by Melissa West
No kissing. No touching. And definitely no falling in love...
Armed with her besties, an embarrassing number of shots, and her list of 10 Wild Things To Do Before Adulthood, recent grad Cameron Lawson is partying it up before she starts her dream job at New York’s biggest ad agency. Her last task? Hook up with a random guy. And while it’s so not her style, the super-sexy guy sitting next to her is definitely game. No names. No details.
At least, that was the plan.
On her first day of work, Cameron discovers her hook-up is none other than Aidan Truitt—her new boss’s boss. Talk about failing the “no fraternizing with coworkers” policy on an epic level. Especially when Aidan makes it clear their one night was only the beginning. Falling for him could cost her everything, but sometimes the only way to get what you want is by breaking a few rules...
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by Melissa West… the Taking series
Gravity
Hover
Collide
Discover more New Adult titles from Entangled Embrace… If Only
Written on My Heart
Unethical
Priya in Heels
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Melissa West. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.
Entangled Publishing, LLC
2614 South Timberline Road
Suite 109
Fort Collins, CO 80525
Visit our website at www.entangledpublishing.com.
Embrace is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC.
Edited by Kate Brauning
Cover design by Louisa Maggio
Cover art from iStock
ISBN 978-1-62266-558-7
Manufactured in the United States of America
First Edition July 2015
For my mom, who taught me the importance of family and remembering my roots.
Chapter One
So far tonight, I’d bought a random guy a drink, danced on a bar, and serenaded a girl during a karaoke song. And the night was still young.
“You’re up again, Cammie,” Lauren said, sliding a shot glass my way.
I tipped the shot back and then glanced down at the list, ignoring Grace’s tapping on the bar. It was a scare tactic to make me question whether I wanted to take on the last task in our 10 Wild Acts Before Adulthood. But if anyone was going to win this game, it was me. I was fiercely competitive in everything I did. From sports to running times, to bets on who would graduate first, I was always in first place. Well, okay, maybe the graduating thing was because my last name came before theirs, and so technically, I had to walk first, but still, I was first. It counted.
And this was no different. I might not be the prettiest (Grace) or the funniest (Lauren), but I knew how to win, and I planned to win tonight.
It was the Saturday before our first real jobs—Grace as an assistant curator at the Met, Lauren a junior buyer for Bergdorf’s, and me an account manager with Sanderson-Lowe, the top advertising agency in the world. And though I had always walked a straight line, never veering left for fear of failing, tonight I wanted to push myself. Have one crazy night before I threw myself headfirst into my career.
The only part of the night that gave me pause was when the girl took the lyrics of “I Kissed a Girl” too seriously and decided to throw herself at me as I came off the stage. After a moment of her kissing me with my eyes wide open, Lauren and Grace laughing hysterically beside me, I had to explain that while I thought lesbianism rocked, I didn’t bat for the girls’ team.
But now, I was staring at the final task on the list, my mind—and clearly my vision—blurry from one too many shots. “What does that say?”
Grace laughed as she swept her long black hair into a high ponytail, causing several of the guys around the bar to peer over. She was the sort of pretty that caused people to walk into things, which she used to her advantage as often as possible. I glanced up at her, waiting for her smirk to turn into actual words.
“Um…I’m waiting here.”
Lauren grinned from beside me. “We made a last-minute addition to the list.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I figured that out when the 10 Wild Acts suddenly had an 11.”
Lauren’s grin widened, her bright red lips now stretching across her face. She refused to wear any other color of lipstick or gloss. Always red. And with her bleached blond hair and double-mascaraed lashes, she had a very Marilyn Monroe/Gwen Stefani thing going on.
I blinked hard, fighting to clear my foggy head. Obviously, they were going to make this as hard on me as possible. I eyed the list again, taking my time to read each excruciating word.
Hook up with a random guy.
A shiver crept down my back. I was twenty-three and I had never had a one-night stand—even a minor one. No awkward make-out sessions, no getting too drunk and losing control. My responsible side wouldn’t allow me to take such a risk. And now…
Lauren bounced on her heels, and Grace had begun to do a little dance on her stool, causing more looks from the guys around us. I shook my shoulders out, trying to make it no big deal, when something occurred to me.
“You can’t make additions to the list.” We agreed on our ten things the weekend before, handshakes and all. They couldn’t change it now.
“Of course we can,” Grace said in a singsong voice, Lauren nodding along in agreement, and I knew I was outnumbered here. The real point to this whole thing became increasingly clear—they wanted me to step outside my shell. Take chances. Live. All words and phrases that would never describe me.
“Now, go find your guy. We’ll even go easy on you and count kissing as hooking up.”
“What? No. This is stupid, this—”
“All right then, she forfeits,” Lauren said, winking at Grace. “It’s just you and me now. Or you could just give me the hundred dollars, Grace. You don’t need the money, anyway.”
“No!” I said a little too loudly. Yeah, the shots were definitely taking effect. Dammit all to hell! Why couldn’t I have shy friends, who thought dyeing my hair a different color was living? Oh, no. Instead, my best friends were both hardwired to never get embarrassed, to never worry about the consequences of their actions.
Clearly, I needed new friends.
Closing my eyes, I told myself t
o stop being so ridiculous. If it was just a kiss, then I could do this. No big deal. I’d kissed plenty of guys. All right, plenty might be a stretch. Maybe five? But five counted as something. I wasn’t a virgin, kissing or otherwise. Yet somehow, I’d never kissed a random guy. Never even had the urge.
I drew a breath. All I had to do was go up to a guy, start talking, and ask him to kiss me. Girls did that crap all the time, right? I could do this. Or I could just say no and lose. I mean, what was so wrong with losing? Nothing. I could lose. Cameron, the loser.
A sick feeling moved over me at the thought, followed immediately by sharp anger. Who was I kidding? I had never willingly lost at anything in my life. I wasn’t a loser, which meant I had only one choice here.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I tapped my shot glass. “I need another. Scratch that. I need five more. Make them all doubles or triples or whatever. Just strong.” I peeked back up at Lauren and Grace. “What sort of kiss are we talking about here? Because I’ve already been kissed tonight, so technically I—”
Lauren shook her head and pointed at the list. “Nice try, but yeah, no. That chick kissing you doesn’t count.”
I started to argue just as a soft chuckle hit my ears, and instead of pleading my case, I whipped my head to the left to find a guy seated on the stool beside me, a white baseball cap with a giant, orange T pulled low over his eyes. University of Tennessee, hmm. I rarely saw guys in the city supporting teams from the south. It was usually the Yankees or Mets or Giants or whatever. He wore a button-down shirt rolled to his elbows, giving off a definite frat-boy vibe that me and my buzz had no patience for.
“This is a private conversation.”
The guy grinned. “Well, then you might want to tell your voice that. Pretty sure the whole bar heard you.”
My eyes widened before narrowing in on him. “Let me guess—fall retreat in New York City? Oh, how big and bad you all must feel.”
This time he spun around to face me, leaning in so his scent hit me full force. And dear. Heaven. Above. I drew a breath, fighting the urge to sigh. Mild cologne, with a hint of soap. Entirely man. Entirely sexy.
Chocolate-brown eyes, framed in full, dark lashes, stared at me from below the bill of his hat, hints of dirty-blond hair peeking out at random—at his temples, tickling his neck. Suddenly, I wanted to take back all my words and begin again with, “Hi, I’m Cameron,” though I feared it would come out, “Holy hell, you’re hot.” I drew a breath to calm myself down, and he edged still closer.
“Look, I get it. You’re the good girl to their bad. Every group’s got one, and now they’re trying to force you over to the dark side. One night, right?” His gaze raked over me, no hint of subtlety, and though a part of me wanted to tell him to take those roaming eyes elsewhere, another part was curious. “And I bet you’re tempted,” he said, reading my thoughts. “I bet you told yourself you needed this, and you’d be right. You do.”
“What do you know about me? With your UT hat and starched shirt. I mean, who the hell dresses like that?”
He laughed, the sound so damn sexy my insides screamed for me to shut up and go along with whatever he had to say. “Not a Tennessee fan, huh?” He cocked his head. “Let me guess—Georgia girl goes to NYU to prove she’s bigger than her small town?”
I swallowed hard, my insides boiling at his suggestion—and at how very close he was. Switch out Alabama for Georgia and he’d have pegged me perfectly. Somehow, being read so easily made me want to get away from him. Fast. “Think whatever you like. I should get back to my friends.” But when I turned, both Lauren and Grace were out in the bar, talking it up with different guys, well on their way to winning the final task.
“Looks like the bad girls are going to win this round.”
My stomach tightened as I peered back over at him. How could someone so hot be so infuriating? “Listen, I don’t really need or want your opinion.”
“Perhaps. But I’m guessing you could use my lips right about now.” He nodded toward the back of the bar, where Lauren sat beside a tall guy with dark hair, her hand on his chest, readying for the kiss. She leaned toward him, just as UT Guy flipped around his baseball cap. “Ready whenever you are, good girl.”
I spun back to tell him he could take his lips elsewhere, but then my eyes found his, all wicked fire and sex, his legs slightly open, room for me to step between them. He took my hand and tugged me closer. “Don’t think. Just do.” And then his mouth found mine, first soft and warm, testing the feel of my lips, the way we moved together. But then the alcohol in my veins seemed to spike, attraction taking over, and I parted my lips, inviting him in, our tongues tangling as he secured me to him. Warmth spread all through me, pooling lower and lower until I felt sure I would lose myself right there in his arms. I’d never been kissed like this, like nothing else mattered, like time stood still. I didn’t want it to end.
Finally, I pulled away, unsure of what expression I’d find on his face, and was pleased to see the same heat in his eyes that I felt in my chest. My thoughts jumbled together, rational thinking giving way to temptation. Four years with the same guy, just to watch him leave. Then date after date, all trying to find a spark. Something, anything, only to end up alone. My entire life, I thought I would leave college and move in with my boyfriend, then later get married. But no, I was alone. Well, I didn’t want to be alone.
Maybe for one night, I didn’t have to be.
Biting my lip, I leaned into him, allowing my attraction to him to replace reason, and pressed my lips to his, testing the kiss again, unsure of where this was going. And for once, I didn’t care.
Chapter Two
My phone rang from my nightstand, interrupting what had to be the best dream of my life. I scrambled to shut off the loud-pitch sound that drove the knife working through my brain still deeper. Ugh…how much did I drink?
“Hello?” I asked foggily.
“Cammie? Are you sick? Why does it sound like you just woke up?”
I closed my eyes, drawing a long, patience-filled breath, and then opened my mouth to say hello to my mom, when instead a deep voice from beside me said, “Good morning.”
“Ah!” I scrambled out of bed, wearing nothing but a white tank top and barely-there panties, and spun around, my eyes locked on the person in my bed. Memories popped into my head from the night before. Lauren and Grace. The game. The karaoke. The girl kissing me. The UT guy.
Holy shit, the UT guy.
My cheeks warmed at the memory of his lips on mine, on my cheek, my neck, my hand reaching out in invitation as I asked him to come home with me.
Holy shit, I asked him to come home with me.
And unless that dream had manifested into reality or my brain finally had enough and decided to go crazy, here he was. In my bed. Which meant we must have…
“Mom, I’ve gotta call you back.” I hung up the phone, and it immediately rang back. Then when she realized I wasn’t answering, the phone pinged with text after text, each one in all caps, screaming for me to call her back RIGHT THIS SECOND. “Dammit.” I quickly typed out that there was a spider in my room, my eyes still on the man in my bed.
“You.”
“Me.” He grinned up at me, bare chest exposed, my white duvet the only thing covering his lower half. Without his UT hat on, he appeared older than me by a few years—maybe late twenties—and oddly familiar. I tried to remember where I might have met him, but in a city of millions, it could have been anywhere or anytime. Or maybe I’d only seen him on the subway or something. I didn’t know.
“What are you doing here?”
His mouth quirked as he raised his eyebrows as if to say shouldn’t that be obvious?
“I don’t do this.”
“Clearly.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He stretched his arms out behind him, showing off his defined biceps, then pushed out of the bed, causing my heart to jump into my throat, until I realized he wasn’t completely naked. A pair o
f black boxer briefs covered his ass like they were made just for him. I scowled as I took in his perfectly mussed hair and perfect broad shoulders and unnaturally cut abs. Real people didn’t look like this guy. Real people were scarred and freckled and flawed. And those flaws were part of what made them beautiful. I preferred guys with just the right mix of flaws. Guys with wrinkled clothes, who wore glasses and—
My random thoughts stopped short as UT Guy slipped on his jeans, then reached for his jacket and pulled out a pair of black frames. “I had to toss my contacts last night, so it’s this or I’ll need you to walk me home.” He flashed me a grin, then fixed his glasses in place, and my cell phone fell from my grasp, bouncing once before landing facedown, clearly ashamed of my ogling.
“Glasses?” I wasn’t sure what surprised me more—the glasses or how comfortable he seemed with them on.
He pulled on his shirt and peered over at me. “Yet another reason for that glare of yours? You know, you weren’t nearly so mean last night.”
Last night. My gaze dropped, embarrassment working through me despite my effort to keep it in check. No, I guess he wouldn’t think I was mean last night. I had all but thrown myself at him after that first kiss, desperate for another, and then after an hour of talking and flirting and kissing, I didn’t want the night to end, so I’d invited him home with me. Something I had never once done before.
“I’m not a serial killer or something, if that’s what has you worried.”
“Funny.”
He grinned. “I thought so.” He took a step toward me and I matched it back, causing him to stop. “Why don’t we grab coffee? I can give you a rundown of my résumé. Prove I’m worthy of your time.”
I crossed my arms and stared at him. I’d seen plenty of guys come and go in Lauren’s room, and none of them talked about résumés and proving their worth. The glasses might have given me pause, but I was seeing clearly now, and it was time for this embarrassment to end before I fell for his charm and wound up getting burned. “Actually, I have a lot to do today, so if you could just…” I motioned to the door. How exactly did one end a one-night stand? I mean, shouldn’t he leave without all this conversation?
