by Lindsey Hart
“You said it was only a few hours of work.”
“It is. For you. For me, it will take up most of my time. I need you there to assist me with it. I can’t think here. I need to get out of the city. I know I’ve never asked you before, but will you please consider coming with me?”
“So- uh- to a hotel. With separate rooms?”
“Actually, no. My family has a cabin near a small resort town in the mountains. It’s been in the family for decades. It does have two rooms, running water, power, and cell service.”
“What about a mace?”
Curtis laughed softly under his breath. “Don’t worry. The bears in the area won’t be bothering us.”
“I wasn’t talking about the bears.” Lexi’s throat bobbed hard. She looked like she wanted to turn him down. She was debating with herself.
He knew that she wanted him. It was written all over her face. In the shadows in her eyes and the curl of her lips. In the flare of her nostrils and the scarlet heat burning in her cheeks. In the way she refused to look up at him again, in her incredulously bossy stance. In the kiss she probably savored, in that glass of wine she’d had with him, in her agreement to even end up at his house.
“Right.” He reached into his desk drawer and produced a ticket. He slid it across the desk top. “There’s a lake. Pack a swimsuit.” His cock hardened at the thought of her in a bathing suit yet again, soaking wet. Or better yet, doing a midnight skinny dip. In his bed, not in the lake. “Friday at seven. Don’t be late. My grandfather would roll in his grave if I launched the wrong product.”
“You- you asshole!” She seethed. “You said no pressure!”
“The only pressure you should feel is the guilt I’ll lay heavy on you if I’m all alone in making this decision, stressed, overworked, with no assistant to help lighten the load. I’ll be sure to make that fact known if there’s a flop to explain.”
“You’re impossible.”
“If you’re thinking about backing out because you don’t want there to be two rooms, I can promise, the one bedroom is big enough…”
“No!” Lexi gasped. She swiped the ticket off the edge of his desk. She couldn’t look at him. She had her head angled toward the floor, but what he could see of her face was nearly purple. “Just so you know, you’re a terrible person, Mr. James. The worst of the worst. I want a lock for my door if it doesn’t have one already. If you try and enter my room at any given moment, I will be sure to mace you. I’ll buy one when we get there. And I want an extra five thousand for my work. You know, since a flop could be terribly stressful and if we fail, I’ll likely need to go to therapy for all the blame I’ll endure.”
Bravo. Curtis applauded her backbone, he really did. His cock shouted an echo of the same sentiment. He didn’t wish she’d just give up and admit that she wanted him. This was far, far more fun. He’d find out soon enough.
“I’ll be sure to give you the room with the lock. Don’t worry, mace is easily bought at the sporting stores. As for my door, I’ll be sure to leave it wide open. That way, if a bear happens into the cabin, it should devour me first.”
“Even in that scenario, you wouldn’t be the hero. The bear would try one sample bite and spit you right out. You’re rotten to the core. Not even a garbage eater would want to feast on your black insides.”
Lexi turned and stormed out of the room, snarling and muttering under her breath, probably death threats and something about buying a voodoo doll in his likeness.
CHAPTER 13
Lexi
“Here it is. My last will and testament. You also have my itinerary there, the rural land co-ordinates of the cabin, my flight details, and all the information I know about Curtis James.”
Sam set the huge brick of paperwork down on Lexi’s apartment sized glass table with a huff. “Come on, Lex. You don’t think he’s actually bringing you up there to murder you, do you? Not when the whole world knows you’re there?” She stared back incredulously, blinking her thick eyelashes. Sam had gorgeous dark brown eyes, a face that attracted all the wrong kind of male attention always, and the body to match.
“It’s just a precaution.”
Sam pulled the fridge open and began raiding it, pointedly ignoring her. It was just past eleven at night, way too late to be having a conversation debating the wisdom of getting on a plane the next morning with someone she was sure she hated. Or at least, sure she should hate.
“The only precaution you should be taking is packing extra condoms,” Sam muttered, her head in the fridge. She wriggled her denim-clad behind, which was propped up in the air, dramatically.
“Seriously, Sam. In case I never come back, at least you know where to send the search party.”
“Search and rescue, you mean. I have a feeling Mr. Hottie McHottington likes to keep them alive.” She emerged holding a block of cheese, peeled back the already opened wrapper, and took a bite straight off the edge. Lexi cringed inwardly. “Wouldn’t it be awesome if there was some secret sex room under the cabin?”
“No. No, it would not.”
“Come on! Are you serious? Your crazy hot, single, rich, gorgeous, sex on a stick boss wants to take you into the remote wilderness to some cozy little cabin and you’re wasting your time moaning to me about maybe getting murdered and making your will instead of picking out sexy outfits and tempting lingerie? What is wrong with you? Did you even buy any condoms?”
“Of course not,” Lexi snapped. “This is a business trip. Remind me how we’ve been friends since we were kids again.”
“First of all, we grew up down the block from each other. Second, because I’m awesome. You just had to be friends with me. Third, you called me over here at eleven at night, told me it was an emergency, and gave me your will. Like you really think something like this is going to happen. You’re just trying to distract yourself with scary thoughts so you don’t have to think about what it is you really want.”
“Oh, and what is it I really want?”
“Duh, your boss to stick his-”
“Never mind!” Lexi shrieked. “You’re not going to be helpful, I can see that.”
“What do you hate more?” Sam took another bite of cheese and chewed noisily. “The fact that he wants to bone you or the fact that you want him to?”
“I don’t want him to do anything to me!” Lexi balled her hands into fists at her sides. “I don’t want to tell my parents about this. They’d go insane worrying. They’d call me every five minutes. I’ll tell my sister after the fact. No one else knows we’re going. At least, I haven’t told anyone. I don’t want people to get the wrong idea. It- it might look bad.”
“Yeah. It certainly does,” Sam cackled. “Bad in a really sexy kind of way. I’m jealous. My ovaries are on fire just thinking about it. I don’t know a single woman who wouldn’t give, like, a kidney or something to sleep with your boss. Or even just to go down-”
“Stop!” Lexi actually stamped her foot. She lunged at Sam, grabbing the block of cheese. “Give me that!” She thumped it down on the countertop, ripped out a knife and cut off a few slices. She handed them over to Sam, who had the grace to look a little chagrined.
“Just saying. Would it be the worst thing in the world? He’s soooo hot. And underneath that layer of asshole frosty, he’s probably a delicious cake. Red velvet or something exotic.”
“I can’t believe you.”
“And I can’t believe you.” Sam popped a slice of cheese into her mouth and chewed on it like she was tasting something else. “You have this amazing opportunity. Not to use him or anything. I didn’t mean that before. I was just being a jerk. Really though, I know you, Lexi. You’ve had a hard-on for this guy for years. That’s why none of your relationships work out. You fell for him early and hard and you’ve been kidding yourself ever since. You’ve made this thing up in your own mind about him being such a jerk. You grasp onto whatever ammunition you have to hate him. It’s not going to work forever. You’re eventually going to run out
of reasons or realize he’s human. You’re so far into lust or- or- I don’t even know, that it’s insane. You’re the only one who can’t see it. Just go. Go and have fun. Get it over with if you have to but do it already. I’ve been waiting years for the juicy details. Years.”
Lexi stood there in her kitchen, completely stunned. Sam went on happily munching cheese like she hadn’t just uttered such an earth-shattering statement. Lexi could literally feel the ground shifting beneath her feet like the apartment had just opened up and the gaping sinkhole was about to swallow both her- and the will she’d just madly pounded out on some online will site- down into the gaping void.
“Sorry to break the news to you, babe. I didn’t think it actually was news. I thought you were just trying to throw me and everyone else off the scent because you didn’t want to talk about it.” Sam popped the last bit of cheese into her mouth. For once- maybe the first time in her life- she looked legit uncomfortable. “I think I’ve said enough.” She closed the short distance between them and wrapped Lexi up in a tight hug. Sam smelled like her usual self. Expensive lily perfume with just a hint of vanilla and orange blossom. Her arms felt good. Familiar. Arms she could trust no matter how much Sam liked to bug her. That was just Sam being Sam. When she pulled back, she smiled sympathetically at Lexi, as though she really didn’t envy her at all. “Good luck. Enjoy your trip if you can. And give the poor guy a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised.”
“Take that will with you!” Lexi ground out under her breath when Sam released her.
Her best friend just shook her head and stalked off to the door, throwing a wave over her shoulder. She left the brick of a will sitting on the kitchen table and the discarded block of cheese still on the countertop.
Lexi let out an uncharacteristic string of expletives as she reached for the cheese. She was hoping Sam could have talked her out of going on the trip. Confirmed that it was the worst idea. Helped her plot some kind of excuse to get out of it. Help her fake her own death… okay, that was a little extreme, even for them and they’d been known to pull some stupid pranks over the years.
She cut a few more pieces off and chewed slowly, trying to focus on the cheesy goodness. It didn’t work. She might have been eating cheese, but all she could taste was Curtis’ lips. His kiss. His tongue. Sam was right. She was hopeless. She was hopeless, and her ship had a gaping hole in the hull, and she was going down, sinking slowly, heading straight for the bottom.
CHAPTER 14
Lexi
Sitting next to Curtis was a terrible idea. Even in first class, they were jammed together. He smelled divine. Like pines, danger, and sexual tension. His denim clad thigh pressed against hers. He was wearing plaid. Plaid. Red and black, and it looked amazing on him. It showcased his ridiculously drool-worthy body and broadened his already massive shoulders a few more inches.
He had a set of black boots on that looked more suited to riding a motorbike than hikers. She herself put on her favorite cherry red canvas high tops, normally only reserved for weekends, a set of skinny jeans, also normally reserved for her days off, and a plain black pullover sweater. She’d done her hair into a tight braid and worn almost no makeup. She didn’t want to do anything that would encourage Curtis. She still had hopes for making it out of their weekend “work” trip unscathed.
Everyone was boarded and their luggage was stowed. They were just about ready for takeoff, having been through the safety demonstrations. Lexi didn’t fly that often, but she didn’t mind it. She’d been to Mexico the year before with her family, but not anywhere since.
Curtis flew all the time. She knew that because she booked most, if not all of his travel. She knew he was rarely at home to enjoy that massive mansion of his. Yet he sat beside her, his hands discreetly balled into fists at his sides, his left foot tapping out a nervous rhythm. When she chanced a glance at him out of the corner of her eye, she noticed most of the blood had drained from his face, leaving him so white it looked like he literally hadn’t surfaced from whatever cave he’d been living in for the past decade.
Curtis James, the big bad Trust Fund Baby, turd of the century, the ass and also the hole in asshole, her nemesis of a bossy pants, spoiled, entitled, jerkus, was actually scared. Of flying.
“Are you okay?” The words dribbled unexpectedly from her lips.
Curtis turned to her, all of his normal cocky composure melted away in the face of whatever the heck was going on with him. Drop a spider on her face and she might look the same.
“I think I’m going to vomit,” he ground out under his breath, his teeth clenched together so tightly his words were little more than a rush of air.
Lexi wanted to turn away and tell him that if he puked anywhere near her, he was a dead man. That she’d return the favor by catching frogs at the cabin and stuffing them into his bed when he was sleeping, maybe into his mouth again, since the slime thing had been really satisfying, but that didn’t come out either. It was like someone had jammed a filter over her mouth and now, instead of mean things, her words came out all rainbows and farty sunshine beams.
“We’ll be fine. Anyway. It’s early. I slept like shit. I’m exhausted. I’m going to close my eyes and I probably won’t remember a thing.” Curtis looked far from convinced. He did look skeptical about her actually being nice to him for a change. She leaned forward, slid the white barf bag out of the seat in front of her, and passed it over to Curtis. He gave her a death glare she hadn’t seen from him before and she didn’t have to force a smile when she blinked back at him.
She turned, rested her head against the seat and closed her eyes. The engines roared to life and since she truly was tired, she snatched her earbuds out of her pocket and popped them in her ears. In a few seconds, she had her tunes blasting. She’d slept about two seconds the night before and that was generous. She felt the blackness of some much needed sleep closing in before they were even off the ground.
Lexi might not have felt the takeoff, but she sure as heck felt the touchdown. The plane hit and bounced then hit again so hard she would have pitched out of her seat if she wasn’t belted in.
She glanced around wildly after the rude awakening. After scanning the murmuring passengers around her, her eyes flicked to Curtis. He was still that horrible shade of chalk white, but there was a sickeningly green undertone that was new. It took her two seconds to spot the barf bag on his lap and it was no longer so flat and new.
“Oh my god,” she breathed. “Did you actually puke?”
Curtis scrubbed a hand over his face. He blinked at her, a little pink coming back into his cheeks. It didn’t look like the robust pink of health. Lexi was floored. Her boss, the unflappable jerk wad was actually embarrassed.
Without thinking, she reached above her head and flicked on the light to call the stewardess. As soon as the button lit up, Curtis yanked her hand down. Heat roared up her arm and burst in her chest like he’d just shoved her onto a red-hot burner. It wasn’t that much less painful either. She could practically feel her skin sizzling. She quickly wrenched her arm away and held it at her side.
“Why did you do that?” he hissed without looking at her.
“God, because you need to give that to someone. You can’t just stuff it in your pocket.”
“I’m fine. I’ll throw it out at the airport.”
She turned to gape at him. “Are you kidding me? Throw it away? Just give it to the stewardess. I’m sure it’s not their first rodeo dealing with barf bags.”
“Just leave it.”
Lexi had a second to study Curtis and she realized he was truly mortified. For just that split second, he wasn’t an asshole. He wasn’t her indomitable, rich ass boss who had the world in his palm and anything else he wanted. He wasn’t the guy who ran a multi-billion-dollar corporation. Who came from money so old it was probably pre-historic. Who ruled the world with a single glance. Who could wither enemies and melt panties alike with a single glare.
He was just Curtis, the guy who
was so afraid of flying- crazy as it was- that he’d actually thrown up and was currently wishing for a giant sinkhole to open up and swallow him.
Maybe she had a heart after all because as soon as the stewardess, a pretty young blonde woman with a kind face, appeared, she passed over the bag. “Sorry. I don’t normally get sick on flights.” She pasted on a sheepish look.
“That’s okay. We had some pretty rough turbulence up there.” The lady smiled back at her. Lexi’s eyes flicked to her nametag. Mallory. “I’ll just take that off your hands. I hope the rest of your day is better for you.”
Lexi grinned back. “I’m sure it will be. Thanks.”
Mallory nodded and continued on down the aisle humming away to herself like she was holding a box of expensive chocolates or a really exotic bouquet of flowers from some secret admirer and not a bag of someone’s ejected breakfast.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Curtis mumbled.
She turned and nearly smiled all over again when she saw how flustered he was. The smile faded a few seconds later when another, disturbing line of thought took over the snarky ones pre-loaded in her brain when it came to her boss. When was the last time someone did something nice for him without expecting anything in return? She was probably overthinking it. Sam was wrong. Curtis James was a robot. He was not human under that flawless, drool-worthy exterior.
Instead of letting him see how rattled she suddenly was, Lexi pasted on a smirk. “Alberta has good breakfast? I bet you’re starving now.”
Curtis must have been feeling more like himself because his normal color was coming back and so was his signature biting sarcasm. “We’re actually in Calgary, which is in Alberta. And yes. I’m starved.” He nearly shoved her out of her seat. So much for being a gentleman. He was a robot for sure. Sam had it all wrong.
“Thanks for the geography lesson,” she muttered. “I know we’re in Calgary, by the way. I’m not that stupid. If you want breakfast, lead the freaking way. I hope you’re paying, since you demanded I come on this trip in the first place.”