“Ah!” She jolted, then lost all rigidity in her body and melted over him. “Hmm.” She kissed his lips.
“Did you blow me in my sleep to get me hard?”
“Yes, I did. You responded eagerly.”
Arousal fired through him yet again as a smile turned up his lips. Blood rushed to his cock. “You’re the hottest woman I’ve ever met.”
“You make me the horniest woman you’ve ever met. It is a wonder what real orgasms can do to a person’s libido.”
“I know exactly what you mean.” He pulled her up into a sitting position. “Now what shall we do?”
Her hooded eyes, sparkling with renewed passion, drifted down his body. “Doggy style?”
Twenty-Three
Kaylee walked into work ten minutes late and incredibly sore. She had spent the entire weekend in Ethan’s house, naked. He had shown her how great sex could really be. Sometimes hard and fast, sometimes slow and methodical, but always with feeling.
So much feeling.
Oh shit, she was really, truly in love.
Was that possible after a week and a couple of days?
Did she plan to question it?
Smiling to herself, she realized that no, she didn’t. They might not have known each other for long, but she’d never felt this way about a person. Not anyone. That meant something, and she was going to ride this train as far as it would go, eyes wide open. Like her legs.
“What’s so funny?”
Kaylee jumped, knocked out of her reverie. Theo stood in her doorway with his shrewd stare.
“Hey, Theo. Nothing at all.” She gingerly sat down in her chair and turned on her computer.
“Good weekend?” he asked, taking a step into her office, which was a step farther than he’d ever taken before.
“It was great, thanks. You?”
His eyes narrowed, studying her. “It was fine. Listen.” He took another step in. “Do you have a moment?”
“Yes, sure.” She stood again and gestured at the seat in front of her desk, trying not to show her surprise. “What’s up?”
He closed the door behind him and sat down. Silence filled the room for a moment as he collected his thoughts. She waited patiently, clicking into her email as she did so. She wasn’t the type to sit idly.
“Something Ethan said the other night intrigued me,” he finally said, resting his hands on his thighs.
“Oh?” She spared him a glance.
“I mentioned to him that you typically do twice as much as the other directors, and often at a superior level.”
“Work hard, play hard.”
“Usually that would develop a sort of…backlash among the other managers.”
She lightly shook her head as she deleted spam emails. She didn’t care that the company was sponsoring a walk-a-thon. “That usually only happens when an upper-level manager rubs all the lower-levels’ faces in it. I’ve seen it done in other departments, but that doesn’t happen with me. I wouldn’t allow anyone to make an example of me.”
His brow furrowed. He opened his mouth to voice something, probably a question or rebuttal, but then a knowing expression came over his face. He probably realized that Ray did that sort of thing in his department all the time. Not for the first time, she was thankful she didn’t work for him.
“Be that as it may,” he said, “I’m impressed. You’ve risen quickly and you still manage to be ahead of the curve. You’re ambitious. Driven. I like that. You don’t take free rides.”
Hopefully her confusion didn’t show on her face, because she was pretty sure no one at the company had ever offered her a free ride. If someone had, she probably would’ve taken it. That was just common sense.
“Off the record, if you keep this up, you’ve got my vote for the promotion.”
This time, she couldn’t stifle her surprised reaction. She rested her hands on her desk and stared at him with widened eyes.
He held up a hand. “That doesn’t mean too much now. It isn’t my decision. But I’ll bring up the things I’ve noticed. The job you do. Your drive. I’ll back you.”
“Wow. That is…unexpected. Thank you.”
“It’s not about thanks. It’s about good work ethic. But…” He shifted in his seat. “I know your type. I know how hard you fought for your current pay. If you’re offered the position, you should know they’ll lowball you out of the gate. They do it to everyone.”
“I would expect that.”
He nodded. “You might think they’ll never bend, but if you show your worth and talk a good game, they’ll come around. The board members are…old-fashioned in many ways, but they can be reasonable if the asset outweighs their…way of thinking.”
They were sexist, was what he was saying. She hadn’t even thought about the board. She’d assumed the CEO would do the decision-making and negotiations. That had been shortsighted. Of course the board would need to approve the payroll expense, and the person they were spending it on.
“I’ve dealt with…old-fashioned thinking a time or two,” she said with a smile. “And yet”—she spread her arms—“here I am.”
“Exactly right.” He pushed himself to his feet, and she followed. “It’ll be a month or more before someone is put in front of the board, but I thought I would stop by and let you know where I stood.”
“Thank you. That means a lot.”
He grunted and opened the door. Without a goodbye, he walked out, making that one of the strangest endings to a meeting she’d had in a long time.
She walked back to her chair on wooden legs.
Ethan.
Whatever Ethan had said to Theo had compelled the VP to take notice of her. Maybe for the first time, or maybe just in a new light. Like Dave marketed Janie, Ethan had marketed her.
She smiled like a fool at the warm fuzzies that thought gave her.
Even before they’d officially become a couple, Ethan had had her back. He was one helluva find. And now he was her boyfriend—a relationship that both of them hoped would turn into so much more.
Twenty-Four
“Seriously, just move in.” Kaylee rolled her eyes at Ethan as she headed toward the door of her house. They were supposed to be at Colton’s already.
Three months had passed since she and Ethan had spent their first night together. Since then, they had never slept apart. Each day, they’d fallen more in love. They’d shared their pasts, and their deepest and silliest thoughts, and delighted in each other to the point of sweet madness.
At first, they’d spent a lot of their time at Ethan’s house, but considering how often everyone gathered at Colton’s, they’d shifted their primary residence. Kaylee’s place was a quick drive home, or a walk if they’d been drinking—so much easier than heading across town.
Ethan now had a side of the closet at her place, plus his own dresser, mostly filled. He did laundry at her house, and shopped and cooked there, too. He only went home to check on it.
“Yes, but dearest…” He only used that term of endearment when she was pushing him into something he wasn’t ready for. “You pay a mortgage. I only pay property tax.”
“I have plenty of income to pay said mortgage. You can continue paying your tax, if you don’t want to rent it or sell it, and I’ll continue paying my mortgage. Easy.”
“I can’t live here rent-free.”
“I won’t live in your place rent-free.”
“And again…” He followed behind her in a tailored suit that did wonders for his stunning body. He’d shaved for the special evening, so she could see the little dimple pressing into his cheek whenever he spoke or smiled. “I don’t have a mortgage, so it would be silly for us to split the tiny property tax bill. But I’ll do it, if that makes you happy.”
“You know this is a better living arrangement. More space, closer to our friends…” She opened the door, and the gust of the California winter sent her dress swirling around her legs.
“Yes, I do know those things. I just don’t like
them, because I don’t want you to win.”
She laughed and took his hand. Her four-inch heels clicked against the cement. “I’ll let you drive, how’s that?”
“Of course I’m going to drive. I’m the man. That’s what we do. We drive ’n’ shit.” He grunted like an ape as she locked the front door. At the car, he opened her door for her. Before she could sit inside, he grabbed her around the waist and hugged her close. “Yes, I’ll move in for reals. We’ll talk about the details later. I have a couple of options with the house I’m in. We need to figure out what fits the best.”
She squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck, so much easier when she had the heels on. “Yay.”
He kissed her, deep and consuming, curling her toes. When he backed off, his lips were covered in lip gloss. He wiped it off with the back of his hand. “Do we have time for a quickie?”
“I wish. But we’re already late.”
He handed her in and went around to his side. A moment later, they were parking in front of Colton’s. A stretch limo awaited them out front, like they were going to a prom. They weren’t, of course—they were going to Janie’s art event.
Kaylee had been schooled by Dave on calling it a show. Apparently, show was frowned upon.
“By the way,” she said as they were walking to the door, “I have a horrible surprise for you.”
He leaned away from her with a giant smile. “I sure hope it’s more poignant than the last one.”
She laughed. They’d been giving each other horrible surprises from the beginning. Sometimes hers landed hard, like when she took him to a Pleasure Party (like a Tupperware or candle party, but with sex toys and fun things for the bedroom) thrown by a female office associate. He’d been the only guy at the small gathering, and while a few women were squeamish at first (quickly put at ease by his open and laidback approach to life), the situation hadn’t bothered him. Not at first. Apparently, he’d known those types of home sales gatherings existed, but passing around dildos, and a saleswoman explaining various serums and pleasure devises, while nothing actually sexual happened, blew his mind. His fantasies of women trying the devices out on each other had been squashed.
Oh how she’d laughed.
But then they’d played with the things they’d bought–that end of things he’d had experience with—and everything worked out.
“Okay, I didn’t realize that you were so enlightened with exotic cuisines. My bad. But this one’s definitely a surprise. You will be gobsmacked.”
“Really? Well, then…I’m intrigued. I hope I don’t hate it.”
“Me too, but we shall see.”
Ethan knocked on the door, and it opened to a harried-looking Janie wearing sweats. “Where the fuck were you? We have to go.”
“Why aren’t you dressed?” Ethan asked her.
“I’ll wear the stupid dress you bought me, I promise. But I’m not putting it on until we’re almost there. Head out to the limo. Seriously, we need to go right now.”
“Darling, you need to down some champagne or something,” Dave called from somewhere in the house. “You’re increasing our blood pressure.”
“I’m not worried about you. I’m worried about not throwing up.” Janie turned and darted back into the house.
Dave filled the doorway a moment later. His gaze swept over Kaylee before shifting to Ethan. He nodded—their attire obviously passed muster. “Shall we?” He motioned them on.
“She’s freaking out, huh?” Kaylee asked as they walked toward the limo.
“Jesus, you’re tall,” Dave said. “You’re almost as tall as me with those heels. But thin. I’m pretty sure I could still take you, so don’t get any ideas.”
“We go through this every time I wear tall heels, Dave,” Kaylee said dryly. “I am sure you could kick my ass, regardless of my height. Probably more so than a guy the same height and weight as me.”
“You don’t fool me. Ethan mentioned how crazy your self-defense classes are. Fish hook? Eye gouge? You’re intimidating. But if you try anything, those heels would be your enemy. I’d just knock you down and run. That would work. Zombies would totally eat you first.”
She laughed as Ethan helped her into the limo. “You’d definitely be faster than me. And I’m not going to jump out of a closet and attack you.”
“Yeah, Janie really got the drop on me that one time.” Dave frowned, glancing back at the house before he slid into the limo.
Ethan couldn’t stop laughing. He loved it when Dave started in on his shtick about her height in heels. Kaylee had no idea why. “She proved that height wasn’t as important as the element of surprise.” Ethan wiped a tear of mirth out of his eye. “You should really be worried about her, not Kaylee in heels.”
“I am worried about her, are you kidding? She’s terrifying. But also super hot. So, you know…” He moved his hands up and down like they were scales.
“Such an idiot,” Kaylee said, shaking her head at him as Noah climbed into the limo.
“How goes it?” he asked Kaylee and Ethan. “What’s so funny?” He saw Kaylee’s heels. “Ah.” He sighed as he slid down the seat to leave room for the others. “Dave, what if I wore heels? Do you think I could still beat you up?”
“Don’t you start—” Dave paused for a moment. His lips turned downward. “That is a good question. When we get back, let’s get you in some heels, and I’ll see if you can still best me.”
“I don’t advise that you try it in heels,” Madison said, climbing in with flats. Colton was right behind her. “They are really hard to walk in unless you are a trapeze artist, like Kaylee.”
“Tightrope, I think,” Colton said, sitting near the door.
“Whichever. She makes it look easy, but trust me, it’s not.”
“There.” Dave nodded. “See? I could take you, Kaylee.”
Ethan doubled over and started laughing again as Janie finally joined them in the limo.
“Have everything?” Dave asked. “Your dress, your shoes, your…hair stuff? Makeup?”
“I already put all of that in the trunk. I have it. Okay.” She took a deep breath. “This sucks. I hate this. I don’t want to go.”
“Don’t worry, Kaylee,” Noah said, sitting back and crossing an ankle over his knee. “She said that last time.”
“It was just as true last time. God, I hope it’s as good as last time.” Janie bit her lip.
Kaylee felt for her. Part of the reason she’d given Janie permission to use Beast Lady as her showcase piece was her friend’s obvious terror about the event—showing her art made her sick to her stomach. Kaylee was still nervous that she’d get laughed at, but Dave had been right. The pressure inevitably fell on Janie as the artist. She was shouldering all the risk.
“It’ll be as good,” Madison said, patting Janie on the knee.
The limo took them to the local airport, where a jet was standing by, waiting to take them to the event in Scottsdale, Arizona. The event, travel, and shipping costs of the art had all been financed by Creepy Rich Guy. The one who would get Ethan’s painting as a fee.
The painting Kaylee hadn’t seen yet. Janie had been too embarrassed to show it to her. She’d kept it swathed into a sheet until it was shipped to Arizona.
“Oh, Kaylee, I never asked. How did the most recent round of negotiations go?” Madison asked after they disembarked from the short flight and boarded the limo that would take them to the event. “Are you going to accept their offer?”
Theo had recommended her for the VP gig, and surprisingly, another VP, Gerry, had agreed wholeheartedly. According to Gerry, she’d been in his sights for a while. Since Ray really didn’t like anyone, his attempts to bash her hadn’t done her any harm. She’d been pushed through to the board, the members of which had immediately baulked. It had taken a whole month of talking herself up something fierce for them to come around.
The next blow had come with the negotiations. Oh wow, had they ever tried to lowball her. Thirty percent less
than they should’ve started at. She’d laughed in their faces and told them to try again.
“I got it.” Kaylee beamed from her toes. “I actually started yesterday. It’s just sinking in.”
Ethan smiled with pride and put his hand on her knee.
“That’s awesome!” Madison clapped. “Yay!”
“Did you get what you were looking for?” Noah asked.
“Almost. But well within the acceptable limit, so I’m happy. They went up more than I went down.”
“My baby is a power player.” Ethan winked at her.
“Which sucks for me, because I’ll have to pay her out the ass to run and expand my mini-golf course.” Colton pouted.
“Oh crap, here we go.” Janie plastered her face against the window.
They were there. Soon, Ethan would get a horrible surprise Kaylee wasn’t sure how he’d take.
Twenty-Five
Ethan climbed out of the limo before helping Kaylee out behind him. Just like last time, Ethan had helped choose the venue for the event. This time, it was in a run-down building with peeling paint and weeds choking the walkway. Being that Scottsdale was a nicer part of Arizona, there hadn’t been a ton of options, so they’d gone for the worst building on the block scenario. While it was certainly a step up from the broken glass and jacked-up sidewalks of the first warehouse, they’d given it the same vibe, decorating with plants and flowers, and billowing cloth along the exterior walls.
“Looking good so far,” Madison murmured.
Ethan, Janie, and Dave were the only ones who’d seen the place done up, with placeholders for the paintings. Janie and Dave had flown out again to see the dry run. Creepy Rich Guy had covered everything, and was now skulking around inside somewhere, seeing all the art for the first time.
“I hate that he gets a nude painting of me,” Ethan muttered.
“I hear that, bro,” Dave said. “It sucks.”
“Thanks, Ethan,” Janie said in a tiny voice. “This is only possible because of you.”
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