by Erika Masten
Angelica quickly showered and pulled her wet hair into a ponytail. She then slipped into a pair of jogging pants, camisole and sneakers, not bothering with undergarments. She rushed downstairs, grabbing her car keys from the key holder next to the front door on the way. "Ah hell no." Frowning, Angelica looked down at where she'd been sick the previous night next to the car in disgust and parts of the night began to rush back to her.
Flashes of her getting angry at the club and deciding to drown her sorrows in way too much rum came to mind. Followed by the extremely unwise drunken decision to drive home to confront Logan. Everything beyond that was still a blank.
****
Logan attempted to purge his mind of Angelica by doing laps in the outside pool, but it wasn’t working. He’d gone through the effort of being nice to her that morning and all he got for his effort was hostility. Perhaps it was a combination of the events of last night along with a serious hangover, but that still didn’t make him feel any better.
After losing his mother several years ago he understood how traumatic losing a parent could be, but her hostility still pissed him off. She’d already decided he was the essence of all evil and he suspected no good deed would go unpunished with her.
His body sliced through the water at a hard and fast pace. He swam lap upon lap without stopping until his body was so exhausted he barely had the energy to pull himself from the pool. Once out of the pool he flopped onto his back on the warm cement and closed his eyes. The warmth of the sun’s rays caressed his soaked body and was so soothing, he was finally able to relax. It wasn’t until he heard a soft cough that he realized he wasn’t alone.
Couldn’t she give me just a little time alone?
“How long have you been out here? Don’t you have some shopping to do or something?”
“I have no money, remember?”
“You ever considered getting a job?”
“I’m a college student. I need to focus on my studies.”
“Then go study.”
“It’s summer. No classes.”
“Then get a summer job. I hear college students do that from time to time.”
She huffed. “It’s summer. I need to unwind. News flash, but my father just died and I’m forced to be the personal fuck toy of my egotistical… whatever you are to me.”
“I’m nothing other than a temporary roommate to you.” Opening his eyes and propping himself up with his elbows behind him, he looked over his shoulder at Angelica and he couldn’t have stopped his mouth from dropping open if he wanted to. Angelica was reclined in one of the wicker loungers wearing nothing but a pair of oversized designer sunglasses.
His eyes took a moment to feast on her body, every inch from head to toe and back up again, taking a moment to pause at her shaven mound and perfectly pert breasts.
“Stare much?” A coy smile spread across her lips.
He jerked his gaze away to stare straight ahead across the pool, annoyed with himself at being caught ogling like an adolescent. “Why are you naked?”
“I’m tanning.”
“Tanning naked?”
“How else am I going to get a tan without tan lines?”
“You have to do that while I’m around?”
“It’s my house, I can do as I please. Besides, by the end of the month I’m sure I’ll be naked around you more than once, whether I want to be or not.”
A surge of anger coursed through his veins at her accusation and he got to his feet; that woman had some damned nerve! She might as well have called him a rapist and gotten it over with!
He turned his gaze back to meet hers. “Last night you weren’t an unwilling participant.” He walked over to where she was lounging and leaned over the lounger until his face was less than a foot from hers. Her body tensed, but she refused to cower. “In fact, I recall you telling me that you wanted my big, beautiful cock fucking you. And I’m pretty sure you came – a couple times. So as much as you want to lie to yourself and tell me you didn’t want it, we both know different.”
“I was drinking and you were threatening me.” She chewed at her lower lip and shifted on the lounger.
“Liar. That wasn’t the real reason.”
Her lips formed into a scowl. “How would you know what I’m thinking? How dare you!”
His eyes wandered down the length of her again, but this time he allowed his gaze to be blatantly apparent. “In fact, I know you want it right now.”
“Bullshit!”
She squirmed again as his eyes wandered back up. He pushed her glasses up so he could see into her blue eyes and was pleased to see that along with the hostility, there was desire.
“You wouldn’t be out here flaunting yourself for me if you didn’t want me to take notice.” Not waiting for a response, he cupped and caressed her satiny smooth mound. She closed her eyes and whimpered, biting down on her lip to stop the unwanted sound.
Prompted by her response, he spread her soft lips and stroked the length of her slit with two fingers. She moaned and softly bucked against his hand, as he stroked her a second time.
“Your pussy doesn’t lie, honey; nice and wet.” As he removed his hand from her, her eyes sprang open and then went wide as he licked her juices from his fingers and straightened.
“H-how dare you!”
Giving her a wink, he walked into the house before she could spot the hard-on he was sporting. “By the way,” he yelled over his shoulder, “I’m going out for a while, be a lamb and have lunch ready for 1pm.”
Chapter 5
“Be a lamb and have lunch ready for me,” Angelica mimicked Logan to an empty room as she prepared the Caesar salad to go with the lobster rolls she’d made for him. He was so damned cocky. He had no right to go laying his hands on her. “He’s lucky I don’t lace this with Ex-Lax; would serve him right.”
Her conscience argued that she’d intentionally gone outside naked to get a rise out of him, but that was beside the point. He took liberties. Granted she didn’t try to stop him. Despite her anger, a smile spread across her lips thinking about the large bulge in his shorts. He’d attempted to hide it from her, but she’d noticed.
“Well, look at you. You look good in a kitchen, perhaps if this living arrangement doesn’t work out a job at McDonald’s could be in your future.”
Her smile dropped hearing Logan’s voice behind her coming from the entranceway.
“If I worked at McDonald’s then how would I be able to wait on you hand and foot, satisfying your every need?”
“Oh baby.” She didn’t need to hear his footsteps behind her to know he was closing the distance between them, she could feel his presence. “You haven’t begun to satisfy my every need, but we have another twenty-eight days for you to try.”
Although he wasn’t touching her, the smell of his cologne wrapped around her like an invisible hand taking hold of her and pulling her in, and the soft warmth of his breath sent a shiver down her spine and ignited an ache between her legs.
“I think it would be in both our best interests if we kept this a completely platonic arrangement.”
She heard him inhale deeply and slowly release the breath. “I don’t think so. Besides, I just bought you something. Consider it a little peace offering.”
Curious, she spun around to see him dangling a medium-sized black bag from his index finger. She smiled, but the smile was brief. There was a wicked gleam in his eyes, like he could barely wait to see her reaction to whatever was inside. If it was anything like his last present it was meant to make her as uncomfortable as possible.
“It’s not necessary.” Turning away from him she grabbed the plates with the lobster rolls on them and scurried across the kitchen to deposit them onto the table. When she turned to go back and retrieve the Caesar salad she froze. He blocked her path to the salad and a grin spread across his lips.
“I must insist you take a peek. I went to the effort, it’s the least you can do, Angel.”
Crossing her arms over h
er chest she scowled at him. Whatever was in that bag she was going to hate, she had no doubt about it.
Kill him with kindness, she reminded herself, don’t let him win.
Pasting a smile on her face she accepted the bag and pulled the red tissue from the top. Placing the bag on the countertop she pulled the first item from the bag, a red satin corset with black trim and black satin ribbon up the top, with matching red thong.
The second made her scrunch up her nose as she frowned. “What the fuck is this?” She held up some sort of leather garment, or at least she assumed it was a garment, but it looked more like a bunch of strips of leather all connected by steel circles.
“It’s a teddy harness.” His grin widened. “Don’t worry, there’s some pasties to cover your nipples so you’re not completely exposed.”
She raised a brow at him, but didn’t dignify his comment with a response. Instead she placed the leather contraption on the countertop with the corset and panties and reached into the bag again. The final item was a white sheer… dress? She wasn’t sure although she didn’t see a point in it since it was so sheer and tight-fitting that it was the equivalent of wearing nothing.
“What am I supposed to do with this stuff?” She stuffed it all back into the bag and thrust it at Logan. “Is this some kind of joke?”
Logan refused to accept the bag, instead he brushed past her and sat down at the kitchen table. “Nope. Not at all. I was doing some thinking and how I figure it, if you want to run around taunting me then you might as well dress the part.” He took a hearty bite from the lobster roll. “We can buy you a few more outfits, if you like. But when around the house you’re to be wearing one of those.”
Angelica placed the bag on the table next to him. “No. I’m not wearing this stuff. I’m not some whore you can just dress up like a sex Barbie doll.”
Placing the lobster roll on the plate he wiped his mouth and shrugged. “Then I guess I’ll be heading back to New York.”
He’s bluffing. She attempted to read his expression, but couldn’t. She looked back at the bag. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, she supposed. And she knew having her running around the house wearing his presents would drive him crazy.
“Remember you did say anything. I, being a man of my word, would assume you would also keep your end of the bargain.” His eyes challenged her to say no. She wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction. “Besides, lots of women do lots more for a lot less than what you’ll be getting.”
“Hookers perhaps. Are you fucking comparing me to a hooker?”
He chuckled. “No, you’re a little too high-strung for that, I’m just messing around.” He nodded to the bag. “But you still need to wear those.”
Asshole! High-strung?
“Fine.” While he took another bite from his lobster roll, she grabbed the hem of her top, pulled it up and over her head, tossing it onto the empty kitchen chair.
His smile faded a smidge and he swallowed down the bite of food. “What are you doing?”
“Keeping up with my end of the bargain.” Undoing her pants she hooked her thumbs into her belt loops and pulled them down, kicking them off. His eyes, which were beginning to darken with hunger, remained glued to her as she reached behind her and undid her bra.
By his expression she could tell he didn’t expect her to agree so easily. She smiled inwardly. He didn’t know who he was dealing with. He may think he has the upper hand, but she was becoming more and more aware that she was far from powerless.
He placed the remainder of his sandwich on the plate, sat back and watched as she slipped her panties down her hips, dangled them off of her index finger and offered them to him. “Since you seem to enjoy taking my worn panties, feel free to add these to your collection.”
A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m good with the one pair.”
She shrugged. “Suit yourself.” Tossing onto the pile of clothing on the vacant kitchen chair, she made a point of reaching across him so she was leaning over his lap as she searched the bag for the sheer dress. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed his eyes wandering down the curve of her back and to her bottom.
Just when she thought he couldn’t hold himself back from touching her, she pulled up with the dress in hand. It took some wiggling, but she eventually managed get the body-clinging dress on. If it were a solid colour dress it wouldn’t have been so bad, a little short – barely covering her mound – but the sweetheart neckline was cute.
She took a step back and spread her arms out, carefully watching his expression. “So what do you think?”
His jaw clenched and the hunger in his eyes intensified, causing a stirring between her legs that turned into a soft throbbing. She shifted from one foot to the other, hoping to relieve some of the building tension.
A hissing sound came from Logan as he released the breath he’d been holding and his body visibly relaxed, nodding his appreciation. “Very nice. Just one thing…” He reached into the glass of ice water and grabbed a cube. Taking hold of the neckline of the dress he pulled it down and under her breasts.
With a startled gasp, Angelica took a step back and was about to pull the dress up, although it wouldn’t have done much good, but he stopped her. Circling an arm around her waist he pulled her back to him.
“Logan, what are you –” A gasp escaped her as he pressed the ice to her breast and began to circle the nipple with the cube. Her body trembled, as her rosy-hued nipple immediately turned rock solid. She trembled a second time when he repeated the procedure with her second nipple. The cool water dripped down her chest and stomach.
She wanted to fall into his arms, to feel his lips against hers, stroke the bulge that was forming in his pants. No doubt that was what he wanted. He wanted to prove how much she wanted him.
“Much better.” The thick need in his voice made her weak in the knees as she battled with herself over whether she should give in to her attraction to him. Tossing the ice back into the glass, he traced her nipples with his thumbs as he pulled the top of her dress back up.
Five hours… His mocking of her about how fast he was to have her begging for him the previous evening at the club suddenly sprang to her mind. It was a game, all a game to him.
Her eyes narrowing at him, she took a couple of steps back. “Is that all, Sir?”
I can’t let him get to me, I can’t. Nothing has changed. He’s not a nice guy. He’s not here to make me happy. He’s here to make my life a living hell and fuck with me. She closed her eyes a moment, attempting to settle the need for him. It was going to be a long twenty-eight days if this is what she was going to have to endure.
When she opened her eyes he smiled and nodded. “Yeah. For now. I wouldn’t wander too far though.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” She spun to grab her clothing and leave. She didn’t even care that lobster was her favourite food and it was sitting there waiting for her, she’d lost her appetite.
“Hey!” His hand shot out and grasped her upper arm, stopping her retreat.
Attempting to keep her emotions in check, she yanked her arm from his grasp as she spun around. “What now?”
His smile widened. If she didn’t know him she’d fall hard for that smile. It made him look like a sweet, approachable, good guy, and sexy as sin to boot, but she knew better.
“You forgot your gift.” He extended the black bag to her.
“Thanks.” Snatching the bag from him, she retrieved her clothing and raced from the kitchen. The more distance they had between them the better. “Wouldn’t want to forget this.”
~*~*~*~
Logan hesitated outside of Angelica’s door deciding whether he should knock and speak to her or just leave her alone. But he couldn’t leave her alone, he needed her tonight. She’d been avoiding him like the plague for a week, although he could hardly blame her after their encounter in the kitchen. He’d admit he’d been a bit of a jackass, but she had a way of making
him crazy. He’d been so busy commuting back and forth to New York, leaving before the break of dawn and arriving late in the evening that he’d barely noticed her avoidance until today when he decided to work from the house.
He rapped lightly, but she didn’t answer. He knocked a little louder, but again no answer, but he could hear her moving around inside the room.
To hell with it, grabbing the knob he opened up the door and his eyes immediately focused on her in the center of the room. Her back was to him, wearing a flowing yellow sunflower sundress, her hips swaying seductively.
His brow furrowed as he leaned against the door jamb and continued to watch. She twirled around and her body froze, a deer in the headlights expression on her face.
“Am I interrupting?” He nodded to the MP3 player in her hand that he hadn’t noticed when he first walked in.
Pulling the earbuds from her ears she frowned. “What do you want, Logan? I thought we had a good ignore each other relationship going on.”
“You’re not wearing the required attire.” A smile spread across his lips. She hadn’t all week, not that he expected her to. He’d bought it just to get a rise out of her, he never had any serious intention of making her wear any of it.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m in my own room. My personal room. What I wear here is none of your concern.” She nodded to the long white box in his arms. “What’s that? Another gift?”
He looked down at the box and wondered if he was making the right choice by taking her to his business dinner. He had no doubt she knew how to conduct herself in a formal setting, but that didn’t mean she would when on his arm.
The thought that she would intentionally fuck up his deal sprang to his mind, to be quickly dismissed. She was a smart young woman, she’d never jeopardize her inheritance by risking him leaving her before the month was up.
“In fact, it is.” He stepped into the room and placed the box onto the bed. “I’m sure you have tons of these, but I figured you’d like something new since you haven’t been shopping in a while.”