by Aimee Duffy
She didn’t ask any more questions as they ate, and Calvin remained silent. The air between them still crackled, but in an uncomfortable way. She didn’t want this fortnight to be filled with mornings like this. The sex had been good, but—
‘So, tell me what you like to do with ties, Ms. Lopez,’ Calvin said with his sexy wry smile.
The tension seeped out of her shoulders and she grinned. ‘Buy some and you’ll find out.’
The idea of restraining him with the silky creations and having her wicked way with him made a hot flush flare through her body.
‘I think it’s time for a shower, don’t you?’ he asked, his eyes dark and delicious.
Shey placed her cutlery on the table next to her empty plate. ‘I am feeling dirty.’
Calvin was out of his chair, around the table, and hauling her willingly to the bathroom at record speed. Excitement unfurled in her stomach as she kept up with him.
***
The days went by too quickly for Shey and Friday rolled around before she knew it. She had plans to hit Club Zero tonight with Georgia and Eloisa, but she couldn’t fight the ache of wanting to see Calvin again.
Sex with him was so intense, so erotic, she couldn’t think straight. Together they were mindless, primal and it was turning out to be addictive. A night off was exactly what she needed, but like a true addict she was already having withdrawal symptoms. She eyed her cell phone on her desk, and told herself she was not calling him to hear his voice.
But it wasn’t a battle she’d win easily. When lunch time came, she grabbed her purse and left her cell on her desk. Remove the temptation and she’d be okay.
Until she found the ultimate temptation at the reception desk talking to a blushing Mandy.
Not that she could blame Mandy. Shey blushed a lot when he turned the charm on with her, too.
His attention zeroed-in on her and made her hot all over. He had this way of making her feel like the most sexual woman who ever existed, and that was exactly how a man should make a woman feel.
After murmuring something to Mandy, he crossed the foyer toward her.
‘What are you… Oh my God, is that a tie?’ Black silk was knotted around his throat and her knees wobbled.
Calvin’s grin said he was enjoying teasing her. ‘Do you like it?’
Before she could answer, he pulled her into an embrace and his mouth crashed down on hers. Shey clung to his shoulders as she was swept away in him. Pressing herself closer, she felt the stirrings of his arousal pressed against her thigh, which only added to the fire inside.
He pulled back enough to look at her face and cupped her cheek. ‘We have an audience,’ he whispered.
Shey’s eyes widened as she looked past him to see Mandy and LB with gaping mouths. Oops. She squeezed her eyes shut and he laughed.
‘Lunch?’ he asked.
‘Please.’ She’d have agreed to anything to get out of there.
Since he’d worn a tie, Shey expected they would be taking a trip to the twelfth floor. When he pressed the ground button in the elevator, she frowned at him. A half-smile curved his lips, and she decided to hold back her questions. After all, he wore it for a reason and she’d find out soon enough.
But he only took her as far as her favorite deli and told her to grab a seat. She did, and tried to keep the disappointment she was feeling from her expression. She wasn’t a nymphomaniac, and the fact she was acting like one pissed her off.
He returned with the sandwiches and a couple of coffees. ‘How was work?’
Shey couldn’t keep her mouth shut. ‘Why are you doing this?’
He had the gall to look taken aback. ‘Doing what?’
‘Turning up here in a tie and taking me to lunch.’
Calvin’s husky laugh shivered through her. ‘I bought the tie for tomorrow, and I’m taking you to lunch because I won’t see you until then.’
She stared at him with wide eyes. The words didn’t sound like a man who wanted just sex, and he must have realized it because he cleared his throat and picked up his sandwich.
‘Eat up, Shey. It’s your favorite.’
She did, barely tasting the chicken or Dijon mustard. Last week she’d been the one who wanted to get to know him more so she would feel comfortable with him, but he’d been learning things about her too. Like how she couldn’t stand Jude, but felt sorry for him because he seemed to be going through a rough patch with his husband, that Eloisa and Georgia were like her sisters and she couldn’t imagine what her life would have been like if they weren’t there, and he even knew about her mixed feelings toward Felicity.
And now he was having lunch with her because… what? He missed her? This felt like breaking the rules, crossing boundaries both of them had put up.
He smiled at her, and the genuine warmth in his eyes made her heart flutter. Crap. Things were changing, and she didn’t know if she was strong enough to stop herself from falling for his charms. And where would that leave her? High and dry in two weeks, with a broken heart.
She put the unfinished sandwich down and pushed her plate away.
‘Shey?’ he asked, concern making faint lines on his forehead.
‘This isn’t what we agreed, Calvin. Lunch wasn’t part of the deal.’
His expression closed down and he nodded. ‘It won’t happen again. I only thought the anticipation of seeing what I bought now might heighten things tomorrow.’
He didn’t meet her eyes through the lie, and she didn’t call him on it, because a part of her wanted him to miss her. That wasn’t part of their deal either.
‘You know, I’ll make you pay for teasing me,’ she said, in an attempt to ride over the awkward.
Calvin smirked at her. ‘Do tell.’
Mr. Cool was well and truly gone now, thank God. ‘I may use it to tie you to your bed and have my wicked way with you.’
He leaned closer, and she caught a lungful of Eau De Pheromone. The air crackled between them, and she had to squeeze her knees together to calm the ache between her thighs.
‘And how exactly would that be a punishment?’ he asked, back to his cocky self.
Shey leaned so close her lips were almost touching his. ‘Because it will be up to me if I let you come.’
He caught her lower lip between his teeth and used it to tug her closer to him. The sensations shot right down to her center and she groaned. He released her, then dropped a light kiss on her lips.
‘Try it, but I’ll have to return the punishment. Fair’s fair.’
She swallowed at the threat, but the usual panic didn’t come. In fact, the idea of giving up that much control and being at his mercy only made her hotter, and her cheeks flushed. Calvin studied her reaction, then his mouth tilted at one corner.
‘You trust me enough to let me take control.’
It wasn’t a question, so she didn’t feel the need to answer. Plus, he looked thrilled by the realization, so she couldn’t let any of the sly remarks running through her head out.
Calvin ran his fingers through her hair. ‘I won’t ever take advantage of that, Shey.’
‘I know, and I’d never take advantage of your trust either.’ The distant look in his eyes made her suspicions about his marriage niggle until she couldn’t hold back her curiosity. ‘What happened with Jane? You can tell me, you know.’
His jaw clenched, and he removed his cell from his pocket and focused on the screen. ‘She took almost everything when she left.’ When his gaze met hers, his eyes were cold. ‘I’m sorry, but I’ll never allow a woman to do that to me again.’
What happened must have been bad, and now she wasn’t convinced the separation was down to him. Did he end up broken-hearted? That would make her understand the person he had become.
Or was this who he was, and his wife had caught him in an unpleasant situation?
His thumbs moved rapidly over the cellphone keys. He’d never done that in her company before and it felt like a brush-off. She should leave. Better than sitti
ng there feeling unwanted.
‘I should get back to work,’ she said.
Calvin lifted his head, leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers in a sweet, unhurried kiss that made her tingle all over and left her wanting more. When she opened her eyes, his burned with something deeper than lust, brushing over the disinterest. Shey guessed he wasn’t the only one looking like they wanted more. She was feeling a little more than desire herself.
***
Calvin wasn’t a man who gave up control easily in the bedroom, and didn’t think it would be something he’d ever enjoy. With a wrist secured to each bedpost, blindfolded, and Shey teasing him with her tongue and fingers, he had to revise his initial opinion.
‘So, are you sure anticipation is worth it?’ she whispered into his ear.
His erection swelled, begging for her attention, but of course, she paid it none. The minx. ‘I’m sure it will be. Shey, get up here. I want to taste you.’
‘Topping from the bottom?’
He laughed and the bed dipped as she climbed on.
‘Take off the blindfold,’ he commanded.
‘Nope, I like having you at my mercy.’
She straddled his hips and her hot, soaked entrance slid across his erection. Calvin groaned. His hips thrust without his permission, and the tip penetrated her. Shey froze above him and he gasped. She was so hot and wet. Glorious.
‘Calvin, we need… ‘
He pulled out, his breath sawing through his lungs. ‘I know. I’m sorry.’
‘It’s not because I don’t trust you, I do. It’s just— ’
‘You don’t have to explain. Pregnancy wasn’t part of the deal.’
Referring to what they had as a deal burned his throat on the way out, but it’s how she saw their time together and he had to remember that. It was getting too easy to be with Shey, in or out of the bedroom. So much so that yesterday he’d wanted to meet her for lunch because he wouldn’t see her until tonight. But she was right to call him on it.
‘I’m on the pill, but the idea of getting pregnant terrifies me, so I always double up.’
Calvin gritted his teeth. Her sorry excuse for a mother didn’t deserve Shey.
‘Take off my blindfold.’
Something in his voice must have told her he wasn’t playing around because she did. Her expression was closed off, but she couldn’t hide the pain in her amber eyes. His lungs shrunk until it was hard to breathe.
In a gentler tone, he said, ‘Untie me.’
Shey did as he asked. As soon as he was free, he crushed her against his chest. ‘I understand, sweetheart. It terrifies me too.’
He kissed her then, soft as a whisper, and took his time. Felicity should be burned at the stake for how insignificant she made her daughter feel, and Calvin made it his mission that night to show Shey exactly how special she was. For the first time in years, he made love to a woman.
Chapter Eight
Staring at the computer screen, Calvin couldn’t even pretend he was interested in the quarterly statements his accountant had prepared. Before, he’d needed to make money to keep Jane happy. After, when she’d cleared him out of almost everything, he worked hard to pay off the loans he’d taken out for the divorce settlement.
Now he didn’t give a shit what he was worth. He suspected Shey didn’t either. Not at this moment.
All she wanted from him was two weeks of sex with someone she felt comfortable with. Which he’d been happy with initially. Enough time to scratch the itch, burn out the chemistry between them, and go back to his life. But it was backfiring on him. Every touch, every kiss, every time her tight body clenched around his, it only increased his need for her.
And waking up with her in his bed was a different kind of addiction one he wasn’t sure how he was going to break. Wasn’t sure if he wanted to, but what could he offer her, really? He refused to marry again, and as independent as Shey was, he knew that sometime in the future she wanted the things she didn’t have growing up.
Instead of that insight putting the chills on his libido, it infuriated him because the person who gave her those things wouldn’t be him. Shey gave him her trust and he would show her every day how grateful he was, but it wasn’t a favor he could return. Not that it mattered. They only had a few nights left together.
Calvin didn’t want to examine too closely why that realization filled his guts with dread.
His desk phone rang and he hit speakerphone. ‘Not now, Mary.’
He had no appointments that afternoon and he wasn’t in the mood to take calls.
‘I have a woman here to see you.’
Calvin cursed. ‘I don’t have time for this. Tell her to come back another day.’
He cut off the intercom, deciding to pull his head out of his ass and get on with work. Why bother torturing himself over something that wasn’t meant to be? He had his business, the one constant in his life, and if he didn’t pay attention he’d lose that too.
His office door opened. ‘Mary, I said— Shey?’
‘I know you’re busy, this won’t take long.’
She closed the door behind her and hurried over to his desk, a pure vision in a purple shift dress with matching heels, not unlike the ones that left marks on his ass and back last night. His cock hardened with the memory.
But it wasn’t what she wore, or how gorgeous she looked with her hair and make-up expertly done, that turned him on so much. Without it all, she was just as stunning. It was Shey, pure and simple, and a few more nights were never going to be enough.
‘What are you doing here?’ He rose, rounded the desk and pulled her close. ‘Not that I’m complaining.’
She smiled. ‘Marco wants to see me tonight. He says it’s important and I don’t know how long it will take, so I might not be able to come over.’
She looked confused, but happy. Almost blissful, in fact, at the prospect of meeting the bastard. Calvin saw red. ‘He wants to see you? At night? After office hours?’
Her eyes widened. ‘It’s nothing like that. Marco’s married.’
‘A ring on someone’s finger doesn’t guarantee loyalty,’ his voice was cold; surprising since the heat of his anger was scalding.
Shey pulled away from him. ‘Some men know how to keep their dick in their pants.’
That she assumed he was talking about himself only made him angrier. He hadn’t cheated on Jane, or any other woman. Jane had, and her affair was something he’d kept to himself. Nothing like his wife seeking another man’s body to put a dent in his pride.
But Shey knew him. Better than anyone. For her to think that he would after his promise infuriated him. ‘I suppose I’m in the category of those you deem incapable? Haven’t we already been through this?’
She looked startled. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—’
‘It doesn’t matter.’ Or it shouldn’t, but it pissed him off that she thought so little of him.
‘Look, I have to go. I have a meeting with a designer a block away. I just wanted to see you in case I couldn’t tonight.’
‘I thought that wasn’t part of the deal?’ The second the words left his mouth, he regretted them.
Her eyes turned shiny. ‘You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.’
Shey turned to leave. Everything in him wanted to stop her, but he couldn’t. He’d already broken his own rules for her twice, allowing them to become more than a casual affair and again, agreeing to her time limit. Chasing after her now would only show her she had him by the balls, just like Jane had.
‘Shey, you fuck Marco and our agreement is over.’
She turned to him with wide, shiny eyes and the blow on her hit him as hard as if he’d stuck a knife in his own chest. His anger dissolved and he cursed. He stepped closer and she pulled the door open.
Fuck. ‘I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry, I know you would never—’
‘Go to hell, Calvin.’ The door closed behind her and he slammed his forehead into the wood.
The anger he was feeling wasn’t at her. He’d been frustrated since he took her to lunch on Friday. Frustrated because he was falling and he couldn’t let himself. Pissed off because she saw what they had as a deal, nothing more. But he shouldn’t blame her for any of that, since he had stated at the outset sex was all they’d have.
He’d find a way to make this up to her, he had to. But then what the fuck was the point? They were going to end after a few more nights together, and forgetting about Shey would only be harder as time went on. If he didn’t rip her out of his life now, later he’d find more excuses for them to stay together longer; other reasons to delay the inevitable. Maybe letting her go like this, angry and thinking he was a bastard, was the best way.
Even if hurting her tore him up inside.
***
Shey didn’t have much time throughout the day to worry about the meeting. She seethed at what Calvin had thought her capable of. After she’d gotten so mad on their first proper date because she thought he’d be sleeping with other women, he had the nerve to accuse her of considering doing the same.
Well, like he said, a ring on his finger didn’t ensure he’d stay faithful, so why should a couple of rules make a difference? Then he had the gall to ask her if she believed he would cheat? The bastard.
Although he never mentioned cheating on Jane, she couldn’t be sure. He’d said the marriage ended because they were pushed apart by his job, but ‘amongst other things’. What was she supposed to think?
Taking a calming breath that did absolutely nothing to ease the fury inside, she fixed a smile onto her face and opened the door to the exclusive men’s club Marco had invited her to. Giving her name to a guy who looked like a pro wrestler, clad in black with an earpiece, she wondered what the hell it was she’d stepped into. The man escorted her through the club, and every table had the refined types she’d imagine were better fitted to England than a place like this.
The décor had an old-English feel, the wood and furnishings expensive, and it didn’t take long to work out she was the only woman there. What the hell was Marco playing at? A sinking feeling weighed her down. If Calvin was right, where better to have an affair kept secret than in a place no women could enter.
