to her tits, and made him wish he could grab a hold of them. No, it wasn’t a milk maid’s costume, but she still looked insanely fuckable.
Hard pressed to withhold the shudder his nervous system was demanding, he managed to grit out, “Princess, you wanted that kiss as much as I did.”
It was imperative he lay that down before them. Let her know he wasn’t willing to accept any of her bullshit.
Before she could say a word, a fact that pleased him no end, the Japanese appeared.
She flushed harder as the group of twelve smiling businessmen appeared in the front entrance of the building. When they spied the Orion, their speech increased in pace and they excitedly explored the vehicle from the outside. Words flew like bullets as they ummed and aahed over the car, stroking it like he wanted to stroke Hannah.
When Aidan appeared, he cocked a brow at both James and Hannah’s presence.
The smile he shot his sister was warm with tenderness—they had a close relationship, and James knew Aidan hated the fact that when Hannah had moved to Florida for college, she’d stayed there to work on her career after graduation—before he turned to the investors and gave them his full attention.
Aidan joined in the garbled, chaotic conversation but managed to corral the men in sharp suits into leaving. With a polite bow, to which all twelve mirrored, he bid them sayonara. As soon as he did, James and Hannah followed suit, and there were more bows until they all laughingly parted, the investors watching as their limos swerved in to collect them, a few of them lingering to pat the Orion before they left. Once the cars disappeared down the driveway that led onto the main road, their tight trio headed for the reception area.
The minute the doors were closed behind them, Aidan did as James longed to… he curled his arm about Hannah’s shoulder and tucked her close. When he pressed a kiss to her temple, jealousy unfurled through James, further stunning him.
He didn’t want more than a quick tumble with Hannah, did he? His usual MO? But the feelings she inspired him… They needed to be explored. Desperately.
Because why else would that tender kiss irritate and agitate him when that was, supposedly, the last thing he needed?
Aidan broke into James’ thoughts with a jovial: “It’s good to have you here, shortstuff. Although, I didn’t expect it. Don’t think mom and dad did either…” His words ran off as though he were unsure whether he had the right to make it a question.
Hannah took her privacy very seriously. She hated being questioned about anything. Aidan knew that, so did James for that matter.
He’d heard the rows between mother and daughter, sister and brother, and father and daughter, when she’d ripped into the whole family at one point or another. Just because she was the baby of the family, Hannah insisted, didn’t mean they had to treat her like one.
He’d always been impressed by her gumption. But what had impressed him more was how she managed to make Aidan, an internationally renowned entrepreneur, a scientist for a mother, and her CPA of a dad, bow to her wishes.
Maybe it made sense she was in marketing, but he figured that line was wasted on her.
She should be in politics.
He could see her being the first woman to have a First Gentleman at her side.
His lips twitched at the thought as they steered Hannah through the reception. It was huge. A massive atrium with interconnecting corridors that guided any and all toward different working areas of the compound.
As they were executives, they led her past the large fountain in the middle of the hall—an idea that had certainly not been either his or Aidan’s, but an interior designer who still insisted the monstrosity of flutes and stones would calm potential investors while soothing any tension from employees entering the building—and headed for the bank of elevators at the back of the hall. It was unnecessarily impressive, he thought. Far too expansive and expensively appointed, but the board of directors had insisted that the entryway represent the Arias Corporation in a true to life manner.
It meant shit to him, but he knew how most people were. Appearances mattered the most. He’d have preferred to invest the obscene amount of money they’d wasted on that hideous fountain on research instead.
But what did he know? He was only half of the brains behind this operation.
“Mom and dad weren’t supposed to know I was here, Aidan,” Hannah said after a few seconds. It wasn’t her first time in the compound but there was a new addition to the reception—a large, curved metallic desk that glinted in the orbs of light which hung suspended from the ceiling. The orbs were stars, and the desk was shaped in a way that made one think of a shuttle in space. There were patterned seams with huge bolts running every several feet down the length.
It was the biggest hint they’d ever give that they were interested in working on interstellar transport, never mind just regular cars.
Well, that was totally underselling what they did here.
Nothing about Arias Corp was regular.
And that was just how they liked it.
“What’s with the spaceship desk?” Hannah asked as they shuffled her into the elevator, but she peered out, looking at the workstation of over six receptionists, each assigned to different parts of the compound.
Despite himself, James was pleased she’d noticed the design. “It’s a hint.”
She frowned up at him, but he was satisfied to note that her cheeks were tinged with pink as she asked, “A hint at what?”
“The next project we’re working on,” Aidan supplied helpfully, but James saw his confusion. Aidan’s gaze was dipping between him and his sister… it was the blush that did it.
Hannah wasn’t the blushing sort. It just wasn’t in her ‘bull in a china shop’ nature.
“Since when did you want to take over space?”
“Since we were contracted to,” James provided plainly. “But, unless you have security clearance, that’s about as much as we can say.”
His wink had her left eye twitching all on its own… out of irritation, though. At that moment, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he was the singular person on the planet who could annoy her so much.
It was a bittersweet accolade, that was for certain.
“When are you getting rid of the fountain?” she asked, ignoring him and his words to turn to her brother for escape.
Aidan snorted and defended their atrium. “What’s wrong with the fountain?”
“Monstrosity. Eyesore. That’s kind of how I’d sell that particular behemoth.” She scowled at her shoes. “I’ll never understand why you had it installed.”
“Because he was boning the decorator at the time,” James inserted helpfully, earning him a rueful grin from Aidan.
Aidan rubbed his chin but kept quiet.
“Was Cassia worth the lay?” Hannah demanded, cocking her brow at him and smiling at her brother’s discomfort.
James answered for him, “She has to be the most expensive prostitute if she was. That horror cost us close to two hundred thousand.”
Hannah rolled her eyes. “Men, even brilliant ones like you two doofuses, are so predictable sometimes.”
“You do realize you just gave me a backward compliment?” James pointed out. “My heart was all aflutter.”
“The clue’s in the word ‘backward’,” she mumbled under her breath, immediately dismissing him as she strode out of the elevator when the doors were open.
Jennifer, his PA, and Sandra, Aidan’s, stood the instant they saw them, but James frowned at both women and waved them back to their desks. They saw Hannah, nodded, then returned to
their work.
Aidan steered Hannah past the bright, white reception area to the executive level, and took her down the mirrored hall to their joint office. James knew he should leave them alone. That, for whatever reason, Hannah was here to discuss something with her brother, but leaving her wasn’t an option. He needed to know what she was doing here, because he needed to know how much time he’d have to play with.
Chasing Hannah was probably one of the worst things he could do, when it boiled down to it. He was playing with fire—if anyone knew how overprotective Aidan was of his sister, it was James. And while he was well aware of that, staying away from her was something he couldn’t do.
Even if it meant damaging his friendship with Aidan?
On that short journey from the front of the building to the dizzying heights of the CEO’s office, he came to a decision.
This prickly pear was about to be seduced.
There was no way he could let her go, no way he could let her return to Florida, not without sampling her charms once more. Not without making her realize that the fire they created together would never be quenched.
It was as complicated and as terrifying as that.
Chapter 3
The restaurant wasn’t exactly what she’d had in mind when she’d flown home to Washington last night. When she’d pictured this conversation with her brother, she certainly hadn’t expected to be in a three Michelin starred eatery, and she had certainly never imagined James, her arch nemesis, would be here to watch her in the process.
That old saying? Pride comes before a fall?
Well, it did. Just not if that fall happened in front of James Arias.
Her stomach churned because it meant she’d have to ask her brother a favor later, when she’d hoped to get it out of the way straight away. No way could she ask him in front of James.
She just couldn’t. Even though her favor involved him, going to James, cap in hand as it were—it would never settle well with her.
Refusing to be one of the women who needed something from him, she preferred, even though it was hypocritical, to approach her brother over the matter. Cheating? Maybe. But she was desperate.
One Kiss: A Brother's Best Friend Romance Page 2
