by Piper Rayne
“Well, it’s hard to be away from someone you’re so close to.” Her eyelids crinkle and her chest rises and falls dramatically as the airplane continues its descent.
“He thinks he deserves equal shares, and I get that we’ve been partners for a while, but that doesn’t entitle him to be a part of everything.”
Her breasts are pushed out now and I clench my fists, begging my subconscious not to wonder if her soft flesh would fill the palm of my hand and imagine what her nipples feel like under her silk blouse.
“Relationships are hard. I can’t seem to get them to work.” The plane feels like it free-falls from the sky and she pushes her body back into her seat, her nails digging into the vinyl fabric.
“He’ll get over it. This is my company, not his.” I reach over and take her hand in mine.
Her eyes flash open and she studies our entwined hands and then her gaze moves up to my face.
“I’m sorry, I just can’t watch you freak out anymore.”
She stares at me, as though I have some superpower and have locked her vision to mine. The plane makes a loud grinding noise and her eyes widen.
“It’s just the landing gear,” I say in a soothing voice.
She nods.
“You’re going to be okay.”
She nods again and I grab her other hand so she’s forced to face me.
The flight attendant inches forward from her own seat facing us. “It’s just a little windy, but don’t worry, the pilot flies out of here all the time.”
Teegan’s hazel eyes veer to hers briefly before locking with mine once more.
“See, you’re good.”
From the window over her shoulder, the pavement comes into view. The plane meets the ground and then bounces back up. Her hands cut off my circulation, but when the plane’s wheels fall to the ground once more she eases up her grip.
Soon the plane’s brakes kick in and our bodies are pulled forward from the force of stopping.
“Welcome to New York,” the pilot announces and Teegan takes a big breath.
“Good?” I ask.
“Thank you.” She releases her grip on me and I shake my hands a few times to regain blood flow.
“Anytime.” I wink and she smiles.
She collects her belongings and I do the same. “Sometimes I wish I’d learned how to fly.”
I laugh.
“What?” She glares over at me as she’s pushing her e-reader into her bag.
“You really are a control freak, aren’t you?”
She shrugs, but her small smile tells me I’m right.
“That’s a good quality for a PR rep.”
I wrap my arm around her shoulders, the scent of lavender hitting my nostrils since her hair is right under my nose. I shouldn’t have pulled her small frame into my body.
“Definitely,” she says.
My lips beg me to let them kiss the top of her head and my hands don’t want to release her.
If I can get through these few days without crossing a line then I’d say I deserve a fucking award, because everything about this woman is setting me up to fail.
The buildings of Manhattan tower over us—different sizes, different colors and a nostalgic feeling comes over me. Chicago is like a smaller New York City and I forgot how much I missed the city life.
Our taxi pulls up to the curb outside our hotel. I open the door, paying the cab driver through the passenger window while Teegan stands on the curb, her eyes up.
The bellhop grabs our bags and I signal to him that we’ll be right in.
“Beautiful, right?”
Teegan startles at my voice so near, but smiles, looks down the street once and then concentrates on me. “It is.”
“Have you been here before?”
“No.”
I link my hand with hers and she doesn’t pull away. “Let’s go check in and then we’ll see the sights.”
“Oh, um, I have plans.”
I look over my shoulder and she’s biting her lip.
“Do you think your friends would mind if I tagged along?” I sound like a loser, but the last thing I want to be right now is apart from her. We just arrived.
“I’d hate for you to feel left out. You know we’ll probably talk about college stories and…”
“Now you’re just convincing me even more that I should go.” I chuckle. “I bet you were crazy in college, right? One of those girls who let her hair down and then straightened out when the real world set in?” She slides her hand out of mine, pretending to fiddle in her purse.
“No, I’ve always been this anal, but thanks.” She nods, her lips twisting together.
Shit. I think I’ve offended her.
Without a word she starts walking over the check-in desk, so I follow behind, mentally cursing myself.
“Reservation for Lowery,” she says. “And the second reservation is for Vaughn.”
The guy looks at Teegan, his eyes dipping down to her breasts and then back up to her face. My hands fist of their own accord and I somehow resist the urge to remind this little shit where the lady’s eyes are.
He types on the computer for a minute.
“Can you make it so that both rooms are next door to one another?” I ask.
Teegan’s head snaps in my direction.
“Easier in the morning, right?” I shrug.
Her jaw clenches but she nods.
The guy peeks up at me. “Let me see what I can do.”
He continues to type. His constant sighs make it seem like I asked him to get me tickets to see Hamilton rather than get side-by-side rooms.
“Finally.” He looks up and smiles. “Got them.”
“Great,” I say.
“I just need credit cards and photo ID’s for both of you.” He taps his fingers on the desk in front of him.
“Here, put them both on mine.” I slide the cards over.
“No, I can get my own room.”
I raise my eyebrows and then shoo my hand to the clerk to go ahead and use my card.
“Why are you in New York?” I ask.
Her face scrunches, causing her forehead to wrinkle. “We’re here for the morning show.”
“Exactly. So you’re here for me. I pay.”
“But—”
“But nothing. If you want to thank me, you can open up a sliver of time in that jam-packed schedule of yours to have a meal with me. But”—I lean in close to her ear, not missing the way she deeply inhales—“that will be my treat too.”
“Leo,” she sighs.
“Here they are. You’re on the fifty-third floor. The elevator is to your right.” The clerk smiles and hands me back my cards.
I bend down and pick up her bag. “Let’s go. I’d hate for you to be late for your friends.”
“Yeah. That’d be tragic.” She rocks back on her heels and then follows me to the elevators.
A knock pounds on my door and I swing my legs over the bed to answer room service.
I open the door and a hotel worker rolls the cart in at the exact time a body freezes just short of my door. Wanting to see what the hell is going on, I peek my head out to find Teegan in pajama pants, a sweatshirt, fuzzy slippers and an ice bucket tucked under one arm, junk food shoved under the other. She still looks phenomenal.
She gives me a small wave, chewing on the bite of the Snickers bar she’s already bitten off.
“I thought you were going out with your friends?”
“No. They had to work late.”
“All of them?” I question and the employee brings me the slip to sign. “Hold up.” I tell Teegan and then sign my name.
“Thank you, Mr. Vaughn.” The waiter glances to Teegan and then heads down the hallway in the other direction.
“Come in,” I say, holding the door open.
“Nah. I’m good.” Her teeth bite down on her lip and my dick twitches at the sight. My dick is getting a workout from the amount of times he rises and falls around this woman.
“I ordered too much food because I couldn’t decide what I wanted. What’s better than room service and an action flick?” I nod into the room.
“Room service and a romantic comedy?” she suggests, raising her eyebrows.
“You share your candy and I’ll let you pick the movie.”
She nibbles on the inside of her cheek, taking a deep breath and looking around. “Let’s just eat. No movie.”
“Whatever you want.”
She walks in the room, opting to sit down in the desk chair.
“You can have the bed if you want,” I offer.
The candy in her arms drop to the table and she brings her knees up to her chest. “I’m good here.”
I shrug. “You do know I don’t bite, right?”
“Yes, Leo.” She says it like I’m a moron for thinking she’s been keeping her distance from me for the past week, but I know I haven’t been imagining that.
“I’m sorry for the other morning. It was wrong of me to take my irritation out on you and John.”
She shakes her head. “It’s forgotten. You already apologized.”
I unwrap the room service, my stomach growling at the sight of all the food. “Then why are you like a skittish cat toward me?” I slide the tray of food her way and sit down on the edge of the bed so we’re facing one another.
Her eyes skitter across the room, and her teeth find her lip again, which I’m beginning to realize is what she does when she’s anxious. “Okay. Can I be honest with you?”
Her nipples pebble under her sweatshirt. She’s not giving me a fair chance to be the good guy here.
“Always.” I gulp down half the bottle of cold water.
“My friend, Sophie, um, she thought and I do too… we thought it was better if I kept my distance. You’re my boss and clearly, we both want you to succeed. The truth is I have no friends here, but I worried if we went out that, I don’t know…”
I laugh at her rambling. “You want to keep things professional?” That might be what she’s trying to say, but her nipples are still saluting me so I’m not sure her body feels the same. I swallow more water, praying it cools my body down.
She nods. “I know it’s so stupid, but I just can’t be responsible—”
“For hurting—”
“Your career. I mean, you hired me as your PR rep and I have to be focused on that. You’re my only client.”
I had assumed, but now I see that she really does need this to work. “I won’t be for long. You’re talented, Teegan.”
She finally sips the water in front of her and relaxes in the chair a bit. “I had worked at a firm for three years, but I left there because…” She waves her hand in the air. “I don’t want to get into specifics, but I need to make this work. I don’t want to have to work for anyone else ever again. Except my clients.”
I hold up my hand. “Relax. We can share a meal together.”
It’s clear now that I need to get my attraction to her under control. She deserves to become a success and a quick fuck with me would only ruin that for her because we both know sex is a temporary fix that catastrophically ruins everything unless you trot off on horses under a rainbow in the end.
“Okay, maybe we should use the time to go over what we want to accomplish on the show tomorrow.” She claps her hands, changing gears back into work mode. She seems more comfortable now that we’ve laid everything on the table.
Then it hits me—was I making her feel uncomfortable with my advances? Was I seeing something that wasn’t really there?
Fuck me. I’ll never understand women.
16
Teegan
Next morning my stomach growls, while Leo continues to pop donut holes into his mouth. Where does the man put it all?
“I think you should eat.” He turns around, holding a delicious-looking chocolate-glazed cake pop in his hand. My mind wanders to thoughts of letting him feed it to me and then licking the sugary glaze left on his fingertips.
“No, I’m fine.” I tap my toes, anxious to get this show on the road—literally.
He shrugs and pops it into his mouth, swallowing it down with a gulp of water.
The state of my life right now is less than ideal. I’m falling for an unavailable man. Regardless of our conversation last night, I still feel the pull toward him. Yeah, he doesn’t understand my reasoning for attempting to wedge some distance between us. Doesn’t know that it’s because I want him to sink his teeth into me.
“You okay?” he asks from the chair across from me.
Since the conversation last night, he’s kept a physical distance between us at all times. In the limo, he sat on the bench across from me. Walking down the hall, he let me go first instead of side by side. Our hands haven’t brushed and not once have I caught his eyes lingering on me. All confirming I’ve let him off the hook.
“I’m good.”
“Your mind is like a cyclone, isn’t it?”
“No.” I smile, uncrossing and crossing my legs again.
“I think I’m the one who should be nervous here.” He leans back, an easy grin on his face.
“You’ll do great.” I pick at the fabric on the couch.
“As long as I can get the company’s name out there, maybe a major brand will take notice.”
The door opens and I’m thankful that it’s his turn to get on air. I have one more night to sleep on the other side of the wall from him, letting my imagination run wild, and then I can get home and get some actual sleep.
“Leo Vaughn?” a guy’s voice says. A guy’s voice I’m way too familiar with.
I whip my head up and, sure as shit, the voice belongs to exactly who I thought it did.
“Teegan?” Mike asks.
My mouth hangs open. “Hi,” I say, my voice mousy and unsure.
“What are you doing here?” He glances to Leo, whose eyes are shifting back and forth between us.
“I’m with Leo. I mean he’s my client. I’m his PR rep. We’re not like together together. Not like boyfriend and girlfriend.”
Leo chuckles across from me. “I think he gets it.”
I focus on him and he’s smiling, his head tilting as though non-verbally asking me if I’m okay. I tighten my hands in my lap.
Leo notices I’m not going to introduce him, so he stands up and approaches Mike.
“You’ve silenced her. That’s a hard accomplishment.” Leo’s joking, and Mike laughs, his same throaty chuckle it took me forever to realize was fake as shit.
The two of them shake hands and then face me.
“Mike and I were friends in college,” I offer.
“Friends?” Mike questions, rocking back on his heels, his hand on that black box mechanism on his hip. He holds his finger up in the air then speaks into his headset. “I’m getting him ready now.” He pulls a microphone out of his back pocket and hands it over to Leo. “We can chat later, but I need to get you mic’d or I’ll lose my job.”
Mike hooks the mic on Leo and for the first time all day Leo’s face pales.
“Let’s head backstage. They have you scheduled for a five-minute segment.”
“What about my setup?” Leo asks.
“It’s all set. You can check it out right now and then we’ll wait for your time on side stage.”
The two go about business like it’s every day that I get stuck in a room with a guy who once broke my heart and another who is in the process of doing it, unaware or not.
“You’re welcome to come with us, Teeny,” Mike says and the audacity of him using that damn nickname weakens my knees.
“I think I will.” I check my phone as I follow the two of them out of the room.
Oscar: I just got dropped off outside the studio.
Me: Great. Your name is on the list.
Oscar: See you in a few.
I bite down my smile to not alert Leo to the surprise I have for him. Oscar was thrilled when I told him to catch a red-eye to New York last night. It’s a risk, but I kn
ow Leo would say no if I asked. The best promo for Leo is to let some of his personal life out there and since his partnership with Oscar also extends to his business it’s win-win.
Leo walks over to his newest line of clothes for dogs and he bends down, petting each dog in a child safety pen who will be modeling the clothes. “Man, I’m still amazed at the job that Oscar did on this one.” He touches one of the appliqués.
“Who’s Oscar?” Mike asks and I eye Leo before asking Mike to the side.
Leo continues to play with the dogs while we talk.
“Oscar is his partner,” I say in a hushed voice. “I told Serena that Oscar is coming to surprise him. He’s in the building, I believe.”
Mike’s eyes bulge out. “He’s gay?” he whispers.
“Yeah.”
“Shit. I must be working a lot of hours, I didn’t get that vibe from him at all.”
I crinkle my eyes. The guy was always so involved in his work that he’d probably struggle to notice if I dropped to my knees and sucked him off right here. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but the man fell asleep while we were having sex once. Not exactly an ego-booster. “You were always one to miss the small details.”
He rolls his deep brown eyes I used to lose myself in. “I’m not sure sexual orientation is a small detail, but whatever.”
My gaze moves to Leo, who is still enjoying the dogs. “Anyway, it’s a surprise, but see if you can get the host to ask him some personal questions.”
“It’s clearly marked here to ask him no personal questions.” He’s looking down at his clipboard.
Damn him and all his by-the-book shit.
“Well, I’m his PR rep and he needs to loosen up a bit on his personal life. I’m not asking for the host to dig into the childhood traumas, just introduce Oscar and see where it goes.”
Mike blows out a breath. “Are you sure you’re not stepping over boundaries here, Teeny?”