After His Peonies: A Romantic Comedy

by Alina Jacobs

  When I walked down to the lobby, there was Hunter leaning against the desk, chatting with the evening security guard.

  "There she is!" he said. Then he looked at me in confusion. "Where are the flowers I sent you? I thought you wanted them to explode in your apartment."

  I looked up at him.

  "Karen took them." The tears I'd been holding in all day started spilling out.

  His eyes narrowed. "You can't keep working there. They treat you horribly."

  "It's fine," I insisted wiping my eyes. So much for not crying at work.

  "I came here to take you somewhere fun," Hunter said, wiping the last few tears off of my face. "You know, sweep you off your feet and carry you into the woods or—er—rather, a nice hotel."

  "I can't," I said. "I'm tired and hungry." I held up the sandwich.

  "Is that one of those Banera sandwiches that they leave sitting out all day?" He plucked it from my hand and threw it away.

  "Hey!"

  "You'll get food poisoning. Come on."

  Hunter wrapped an arm around me and pressed me to his side.

  "Where are we going?" I asked him as we shared the chips while we walked.

  He led me to a hotel and turned to look down at me. His hand reached up to cup my face. Was he going to kiss me? I closed my eyes. He was so close to me. Hunter lightly wiped at my face with his thumb.

  "You have crumbs on your face," he said softly. Crap. "You have to look presentable. Also, do you have some papers in your bag? Good. That's good. That will make it more believable." He rubbed his hands together.

  "Stand up straight," he ordered and arranged my arms and the papers into position. "Pretend like you're reading those."

  "What are we doing?" I hissed at him.

  He winked at me. "You'll see." He took out his phone and hit a button. Then he walked at a fast pace to the front door of the hotel.

  "What do you mean they didn't put it back online?" he snarled into the phone as I scurried after him. Hunter barely nodded to acknowledge the doorman, then he headed straight for the elevator.

  "I don’t understand what we're paying them...uh huh...well excuse me for actually wanting to get my money's worth!" We stopped in front of the elevator bank. Hunter paced around, growling into the phone.

  I looked around, trying not to act like a trespassing rule breaker. Didn't you need a key card nowadays to use a hotel elevator? What was Hunter’s plan for that?

  I could feel the sweat start, and my heart raced. The three chips I'd eaten churned in my stomach. What was Hunter doing? We were going to get kicked out of the hotel!

  A woman walked up, and Hunter pressed the UP button. The elevator dinged, and we stepped inside. Hunter was still snapping random comments into his phone. I could hear someone talking on the other line. I wondered who it was.

  The woman swiped her key card and hit the 12 button. Hunter immediately pounced and hit the 30 button for the pool and lounge.

  I looked down at the papers, the sweat trickling down my back. I hated breaking rules. I always felt as if someone was going to catch me.

  The woman stepped off on her floor, then we were alone. Hunter took the phone away from his ear and tapped it.

  "Oh my God," I said, slumping against the wall of the elevator. "I swear, I'm never hanging out with you again!"

  "But it's so going to be worth it!" Hunter said with a grin.

  We walked out onto the thirtieth floor. There were huge windows that displayed an expansive view of the skyline.

  "Wow!" I said.

  "Wait until you see the pool," he said as I followed him to the deck. The pool was impressive, with an infinity edge and clear, inviting water.

  "Perfect. We're alone," Hunter said, unbuttoning his coat. "As I knew we would be."

  Then he proceeded to strip down to his boxer briefs.

  "What the—" I exclaimed, covering my eyes.

  Hunter laughed, his deep voice echoing around the pool deck. "I know you're peeking!" he teased. "Come join me."

  "I don't have a swimsuit!" I protested.

  "So you went commando to Harrington-Thurlow? Kinky."

  "I did not—"

  Hunter dove effortlessly into the water.

  "Come in. Water's great!" he called.

  "We're trespassing."

  "Don't say it so loud," he said, swimming over. "Live a little." I looked around then slowly unbuttoned my suit.

  "Don't watch!" I admonished him.

  He slapped a wet hand over his eyes.

  "You're peeking. Turn around."

  "I swear I wasn't." He laughed.

  I hurriedly stripped down to my bra and panties. Because I had spilled kale juice on my comfortable bra, I had been forced to wear the sexy lace one Kate had bought me for my birthday to "spice up my love life." It had come with matching panties. They weren't my usual style, and they normally stayed stuffed in the back of my dresser. But, well, it was cold and I needed to do laundry, so that was all I had had available.

  The part of me that always followed the rules screamed in protest, but then I pointed out to her just how nice Hunter looked shirtless. She still protested, so I told her to shut up. I worked hard. That was part of the corporate law culture, right? Work hard, play hard.

  I slipped into the water. "Okay, you can turn around now."

  Hunter grinned at me. "See, this is fun."

  I swam around in the water. It was warm but not too hot.

  "It's been forever since I've been in a pool." I sighed happily.

  "All the hotels have them," Hunter said, flicking his hair so I was showered with droplets of water. "It’s the best-kept secret in New York. And the kicker? No one ever uses them. But people feel better knowing there's a pool in the hotel."

  "I can't believe you snuck in here."

  "You have no idea what I do on my off hours."

  "Do you even work?"

  "I'm in investments," he sniffed.

  "Uh huh, so you just loaf around and trespass in various places."

  He shrugged. "They don't let you pay to just use the pool. Can't let it go to waste. Besides—" He grinned. "I thought you said you wanted to be whisked away to a fancy hotel."

  That made me think of the flowers, which made me think of Karen. I dreaded going to work tomorrow. I plugged my nose and went under the water. Hunter did the same.

  His body was beautiful under the blue water surrounded by a smattering of tiny bubbles. He smiled at me and sat loosely cross-legged beneath the surface. He made a big, dramatic show of gesturing to my lingerie-clad body and gave me a big thumbs-up.

  I felt as if I were running out of air.

  Hunter swam to me and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me up to the surface, where he pressed his lips to mine. His mouth was warm, and I could smell the almost spicy scent of him under the chlorine. I clung to him as his hands drifted up and down my back.

  Hunter's arms slid under me, caressing my legs, pulling me closer. He deepened the kiss until I was dizzy. His tongue traced my lips before sneaking inside my mouth. My hands roamed over the rippling muscles of his back and tangled in his wet hair. I bobbed against him in the warm water as his mouth devoured mine. The kiss wheeled out of control, and I whimpered and groaned and panted against his soft mouth as his tongue assaulted mine.

  Hunter's hands gripped me so hard I wondered if there’d be marks the following day. I didn’t care. My mouth devoured his, doing everything in its power to consume him. Hunter tasted like surrender, and I wanted nothing more than to give myself to him.

  When the kiss broke, I felt breathless from either him or the warm water. I wasn’t sure.

  "See?" he said. I was satisfied to hear the slight hitch in his voice. "Breaking rules can be fun."

  10

  Hunter

  I couldn't stop thinking about Meg. Being with her in the pool. Watching her undress. Yeah, she hadn’t known I could see everything reflected in the large windows that looked out over the city.
<
br />   Sure, it was breaking the rules a little bit, but holy smokes, seeing her body revealed, decorated by nothing but the skimpy black lingerie. The feel of her nipples pressing against my chest through the barely-there lace. I would break every rule in the book to repeat the experience.

  As it was, Meg was consuming a large portion of my brain power.

  "Are you paying attention?" Mace yelled.

  Right. Mace and the problem of my brothers.

  "You have about five percent of my brain power," I told him.

  "He had a hot date," Archer said. He was plastered next to Mace. They were identical twins, and even in our family, where our good-for-nothing father's genes ran very strong, it was uncanny to see each face reflected in the other.

  "We're here to help," Archer said, stroking his twin’s face and messing up his hair.

  "Stop touching me," Mace snapped. "You're probably covered in STDs."

  "You are so OCD. I'm trying to help you. It’s exposure therapy."

  "While I'm not the germaphobe that Mace is, I don't think I want you touching me either after what you've been exposing yourself to," I told Archer.

  "You act like I pull the girls I date out of a trash can or something," he said.

  "For all we know, you do. You sure seem to have a revolving door of them," Mace countered.

  "It's unbecoming," Greg said.

  "Yeah, Archer. Unbecoming," Mace said, crossing his arms.

  "You could stand to get laid," Archer said. "That's why I'm so relaxed and, quite frankly, the most successful of the bunch."

  "I don't have time to date," Mace snapped at his twin. "In fact, I barely have time to run my company, which will be way more profitable than Greyson Hotel Group, I might add."

  Archer rolled his eyes. "Greyson Hotel Group helps people save their relationships. Sex is an important part of life."

  "Yeah, except then it leads to babies, which brings us back to the matter at hand," Mace said and frowned. "You need to do something about our brothers. They are two dozen of the worst—"

  "I thought there were twenty-three," Greg interjected.

  "Another one was brought yesterday," Mace said, the furrows in his forehead deepening even more.

  Archer rubbed at his twin's forehead. "You don't want wrinkles!" he exclaimed.

  Mace pushed his twin away. "The kid was filthy, and there was a cricket in his pocket."

  "Gross!" Archer said.

  "It was horrible," Mace continued. "And none of you were there to help."

  "What about Remy?" I asked.

  "Remington is like having another kid. He’s out there building a bunker. Claims we need to be prepared for the end of the world. He's got the kids building antitank defenses and stringing concertina wire."

  "Sounds like Lord of the Flies," I replied.

  "At least they're occupied." Archer snickered.

  "It's not funny," Mace said. "He's not well."

  "Remy had a bad war, as they say," Archer said.

  "It's all very stressful," Mace said.

  Archer grabbed his twin by the chin. "You aren't pulling out your eyelashes, are you?"

  "I never pulled out my—stop it. You all think this is a big joke!" Mace yelled.

  "We don't think it’s a joke, Mace," I said. "And we appreciate your hard work."

  "Don't be condescending. I need solutions," he said.

  "I'll fix it," I promised.

  "Like you fixed it with Maria?" Mace argued. "You promised you would convince her to come back."

  "Well, if you hadn't let Billy escape, it would have been fine," Greg said, glaring at Mace.

  "Don't blame Billy on me," Mace said, his voice dangerously low. Mace was usually content to let things slide off of him and focus any situational stress into his weird OCD tics. But eventually, if pushed hard enough, he would snap, with disastrous results for anyone in the vicinity.

  "If you can't find a nanny, one of you needs to move to Harrogate," Mace said abruptly.

  "Not it!" Archer said, holding a finger to his nose.

  Mace stood up, shaking off his twin brother. He stalked over to Greg. "You want to make billions off of your investment in Svensson PharmaTech? I swear, if something doesn't happen with these kids, that company's going to be run into the ground. There will be no billions, and you won't be able to build that tower you want. You need to figure out something soon."

  "Bro, don’t go!" Archer called out as Mace stalked out of the room.

  I looked at Greg. "Any ideas?"

  "I told my assistant to try to find another nanny," he replied.

  "Great! We’ll find someone."

  "We need to discuss Svensson PharmaTech," Greg said. "You said you had a way to secure information about Holbrook's foray into the market."

  "Don't worry about it," I said. "I have a plan."

  "Do you?" Greg looked skeptical.

  "Don't ask questions," I told him. "All will be made clear soon."

  "Yeah," Archer said, not looking up from his phone. "The man has a plan, Greg. Lighten up."

  And that plan was already in the works. I was just going to let Danielle do her thing then rake in the cash.

  Now on to my new plan. I needed to see Meg. Meg needed to be mine. She responded when I texted her.

  Hunter: Karen steal any more of your stuff?

  Meg: No but she can't stop talking about you and the flowers

  Hunter: Women can't get enough of my peonies

  Meg: You're horrible

  Hunter: Want to get a late lunch

  Meg: Can't have to work. Sorry Karen coming

  Karen. Karen was going to be a problem if she was keeping me from Meg.

  I wanted to wrap myself around her, kiss her, lick her. I wondered what she would look like splayed out on my bed.

  I never really dated. When my father had kicked me and my brothers out of the compound after my mother died, I'd been the one to keep us all together. I'd thought that after I had ushered my half brothers into adulthood with more or less success, my days of being the responsible older brother would be over. But by the time I'd had us somewhat financially established, my father had found out where we were and started sending the rest of my half brothers across the country to be dumped on my doorstep.

  And there were a lot. Like Henry VIII, my father had a lot of wives. Unlike Henry VIII, he could only seem to produce sons. And in a polygamist cult, the last thing they wanted was a bunch of young men running around.

  Not that it was easier to have an abundance of brothers in normal civilization. They needed clothes, food, and doctors. The older ones needed to go to college, which was expensive. The best way to pay for that was to start a successful company. By the time Walter had stolen Greg's and my business, my life had reached a sort of equilibrium. I wasn't taking care of kids, and I didn't have any real corporate responsibilities. For the first time in my life, I was free.

  So here we were, or rather there I wasn't. Harrogate was a couple hours away, but I rarely visited. I didn't want to give up my hard-earned freedom. Selfish, yes. I knew I would go back eventually, though. Someone had to step up and take care of my little half brothers. I could feel the last of my short-lived freedom slipping through my fingers. If I was going to be cursed to take responsibility for my father's bad decisions, I was going to enjoy my few remaining weeks of freedom.

  And I was going to enjoy them with Meg.

  11

  Meghan

  Being with Hunter last night had done something to me. I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a thing that would wreck my life. But I dreamt about him and woke up in a sweat. From the top bunk, Kate murmured, "Bad dream? Or a wet dream?"

  "Neither," I lied. I tossed and turned, and by the time I was able to fall back asleep, my alarm shrieked. I dressed in the dark then stumbled to the office.

  "You're late," Karen said.

  "Sorry," I mumbled. I had immediately felt sick upon walking into the office.

  "You are still
in a probationary period," she said, her head bobbing up and down slightly. "All of your mistakes and your tardiness are being noted. Just be mindful of that."

  I practically sleepwalked through meetings, leading to yelling and berating by Karen. I was also leered at by Mr. Thurlow, who came by to check on me.

  "So sorry I had to skip out on the meeting. But you were left in good hands, I'd say," he added with a chortle. "Hunter Svensson. You could do worse."

  Karen glared at me, her beady eyes dark.

  I turned back to Thurlow. "Yes, he does have very nice hands." Charles chuckled again and patted me on the head.

  "Whoops, guess I shouldn't." He laughed again. "I don't want Hunter on my case about touching his woman."

  I gave a fake feminine laugh, willing him to go away.

  Karen looked furious.

  "You are a slut," she hissed after he left. "And unprofessional."

  I stared her down.

  "I have more assignments for you," she said, looking away. "You need to redo these. I went through and checked your work. It is very poor quality for what we expect at Harrington-Thurlow."

  After finishing the assignments, I went over to her desk. She was with some of the other associates, and they were whispering. They all stopped when I approached. I knew they were talking about me.

  "Oh, my little intern," Karen cooed. The other associates laughed.

  I'm a lawyer too! I wanted to scream, but I bit my tongue. The rules were that you had to pay your dues. I was paying mine, then they would make me an associate. They had to, right?

  "Do you need some help?" Karen asked.

  "You should help her learn how to dress," one associate said and giggled.

  "Sorry, Meg, I don't mean it in a mean way." She looked at me in pity. "You're not really client ready."

  I looked down at my suit. It was a little ill fitting, but that was from the stress eating, which was all Karen's fault.

  I didn't know what to say, so I shoved some paperwork at Karen.

  "Hm," she said, looking it over. "I'm going to have to mark it up, but we'll sit down and go over it together so you know what you did wrong for next time."