by K. A. Linde
She could see the desire written plainly on my face, and she released a breathy gasp that only made me want to re-create it.
“Landon,” she whispered.
I tilted my head toward the empty restroom. She shook her head, eyes wide. I grinned as I dragged her inside and locked the door.
“What are you doing?” she panted as I pressed her back into the wall.
“Celebrating you.”
My lips crashed down onto hers, and she returned the kiss with fervor. As if we hadn’t just been together last night. As if we hadn’t been together all weekend. Yet I couldn’t get enough.
Patience flew out the window. Jensen’s warnings flittered out of my mind. All my thoughts about integrity disappeared entirely.
“Landon, we can’t,” she said as she grabbed on to my suit and tugged me closer.
“I know.”
My hand slid up her bare thigh and shoved her pencil skirt up to her waist. I thrust her thong aside, and she whimpered at my touch. My fingers delved in between her folds and felt her slick need.
She was already wet for me. Fuck.
“Oh God, I want you right now,” I told her.
She closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing as my dick hardened uncomfortably in my suit pants. I moved my wet fingers to circle her clit. She tensed all around me as she tried not to whimper, and I knew it must be difficult because she was very vocal. But I kept circling her sensitive center until she was biting down on her own hand to keep from crying out. Then, I shoved two fingers up inside her.
“Congratulations,” I growled into her ear as she came on my fingers.
I desperately wanted to take out my cock and have her against the wall. But we were out of time.
I removed my hand from her underwear, and she sagged against the wall. Her breathing was erratic, but she hastily straightened out her skirt.
“How do I look?”
“Hot as hell.”
“Landon,” she said, smacking my arm.
“Fine. You’re fine.”
“What the hell were you thinking?” She was glaring at me now.
She looked pissed as all hell even though I’d just given her a hot fucking orgasm.
“I wasn’t,” I admitted.
“Don’t fucking do that again. Maybe wait until after work next time.”
I grinned. “Sounds good. I’ll see you after work.”
She shook her head and sent one more look pointed my way—half-desire and half-anger. Then, she peeked out of the restroom and disappeared. I took a minute to steady myself against the sink. I’d been so close to fucking her right then and there on the restroom sink. And I hadn’t given two fucks.
Discretion was causing me physical pain. Fuck, Jensen and his stay away from her.
With a sigh, I ran a hand back through my hair and eased back to my desk.
I was finally getting through the rest of my emails for the morning when there was a knock at the door. I glanced up and saw Matt standing at the door. “Come on in.”
“Hey, Landon,” he said, entering the room.
“How can I help you, Matt?”
Matt’s face darkened, and he glanced away. Then, he firmly shut the door and took the seat in front of me. “I wanted to talk about the lead engineer position with you.”
“What about it?”
“I know you had some role in choosing who got the promotion. I thought our conversation regarding the position went really well.”
I leaned back in my seat and assessed him. “It did.”
“I thought so. I’m a very experienced engineer. I have all the certifications. I work on all the biggest projects. I’ve been here day in and day out, putting in the hours, making sure everything is right, and generally holding this department together.”
“Okay.” I had a feeling I knew where this was going, and I wasn’t going to like it.
This Matt guy sure thought highly of himself. In my experience, the people with the best credentials didn’t have to flaunt them.
“Then, why exactly did Heidi get the promotion over me?” He crossed his arms and waited.
“Matt, while I understand that you might be upset because you did not receive the promotion, I cannot disclose the contents of Heidi’s interview or credentials. She was the most qualified person for the job, and that was why she was chosen.”
“Sorry to say so, sir, but that seems ridiculous.”
I stood from my desk and buttoned the top button of my suit jacket. “We’re very sorry that we were unable to offer you the job, but there will be more opportunities in the future.”
Matt looked disgusted with me and then turned and walked out.
My day didn’t get any better. No less than three other men in the department came to talk to me about picking Heidi over them. From what I gathered, they didn’t believe that a woman could accurately do a man’s job. When the last guy flat-out told me that, it took all my energy not to punch him in the teeth.
“That’ll do,” I said, my voice short and irritated. “Heidi is perfectly capable of being a lead engineer and more. You should get used to the idea. Now, get out of my office.”
I spent the rest of the day in silence and solitude. I knew that I had been short with everyone because they were talking about Heidi. But I also felt the general attitude was reprehensible. Morgan could handle all of Wright Construction just as well, if not better, than Jensen. There was no reason to say otherwise about Heidi.
Before I realized it, the time had flown by, and suddenly, I was well past the end of the day. I rubbed my tired eyes and stood from my desk. Today had been exhausting. As I was about to shut my computer down, one last email came through.
Ryan Copeland.
I laughed. I hadn’t heard that name in a while. I opened the email from probably my best golfing friend and read the contents.
You know you want to.
I scrolled down and saw what he meant. I frowned and then contemplated. Hmm…maybe he’s right.
I pulled out my phone and shot Heidi a text message.
Go away with me this weekend.
A ding sounded from down the hallway, and I found Heidi herself walking toward me. She looked just as worn down from the day as I did.
“I didn’t know you were still here,” I said.
“I didn’t know you were still here either.” She held up her phone as she wandered into my office. “What’s this about?”
The floor was eerily empty when I closed the door behind her. “Do you want to go?”
She leaned backward against my desk. Her pencil skirt slid up her thighs, and I couldn’t help my gaze from shifting there.
“Landon, we should talk about this. You know it’s a bad idea for us to be seen together. What you did earlier…”
“Yes?” I asked, stepping up to her. I was close enough to touch her, but I didn’t.
“It was not smart.”
“Is anyone else here tonight?”
“No,” she told me. “Everyone left an hour ago. I was still filling out paperwork and figuring out everything I needed for the new job.”
“Good,” I told her. Then, I brought my lips down on top of hers.
“Landon, I said, after work,” she groaned into my mouth. But she didn’t stop me.
“This is after work.”
“I meant—fuck,” she said as she felt my dick press up against her.
“Go away with me this weekend.” My hands trailed down to her ass, and I greedily grabbed it. I loved her ass.
“Landon…”
“I want to celebrate your promotion.”
“Oh, Landon.”
“Say yes.”
I slowly eased her skirt up her legs once more, and she gasped slightly.
“What am I saying yes to again?”
“Everything,” I told her.
I took her thong in my hand and tugged it down her legs. She stepped out of it, and I stuffed them in my pocket as I winked at her.
“Landon, this is complicated,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I know I should wait. I should be patient. But, Heidi, as you can see,” I said, pushing my hand between her legs, “I’m not patient. I don’t want to be patient. Not with you.”
“Oh God.” Her head dropped back as my fingers caressed her most sensitive spot.
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes, Landon. Always. God, yes.”
I flipped her around so that she was facing my desk and then bent her over at the waist. I unbuckled my pants and let them fall to my ass as I pulled my cock out of my boxer briefs. Heidi whimpered softly. I caressed her pert ass and then kicked her feet a little further apart.
I wanted to take my time with her here, on my desk, like I’d been fantasizing about since I took this job. But, even though everyone was gone for the day, that didn’t mean we were completely alone. I knew we had precious few minutes.
The anticipation made me rock hard, and I slid my dick deep into her pussy. She was already soaking wet for me. I had no trouble whatsoever.
“Fuck,” I grunted as I pulled out and slammed back into her. “I fucking love this view.”
“You get so”—I rocked hard into her—“deep.”
My hand smacked her ass, and she yelped softly at the touch. The noise went straight to my dick, and I knew that I wasn’t going to hold out for long. Not with her making those noises, not with her ass in my hands, not with my dick buried deep inside her while she was bent over this way.
I picked up my pace, and soon, we were coming together. I gritted my teeth as I finished and then pulled back. I hastily cleaned up after myself and tossed the tissue into the trash can. Heidi tugged her skirt back down and then collapsed into one of the chairs.
“You know this was not what I meant by after work.”
I grinned. “I know. But are you complaining?”
She shook her head. “You’re going to get me in so much trouble.”
“Go away with me,” I said, bending down and capturing her lips once more.
“Where would we go?” she asked, already giving in.
“You showed me a part of your life this weekend. Let me show you mine.”
Thirty
Heidi
It was hard to stay mad at Landon for being so reckless at work. I knew that I should have tried harder, especially since I’d gotten the promotion. But being with him was like living on a perpetual high. No matter the withdrawals I might have to suffer later, I wanted the next fix.
So, I’d agreed to go away with him.
It hadn’t actually even been a question. Mostly because, when he’d told me where we were going, I’d squealed with excitement.
His world was golf—more specifically, the PGA Tour Championship in Atlanta that weekend. It was the finals for the golf world where the best of the best came to compete for the FedEx Cup and the coveted first place ten-million-dollar prize money. The Masters was still the be-all and end-all of golf as far as I was concerned, not that I knew that much about the sport, but the Tour Championship was an amazing opportunity.
Landon’s friend Ryan Copeland had sent over tickets for some big event that weekend. Landon could get in pretty much anywhere off of his name, but I was pretty sure Ryan’s thoughtfulness had won him over.
We arrived late Friday night after work. We couldn’t risk being seen leaving work early together again. It was bad enough that Julia had suspected I was up to something when I told her again that I couldn’t go shopping. Luckily, Emery was with Jensen in New York City this weekend to see Colton. So, it was pretty easy to get out of shopping.
I’d packed more than my fair share of clothes for this trip. Even though we were only going to be there for two days, I wanted to be sure that I was prepared.
When Landon got a look at my outfit on Saturday morning, he grinned and pulled me back into the bedroom. “Forget the tournament. Let’s stay in.”
I laughed throatily. “I am in a khaki skirt, polo, and tennis shoes!”
“Sexiest I’ve ever seen you.”
“Oh my God, you get turned on by golf attire! I’ve heard of everything now.”
He kissed my lips. “I get turned on by you in golf attire. You look sexy as hell in everything you wear, but you wore this for me. So, how can I not like it?”
“Are you trying to stall so that we don’t have to go out there?”
He gave me a searching look. “Why would you think that?”
“Because…you’re not playing,” I said softly. “I thought that would be hard on you.”
“It is.”
“Yeah, I could tell.”
“How do you read me so perfectly?” He tugged me closer.
“Because I know you.”
“I approve of this.”
“You’d better.”
He laughed. “Oh God, I’m so glad that I brought you with me.”
A knock on the door startled us apart, and Landon waved away my anxiety. I wasn’t completely comfortable with being here with him. Even though I knew no one and clearly no one here would know me, I couldn’t relax. This was Landon’s element, not mine.
Landon opened the door and shook the hand of the guy at the door. “Hey, man!”
“Landon fucking Wright,” the guy said, strutting into the hotel suite as if he owned the place. He was an exceptionally tall and handsome African American man with the most amazing smile. “Finally got your ass back to a golf tournament.” His dark eyes shot to me, and his eyebrows rose. “Well, hello there.”
“Hello,” I said with a raised brow.
He reached out and placed a kiss on my hand with a boyish grin. “I’m sure Landon has told you all about his charming single friend.”
Landon rolled his eyes. “Heidi, this is Ryan Copeland. He’s on the Tour.”
“Um…hi. You’re the one who got us the tickets for tonight.” I deftly pulled my hand out of his.
“Us?” Ryan said, glancing between me and Landon. “You left Miranda and already found the hottest replacement on the course? The man with no game always gets the hottest fucking girls. How do you do it?”
“Heidi isn’t a replacement,” Landon said with a shake of his head. “Heidi is…her own person. She’s not a real PGA.”
“A real PGA?” I asked in confusion.
“It’s awful,” Ryan said with a grin, as if he didn’t find it that awful. “Party Groupie Association. Basically, the putt sluts who chase down our balls, if you know what I mean.”
I opened and then closed my mouth. I hadn’t really thought that much about what the girls who followed them around on Tour were like. Sure, everyone knew that Tiger Woods had fucked more people than the average porn star, but it just hadn’t registered with me.
“I suppose I do,” I finally said.
“Try to avoid the locker-room talk,” Landon said. “Y’all are disgusting enough without bringing it to my girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend? Girlfriend.” Ryan sighed. “I thought you were bringing me a treat. I’m so disappointed in you.”
“No luck. You’ll just have to settle for someone else.”
“Alas,” Ryan said. He winked at me. “Well, come on. I tee off in a couple of hours, and we should head to the clubhouse before I have to warm up.”
We followed Ryan out of the hotel and met his caddy, Gerald, waiting in the front seat. I slid into the backseat with Landon.
“Who is your caddy?”
“Jake Gibson,” Landon told me. “We’ve been together from the start, but I had to let him go when I got injured.”
“Jake is your main man, Wright,” Ryan said from the front seat. “He will be back when you are.”
Landon didn’t comment. I knew that he was thinking that he might never be back. Though he seemed fine when he was sitting behind a desk and pushing papers, I knew that he was not ready to swing a club…not even to walk a full course.
The clubhouse was Southern and gorgeous. I couldn’t g
et over the number of trees and hills and the overall humid nature of the late September tournament. Atlanta was about as different from Lubbock as anything could be. I wasn’t sure that I liked that my hands were sweating just from walking outside, but it was undeniably stunning.
People were everywhere. Thousands of people were already lined up on the course, being held back by a flimsy rope and held to silence for the players. Camera crews hovered around like early spring bees. As far as the eye could see, everyone was dressed in golf clothes.
Ryan ushered us into the clubhouse, and we were brought to a huge room with a balcony overlooking one of the greens. Landon gently put his hand on the small of my back to get me to follow Ryan to the bar.
“There are so many people here,” I told him in surprise.
He laughed. “Yes, golf is a spectator sport. Most people in here are professionals waiting for their tee time or those who didn’t make it to this round.”
“There are a lot of women in here.”
“Yeah, well, wives show up to this tournament a lot. It technically closes out the season until January. And, really, anyone can get in here as long as they know someone.”
We were stopped four times on the way to the bar—all golfers who were excited to see Landon at the tournament and asking about when he’d be back. He chatted merrily with all of them. Clearly, a lot of the golfers were close even though Landon had told me it was a pretty solitary life. The amount of time they got to see other golfers was pretty limited, and unless you were already out of the tournament, most guys liked to stay in the right frame of mind to play.
I suspected that Landon had been that kind of player. He had that sort of intensity about him. Plus, he had taken a job so that he could keep his mind active. He took this seriously. I could see it in the respect everyone gave him.
Being here, in this world, with him was a new and crazy experience.
To me, Landon was still a Lubbock-area Wright brother with the Texas charm and easygoing personality. But here…he was so much more.
“You’re a celebrity,” I whispered in his ear when we caught up with Ryan again.
Landon’s eyes glittered with humor. “I’m a professional golfer, love.”
“I know. I just…you’re a celebrity, Landon. I still remember you from high school when you were…wait, you were the star quarterback. I suppose you were a celebrity then, too.”