by Lexy Timms
The meeting went smoothly. Most meetings Alex was involved in did. He’d been told he had a talent for negotiation. It was less talent than it was practice and impeccable self-control, though he did have the advantage of good looks and a voice people trusted, but he let them think what they liked.
At the end of the evening, when their plates had been taken away by the waiter and the terms were set, Alex rose and shook the man’s hand, smiling across the table at him.
“We’re glad to have your business, Mr. Larson.”
“Glad to give it,” the client answered. “You take care, Mr. Reid.”
“And you.”
He sat back down as the man left, pulling his phone out of his pocket again to check it for alerts before he went out to the car. The quiet sound of a chair sliding across the floor too close to be anywhere but at his own table made him lift his head.
A woman had perched on the edge of the chair formerly occupied by Mr. Larson. In one manicured hand she held a half-finished cocktail made with some kind of deep red liquor that matched the color of her fingernails. He lifted his gaze further and met a pair of eyes almost as blue as his own, set in a pretty, freckled face framed by a fall of auburn hair. The body that came with them wasn’t anything to scoff over either—lushly curved and poured into a close-fitting black dress that left the smooth curves of her shoulders bare. It seemed the evening had just gotten a whole lot more interesting.
“A bit bold, don’t you think?” he pointed out as he tucked his phone away once more.
She smiled. “I’ve always found that bold worked for me.” She offered the hand that wasn’t holding the drink. “Laura Underwood.”
Alex took it in his own, feeling the smooth warmth of her skin. Her grip was surprisingly firm. “Alex Reid.”
“Well, Alex Reid, how would you like to buy me a drink?”
“It looks to me like you already have one,” he answered.
Laura raised an eyebrow at him. “And if we sit here long enough that I no longer have one?”
“Then,” Alex conceded, “I will buy you one. On the condition that you give me your number.”
Her smile widened. “You see?” she asked. “Being bold works.”
Alex had to admit that it did.
* *
An hour later, walking out of the restaurant with Laura on his arm, her auburn head resting against his shoulder, Alex found himself admitting again that her strategy had been a good one. But it wasn’t really that much of a surprise. In business, it was taking risks that took you places. In life, if you never stepped out of the lines you never learned just how far you could go.
“So, Miss Underwood,” he said as they reached the edge of the sidewalk that ran along the front of the building. “I would like to propose another deal.”
She tipped her head back to look up at him, her mouth flirting with the idea of a smile. “Is that so, Mr. Reid? And what might that deal be?”
Alex turned to face her. “The deal is, you leave your car here and come home with me and in the morning I’ll bring you to pick it up.”
The smile that had been starting to curl the corners of her lips upward appeared suddenly. “That’s quite an offer.”
“Well, I am a businessman. I know how to make a good deal.”
She laughed, and held out a hand for him to shake again, sealing the contract. Alex took her to the car and held the door open for her to slide in. “If you turn out to be an axe murderer,” she said as he got into his own seat, “I’m really screwed.”
It was Alex’s turn to laugh. “I promise,” he said, “that I’m not and have never been an axe murderer. It’s really bad for business if your clients start showing up dead.”
“Depends on the business. But in your case, yes. I think it’s best if your clients stay alive.” She ran a hand along the interior of the car, her fingertips tracing the smooth leather that covered her seat. “Speaking of business, it must be good,” she said, glancing sideways at him.
They hadn’t talked about his money. Alex didn’t bring it up with women most of the time.
“Very good,” he said, not sharply but with no interest in continuing the conversation. She would get to see just how good business was when they arrived at the house.
She was still looking at him.
“Just what exactly is it you do, Alex?”
“I’m the CEO of an investment firm.”
There was no point in lying, after all; he just wasn’t going to volunteer information.
“You’re young for that,” she pointed out.
“I’m good at what I do, and I don’t waste time.”
“No,” she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. “You certainly don’t.”
“And you?” he asked, because their small talk in the restaurant hadn’t included her occupation either and he would rather talk about her than himself. “What do you do?”
“I’m a lawyer,” she said. “Junior partner at Hardy and Underwood.”
“Impressive.”
“Not as impressive as you might think, unfortunately. It’s my father’s firm. Which you probably could have guessed from the name. So there’s a bit of nepotism going on. But I do actually work, which is more than can be said for some.”
There was a little bit of uncertainty there. Alex could feel it. “Just because you work in the family business doesn’t mean you aren’t talented,” he said. “Or that you wouldn’t have the job if you weren’t family.”
At least that was one concern down. If she was from a family of lawyers she was probably well enough off herself that she wasn’t going to be desperately chasing after Alex’s money. He’d had a few of those. It was only to be expected, and most of the time he didn’t let it get to him, but he preferred women who didn’t want him for his bank account.
“So what about you? Family business?”
“My own business,” Alex said.
“Ah,” she laughed. “So you’re the American Dream boy, pulling himself up by his bootstraps.”
Alex laughed, too, surprised by how little her gentle mockery bothered him. Or, he thought, glancing over at the way her waist curved into her hip, not so surprised after all. He turned his gaze back to the road. “Something like that.”
“Well, lucky you,” she said. “No greedy family members all competing to see who can be Grandma’s favorite and get the biggest portion of her will.”
“Is that a serious problem in your family?”
She laughed. “Not so much a problem as just a constant state of affairs. But then, we all have our issues. My family and I get along well enough. It’s the cousins you have to watch out for. What is that they say... ‘Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way?’ Or something like that.”
Alex turned onto the road that would take them to the house, and she fell silent for a moment, watching the properties grow larger as they continued on. He didn’t say anything about unhappy families; she didn’t need to hear the story of his and just how unhappy it was. At least the members of her family were still speaking to each other, or so he assumed from what she’d said.
“So not just CEO, then. CEO of a successful investment firm,” she said after a minute.
“Did you expect anything less?”
“From you? Not at all. You don’t seem like the type to let anything you run be less than its best.”
“Then you understand me.” He pulled into the garage, and stopped the car. Then he got out and went around to open her door for her. Laura laid a hand in his and stepped out of the car.
“You know, every time I think I’ve guessed who you are, you surprise me. You’re definitely more loaded than I thought.” She laughed.
“Is that meant to be a compliment?”
“It’s possible that it could be.” She grinned at him, leaning into his side as they walked up toward the door. Her body was warm. “I would take it as one, if I were you.”
He paused to unlock the door and then stepped back to
let her walk in first. She moved into the kitchen, her heels clicking a little too loudly against the floor.
“A beautiful house.”
“Yes,” Alex said, closing the door and stepping up close enough behind her that he was sure she could feel his body heat. “I’m fairly fond of it.”
Laura turned, and suddenly they were looking into each other’s eyes from only a few inches away. One of her hands settled on his chest, then slid slowly upward to curl around his shoulder. He laid a hand on the curve of her hip and drew her in closer.
“So,” she said. “Mr. ‘I don’t waste time.’ I think time’s a wasting. Maybe you should get down to business before business decides it doesn’t want to wait anymore.”
“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re kind of pushy?” Alex asked.
“Oh. Everyone. Runs in the family.” She reached up to slide the first button on his jacket through the buttonhole. “It’s why we’re all lawyers.”
Alex set his free hand on her other hip, and then gently but firmly pushed her back. “If you’re so eager for it,” he said, taking a step back of his own, “strip.”
For the first time, her composure faltered, color stealing into her cheeks. Then she grinned at him. “I guess I should have known this is how it would go,” she said, reaching around behind herself with one arm to slide the zipper of her dress down. “You CEO types are so predictable. Always insisting on being in control.”
“Predictable?” Alex echoed. He gave her a narrow-eyed look. “You’re going to get it for that later.”
“Promises, promises.”
She turned her back to him, letting the dress slide down and off her shoulders to crumple into a puddle on the floor. Underneath, she was wearing black lace, and Alex swallowed past a suddenly tight throat, the blood in his body rushing south.
Laura unfastened the catch of her bra and spun slowly to face him, tossing the undergarment aside to join the dress. The tap of her heels on the floor as she walked back toward him was deliberately slow. Teasing. As soon as she was within arm’s reach, Alex caught her by the hips and pulled her in close against him, letting her feel how hard he was. She made a pleased little sound in the back of her throat, arching against his chest and sliding her arms around him.
He lowered his head, brushing kisses against the curve of her throat and sliding his hands down to explore the curves of her buttocks, pressing a knee between her thighs. She writhed against him.
“Tell me how it feels,” he said, nipping at the place where her shoulder met her neck. “All that bare skin against my clothes.”
“Would feel better with you out of them,” she answered, and he could hear the grin even though he couldn’t see it.
“Undress me, then.”
She pulled back enough to unbutton his jacket, her slender hands sliding it from his shoulders.
“Don’t throw that on the floor.”
Laura laughed but she laid the jacket on the counter, and made quick work of his shirt. When it fell open to reveal the muscles of his stomach and chest, she all but purred. Her tongue flicked out to wet her lips.
“Damn, you’re hot.” She traced the ripple of his abdominals with her fingers, then raked her nails over them just hard enough to leave a faint sting behind. “I really hit the jackpot tonight.”
“If you don’t get moving, you’re not going to hit anything.”
She laughed. “Having a hard time, babe?”
He was, in fact, having a very hard time. Alex caught her around the hips again, this time to lift her onto the counter while she laughed breathlessly. MacBane was going to be less than happy when he found out they’d had sex in the kitchen, but he would get over it. Alex wasn’t waiting. He had a hot, willing woman right here.
Her hands worked at the catch of his pants, and he yanked her panties down, pulling them off over the heels she still wore. She whimpered when his fingers traced her slit and found her slick and wet. He pressed the tip of one against her clit and she bucked into his hand. The task of stripping him out of his pants suddenly became a far more urgent one if the way she shoved them down his hips was anything to go by.
Alex grinned. “Good. Now, hands on the counter.” He toed off his shoes so he could let the clothes fall and kick them to the side.
Laura pressed the palms of her hands to the granite, arching her spine, and spread her legs wide.
Alex groaned low in his throat.
“Come on,” she urged.
Alex slid his hands slowly up the curve of her waist, over her ribcage, and cupped the weight of her breasts, thumbs stroking over her peaked nipples. His lips he pressed to the valley between them, brushing kisses down along her sternum and over her belly while she writhed under his touch.
At her navel, he paused, nipping at the rim, and she moaned.
“Come on,” she said again, reaching up to tangle a hand in his hair.
“Counter,” he ordered.
She dropped the hand with another soft whimper, and he rewarded her by sliding two fingers over her sex and rubbing circles against her clit. Her hips rocked against his hand.
“Tell me what you want.” Alex trailed kisses back up the length of her body to catch the unattended nipple gently between his teeth, flicking his tongue over it and listening to her gasp.
“Want you to fuck me.”
He laughed against her skin. “I think that can be arranged.” His fingers stroked one more time over her clit, and then he reached for the condom in the inside pocket of his suit jacket and rolled it down himself. All he could think about was getting inside her. Having her.
She was wet, and wanting, and he slid in easily on the first thrust, listening to her cry out with pleasure at the stretch. One of her hands lifted from the counter to wrap around his shoulder instead, nails digging marks into his skin. He pulled back until he almost slipped out of her, and rocked forward again.
“Fuck,” she was panting. “Yes. Alex. Please.”
With a groan of his own, he nipped a mark into the soft skin of her shoulder. She was meeting every thrust, moving with the kind of eagerness that really turned him on, begging for him to move harder, faster. Alex obliged, dragging her closer to the edge of the counter for a better angle. Her gasps were rising in pitch. With one hand he reached down to rub her clit again, matching the rhythm of their motion. She grasped at him like he was the only thing she had to hold onto.
“Going to come for me?” he growled. “Do it. Come for me.”
She did, panting his name in mangled syllables, her body rippling around him.
Alex didn’t follow her over the edge. His fingers gentled on her clit, but he kept moving, dragging it out slowly now despite the pleasure coiled tight in his belly and the urgent little motions of her hips. He pressed his hand down a little harder, holding her almost still.
“Fuck. Alex.” The words were as much admiration as protest. “Oh fuck, please.”
He grinned against her shoulder. “Please?”
“Stop teasing!”
His answer was a laugh that caught in his throat and went breathy when her nails raked down his back. “You want it?”
“Yeah, fuck. I want it.”
She wasn’t the only one. With a groan, Alex picked up the pace again, letting himself take what he wanted hard and fast while she sobbed his name. Her hand tangled in his hair and her spine arched. Another deep thrust, and she was coming again with a cry.
This time Alex let himself follow, groaning as he spilled. Pleasure washed through him, burning under his skin. Color bloomed behind his closed eyelids. The world fell away.
For a few moments they were still. Alex’s heartbeat raced in his ears. He waited for it to slow and his breathing to return to normal. He could hear her doing the same, little hitches in her breath like she was still recovering. Aftershocks twitched through his muscles.
Finally, he lifted his head. “Good enough for you?”
She laughed, breathless, and dropped back to rest on
her elbows, looking up at him through half-lidded eyes. “Good enough? I don’t think I can feel my legs.”
It was Alex’s turn to laugh. “I’ll count it as a job well done, then.”
“You’re going to have to carry me.”
His eyebrows lifted. “And what makes you think I’ll do that?”
“You’re a gentleman. I can see it in your eyes. And you made me come twice before you did.” She grinned confidently at him. “You’ll carry me.”
Alex shook his head, but she’d already won and she knew it. He pulled out carefully, tossing the condom in the trash, and then gathered her into his arms. Her own wrapped around his neck.
“You’re still wearing your socks,” she observed as he carried her through to the living room, ignoring the clothes they’d left piled on the floor. One of the staff would clean them up. Ordinarily, he didn’t like leaving things laying around unnecessarily, but he doubted they were going to complain about having to tidy away a few items of clothing. Well… maybe the underwear. They would survive it.
“Is there something wrong with wearing socks?”
Laura shook her head, her smile amused. “There is if you’re not wearing anything else. There especially is if you’re attempting to be sexy and all you’re wearing is socks. I’ll give you a pass on it this time, since we were in the kitchen, but you’d better take them off for round two.”
“Round two? You’re a very confident woman.”
“I have reason to be.”
Up the spiral staircase, and then Alex dropped her onto the mattress, where she lay looking up at him with her auburn hair falling around her on the pillow.
She pointed at his feet. “Socks off.”
Alex reached down and removed them. He heard her unbuckling her shoes and the faint thump as they hit the floor beside the bed.
When he straightened, Laura crooked a finger at him, letting her legs fall open. Alex felt warmth pool in his stomach. Her confidence, it seemed, hadn’t been misplaced. He crawled up onto the bed and, to the sound of her delighted laughter, started all over again.
