“I tried writing poems, but I’m just not good at it. So, I write short stories. I’ve never written a full novel. Every time I try, the story dries up, and I give up.”
Of all the things Titan was, I never expected her to be a writer. “That’s really cool.”
Her eyes searched my face like we were in a board meeting, trying to figure out if I was just saying what she wanted to hear or blowing smoke up her ass. When she saw the sincerity in my eyes, she didn’t look so threatened. “You think so?” It was the first time she showed me uncertainty, relying on my opinion for validation. She didn’t seem to care about my opinion of her. She didn’t care what anyone thought of her. But this was one exception she seemed to make.
“Yeah. I’d love to read something—if you’re ever willing to show me.”
“Are you a reader?”
“I read about two books a year. Not sure if that makes me a reader or not.”
“What do you like to read?” she asked.
“Thrillers. Mysterious, James Bond type of stuff.”
She nodded. “Great genre.”
“What genre is your work?”
She considered the question, pressing her lips tightly together before she answered. “I suppose fiction or literature. But I can’t put any of my stories in a genre because I’ve never finished anything.”
“Who says you can’t finish it now?”
Now Titan didn’t look like the woman I was used to seeing. She wasn’t the ambitious shark that circled her prey. She was a soft woman, with beautiful cheeks and dazzling eyes. She smiled at my words, obviously valuing what I said. “It’s never too late, I suppose…”
“Never.” I abandoned my drink on the table and joined her on the couch. I sat right against her and positioned her leg around my waist, just the way Brett had been with his date at the club. I moved over her, slowly positioning her back against the couch.
She allowed me to guide her, her hand moving up my chest.
“All night, I wished I were back here with you.” My hand pulled her dress up to her waist, revealing her bare bottom. She was commando, obviously ready for me the second I’d walked in the door.
She undid my jeans and pushed them down, along with my boxers. “I’ve been waiting for you…”
I positioned myself on top of her so my cock could slide right in. “I don’t want to keep lying, Titan. I don’t want to sit in a bar when I don’t give a damn about anyone there. When my brother asks if I’m into you, I want to tell him I’m fucking you, and it’s the best sex I’ve ever had. I want to be real.”
She cupped my face and kissed me, her lips so soft against my mouth. She breathed into me before she grabbed my hips and slowly tugged me deep inside. “I know, but I won’t change my mind. If this is too difficult, then we should both walk away.”
Now that I was deep inside her pussy, I couldn’t think straight. I was inhaling her scent, loving the smell of vanilla as well as her arousal. When I was inside her, it felt like the only place I should be. My face was close to hers, and I could feel her breathe, feel her warm breath fall on my skin. Her fingers dug into me, begging me not to leave her when we felt this amazing together. “I’m not walking away from this—from you.”
3
Titan
The more times I slept with Hunt, the better it got.
He was a king in bed, having everything that I craved in a partner. He was confident, beautiful, and drop-dead sexy.
I didn’t know what I loved more—his kiss or cock.
I loved it all.
We returned to New York and got back to work. Taking a week off pushed me back, so I had to play catch-up to stay on top of my empire. I didn’t contact Hunt for several days because I was too busy.
He didn’t contact me either—probably for the exact same reason.
Thorn texted me. I’m gonna stop by in ten minutes—unless you’ve got company.
I’m alone.
Then I’ll see you soon.
Thorn rode the elevator to my floor, having the key code to my penthouse so I didn’t have to buzz him up every time. He walked into the living room in jeans and a gray t-shirt, looking handsome but casual in his street clothes. Most of the time I saw him he was in a suit, something specifically tailored to his tall height and broad shoulders. He walked inside with dazzling eyes and greeted me with a smile. “How’s it going, Old Fashion?”
“Good. I’ve been busy since I came back from Italy.” I poured him a glass of his favorite wine and made myself my drink. We took a seat at the dining table, the Manhattan lights in the background.
He took a long drink, devouring it like water instead of alcohol. “How was that?”
“Pretty good.”
“Did you and your boy toy have a good time?”
“Actually, we did. Would have been more fun if his brother hadn’t been around.”
“Cockblocks…hate ’em. How’s Diesel Hunt working out for you?” He asked me about all my relationships, so this wasn’t unusual.
“He’s everything I hoped for—and more.”
A quiet smile stretched his lips. “Seems like a guy with the whole package.”
“Yes. And he definitely has the whole package.”
He winked. “Dirty girl.”
“Just a woman who knows what she wants.” I remembered what Hunt had told me about Thorn, that Thorn had mentioned our relationship to him in passing. “Hunt said you spoke to him about me at the charity gala…encouraged him to pursue me.”
“I did.” He swirled the wine in his glass. “And it looks like my advice worked.”
“Why would you say anything to him at all? I didn’t know if he was trustworthy.”
“He’s a straight shooter,” he said dismissively. “I can tell. Besides, friends help each other get laid. That’s the foundation of any friendship.”
“Well, I can get laid without your help.”
He winked again. “Because you’re a dirty girl.”
I rolled my eyes and held back my chuckle. Only Thorn could joke with me like that and get away with it.
“I’m glad things worked out. Looks like you two found a compromise.”
I loved our current arrangement. But I wasn’t sure how much I would love the second half of it. “Yes…six weeks for me. Six weeks for him.”
Thorn set his glass down and ignored it. “You think you can handle it?”
“Looks like I’m going to have to,” I said. “And he didn’t give me much of a choice. It was either this or not have him at all.”
“You must really like the guy.”
“I do…” I loved everything about him. He was so much more than the businessman I read about. He had an edge as sharp as the blade of a sword, but he was as gentle as soft cotton at the same time. He knew how to fuck hard—and how to fuck slow. He made my mouth tremble every time he kissed me, and when we weren’t screwing, he spoke to me like a friend. He looked at me as an equal, always respecting everything I had to say. I couldn’t count the number of times men talked over me like my voice didn’t matter, like they knew more than me before they even gave me a chance to speak. My conversations with Hunt were never like that. “How was your trip to Chicago?”
“Just a lot of working, drinking, and fucking.”
“Was the fucking good?”
He shrugged. “Good enough. But I got a lot of work done. That was what I cared about the most.”
“Good for you.”
“My parents are coming into town tomorrow. I told them we would have dinner together.”
“And you didn’t think I had plans?”
He smiled. “I knew you would reschedule them for me. You love my mom.”
“Because she’s sweet. Not sure how you didn’t inherit that trait.”
He rolled his eyes at the taunt. “Real men aren’t sweet. Women wouldn’t like it if we were.”
“True.”
“We’re eating at The Jewel. My assistant already made reservation
s. I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“Sounds good to me. I love their food.”
“How was the fashion show? Were you bored out of your mind?”
Hunt was there, so I was never bored. “No. But Connor tried to rekindle our fire a bit.”
“I can’t blame him.” Thorn had the brightest blue eyes I’d ever seen. That was one of the reasons he had so many admirers. They were bluer than every untouched ocean in the world. “Realizes what he lost. But that ship has sailed, right?”
“Yep.” Now my ship was anchored in Hunt’s harbor.
“Diesel doesn’t like me.” Thorn looked at me as he waited for me to confirm this piece of information.
“No. He’s just jealous.”
“Did you tell him there’s nothing to be jealous of?”
“Many times.”
“And?”
“He doesn’t understand our relationship, and that frustrates him.”
“He doesn’t need to know. He wouldn’t understand anyway.”
I wasn’t sure. Hunt seemed to be a reasonable guy. He understood how the world worked just as well as I did. If I explained my situation with Thorn, Hunt would probably understand it completely. “I think he would get it, but he still doesn’t need to know.”
“How’s Pilar?”
“Good. Just landed the cover of a sports magazine.”
“Not surprised,” he said. “She’s too exceptional to be anywhere else.”
I finished my glass and cut myself off. I’d already had too many drinks today. “Would you like to join me for dinner? I was just about to throw something together.”
“I’d love to—if Hunt isn’t coming by.”
“That won’t be until later. We don’t eat together.”
He grinned. “Just fucking?”
“Yep.”
“I like the way you run things, Titan. Just like a business.”
“My life is much simpler that way.” I walked into the kitchen and grabbed everything out of the fridge.
Thorn fell into sync with me, washing the broccolini before slicing it into perfect strips.
I handled the chicken and carrots.
“I think you should move in on Bruce Carol this week. His stock is about to drop.”
I’d been so busy this last week I hadn’t really thought about it. “You’re right.”
“I’d offer to take care of it, but I’m sure you can handle this one. Bruce and I have never gotten along.”
“And you think he’ll get along with your girlfriend?”
Thorn set the vegetables aside before he grabbed a pan and set it on the stove. “When she’s as beautiful as you, yes.”
I grinned and kept my eyes focused on what I was doing. “You don’t have to suck up to me, Thorn. You already got me.”
“I wasn’t.” He nudged me in the side gently. “I meant it.”
* * *
I walked into Bruce’s building, checked in with his assistant, and then waited in the lobby. I wore a black pencil skirt with a fitted blue blouse, going for traditional colors that weren’t too bold. I left my hair down, letting it curl around my shoulders. I wore my favorite pair of black heels, even though Bruce Carol would have no idea what brand they were or how much they cost.
I waited ten minutes before I was finally called into the conference room. “Mr. Carol, how are you?” I walked up to him with my hand extended, a smile on my face.
Bruce was in his late fifties, packing on weight throughout the decades and with a face covered with hair. He wore large glasses he’d obviously kept since the eighties. Despite the way one of his biggest investments was going under, he was a respectable businessman who had accomplished a lot in the last thirty years. “Good.” He shook my hand, not mirroring my same smile. “Thanks for coming by.” He sat down at the seat at the head of the table, and he didn’t offer me anything to drink. His hands came together on the desk, and he looked at the time on his watch.
That wasn’t a good start.
I opened my folder and got right to the point. “I understand your investment in your company, while a great concept, isn’t doing well. Every quarter, your profits have steadily declined. In the last quarter, you’re actually down by fifty percent. This isn’t public knowledge just yet, and I’d like to put an offer on the table. I can assure you I’ll give you more than a fair deal, and everything will be wrapped up before the media gets to blast it on the front page of every single newspaper. We can simply say the company has been taken over by Titan Industries.”
“Looks like you’re jumping ahead before you’ve even made an offer.” He tapped his fingers against the desk, his chubby fingers echoing quietly in the room.
He was an asshole with wounded pride. I should have known he wouldn’t take this well.
“I’m not sure how you’ve figured all of this out, so I must have traitors in the company.”
Or Thorn and I were smarter than he gave us credit for. “Money always leaves a trail.” I pulled out the offer letter and slid it across the table toward him. “This is what I’m willing to offer you. There are a few stipulations, but nothing major.”
He looked it over, his eyes quickly scanning the words. “No.”
I waited patiently for an elaboration.
But it never came.
“The floor is open for negotiation.”
He pushed the paper back toward me. “Double your offer, and we have a deal.”
As an attempt to control the situation, it was pathetic. He had no tact whatsoever. I was transparent in my meetings, getting right to the point to save time. But I also thought of every move before I made it. Bruce obviously didn’t. No wonder why his company was going under. “No.” I crossed out the initial offer I’d made and gave him a ten percent increase before I pushed it back toward him. “This is my final offer. Anyone else who comes through that door isn’t going to offer you anything near this. Consider yourself lucky it’s on the table at all.”
He stared at the number for a long time before he turned it over. “I have another offer coming in this afternoon. I’ll wait to hear that one first.”
Another offer? Who else knew about Bruce’s failing holdings? I couldn’t allow myself to look surprised, whether he was bluffing or not. I had to keep my cool, act like I didn’t want this company as much as I did.
“But I’ll think about your offer, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart. I hated being called that. If I were a man, he wouldn’t call me “sport” or “champ.” It was insulting, belittling me.
But I acted like it had no effect on me. “I’ll be in touch to follow up soon.” I rose from my seat and was only mildly offended when he didn’t rise as well. I didn’t receive a handshake or even a second glance from him.
I walked out, knowing he was staring at my ass the whole way. He didn’t give me the respect of looking me in the eye, but he had no problem staring at my behind. I knew he was looking when I spotted his reflection in the glass door.
Asshole.
I walked back to the lobby, holding back the annoyance that must be obvious on my face. I heard the assistant’s voice trail to me as I approached the lobby. “Mr. Hunt, Mr. Carol will see you now.”
I nearly stopped in my tracks when I heard that name.
I rounded the corner and reached the lobby just when he stood up, buttoning the front of his suit as he moved. He carried a satchel over his shoulder, his computer no doubt stuffed inside. His face was cleanly shaven, and he looked even more handsome than the last time I saw him. His shiny watch was on his wrist, and he wore shiny dress shoes.
It took him a moment to notice me, and when he did, he didn’t give the slightest reaction. It wasn’t clear if he already knew I would be there, or he was just a professional at hiding his thoughts.
I didn’t know.
We walked past each other, time slowing down as we came into close proximity. The look he gave me was the kind I’d never seen before. It was like he didn’t know me at a
ll. His lethal professionalism was at the forefront of his mind. He must have known exactly why I was there. If he didn’t know when he walked into the building, he knew now.
“Titan.” His masculine voice brushed over my skin like sandpaper against rocks. It didn’t contain the affection I was used to receiving from him. We were both after the same thing, a company that could be worth billions someday. Just because we were sleeping together, it didn’t change the fact that we were competitors—and we were ruthless.
“Hunt.” I walked past him, giving him the same look of indifference he gave me. The smell of his cologne still lingered in my nose even though our proximity had ended. Maybe I thought I smelled him when I didn’t. Just like how I pictured his hands on my body even though we were no longer near each other.
I made it out of the building, and the unease about my meeting with Bruce Carol caught up with me. It didn’t go well, and I hadn’t realized I had a top-notch competitor working against me. Hunt brought the same resources to the table, and he could make an offer just as good as mine.
I was about to lose this deal—and there was nothing I could do about it.
* * *
Thorn’s mother kissed each of my cheeks before she hugged me, embracing me like she was my mother. “It was so nice seeing you, Tatum. You make my son into a fine man.”
“Thank you, Liv. But he was already a fine man before I came along.”
His father kissed my cheek next before he hugged his son. “Thanks for dinner.”
“No problem, Dad.” Thorn patted him on the back before he stepped back. “Have fun in Bora Bora. Take lots of pictures.”
“We will.” Liv gave a wave before they got into the backseat of their car. The windows were tinted, but I suspected they were waving at us anyway. The driver pulled away and took them back into Manhattan traffic.
“I was a fine man before you came along?” Thorn asked with a laugh. “Even my parents don’t believe that.” He pulled out his phone and texted his driver, telling him to pick us up in front of the restaurant.
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