Sizzle

by Sarah O'Rourke

  Sizzle

  By Sarah O’Rourke

  Copyright © 2014 by Sarah O’Rourke

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication or cover design artwork may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods in current use or to be developed in the future, without the prior express written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law (US. Copyright Act of 1976).

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and settings are fictitious, and are the sole property of Sarah O’Rourke. Any resemblance to actual events, names, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Any real setting is used in a fictitious manner with literary license.

  This work of fiction is intended for mature audiences.

  For more books by Sarah O’Rourke, visit:

  www.sarahorourke.info

  www.amazon.com/author/sarahorourke

  Table of Contents

  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

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Epilogue

  Playlist for Sizzle

  Acknowledgments & Dedication

  Sneak Peek – Cain’s Salvation

  Sneak Peek - Hard as Stone

  Chapter One

  “Where is that cowardly son of a bitch?”

  Oh, look. The gates had been stormed. The enemy had breached the wall and was obviously about to scale the fortress. Where the hell was a good musket when she needed it?

  Molly Ramsey smiled sympathetically at the statuesque woman with the model-like good looks who was obviously on the edge of a nervous breakdown. She silently acknowledged to herself that it was going to be another long day at the office.

  Momma had told her there would be days like this. She just hadn’t expected there to be so freaking many of them coming in row. Sweet mercy, she hated for her Momma to be right.

  The irate newcomer threw her Hermes bag down on the chair in front of Molly’s desk. “Get him. Now.”

  Molly merely sighed to herself as she mentally surveyed the items on her ordered desk, idly wondering if her stapler could become a lethal weapon. She was tempted to just hand it to the interloper and point to the office behind her, but she knew she’d hate to have to call the police for the inevitable clean up. The paperwork alone would be a bitch. Holding up one hand, she shook her head. “Ms. Miller, you know that I can’t let you go any farther. His rules.”

  “The bastard only obeys the rules he likes, Molly, and you know it!” Carolyn Miller all but shrieked as she rapidly paced in Molly’s small office. “He needs to come out here and face me like a man instead of a little boy hiding behind his protector! Honest to God, Molly, he dumped me!” She paused for a second and glared at the closed door. “Men DO NOT dump me. I do the dumping!”

  Molly could only groan. Why was this happening to her? What perverse powers had been at work when fate had conspired against her and arranged for her to work for her brother’s best friend? What kind of sin had she committed at the ripe old age of twenty-four to be saddled with Willy the Wonder Ass and his relationship woes?

  She’d been a good girl who had done all the right things, damn it!

  She’d gone to a great university, graduated with honors, written a killer resume, and commenced the hunt for a job with all the ferocity of a soldier going into battle.

  Sadly, though, there wasn’t a high demand for individuals with a degree in Art History.

  Even more depressing than that?

  Those pesky student loans still came due on a regular monthly basis whether she had a job or not.

  And so, she ended up here, working for her older brother’s best friend in a position she was quickly beginning to despise. Her official job title was Executive Assistant. But she had determined months ago that her job description lied and that she was obviously her boss’s one-woman defense squad against the so-called evil forces that were his jilted loves. The enemy’s ranks were growing, and they invaded frequently.

  Yes, she was in hell.

  With William freaking Delancy and his dancing dick!

  The man had truly earned his nickname of Devil. Widely reported by the ladies to be Satan between the sheets, he was well known for his “love ‘em and leave ‘em” offense. He was also given credit as one of the shrewdest, most manipulative financiers in the industry by his contemporaries in the business and reputed to have a singularly unholy touch when it came to making money. A self-made millionaire several times over, he was coldly analytical in his business practices…and even more so when it came to his personal life. Like the stocks and commodities he dealt with, he considered women little better, trading and shuffling them as often as he did his investment portfolio. It did not help that he was also sinfully sexy in a tall, dark and dastardly kind of way...and charming as hell when he put his mind to it.

  Most women saw Devil Delancy as challenge, the thrill ride worth taking the risks.

  Hell, no!

  Molly thought it was all downright disgusting.

  And she genuinely felt awful for the beautiful woman standing in front of her desk.

  Just not quite awful enough to risk Devil’s wrath if she interrupted him with the woman’s demands to see him. Molly already knew what his answer would be.

  The man had iron-clad policies regarding this type of dating drama.

  Nope, Devil Delancy was through playing with the lovely woman currently trying to glare little Molly into submission, and nothing Molly could say or do to her boss was going to change that. In his eyes, the emotional transaction had been concluded. The deal had been sealed.

  He was done with woman number eight hundred and forty-one...or wherever the hell this one ended up in the curious countdown of Devil’s devious deeds.

 
; Taking a deep breath, Molly pasted a serene smile on her face and shook her head. “I’m really very sorry, Ms. Miller. Mr. Delancy has given me strict instruction that he’s not to be interrupted this afternoon for anything. Or by anyone. There’s really nothing I can do.”

  “Molly!” Carolyn Miller exploded with a shriek, her hands waving wildly as she dug into her purse. “He broke up with me in a card! A card, Molly!”

  Flinching slightly as Carolyn waved the card in question underneath her nose, Molly rolled back in her desk chair. She was familiar with the little piece of paper in the other woman’s hand. She’d seen plenty of them in the year she’d worked for the scurrilous magnate hiding out in the office behind her.

  The man couldn’t even bother with originality, Molly thought with a mental eye roll. Every woman he bedded got an identical bouquet of flowers when the relationship came to its inevitable end. And the blasted card said the same thing every time.

  She could quote that damn card in her sleep!

  Dear (Insert Witless Wonder’s Name Here),

  Our time together has been incredibly special, but like life, all good things come to an end. Please accept these flowers and accompanying gift as a token of my high esteem, and please remember our time together fondly.

  My highest regards,

  Devil

  The gift was always a necklace, and the only thing that changed was the gem pendent. Sometimes it was an emerald. Sometimes, a ruby. Occasionally, if Devil had really had a genuinely exceptional time – or what Molly assumed was a great lay – it was a sapphire.

  Never diamonds, however. Even Devil wasn’t so callous as to send a girl’s best friend when dissolving a relationship.

  But it was always a necklace. And always a bouquet of yellow freaking roses.

  She should know. She and his florist had drinks once a week.

  “I want to see him!” Carolyn demanded, slamming her Christian Louboutin heel against the expensive tile. “At the very least, he owes me the courtesy of an explanation!”

  Good luck with that thought, Molly silently jeered. Satan slows for no mere mortal, even when she has a tiny waist and double-D breasts. Just take the lovely parting and go, she prayed to a God that seemed to be steadfastly ignoring her.

  Man, this sucked, Molly thought as she stared into the other woman’s irate face. She’d even semi-liked Carolyn. She was one of the few brainless bimbos the boss man had dated that hadn’t been threatened by Molly’s admittedly strange relationship with him. That had proven to be a really rare occurrence over her months working for Devil, and Molly always appreciated those ladies when they came along, infrequent though it was.

  Straightening her slim shoulders, Molly shook her head slowly as she decided a more personal approach might be effective. “Carolyn,” she said with a quiet firmness that she reserved for the ladies that were particularly resistant to Devil’s kiss-off message, “it’s not going to happen. He’s not going to see you. I think you know that.”

  Carolyn’s mouth abruptly closed and she blinked quickly several times. “Why, Molly? Why does he do this?” she whispered violently, wisps of her platinum blonde hair flying ever so slightly around her face.

  Watching as the woman’s manicured hands curled into fists at her side, Molly shook her head. “I don’t know,” she offered simply. “I’m sorry.”

  Touching the blue stone at her throat, Carolyn offered Molly a bitterly rueful smile. “At least I got the sapphire, right?” she whispered painfully. “There must have been something about me he found memorable.”

  To soothe or not to soothe? That was the question currently rolling through Molly’s addled mind. The Christian angel that sat on her right shoulder reminded her that it would be the kind thing to do...and would more than likely get the crying woman out of her office quicker. But the cackling demon on her left had more exciting ideas, the best of which was drop-kicking the demanding diva out the door. Oh, how she wanted to do just that!

  Her better angels won, as they usually did. “You lasted a lot longer than some of the others, Carolyn,” Molly shared truthfully, even though her mind jeered at what she was saying. The current chick-of-the-moment had only lasted longer than the others by a day or two. Devil never held onto a woman longer than a couple of weeks. Sadly, the man seemed to have the attention span of a perpetually horny gnat. Looking at Carolyn trying so valiantly not to cry, Molly felt compelled to at least try and console her. “You know the only woman that Mr. Delancy has ever really loved is his grandmother. I just don’t think he has it in him to give another woman more than what he offered you.”

  Now that was a statement that Molly truly believed. But she was so going to kill Devil for this later!

  “Something to be proud of then, I suppose,” Carolyn muttered, lifting her chin and smoothing her silk dress around her hips. Glaring at his closed office door, she shook her head and narrowed her eyes. “One day, Molly, the Devil is going to get his due. I just hope we’re both there to see it.”

  Yeah, so do I, Molly thought dryly. Unfortunately, she doubted it would ever happen. When it came to romantic relationships, Devil was missing a sensitivity chip. Extending her hand, she smiled again. “It really was a pleasure, Carolyn.”

  Shaking the younger woman’s slender hand, Carolyn smiled weakly. “You’re smart, Molly. I could tell that about you right away. Be careful, okay? Don’t let yourself get caught up in his web.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t,” Molly assured her with a dismissive grin. Getting ensnared in Devil’s web would require that he see her as a woman rather than his best friend’s baby sister.

  Needless to say, it wasn’t likely to happen. While Molly considered herself to be passably pretty, every prima donna that had hung on Devil’s arm could only be described as ravishingly beautiful. Their runway-model looks far outshone her cute but curvy figure. And since she wasn’t going to deprive herself of her Ben & Jerry’s any time soon, she was comfortable with her size eight hips, thank you very much. Smarter than the average lab rat (her SATs declared her so!), she felt confident that she could outsmart that sizzling son of a bitch who cowered behind his office door!

  Oh no, the Devil’s web was one location she was fairly certain she’d never be.

  And somewhere in the Universe, a bitch named Fate cackled maniacally.

  Chapter Two

  Waiting impatiently until the steel doors of the elevator had slid shut on a devastated and tearful Carolyn Miller, Molly wheeled on her sensible heels and stormed toward her employer’s office.

  He’d made her make another woman cry, for God’s sake. One that she really liked! This was a new low even for the taciturn man behind the closed doors, and Molly was at the end of her limited patience with his antics.

  Carolyn had been nice, damn it!

  Shoving the barrier between them open with the force of a bullet, the door bounced against the wall as her eyes narrowed on the intended target of her righteous rage.

  “You!” she shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the elegantly dressed businessman. His dark hair was slightly mussed, but his tie was still in a perfect Windsor knot. The better for her to strangle him with later, she thought darkly.

  “Yes?” Devil queried calmly from behind his desk without looking up from his computer screen. The jerk was unfazed by her enraged entrance to his lair.

  “You have got to have the coldest heart this side of the Mississippi, William Delancy! I know for a fact that you were raised better than that! Between your Nana and my own mother, you are well aware that a Southern gentleman does not treat women in the manner to which you appear to have grown accustomed,” Molly addressed him heatedly, launching into her standard sermon as he merely sat there in front of her. Her lectures had never been particularly effective before, but maybe today would be her lucky day.

  Offering his youthful assistant a long look, Devil’s lips twitched. He’d known Molly since she was born. Hell, he’d been there when the Ramsey family had brough
t her home from the hospital. She’d been as cranky then as she was now. Arching one brow, he schooled his handsome face into resigned boredom, then said, “That might be an issue if I’d ever promoted myself to be a gentleman, Molly Brown. I do believe, however, I have painstakingly cultivated a reputation the opposite of that. Besides, I hardly think scolding me on my love life is part of your job description.”

  Flushing, Molly’s pink lips pressed together as he used his infuriating nickname for her. “First, don’t call me that. You know how much I hate it!”

  “I do. I just don’t care,” he replied to needle her, unperturbed by her ire. He was used to it. Honestly, he kind of enjoyed having someone around that wasn’t afraid to yell at him. Most people tiptoed around him and spoke only in whispers.

  Not Molly.

  She said whatever the hell she thought whenever the hell she thought it – regardless of all thoughts of consequence. She simply didn’t give a damn.

  Ignoring his patronizing look, she barreled forward in her diatribe. “Second, I’ll reprimand you any time I feel like your love life is having a direct impact on my psychological wellbeing, you ass!”

  “Pretty words,” he mocked, amused. “Your mother would frown upon the unladylike behavior, little one,” Devil criticized with a cluck of his tongue. He grinned when her cheeks went that faint scarlet color that he enjoyed so much. Obviously the old adage about redheads and their tempers was indeed accurate!

  “Oh, shut up!” Molly snapped, turning to slam his door closed with a flick of her wrist. It was a huge office building with hundreds of employees, but no one would dare cross that threshold of his personal office if the door was shut. She was certain that she didn’t want any witnesses when she committed coldblooded murder on his person. There was that whole reasonable doubt thing to think about, after all. Turning to stalk toward his desk, she glowered. “My mother wouldn’t have time to be mad at me if she knew just how much of a Don Juan you’ve become. Honest to God, you’re going to drive me to drink, Devil!”

  “Do tell,” he invited silkily, just a hint of his southern accent escaping as he spoke.

  She slapped one palm against his solid desk. “Listen up, Romeo! One of these days, one of your Juliets is gonna stab me in the heart with my letter opener because you are too much of a wuss to face them once you break their hearts! You know what I want? I want a life insurance policy added to my employee benefit package! While you hide in here in your safe little haven, I’m out there on the frontlines under enemy fire!” she yelled, jerking her thumb toward the door.