Teddy shook his head, but Heath spoke. “Are you swimming later?” he asked, smiling as he looked her over.
Oh great, now she had to endure Heath’s leering. He wasn’t a horrible-looking guy. He wasn’t stunning by any stretch, but his appearance wasn’t offensive. Shame that the same couldn’t be said about his attitude or personality.
“I wasn’t planning to, no, Mr. Cable.”
“You should, the upgrades make quite a difference.”
This was as close as Heath got to flirting. Tally wondered if it had ever worked on any woman or if it was just his money that made them respond. “Yes, sir,” she said.
“You prefer to swim in the morning, don’t you?”
It was so creepy that he knew that, but it was true, and there would be security logs to prove it because she had to type her code in to the pool door before she could enter the health suite. She swam as many mornings a week as she could be bothered. She had to do it early and she was always aware that Teddy could need her any minute, but Tally enjoyed the water and hadn’t been caught out yet.
“Yes, sir,” she said, feeling a bit odd having this conversation about her routine in front of an audience.
“I’m here for an early breakfast in the morning. Call me when you’re in there, I’ll come down to see how you like it.”
Oh yeah, she’d so be forgetting to do that. Thank God she didn’t answer to Heath directly. “Yes, sir,” she said, trying her best to return his smile.
Kimmy and Blair were whispering to each other on the couch. It was odd that she should be more self-conscious about her figure being on show for the women rather than the men. But women like Kimmy and Blair made sport out of finding other women’s flaws.
Teddy went to the desk, Max was still staring into his glass, and Heath was smiling. Tally backed away, out of the room and closed the door.
The Abacus files, how odd. Guessing it wasn’t her place to question his logic, she set about doing as she was told. A door opened behind her and she turned to look down the corridor only to see Max coming out of the drawing room she’d just left.
Tally gasped and dashed back to him. “What are you doing?” she whispered. “Go back in there.”
“Told them I wanted to see around this pile of bricks,” he said, curving a hand around the back of her head and she was so shocked when he pushed his mouth down to hers that she froze, much like she had the first time he’d kissed her.
But she got it together and pushed on his chest, forcing some space between them. “You can’t do that here,” she hissed. “Are you crazy?”
“Oh, baby, you owe me,” he said, coming for her as she started backwards down the corridor. “This has been the worst night of my life.”
She smiled, still walking backwards. “Slept with Blair yet?”
Stalking her, he let some space grow between them, but kept her in his sights. “You can put a ho in a pretty dress, she’s still a ho.”
“Oh, you would do her, don’t deny it,” she teased.
Her back hit the double doors at the end of the corridor. Before Max could reach her, Tally turned the handle and dashed through the door. After bolting up one flight of stairs, she crashed into Sean.
“Whoa, slow down, girlie,” Sean said. “That was a quick workout.”
“Yeah, I got called in,” she said.
“To the dinner?” he asked and sniggered, scanning her workout gear. “Heath hit a boner when he saw that much skin?”
She shivered. “I kept my eyes up,” she said and moved to pass him then stopped to turn. “Hey, do you know if the Abacus files were brought over in the flush?”
“The Abacus?” he asked, leaning back on the top bannister. “No, they weren’t moved in the flush. They’ve been in the archive for… months.”
“That’s what I thought,” she said, wondering why Teddy would make such an error.
“You know sometimes I’m amazed these people accomplish anything,” Sean said. “They wouldn’t if it wasn’t for us, you know that, right? Especially you, you know everything about this damn family and their company.”
Brushing off the compliment, Tally moved closer to Sean and lowered her voice. “Is there a file at the office labelled Abacus?”
“You think he wants something that’s not what it says it is?” Sean asked, and she shrugged. “Depends whose office… Teddy doesn’t do his own filing, he wouldn’t…” He trailed off when Max came strolling up the stairs at their side. “Uh, are you lost?”
She laughed and nudged Sean. “This is Max Flynn,” she said. “Teddy’s son.”
Wearing grubby jeans and sporting grime under his fingernails, Max didn’t exactly scream billionaire heir. She thought he looked yummy, even despite what was probably engine grease smeared on his tee-shirt, but she was a little biased. From the shock that spread on Sean’s face, Max obviously wasn’t what he was expecting.
“No way,” he said and regained his senses enough to stand up straight and clear his throat. “I apologize, sir. Sean Morgan.”
He introduced himself but didn’t offer his hand.
The clear line between what was right and wrong was stark for Sean, Tally had kind of smudged it… well, more than kind of.
“It’s ok,” she said. “You can shake his hand. Max…”
Max was peering at Sean. Employees weren’t usually supposed to be forward in touching superiors, but her colleague lifted his hand. Her persuasive drawl of his name made Max do the same and the men shook, but that just shocked Sean more.
Tally leaned in between them, clasping her hands at the small of her back. “Sean’s the guy who arranges poker in the upstairs kitchen at the end of every month and strips us all of our wages.”
“Hey!” Sean chastised her because that wasn’t the kind of thing they shared with superiors.
She squeezed his forearm. “Trust me, Mr. Flynn will keep the secret. Besides, if you invite him, you might clean up at heads up.”
He scowled at her, but she knew Sean too well to take his wrath seriously. “Want me to check out that thing for you?”
“Sure,” she said. “But tomorrow, or whenever, there’s no hurry.”
“Cool,” he said. “We’re upstairs when you’re done.” She nodded, and he turned to Max. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Flynn.”
Sean disappeared up the stairs and she started to move again, but when she glanced back, Max hadn’t moved, he was glaring at the stairs, and she hoped he wasn’t thinking about going after Sean.
She went back to grab his forearm to pull him along with her. “Everyone is chilling, it’s late,” she said. “If you go up there now you’ll just freak them all out. This is down time. Our superiors never go up there. I’m not sure Teddy even knows where the employees’ rec room is.”
“That’s what’s up there?”
“Yeah,” she said. “That and our bedrooms. Some of the household staff have rooms in the basement too. But that part of the house is only accessible by that stairwell and the rooms are small, so it’s useless to the family. So, up there is where me and a couple of others stay.”
Max hadn’t relaxed. “Guys?” he asked, pulling her to a stop.
“I’m the only female living up there, yeah,” she said. “But Sean, Johnny, and Pierre are like my brothers, they’re protective. They would never think to…”
“Fuck you?”
Slapping a hand over his mouth, Tally looked left and right. “Will you please watch what you’re saying around here?”
“Doesn’t matter, baby,” he said, cupping her face. “I’m not coming back here, no chance.”
“What?” she asked, panicking about what might have gone on at dinner. “What happened?”
“That’s a long conversation.”
And one they didn’t have time for now. Except the pressure was on for Tally to convince him to give his father a chance.
“Come here,” she said and pulled him back the way they’d come to the stairs Sean had used. She took hi
m up past the rec room and the guys’ bedrooms to carry on to the top floor where her room was. Pushing through her door, she flicked on a light and dragged Max inside. “Will you wait here, just for a minute?”
“Wait? Why?” he asked. “Where are you going?”
“I have to get the file to your father, he needs it for a reason and doesn’t like to wait.” She backed to the door, leaving him to examine her bookcase. “I’ll tell him you went outside for some air. That should buy us some time.” He tipped his attention to her and she smiled, reading his mind. “Not enough time for that. Just wait here and don’t make a sound.”
Maybe that was a ridiculous thing to say because the guys in the rec room downstairs would assume any noise up here was just her getting ready for bed. Though that did mean she’d have to get to the archives, and back to the drawing room without running in to anyone who could tell the others that she wasn’t the one upstairs in her bedroom.
Getting to the archives and back downstairs was easy enough. She handed over the file, made excuses for Max and then tried to back out as the men huddled around the file.
“Oh, Tallulah,” Teddy said.
Ahh! Didn’t the man know that she was trying to be speedy? “Yes, sir?”
“We’re going to need you to work with Max some more,” he said. “He’s joining us at the Walker Benefit next Friday and he said he’d feel most comfortable with someone he knew on his arm. It may work out for the best, coach him, you know, what to wear, what to say…”
“What not to say,” Heath said, and the men exchanged a look.
Just like she thought, Max had been his wonderful self and it had shocked the shit out of these civilized men.
“Of course, sir,” she said, though she was silently seething. “I’ll take care of it.”
Before Heath could say anything sleazy, she departed the room and wasted no time in bolting back to her room. Ignoring the noise in the rec room, she went straight to her bedroom and locked the door from the inside.
Max was sitting in the middle of the bed, barefoot with his legs stretched out, his fists propping him up as he bounced. “You ever had sex in this bed?”
His lie pissed her off enough that being facetious came naturally. “Yes, hundreds of sex, millions of it. I’m on my back with a different dick in me every night.”
He stopped bouncing to peer at her. “Something wrong, baby?”
Marching to the bed, she pulled off the iPhone she had strapped to her arm and tossed it onto the ottoman at the end of her bed along with her headphones. “You’re never coming back here ever in your life, but we’re going to the Walker Benefit together next Friday? How does that work?”
She bent down to take off her sneakers and socks. “I’m not coming back here,” he said and glanced at the bed. “Well, I’ll come back here to this bed, but down there, to them.” He shook his head. “Not doing it. No way… But sure, I’ll go to their fancy party with you before I dump them.”
“Oh, so that’s the plan?” she asked, climbing over the ottoman to get onto the bed with him. She straddled his shins, resting her ass on his feet. “You use them to get a ticket to the most coveted party of the year, then dump them after one date with me?”
Relaxed, and amused, Max didn’t have any shame. “I don’t give a fuck about the coveted party bit, you know that,” he said, “the date with you part, yeah, that’s my bag.” Growling out her frustration, Tally sagged forward, putting her hands over his knees, and resting her face on his thighs. “North a bit, babe.”
Oh, so he wanted to tease, was that it? He thought this was all some big joke? If he wanted to play, she’d play. Pushing up, Tally slithered north and parted her lips over his as she squeezed her hand between them and began to rub his dick through his jeans until it was nice and thick and hard.
“That what you want, baby?” she whispered on his mouth, easing away when he tried to kiss her.
“Oh, yeah,” he growled.
“Do you like it when I do this?” Opening the buttons of his jeans, she tucked her hand into his underwear and began to work his shaft. “Mm,” she purred. “You’re so hard.” Tally had never talked dirty in her life, but his eyelids got heavy and he tried to kiss her again, but she ducked back. “Can I kiss it? Can I, lover? Will you let me suck you off?”
“Baby,” he grumbled.
“That what you want?” she murmured, still tugging him in her tight fist. “You want my mouth? You want me to run my tongue all over your thick, hard cock? Want to push your dick into my throat? To fuck my skull until your hot, delicious spunk explodes in my mouth?”
She squeezed him tighter and rolled her thumb over his head. “Yeah, baby,” he hissed.
Adding in a few breathy whimpers, Tally inhaled his exhale. “Yeah?” she asked, almost kissing him but not quite. “You want that?”
“Yeah,” he murmured.
She smiled then shoved away. “Well, tough,” she said, and gave him a push. “God, Max, you came here to make friends with your family and instead you’re up here thinking about having sex with me!”
“More than thinking about it,” he said and lunged forward to snatch her back onto the bed. She whooped when he pinned her face down with the weight of his whole body. “You got me going, baby, you’re gonna give it up.”
Wedging his hand down the back of her shorts, he squeezed her ass and kept on going, using his own legs to force hers apart so he could slip a finger into her.
Her inhale cracked, his finger felt so big in her with her legs this close together. Trying to hold on to her anger was impossible as his digit stimulated her.
But damn it, she wanted to be mad, not turned on. How did he always do this to her? He always got her hot and made her focus on him so completely that everything else in her life became insignificant.
“Stop it, Max,” she hissed.
She couldn’t shout, not with the other guys’ downstairs. The call of surprise she’d released when he pulled her back might have been masked by the TV. But, if it wasn’t, and they’d heard it, they might be on alert listening now trying to figure out if she was ok.
But Tally wanted to call out, like she could at Max’s apartment. If she could scream and kick, and put up a fight, she could fulfil another of her fantasies with him. Getting physical with him, more physical than normal, was something she’d daydreamed about. Max was possessive but let her take the lead. More than anything, Tally wanted to know what it would be like to be overtaken by his want.
“You don’t want it?” he breathed into her ear, sliding another finger into her. They came out to circle her clit and then slid back down inside her. “Come on, where’s my hungry little boss who knows what she wants?”
Oh, she was right there, but it felt good not to give in, to make him think he was working for it. She could be his, was his, in any way he wanted to take her. But, playing it reluctant was a new and thrilling game.
“Stop it,” she said, trying to struggle beneath him, but he was too heavy, too strong. “I mean it, Max. Get your hands off me or I’ll scream.”
Another whoop came out of her when he reared up and flipped her onto her back. Concern framed his scowl. “Are you really saying no? Baby, I would never take—”
“Hush, Max,” she said, pushing his arm aside to clamber out from under the cage of his body that had been braced on all fours over hers.
Dashing to the stereo, she turned it on to the maximum allowed, which wasn’t much, but it was a better disguise than nothing. Max still looked worried when she came back toward the bed, but Tally pulled her top off over her head and then shimmied out of her shorts and shoved his shoulder to put him on his back, so she could climb on top of him.
She brushed her lips on his. “In future, remind me I shouldn’t start games I don’t intend to finish, I’ll always lose.”
“If this is losing, sign me up,” he said, grabbing her ass to pull her pelvis down onto his. “You had me worried for a second, I thought I was being a jer
k, forcing myself on you.”
Stroking his face, she kissed him and gazed down into his eyes. “Not possible,” she whispered. “I was about as pissed as I could be tonight, and here I am. Damn me for it, Mr. Flynn, but I crave you.”
“Crave,” he said, playing it dumb. “That’s better than want, right?”
Her smile lowered until she was kissing his jaw. “Means I’m obsessed with you,” she murmured, dragging her teeth over the angle of his jaw. “Addicted.”
Grabbing her into his arms, Max rolled her onto her back. “I can live with that,” he said and pulled one of her legs up over his hip. “Remind me how this goes again.”
Letting her eyes grow heavy, Tally used her most sultry voice to say, “Fast, hard, and dirty.”
“Gotcha,” he said and grabbed her arms to stretch them high over her head. “If dinner ends this way every time, I might have to rethink eating here.”
Tally didn’t want to be his reason for coming to his father’s home. Being his reason was flattering, but it put pressure on her and one day, Max was going to come face to face with what he had signed up for.
As much as she wanted to mean something to him, she feared that their intimacy was distracting him from reality and that wouldn’t work out for any of the parties involved.
NINE
Kicking Max out of her bed had been a novelty. It had been fun to watch him leave in a grump, but even if Tally had wanted to, she couldn’t let him stay. It was against Stretton rules for employees to invite anyone onto the premises let alone have them stay over. But the joke ended up being on her because after he’d gone, Tally had struggled to sleep in her sheets that smelled of them. Every time she almost drifted off, she’d reach for him, and then remember she was alone.
Before leaving, she’d told Max to avoid the employees in the room beneath hers, and given him directions back to the drawing room where the others were. He must have followed her instructions because she wasn’t told otherwise by her roommates or employer, and he never came back to her bedroom.
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