King of Wall Street: a sexy, standalone, contemporary romance

by Louise Bay

  I nodded.

  “Finally,” Scarlett said, almost to herself.

  “And was it reciprocated?” Violet asked.

  I took a deep breath. Was it? Things had been good between us, I thought. “How could I tell?”

  Violet’s smile lit up her face as if she’d been waiting for this conversation her whole life. “Well, does she maintain eye contact with you? Does she—”

  “Jesus, Violet, do you know our brother at all? The man’s not a monk; he knows when women want him. He’s asking how does he know if she has feelings. Am I right?” Scarlett asked.

  I nodded. “Yes.” This was excruciating. I was rarely in a position where Scarlett had more of a handle on the conversation than I did.

  “So you were sleeping together?” Violet asked.

  Scarlett slapped her hand on the counter. “Try to keep up.”

  “What?” Violet shrieked. “No one told me he was sleeping with her. You knew?”

  “I suspected.”

  “You did not,” I said. “You say that now, but you knew nothing.”

  “I could tell when I met her in the elevator that there was something between you two.” Scarlett shrugged. “I have a sixth sense for these things. Anyway, let’s get back to the fact that our brother has feelings for someone. I mean, this has never happened before. We need to stay focused. How long has the sex been going on?”

  There was no point in suggesting I didn’t want to talk about it now—that ship had sailed. And anyway, I did want to talk about it. I needed to know if there was anything I could do. I wanted a chance to tell Harper how I felt, that I wanted her back.

  “It was casual; we didn’t go out.” Did she think it had been just sex? “I should have taken her on a date or something. I was planning to talk to her about what she wanted when she came up for Amanda’s dance.”

  “What, so it was a series of booty calls?” Violet asked.

  Is that what it had been? Not for me, but looking at it maybe that was all it had been for her. “I’ve never really done the dating thing,” I admitted. “We live in the same building and I’m here so much of the time …” From the outside it did look like convenient sex. But for me, since she’d started at King & Associates, she’d had my attention like no other woman.

  “Did you do things together? Cook? Hang out without the sex?” Violet asked.

  I winced. “We got takeout, does that count?”

  Apparently not, if my sisters’ faces were anything to go by.

  “We’d spend the evening together. Talk.” Take a bath, although I wasn’t admitting that to my sisters. I loved hearing her take on the world. She was ballsy mixed with a little bit of idealistic. It was a perfect combination.

  “Well, that’s good. And it was early days, right?”

  “Yeah,” I replied, but it had felt so good between us. When we were together it was as if I didn’t want to rush forward to the next part because the space we were in was so good and I wanted to squeeze out every last drop.

  “And she quit because you kicked her off the team pitching to her father?” Violet asked.

  “Yes. Her father called and said he didn’t want her involved in the account because he wanted to keep business and personal separate.”

  “And you thought that was fine because it’s how you like to operate too?” Scarlett asked.

  “Yeah. I saw him as a potential client asking for a simple team change, rather than a father who was not putting his daughter first.”

  “Honestly,” Violet said, “that doesn’t sound like anything you can’t come back from.”

  “I pulled out of the pitch,” I said.

  “You did?” Scarlett asked. “Wow. Does she know?”

  I shook my head. “No, I did it after I saw how upset she was and I realized how he just hadn’t given a shit about her. If he was prepared to do that to his daughter, what would he do to a business partner?” It wasn’t the first time I’d turned down a client because I didn’t like their approach to business. I just wished I could explain to her that I understood I’d made the wrong call. “Now she’s gone, just disappeared.”

  “You must really love this girl.” Scarlett grinned. “I’ve never seen you like this.”

  “Quit the dramatics. I’m not saying I love her, I …” I was lost. In new territory with no map. “But if she won’t speak to me, won’t answer the phone or the door, what do I do?”

  Scarlett tilted her head to the side. “Amanda!” she yelled.

  “Don’t say anything to her,” I whispered.

  “Just trust me” she said.

  Amanda wandered in, her stare fixed on her phone. How she didn’t break bones on a regular basis I had no idea. She never looked where she was going. “Put your phone down while you’re walking. One day you’re going to step out in front of a bus because you’re fixating over Snapchat.”

  Amanda rolled her eyes but slipped her phone into her jeans pocket. “Is dinner ready? I’m hungry.”

  “Are you looking forward to the dance tomorrow?” Scarlett asked. I wasn’t sure what she was up to, but I could tell she had a plan.

  Amanda’s eyes lit up. “Yes, it’s going to be perfect. Callum finally asked me yesterday. I told him I was going stag. I don’t need a man.”

  The King women shared a chorus of good for yous, absolutelys, and high fives. I could only hope it was the first step in a lifetime of celibacy for my daughter.

  “And your dress is all set?” Scarlett asked.

  Amanda slipped onto the barstool facing me. “Yes, you saw it right? The one Harper helped me pick out.”

  “Harper’s the girl your dad works with who you like to hang out with?” Violet asked. Christ, they were playing tag team.

  Amanda nodded, her eyes flickering from me to her two aunts. “You met her, right, Scarlett? She’s so cool and pretty. Isn’t she, Dad?”

  The sound of Harper’s name sped up my pulse. I smiled sadly. “Yes, she’s very pretty.”

  “You’ll get to meet her too, Violet. You’re coming to help me get ready for the dance, right?”

  Shit, how could I break it to my daughter that Harper wasn’t going to make it?

  “Of course. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” My daughter was the only person who could get my sisters to do anything.

  “I need to talk to you about Harper, sweetheart,” I said.

  “What? She doesn’t need a ride from the station because she’s driving.”

  What? I’d never talked to Harper about how she was getting to Connecticut.

  “I’m not sure if she’s still going to make it, peanut. But you’ll have your aunts. And we can put your mother on Skype the entire time you’re getting ready.”

  Amanda looked at me, her lips pursed. “What are you talking about? Of course Harper’s going to make it. She said this morning that she’d be here by four. She’s bringing her makeup.”

  My heart started to pound. Had I heard her right? Had Amanda been talking to Harper? I gripped the counter, trying to make sense of what she was saying.

  “You spoke to her?” Scarlett asked.

  “Of course I did. She’s my friend.” Amanda looked around at the three of us. “What’s the matter with you guys? You’re all acting weird.”

  Harper was coming here. I would get a chance to explain, tell her she was important to me. More than important. I wouldn’t let her go until she’d heard my arguments, understood I was sorry. I wouldn’t let her push me away. I was used to getting what I wanted and Harper Jayne would be no exception.

  *

  “Just because she’s agreed to come and help Amanda doesn’t mean she wants anything to do with me,” I reminded my sister a little after three thirty in the afternoon. “You don’t think this is a little bit much?” I looked around at the dining room, the table set with the china and glassware my mother had forced me to buy when I hit thirty and she decided I was finally an adult, despite having been a father for over a decade at that point.


  “No, it’s not too much,” Scarlett said. “And anyway, what have you got to lose? Worst case scenario you’re no worse off than you were before she walked in.”

  I had to keep reminding myself I knew how to go after what I wanted. I did it for a living. Winning Harper back had to be a possibility, didn’t it?

  “I polished all the silverware, just how Grandma King showed me,” Amanda said, joining Scarlett and I at the table. She patted me on the back. “It looks good. She won’t be able to resist your lasagna, Dad. It’s the best.”

  I didn’t have the heart to tell her I had no idea whether Harper would even hear me out.

  I had to admit, the table looked nice, but something was missing. “We forgot the flowers,” I said.

  Amanda had helped me pick some from the garden that we could use as a centerpiece. I couldn’t find a vase, so we’d improvised and used a water glass. Amanda disappeared to retrieve them

  “So what, you guys are going to take Amanda and then I just turn around and ask Harper if she’s hungry?” I asked Scarlett.

  “Jesus, did you lose your balls somewhere along the line?” Scarlett asked. “You ask her if you can talk for a few minutes. Then you apologize and admit you’re an idiot. See how she reacts—if you need to apologize again, do it and then tell her how you feel. Jesus, man, you run a multimillion-dollar company; it’s not that hard.”

  This was much harder than anything I’d ever done, but she was right; I needed to find my balls. I’d tell Harper how I felt. Tell her we shouldn’t let business get in the way.

  It was going to be easy, right?

  “You’re not wearing that, are you?” Violet asked as she wandered in.

  “Good point,” Scarlett said. “Go put on your best jeans and a blue button down. The slogan T-shirt isn’t working for you.”

  “Hey, this is vintage,” I said.

  “Go change,” Violet said.

  Did I have time for a shower? I looked at my watch and my stomach churned. Only twenty minutes until she’d be here. In my house. In the place I’d fantasied about fucking her. Harper was the only woman I’d ever wanted to bring here, into my home, into my life.

  I bounded upstairs, taking the steps two at a time. I needed to run through what I wanted to say and I didn’t want anyone disturbing me.

  It was the most important pitch of my life and I hadn’t rehearsed.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Harper

  “What did you make me do?” I yelled into the speaker of my phone as I pulled off the I-95. The GPS told me I was six minutes away. I hated driving, especially on routes I didn’t know, and this was my first time in Connecticut. “This is a terrible idea.”

  “It’s a great idea,” Grace said. “And anyway, whatever happens, you’ve done the right thing by Amanda.”

  I’d promised Amanda I’d help her get ready for her dance and I wasn’t about to let a fourteen-year-old girl down. I knew what it felt like to be disappointed by an adult, and I’d never knowingly inflict that feeling on someone else.

  “What did you end up wearing?” Grace said. “Please tell me you put a skirt on. Men like skirts.”

  “I’m wearing shorts.”

  “That hot combination you do with the buttoned-up blouse and the casual, bordering on slutty shorts?”

  I grinned, secretly pleased with the endorsement. “They’re not slutty. Just short.” Okay, they were a little bit slutty.

  Amanda was only part of the reason I’d borrowed Grace’s new car to drive to Connecticut. I wanted to see Max. To figure out whether the ache in my bones would ease when I saw him. To work out whether it was love or just regret that tugged at my heart.

  Men before Max had always been a stop on the way to something else. I’d always seen the way out, never had both feet in. With Max I wasn’t constantly seeking the exit. I’d been happy to be in the moment with him, share things, talk, enjoy just being together. My feelings for him had snuck up from behind me and only screamed boo when Max had already gone.

  “Okay, well, you won’t need it, but good luck.”

  How could she say that? There was a real possibility Max would be furious with me. I’d walked out of my job without giving any notice. I’d screamed at him in his office, then turned off my phone and ignored every one of his messages.

  Worst of all, Max hadn’t really done anything wrong when he’d agreed to take me off the team. Maybe he’d been a little insensitive, but my relationship with my father wasn’t Max’s battle to fight. It wasn’t as if the only reason King & Associates had landed the pitch was because I worked there.

  My stomach churned at the thought of no longer being an employee at King & Associates. I’d worked so hard to get there. But I wouldn’t have any regrets. I’d met Max and whatever happened between us, I’d always be grateful for that. It had forced me to deal with my father. I’d thought King & Associates would help build my career, but really it had helped patch up my soul.

  As I pulled up in front of the gray clapboard, two-story house, my nerves took hold. I didn’t know the man who lived here. The place looked so … domestic. There was a field to one side, and what looked like a barn on the other. I counted four cars in the gravel driveway. Wow. Were they having a party?

  I reached into the backseat and pulled out the sparkling cider I’d brought along with my makeup.

  “Hey, Harper.”

  I climbed out and saw Amanda waving at me from the doorway. I smiled, unable to wave back because I had my hands full.

  “Hey, how are you?” I called, looking up over the roof of the car. “Are you nervous?”

  “Not nervous at all,” she said as I locked the car. “Especially not now that you’re here.”

  Voices grew louder as Amanda and I crossed the slate-floored entry. The home had a completely different feel from Max’s office. Photographs of Amanda dotted the walls. The doors, frames, and ceiling beams were stained a warm honey and the space was large and airy with open doors leading out onto a pool area. As we headed toward the kitchen, Max came into view.

  My ache for him disappeared, my body sagging with relief as if it had been starved of water and had finally found an oasis.

  Aware of everyone around us, I avoided eye contact. If he was angry with me, I wasn’t sure how I’d react.

  “Harper,” he said. “Come in. You’re kind to come all this way. I’m sure I don’t know what Amanda did to deserve it.” He didn’t sound in the least bit angry, so I looked up to find him grinning at me. I tried to cover my delight, nodding as I glanced behind him at two women looking at us.

  His sister Scarlett I’d met before. Who was the other one? I knew Amanda’s mother couldn’t make it back from Europe. Was I too late? Had Max moved on? No, it must be Violet. She looked like Max and Amanda.

  “Come on upstairs. We don’t have long,” Amanda said.

  “You have two hours, which is plenty long enough to introduce Harper to your aunts,” Max said.

  I was sure my relief showed in my sharp exhale. Yes, aunts. “Hi,” I said, offering a half wave. They both slipped off their barstools to greet me.

  “I’m Scarlett—we met in the elevator,” the blonde said as she pulled me into a hug as if I’d known her my whole life.

  “I’m Violet, the youngest.” Violet’s hug was slightly less effusive but a little more familiar than I’d expected.

  I got the distinct impression I’d been the subject of a discussion between the two of them.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” Max asked.

  I held up the cider. “I brought something.” I glanced between Max and his daughter.

  “You should know what to do when someone brings you a gift,” Max said.

  Amanda covered her mouth with both hands, then said, “I’m so sorry. That’s really kind of you and you didn’t have to.”

  She was such a sweet girl. “It’s my total pleasure,” I replied.

  “Why don’t you get into the shower? Violet can
bring you some cider when she comes to do your hair.”

  Amanda raced upstairs, leaving me in the kitchen with Max and his two sisters. I’d expected to have Amanda as a buffer while I was here. And I didn’t know whether Max’s friendly veil would drop once she’d left the room. I took a breath. I could do this. Max deserved the humble pie I was about to dish up.

  “I have the grown-up alternative to sparkling cider if you’re interested?” he asked.

  “What’s that?” I couldn’t help but smile. Not seeing him for so long, I’d forgotten the pull. Forgotten how every time I was around him, I wanted to touch him. And now that I was here I wanted to talk to him, apologize, ask him if it was too late to go back to how things had been between us.

  “Champagne,” he said with a grin. He didn’t seem mad, but I’d seen him at the lunch with my father; he was great at making people feel comfortable. Was he just putting on an act?

  “Did someone drop you on your head?” Scarlett asked. “I’m always asking for a glass of champagne.”

  Max shrugged. “What can I say, I’m not wasting champagne on my sister.” He shot me a glance as he pulled out three glasses and set them on the counter.

  Was he trying to impress me? I rolled my lips together, trying to hold back a grin at just the thought he might be.

  “It’s so nice of you to come out all the way from the city,” Violet said, leaving the sentence a little unfinished. Did I look ridiculous coming all this way for a fourteen-year-old girl I barely knew? Did she know that although I genuinely wanted to make tonight special for Amanda, I wanted to see Max? I needed to apologize.

  I glanced around, wanting to tell Max I’d come for him as much as I had for his daughter. “Amanda’s a lovely girl and …” I shrugged, unable to get the words out quite yet.

  “Well, I know that my brother is pleased you came.”

  My heart squeezed. Was Max pleased I was here? Because of Amanda or because he wanted to see me?

  Max handed me a glass and as I took it from him our fingers brushed. I glanced up at him and he grinned. Should I pull him to one side and apologize now?

  “Violet, Harper,” Amanda called from upstairs. “I need my glam squad. I’m out of the shower.”