Miss Understanding (The Miss Series Book 1)

by Aubrey Bondurant

  “I need wine for this.” I figured I’d stick to the basics, starting with my ugly, puffy, olive green coat, him freaking out about the house, his father, and family.

  We were down two glasses by the time I finished. “Wow, that’s a lot.”

  Definitely an understatement. It made me anxious to keep silent about the physical part of our relationship or the way he’d come to the club this last weekend, but I fought the sensation.

  Hell, now that it was going on ten o’clock and I hadn’t heard from him, our non-relationship could be over, and I simply hadn’t heard yet. Sure, I could initiate the text or call, but something told me if I reached out, I’d fail whatever the criteria was for casual.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Liam

  I operated on autopilot over the next four days, barely eating, sleeping, or socializing, while consumed with the deposition prep. Hell, if there hadn’t been a dress code, I doubt I would’ve shaved or showered on a daily basis.

  Of course, Kendall was there in the office, but we were back to our previous coolness. I made an effort to be more appreciative and say thank you and please, but otherwise you would never guess we’d spent last weekend naked in my bed.

  Now, sitting at my desk on a Friday afternoon, I should feel relief that she hadn’t gotten weird in the office. But instead, I was unsettled, not knowing where we stood. Shit. Maybe I should’ve sent her a text at some point this week. Especially since I was due to leave for Hong Kong on Saturday night and would be gone for five days.

  I was exhausted from putting in so many hours, but I finally felt prepared for the deposition. I was always ready. Anything less was not acceptable.

  My intercom buzzed with Kendall’s voice. “Ms. Owings is here to see you.”

  I wasn’t in the mood for Tabitha, but then again, I seldom was. I’d put her off the entire week telling her I could carve out fifteen minutes on Friday. Clearly, she hadn’t forgotten.

  “Thanks. Please send her in.”

  Tabitha came in like she normally did, with eyes only for me and a big smile. “You’ve been working hard.”

  “Yes. I’ve been wrapped up in this deposition prep.”

  “I noticed. I also heard about your father. I’m sorry,” she said, taking a seat across from my desk.

  Word traveled fast. Of course, I’d had to tell the managing partner why I was flying to Virginia and taking my assistant. “Thank you.”

  “Did you really take your secretary with you for the week?”

  Leave it to Tabitha to want to start up some gossip. I decided to shut it down. “Yes, I did. This deposition is a vital element in an important case to the firm. I couldn’t afford to get behind despite a death in my family.”

  “No, no. Of course. I mean some people may have thought it odd, but I suppose it makes sense.” She almost sounded jealous.

  “I don’t care what people think.” At least it was what most believed.

  “Of course. I completely get it. When do you fly to Hong Kong?”

  “Tomorrow night.” I was not looking forward to the lengthy flight even if it was in the luxury of first class. Frankly, I’d rather be with Kendall in my bed.

  Whoa. Where had that thought come from?

  “Good. You have plans for tonight?”

  Aside from waiting on my assistant to get off her moonlighting job and come over to spend the morning in my bed, no. But I didn’t come up with another story quickly enough.

  “Before you say you’re busy, let me tell you I have two tickets to the most coveted charity event in the city, the Feed the Homeless campaign. It sold out months ago because of all the celebrities attending. You know who else will be there?”

  I knew immediately who she meant. “Stephen Walsh.”

  Her brilliant white teeth flashed. “In the flesh.”

  Stephen was the CEO of one of the biggest tech companies on the West Coast and our firm had been trying to land him as a client for years. With him now facing possible litigation from some investors, it was a prime time to get in front of him and try to sell the firm. This fundraiser would me a good opportunity to do just that.

  “What’s in it for you?” I hated to be blunt, but Tabitha didn’t do anything without motivation.

  She held up her hands as if in peace. “Look, I’m a tax attorney. But if you land his litigation business, perhaps it opens the door for us to take on his tax work in the future. Plus, it’s a boon for the firm.”

  “And?” I knew her too well to think she didn’t have an agenda.

  “And I want a percentage of origination credit. I’m trying to make equity partner, so it would go a long way.”

  “Ten percent.”

  She smiled. “Twenty-five. After all, these tickets don’t grow on trees.”

  “Fifteen.”

  “Twenty.”

  “Fifteen. Or I don’t go. You may get me in the door, but I have to do the work to sell myself.” Frankly, there were any number of people from whom I could wrangle a ticket with a simple phone call. If I hadn’t been dealing with the funeral and this deposition, I probably would’ve already called in a favor to obtain a ticket.

  She sighed. “Deal at fifteen percent. It’s black tie, by the way.”

  At least it would give me something to do tonight instead of simply sitting at home and waiting until three o’clock in the morning when Kendall got off work. The thrill of hunting a new client always brought an adrenaline rush. And Stephen Walsh could mean millions, which would go a long way toward getting my name on the front door.

  Tabitha stood up and moved to leave. “Pick me up at eight o’clock tonight. I’ll text you my home address.”

  It would be easier to simply meet her there, but I didn’t have the energy to argue. However, I was thankful she’d said the words behind the closed door, for I didn’t want Kendall to overhear them and get the wrong impression about tonight being anything but business.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Kendall

  I pretended not to care when Tabitha went into Liam’s office and closed the door. My eyes stayed glued to my computer even after she came out fifteen minutes later.

  Ordinarily, she would simply ignore me; however, this time she stopped at my desk.

  I glanced up, schooling my voice. “Can I help you with something?”

  She was tapping on her phone. “Perhaps. If your boss asks you to book a car for our date tonight, can you ensure it’s a limo? I’d like to have privacy.”

  “Certainly.” The word was hard to choke out.

  “Good.” She didn’t so much as glance up from her phone as she turned and walked away.

  I told myself I didn’t care. Liam was free to go out with who he wanted, when he wanted. It’s not like we’d talked about exclusivity. Still, it hurt to think that just Monday morning I’d woken up in his bed. Now, in the same week, he had another date. With Cruella de Vil, of all people.

  During the rest of the afternoon, he didn’t mention it, and I didn’t bring it up.

  Later that night while I worked the bar, I pictured them together. All dressed up. Drinking champagne. Her hand on his leg during dinner. Him laughing about something sophisticated and smart that she’d said in a lawyerly way I’d never master.

  “Whoa, whoa. What are you thinking about while you’re mulling the mint?” Jose asked.

  I was certainly putting a lot of aggression into making a mojito. “Sorry. Guess I have some contained rage.”

  “Anything to do with the suit from last week?”

  I gave my coworker a smile. “Good guess.” I’d even put a new entry in my secret document: I hoped he got food poisoning tonight and barfed all over Tabitha’s dress. Petty, yes. But then again, the high road wasn’t something I was capable of taking this evening.

  At twelve thirty I stepped in back for my fifteen-minute bathroom break. I shouldn’t have looked at my phone. But I couldn’t help myself. No messages. What had I expected? Knowing I had to go back to the b
ar for another couple hours, I found myself typing a text to him.

  “Are you home alone?”

  The dots appeared instantly. “No.”

  My breath left me. Of course he wasn’t alone. I immediately turned off my phone. I was officially a stupid girl. Wiping my stupid tears, I put my stupid phone back in my stupid pocket and left it there.

  “You want to hit the diner for pancakes?” Chloe asked me on our way out to my car after our shifts.

  We went out for breakfast from time to time, but right now, there was nothing more I wanted than to go home and to bed. “Nah. Not today if you don’t mind.”

  “I don’t mind. But are you okay?”

  I gave her a small smile, not wanting to get into my stupidity over everything with Liam until tomorrow, when I could cry on her shoulder with a tub of ice cream within reach. “Yeah. Just tired. Sorry.”

  “Um, Kendall?”

  “Yes?” I glanced up from the ground to her face.

  “Is that your boss?”

  My head swiveled in the direction of her stare. Sure enough, there was Liam leaning against his Tesla in our employee parking lot, looking incredible in a tux.

  “Yeah. It’s him.”

  “I feel like there was a lot from last week you didn’t mention. What is he doing here?”

  “I’m not sure.” Why was he here after he’d said he wasn’t home alone?

  Chloe smiled. “Why don’t you go talk to him? I can wait for your text letting me know if you’re coming home with me or with him.”

  “’Kay.” I was already closing the distance between us.

  I cinched my long belted sweater over my waist, covering up my short black skirt and shiny, off-the-shoulder red top. Seeing him in his tux, I felt it was never more evident we lived in very different worlds. “What are you doing here?”

  “You didn’t answer my text messages.”

  “The one telling me you weren’t home alone. Yeah, I wonder why.”

  His brows furrowed. “You didn’t see my other messages?”

  “There was no need. You had a date with Tabitha. Then you said you weren’t home alone. I get it.”

  He pushed off his car and stepped toward me. “I had a business engagement with Tabitha. And I answered your question with no, because I wasn’t home. Not because I was with her or anyone else. I then sent you a text asking if you wanted to come over. Then I asked if you wanted me to come to the club to meet you here. You didn’t answer either.”

  Oh. “I shouldn’t have asked the question to begin with.”

  His expression was serious. “Why did you?”

  I sighed. “Because I’m a stupid girl.”

  He stepped closer, stroking my cheek. “No. You’re not.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure, but can we do it from the car on the drive to my house?”

  “Your answer has a lot to do with if I get into the car.”

  “Okay.” He looked apprehensive. Probably because we both knew I was about to commit a non-relationship foul.

  “Are we exclusive? Sexually?”

  “If this is about Tabitha, nothing happened.”

  “That wasn’t the question, counselor,” I retorted.

  His lips twitched as if he was fighting a smile at my response, then he let out a long breath. “I worry about what saying we’re exclusive will mean to you.”

  “Again, not an answer to the actual question. And how about I’m the only one who worries about what something will mean to me. Let me put it this way: I’m an only child not used to sharing. And the idea of you sleeping with someone else while we’re sleeping together doesn’t sit well.”

  He grinned. “I don’t like the idea of you sleeping with anyone else, either.”

  Okay, this was progress. “So, we are exclusive sexually?”

  “If I say yes, will you get in the car?”

  His flippant answer irritated me. “Not if you don’t mean it.”

  His expression softened. “I mean it, Kendall. We’re exclusive. Now, will you please get into the car?”

  “I thought you’d never ask.” I pulled out my phone to send a quick message to Chloe telling her I’d see her tomorrow.

  Her response came quickly. “Okay, but I want all the details then.”

  “Please tell me your friend doesn’t also work at the firm?” He glanced over while pulling out of the garage.

  “No, but she’s my roommate.”

  “Okay, but you didn’t tell her I was your boss??”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  He exhaled a breath of relief, which I knew would be short lived.

  “But you showing up tonight pulled the cat out of the bag.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t freak out. But she saw your picture when I started working for you. She knows you’re my boss.” And I wasn’t about to apologize for it.

  “I’m not freaking out. But I am curious. Why did you show her a picture back then?”

  My face heated. “I, um, I mean she was curious about what my new boss looked like.”

  “Interesting. What did you say to make her curious?”

  My lips twitched with a barely repressed smile. His ego was enjoying this far too much. “I may have mentioned you weren’t entirely terrible to look at.”

  He chuckled. “I seem to remember you insisting I wasn’t your type.”

  “I seem to remember you panicking that I was trying to woo you with my culinary skills.”

  I’d turned toward him and watched him drive. Damn, he was a treat to watch. Gorgeous in his tux, with his gaze concentrating on the road.

  “One more bad assumption on my part,” he said. “But now I want to know. What is your type? Since I was sooooo not your type.”

  I found it interesting he remembered exactly how I’d put it, drawing out the “so.” Evidently, it had stuck with him. But there wasn’t an easy way to say, when you’re a complete asshole, you’re not my type. “Let’s just say I had an impression you might be too conservative and uptight for me.”

  He glanced over, mischief dancing in his eyes. “Sounds like you basically thought I was an asshole.”

  “In all fairness, I hardly knew you.”

  “Are you saying that now that you know me, you don’t find me conservative and uptight?”

  Dammit. Never get into this type of discussion with a lawyer. “You’re definitely neither of those things in the bedroom. But I don’t think spontaneity comes naturally to you.”

  He frowned. Crap. Maybe I would’ve been better off saying yes, I’d thought he was an asshole instead of calling him conservative and uptight. But it was true. I mean what guy sees a woman dressed in his T-shirt and short, fresh from the shower, sitting on his countertop and reminds her he has chairs? It wasn’t natural. Which was adorable in its own way. But I didn’t think he’d appreciate me saying that, either.

  “Give me an example.”

  Hilarious. His wanting an example was, in fact, an example of how he was conservative and cautious. To give him an illustration, I decided to take matters into my hands, literally. Reaching over, I ran my hand down his thigh, moving it toward his groin.

  His voice sputtered. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Giving you an example.”

  He sucked in a breath when my hand skimmed over his cock. I could feel it growing with my touch.

  “I don’t think this is the time. We’ll be at the house in ten more minutes.”

  “Hm. Maybe I can’t wait that long. Maybe I need my mouth on you now.” I’d never given road head, but hell, there was a first time for everything.

  He frantically glanced my way. “I don’t want you taking off your seatbelt while we’re on the freeway.”

  Safety first probably was a good idea. “Then, I’ll just have to wait until we’re in your garage to put my mouth on you, but I can still do this.”

  I unfastened the leather belt at his waist, before unzipping h
is trousers. Glancing up, I could see the way he was gripping the steering wheel. My hand then circled around his growing length, pumping up and down. I enjoyed the sound of garbled words hissing out between his teeth. There was nothing I wanted more in this moment than to take away his control. To make him lose his mind. “I can’t wait to taste you. To have you grab my hair and thrust inside of my mouth.”

  He closed his eyes for a brief second. “Christ. This is crazy.”

  “Probably.” But I was empowered by the fact I was taking him out of his comfort zone. That I could bring him this level of pleasure despite my lack of experience.

  I played with him for the eight minutes it took until he pulled into his driveway. I’m guessing he must’ve sped the entire way home. He was leaking pre-cum and gritting his teeth by the time we pulled into his garage. The door wasn’t even down before I’d unfastened my seatbelt and pounced on him. I licked his crown like a lollypop, curious about the taste of him. It was a combination of salty and sweet. Wanting more, I opened my throat and took him all the way to the back of it. After a few minutes of bobbing up and down on his cock, alternating deep throating with shallow, I noticed his legs start to tremble.

  “I can’t last much longer.”

  I swirled my tongue up and down his shaft, sucking up and down on his length. Good, I didn’t want him to last. I wanted him to explode. I could feel his hand tangled in my hair, but still, he was hesitant to apply pressure. I needed more.

  “Lift your hips,” I murmured, needing his trousers to come down so I had more room to move. The moment I circled my lips around him, he was cursing, groaning, and writhing in pleasure under my touch. I fisted him again, taking him deeper and rubbing his balls with my other hand.

  “I’m coming. Oh—”

  Hot streams hit my tongue and went down my throat. I swallowed once, then twice, and wow, a third time. His breathing was still labored while I licked him clean.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Liam