Damn. “You’re imagining things, Maple. Maybe projecting your feelings,” I told her with a cheeky wiggle of my eyebrows.
Her laughter was loud and unabashed, infectious. “Honey, you wouldn’t know what to do with all this. I admit I don’t still have the body or looks I had when I was Talia’s age, but even back then, she’s got me beat.” I liked how plain spoken Maple was, she just said the truth whether it hurt or not. It was an admirable trait. “I know I’m not imagining things. And you don’t want to listen because you still want to run around in these streets and stick your pecker inside anything pretty and willing. But it’ll change,” she said that plainly, but it sounded more like a warning than a foretelling.
“I’m not ready for it to change.”
She grinned, and her blue gaze was affectionate as she sat one half of the biggest sandwich I’d ever been served in front of me with malt vinegar chips and a big pickle half. It was perfect. “Men like you are never ready to change. Too rich and handsome for your own damn good, and too charming to boot.”
I flashed a smile around a chip. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It’s not, as long as that’s what you want. Don’t let fear keep you from something great.”
It was exactly what I wanted, but I knew saying so would subject me to more words on the subjects of love and relationships.
“I won’t.”
Another one of those damn smiles spread across her friendly face, like I was an amusing kid. “You remind me of Frederico, Talia’s ex. Not in looks of course, he was all dark hair, olive skin and eyes so black it was easy to get lost in them. Not as handsome as you, but close. The man had charm in spades, and when he aimed it her way, Talia was powerless against him. He doted on her, and told her she was beautiful and she believed him, but you know how men are once they get what they want.”
“I don’t, actually.”
Maple scoffed and let a loud, guffawing laugh that let me know exactly what she thought of my answer.
“I hope you’re not out here talking out of turn old woman.” Poppy walked in, as quiet as she’d entered the unit, looking rumpled but rested.
Maple stood and kissed Poppy on the cheek, and I stood and did the same, offering up my chair so she could sit. “Of course I wasn’t, I was just trying to help,” she insisted to her granddaughter who didn’t believe her for a second.
“Well, don’t.” Her words were sharp. Harsh.
I frowned and I wondered what the hell was Poppy’s problem with me. “What the fuck, am I some kind of monster?”
“No Luke,” she said on a sigh. “Not at all, you’re great. But you wouldn’t be good for Talia.”
It’s a good thing I’d already laid out everything for Maple, because I was so fucking out of there. “Yeah, thanks Poppy. I left some wedding stuff for you to look at, Maple has it all.”
“Wait Luke, please!” I turned like an idiot, because I respected my brother which meant I wouldn’t disrespect his fiancée, but I was barely hanging on. “It’s not you on a personal level, it’s just everything about you.”
“That’s not better.” Arms crossed, I glared at her so she could see how pissed off I was. All this time I thought she liked me. Wrong again, Luke.
“You’re her Achilles’ heel, so if you’re not serious and just looking to get laid, please do it with someone else. If I lose my best friend I won’t be able to forgive you.”
The tears trembling in her eyes might have swayed me, if she hadn’t just threatened me, which she had. We both knew if she didn’t’ forgive me, shit would always be weird with me and Blake.
“Thanks for lunch, Maple.” I grabbed my blazer and left, slamming the door behind me.
Talia
Another late night at the office. Working longer hours is the only way I’ll ever get close to getting everything done. The marketing department took up half of my day trying to get me to make decisions on stuff that is not part of my skillset. Poppy is the designer, not me. But that’s not what they wanted to hear. I was a bitch to them, and I wouldn’t apologize for it, they were totally out of line. Completely.
But it brought home one fact that I’d been ignoring this past year. This job wasn’t for me. I was good at it, because detail and efficiency are kind of my jam, and the pay and benefits were good. Really good. But this job didn’t move me, didn’t fuel me. And the more I see of it, the less I want it.
I picked up my phone without thinking and I regretted it almost instantly. “Hello?”
“So, you do answer your phone.” Luke. His voice was too damn sexy for my peace of mind. “I was starting to think it was just me.”
It was, but he didn’t’ need to know that, it would give him an advantage I couldn’t allow. “What’s up Luke?”
My short words took him off guard, and he stumbled over his words. ‘What’s up is that I’m downstairs.” I say nothing, because I can’t decide if this was a good thing or not. I’ve been avoiding him for a reason, but if I let him come up, we would get naked, and I’d get his beautiful cock inside of me again, making me feel good. Really good. “With food.”
A groan escaped me at just how adept the man was at getting doors to open for him. I’d gone ten days without seeing or tasting him, so I knew I needed to brace myself for the hotness that was Luke.
“Put Jonas on the phone.” I gave Jonas permission to let Luke up, and then I scrambled to get myself ready.
I had about one minute before the elevator reached this floor and I used it wisely, smoothing twelve hours of wrinkles from my dark green sleeveless dress, slicking a colored gloss over my lips before settling back on my spot on the floor. My hair was a mess. I took it down from the clip holding it into some semblance of a ponytail and ran my fingers through it. Since I wasn’t trying to impress anyone, I left it as it was and pretended to be deep in work when Luke made his appearance.
I told myself not to look up when his shadow darkened my door, and I should have listened, even though I’d never been any good at listening to me or anyone else. Luke in a suit was a panty wetting dream, but in jeans he was all that and more. Dangerously sex. Seductive with his blond hair that looked like it had just been mussed. But his t-shirt made him look like the quarterback all the girls swooned after in every high school across America. I had to reign in the lust and talk myself out of crawling across the floor and then climbing up his body, begging him to have his way with me. “What did you bring me?”
He laughed and sauntered in, kicking the door closed with a smile that promised lots of dirty things to come. “It’s good to see you too, Talia. Damn good.” His voice deepened and pitched with sex. “Especially on the floor like that, now just arch your back a little.” He barked out a laugh when I glared at him, but what he didn’t know was how tempted I was to arch my back and see his eyes glaze over. “I brought risotto, chicken marsala and salad. Oh, and wine.” His smile was bright and seductive.
“You can stay then,” I told him seriously.
With a satisfied smile he took a seat on the sofa behind me and began to unpack the food. “Does this mean you’re done avoiding me?”
Of course he wouldn’t let it go. “I wasn’t avoiding you, Luke. But in case it’s slipped your mind, my boss is on bed rest for the foreseeable future, so my load has doubled, at least. Is your ego bruised?”
He nodded like a wounded little boy. “It is, and now it is completely up to you to make it better. I think a kiss would go a long way to make me feel better.” Before I could call him crazy and pretend I didn’t want it, Luke took it out of my hands and pressed his mouth to mine, dipping my head so it was the perfect angle to receive his kiss. His wickedly delicious kiss that I couldn’t get enough of. His kisses were a special treat, the kind that good girls only allow themselves on special occasions.
But when I was wrapped up in Luke’s arms, I didn’t want to be good.
I wanted to be bad. Very, very bad.
When a heady, high sensation took o
ver, I had to pull back for the sake of sanity. And oxygen. “Not that I’m complaining, but why are you really here?”
“Dinner,” he pointed to the plastic containers waiting to be devoured. “And because I wanted to ask you something.”
“Okay.” My words were wary. “Well?”
“Would you like go out on a date with me?”
To say I was shocked would have been a massive understatement. What shocked me even more was how tempted I was to say yes.
Luke
Now that I had a little more insight into Talia, I was able to plan a near perfect date, free of nearly all conversational landmines. There would be no expensive swanky restaurants that would allow her to reinforce all the stereotypes she was determined to assign to me. There would be no big tips or VIP sections tonight. Just us.
“You did all this?” Her eyes were wide as they peeked at me over her shoulder, just briefly though, because she couldn’t stop looking around. The rooftop terrace was an oasis of greenery dotted with vibrant flowers and LED candles. “It’s gorgeous!”
And her smile was why I wanted to do something different for our date tonight. Talia was a tough nut to crack, and those thousand-watt smiles like the one leveled at me, were rarer than gold.
“Thanks Talia but you in that dress puts this terrace to shame.”
She rolled her eyes, but the faintest hint of a blush stained her cheeks, and her chest which looked incredible in a black lace dress. It was short but not indecently so, with little scalloped edges around her neck and breasts that drew the eye right there. There was so much lace I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, offering up glimpses of her naked body. She settled her gaze on mine and looked me up and down.
“You look pretty hot too.” I could see the truth of her words in the heat of her eyes.
When I held a hand out to her, she accepted it and let me take her to the cushioned seating that offered up a great view of the city. “I dressed just for you.”
“Sure, you did,” she said and accepted the cocktail I handed her. “This place is amazing. I’d do all my work up here if I lived in this building.”
“Speaking of,” I began, but she cut me off.
“No talk of work or wedding tonight. Sports, porn or politics, or anything else, but no work or wedding talk.”
I grinned and leaned in close enough that her scent flooded my senses. “What kind of porn do you like?”
She leaned in too, so that barely an inch separated our mouths, the scent of the Paloma on her tongue making my pants grow tight. “Girl on girl and DP.”
I choked on a swallow of my drink at her words, delivered carefully blank and she laughed. “Seriously?”
“So gullible,” she shrugged. “Depends on my mood.”
Damn, but this conversation wasn’t how I meant to start the date. If my pants got any tighter my cock would just break free to get close to her. “Your most recent mood?”
She licked her lips and took a long sip of her cocktail, lips curling up at the corners. “Pussy licking. Up close and very wet.”
A growl escaped and I hauled her from her seat onto my lap, fusing our mouths together in a kiss that was a hot and intense as any kind of fucking. I couldn’t stop drinking from her mouth, enjoying the way her hips moved against me, etching my pleasure up another thousand notches. My hands squeezed her ass and she groaned into my mouth. “Talia,” I moaned and let my hands slide up her thigh.
“How long until dinner,” she asked, panting and smiling goofily.
“As long as I say.”
“Good,” she said on a whispered growl and let her hands roam under my shirt and slide down my abs to my waistband. “Because I’m feeling a bit hungry for something else right now.” I knew exactly what she meant. I’d been hungry for her since she walked inside my apartment in this dress that continued to drive me nuts. “Luke,” she groaned as she unfastened my pants and wrapped a small hot hand around my erection.
“Talia, sweetheart, you’re driving me crazy here.”
“I know,” she hissed when my thumb brushed her clit, swollen and throbbing and wet. In one smooth move I was buried deep, thrusting up into her as she bounced on my cock, riding me hard and fast like she hadn’t had cock in years. Red hair spilled down her back and around her pale shoulders as I revealed every inch of her skin to my gaze. My touch.
Her hips continued to roll, faster and faster while her breathing grew shallower and she began to pulse around me. She didn’t have to say a word for me to know just how close she was and I leaned forward and pulled a hard pink nipple into my mouth and sucked. “Mmm.”
“Luke!” Talia’s back arched and her head fell back as she did an intoxicating swirl on my cock, sending a shiver straight to my spine. “Oh, Luke.” She moaned my name over and over again while my cock pounded into her. Taking it all, she held on to me and rode until her orgasm exploded out of her. “Yes!”
She came apart beautifully, making an erotic picture I knew I wouldn’t soon forget.
Talia
Sitting in the waiting room at Poppy’s doctor’s office reminds me just how far I am from a life of love, babies and picket fences. I’m not even sure I want it or am cut out for it, but watching these women in various stages of pregnancy with significant others at their side caused a deep longing within me that made it hard to look at them. So, I did what any self-respecting woman in the throes of denial would do, I got lost in a murder mystery on my e-reader. Yeah, murder and gore would help me get over this temporary insanity.
I kept my eyes on the digital page, refusing to look up at any of the couples in the midst of their happily ever after, until Poppy stood in front of me with her big belly and a content smile on her face.
“Ready to head out?”
I nodded. The reason I took her this morning instead of Blake was because the time had come for us to start shopping for wedding dresses. “Yep, did you make your next appointment?”
“Yes, Mom,” she said with an affectionate roll of her eyes and followed me to the elevator and back out to my sedan that was quickly growing uncomfortable for her growing midsection. “You should have driven my car,” she complained.
“Then you would have had to pick me up and drop me off and since your arms can’t reach the steering wheel, that would have been difficult.” Never mind the fact she was supposed to be taking it easy.
The bridal boutique was tucked in a corner on a small side street, making it easy for large bridal parties to get in and out easily. Brides by Design was a small shop filled with wedding dresses for every body type and budget, but it leaned more towards the high end for brides with money to burn. It was beautiful and simple, and the two shop girls were ready to hop to do Poppy’s bidding.
“We’ll get a few out to get you started,” the older of the two women said, her black hair pulled back into an understated bun that matched the simple peach sheath she wore.
“Great. We’ll need you to bring the dresses out, because, as you can see, she’s under orders to stay off her feet as much as possible,” I told her in a tone that would brook no arguments from anyone. We had a few hours to ourselves before Lacey and Maple arrived, and I was determined that today we’d find her a dress so I could scratch another item off my list.
Both women left to look through dresses using the list of specifications Poppy handed them while we sat and waited for about fifteen minutes before the first few dresses were brought out. They were all beautiful but they weren’t right for Poppy. “So, how are things going with Luke?”
Normally we’d talk openly about these kinds of things, but there was an edge to her voice that gave me pause. “Good. We’re both still alive.”
She sighed and turned to me after dismissing a halter dress as too ‘hoochie mama’ for her liking. “I’m just worried. There’s clearly something going on between you. And don’t say it’s nothing, I can tell. Besides all that, Blake told me.” Arms crossed she looked like she’d just won the argument. “I�
��m worried.”
“Don’t. We’re having sex and that’s it.” It was under control. Mostly.
“Come on, Tal,” she sighed impatiently. “You know how he is, doesn’t do commitment, dates a different girl every month”
“I know Poppy, okay? I know all that. I know what he’s like, and I know that it seems he’s like Frederico, because on the surface, he is. But he’s not. And even if he was, it doesn’t matter because I’m not doing anything but sleeping him. And enjoying it, all right?”
“But-,”
I cut her off because I was tired of this conversation. “You know Poppy, if you were so concerned, maybe you should have thought about that before throwing us together nonstop for the months on end.” We finally had two dresses she didn’t absolutely hate, so I helped her up and tasked an assistant to help her when I caught a glimpse of Lacey and Maple at the door. I fixed another bright smile on my face and opened the door. “You’re just in time girls, after more than a dozen dresses we only have two for the bride to try on.”
Lacey and Maple both looked around in awe. “We’ve got it covered,” Lacey assured me.
“Yeah, she’s a pro,” Maple assured me as she looked around, searching. “Is this the kind of place that serves booze while you shop?”
I motioned for the other shop assistant to start the champagne which I provided last night, because despite the ten thousand dollar dresses in back, this was not the type of establishment that served booze while happy brides shopped.
“She’s trying on a dress now, so get comfortable.”
We all sat and watched as Poppy, slowly, came out and modeled two of the dresses. Both were beautiful, but not quite right. But more dresses were brought out, and there were a few more to her liking, she seemed to be getting excited. I kept my distance from Poppy, upset with myself for letting her words get to me. It didn’t matter, not really. She’d been my best friend for most of my life, but it was all changing. I was happy for her, but it was changing, the one thing we’d always wanted—family—she now had. In spades. A fiancé with a baby on the way, plus two extra siblings, she had family coming out of her ears. Soon the time we spent together would become less frequent, and then it would fade to no time at all.
Naughty Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Boardroom Games Book 3) Page 5
