“Baby…?” Daddy said from the doorway. “My perfect, beautiful baby girl…” He stood, holding out his big, strong hands to me and I took them. “No daughter ever made her father prouder… and no father ever loved a daughter more than I love you…,” he said, hugging me tight… like he never wanted to let me go… “But it’s time… and your Henry is waiting for you…”
Mama always said that everyone needs something to believe in.
I think I believe in love.
Because, in the end, it’s what puts the harmony in our hearts, and the music in our souls. Even though we all communicate in different ways, it’s the single purest, most powerful way we touch one another. My mother, my father… and Henry, have all taught me this…
That short or tall… young or old…
bold… or silent…
every single one of us will have a love story to tell someday.
Even me.
Bonus Book: The Competition
The riskier the setting, the higher the score.
The more innocent the girl, the bigger the payoff.
The harder the conquest, the harder you f*ck.
Rule Number One?
Just never get caught.
I know what I am. A man without a conscience. I had my heart broken once, but there won’t be a second time. Now, sex is just a game and love doesn’t exist.
I live for The Competition. For the challenge… the chase… the conquest.
Did you ever wonder if you could do it? Have sex in public… without getting caught?
Just the thought makes my blood run hot and my c*ck rock hard.
Maybe it’s the billionaire lifestyle. A man gets jaded, so he creates a game… Others play for money, but I play to win.
Business and fortune are on the line, and scandal could strip it away forever.
And that’s what makes my heart pound… and my c*ck pound harder. There’s no bigger thrill, nothing more exciting, than getting away with it.
But I knew it was game over when I met Emily. Secrets never stay secret. Sooner or later, one of us would get caught.
I just never expected…
...that it would be me.
1
Chase
Sutton had selected the sweet-hot daughter of one of the evening’s more important guests and slipped a flute of champagne into her hand. He whispered in her ear and she laughed, turning her face up to his in answer, fluttering her lashes and teetering nervously on her pink Prada heels. I wasn’t close enough to hear what he said… but then I didn’t fucking need to be. One look at Sutton’s face and I knew. The game was on.
Her gown was short, but elegant… and expensive enough to forgive the expanse of creamy cleavage it displayed. Sutton smiled darkly and shifted behind her, drawing her a step back, against him and closer to the carefully manicured hedges on the outskirts of the party. He spoke to her… she blushed deeply… They both kept their eyes on the other guests. At first, his hands rested at her slender waist… but then one of them slipped behind… and disappeared.
I watched long enough to see the girl’s hand tighten on her glass. Then she shifted those expensive shoes apart… just barely, very discreetly… Not enough that anyone else would understand. But I did.
He hadn’t heard a goddamned word I’d said. He didn’t give a shit that this wasn’t the time or the place. Or that we’d spent better than two million on this event. I tossed back what was left of the scotch in my glass. The evening had only just begun… and I was already on fucking damage control.
A dozen feet away, couples danced sedately… men elegant in black tie and ladies who glittered tastefully with diamonds. Small groups clustered around the bar and everyone held a sparkling glass. Lights that glowed pale yellow, like the color of candlelight were strung from expansive tree limbs that sheltered the outdoor pavilion. The music was classic, soft… and waiters moved silently with their silver trays.
I grabbed another drink, determined to play interference. Not to save his ass… and not to get him laid either. We both knew the rules of the game. Hell, I’d been mostly responsible for inventing them. But tonight my focus wasn’t on the competition. It was about making sure this event brought in enough cash to keep Envisager Inc. on top, right where it had always been, and right where it belonged. That, and making sure my right hand man didn’t bring the whole night crashing down in scandal on top of us.
“Looks like Boothe couldn’t wait,” Ben said, coming up to touch his glass to mine. His blue eyes were shining with the same dangerous excitement I was feeling, but his smile was uncertain. “He takes more goddamned chances than all the rest of us combined. But Christ, you gotta admit,” he lifted his glass toward the couple, “he fuckin’ aims high…”
I shot a look at that lone hand still resting so casually against the girl’s waist. They continued to watch the dancers, and I could see their lips moving as they spoke to one another. Anyone else watching would have simply seen an attractive young entrepreneur being charmingly, but respectably attentive to an attractive young brunette at a social gathering. But her eyes were enormous and I knew that smile on Sutton’s face. The girl’s hemline was ever so slightly shorter than it had been before and tight against her thighs… There was nothing respectable about it.
“Just make sure her father doesn’t come looking for her,” I shot out under my breath. “I don’t know what the fuck that asshole is thinking… This isn’t a game night. And there’s no goddamned win worth the risk he’s taking. There are too many fucking politicians here for this kind of shit…”
Ben nodded and took off toward the senator, catching a waiter with a platterful of iced shrimp as he went. I stood my ground, doing my best to look casual, smiling and nodding… making small talk with guests who strayed too close… redirecting them after a minute or two, to chat with someone else. All the while, grinding my teeth and furious inside, waiting for Sutton to finish what he’d started. Furious at myself for having created the game in the first place… and hating the part of me that still ached to best him at it.
I dropped my empty glass on a passing tray and picked up a fresh one. Not to drink, but to have something cold in my hands… something to distract me. I knew exactly what was happening and so help me, even though I’d sworn I was finished with all of it, I could still feel the pull of the game. I’d never found anything that could compete with the thrill, the challenge, and the excitement of putting everything at stake. My cock stiffened, responding to memory…
“But there are people everywhere…,” she’d objected over the pounding beat of the concert, even as she’d rubbed her ass against the hard bulge in my jeans. “I don’t think we can… not here…”
I caught the sound of the girl behind me with Sutton. She had gasped and I knew from the sound that he was inside her. Fucking her in plain view, and yet no one even knew… If we were lucky…
“No one will even know, baby,” I’d told my date as I’d slipped my fingers under the hem of her little skirt to stroke the wet spot on her panties. Her pussy lips had been firm, eager… she had been just as excited by the idea as I was… “Too many people and too much noise… You can come right here… Just stay close, and dance with me… I’ll be the only one who knows, the only one who can feel you coming on me…”
The whole crowd had been on their feet and moving with the music. I’d unzipped and slipped my cock inside the elastic edge of her panties, letting the big head of my cock seal the rest of the deal. And she had moved just like everyone around us, bouncing up and down to the music…
Except she’d tilted her hips and come down hard, impaling herself on my rod and crying out, adding her voice to the deafening music and the roar of the crowd. I’d held her waist lightly, giving her the freedom to dance us both to a pounding climax. That had been five years ago, and the first time I’d had sex in public. But it hadn’t been the last. Almost a year had passed since that very last time… and since I’d sworn off for good.
But I still ached, wanting the danger, wanting the risk… hungry for the rush that came with the conquest. And while I could control my choices, I couldn’t seem to control that need. God knew, I had tried. And Sutton knew too. That’s why he had chosen tonight, and had made sure that I’d seen him. He was issuing a challenge…
To rejoin the game.
It had always been a competition between us. In the boardroom, developing deals, even fundraisers like this evening. Together we had created a tech empire with the potential to shape the global future. We had pushed ourselves and each other, driving toward that single goal. And up until we’d reached it, that single challenge had been enough.
But we were risk-takers by nature, lost without the constant thrill of pursuit. When we’d achieved our goals in the business world, nights like this one had become commonplace, with the rich and the famous… the moguls and the politicians… all vying to hand over cash to Envisager. We had the best minds in the world working for us, with us. Everyone who had written a check tonight knew it was an investment that couldn’t fail. But in becoming two of the wealthiest men on the west coast, we had also become jaded with everything that had come too quickly… almost too easily. In only a few short years, the only challenge left had become the danger of losing it all just as fast. For money becomes dangerous when there’s enough to buy privilege… and forgiveness.
That’s when we started the game and put everything on the line. We risked our companies and our reputations, everything… all for a fast fuck or a secret blow job. It was all for the thrill, all for the challenge. Risky enough, but riskier still, once the wagering began… That was when I finally knew, that for me at least, it had to be over. The name of the game? Public seduction.
The rules of competition?
The riskier the setting, the higher the score.
The more innocent the girl, the bigger the payoff.
The harder the conquest, the harder you strive
and the harder you fuck.
Oh, and no matter what… Don’t ever get caught.
They say money is the root of all evil. But they’re wrong.
I am.
2
Emily
“Darn it, Gran… What choice do we have?” I ran my fingers through my hair in exasperation. This was the fourth fucking time we’d had this conversation…
“I’ve already taken the check. And the party is this weekend. Reese and Tam have been putting in almost as many hours as I have, and without that money I have no way to pay them.” I turned to face her. “I’ve given my word. I’m sorry if you don’t like this. I’m not sure I do either. But the catering business is dying on its feet. I did what I had to do… just to stay competitive…”
“Don’t you swear when you speak to me, Emily,” she replied stiffly, struggling to put her feet on the floor. She gripped the handle of her cane with a gnarled hand. “I’m still your grandmother and you will mind your manners with me, young lady…” She stood from the bed long enough to finish her speech and then sat back down. “How can the business be in trouble? You just did the Peterman wedding a few weeks ago…”
“That was four months ago, Gran,” I said dully. “And there hasn’t been anything since.” I helped her slip her thin legs back under the blankets and fluffed her pillow dutifully. “After the rent, there’s barely enough left to get us through the month. This new job was like a godsend. I couldn’t have turned it down if I’d wanted to.”
“But to take a respectable business… one your own grandfather started and turn it into a… a…,” she broke off, unable to say the words.
“Los Angeles has hundreds of caterers, Gran. All competing against each other. It’s a different world now… from Grampa’s… even from yours. I had to do something, and do it fast.” I sat down on the edge of the bed and took her cool, dry hand in mine. “We have employees who depend on us. And your medicine to pay for…” I was silently grateful I’d only told her about the new uniforms… and not the details about any of the other changes…
She withdrew her hand and looked away. “Keep your medicines,” she said curtly. “And keep the profits of your indecent work. Don’t ask for my approval… I have none to give.” She reached for the leather-bound book on her nightstand and clutched it to her chest. “Now I’m tired,” she said dismissively. “And I still have to say my prayers…”
I took my time heading downstairs, pausing and holding onto the cold brass rail for support. Tam and Reese hadn’t even taken a break, but had continued working while I’d gone to tuck Gran in for the night. None of us would be quitting until nearly midnight as it was, and we had another four long hours to go. I leaned my head back against the rough brick wall, enjoying the darkness and the silence for a moment longer… My eyes were still closed when I heard Mrs. Williams on the stairs. She was our neighbor, Gran’s only friend, and a widow too.
“I know that look,” she said kindly, brushing back a wisp of her greying hair. She carried a paper sack from the market down the street. “Is Jussie having one of her bad days?” She put her hand on my arm. “This time of year is always harder for her, with all the memories…”
I nodded and smiled. “I know,” I said with a sigh. “Her and Gramps’ wedding anniversary is only a month or so away. She’s just never quite herself.”
“She suffered quite a loss when he died,” she said, patting my arm gently. “It’s a terrible thing to lose the love of your life. You know, she told me once, that Fall is the season for broken hearts…” Her watery blue were sharp, shrewd. “I know she can be very hard sometimes, but then maybe she’s suffered far more than we realize.” She continued on her way up the stairs, leaving me to wonder vaguely what she’d meant.
Gran and Gramps had married late in December. And he’d died in the summertime, almost fifty years later…
“Hey, Em… I thought I heard someone.” Reese opened the glass door that separated the stairwell from the bakery itself. Her red hair was tied back and there was a white smudge on her cheekbone that highlighted the tiny lines just beginning to form there. “We’ve got ninety percent of the baking done. If we can finish it up by tonight, we’ll have the rest of the week for nothing but decorating.” She rubbed her hands together and smiled. “God knows, I’ve taken on a lot of different challenges in my day, but none like this… I can’t tell if I’m dying with excitement, or completely terrified…
The uniforms came in today, by the way. I didn’t have the balls to open the box yet.”
“I know exactly how you feel,” I said. I took a sweet lungful of air and tasted sugar at the back of my throat. A fine silt of sugar and flour always hung in the kitchen, along with the sinful aroma of deep, dark chocolate and browning butter. No matter how bitter my upstairs life could be, it was always warm and sweet and tempting down here…
“I’m guessing Justine’s still not coming around?” Tam asked. She was twenty one, the youngest of the three of us, but didn’t look a day over fifteen. Her blonde hair was folded neatly into a hairnet, her sweet blue eyes were gentle and freckles sprinkled her little nose. She took an enormous bowl of buttercream frosting out of the fridge. “You always come back downstairs looking a little…”
“Judged?” I asked, nodding and biting into my bottom lip. “Imagine that…” I rummaged in a drawer and came up with what I needed. A razor to open the box. “No, nothing’s changed. I don’t think it ever will. She doesn’t want to see things change. And I think it’s gotten harder for her, since she’s gotten sick. But I doubt she’ll turn down the food it puts on the table.”
Reese lifted the box up onto the messy corner desk, while Tam paused long enough to wipe her hands on her apron and come over for the unveiling. I slipped the knife along the edges of the box and opened it, hating that my heart was pounding. Not just because I’d paid for the uniforms with money I didn’t really have yet, but because the idea of wearing one made me excited. Tingly in a way I’d never felt before. A way that I wasn’t fully ready to admi
t that I kind of liked…
“Holy shit,” Reese said, reaching in and pulling out a tiny black and white uniform. She peeled off the whisper thin plastic sheath and held it up toward me. The two women stood looking with wide eyes. ‘We’re really gonna wear these things…?”
I took the satin hanger and tucked it under my chin, spreading the tiny skirt across my hips and the even tinier bodice over my breasts. Candy pink letters rolled across my chest like a ribbon. The new name of our new adventure: Sweets and Classy. The word Sweets rested on my chest, the end of the S curling a gentle swirl right over the top of my barely concealed nipple. The word Classy was scrolled across the back of the little gathered skirt. Fluffs of white lace peeked out underneath and around the deep neckline. A little lace cap along with the predictable fishnets and pink heels rounded out the costume.
Tam took hers out and held it up, exchanging a wide-eyed glance with Reese. I licked my lips, tasting sugar. “I know it feels risky, and I’m just as nervous about this as you are. But I have a four thousand dollar deposit in the bank,” I said softly, listening to the sound of my heart in my chest. “And another five due when the party ends on Saturday night.”
I stroked the letters that rested like a promise over my heart. “And it’s all completely legit. I have it in writing… we provide the sweets and tend the bar, nothing else. The outfits are just for show… just to get our feet in the door.” I was breathing fast, talking fast… “No one at the party is allowed to touch us. And our sweets aren’t obscene… they’re just… erotic, but still in good taste. It’s a kind of art, really…” I stroked the dark satin and felt my pulse in my fingertips. “It’ll all be okay…
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