I had to fight the urge to lean into his touch, to silently beg for more, and then I realized I didn’t have to fight that urge. For tonight, I could go along with it. We were meant to do this. We needed to convince them that we were comfortable together. To sell the story I had convinced him to sell. I needed to lean into his touch as hard as I could.
Oliver looked down at me with softness in his eyes, and I smiled back, knowing we’d look like an adoring couple to anyone watching, and thoroughly enjoying the notion of it.
“Oliver Paulson?”
A voice came from beside us, and we turned to find a man a decade or so older than Oliver.
“Tom Masterson.” Oliver said, extending his hand to the man confidently. “Great to meet you.”
“You too,” the man said, smiling widely, and then his eyes moved over to me. “And this is?”
“This is Mona, my fiancée,” he replied, without even a hint of hesitation.
The words sounded so natural coming out of his mouth. It felt as though he’d been introducing me like that for years.
Tom extended his hand to me, and I shook it firmly but femininely.
“Nice to meet you,” I offered, bowing my head slightly in his direction. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Hilary and Nathan are waiting inside,” Tom said, motioning toward the restaurant. “Shall we?”
“Yes, please, lead the way.”
Oliver gestured for him to go ahead. We exchanged another playful look, and I could tell he was as surprised at how well things had gone so far.
The restaurant was one of those places that spend a lot of money on making things look as authentic as possible, clean lines, minimalist art, waiters and waitresses who seemed to have been created specifically to match the décor. I paused to look around,. I wanted to be sure to take everything in, but Oliver caught my hand and tugged me along gently.
I knew I should look as if I was used to this kind of evening, but I couldn’t quite manage it without a reminder. I lifted my chin and tried to arrange my features into an appropriately unaffected look, but I couldn’t get the smile off my face. Way to look natural, Mona.
We arrived at a table where a woman, Hilary, and a man about Tom’s age, Nathan, sat. Nathan got to his feet to shake our hands while Hilary simply nodded at us from her seat and smiled tightly, looking me up and down and glancing over at Oliver.
“I didn’t realize you were engaged,” she remarked, and I still had the ring on my finger from the day before.
He nodded without missing a beat.
“Yes, this is my fiancée Mona.”
He glanced over at me, smiling fondly and reaching out to lightly touch my waist. “It’s her first time in London.”
“I’m sorry you’ll have to spend at least some of your time in meetings with us,” Nathan joked, and I offered him a laugh that I hoped would display the perfect amount of charm.
“Not at all,” I assured him as I took my seat.
Oliver sat next to me and briefly reached under the table to squeeze my bare leg. I felt a zing of excitement shiver up my thigh and my pussy swelled.
He didn’t have to do that, but he did, and just like that, it felt as though the night had gotten a whole lot more promising.
Chapter 18
Oliver
Dinner with the Masterson partners had gone better than I ever could have hoped. I was relaxed enough not to read as desperate, but interested enough to let them know I sincerely wanted to get them on board. It had gone about as well as it could possibly have gone, and I had to attribute much of that to Mona’s presence at the table next to me.
I was kind of stunned when she suggested we play at being engaged for the course of the night, but her reasoning was unassailable. I could just explain that we called things off if they ever followed up on it. It was an excellent way to get them to overlook my less than flawless past.
They adored Mona and peppered her with questions about how we met and when we were planning to get married and she handled it expertly. She was utterly charming, sweet, funny, and knew exactly when to pull back and let someone else talk. If she wasn't my secretary, I might have proposed to her on the spot.
The night came to a close and we settled the check. I watched as Mona’s eyes widened at the cost of our evening, but she blinked away her surprise and sat back with the single glass of wine she’d been nursing all night.
“Oliver, it was great to meet you,” Hilary said, extending her hand warmly to me.
Tom and Nathan exchanged a look they probably didn’t want me to see. I could read it perfectly. I had successfully won them over. It was the look of people slightly surprised by the outcome, but more than happy to accept it at face value.
“You too.” I said, bowing my head in her direction and flashing her my most charming smile.
Mona said her goodbyes as well. “I look forward to seeing you again soon. Tonights dinner will be tough to beat.”
“We try our best,” Hilary said and smiled.
Before I knew it, we were in the back of a cab. As soon as the car door shut and cut us off from the three of them for the night, I took a deep cleansing breath and relaxed.
“That went so well,” Mona said as we pulled away.
“Yeah, it did,” I agreed. “Maybe I should have you come along as my fake fiancée more often.”
“It’s the humanizing factor. If you could actually land someone like me for real, it would really boost your game.”
“Think a lot of yourself, don’t you?” I teased.
“Shouldn’t I?” she shot back with a grin.
Our eyes met, and I was certain that if I leaned across and kissed her, we could have finally given in to how much we wanted each other, at last.
I looked away from her quickly. Just a few more minutes and we would be back at the hotel in separate rooms, safe from temptation.
All that this night had done was underline the fact that whatever feelings I had for this woman were far more than a sexual attraction. I could have forced that much out of my head eventually, if all it had been was her body. No, it was more than that. Much more than that.
I was falling for Mona. She was smart, funny, beautiful, and ballsy, and I couldn’t escape the fact my feelings for her were getting more and more intense with every minute we spent together.
I thought back to what Neil had said, but his advice dimmed in my head as I looked at her across the seat from me.
I liked Mona, more than I could remember liking anyone in a long while. I couldn’t deny it, no matter how bad an idea it was, and no matter what kind of shit it would bring into my life if I went for it. All she had proven tonight was that she was brilliant at the business stuff and even more appealing at the personal stuff. She would make an incredible partner in life, no matter what way I looked at it.
We arrived back at the hotel, and I cleared my throat as I got out the car.
“Thanks for letting me come along tonight,” Mona said immediately clearing the awkward tension. “Beats room service and local TV.”
“You were great,” I replied, keeping my eyes firmly fixed ahead.
I noticed Mona frown slightly as we approached the desk to pick up the key for the new room they should have assigned us by now. The man behind the desk glanced up and offered us a welcoming smile.
“Can I help you?”
“Yes, the Masterson account, we should have another room this evening.”
“Oh, yes!” the man exclaimed, sounding way more excited than the situation called for. “We actually got the call a few minutes ago. They’ve asked us to upgrade you to the honeymoon suite.”
“What?” I said, stunned.
“For the you and your partner,” he clarified, gesturing to Mona and me.
We looked at each other, and then back at him.
“There has to be some kind of mistake,” I said and shook my head. “We already have a room. We needed another one.”
“They were ver
y insistent on the phone,” the receptionist replied, frowning slightly. “It’s already been paid for. They said they wanted to treat you, as you didn’t know when you’d be back in London.”
“Lovely.” I said and reached over to pluck the key from his hand.
I couldn’t back down now. What if the news got back to Masterson? If they found out I’d been lying to them, I’d be in even more trouble than if I’d just told them the truth up front.
I glanced down at Mona.
“You take this room, I’ll stay in the old one. Sound good?”
We headed toward the elevator and stepped in together. The doors slid shut, and she looked up at me. There we were again – the tension mounting and her body achingly close to mine.
I wanted to throw my arm around her waist and pull her tight against me. My skin was practically itching with the urge to run my hands all over her body. It would have been so damn easy.
I eyed the fabric of her dress, wondering how it would feel beneath my fingertips, She saw me staring and she didn’t even flinch.
“So, the honeymoon suite, huh?” she remarked with a soft smile.
I wondered if she was thinking the same thing I was thinking, if she was hoping I would touch her, that we could finally end the tension that had been building up between us for hours.
“Yep. The honeymoon suite.”
I managed a smile at the ridiculousness of the situation.
“I didn’t want to blow our cover, so I had to go along with it. Our little performance must have been convincing.”
“You’ll have a hard time outdoing this for the actual honeymoon,” she teased as we got out at the floor for our room. She followed me down the corridor.
“Where are you going?” I asked, and she cocked an eyebrow at me.
“I need to get my things,” she pointed out, and I shook my head, feeling stupid.
I hadn’t had that much to drink, but all the blood had rushed to my cock, and there wasn’t any left for my brain.
“Of course.”
I held open the door and she drifted past me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought she deliberately brushed her body against mine, even if for a split second. I fought the urge to lean down and press my face into her hair, to inhale the sweet scent of her shampoo, but instead, I cleared my throat and shifted to let her by.
Nothing happening here. Or at least, that’s what I would keep telling myself as long as it took her to get out of here.
She grabbed her things and stuffed them into her bag, then threw it over her shoulder. She turned to face me, but didn’t look up, as though she was worried if she did, she might have to let go of the resolve she’d been clinging to all evening. Or maybe I was just projecting how I felt on to her. At this point, the lines were so blurred I couldn’t make sense of them.
“You want me to help you with that?” I asked.
“Sure,” she said and smiled up at me. There was a coyness in her that told me she too was sorry to see the evening end.
I reached down to take her bag, and my fingers grazed her neck. She closed her eyes, ever-so-briefly, as though she were savoring my touch. I took a deep breath and forced myself to look away.
This was torturous in the best possible way. The two of us, assigned to the honeymoon suite, far away from anyone who would ever find out. It was a night built for sin.
We got into the elevator again, this time soaring to the top of the building. We were so far away from everyone and everything that it was as if we were the only two people on Earth. We didn’t say a word. We didn’t have to.
At some point, I must have handed the key to Mona, and when we arrived outside the room, she unlocked the door. I stayed behind her, and my eyes drifted down at her ass in that dress as it swayed back and forth in front of me.
God, she was sexy.
The room was built for sex. The bed was enormous, and I could see the corner of a hot tub through the open door of the bathroom. The lights, when she flicked them on, were dimmed, and the room had a regal but insular feel with its deep, red walls and dark, wooden trim.
I placed the bag down at the side of the bed, and she continued walking through the room toward the enormous picture window that looked out over London’s impressive buildings below. She peered out, cupping her hands around her face to block out the light, and let out a long, satisfied sigh.
“It’s gorgeous,” she said and shot a look at me over her shoulder.
“So are you,” I replied before I could stop myself, and her eyes widened and she opened her mouth in surprise.
But she didn’t scold me or ask me to leave. Instead, she slowly stepped out of her shoes and started toward me, moving across the room, closing the space between us, her hips swaying seductively as she walked.
Her bare feet padded on the carpet and my eyes traveled from the tip of her bright red toenails all the way up to the hem of her skirt. Was she wearing panties?
I swallowed heavily, my head spinning. I couldn’t do this. I wanted to. I needed to. But I couldn’t…
Before I knew it, she was standing in front of me, and there was no doubt in my mind about what her eyes were telling me. I reached down and tucked a strand of her silky hair behind her ear, and she let out the smallest sigh, closing her eyes. I cupped her face in my hands, and she tilted her head down to press her face closer into my touch. My heart was pounding.
Suddenly, all the logic that had been keeping me from kissing her vanished. None of the excuses made sense anymore. None of the reasoning was solid. I just wanted her, and she wanted me, and I refused to deprive myself any longer.
I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers, and all at once, it was like a dam had burst inside me. She wrapped her arms around my neck, and I leaned down to scoop her up, lifting her off the floor and kissing her hard and deliberately. Our tongues were quick and hungry as I carried her quickly toward the bed. I placed her carefully on the mattress below us and climbed on top of her.
She was delicious, her soft lips a mixture of red wine and sweet, lip balm, and her scent was intoxicating as her hands ran up and down my back almost frantically.
I tore off my jacket and tossed it aside. We had waited long enough for this, and even the time spent getting undressed felt like a waste of our precious time.
“Turn over,” I groaned into her ear, and she did as she was told, flipping over beneath me.
I caught the zip of her dress and pulled it down before sliding the sleeves off her arms. She wriggled loose, and I tossed it aside. She lay there now, in nothing but a pair of black, lacy panties, looking up at me with her eyes bright with anticipation and her mouth slightly parted, as though there was something she needed to say but couldn’t verbalize. I leaned down to kiss her neck, her soft skin pressed against mine.
“Fuck,” she gasped as I moved down her throat, toward her perfect breasts.
I cupped them in my greedy hands, and I had to fight the urge not to squeeze them too tight. I wanted to consume her, to claim her, to secure this deal that I had waited so long to land. But I knew I had to take my time. I didn’t know if we’d ever get the chance again, and I wasn’t going to rush a moment of it.
I lowered my head to one of her nipples and drew it mercilessly into my mouth, baring my teeth and letting them graze against her sensitive flesh.
She grabbed my head, raking her fingers through my hair, her hips lifting off the bed slightly and grinding with desire. I moved down, kissing her stomach, her hips, that sensitive spot between her belly button and the top of her panties, and looked up at her. Her eyes were closed, her head tilted back, her lips pressed together as though trying to hold back a cry of pleasure.
I was between her legs all at once, and I planted a gentle kiss on the outside of her panties, inhaling deeply. God, she smelled incredible. I couldn’t wait to taste her.
She let out a helpless moan and opened her eyes, finally making eye contact, and there was a darkness to her gaze I hadn’t seen before,
not in her or in anyone else.
I hooked my fingers around the lace fabric and pulled her panties down in one swift motion, shifting myself so she could kick them off. She parted her legs , allowing me a clear view of her pussy, and I had to close my eyes to steady myself from the sight of her, all spread out for me like that.
She had a small triangle of pubic hair above her pussy, like an arrow pointing down, and I leaned forward to kiss it lightly. She moaned and lifted her hips off the bed, pressing herself into my face, reminding me just how badly she wanted this.
I tucked my hands beneath her ass, pulled her up toward me, and pressed my mouth against her pussy. She tasted incredible – sweet and musky beneath my tongue. I started at her clit, kissing lightly, teasing out her sensitive nub until I could feel it beneath my tongue.
She wriggled back and forth, as though my touch was too much for her, and I eased up a little, sealing my lips around her and sucking just a little.
Shifting my hand, I slipped a finger inside her, her pussy clenching tightly as I slowly pushed it in and out of her in a corkscrew motion. She was soaked, and I lifted my eyes to see her mouth opening and closing in unspoken pleasure as she squirmed on the bed above me.
I felt a surge of desire. I had to have her. I couldn’t wait any longer. I climbed back on top of her and kissed her again, the taste of her mouth and her pussy making my cock even stiffer.
She slid her hand between my legs and gripped me through my pants, and I bit her lip lightly to let her know just how crazy this was making me.
“I want to fuck you,” I growled into her ear, my voice dropping lower than before. “I need to fuck you.”
She kissed me hard, pushing her tongue aggressively into my mouth. I could feel her heart pounding against mine, and wondered how in the hell we’d managed to hold out for so long.
“Fuck me,” she breathed into my ear, desperately. “Please. I want you.”
I tucked my hand into the pocket of my pants and pulled out a condom before I sat myself up on top of her and quickly stripped myself down.
Bridesmaid for Hire Page 54
