My hands went down to her knees, lifting her legs up higher until I could throw them over my shoulders, changing the angle of entrance. She cried out in approval as I groaned. I caught a flash of those heels out of the corner of my eye and grinned wickedly.
There was little sexier than a woman being fucked in her heels.
I kept one hand on her hip as I plowed into her, the other wandering higher to her tits. I wrapped my fingers around one and squeezed her tightly. Her back arched in response.
I dove into her as hard and fast as I could, but when I felt myself get closer, I made a quick decision to let the hand at her tit drift lower again. My fingers found their way between her legs just above where I was sliding my cock into her. When I found the little bundle of nerves there, I knew instantly, because she let out a long, drawn-out cry.
In time with my rhythmic thrusts, I began to move my finger against her nub. I rubbed hard and fast, that little movement becoming more and more difficult as I felt myself get closer toward release. My thrusts became erratic, my body aching for the release that was building up hot and fast in my system. Just before I lost myself, I felt her explode beneath me. Her hands gripped at the comforter until her knuckles were white, her voice rang out through the room, and she arched those wonderful tits as she lost herself to oblivion.
I felt my own release power through me, unloading everything I had into her perfect body. For a moment, I was gone. My body was shaky, uncoordinated, and my mind felt like it was disconnected. When I finally came back to myself, I was leaning over her body, barely keeping myself from crushing her by supporting my weight on shaky forearms.
Our eyes met for just a moment, and I had a weird feeling that this was something more.
Then it was gone, and I pulled out of her. We both groaned. I found a towel in the attached bathroom and cleaned myself up. Then I threw a second towel to her. She did the same. As I zipped up my fly, she adjusted her dress until she was fully covered once more.
Both dressed again, we faced each other.
“You know this doesn’t mean anything, right?” I asked her calmly.
She barked out a cool laugh. “I’m not a schoolgirl, Mr. Reid. I know what this was. And I just want to remind you that this doesn’t mean I’ll be giving up.”
“Then our little competition is on?”
She smiled sweetly at me. “Agreed. Best of luck—you’ll need it.”
I escorted her out then and we parted ways. I was still a little loopy from my orgasm, but I had a weird, twisting feeling in my gut like this might have been a very serious mistake on my part. I tried to shove it away quickly, but it followed me home and remained even as I finally drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Ten
Trent
“Callum called. Again.”
I glanced over at Sara and raising my eyebrows at her, I said, “What did he want? And why didn’t he call my damn cell?”
She rolled her eyes at me. Sara was a little thing with dark hair and olive skin. She was Italian or Greek depending on who asked, but it didn’t really matter because she was 100 percent American in the end. The closest to Italian and Greek she got was the Italian sub she ordered from that sandwich shop down the street and the disgusting Greek yogurt in the fridge. I reminded her she was gross every time I saw her eating it.
“He said you’d ask that,” she answered, reaching for her memo pad. Clearing her throat, she said, “And I quote, ‘tell that bastard that I’m going through you’—he means me—‘because he informed me that I have to make this formal, otherwise it doesn’t fucking count. Sorry, Sara, I should watch my language’—he’s always been such a sweetheart, don’t you think?—‘tell that idiot to call me.’ End quote.”
I was laughing by the time she was done. Sara was a smart mouth when she wanted to be, and being the go-between for me and Callum usually brought that quality out in her. Shaking my head a little, I grinned down at her. “Guess that means I should give him a call, eh?”
She lifted a single shoulder in a half shrug. “It’s probably not a bad idea. He sounded a little rough around the edges, like maybe he didn’t sleep so well last night.” She pursed her lips together thoughtfully.
“Aww, is little Sara concerned about the poor little baby’s bedtime?” I teased.
Instantly, her high cheeks reddened, and she narrowed her eyes at me. She threw her memo pad in my direction half-heartedly. I dodged easily, laughing my ass off.
“You’re so immature!”
I only laughed harder. Sara had had a crush on Callum since college. When I used to drag Callum to that little Greek restaurant she worked at—because she looked the part and could fake an accent—she would be at our table every two seconds to make sure that Callum had everything he needed. I teased her mercilessly about it until she threatened to tell my grandmother that I was being mean. Although I was sure the threat still stood, I got away with a little light teasing now and again.
Annoyed with me, she stood up from her little corner desk and walked over to me. She snatched up the fallen memo pad and then spit her tongue out at me. Turning, she stalked off.
“Oh, yeah, real mature!” I called after her, but it wasn’t very effective given that I was still laughing.
Still chuckling over Sara’s schoolgirl crush, I headed toward my workroom, pulling out my phone as I went. I was going to call Callum and set up another meeting because I was already about 90 percent sure I’d sign with him. S&W could offer me the sun and they still wouldn’t be able to convince me to go to the dark side. I was about to dial him when I got an incoming call. As soon as I saw it, a wide grin spread across my features.
I knew she was only calling on behalf of S&W Publishing.
I knew that she didn’t think she was talking to Trent Parker, but rather his “agent,” Malcom Resner.
But I couldn’t help the thrill that rushed through me at the sight of Courtney’s name on my caller ID. Pulling myself together, I cleared my throat, let the phone ring two more times, and then answered.
“Hello?”
“Mal—I mean, Mr. Resner,” Courtney greeted me, coughing a little after nearly using my first name. “This is Ms. Hughes at S&W Publishing.”
My grin widened. She was getting used to calling me Malcom, which, although it was my middle name, I couldn’t help but view as progress. “Courtney, how are you?”
“I’m good, thank you.” She paused, then added, “How are you?”
I did a little fist pump. She was warming up to me, I could tell. “Doing better now.”
“Very cute, Mr. Resner.”
“I told you, call me Malcom.”
There was another pause. I could imagine her warring with herself now, with her cute little vintage dress and those ruby-red lips. Damn, she was beautiful. Finally, she sighed into the phone. “Malcom. I’m calling about Mr. Parker.”
“Oh, and here I thought you just missed me,” I teased lightly.
She gave a short laugh that must have been genuine, because she ended it abruptly with a cough. “Yes, well, sorry to disappoint. But the fact remains that I do need to discuss Mr. Parker’s schedule.”
I sighed. “Can I be honest with you, Courtney?”
“Of course. In fact, I’d prefer it.”
Which means I really should just tell her who the hell I am—but I’m not going to.
Because I wasn’t done with this. I needed to warm her up a little more, then make the big reveal. That way she’d be too smitten with me to really care that I had been lying to her about my identity.
That was realistic, right?
“Mr. Parker isn’t interested,” I told her seriously. Although I truly did want to keep chatting up Courtney and I had every intention of winning her over, I wasn’t going to sign with S&W.
There was a pause that was long enough I almost thought she’d hung up on me.
“Hello?”
“I’m here,” she answered. “You could have told me that when I picked up i
nstead of wasting my time, you know.”
I frowned. I took a seat in my overstuffed lounge chair, reclining in it as I held the phone to my ear. “I didn’t think talking with me was a waste of your time.”
“Look, it’s not that I don’t enjoy our chats—”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“—but I’m on the clock. Officially, this is a business call.”
“And unofficially?” I prompted.
She hesitated. “Unofficially, I called to set up a meeting with Mr. Parker, but I’m not necessarily upset that we had time to… talk.”
I imagined a blush on her cheeks. A rosy color would look good on her, natural amidst the deliberately styled hair and the big eyes and those pretty button-down dresses. “Good. Because I’d like to keep our conversation going, regardless of whether or not Mr. Parker decides to sign with S&W.”
I waited after that. It was true. I wanted to keep talking to her, but I didn’t want to have to sign anything to do that. I was a notorious flirt, it was true, but that didn’t mean I was willing to get into the legal crap to win someone over. If I’d been willing to do that, I’d have been married already.
Yeah, right. Fat chance of that ever happening.
After a moment, Courtney responded. “Well, I can’t promise anything. But S&W is willing to promise Mr. Parker quite a bit.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure that S&W can offer anything to change his mind.” I waited a beat, then couldn’t help myself. “What can you offer?”
Instantly, I regretted asking that.
“I’m not going to offer that player anything,” she snapped at me. “I know how he is with women, and I want no part. This is purely a business transaction, and if he isn’t willing to consider the generous offer of Ms. McKenna, then I’m really not interested in furthering the conversation independently.”
“Whoa, whoa, easy honey,” I said, doing my best to soothe the feathers I’d just ruffled.
“Don’t call me honey.”
“Courtney,” I corrected myself. “I’m glad that you wouldn’t sacrifice your integrity just for a sale. I had that sense about you right away.”
“Are you trying to butter me up with flattery?” she accused.
I grinned. “Maybe. Is it working?”
She tried to resist, but I heard a laugh escape her lips. “Okay, maybe a little bit. But I still want to set up an appointment with Mr. Parker. Any chance of that?”
I held back a sigh. I realized instantly where I’d gone wrong here—she thought I was my agent, not me. Which wouldn’t be that big of an issue if she didn’t know what I looked like. But she did, so how the hell was I going to get a date with her if she recognized me? It was one thing if I had time to win her over, but I was quickly losing that time.
“I’ll pitch it to him,” I finally said, knowing already what “Parker’s” answer was going to be.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely. I could hear the smile in her voice, and it made me feel warm inside.
“You bet. Don’t hesitate to call, Courtney. I like our chats, too.”
She laughed again but promised she would when she got a chance. We hung up then, and I mulled over my predicament. How was I going to win her over when she thought Trent Parker was a total asshole?
“I’m going to have to do some serious work.”
Chapter Eleven
Marnie
Three days after the mind-blowing, spur-of-the-moment, complete and total brush with insanity that was sex with Callum Reid, I had lunch with Courtney. Although we were good friends, the kind that generally told each other everything, I hadn’t yet brought up my tryst with Mr. Reid. It wasn’t that I was ashamed—people had sex; we were both consenting adults—but I was a little embarrassed. It was Callum fucking Reid for Christ’s sake. Of all the guys to end my dry spell, he was not exactly the one I’d been banking on.
But, man, what a way to end a dry spell, I thought, picking apart my sandwich to eat each individual piece.
“You’re disgusting,” Courtney informed me matter-of-factly.
My eyes went wide, and I jerked my gaze up to look at her. I was so terrified that I was caught, so focused on how I’d gone all wanton lady with Reid the other night, that I didn’t realize she wasn’t talking about that at all. She was still looking down at her salad, mixing it all dutifully together, and I realized that she was talking about my eating habits.
“You’re gross,” I told her finally, a little breathless. “How can you just mix all those flavors together and expect them to be tasty? That’s just wrong.”
She lifted her shoulders. “Makes more sense. It all gets mixed up in my stomach. And at least I don’t have to touch anything with my fingers. Gross. Do you know how many things you’ve touched in the last twenty minutes that you don’t even realize?”
“No,” I said dryly. “If I knew that, I’d know what I’d touched, wouldn’t I?”
She flicked a piece of lettuce in my direction. “You know what I mean.”
I lifted a shoulder in a shrug, then popped a piece of my tomato into my mouth. I chewed thoughtfully. After I’d swallowed, I asked Courtney, “Any luck with Parker?”
She stabbed her salad aggressively, then popped the forkful into her mouth. With narrowed eyes, she chewed. When she’d swallowed her mouthful of rabbit food, she scowled. “No. I called Malcom—his agent—and according to him, Parker isn’t interested in signing with us. He swore he’d try to pitch it to him again, but I haven’t heard back from him in a couple of days. I’m starting to think it’s a lost cause.”
“Damn it,” I cursed. “It cannot be a lost cause. I need this too much.”
Courtney nodded. “I know. I’ll keep trying, but I have the sense that this doesn’t have anything to do with our offer. I think he just doesn’t want to sign with the company.”
My mind flashed to Reid. He’d been sexy; hotter than hell. He looked like one of those old-time movie stars, the kind who oozed sex appeal and were smooth as silk. They could do no wrong with their hands on a woman, and Reid had been the same. He’d touched me and suddenly my body went up in flames. Maybe it was just the dry spell being broken, but I didn’t think so. I had a hunch that he was simply good at sex.
And whether I wanted to admit it or not, I wanted to test my theory out. I wanted another piece of him. Maybe even a taste this time.
Jesus, Marnie, I scolded myself silently. Pull yourself together. He isn’t the only cock out there.
But he did have a damn fine one. And it felt incredible shoved all the way—
I shook my head. “It’s because of his connection to Reid,” I told Courtney, hoping to keep the glazed look of desire off my face. I didn’t know if I was successful, so I popped a piece of cheese from my sandwich into my mouth. I chewed the bite, then added, “Which means we’re going to have to use that against them.”
Courtney raised her eyebrows. She was munching on a bite of salad and took a minute to respond. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that we’re not going to win by trying to lure him over here with milk and cookies. We need something on him. We need to play him instead of letting him play us.”
“Okay, and just how do you plan to do that?”
I delicately sipped my iced tea, and putting it back down on my desk, I smiled sweetly at her. “It’s simple, my dear Court. We’re going to take that closeness with that bastard Reid—” That sexy, orgasm-inducing, sex god of a bastard. “—and make it a weakness. Instead of telling Parker that it’s loyal to stick with his friend, we’re going to tell him that it’s cowardly.”
Courtney’s brow furrowed, her red lips pouting. “What? How the hell are we supposed to do that?”
“Simple. We’re going to tell Parker that we understand why he’d want to go with his friend—after all, it’s been a while since he’s been with a new publisher. This book is the first in a new series, and maybe it’s not as good as the others. Maybe he’s not as sure of himself
. You can’t blame someone for wanting to err on the side of caution, right? Who wouldn’t want a guaranteed cheerleader? After all, what are friends for…?”
I smiled as I watched Courtney’s mouth drop open in surprise. It took her a moment before she collected herself. Slowly, she shook her head. “You are a diva. A total evil, genius diva. And I one hundred percent support you.”
“Thank you.” I popped a piece of mayo-covered bread into my mouth. “We’ll make him think that going with Reid is a cop-out. That he’s only doing it because he’s scared of an honest opinion of his book. He’ll be so turned off by the idea that he won’t be able to go through with it. He’ll turn around and come crawling back to us. It’ll be a win-win.”
Courtney 100 percent agreed, but there was a portion of the plan that I wasn’t sharing with her. A personal portion that I deemed just as important as the professional one.
Don’t let Callum in again.
A one-night tryst in the heat of the moment, as a means of overcoming a dry spell, as a single moment of weakness I could forgive. I could let that go because no one was perfect. And even though Callum Reid was not just an editor at Tarvish Press, but the owner thereof, which happened to be the one company that S&W Publishing was in direct competition with, I could accept a single mistake like that.
After all, he was incredibly sexy.
But I could not let it ever happen again. I told myself a thousand times that it didn’t matter if I did see him again. It wouldn’t be a repeat performance, but I had a hard time believing it. There was this niggling little sense in the back of my mind that I wanted him. Bad. And that was unforgivable.
I can’t let him in, I told myself silently.
It didn’t matter what my libido was screaming. I promised myself that this was a onetime deal, and the best way to keep that promise was to stay the hell away from Callum Reid.
Chapter Twelve
Callum
We stopped by a street vendor outside of the café where Trent was trying to drag me, because I was tired of this fucking health food bullshit and he was being a pain in the ass.
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