“Really? Are you ready to be jobless then?”
She halted abruptly and spun around to glower at him.
“Are you threatening to get me fired?”
He shrugged his shoulders. She narrowed her eyes on his arrogant stance with his hands on his hips, his long hair hanging loose over his shoulders. He looked absolutely scrumptious.
“The contract is depended on you headin’ up the campaign. If you walk away … it goes to another company. Do you really think Gregory Bart is goin’ to repay you with a continued job?”
“You wouldn’t …”
“And then there is the little matter of William, your brother in law.”
“This is blatant blackmail!”
“Call it what you want. I told you we are not done yet, doll face … not by a lon’ shot!”
“And this was the only way you could think off to get me here? Why did you not just ask?”
“Would you have come if I did?”
“Well, now we will never know, will we? Very well, Cowboy, let’s go. The sooner we have this ‘talk’ the sooner I can go home.”
Jarrod could not keep the smile from his face watching her hobble to his SUV, the one high heel still clasped in her hand.
“And wipe that damn smirk off your face!”
His smile turned into a husky chuckle and then a laugh when her … aaarrgghh … echoed into the clear blue sky.
Shannon ignored Jarrod all the way to the house and he thought it prudent not to push her. She was still clutching the spiky high heel shoe in one hand.
Rosa nearly had a heart attack when Shannon stomped into the kitchen.
“Nonnie! You’re back! I knew you’d not forget about us! Why did you stay away so lon’’?”
“I’ve been dealing with uprooting my whole life on the whim of a Cowboy! That’s where I have been!”
Rosa frowned and glanced at Jarrod, who just shrugged his shoulders.
“Shall we go to the porch for our talk, doll face?”
“No. Seeing as this is a work related meeting, we will have it in your study.”
His grin told her that was exactly what he intended and she very nearly changed her mind. If he thought he was going to jump on her the moment the door closed, there was a surprise in store for him. She was livid and would not be swayed by his sensual and tempting lips.
Jarrod led the way to the study and held the door open for her. She walked through and immediately shot across the room, smiling at his annoyed expression. She noticed his groping hands and just managed to avoid them. She gestured him to his chair and he ambled slowly towards it and sat down. Shannon remained standing to the side of the desk and glowered at him.
“Well, Mr. Parker?”
He sat looking at her with a brooding expression on his face.
“Sit down, doll face.”
“Mr. Parker, as the person I am reporting to on this campaign, addressing me in such a manner is totally inappropriate.”
“You are sorely tryin’ my patience, Shannon.”
She blinked. It was the first time he has ever called her by her name. Her stomach clenched as the syllables rolled sensually from his lips.
Damn, can I do nothing properly when it comes to this man? Like remaining angry long enough to make him regret his actions.
“I’m sure I don’t understand, sir. Chris told me you wanted to talk to me about the job.”
“Chris? You’re already on first name basis with him? What else have you and Chris been up to in my absence?”
“Oh, he has been a real gentleman. He is the type of man I could really be attracted to. I should actually thank you. I have really enjoyed working so closely with him this past week.”
Had Shannon known Jarrod better, she would have realized not to push certain buttons. Of course, he did not realize these specific buttons of his could be pushed and what his reaction would be. Well, they were both about to find out. He was up and around the desk before she could blink. He yanked her up against him and glared at her. His eyes glittered like molten silver and they nearly obliterated her.
“Did he touch you?”
“Of course he touched me! He ha …”
His hands tightened around her arms and she cried out in pain. He hardly registered and pulled her higher up his chest. His eyes turned darker by the minute.
“You allowed him to touch you … after the night we had?”
Shannon swallowed. His anger only now registering with her. Her feet were off the ground as he held her against his chest.
“Who are you to judge me? You have been gallivanting to the local bars every other night and picking up women.”
“Says who?”
“Noah.”
“Noah … you have been talkin’ to Noah?”
“A few … times.”
She hesitated when his face tightened and his hands pulled her even closer.
“Jarrod, please … you’re hu …”
“You phone me once in five weeks, yet you speak to him all the time?”
“He phoned me!”
“I should have known better than to allow you near either of them. Now I have to fire my cousin and beat my best friend to a pulp.”
She gasped and stared at him with wonder.
Good lord! The man was green with jealousy and red with possessiveness!
“Now you are really utterly ridiculous. Noah did me a favor and he was only being friendly.”
She kicked off her shoes and they fell to the carpet with a thump. Jarrod did not even notice.
“What about Chris?”
“Well, he gave me a handshake, something we should have stuck to when we met.”
Shannon was wearing a loose fitting knee length sundress. She lifted and wrapped her legs around his hips as she whispered the words against his lips. She clamped her ankles together and jerked his hips against her. They both groaned when his hard, fully erect shaft slammed against the apex between her legs
She stroked the muscled cords of his arms until she reached his neck. She tangled her fingers in his hair behind his neck, grinding her pulsing heat against his throbbing shaft with hard, slow strokes up and down its length.
“Maybe we could have this talk you wanted later … much later?”
This time her whisper against his lips got her the reaction she was after and his hard lips closed around hers in a long, deep and sensual kiss. His arms tightened around her back. Being pressed against his hard body was something she could only withstand for so long. She had been dreaming of him, of his touch, of his hardness, his erotic fullness inside her and she needed him.
Sooner, rather than later! Much sooner!
A knock on the door shattered Shannon’s need and she moaned in distress as did Jarrod.
Lord knows he needed this woman. So damn much his whole body ached with need.
“I brought you somethin’ cool for those chapped throats. Open the door, Jay.”
Jarrod lowered Shannon slowly down the front of his body, watching her eyes close and he groaned.
He pushed her back and stalked to the door.
“Your timin’ sucks, Rosa.”
“What’re you blabberin’ about, my boy?”
She carried the tray to the desk and smiled at Shannon who sat demurely on one of the chairs in front of the desk. Her spikes back on her feet.
"Enjoy. I am makin’ somethin’ real special for lunch.”
She walked through the door and left it standing wide open. Jarrod chuckled and walked to take a seat on the other side of the desk.
“I guess she has just appointed herself as your chaperone.”
“It’s a good thing, don’t you think?”
“Oh no, doll face. Nothin’ would keep me from you. Not after the promise you just made. But to honor Rosa’s effort, I will desist for now. I want to hear your cries and screams and with her here …”
Shannon blushed, remembering how loud she became that night they spent together. He wrung emotio
ns and pleasure from her so expertly, she could not keep her cries and screams down.
She picked up one glass of soda and gulped half of it down. She sat back and watched Jarrod do the same. She still could not believe how her life has changed since that rental car broke down next to the road.
“I’m waiting, Mr. Parker.”
“Mr. Parker me, one more time and I’ll whip your ass!”
Her eyebrows rose and she smiled sensually. His dick jerked in reaction.
“I want you to move in here.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because technically I work for you and that sort of thing is still frowned upon.”
“You don’t work for me. You still work for Global Media.”
“Are you going to make this another condition of that damn contract?”
“No. I am askin’ because I want you here.”
“I have always separated my personal life from work, so I am afraid the answer is still no.”
“You can have you own room.”
Shannon laughed outright and he smiled along with her. They both knew she would be sleeping in his bed if she moved in with him.
“I am serious, Shannon. I want you with me.”
“What would happen to me if you decide you’ve had enough of me? Apart from being cast aside, would I be kicked off the project too? My superiors would immediately believe I messed up no matter what you said and I would end up jobless. No Jarrod, I am not moving in with you.”
“I won’t terminate the contract, Shannon. No matter what.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you want me to move in here? From what Noah said, you have never had a relationship with anyone. You are a slam bam kind of guy.”
“Noah has a big mouth! He wants you to himself!”
“He does?”
“Don’t look so damn pleased about it!”
“Is this what you wanted to talk to me about, Jarrod?”
“No.”
“So?”
“You are not goin’ to change your mind?”
“No.”
He sighed dramatically and she wiggled on the chair. He was giving up too easily. One thing she has learned about him over the past few weeks, he never gave up once he made up his mind.
“I want to offer you a permanent job.”
She gaped at him. From the one extreme to the other.
“I …”
“Hear me out. I am extremely impressed with everythin’ you have done, from the start of this project. We already made a decision that we wanted to put a Marketin’ and PR department in place. We’ve just not had the time to start lookin’ for candidates. You, Shannon, are the perfect candidate. You don’t have to decide immediately, but I’d like you to think about it.”
“Jarrod, this is just too much. It … the same principle applies here. We have a history … we’ve been too … personal with each other to have a direct professional relationship.”
“Shannon … just think about it. Chris will give you the full proposal on Monday. Go through it and then we will discuss it further.”
“Very well.” She sighed and finished her soda.
“Lovies … grubs ready!”
Rosa’s shout echoed from below and Jarrod rose immediately. If he had to sit across from her alone for much longer, he was going to jump her bones.
Lunch, with Rosa joining them, was a pleasant affair. She talked non-stop and had them in stitches with her tales.
After lunch Jarrod would not take no for an answer, they went swimming before he would take her back to Houston.
She had to wait whilst he took a shower and got dressed. Her breath caught in her throat and nearly choked when he walked back into the room.
He was wearing a formal black suit with a white shirt and a silver tie. His hair was tied back and he looked like a movie star.
“Are you going out?”
Her heart hammered against her chest. Her ire rose high inside her at the thought of him on his way to a date with another woman.
“Yes, doll face. We are goin’ to dinner in Houston. Had you lived here, you would have been ready by now. .”
“Jarrod …”
“Shall we?”
Oh Lord, I am in so much trouble! He is supposed to be a Cowboy, for heavens’ sake!
Now he looks a lot like the high powered corporate type you usually go for t.
But he is supposed to be a Cowboy!
I’m not sure I am following you, doll face. Are you upset, or happy about it?
Oh, shut up!
Chapter Eight
Jarrod took her to one of the most exclusive restaurants in Houston. He could not take his eyes of her. She wore a white off the shoulder sheet dress made from some stretchy material that hugged her body before it fell to her ankles. It molded around every damn curve of her body. When she walked, her leg peeked out from a long slit on the front side of the dress.
He most definitely did not appreciate the reaction she got from the male population when they walked into the restaurant. Some stared blatantly and he cursed. He curled his hand possessively around her waist and led her to their table. Realizing with a start he was jealous. An emotion he has never had to deal with before.
Last time I brin’ her to a place like this! These gigolo’s are forward enough to proposition her in my presence!
Their table was to the one side and secluded from the rest. He made sure he seated her behind the massive potted plant so she would be out of sight.
“This is quite a beautiful place and extremely popular by the looks of it. Do you come here often?”
“I do most of my business lunches here, yes.”
“And your woman?”
He frowned at her and shot her an annoyed glare.
“There is no ‘your’ woman in my life. Never has been.”
“Ah, yes. I nearly forgot. The slam bam man.”
“Are you deliberately tryin’ to antagonize me, doll face?”
Shannon looked at him and sighed, deciding to back down. It was not his fault that he looked so damn gorgeous, all the woman drooled over him when they walked into the restaurant.
“Okay, I’m sorry, but I am still angry at you for the backhanded way in which you took over my life!”
“I did not take over your life.”
Yet.
“Really? The fact that I had to move state and house, was a decision I just took because I felt like it?”
“You’re still stayin’ in your own apartment, aren’t you?”
Shannon glowered at him, but refrained from taking the bait. The waiter arrived with their wine and starters. For a while there was silence. Shannon led the conversation to work , desperate to find some way to separate her raging need for this man from the purpose of her being here.
No matter what she said, she knew there was no way she would be able to stay away from him. They had just finished their dessert and were sipping on some Irish coffee, when a beautiful, tall blonde stopped by their table. Her glittering, long red nails stroked over Jarrod’s cheek. Shannon shimmered with anger.
“Jarrod, daarhlin’ … I thought it was you. Shame on you for neglectin’ me the past few weeks.”
Jarrod groaned and watched Shannon’s eyes glitter. He removed Carmen’s fingers from his face and let her hand drop. His voice was icy.
“I have been busy, nor do I remember us agreein’ to meet.”
The woman’s dark brown eyes turned to Shannon and flashed in the candle light.
“He is such a tease. We’ve met up every month at least. I am really upset with you darlin’.”
“I don’t appreciate havin’ my dinner interrupted so rudely, Carmen. I suggest you leave.”
“But darling’ …”
“Goodbye Carmen.
She huffed and spun around, walking away with swaying hips. Shannon’s eyebrows rose. Jarrod watched her in silence.
“One of your
slam bams, Jarrod? Oh no, can’t be … she has a special once a month spot! What does she do that the others don’t? Whip you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Well, it was clear that you two have had more than the proverbial once off. Why are you so defensive about it?”
“I’m not, but she was lyin’ and I hate people that lie.”
“What did she lie about?”
“That it’s been a few weeks. It has been close to a year , I have no desire for her company ever again.”
“And why is that?”
“Because, doll face, now I have you.”
“You don’t have me! Don’t confuse the one night we have with …”
“You’re about to say somethin’ that is goin’ to make me angry. I think it is better that we leave.”
He waved at the waiter to bring the bill and his jaw remained rigid all the way to her apartment block in Shore acres in Trinity Bay. It was about a forty five minute drive to the office, but Shannon did not want to live in the city center. He parked the car in front of the building and she turned to him.
“Well, thank you for a wonderful evening. You don’t have to see me to the door. There is a doorma …”
“Forget it. I’m comin’ up.”
He got out and walked around the back of the car to open her door. He took her arm and did not let go until they were inside her apartment. He went to the office, while she got ready earlier and now he was curious to learn more about her.
Jarrod looked around and was surprised at the décor. It was fresh, relaxed but modern. The color scheme in the open floor area was earth shades and white. The lamps around the large area casted a romantic hue.
Shannon dropped her clutch bag on the couch and turned to Jarrod. Before she could utter a word, he pulled her tight against him and his lips covered hers. He kissed her slowly, savoring her taste. He stroked her back until he reached her ass and folding his hands around the perfect globes, lifted her against him and slammed her hard against his aching dick.
She groaned into his mouth and her arms wrapped around his neck. She pulled the band from his hair and twirled her fingers through the soft tresses at the nape of his neck. He growled and withdrew his mouth from hers. Their eyes met, both glittering with heat.
Her Prada Cowboy: McCulloch County Series #1 Page 7