by Alice Ward
I tried to go out with guys when I could. I just found dating exhausting.
But Niall… the second I saw him I hadn’t been able to stop myself. I wasn’t even trying to be flirtatious when I talked to him at the bar. The words just came from my lips of their own accord.
Or maybe they came from my lady parts that hadn’t been touched in nearly three months.
I looked over Stephanie’s shoulder. Sure enough, Dan and Emily were already folding up the bar.
“All right,” I agreed, turning back to Niall. “It looks like I can go.”
“Great,” he said, like he hadn’t expected me to give any other answer.
I checked with Dan and Emily to make sure they were good and then grabbed my purse from where I’d stashed it inside one of our big plastic bins.
One drink. That was all I had time for.
Unfortunately.
Niall pushed the door open, and we strolled down the gleaming wooden hallway.
“The cocktail party seems to have been a success,” he commented.
“Says the man who didn’t even want to be there.”
He smirked and pushed his hands into his pockets. “Not at the beginning. The company I found near the end made it more bearable.”
I ground my teeth together so I wouldn’t smile wide. Really, what was it about this guy? Every time he spoke to me I felt an incredible urge to giggle like a school girl. He was hot, that was for sure. And suave.
It was something else too though. Something ineffable.
Or it’s because my vagina hasn’t seen a man in eleven weeks.
That last theory was entirely possible.
We stopped at the elevator, and he hit the button for the ground floor. A few seconds passed and then the doors opened, revealing an entirely empty compartment. Niall gestured for me to go first and I went, feeling his eyes on my back with each step.
In the elevator, he leaned nonchalantly against the silver handle bar. “What’s the name of your company?”
“Tesla Catering.”
“Really?”
“Really. My sister named it.”
“So you don’t have any sort of relation to the Tesla?”
“Nope.” Don’t I wish I had some claim to the supercharged Tesla legacy.
“Adoration?”
“Not really.” I laughed. “I know it’s kind of funny. She came up with it one night when we were pretty drunk. I didn’t have any better names up my sleeve, so I figured I’d keep it.”
“And here I thought I’d found my spiritual doppelganger.”
I cocked my hip and placed a hand on it. “You’re a fan.”
His cool gray eyes stared into mine. “Immensely.”
A shiver went down my back. No way had he not intended for that answer to hold a double meaning.
The doors dinged open, and we crossed the lobby and entered the tepid summer night. The evening held that mid-summer stickiness, made more bearable by a slight breeze.
“Where to?” I asked Niall, hooking my purse over my shoulder and stepping toward the curb to signal for a taxi.
His hand on my wrist halted me. A black limo was already pulling up to us. A driver jumped out and came around to open the door that had conveniently landed right in front of Niall and me.
“Oh,” I simply said, feeling stupid.
I climbed into the limo and Niall followed, taking a seat directly across from me.
“Where’s your neighborhood?” he asked.
“Bridgeport.”
“Convenient.”
“You?”
“I have a place near the Loop. We’re neighbors.”
“Semi.”
Like, he lived right in the middle of the Loop, or what? The area mostly contained businesses. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to live there, unless they worked in the area and wanted to be just a hop and a skip away from their office. And if that was the case, how much did a nice apartment there cost?
I’d known as soon as I saw the guy’s suit that he had style. I didn’t figure he had serious money until the limo showed up. Certainly, he hadn’t rented it just for a ride to a casual cocktail event.
Which meant he possessed his own personal driver.
“Anywhere around there sound nice?” Niall asked. Before I could answer, he went on. “Or we could go to my penthouse. It has great views and an unopened bottle of A.H. Hirsch Reserve.”
I didn’t know if that was bourbon, whiskey, or what. But I knew the guy was inviting me over for a hookup.
Which I didn’t do.
Okay, not usually.
Maybe just once in a while.
Not because I wanted to have sex with people only once, but because life often made it too complicated for things to go much further than one night. If I had any shortcomings about a guy, I had to stop the relationship right then and there. I didn’t have time to go out a few nights a week and see if we could come to like each other more.
Niall’s knee brushed mine, the space between the two facing seats unnecessarily short. Electricity crackled where his pants touched my bare skin, then traveled up my leg to fill my whole body.
I couldn’t stop looking at him, couldn’t stop staring into those smoky eyes. He stared back at me, his chest heaving up and down. Shaky inhales and exhales filled the limo, both of us to blame.
Screw the drink. Who could wait through that?
I lunged at Niall. He met me halfway, wrapping his arms around me, and pulling me down into his lap. My knees hit the seat on either side of him, my skirt pushing up in the most unladylike way possible.
Our lips collided, his soft velvet mouth good enough to make me feel woozy. Over my back, his palms ran, up then down, then up again. Each time they went south, they went a latitude farther.
I grasped the shoulders of his suit, digging my nails into the fabric as we made out. One of his hands found the back of my head. He twisted some of my hair into a ball and held me in place. I moaned into his mouth, and he lightly bit my bottom lip in response.
God, the burning… it started between my legs and filled me up. My whole body was on fire, and the only thing that mattered in the world was getting some water to toss on those flames.
I shifted my weight closer to him, feeling the brush of his hardness against the top of my inner thigh.
Was I really about to do this? Have sex with a man I only just met, in the back of a limo? It seemed too salacious to be true. But it also felt way, way too right.
Niall’s fingers left my hair to press against the back of my neck at the same time his other hand found and squeezed one of my hips. A guttural moan left my chest and escaped into his mouth. Have sex or not have sex in the limo, it seemed I no longer had a say in the matter. My most primal urges were taking over, and I was tired of working so hard to suppress them. Everyone deserved to go a little wild every once in a while.
I arched my back and pressed my breasts against his chest, teasing us both with the friction. I felt him stiffen against my leg. Our kiss became even deeper, and his hands swirled over my hips and onto my thighs. My skin tingled in anticipation of his touch.
Suddenly the limo came to an abrupt stop, jerking us. My teeth hit Niall’s, and he made a little noise of pain.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
“Mr. Lambert.” I jumped at the sudden voice so close to us. I whipped my head around and noticed the small speaker up near the divider.
“Mr. Lambert,” the driver said again. “We’ve hit traffic. Would you like to wait or go the west route?”
Niall hit a button on the console between him and a little bar and spoke into the speaker there. “Let’s wait. We’re in no rush.”
Still straddling Niall, I glanced out the tinted window. The Whole Foods across the street was a familiar one. We were about a fifteen-minute walk away from my apartment. Inviting Niall back there was not an option. And who knew when we would get to his place?
It was nice and comfy in the limo, with his t
humbs stroking my thighs.
“So?” he whispered up at me, his voice dripping with every lustful tone possible. “Where were we?”
He buried his face in my neck and bit the sensitive spot below my ear.
“Niall,” I gasped, my eyes falling closed as my head tilted back.
Suddenly, my eyes flew open and my back went rod straight.
Niall… Niall Lambert. The head of Lambert Technologies. Why had I not put two and two together before? Had I really been so distracted by a hot body and a quick wit?
“You’re Niall Lambert,” I said, staring down at him.
A bit of confusion crossed his face. “Yes,” he slowly said.
I continued to gaze down at him. “You own Lambert Technologies.”
His head inclined in acknowledgment. “That is correct.”
Quick as a whip, before I could question myself anymore, I climbed off his lap, pulled my dress down, and got back into my own seat.
I expected him to ask me what was wrong, but he just stared at me, something hot and angry simmering behind those eyes.
I’d heard of Niall Lambert. Nearly everyone in Chicago, whether they were in the tech world or not, knew who he was. It wasn’t even that common of a name, yet I’d somehow managed to miss until now the Niall I’d just made out with in the back of a limo was the Niall Lambert.
A tech tycoon with a, uh, reputation.
Usually, I didn’t pay attention to those kinds of rumors, but I’d heard things about Niall through many grapevines, including a few direct sources. One of them was my friend Melissa, who had an unfortunate weekend with him. According to her, he charmed the panties right off her, an act that included having a hundred roses sent to her office. After two days together and promises to call, he dropped off the face of the earth.
If you believed the stories, which at that point I did, Niall had pulled similar acts on lots of girls.
Not that I was a chaste little prudish nun myself. I had been planning on hooking up with a guy I’d only known a couple hours, after all. But I couldn’t have any respect for a man who did such a thing as what he’d done to Melissa.
And therefore, I couldn’t have much respect for myself if I were to get up with him.
I cleared my throat. “I should go. It’s really late.”
A dark shadow crossed his face. His shoulders bunched, and he went to cross his arms but then stopped himself. “You can’t just walk out into the night. Let me take you home.”
So you can walk me upstairs and seduce me?
As good as that sounded, I also knew it was a bad idea.
“I live right around the corner from here,” I explained, my hand already on the door handle.
Niall’s jaw twitched. He knew something had just happened to change my mind, though whether or not he knew it had to do with his reputation was a mystery.
I expected him to keep protesting, but he just sat there looking furious.
“Good night.” I shot him a quick smile and then climbed from the car.
Once on the sidewalk, I pounded it as quickly as I could, desperate to get away from that limo, desperate to get away from Niall, and desperate to get away from what I craved so, so badly.
CHAPTER THREE
Niall
“Tesla Catering,” I told the intern. “Are you sure you got it right?”
The girl nodded, her whole face pale. I sighed and sat up straighter in my desk chair. “Send another dozen red roses and make sure my personal number is on the card.”
“Yes, sir,” she squeaked before turning and hurrying away.
Left alone in my office, I sighed and stared out the window. Three days had passed since Candace practically fled my limo, and I still couldn’t figure out what I’d done wrong.
I should have done more when she tried to leave. I should have cajoled, coddled, threatened even… I should have done whatever it took to make her stay.
Day three, and I had blue balls. I didn’t even want to call up another woman. None of them would do it for me. I wanted Candace. I needed Candace. After that little taste of her tongue, that quick feel of her soft curves, nothing else but the woman occupied my mind.
Things had been going so well. We were almost to my penthouse. A few more minutes and she would have been mine… so what caused her cold feet?
Grabbing a discarded report from the desk, I balled it up and threw it at the wall. The sky was growing gray, and most of the office had left for the day. With my nerves so thoroughly shot, getting more work done would be impossible.
And since random women didn’t seem to be doing it for me, there was only one option left. I texted Nate on my way to the elevator, telling him I’d be at the sports bar down the block.
The small place was packed to the brim, each chipped wooden table holding fans watching an ultimate fighting game. I grabbed a small spot for two by the window and watched the two men on screen beat the shit out of each other for a few minutes. The crowd whooped and hollered when one of them went down.
I’d never found the sport appealing before, but something about getting rejected for no reason at all made me warm up to it. Beating the shit out of someone just for the hell of it didn’t seem to be such a bad idea.
I caught sight of a familiar figure in the crowd and raised my arm in acknowledgment. Nate swerved around people and deposited himself on the stool across from me.
“Long time no see,” he commented, running his hand through his red hair.
“Not that long.”
He gave me a stink eye. At first, it seemed he was trying to be funny, but then it became clear he was genuinely annoyed. “Four months. At least.”
“No.”
Nate chuckled dryly. “Yes.”
The bartender arrived with the pints I’d already ordered. I didn’t touch mine. Instead of taking my mind off my problems, Nate’s arrival had put me in an even sourer mood.
“I never hear from you, man,” Nate said.
“I’ve been busy.”
He nodded. “I know. I read all about it.” He crossed his arms and looked at one of the screens on the wall behind me. I finally took a drink of my beer. It did nothing to soothe me. I was a bundle of sensitive nerves, and everything and everyone grated me. What was wrong with people? Just like Candace had no reason to flee from my limo, Nate had no reason to be in possession of such a dour attitude.
“In case you haven’t noticed,” I icily began, “I have a corporation to run. One that’s doing rather well. Something like that can take up a lot of time.”
And what have you been doing that’s so great? I thought about asking, but saved that remark for a future retaliation.
“So you’re busy,” Nate replied, his eyes still on the TV. “But not too busy to fuck people over.” He looked back at me, his gaze hard.
I propped my elbow on the table, my fingers curling into my palm. “That’s an awfully harsh response just because I’ve been unavailable the past few months.”
“I’m not talking about me, Niall. I’m talking about Aimee.”
Aimee?
The name went right over my head. Who the hell was Aimee?
And then… Oh. Right.
Nate’s cousin. He’d introduced us seven or eight months ago at a wedding, and we exchanged numbers. I’d called her up about a week later and taken her out. She’d seemed receptive to my advances, but then turned on a dime when I tried to get her to go home with me. I took her out one more time after that, and we finally got naked. She’d been one of the least exciting lays of my life.
It went without saying that I never returned her calls. Even if she had been amazing in bed, I still would have only seen her a couple more times. Engaging with any woman more than that would have been breaking my unwritten rules. The lines I had drawn were good ones, set in place to make sure I didn’t get into positions that would distract me from the things that really mattered.
I cleared my throat and lowered my voice, making it clear to Nate that I w
asn’t fazed in the slightest. “What about Aimee, exactly?”
His lips pursed. “I know what you’re like, Niall. We’ve known each other for years. I just didn’t expect you to pull your signature moves on my cousin.”
“She asked for my number.”
“And you gave it to her.”
“She’s a grown woman, Nate. She doesn’t need you to be her babysitter.”
“That’s not the point!” He slammed his palm down on the table. A few people from the bar looked at us over their shoulders. Nate’s face contorted as he worked to rein his anger in. “I thought you were my friend,” he said in a lower voice.
My chest pinched in a painful way and my fingers curled around the mug’s handle. I didn’t have a lot of time for personal relationships and had never cared to. People were unpredictable. They always let you down in one way or another. Nate and I had known each other for years though. As far as friends went, sure, the man was the closest thing I had to a real friend.
Or so I thought. With this new show of anger, my theory about people was only strengthened. Everyone existed only to make themselves happy. If they ever got the chance to dick you over they were going to. Nate’s reaction to my “using” his cousin was his form of that.
“She called you,” Nate said. “I know she did.”
My back straightened. “And I didn’t call back. What do you want to hear, Nate? Whatever it is, I’m quite sure I’m not going to say it.”
Nate flinched the slightest bit. “You could say you’re sorry for once.”
“I’m not. Aimee—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Aimee is an adult. She can handle it.” He shook his head, his eyes boring into mine. “Most people are decent, Niall. You know that? They don’t lie and lead others on. So decency is what people come to expect. You take advantage of that. You let people think you’re just a normal guy who actually has a shred of empathy, and then you slip in and take whatever you can. You can talk as much as you want about people being able to take what you dish out, but the truth is that you’re using them. You’re a bad egg that no one sees coming. And that’s what makes you scum.”
Heat filled my face. My fingers curled even tighter, my nails threatening to break skin. I opened my mouth to retaliate, but Nate was already leaving. He stood and pushed through the crowd, disappearing in the same direction he had come in.