Hate Me or Love Me

by Ella Miles

  Her breathing quickens as she looks into my eyes and realizes what I want. That I’m not through with her yet. I’m not sure I’ll ever be through with her.

  “I…”

  “I want you, Victoria. Once was not enough.”

  I can’t see her heart beating wildly in her chest, but I know it is. Her body is flushed, her breathing is fast, and I now know what my body does to her. The same that hers does to me. And I’m not going to spend the rest of the day with her without being able to touch her.

  “We don’t have time for whatever your deranged mind is thinking.”

  I lick my lips and watch as her eyes intensely hold their gaze on my lips. She might think she is hiding her feelings well, but I can read her like an open book.

  “So, time is the problem?”

  She nods slowly.

  I pull out my phone and dial my assistant. “Ruby, I need you to get me and Victoria new clothes. Work professional and have them delivered to my hotel room in thirty minutes.” I hang up the phone. “Clothes are taken care of.”

  She swallows hard, realizing that I’m going to win.

  “Anything else I need to take care of for you to ensure that we have plenty of time?”

  “We don’t have time to have sex again. We both need to shower and get ready.” She straightens the clothes she is wearing, fighting her grip on her blouse, trying to keep it closed so that I can’t see even an inch of her skin.

  I hold my hand out again. “Then, we will shower together.”

  She stares into my eyes and then places her soft hand into mine.

  I grab her hand and pull her up from the bed until she is pressed against my body.

  “What did you do to me?” she whispers.

  I smirk. “I’m making you want me more than you hate me.”

  I grab her face and kiss her. Hard. This is what she needs to remember how badly she wants me.

  Her tongue immediately pushes into my mouth, her hands grab the nape of my neck, and she moans when I stop the kiss.

  “That’s all you’ve got?” she teases.

  “How did I never notice you before?”

  I tuck her messy hair behind her ear even though it’s about to get even messier.

  “Because you’re an idiot.”

  I grin and grab her hand again. I lead her into the bathroom, hoping to God the shower is big enough to hold both of us.

  It is.

  I need to remember to give Ruby, my assistant, a raise for getting me this hotel room with a large shower.

  As soon as we get into the bathroom, Victoria attacks me. She kisses me like she thinks this is the last time she ever will again. That can’t happen.

  She rips my shirt off my shoulders and then jumps back, shocked.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  She holds her hands over her mouth as she stares at the mirror behind me. I glance over my shoulder and see the blood dripping down my back.

  She spins me around and gingerly touches me on the back. “Did I do that?”

  I chuckle. “Yes.”

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t—”

  I turn around and grab her wrists, forcing her to stop touching me. “Don’t apologize. You don’t get to be sorry for showing me how badly you wanted me. I’m sure I deserved it anyway.”

  She grimaces, and I know she is still thinking about the wounds she caused on my back. Funny how, a few minutes earlier, she would have been more than happy to give me scars like that on my back. She wanted to rip me apart, but now, she wants to apologize. I think I prefer her wanting to rip me apart.

  I lift her up as she squeals in my arms.

  “What are you doing?”

  I carry her into the shower and turn on the water; it’s freezing cold.

  She squeals louder. “Carter, stop!”

  “No.”

  I kiss her as the cold water slowly starts to warm up as it pours over our still partially clothed bodies. But it quickly shuts her up, and she forgets about being sorry.

  I link our fingers together as we kiss, nibble, lick. The water turns warm, and I kiss down her body, needing to touch every single place on her skin. Her grip on my hands tightens as I take her nipple into my mouth.

  “Yes,” she moans as I swirl my tongue around her nipple.

  I turn her around and push her skirt down her body. I grab on to her ass. Her hands grab on to the shower wall.

  I reach into my back pocket and pull out my last condom. Damn it. I should have told Ruby to get me more condoms as well.

  Victoria reaches back, pulling at my pants, wanting me. Now.

  I grin. “Touch yourself.”

  I don’t have to tell her twice. I watch as her hand slips down her body. Little whimpers leave her body as she turns herself on. I’m not sure whether I want to turn her around to get a better view or fuck her right now.

  I push my pants down and slide the condom on as the noises she makes get louder and louder.

  “You’d better fuck me now, or I’m going to come without you,” she says in a snarky voice.

  God, this woman.

  I grab her hips and push my cock into her pussy as the water continues to pour down on top of us.

  “Finally,” she moans loudly.

  I used to think her voice was annoying. Now, I think it is the most fantastic sound in the world. And her voice gets even better when she is moaning because of me.

  “What do you want, beautiful?” I ask, needing to hear more of her voice.

  “Fuck me. Hard.”

  I do. I fuck her harder. She might hate being controlled in the boardroom, but here, she loves when I take over the control. She’s begging for a man who can equal her during the day and then take over at night. She needs a man like me, and my dick can’t imagine a life without her.

  I fuck her until we both come. Until we are both completely exhausted. Yet we haven’t had our fill. Too bad we are out of condoms and out of time.

  “Can you hand me the shampoo?” Victoria asks.

  I take the shampoo bottle behind me, and instead of handing it to her, I squeeze some on top of her head and then massage it into her hair.

  “That’s not what I asked you to do,” she says, trying to sound annoyed.

  I don’t believe her. She likes me taking care of her.

  “You didn’t ask me to do this either.” I take the washcloth and cover it with soap before I begin to wash her body. I run it over her arms, across her chest, and down her stomach before she grabs my wrist, stopping me.

  “Don’t.”

  I smirk. “Why not?”

  “Because we will both get turned on, and we don’t have time to fuck again.”

  “We are out of condoms, too,” I groan.

  She smiles as she rips the washcloth out of my hand and finishes washing herself. “See, the universe doesn’t think it’s a good idea either.”

  She steps back and rinses the shampoo and soap off her body. She steps out of the shower while my eyes follow her tight ass.

  “I think the universe is wrong then.”

  She laughs as she wraps herself in a towel. I wash quickly and then rinse off. I turn the water off before stepping out and grabbing the remaining towel. I can see the hint of disappointment in her eyes as I wrap the towel around me.

  “How are we going to handle Lily? We can’t keep fighting in front of her, or we are both going to get fired. And I’m tired of getting fired.”

  “Really? Back to work, just like that?”

  She nods. “This was a quick break to try to release some of the tension we were both feeling. That’s it. We got it all out of our systems, and now, it’s back to work.”

  I nod. “You’re right. That wasn’t the hottest sex that either of us has had. That didn’t just heighten the sexual tension between us. We are just two people trying to work together. Nothing more.”

  “Right.”

  I tuck a strand of her wet hair behind her ear, and her eyes close at my touch as
she revels in the feeling. It’s the last touch, according to her.

  “I won’t argue with you anymore.”

  She raises an eyebrow.

  “Fine. I won’t argue with you in front of Lily anymore. You can be the lead on the interview since it seems that Lily cares more about what she looks like than what she should say.”

  Victoria frowns. “And I will let you be the lead on making sure she gets her coffee in the morning.”

  I smirk but don’t argue with her. She wants to be the lead. I’ll let her lead. I couldn’t care less about Lily anymore. All I care about is finding a way to get Victoria undressed again as quickly as possible. And, if letting her have control over what happens with Lily does that, then so be it.

  9

  Victoria

  “Wow, Lily, you look nice,” I say as Lily walks back into her office.

  “Just nice?” Lily asks, looking from me to Carter.

  “You look beautiful,” Carter says.

  “Definitely beautiful,” I say, hating how Carter is looking at Lily a little too much.

  But then he looks at me and winks before his hand brushes against my thigh.

  I suck in a breath. Damn it. This is going to be harder than I thought. I thought we would fuck once and then be done. Carter clearly has different ideas.

  I cross my legs away from him and turn my attention back to Lily as I adjust the jacket that Carter’s assistant sent for me. It fits well—almost too well. I don’t even understand how she knew what size to bring me. I wait for Lily to ask why we are wearing different clothes than when we left, but she doesn’t.

  “Do you two have your crap together now?”

  We both nod.

  “Then, let’s prepare for the interview.”

  “Great. Do you have any questions about the interview questions you read through or the direction we want you to try to guide the interview?”

  “Nope. Seems pretty clear. I just need to figure out which dress I should wear.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see Carter give me an I told you so look. I roll my eyes back at him. Just because he’s right doesn’t mean he has to be arrogant.

  “Well, let’s see the choices,” I say, hoping I can get some question prep in as she shows me the dresses.

  “Yes, I’d love to see you in the different dress options,” Carter says, obviously trying to make me jealous by giving Lily attention.

  It’s working.

  I’m ridiculously jealous. It’s stupid. I shouldn’t be jealous. For one, it’s clear he is into me, not Lily. He just fucked me, not her. And, two, I’m not into him. It was a one-time thing. Okay, two-time thing. I shouldn’t feel jealous or anything toward him.

  I look over at his cocky grin. The only problem is, I don’t know how to tell my body that.

  “You look beautiful,” I hear Carter’s voice say from behind me.

  “Thanks—” I say and then stop as I turn around and realize that Carter isn’t talking to me. He’s talking to Lily.

  I plaster a fake smile on my face. “Absolutely gorgeous.”

  Lily lights up as she stands just offstage in her dark green dress. She decided on the green one after Carter said it brought out the green in her eyes. I have to agree. She looks gorgeous in it, and it’s perfect for the occasion. Just enough sex appeal without looking too sexy.

  “You ready?” I ask Lily.

  “Of course,” she responds.

  She looks at Carter like she wants to eat him up. Of course she does. He’s hot. Even more so now that he’s trying to make me jealous by giving Lily extra attention.

  “Good. You’re going to do great,” I say.

  “We are ready for you, Lily,” one of the assistants says.

  Carter leans forward and whispers something in her ear before kissing her on the cheek.

  My heart stops as I watch him with another woman. Even doing something as innocent as kissing her on the cheek. I glare at him as he walks over to where I am, so we can watch Lily on the monitors together.

  “I know we aren’t together, and you aren’t the type of guy who does relationships, but you could at least wait twenty-four hours before you start flirting with another woman in front of me.”

  His fingers brush against mine. “Someone’s jealous.”

  I roll my eyes. I shouldn’t have started this conversation with him.

  “Let’s just do our jobs and make sure that Lily’s interview goes well.”

  He moves behind me, rubbing my shoulders. “Relax. It’s out of our hands now. Now, it’s up to Lily.”

  I fold my arms across my chest as I stare intently while Lily walks out to the couch across from Phoebe. I will not think about Carter again until the interview is over. And, even then, I will only think of him professionally. I will not have sex with him again. The sex might be amazing, but it’s not worth the pain I would definitely experience afterward.

  The interview starts out pleasantly enough. But then Phoebe turns her questions in a harsher direction, like I was expecting.

  “Are you and Phillip still together?” Phoebe asks.

  “No, we aren’t,” Lily says.

  I nod. Come on, you can do this, Lily.

  “So, you are with Jacob?”

  “No, I’m alone,” Lily says.

  I wince when she says alone. She’s supposed to be coming across as a strong, independent woman. Not weak. Not a woman in need of a man.

  “Alone? You don’t seem like the type of woman who likes to be alone. You were with two men at the same time after all. I don’t believe that there is no special someone in your life right now.”

  Lily freezes.

  I turn to Carter. “She’s fucked,” I say.

  He nods, grabbing the nape of his neck while he watches the disaster begin to unfold.

  Think, I say to myself, pacing.

  There has to be a way to fix this. That is what I do. Maybe I can find a way to turn the power off and shut down the whole production. Maybe this won’t actually air. I might have to sleep with someone, but I can convince them to air an old episode instead of this one.

  As I walk, Carter’s eyes stay fixed on the screen. Same goes for the backstage crew. Except for the women. Most of the women are either blatantly staring at Carter or sneaking a look. He’s attractive. One of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen. And he clearly has the attention of everyone in the room.

  I wanted Lily to have her chance to do this on her own. But she fucked that up the second she wouldn’t prepare with me. So, now, she’s going to have to do this with a man by her side.

  “Carter,” I hiss.

  He turns toward me with a grin. He clearly thinks I think we should just sneak off and have sex somewhere since Lily is such a lost cause.

  “Take off your jacket,” I say.

  His grin brightens as he takes it off.

  I undo the top couple of buttons on his shirt.

  “You know I want you, Victoria, but I think we should go somewhere more private before you undress me completely,” he says with a wink.

  I ignore him as I spit in my hand and then fluff his hair, making it a little messier.

  “Roll up your sleeves.”

  “Why?” he asks, realizing that I’m no longer doing this for sex.

  “Because you are about to go on camera.”

  His eyes widen, but I don’t give him time to fight me.

  I run over to the production assistant. “Have them go to commercial. We have Lily’s boyfriend, and he’s willing to go on camera after the break.”

  The PA’s eyes light up as she signals to go to commercial.

  “I am not pretending to be her boyfriend,” Carter says to me as the hair and makeup team swarm him. “And I’m definitely not going on camera, looking like a slob,” he says as the team rolls up his sleeves, like I told him to do earlier.

  I shake my head, staring at him with a smile in my eyes. “You are going on camera. You put me in charge of the interview, r
emember?”

  He glares at me. “I am not doing this.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  “How is this going to make anything better? How is her fucking three men better than her fucking two men?”

  “Because you are going to go on and be charming. You are going to provide a hot distraction for the audience. You are going to say that you used to date Lily in high school. You went your separate ways in college, but you have wanted her ever since. She felt the same way, but you had a girlfriend, and she had a fiancé. But she wasn’t happy because the true love of her life was with another woman. She hated herself for not fighting harder for you. But, after everything happened, you realized how much you loved her. You’re going to go on and say that everything that Lily did was because she had lost her true love. And, now, you are back in her life. You’re going to say that true love conquers all.”

  Carter searches my eyes. He knows I’m right. He knows that my plan will work. But it doesn’t stop him from hating this plan.

  He’s shoved onstage before he gets a chance to stop it from happening.

  I walk back to the monitors to watch. He’s charming, attractive, and smart. He offers the distraction that is needed to make people forget about all the bad things Lily did. Clearly, if she got Carter to fall for her, she can’t be that bad. The host even falls for Carter. Everyone does.

  It doesn’t take Lily long to figure out the plan and go along with it. She holds his hand and flirts with him like she really wants him. She probably does. Everyone else watching wants him.

  I want him. I just can’t have him. I’ve just sealed my fate by making him publicly pretend to be in love with another woman. He’s going to have to pretend to be with her for at least a year until she gets elected. Maybe even for the duration of her term.

  I’m not going to be able to do this. I’m not going to be able to watch him pretend to be in love with another woman. It’s only a matter of time until the pretending becomes real anyway.

  I can’t watch this. Not when I’m falling for a man I can never have. I need to get out of here. So, that’s what I do. I leave.

  10

  Carter