His hips surged into mine and I could feel his desire, and in that moment I didn’t care that Luke was a bad idea, that this would end badly and I would probably be out of a job and a best friend. But his tongue, dancing with mine, was more than I could take, and I let my hands graze under his shirt, touching his hot skin and feeling the way his muscles jumped at my caress.
Luckily the elevator bell brought me to my senses, forcing some distance between us. I stepped out first and he followed me, frowning at the empty street.
“Where’s your car?”
“I parked in a lot a few blocks away, but you don’t have to walk with me.” I knew he would resist. He had manners and kindness to go along with his commitment issues.
“No, it’s fine.”
I put a hand to his chest. “I know it is, but I’m telling you it’s not necessary. Thank you for dinner, you really are a great cook.” He stole another quick kiss and when he pulled back, I turned and walked away.
I had to.
My sanity depended on it.
Another long week was finally over, and I was on my way to Poppy and Blake’s place for dinner, enjoying the warm breeze of the early evening. It used to be me, Poppy and Maple, Poppy’s crazy grandma, but now that she was engaged it only made sense that those dinners would expand to include Blake and his family.
Lacey, Blake and Luke’s sister, had shown up for a few, but she now had a hot hunk eager to marry her too, so I hadn’t seen much of her lately. Being on bed rest, I was surprised Poppy wanted to do anything, but after the week I’ve had, I could use some time with my best friend.
Maple pulled open the door before I even knocked, smiling with an oversized margarita glass in her hand. “Come on in girly, you’re late and two drinks behind.”
I guess I wasn’t getting any alone time with Poppy tonight based on the loud noises coming from inside the house.
“How’s it going, Maple?”
“Just fine Talia. Fred’s taking me to a nudist’s resort this winter, so I need to get in shape.” She pulled me into a hug and kissed my cheek without spilling her drink around the ten thousand bangles on her arms.
“Fred likes your shape just fine if those animal noises you make are any indication.”
She pretended to be shocked, but the gleam in the old girl’s eye was unmistakable. “Yes well, the man does have excellent taste. Get on in here, you’re the last one to arrive.”
Last? Just how many people were in there? I hung up my jacket and purse and followed Maple into the dining room where Poppy and Blake sat with his sister Lacey and her guy Walker on one side, and Maple and Fred on the other, leaving me and Luke sitting at the end. Together.
“Great.”
I dropped down and reached for the wine, grateful to Poppy for not being one of those pregnant women who bans all the things she can’t do for everyone else.
“Good to see your face, Talia. It’s been a while.”
“It’s no longer than we usually go without seeing each other.”
Only we didn’t usually sit so close, which was a blessing and a curse, because Luke smelled like sandalwood and leather and sex. And man, like the manliest kind of man who chops wood and rides horses and builds things with his hands. It was a heady scent that shot lust straight to all the parts that could receive it. And now I was horny at a table full of people.
“Something I’ve been trying to correct.”
Some days I think it might be easier to just give in to Luke, let me screw my brains out and then promptly forget I exist. At least then the torture would be over. At least I could stop fighting the attraction, and go straight to legitimately hating him. It was something I would have to think about, later.
“Now who’s talking bullshit?”
He held a hand to his chest in mock offense. “You doubt me? I’m happy to show you exactly what I mean.” Luke leaned forward and his hand went to my thigh, large and warm, daring me with a look to push this.
“You’re not exactly subtle, it’d be hard to miss what you mean.” I bypassed his thigh and let my knuckles graze the hard ridge between his legs and he let out a groan that quickly turned into a cough. “Better have some wine to take care of that tickle.”
He glared at me, but I only smiled and turned to ask Fred a question just to get some space from Luke. He was potent, which is why I kept my distance. “Coward,” he whispered in my ear, chuckling at my reaction to him.
The jerk.
“I have to tell you guys all about the location Talia found for the wedding!” Poppy gushed, trying to stand but Blake was there, grabbing her phone and handing it to her. “Thanks, babe. It’s amazing and I just can’t…believe,” she started, but tears began to flow, as they often did these days, and she thrust the phone at Lacey and went back to her tears. Lacey showed Walker and he handed the phone across to Fred and then Maple.
“It was Luke who found it, actually.”
He leaned in and whispered, “You’d throw me under the bus after I found that magnificent location?”
I turned to him, and he was close. Too damn close. I could count the flecks of gold in his eyes at this distance, and see the little creases around his eyes, the exact hue of his lips.
“In a heartbeat.”
He laughed and grabbed my wine, finishing it in three swift gulps. “Thanks, Talia.” He pinched my thigh and I returned the favor. Harder.
“Anytime.”
“Stop playing grab ass under the table!” Maple said, calling us out, and making the table laugh.
“Right back ‘atcha,” I told her, drawing a gasp and a blush. Checkmate.
The food was spectacular as always, and even though it meant I’d be eating salad for the rest of the weekend, I indulged. And it was all Luke’s fault. If I wasn’t trying to avoid him and distract myself, I might have been able to exercise more self-control.
With my belly full, I looked around the table at three happy couples at different stages in life and in their relationships. They couldn’t stop touching one another and their smiles wouldn’t quit. They looked happy, but more than that, they looked content, and it had me second guessing my own decisions to avoid relationships. Poppy had been burned more than once, but she’d found her happy ending, and I didn’t think Maple would ever settle down after losing her husband, but she finally gave in to poor old Fred.
Was I short changing myself?
“Wanna get out of here?” Luke’s voice startled me and pulled me from my thoughts.
Did I? Dessert was done, and everyone was lingering. Which meant the couples were canoodling, leaving me and Luke the odd ones out.
“Absolutely.” We jumped up and said our goodbyes, ignoring the worried and knowing looks around the table as we made our escape.
“That was…weird.”
“It was all right. I’ll see you around, Luke.”
He frowned and followed me down the street. “I’ll give you a ride.”
“No thanks, I live nearby.”
“Are you always this stubborn, woman?”
“I’m not stubborn, I’m just not doing what you want me to do.” I’d learned that lesson the hard way. Keep letting other people make decisions for you, and you might forget how to think for yourself.
He sighed and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Fine. I’ll walk you home, then.”
I didn’t argue, because his company was no hardship, and I hoped the more he talked, the more it would serve as a reminder that he was the wrong guy for me. If there was a right guy.
“Why?”
“Because I’m a gentleman, Talia.” To punctuate his point, he kissed me chastely on my cheek at my door and walked away with a whistle.
I knew he was playing games, but I didn’t have the energy to worry about it with so much piling up on my plate. In addition to NAC and the wedding, there was still Poppy’s regular workload which had fallen to me in her absence. It was exhausting and sort of maddening, considering this was never what I wanted to do
with my life. This job was supposed to be temporary, just helping out my best friend until she got her bearings, but two years later I was still there. Assisting.
Not achieving my dreams. Which I probably wouldn’t recognize if they walked up to me and bitch slapped me.
“Ugh, why can’t I have normal shower thoughts?” I stepped onto the bath mat, determined to think about my future once NAC was over. And the wedding. And the honeymoon. When Poppy was back, I could think about my future.
A knock sounded on the door, and I was instantly on alert, grabbing my taser as I crept to the door. I relaxed—slightly—when I saw Luke and pulled open the door, but I kept the taser.
“Forget something?”
I saw the look in his eyes, but by the time I recognized the heat, the desire, it was too late. He was inside, kicking the door closed and cupping my face more gently than his lips which crashed down on me. His tongue didn’t hesitate, diving in and fucking my mouth. Now was the time to push him away, to end this nonsense for all.
But another voice in my head spoke up. You could do it this once, and get rid of him for good.
It wasn’t the sexiest thought I’d ever had in the heat of the moment, but it was practical. And I was in, thanks in part to the feel of his delicious abs under my fingertips.
And his fingers brushing against my swollen core. “Tell me to stop, Talia.”
“No.” The word came out on a growl, and I tugged his hair, nibbled his bottom lip.
“Talia,” he warned, but that rough, gravelly sound shot straight to my pussy and I shivered.
“Don’t stop, Luke.” I pushed at his chest and he tugged my robe off, drinking me in.
“Fuck, you’re even more beautiful than I imagined.” His brown eyes raked over my body, making my nipples pebble and bead. Down my quivering belly to my pulsing core. “Fuck, Talia.”
“That’s the idea,” I told him with a laugh. But this was no laughing matter, so I tugged his t-shirt up and over his head and swiped my tongue across one of his nipples and then the other until he hissed out a breath.
Luke smacked my hands away from his pants and quickly shoved them down his legs. “Fuck,” he growled when I wrapped my hand around his cock.
“Very nice,” I told him. “Long and thick,” I spoke softly and stroked his cock up and down, changing my grip, fascinated with the way the color of his eyes changed. “So hard. Is this for me?” I swirled my thumb over the slit of his cock and sucked it off.
“Goddammit, Talia.” His control snapped and he pushed me against the wall and lifted me up, grinning tightly when my legs automatically wrapped around his waist. “You’re playing with fire.”
My hips undulated and I slid up and down his length while he fumbled with protection. “I’m just trying to get off.”
“Fuck!” He bit down on my shoulder until I cried out and he was able to slide the condom on, and then he slammed deep.
“Oh shit! Yes!” It had been too long, and one thrust put me on edge. He was wide and I was completely full of his girth, so thick it almost hurt, but every stroke loosened me up until he was completely coated in my juices.
It was hard and fast. Luke gripped me tightly, his body pressing mine into the wall as he fucked me in long, hard strokes that grew faster as his passion intensified. Deeper and deeper, harder and faster and I bit his neck as my orgasm washed over me. It was so long I was barely aware of Luke’s pleasure as he surged into me time and again, growling until he exploded with a roar.
My legs quivered as an aftershock tore through me and I knew I’d made a grave miscalculation.
I shouldn’t have been so worried about Luke getting bored, but more concerned about my own greedy libido needing more of him.
Lukas
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay away for long.”
The truth was I thought Talia might be the one woman capable of staying away altogether. Other than a few brief emails and text messages to confirm tasks, she hadn’t reached out, or showed up, or made any real overtures that would let a guy know she was interested. I’d just about given up when she called.
She growled into the phone and my dick heard it and wanted a piece of the action. “What are you doing tonight?”
“Want a repeat of last week?” No matter how many times I tried to forget the image of Talia stroking my cock while her sweet mouth uttered dirty things to me, I couldn’t. I couldn’t forget the sounds she made as she exploded around me either, or the way she felt clenching my cock in a vise grip.
“I just spoke to the people at NAC, and while both companies are sponsors, they are required to meet with the three-person panel to discuss all the rules and regulations pertaining to signage during the event.” She was all business, and though I was disappointed, I was still turned on. “Apparently Blake forgot one big glaring detail.”
I smiled, knowing I would give him shit about this as soon as I was off the phone. “That’s unlike him.”
“Doesn’t matter. The deadline is the end of the week and one of the panel members is judging a competition in Austria later this week. It happens tonight or not at all.” That sounded like a different kind of proposition, but I didn’t think she’d appreciate me saying so.
“Where is it?”
“Corvallis. Pack a bag and meet me at the airport, I’ll look up flights as soon as we hang up.”
“Don’t worry. We can use the small jet for this trip.” And that would give us some alone time together. Corvallis wasn’t long enough to do everything, but it was long enough for at least a couple orgasms. Each.
“Good.” She sighed in relief, and it felt good to relieve some of her burden. “One less thing for me to worry about. So, I guess I’ll meet you in the lobby of your building in an hour?”
I couldn’t stop the stupid grin on my face as I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. This would be the perfect time to go another round with Talia between the sheets. Last time was incredible, but it was too fast. Too short. I need a full night so I could take my time, taste every inch of her body and make her come until she had no more in her to give me. “I look forward to it. And Talia?”
“Yeah?”
“You didn’t have to create a work emergency if you wanted to see me, you could have just called.”
She laughed. “So, could you,” she said and hung up before I could respond.
I smiled. Talia was nobody’s pushover. I doubt she’d make it easy for me to bed her again, but I would.
It was only a matter of time.
“I’m glad it was so easy, but it wasn’t worth the trip out here,” Talia said with a huff of annoyance. The trip to Corvallis had been short and simple, even though it had taken some time to track down the panel members who’d broken for lunch at eleven thirty.
“One of the things I’ve learnt in business is that people often feel better about face time.” Long, last-minute trips halfway around the world happened often, but that didn’t mean they weren’t a pain in my ass. “They explained everything to us, so now we know. And once the jet is refueled and ready, we’ll head back to Portland.”
“You’re just a ray of logic today aren’t you?”
I laughed at her grumpy attitude. Who would have thought that Talia didn’t travel well? “Yep. Once you relax, you’ll feel better about everything. How about we stop for some food and give the crew time to get everything in order?”
“Fine. I spotted a fifties style diner, and I’ll bet they have meatloaf.”
“A fan of meatloaf, good to know.”
She arched a brow at me. “It’s not foie gras or fried duckling eyelashes, but meatloaf gets the job done.”
We stopped at Myrtle’s Sit & Eat, complete with burgundy and white leather benches. The waitress was as old as time, but she had a friendly smile and she popped her gum loud and unabashedly.
“Hey kids, take a seat anywhere and I’ll be with you in a sec!” She rushed by with a tray of eggs, bacon and steaming coffee.
&
nbsp; We grabbed a booth by the window and settled comfortably. “It’s pretty quiet in town today, isn’t it?”
The woman stopped, wearing a nametag that said, I shit you not, ‘Myrtle’. “A storm’s coming in. Weather man says heavy rains, and maybe flash floods. So it looks like you folks chose the wrong time for a vacation.”
“Too bad this isn’t a vacation, Myrtle. Our companies are sponsoring this year’s NAC, and we just had some administrative matters to clear up. Did the weatherman say when this storm was supposed to hit?”
She tapped the pencil on the side of her head, she had swishing high ponytail and not a bee-hive. “Any minute now, I suspect. Now, what can I get ya?”
Talia shrugged. “We’re probably stuck either way, so I’ll have whatever meatloaf special you have, with extra mashed potatoes and a side salad.”
“Sounds good, and you hon?”
“I’ll have your Myrtle burger with onion rings and a salad. Gotta watch my girlish figure, you know?”
Myrtle’s cackling laugh sounded throughout the restaurant. “I’m sure all the girls watch your figure, honey.”
“Oh, Myrtle you’ll only feed his ego.” Talia smacked her forehead dramatically and Myrtle laughed again. “Now he’ll never settle down.”
“When you’ve got man candy like that, feed the ego like it’s a fat girl. I’ll be back with your drinks and salads,” she said with a laugh.
As soon as Myrtle disappeared into the kitchen. A loud crack of thunder tore through the air, moments before sheets of rain fell from the sky. “Looks like you’re stuck with me, sweetheart.”
She shrugged and leaned back in the booth, letting out a long slow breath. “I’ve been stuck with worse. At least you’re pretty to look at.”
“Oh good, I was beginning to think you were lying to yourself as well as me.”
“Here you are,” Myrtle said as she set down our drinks and salads. “I secured you kids a room over at the Merry Victorian Inn.”
Naughty Takeover_An Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 3
