All Fired Up (DreamMakers)

by Arend, Vivian

  He wanted to voice his agreement about the sheer jerk-ness of Phil Shotelle, but since he couldn’t let her know he’d met the man, he just nodded and said, “She’s amazing.”

  “With that said, I need you to know something.” A deadly glint entered her green eyes. “If you hurt her, I will kick your ass. I look small and harmless, but trust me, I can do some serious damage. I grew up in a family of cops, and let’s just say I’m more than capable of defending myself—and inflicting pain on others.”

  His lips twitched. “I appreciate the warning.”

  Her cheerful smile returned, and she quickly reached into her bag for a digital recorder. “Okay then, how about we get started? Tell me how you came up with the idea for DreamMakers Inc.”

  Lynn paced the conference room, waiting for her department head to show up for their meeting. She’d already loaded her program and today’s presentation on her laptop, and now she needed her audience to arrive. Kathy Levinson was usually a stickler for punctuality, so her tardiness made Lynn a little nervous.

  Taking a breath, she sank into one of the plush chairs around the long table and tried distracting herself by thinking about her date with Parker. Hands down, it had been the best evening of her life. And not just because of the mind-blowing sex. She honestly couldn’t remember ever having so much fun with a man.

  She was about to reach for her phone to shoot him a quick text to pass the time, when footsteps in the hall stopped her. Lynn quickly smoothed a hand over her hair, which she’d left down in an attempt to look more professional, and rose to her feet as the conference room door opened.

  Kathy Levinson stepped inside, greeting her with a warm smile. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

  Lynn opened her mouth then closed it when a second person strode into the room. John Samuels, the VP of the advertising department, and none other than Phil’s boss.

  “Ms. Davidson,” the man boomed, extending a hand in her direction. “Good to see you again.”

  She gulped hard as she went over to shake his hand. Samuels had always intimidated the bejeezus out of her, probably because everything about him screamed authority, from his salt-and-pepper hair to his tailored suits to that commanding baritone voice.

  “Good to see you, too, Mr. Vice-President,” she stammered.

  Mr. Vice-President? Oh man. She sounded like a total moron.

  Samuels chuckled. “Please, call me John. I’m really looking forward to hearing this idea of yours.”

  “I hope you don’t mind that I asked John to sit in,” Kathy spoke up. “I felt he needed to be included, especially since part of this pitch relates to advertisements.”

  As the two executives sat, Lynn went to the head of the table and pulled up the first slide.

  Forty minutes later, she knew she’d hit the presentation right out of the park. Kathy and John rose from their seats with enthusiasm on their faces, walked over and vigorously shook her hand, thanking her for her hard work. Kathy even winked before she slid out the door.

  Lynn was just leaving the conference room when her cell phone vibrated in the front pocket of her laptop case. Reaching in, she pulled out the phone and smiled when she saw the message on the screen.

  How did it go??

  Happiness danced through her as she headed down the hall, texting Parker back as she walked.

  So good! I think I have a real shot. She added four exclamation marks and three smiley faces to finish off the message.

  His response came as she entered her cubicle.

  That’s awesome.

  Two seconds passed, and then another message came through.

  What are you wearing?

  Lynn burst out laughing as she flopped into her desk chair. The loud sound caught the attention of the woman who’d been walking by her cube, and when Lynn looked up and saw it was Dana Hastings, her amusement promptly faded.

  “What’s the punchline?” Dana asked coolly.

  “Huh?”

  The blonde gestured to the phone. “I assume you were told a funny joke?”

  “Ah. Oh. No, it was…nothing important.”

  Dana’s stilettos clicked on the linoleum floor as she took several steps forward. Then, to Lynn’s surprise, she backpedaled and stepped into the cubicle.

  Lynn frowned. “Do you need something?”

  The other woman hesitated, and some of the ice hardening her expression thawed. Lynn glimpsed a flash of unhappiness in Dana’s eyes, along with a glint of defensiveness she couldn’t make sense of.

  “I slept with Phil.”

  Lynn’s eyebrows shot up. The confession itself hadn’t surprised her—she had already come to the solid conclusion that Phil was a louse—but the fact Dana was admitting to it absolutely floored her.

  “Oh. I see.” She was proud of how casual she sounded.

  Dana’s lips puckered, then she narrowed her eyes. “You knew.”

  Lynn shrugged.

  Silence fell between them. Dana continued to watch her with an unreadable expression, and when the woman still didn’t speak, Lynn pushed past her discomfort and said, “Are you here to apologize? Because don’t bother. I ended it with Phil last week, so he’s all yours.”

  “I’m pretty sure he’s everybody’s,” Dana muttered.

  Despite herself, Lynn had to laugh. “You found out about Sylvia and Alana, huh?”

  Dana blinked. “What? No, I was talking about Vanessa, the new intern in the features department. I heard her bragging to Yvette that she and Phil went out for drinks this weekend.”

  “He gets around,” Lynn said with another shrug. It really was sad how little it hurt.

  There was another beat of silence. Then Dana started to laugh.

  Lynn couldn’t stop the rush of amazement that washed over her. This was the first time she’d ever heard Dana Hastings laugh.

  “He’s a real ass, huh?” the other woman said.

  “Yep.”

  Crap. Were they having a moment? Oh God. Was this how it was going to be from now on, all of Phil’s scorned women becoming buds?

  But nope, because whatever moment they’d been having didn’t last long. In no time at all, Dana’s icy expression had returned. “Anyway, I thought you should know.”

  It took a second before the truth dawned on Lynn, and she couldn’t help but laugh again. “You weren’t looking out for me by telling me about you and Phil. You wanted me to dump him and indirectly get revenge on him for Vanessa.”

  “No, that’s not…” Dana’s nose wrinkled, and she frowned. “Oh. Oh, you’re right.”

  Whoa. Not the reaction Lynn expected. She pulled her jaw off the floor as Dana paced back and forth in the open three feet of space, her face twisting between confusion and anger.

  What exactly was the right response to that confession?

  Lynn hesitated. Her old self would have silently let it go. Not made a fuss, not even approached anything with the possibility of conflict. After spending even a short time with Parker, though, she felt something more needed to be done. Take a bigger risk. “He’s not worth getting tied in knots over, Dana.”

  Dana jerked to a stop, arms folded across her chest. “We can’t just let him get away with it.”

  “Continuing to think about him isn’t how I want to waste my time. I’ve had enough, and I’m moving on. Why don’t you do the same?”

  The other woman hesitated. “Then he wins, and that’s not how I play this game. I’ll have to figure out another way to pay Mr. Shotelle back.”

  With that, she flounced off, leaving Lynn to stare after her in amusement.

  Her smile faded when Suz suddenly appeared in the aisle. Lynn’s best friend glanced at Dana’s retreating back, then picked up her pace, crossing her arms as she marched into Lynn’s work space.

  “No, no, no. You are not allowed to be friends with her.”

  Lynn was quick to reassure her. “We’re not friends. I swear.”

  Suz relaxed. “Good, because that woman is poison.” />
  “She knows about Phil, and she’s not impressed.” Lynn rocked her office chair.

  “Well, duh. Dana’s awful but she’s not stupid.” An enormous smile slowly spread over her friend’s face, making her green eyes sparkle. “So, I got to chat with your boyfriend this morning. He’s one sexy mofo, I must admit.”

  “Stop it.” Someday Lynn hoped to make it through an entire twenty-four hours without blushing. She changed the topic as fast as possible. “Hey, you left so quickly this morning I never got to ask. Did your date with Dean yesterday end up being one for the record books?”

  Suz looked momentarily confused. “Parker asked me that as well. But no, and I don’t understand it. We hit it off—I mean, Dean’s ripped to the max, and according to this rumor I heard, he’s got the moves—” she waggled her brows, which only made Lynn chuck a pen at her, “—but no. Nothing in the bedroom, or up against the wall, or over the back of—”

  “Enough. I get it. There was no horizontal or vertical mambo between you two.” Lynn was laughing now. “It makes sense, though. You guys having sex would be like…”

  Masturbation was the first word that came to mind, but she couldn’t say that here.

  “Dean is sweet. And fun. And the thought of doing him does nothing for me. I’m pretty sure I do nothing for him, too, or else he would’ve made a move.” Suz shrugged. “Well. I guess it’s good for me to have one guy who’s not family to hang out with and not have to worry about breaking his heart.”

  “You’re so kind.”

  “Ain’t I just?” Suz reached overhead in a stretch, the move making her skirt ride up.

  In the hallway behind her one of their male coworkers tripped and slammed into the floor, his eyes still stuck on Suz’s bare legs. Suz clicked her tongue as the man scrambled to his feet and down the hall. “Silly boys. Well, time to get back to work. I’ve got this great feature article to finish on DreamMakers, and then after work, my bestie and I are going shopping.”

  It was the first Lynn had heard of it. “Really?”

  Suz winked. “Someone needs a few special bits and pieces of soft and silky to put an even bigger smile on her guy’s face.”

  Her guy.

  After only a couple of dates, Parker already felt way more hers than after months with Phil. And the sensation was very, very nice.

  Dean

  “But I like the brown one.” Frank Gabbert folded his arms and damn near pouted.

  It was not a good look for a sixty-four-year-old man. Especially not while wearing nothing along with the expression but boxers and a white dress shirt.

  Dean fixed his smile more firmly in place and wished to hell he could simply allow his client to buy the brown rag he wanted. Only the cut of the suit made the man look like a demented time traveler, and if Frank showed up to his anniversary party wearing that kind of crap, his wife would be upset, and one thing would lead to another, and…

  Dean did not fail his assignments. No matter what it took, this job was going to get done, and done fucking right. Even if he had to stand right in the goddamn dressing room with Mr. Personality and sweet-talk the ass.

  “You and your wife agreed to wear the same outfit—or close proximity to it—as you wore for your first date. Which means no brown. You need blue.” Dean held out the jacket and helped the man slip his arms in.

  “I hated that suit,” Frank muttered. He glanced at himself in the mirror, turning sideways to check his profile. “This can’t be the size I asked for. I’m a forty-two. What the hell is wrong with this store?” the man demanded as he sucked in his ample girth and attempted to do up the buttons.

  Dean tightened his lips, stepping outside the door to wave down the girl behind the counter. The sweet thing had retreated out of Frank’s shouting range five minutes after they’d arrived. “Honey? You think you could find me this suit in a size forty-two regular? Blue.”

  While he spoke he flashed his fingers, her eyes widening as he silently increased the order to size sixty. “No problem,” she answered loudly, a flash of amusement lighting her previously concerned face.

  By the time Sandra had brought pants and a tie to match the jacket, her eyes were sparkling nicely again. And when she stood a little closer than necessary while Frank paid the cashier, Dean eased his stance to make contact between their bodies.

  Hot, curvy woman leaned back.

  “Good service in this shop. Good quality.” Frank nodded his approval, all his frustrations forgotten as he snatched up his bags and grinned at Dean. “For a while there, I was worried, but you came through. Good man.”

  “DreamMakers is glad to help,” Dean said. “Enjoy your party.”

  Frank headed to the front door, his purchases in hand as he whistled happily.

  A gentle touch landed on Dean’s arm, female fingers curling around his biceps. “Did you need to try on any suits today? Because I don’t mind giving you a…hand.”

  Dean turned in time to spot Sandra swipe her tongue over her lips as she winked mischievously. “I have the worst time with zippers. You might need to help me.”

  He did check over his shoulder as she hooked a finger into his belt loop and tugged him into a dressing room, but the rest of the staff were fully occupied.

  Mirrors. A room full of wonderful, amazing mirrors. Dean caught a glimpse of his satisfied grin before Sandra went to work helping him with his zipper, and all sorts of other things.

  Damn, he loved his job.

  Chapter Ten

  “You need to breathe, Lynn.”

  She sucked in a gulp of air, trying to focus on Parker’s firm voice and determined green eyes. The dirt smudging his handsome face made him look almost feral, and every muscle in his strong body was tense, providing her a hard, comforting surface to lean against. Up above, thick gray clouds had crept in front of the early afternoon sun, casting shadows over the entire area.

  “It’ll be okay,” Parker told her. “Don’t let Maddie’s death crush you. Don’t let the enemy win.”

  “There are too many of them!” she hissed. “We’ll never get out of this alive!”

  “We will. We just need to work together.”

  Lynn shoved away a strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail. “We’re outnumbered, Parker. This is a suicide mission.”

  “You can’t go into this final battle with that attitude, babe.” His grip on his rifle tightened. “Follow my lead, and we’ll get through this. I promise.”

  “Okay. Let’s get it done.”

  “That’s my girl. All right, we move on three.”

  Lynn drew another breath as Parker began to count. In less than a second, they would have to leave the meager cover they’d found behind this splintered sheet of plywood and dive back into the warzone that had already claimed too many innocent lives.

  “Three.”

  Acting on instinct, Lynn jumped out from behind the board.

  And was promptly shot down by a rainbow of paint balls.

  Next to her, Parker’s camo jumpsuit was equally colorful.

  He glanced over with a wry smile. “Well, we tried.”

  She sighed. “We fought the good fight.”

  A second later, a gaggle of whooping, cackling boys spilled into the area, holding their paintball guns up in the air as they formed a victory line in front of their victims. It had taken three hours, but the eight-boy team had successfully eliminated Lynn and Parker’s team using some seriously impressive combat strategies.

  “Sorry it had to go down this way, mister.” Billy, the other team’s captain, pulled off his protective mask and approached Parker with a sheepish grin.

  “Don’t you dare apologize,” Parker told the kid. “That was some of the best shooting I’ve seen in my life.”

  “And when Donny trapped Gil and Landon in the tree fort?” Lynn piped up, turning to grin at the redheaded boy at Billy’s side. “That was crazy ruthless.”

  The curly-haired Donny flashed her a beaming smile. “I know, right
?”

  “You boys should consider enlisting when you’re old enough,” Parker said. “We need good soldiers like you.”

  Billy eagerly sidled up to Parker. “Are you really in the army?”

  “Used to be,” he answered as the group headed back to the main clubhouse. “I got out a few years ago.”

  “Did you kill Osama Bin Laden?” Donny demanded.

  Parker chuckled. “’Fraid not.”

  Lynn fell behind as the rest of the boys swarmed Parker, peppering him with questions about his time as a soldier. She couldn’t help but smile as she watched him with the kids. He was so good with them, so easygoing and encouraging, and it was clear they all worshipped him. She’d never be able to wipe away the memory of Parker giving their team of misfits a pep talk in the woods, though she’d probably have to overlook the part where he told a nine-year-old girl to “man up and eliminate the threat”.

  Seeing Parker interact with the children brought a rush of warmth to her chest. Every time she saw the man, he surprised her with another aspect of his personality, and her Why Parker is Incredible list was rapidly growing.

  Phenomenal in bed, check. Attentive and sweet, check. Masculine as all get out, check. Good with kids, check.

  After three weeks of dating, it was becoming harder and harder to fight it—she was dangerously close to falling for Parker Wilson.

  “Want to grab some lunch?” he asked after they’d returned their equipment and changed into their street clothes.

  “God, yes. I’m famished. I had no idea paintball was so intense.”

  He laughed, linking their fingers together as they strode across the parking lot. “Was it more or less intense than the sex we had last night?”

  A delicious shiver scampered up her body as she remembered Parker’s cock furiously pumping inside her. “Oh, definitely less.”

  “That’s what I thought,” he said smugly.

  They hopped into his SUV, and ten minutes later they were seated in a booth at a diner near Parker’s house. They’d just ordered lunch when his cell phone buzzed. Parker read the incoming text, then grinned.