Griffin’s eyes lit up. “Now you’re talking. It sounds a little like the Absolut vodka ads. In fact, we could do something similar, in that the ‘Welcome to…’ message could change depending on the target audience.”
“The ads could follow this couple around having different experiences for each message. There could be ‘Welcome to Luxury,’ ‘Welcome to Decadence,’ ‘Welcome to Relaxation.’” Even as she continued the brainstorming, Macy’s hopes sank a little. Griffin’s contribution was the first good idea he’d come up with since their discussion had begun. She’d been imagining him as a slack-jawed yokel come Monday morning, but that was probably wishing for too much.
In fact, any kind of hope at all may have been too much when it was based on such a crazy plan as hers. Had she lost her mind? Maybe she was the one who’d been screwed too many times.
Macy bit her lip and wondered if she was tossing aside her professionalism for no good reason at all. But then one glance at Griffin, one surge of attraction that shot from her heart right to her groin, and she knew. Even if she was screwed, it wouldn’t be that bad so long as it was with Griffin.
9
MACY AND CARSON continued to discuss the campaign, debating innovative executional techniques and tossing out word and image pairings, searching for that elusive cutting edge the client wanted.
“I think we’ve got a good start here,” Griffin finally interrupted after adding little else to the conversation. “Let’s keep it all on the table, but for now, we’d better stop before we bore Lauren to death.”
Lauren looked up from her cosmopolitan; she’d been trying to catch the cherry floating in it. Macy hadn’t even noticed the waitress bringing her another one.
“Don’t mind me,” Lauren said. “I’m just here for the alcohol.”
“And the company, right?” Carson said, trying on his best forlorn-puppy-dog expression.
“Oh, right, and the company.”
“Anyone up for dancing?” Carson asked.
“I guess we should try out the discotheque, too—it’s part of the whole resort experience.” Except Macy usually required another drink or two before she was fully able to enjoy herself on the dance floor without worrying that she looked like a rhythm-challenged white girl.
“It’s eleven—the club is probably hopping by now,” Lauren said as she glanced at the tiny black watch on her wrist.
Griffin laid some cash on the table to cover the tip for the waitress, and they left the bar, making their way across the casino and up one level to the nightclub. It wasn’t hard to find it. One needed only to follow the sound of thumping bass, the din of people talking over loud music and the trail of scantily clad women and eager-looking guys headed in that direction.
Macy loved people-watching, but especially so here in Vegas, where the entire country—and to a lesser extent the entire world—converged to indulge in their basest desires. The lure of easy money, easy sex and free-flowing liquor brought people to this place like nowhere else. Grandmas in sweat suits; midwesterners in white sneakers, jeans and T-shirts; college girls wearing clothes they clearly never wore in real life and acting in ways they probably never did in real life, either, tourists from Europe and Asia…
Not even San Francisco had that draw on people. It lost out when it came to the luridness factor. Which was part of the reason the big casinos stole their charm from other locations. They may not have had the beauty of Venice, but with enough money, they could build a replica of the city, minus the pigeons.
And they might not have had the cosmopolitan flair of San Francisco, but no doubt, money could build a good semblance of the city’s allure.
There was no line at the door of the nightclub, so they paid the cover charge, then entered the world of darkness and flashing lights and pulsating bodies. The club was called Sensation, and the music seemed to be a European-influenced house sound. At the moment, anyway.
They wandered around until they found a small opening on the dance floor, and Lauren and Carson went their own way.
Macy leaned over to say into Griffin’s ear, “Do you like to dance?”
He smiled. “It’s a little late to be asking me that, don’t you think?”
But his body answered for him. He started moving to the music as though he’d been born on a dance floor, and Macy was immediately…impressed. She should have known such an all-around athlete would know what to do with his body no matter what the situation.
She’d always liked dancing, but she did enough of it alone in front of her bedroom mirror to feel a little weird dancing in front of an audience. She’d never been big on the club scene, but that was more because of her introverted nature than anything else. In truth, she loved going out clubbing once a few drinks got her past the awkward self-consciousness of dancing with a crowd of other people.
Griffin’s hands were on her hips now, and she watched him as they moved in time, their hips drifting closer and closer until they were pressed together, their legs intertwined, their bodies pulsing to the music. She followed his lead, and when their gazes locked, there was no more worry about how she looked or if she had enough rhythm.
She just danced.
After a while, she realized she was doing pretty damn well, which gave her even more confidence to just get her groove on and forget everything else. Griffin made it all so easy.
Their brainstorming session had given her a wakeup call, had reminded her of why she was here and what the goal was. There was no room for turning into a softhearted girly girl now, not this late in the game.
And having Griffin’s hard, capable body against hers reminded her that as far as games went, she was playing a pretty damn fun one.
Macy wasn’t sure how much time had passed or how many songs they’d danced through by the time she realized they were both drenched in sweat. Her feet ached in Lauren’s high heels, and her hair clung to her face in damp tendrils. Probably all her makeup was gone by now, and she imagined she could use a nice dip in the suite’s hot tub.
Which was one of the few hotel features she hadn’t tried out with Griffin yet.
When she took his hand and led him off the dance floor, he didn’t resist. He had no idea she was leading him straight to his own intellectual doom. And thanks to their having stepped back into work mode for that short while tonight, she wasn’t even feeling guilty about it.
Well, maybe the alcohol had something to do with her lack of guilt. She could only hope she wasn’t so tipsy that she’d accidentally screw away a few of her own IQ points as well.
GRIFFIN LEANED IN through the bathroom doorway and watched, his mouth dry and his cock hardening by the second, as Macy stripped off her dress, shimmied out of her panties and stepped into the bubbling hot tub.
Damn it, she was hot. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the water had started bubbling only after she’d entered it.
He admired the long lines of her legs, the delicious fullness of her ass, the curve of her waist and the satin expanse of her back. Her wavy blond hair brushed her shoulders, and he ached to see it all wet, damp ringlets of it clinging to her face as they made love the way it had when they’d been sweaty and dancing.
She turned and smiled. “Are you going to join me or just watch?”
“Watching is pretty damn fun.”
One corner of her mouth curved up, and she sank into the water, sitting down. The water rose to her underarms, enveloping all that delicious flesh he wanted to see, to touch, to possess.
Macy leaned back, closing her eyes, then she bent all the way back and dipped her head under. When she emerged, her hair was slicked against her head and her face glistened with rivulets of water trickling down.
Griffin ached to join her, and yet he couldn’t move from his position at the door. He was riveted by the sight of her.
“You can’t just stand there watching. I’m useless as a performer.”
“Far from it. You don’t even have to perform. You’re just amazing to look at.”
She smiled. “Treasured words for a girl who was the class dork.”
“I don’t believe you about that, you know.”
“Believe it. I went through a major chubby phase during middle and high school, I had no sense of style and I always got the wrong haircut.”
“I’m sure you were gorgeous.”
“I had braces, too—for six years. And glasses. Way too much facial hardware.”
“You wear contacts now?”
She nodded. “Guys used to call me the Float. As in, they were implying I was so big I looked like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade float. Clever, huh?”
“They were all assholes.”
“True, and I certainly wasn’t as big as a parade float, but I couldn’t get a boyfriend. I didn’t lose my virginity until college.”
“Intentionally?”
“No! I couldn’t give it away. I mean, the most attention I ever got from the guys at my high school was when I’d walk down the hallway and they’d yell, ‘Look out, it’s the Float’ and all plaster themselves against the walls like a Mack truck was coming through.”
“Total assholes. But as far as the virginity thing, you were lucky. I have distinct memories of being a less than stellar lover in my teen years.”
Macy shrugged. “I guess you’re right. College guys weren’t much better. They’d probably gotten hold of some sex manuals or something, and they’d had some practice, but they hadn’t quite mastered their technique yet.”
“I’m hoping your experiences have improved since then.”
She smiled, letting her gaze travel down the length of him and back up. “There’s definitely been a huge improvement in the past few days.”
“You wouldn’t just say that to soothe my ego, would you?” he said as he stripped off his clothes.
“You have an ego? I never noticed.” The little smile that still played on her lips said otherwise, though.
Griffin had some idea that he could come off as an arrogant bastard at times, and he supposed he looked at it as a way of staying competitive at work. He was confident in himself, and he knew that on the playing field, confidence counted for a lot. Letting the opponent see it often meant gaining the competitive edge.
Problem was, some people didn’t consider the workplace a playing field.
Possibly people like Macy. But that’s where he had a hard time reading her. Either she knew the game and played it like a pro, using her considerable sex appeal to distract and charm, or she really was just a pretty woman with absolutely no idea how strongly she affected him.
Well, after this weekend, she’d have to have an idea.
He crossed the bathroom and stepped into the hot water. Macy reclined and closed her eyes, either uninterested in the sight of him naked or more interested in the relaxing effects of the hot tub. Too bad he didn’t possess her sense of restraint.
“You’re tired, aren’t you?” he asked.
Her eyes remained closed. “No, just relaxing. I’m actually a little wired from the nightclub.”
The crisp scent of peppermint oil rose up from the water, and Griffin inhaled deeply as he sat. He moved over to Macy, his knees brushing hers. She parted her thighs, and he came closer, pulled her against him, pressed his lips to her neck and tasted her where she was still a little salty from dancing.
She moaned softly, her eyes still closed. Her hands slid around his hips, gripped his backside, and pulled him closer still, until his cock was pressed against her.
There was something about Macy when she made love—some restraint that he’d never expected to be there. As if she was holding something back. It could have been some niggling doubt that she could trust him not to tell everyone in the office what they’d done.
Or maybe it was just his imagination. Whatever the case, it left him feeling a little as though he’d failed. And this time, he wanted to see her wild and unrestrained. He wanted to push whatever buttons would make her let loose and be as enthusiastic as he’d imagined she could be.
He lifted her up until his mouth found her breasts, and he sucked and licked them until she squirmed against him. Dipping his head below the surface of the water, he trailed his tongue down her belly, lifted her hips up, and found her delicious opening. He plunged his tongue into her, sucked her clit, drank her in until he had to come up for air.
And when he broke the surface of the water, he caught a tense expression on her face. “Is something wrong?” he asked after taking a deep breath. He brushed the water off his face and pushed his hair back.
“No,” she said, puzzled. “Of course not.”
“You look a little stressed.”
She frowned. “I do?”
“You’re not one of those girls who doesn’t like oral sex, are you?”
“Yeah, it’s right up there with people who mistreat puppy dogs, and green shag carpeting—the kind of things the world can do without,” she said as she rose from the water and pulled him to her again.
In spite of her sarcasm, he got the feeling she was trying to hide something. But then she kissed him, and he decided whatever was going on was all in his head. He needed to get over it, and get on with the task at hand.
But…
The doubt surfaced again as he recalled their first encounter when he’d thought she was faking her orgasm, and he felt his cock going soft. He had to know the truth.
“Am I a bad lover or something? Do I have doggy breath?”
She looked at him as though he’d lost his mind. “Of course not. Why would you say that?”
“You’re just giving off this weird vibe.”
She dragged her fingernails gently up his back. “The only weird thing going on right now is this conversation. I need less talk and more action.”
Her hands traveled over his shoulders, down his chest, and when she gripped his cock, there was no longer a hint of softness.
Rock-hard, baby.
“Honestly,” she said, “I can’t think of many things I like more than oral sex.”
She dropped below the surface of the water, and when she took his cock into her mouth, there were no more doubts. Griffin leaned against the side of the tub, resting his arms on the ledge, losing himself to the incredible feel of heat and water and Macy’s mouth.
When she surfaced to catch her breath, Griffin couldn’t play cat and mouse any longer. He caught her from behind, claimed her neck with his mouth, eased her against the side of the hot tub, and buried his cock deep inside her. Her delicious wet heat was so similar to the feel of the hot tub, the only difference was the sensation of tightness, and then friction as he moved inside her.
He wanted to hold on to her. And not just in the here and now. He wanted this to be more than a weekend fling.
If he could only get rid of the doubts that plagued him, of the suspicion that Macy was playing him. Well, he’d know the truth soon enough. Returning to the real world would be the true test.
For now, he just wanted to get lost in her.
His fingers spanned the width of her hips as their bodies met. He gripped her and pounded into her, over and over, losing himself in the frenzy of it. The motion of their lovemaking sent water splashing back and forth.
Macy arched her back, gasping as she moved in time with him, coaxing their bodies into a faster and faster rhythm, into a greater and greater frenzy of pleasure as water sloshed out of the tub and the sounds of their lovemaking echoed off the walls.
This, good as it was, wasn’t enough. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make it enough.
He wanted more from Macy. Maybe more than she was willing to give.
10
MACY HATED seeing the weekend end, but part of her was eager to get back to the office, show the senior partners why she deserved to be creative director, and ultimately get her promotion.
The sad part was seeing her stint as Queen of the Fake Orgasm end…or was that the happy part? She couldn’t be sure. After Griffin’s hungry, eager lovemaking
, she was left with an odd feeling. As if he wanted something from her.
They had stayed up way too late last night, then slept in this morning and had barely had time to grab coffee at a hotel shop before catching their car to the airport, where Lauren and Carson were already there waiting for them.
They’d said goodbye to Lauren at another gate, and now they were boarded onto their flight back to San Francisco, waiting for the plane to take off. Carson had a seat directly behind theirs, but apparently he’d had a busy night because he was already crashed out, his mouth gaping open, she saw, when she peered at him from between the seats.
Without his prying ears, she felt comfortable saying to Griffin, “I was hoping we could come to some kind of agreement about going back to work.”
“What? You mean when I get the promotion and you don’t?” His half smile hinted that he was joking, but Macy wasn’t feeling very amused that their plane hadn’t even taken off yet and he was already back to his usual asshole-at-work self.
“Don’t be so sure of yourself,” she said lamely. She hated when he caught her unprepared with a snappy comeback. A few hours from now, when she was in her apartment unpacking her bags, she’d think of the perfect thing to say.
“I’m sorry,” Griffin said as he placed a bag of M & Ms he’d bought at the airport on her lap. “I was joking. Please tell me what you were going to say.”
“What’s with the M & Ms?”
“It’s a peace offering. I bought them for you, anyway.”
Macy’s anger vanished. “You knew in advance that you’d need a peace offering for me?”
“I took a wild guess about what your favorite candy is. Did I get it right?”
“I’m impressed. You’re pretty much on the money. My favorite would have to be a tie between these and Snickers.”
“I’m a Mounds man myself.”
Sex, Lies and Dirty Secrets Page 10
