by C. J. Thomas
I yawned and wished I’d slept more last night. Instead, I’d kept thinking that if I fell asleep, I would never hear my alarm—the worst feeling when you needed to be somewhere.
Who was I kidding? I couldn’t stop thinking about Liam and our date Saturday, either. I still didn’t know how I’d found the willpower to break off that kiss. I’d stuck to my three-date rule, but I so didn’t want to. I’d never met another man I’d been so attracted to.
Just thinking about him made me close my eyes and picture him here. I had a few minutes so I let my imagination run wild.
“Don’t talk, Tessa.” I could hear Liam’s low voice in my head. The sexy hint of an accent stroking his every word. I nodded as he took my tote from my hand and set it on the ground. “You won’t be needing this.”
“I—” I caught myself.
I enjoyed this game and didn’t want to do anything to make him stop. I didn’t need to wait on any number of dates to imagine my fantasy right now.
“Good girl.” He ran his hands up my thighs as he said it. My breath puffed out the higher he went. “Don’t make a sound. You wouldn’t want Betsy to hear the pleasure I’m about to give you.”
I shook my head.
Liam gave me a long mischievous look before inching my skirt to my hips. He groaned. “Very nice. Do you always wear panties that say the day of the week?”
I giggled to myself, breaking my trance. As soon as I found my phone I’d have to make a reminder to go shopping with Sadie. As dangerous as that probably was, she’d know what would look best. Given that most everything I knew about Liam’s tastes was from his photos, there wasn’t much he hadn’t seen.
After reliving every detail of Saturday’s date last night with Sadie, I knew she’d be more than willing to help me find the perfect third date outfit.
I closed my eyes.
Liam was in front of me again. He slipped up my skirt. “I see you were expecting me. No panties?”
I figured I could lose them with just a thought. It was my fantasy, after all.
“I’m working on that.”
He pressed his finger to his lip, reminding me not to talk. I giggled again—as quietly as I could. He took his finger from his mouth and traced it along my inner thigh.
Painfully slowly.
I wanted to tell him to hurry up, that we didn’t have much time. But that’d be against the rules. He kept his eyes on mine as he kissed one leg, then the other. All the way to the hem of my skirt. I sucked in a breath, tipped my head back, ready for him.
He stopped.
I gasped, but he quickly rose to face me and tamped down my frustration with a kiss. As passionate as Saturday’s.
I spread my legs, aching and exposed. I wanted his tongue elsewhere but my words were lost in the moment. Liam’s hand touched my inner thigh and I caught my breath when his thumb first brushed my clit. He pulled away just long enough to remind me to stay silent. As he came back for a kiss, his fingers entered me. I moaned into his mouth and moved my hips with the pressure. His thumb sent jolts of pleasure up and down my body.
I leaned back in the chair to give him a better angle.
“That the right spot?” he said.
It wasn’t a question. Not really. Liam knew exactly what he was doing to me. I forced myself not to whimper as he pumped his fingers. He had control of me and I couldn’t say anything or someone would hear. My breath came quicker and I wanted to let myself go. I needed this. Craved this. Craved Liam.
“Let go. Let go.”
The pressure released. I didn’t.
I never could “let go.”
Liam—my fantasy Liam at least—was gone and I found myself a bit more excited than before. My skirt actually had hiked up a few inches. I smoothed it out and cleared my throat.
“Finally found it.” Betsy’s voice made me jump. “Oh heavens, Dear, are you okay?”
“Sorry. It’s just so quiet in here.”
Betsy held up a gold nameplate that read Tessa Douglas in formal lettering. She was about to peel off the plastic covering that made it all shiny when she looked down at me.
“I take it you want to do the honors?” She handed it over and this time I wasn’t dreaming. I was here, holding my own nameplate.
I’d wanted more of a break after classes ended and real life began, like most of the other graduates would get. But then, I was also not scouring the internet right now, frantically trying to find a job. Instead, I was set for life at my father’s company with full benefits and four weeks of vacation.
Sadie had always given me a hard time about following my dad’s plan. She still didn’t get that I wanted all this. No normal person would be this excited about numbers, but here I was. There was never a question that my part-time job here wouldn’t become more, but I wasn’t expecting a corner office with windows. Dad had showed me the setup on Friday. I had an amazing view of downtown New York, but nothing compared to my dad’s. Or Liam’s.
How did everything come back to him? Even the way that I fantasized about him minutes ago. This had never been like me, but it made me smile.
“Glad to see you’re less nervous now,” Betsy said. “I knew this waterfall was perfect for this room.”
I chuckled to myself. There was no chance I’d tell her what had actually helped me relax, even if just a little. I thought back to Fantasy-Liam telling me to let go, and even though I wasn’t able to completely, it still felt good.
He felt right.
I still didn’t know what came over me at his car. The moment he kissed me . . . it was like something ignited.
I had it bad for Liam, and thinking about the dozens of models he photographed every week made me wonder if I could enter his world.
Or if in the end he would burn me.
I wanted to go back to the fantasy but so much was about to happen that I needed to be here. I glanced at the clock behind Betsy and dropped the nameplate on my lap. It was already 8:50. I had never once known my father to be late. If I came in early, he would’ve been even earlier.
“Have you heard from my dad yet?”
Betsy frowned and looked behind her. “Oh good Lord. Where the devil could he be?”
I wanted to tell her that those were two very interesting sentiments to be said together, but now was not the time. The fact that I even noticed that right now showed that I was not thinking clearly.
I closed my eyes, this time to steady myself. Things rarely felt “off” for me. “I have no idea. Have you tried to reach him?” I asked.
“I sent a message to his car service but haven’t heard back.”
“I take it that’s unusual?”
“Honey, in the twenty years I’ve worked for your father, none of this is usual for him.”
I could feel my heart pumping harder and I hadn’t realized until this moment but I’d been twisting the handle of my outrageously expensive bag until my hands ached.
I tried to let the water of the fountain behind Betsy’s desk do its damnedest to calm my nerves. The last thing I wanted was to be so hyped up that when he came walking in here, I wouldn’t be able to function in our meeting.
He’d tell me something like, “Use your logic,” and we’d get on with the meeting right there, regardless of how frazzled I was. My dad could make sense out of everything. Even if it was completely illogical, he always found the empathy to see it from the other person’s perspective.
That was just one of the many things my mother loved so much about him. My parents had always been completely precious together, something I’d only fantasized about having . . . though never nearly as intense as today.
Right now, I tried to find the logic in my dad being late. Though he’d come up with a million explanations that ranged from car trouble to a spontaneous trip around the world, no matter what reason popped into my head, if there was one thing I knew about my father it was that he’d never let me down. He had always been there for me, and him not being here right now, on my very first day
as a full-time employee . . .
I just didn’t know.
“Try the house.” I stood. My nerves wouldn’t let me just sit around. I wanted to do something. To go look for him. Something.
“I already did.” Betsy looked as lost as I felt.
“Try again.” The words came out sharper than I’d intended but she knew where I was coming from and nodded.
My phone rang and it surprised me so much I dropped my bag. “Oh crap!” I dug through it, wondering how the hell I’d already managed to put so much in here after only having it one week. So much, in fact, that I couldn’t find my phone earlier and was sure I’d left it.
“Come on. Come on.”
“It’s just ringing through.” Betsy held up the receiver from her desk.
I snagged the phone from some inside pocket I didn’t even know existed and saw Dad on the indicator. “That’s probably because he’s calling me on here.” I pressed accept and held my cell to my ear.
“Tessa?” It took me a moment to recognize the voice, and when I did, everything went cold.
“Dani, why do you have Dad’s phone?”
CHAPTER 8
Liam
The curve of her hip looked unbelievably sexy wrapped in my silk sheets.
I couldn’t ask for a better view. The way her back narrowed then flared out made me want to pull her naked body against me and stay here all day.
Tessa filled my mind and I smiled seeing her resting peacefully in my bed. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, traced my fingers down the curve of her left breast, and followed it all the way down her abs. She moaned, and as I kissed my way down her arm, the morning haze began to clear for me like the lens of a camera focusing in my hand.
The tousled mane of black hair slid down the pillow as she turned toward me.
“Hey you,” Paisley said.
“Morning,” I replied through a painted smile.
“What a fabulous night. It’s been a while for us.”
“Few weeks.”
She stretched, extending her legs across my bed, exposing dark nipples that had been in my mouth hours ago.
I felt sick. After having such an amazing time with Tessa, Paisley ended up in my bed only a day later. I should have never tried to make up for canceling on her.
Her eyes flashed and she rested her hand on my bicep. I didn’t like the way she touched me. All possessive and wanting. “Ready for another round?”
“I think we better start the day.” Separately.
She sat up fully exposed, uncaring that my blinds were half-open. Giving a show was the kind of thing Paisley lived for. “Well, if you want to come and join me in the shower, I’ll leave the door unlocked.”
I put my head in my hands the moment I heard the shower turn on. The rush of water flooded my nerves and I ran my fingers through my hair. It had some tangles, thanks to last night, and was about as jacked up as I’d made things.
The scattering of clothes across the room would lead anyone to think last night had been passionate and would be followed up by some breakfast in bed. All I wanted to do was get the hell out of here and go to work.
I’d canceled with Paisley on Saturday and thought I’d make up for it by taking her out last night. Big fucking mistake. There was a reason I’d gone with Tessa without hesitation. I should have remembered those instincts.
My hands froze and I quickly scanned both my dressers. “Oh, God—” I jumped out of bed and checked behind the desk lamps. “Where is it?” I got on my knees and began going through everything. “Tell me I didn’t do it again.” Dress shirt, slacks, bra, tie . . . I flipped up the bedspread. “Where the hell is the damn condom?”
I vaguely remembered unwrapping one, but was that last night? I’d forgotten once before with Paisley. We’d had way too many shots that night, then I took a few stupid shots inside her without protection. Sometimes it was good to miss and only hit rim.
I wanted to stay in the country, but not because of Paisley.
I started checking the pockets of my pants where everything else seemed to show up. Change, receipt from last night for an ungodly expensive meal that Paisley insisted on, keys—
What the hell was I doing? My stomach knotted and my thoughts went back to Tessa. Would I be this worried with her? Everything kept going back to her, even though I’d only known her a few days.
That meant something to me.
I saw it then, resting on top of Paisley’s leopard-print thong. The relief hit me so fast I started laughing. I sat back on my heels and pulled my shoulder-length hair through my hands. I felt good for the first time all morning.
That had been scary as hell. The fact that it was Paisley here didn’t make me feel any better.
“What’s so funny?” Paisley stepped into the room. She eyed the wrapper in my hand and a mischievous smile crossed her face. “I knew you couldn’t get enough.”
Before I could stop her, she sauntered over and wrapped her body around me. Why hadn’t I bothered to put some pants on?
I threw on the most disappointed look I could manage and said, “This was the last one.”
She kissed my neck and a chill went down my spine—only partially from pleasure. “That’s okay, I want to take care of you, make you feel good.” She began to lower to her knees. Paisley dragged her nails down my stomach and curled them around the band of my boxers.
I cupped her chin and raised her head to meet my eyes. “Thank you, but I’ll have to take a rain check.” That I never plan to cash in.
I dragged my pants on and slipped my arms through a clean cotton shirt. God, I wanted to shower, especially after the condom scare, but getting out of here was more important. I knew that if I dared to step into the bathroom, she’d follow and never leave. I kept handing clothes to her and finally she got the hint.
I did a mental calculation of my calendar but couldn’t remember when I had her scheduled. I needed some time. “When is your next shoot with me?”
A grin crossed her face as she said, “Friday was the last one, but I’m free later this week. In the evenings as well.”
Oh hell no. With my hand on the small of her back, I managed to get halfway through my room. “I’ll have to get back to you.”
What could only be disappointment replaced her smile. I really hadn’t bothered to get to know her feelings all that well.
I wanted something different with Tessa.
What that was, I wasn’t quite sure yet, but I wanted to learn everything about her, to experience everything with her, to see if she was who I thought she could be.
Tessa wasn’t like the other girls I knew, and I liked who I was around her. I shouldn’t have slept with Paisley, but better to learn that now than later.
With her miniskirt strapped on, Paisley stood in front of my bureau, tossing her hair this way, then that.
“I can walk you out.”
“That would be great,” she said, then turned back to the mirror and fussed with her hair some more.
I grabbed my satchel and my coat—even though it was far too warm to put it on. I just needed anything to give her the hint to vacate.
“There’s this new coffee shop down the road if you want to join me.” She finally pulled her hair back into a long ponytail and I wondered what all the fuss was about. I’d been around models long enough to be used to their tendencies.
Right about now, a laid-back girl like Tessa looked even better to me.
“I’m good, really.” I wished I had a bedroom door to show her out of instead of such an open floor plan. “I have a lot to get done at the studio.” It was the truth. I had a full day booked. I made a show of checking my phone. “First model’s due any time.” Hell, I couldn’t remember when she was scheduled, or who was even coming first, but if I didn’t get Paisley out, there was no way I’d get anything done.
When she finally walked from the bedroom, she faced my wall of prints as if to stare down each of the photos. She crossed her arms and turned to me. “W
hy haven’t you put any of my photos up?”
I wanted to tell her that I’d put five up the moment she left, but I couldn’t lie to her. On the off chance—the very off chance—she ever came back here, that would be the first thing she’d look for. She’d probably make an excuse to come over here just to look at them.
“I only exhibit my former models on these walls.” I quickly did a scan and breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t done a shoot with any of them.
She shrugged and was about to fiddle with some papers on my dresser when I realized one was the immigration letter from ICE. That was one thing I did not need her to know about.
I swooped beside Paisley, put my arm around her shoulder, and led her to the door. When we got downstairs, Randy, my over-intrusive doorman, gave me a thumbs up.
I could see he was about to suggest calling the car service when I gave a quick shake of my head. “Hail a cab for her.”
He gave me a long look, then finally nodded and said, “Right away.”
People sometimes say good help can be hard to find, but I think that good help could sometimes be just as troublesome.
Paisley turned to me as we waited for the cab to arrive. She fluttered her lashes, forgetting that she hadn’t had the chance to paste a new set on. “Be a gentleman and spare a fifty for the trip.”
I wanted to tell her that even with tip, the ride would cost less than twenty for her to get home. I handed her the full fifty anyway and said, “Have an extra coffee on me.”
She flashed me a smile, and finally, she was gone. I had the urge to wave so long, but given Paisley, she’d take it to mean, Hold the cab. Let’s drive to Florida together.
I ran a hand through my hair, thinking about how close she had been to seeing that letter. I didn’t really know if it would have mattered, but it wasn’t her business. I didn’t want Paisley anywhere close to my personal life.
I made a mental note to contact someone in immigration today. Thanks to the weekend, I hadn’t had the chance to follow up with anybody yet.
Randy was waiting at the door for me. I groaned, and if I didn’t actually need to get to the office, I would have gone for a walk right then.
