ForePlay: A Checkmate Inc. Novel Book 1 (The Checkmate Inc. Series)

by Shelly Alexander

  I go rock-hard all over again.

  “I can do steamy,” I say. My fingers find her hips, and I press my hard-on against her.

  She leans her forehead against my chest, and hisses in a breath. “I’m counting on it. I want to experience something new every time I’m with you.”

  My fingertips trace up her spine, and she shivers. “I’m definitely down for that. I’d say we’re off to a good start.” And now we’ve got time to explore, experience, enjoy each other without feeling like we’re rushing to beat the clock.

  “Before you walked up, Adam said I have one week to produce results.” Her voice has gone slack, like she’s slipping into a dreamy sleep. “I’ll be burning the candle at both ends, but over the next week I want you to keep showing me how Checkmate’s mission is to make a woman your queen, put her first, figure out what she wants and make it happen for her.”

  Tension riots through me. That puts us right back on the same deadline I thought we’d just tossed out the window. On the other hand, her proposition would make our sexual romps work-related, and that gets me off the hook with Dex and Oz. Technically. Okay, so even I have to admit that’s a stretch. “Chloe—”

  She places a finger over my lips to shush me and looks up. I get lost in the rich, shimmering cobalt blue.

  “I want it all, Leo. Everything Checkmate has to offer a woman through its clients. The clothes, the coaching, the romance, the sex, the adventure, the excitement. I’ll take a fucking bath with you in whatever cologne makes me want you so much. The experience I can glean in a week is priceless, and it will show in my work. I promise.”

  I pull the tip of her finger into my mouth, then fold her hand into mine. “Whatever you want, Chloe. Just name it.”

  “One week with you. That’s all I want, Leo. Can you give me that?”

  I swear someone has dropped an invisible weight on my chest. All the air leaves the stairwell, and my lungs are going to implode.

  One week. That’s all she wants with me.

  “One week,” I murmur. “I’m all yours.”

  One week might be enough for her, but it won’t be nearly enough for me.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I won’t lie. Last night was torture. Even after I had the most erotic sexual experience of my life fucking Chloe against the wall in a public stairwell. Even after I serviced myself… twice… because I can’t get her sexy moans out of my mind, nor can I get rid of my incessant desire for her that’s become a near-obsession.

  At seven AM, I step into the glass elevator at Checkmate headquarters and press the button for the executive floor. I lean against the back wall, legs crossed at the ankle, and sip down a hot, bold drink of coffee from my favorite coffee shop. A sense of peace finally settles over me. It always does when I take this short trip up the elevator that gives me the grand view of Checkmate’s rotunda, because I can spend that few moments looking out over the design that is meant to represent my life’s work.

  I thought fucking Chloe silly in such a carnal, naughty, fantasy-like way would clear my head. It only fogged over my brain more and made my hungry desire for her soar to new heights. She only wants one week with me, but she’s made it clear that she wants it to be the most sexually adventurous week of her life, with her playing the role of queen. That’s what she wants, so that’s what I’m going to give her.

  After the week is over, I have no idea what my next move will be. For the first time in my life I don’t have a game plan, a strategy to come out the victor. I guess treating my life like a chess match has been a way of protecting myself since my parents died.

  It’s entirely possible I’ll be the loser in this dangerous game Chloe and I are playing, and I don’t even care. I’m playing anyway. So these few moments of tranquility in the elevator after this girl I just met has already up-ended my life are golden.

  Just as the doors starts to slide shut, a slender arm slips through, and the doors jerk open again. Chloe steps in dressed in a deep crimson skirt, the same color as the lingerie she wore yesterday, and I wonder if she chose it on purpose. If she did, it was excellent strategy on her part. The skirt hugs her curves like a glove, as does the black sweater it’s paired with. A leather satchel is slung over one shoulder.

  Her silky hair drifts around her shoulders, and the way it’s tucked behind one ear is so sexy. A gold hoop earring dangles from the creamy lobe that’s exposed, and I plan to whisper the dirtiest, filthiest things in that ear tonight.

  “Mind if I catch a ride?” Her lips curve up on that last word, giving it a whole new context.

  “I’ll give you a ride anytime you want.” I volley the innuendo right back at her.

  “That’s very accommodating,” she says, and steps up beside me to enjoy the view.

  I sip my coffee again, and shove a hand into the pocket of my leather jacket. “I think you’ll find that I’m also very generous when it comes to giving you a ride.”

  A blush rises in her cheeks, and she glances at the floor with a smile playing on her lips.

  It takes a few seconds for the doors to close again, so we stand there staring out into the rotunda as Checkmate employees are just starting to trickle in at such an early hour. She breathes in deep. Because hell yes, I doused myself in our new supercharged pheromone cologne called Untamed Obsession. Seems appropriate.

  Her lips part, her eyes slide shut for a beat, then she turns glistening eyes and glossy lips on me as the doors close and we start to ascend.

  “You’ve got my attention.” Her voice is thick with lust, and I know she’s talking about our conversation a few days ago. “In so many ways.”

  “That’s the first step in our goal, Chloe.” I reiterate our conversation. “We help men capture a woman’s attention.”

  Her eyes drop to my mouth, then they take a slow, lazy trip over my body. Even though I’m fully dressed, I feel like she’s stripping me completely naked.

  “He still has to close the deal, though. There’s only so much an image can do. Our products and services can’t get him farther than a date or two.”

  “The rest is up to him,” Chloe states.

  “No.” I take another drink of the strong brew in my hand. “It’s actually up to her. Does she like the kind of man he is? Does he treat her the way she wants to be treated? Does she see him in her future? Checkmate just makes the introductions so that the rest can be a possibility, not a foregone conclusion.”

  “But the product you’re wearing must be powerful.” She licks her colorful lips. “You can’t imagine what I want to do to you right now.” Her voice has gone thick with lust.

  Hell yes I can. I’m imagining it right now. Chloe on her knees with those glossy lips wrapped around my cock on the ride up.

  “It is powerful, but it’s just the catalyst. The rest is chemistry between two people who are attracted to each other.” I try to focus on the science instead of the potent pull spreading through me, especially below my belt.

  The elevator slows, the doors open, and Leticia is standing there, waiting with her iPad at the ready. Thank God, because I need a fuck-ton of distractions today if Chloe is going to be working in the offices on the executive level that we keep vacant for special projects like this. Since most of the inner-facing walls are glass in our building, I’ll have to see her a lot, and it’s not going to be easy for me.

  “Dex and Oz want to know when you’re planning to make a public statement.” Leticia falls in beside me as we walk to Chloe’s offices.

  “I got it ready last night.” Chloe pats her satchel. “I need to prep you, Dex, and Oz, so we should be ready this afternoon.”

  I nod to Leticia. “Make it so.”

  She rolls her eyes at my Star Trek reference.

  “I’d like to set up the press conference in the rotunda.” Chloe is speaking to Leticia as much as she is speaking to me. Obviously, Chloe has picked up on how important Leticia is to this company. “I assembled my team last night. They’ll be here soon and can star
t setting up. They’ll also start working on my plan for the behind-the-scenes interviews. In order to minimize the damage, we’re working on a condensed schedule, so do I have your permission to call on all of you as I need? It will save time if your schedules are fairly clear.”

  She’s all business. That’s a good thing, since my two partners wanted to castrate me when I finally rejoined them yesterday evening and tried to explain why I’d taken Chloe to a studio without reading them in. I’m on a short leash with them now. They warned me that revealing our ace in the hole better work, since I believed in the idea enough to betray their trust. They also told me to keep it in my pants until this is over, like they’re the sex police.

  Little did they know I’d already had awesome up-against-the-wall sex in the stairwell while they waited for me to return. I didn’t see fit to tell them either since they’ve got me on sex probation.

  “Let me know if you need anything, Chloe.” Leticia’s tone tells me she likes Chloe.

  When we’re alone, I walk Chloe to her office. She pulls the strap off her shoulder and lays her satchel on the desk.

  “I better get to work.” She retrieves a laptop from her bag. “Can you and your partners be ready to start as soon as they get here?”

  “Yes.” I walk to her. I don’t touch her, but I crowd her personal space. “First, I have one question.”

  She leans into me, her chest almost brushing mine.

  “What are you wearing underneath that outfit?”

  Her lips part, and a breathy sigh escapes. “You can find out for yourself after work.” Her stare drops to my mouth, and her thoughts play across her expression as vivid as a movie screen. She’s thinking of how it felt when I was driving into her, making her come so hard her toes probably curled. She pulls a plump bottom lip between her teeth, and her dilated eyes lift to meet mine.

  She’s thinking of how much she wants to do it again and wondering what adventure I’ll take her on tonight.

  I still don’t touch her, but I lean in and whisper against her ear, “We’re just getting started, Chloe. There’s so much more I plan to do to you, if you want it.”

  A shudder races over her, and she takes a step back only to have her sweet ass come up against the desk. “I want it. Everything.” She brushes her butt against the desk like she’s got a tickle she can’t reach.

  “You’re turned on,” I say, my voice low and husky. “If you could, you’d ride me right now, wouldn’t you?”

  She gives me an exaggerated nod.

  I glance down at her ass against the desk. “I promise that tonight...” I rake my gaze over her beautifully flushed face, drawing out the moment. Her shiver is my cue to finish. “…you’ll be satisfied in every way. There won’t be one inch of you that I haven’t touched.”

  I leave her trembling. Unfair, I know. But it will make tonight so much more intense if she has all day to think about what she wants from me. I’ll follow her lead if she wants. But if not, I’ve got a little something in mind. Okay, not so little, but I don’t like to brag. Much.

  And since I’ll have to think about that with Chloe working right under my nose, it’s going to be a long damn day.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Later that evening I show up at Chloe’s apartment. Autumn is crisp in the air, and a sense of yearning I get this time of year skates over me. I can’t quite put a finger on it, but I want something. Something is missing in my life, and I don’t quite know what it is.

  Chloe hits the buzzer to let me in. I take the stairs to think on the way up. It’s been one hell of a day. Oz, Dex, and I handled the press conference well, but it’s just the first step in turning our negative image around. Chloe’s presence at the office, on the other hand, invades my thoughts and I can think of little else. I don’t know what she’s going to want from me tonight, but I’m ready to give her a night she’ll never forget. When I get to her front door, I draw in a sharp breath and rap twice with a knuckle.

  A shrill but vicious yap comes from inside, and my head snaps up.

  No. Fucking. Way. I’m not a fan of small dogs. Haven’t been since I was bitten as a kid. A little dog was running loose as Ava and I walked home from school, and it tried to bite her. I stepped in between them just as the mini Cujo lunged and it sunk its teeth into me instead.

  I run my hand over the forearm of my jacket where the teeth marks left scars that are still visible even after so many years.

  The deadbolt releases, and Chloe is standing there in a black stretchy-looking dress, her hair piled up on top of her head, a mess of sexy curls falling loose around her pretty face. My gaze takes a slow trip down her length. The dress hits her mid-thigh, and the hem flirts and flows around her slender legs. She’s wearing the same heels that were so pleasantly digging into my bare ass yesterday in the stairwell.

  Nice.

  Except for the little mutt that’s growling from under her arm. It’s cute, but then it bares its teeth at me, and I have to make myself not take a step back like a scared little kid.

  “This is Toby,” Chloe says, and opens the door wide for me to come in. “I’m fostering him until the shelter finds a home.”

  I step inside, and the scent of Italian food makes my stomach growl. “What if they don’t find one?” My hard-on isn’t quite as hard anymore, and all thought of romance and charm is temporarily suspended because of the dog glaring at me.

  Her brow furrows. “I’m sure they will. He’s a good dog.”

  Toby growls at me again.

  So this isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I planned a night of unchecked passion. I don’t do spectator sex, and the thought of this furry thing watching creeps me out.

  My gaze sweeps over her perfect face and down her slender neck. “Hi.” My voice goes softer and more sultry, so she knows I’m happy to see her if not the dog.

  “Hi.” She nibbles at the corner of her mouth like she’s having dirty thoughts.

  Toby lets out a growl-bark combo at me.

  “I’ll get his treats. You can give him a few, and he’ll come around. He just doesn’t like men very much because he was abused.”

  She disappears into the kitchen, and I look around her apartment for the first time. I didn’t come inside when I brought her home a few nights ago, but it’s exactly what I expected. Neat, clean, decorated with just enough elegance to seem unassuming and charming. It’s small, but very warm and welcoming.

  I walk to a bookshelf where a few pictures are framed. One picture is of six girls all dressed similarly. Chloe is the smallest and looks to be about ten. That’s a lot of estrogen. Her dad must’ve been very brave. Or very afraid. Not sure which.

  In another photo Chloe is surrounded by her sisters and an older couple who must be her parents. She’s in a cap and gown with a State University of New York insignia in the background. The parents are on one side of Chloe, looking proud. Five sisters surround her, all laughing. One makes bunny ears over her head, another sticks out her tongue at the camera. They look happy.

  An ache of sadness wraps around my heart. It’s been so long since I’ve had parents to dote on me. So long since I’ve had anyone to lean on. So long since I’ve been able to do what I wanted without worrying over the effects it might have on Ava or my company and business partners.

  Chloe’s heels click against the wood floor, and she returns with the dog and a handful of treats.

  “Here you go.” She hands the treats to me. “Put one in your palm.”

  Exactly what I want to do to Chloe right now. I want parts of her in my palm, not dog treats that smell like liver. I suck it up and hold out my hand. Toby sniffs. His little tongue darts out, licks the treat, then he gobbles it up. He glares at me like I’m holding out, so I offer up another one.

  “Why don’t you two get acquainted, and I’ll finish dinner.” She shoves the dog at me, and my arm automatically closes around it like a football.

  “Wait.” My voice is kind of desperate. I’m acting chickenshit, so
I clear my throat. Drop the pitch of my voice from a tenor to a light baritone. Because Leo Foxx might be a chess team geekster, but he is not a wuss. I’m the mind behind a company that’s made me extremely wealthy. I’ve been on the cover of magazines. I can walk into any club in the city and walk out with a hot woman on my arm. I will not act like a ’fraidy-cat, as my sister would say, over a little dog smaller than my size twelve shoe. “I’m not very good with dogs.” My voice cracks somewhere between the words good and dogs.

  Fuck.

  Chloe turns with a sexy smile playing at her lips.

  My pulse spikes.

  “You look like you’re doing just fine,” she says and disappears into the kitchen.

  I sigh and take a seat on the soft gray chenille sofa that looks brand-new. The throw pillows with a geometric pattern give the sofa a fashionable and feminine flair, but not so much that I feel I have to turn in my man-card. Especially since I may or may not be scared of her little dog.

  Toby jumps out of my arms and sits on his haunches two feet in front of me. And glares. I’m in a staring match with a dog.

  A pot clanks from the kitchen.

  “Dude,” I say. “You’re not making this easy, you know what I’m sayin’?” I jerk my head toward the kitchen noises. “It’s kind of hard to impress the lady unless you and I become friends.” He gives me another growl-bark sound. I roll my eyes and open my palm full of treats as an offering. Toby inches closer, sniffs, then starts to gobble them up. I place the rest on the floor, give him a pat on the head, shuck my leather jacket, and follow my nose to the kitchen.

  And sweet Jesus, my prick roars to life again. Chloe is bent over an open oven, the back of her dress hiked up to reveal royal purple panties. The creases of her ass cheeks make my mouth water even more than the scent of the lasagna she’s fussing over.