by Jani Kay
Jake leaned forward, and for a moment I imagined he was going to touch my leg or arm, but then he sat back with a smug look on his face and folded his arms across his chest. “Well, that sounds feasible. But since you had an interview at the number two company, could it possibly be that they turned you down?”
Sneaky little bastard. Was he implying that I wasn’t good enough for Barrington-Essex?
I crossed my legs in the other direction and lifted my chin.
“When I left the interview I’d had with Mr. Barrington the Second, all I had was a promise he’d call within a week if I was successful at landing the job. I had the distinct impression that he was old-school and not too crazy about hiring a female for an executive position.” I paused for effect and looked straight into the camera with a slight smirk.
What would the old man’s reaction be if he knew that I was secretly screwing his son?
“His loss,” I said, with all the conviction I could muster in my voice. Did it make me a bitch that I hoped he was watching the interview and he heard my comment?
Jake raised a carefully plucked eyebrow. His forehead hardly moved. Botox? Jake was a hell of a lot braver than I was, and I had to give him kudos for that. I was petrified of injecting toxins into my body that numbed my nerve endings. When it had become fashionable and a few of my friends had hosted Botox parties, I’d made the decision that I’d rather wear my wrinkles gracefully than risk those damn toxic injectables.
Jake’s voice brought me back to the moment. “You’re saying that Mr. Barrington is sexist?”
I laughed. “Don’t put words in my mouth, Jake,” I scolded, with just enough playfulness that it didn’t sound too harsh.
“What are you saying then, Miss Marx?”
It didn’t go unnoticed that Jake had reverted back to being formal. “Mr. Drake Senior and his eldest son, Beckham Drake, saw my potential at the first interview and snapped me up immediately, before I even had a chance to mull things over like I usually do. They made me a ridiculously good offer on the spot—a great salary, shares in the company, a car and driver at my disposal, as well as an extra two weeks’ annual vacation, which included the use of company facilities, like the yacht and the villa on a Greek Island.” I paused to draw in a deep breath. “There was only one catch.”
“And that was?”
I smacked my lips together and said, “He wanted an answer before I left the interview.”
“So you said ‘yes’ on the spot?”
I tugged at my jacket ends to pull it down and nodded. “It was a no-brainer. I’d done extensive research on both companies before, and I’d learned that although Drake and Sons was a decade younger than Barrington-Essex, it was a force to be reckoned with. I’ve never regretted my choice. The company I work for is dynamic, fast-growing, and cutting edge. Every day is a challenge and keeps my adrenaline pumping. Frankly, I love my job.”
“So what you’re saying is that you’re just one big happy family at Drake and Sons?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying. One big happy family.”
Until Levi and I got caught out, of course. But I wasn’t telling Jake that part.
Chapter 5 — Levi
Usually I had the TV muted in the mornings while I drank two cups of coffee, just glancing at the screen occasionally to catch the latest developments. But today I was riveted, glued to the potential screw-up that was unfolding before my eyes.
I knew Jake Monroe, aka Jake the Snake, well. Too well. He was a sneaky bastard. Charming and witty, he lulled his unsuspecting victims into believing he was just conducting a friendly chat. But then the sting came—usually in such a way that there was no backing out. He cornered and devoured high-powered business people and dug out dirt from the most unlikely sources.
Surely Montana is aware of Jake’s tricks? Fuck, if she drops the ball, we’re in deep shit.
In business there’s the saying: any publicity is good publicity. I disagree. Vehemently. Some things were simply better kept under wraps. If only Montana had told me she was interviewing with American Business Network, I could have warned her.
So far she was holding her own, keeping the interview under control. Yet by reading her body language, I could tell that she was squirming in that chair. Talk about anything in general that was related to business and she couldn’t shut up, but get close and personal and she closed down. In the time I’d known her, I’d hardly learned anything about her past directly from her. Most of what I did know I’d read in the thick file we gathered on all our competitors.
I knew every inch of her delectable body. I knew the moaning sounds she made when she was about to come and the louder ones when she was in the throes of an orgasm. I knew what drove her insane in the bedroom. I knew the color of her eyes but not what her favorite color was.
It’s pretty bizarre. Knowing someone so intimately, yet not at all.
Before Montana, I’d had a string of beauties to warm my bed and service my cock. At a mere scroll through my contacts list, I could always find a lay at short notice whenever the urge grabbed me. But I’d become tired of the endless stream of changing faces and the effort it took to remember their names and what they liked in bed. I hadn’t needed that list in a long time and neither did I intend using it again any time soon.
I wiped the sweat off my brow. If my arrangement with Montana leaked out the whole thing could come crashing down. I didn’t want to have to end what so far had been the best sex of my life.
I refilled my coffee cup during the commercials. The caffeine from the first two coffees I’d had already made me a bit jittery, but I needed something to drink for my dry throat.
Relax. Don’t get ahead of yourself and worry unnecessarily.
I rolled my shoulders a few times until the tension eased. I had nothing to worry about. Montana wouldn’t fall into Jake’s traps. She was too smart for that.
Montana Marx had a reputation for not taking bullshit from anyone and I admired that about her as well as her business acumen. That woman worked as hard as any guy in the Communications business world.
When we first met her uniqueness intrigued the hell out of me. Intelligent and beautiful and sexy as fuck, she was an extraordinary woman. Montana was like a rare diamond and I decided pretty much immediately that I had to have her, and once I’d made up my mind nothing was going to stop me.
It had taken me a while to get her to agree, because initially she wanted no man at all in her life. But then I’d outlined the benefits she’d derive from a mutual agreement to stick to sex only and she was hooked. Turned out her sex drive was as high as mine and she was sick of replacing vibrators.
The commercial break ended and I turned back to the big screen.
“So Montana, is there a man in your life? You can’t tell me you aren’t hearing your biological clock ticking.” Jake looked down at his clipboard then back at her. “It’s your thirty-third birthday in a few days, and most women would be worried about running out of time to start a family.”
Damn Jake and his probing questions. What did that have to do with anything?
Suddenly everything about him annoyed me—his smooth voice, his good looks, his glistening white teeth.
Montana shook her head and laughed, but not before flinching for a millisecond. I doubted anyone else would even have noticed it, but it was there, together with a light blush on her cheeks.
“I’m not most women, Jake. I have no desire to have children. So you can scratch that off your list of questions.”
“Rumor has it that Beckham Drake is looking for a wife, and I’ve heard that the two of you are possibly an item since you were seen on his arm at the Reach For A Dream ball you attended recently. Any chance of surprising us with a ring on your finger soon?”
“Well, if you must know, Beckham and I have a healthy working relationship, he’s a great boss and we really get along very well. But I can’t tell you any more than that, I’m afraid.”
“Getting hitc
hed to the eldest son of the Drake clan would be a very smart move, Miss Marx. Your career would be secured.”
Damn, I wished I could wipe that fucking smirk off his face. Montana uncrossed her legs and then re-crossed them in the other direction, pointing away from the asshole.
“Jake, if you’re implying I’d ever marry a man for his position or money, I’m going to have to disappoint you. I’m not the marrying kind; I have far too many ambitions to even contemplate tying myself down.”
My stomach churned for the umpteenth time since I’d started watching the interview. Why were her answers bothering me so much? Montana had treated our agreement like just another business deal from the start. I shouldn’t be surprised that she was married to her career or else she’d never have wanted a fuck buddy arrangement in the first place.
Jake raised an eyebrow as if he didn’t believe her. “Stronger women than you have succumbed when they fell in love. Maybe you just haven’t met the person you want to spend the rest of your life with?”
Montana shifted around in her chair. Her agitation was evident by the frown between her brows and the way her lips pulled into a thin line. She drummed her fingers on her armrest and glared at Jake.
“Jake, this interview isn’t supposed to be twenty questions about my private life. Nobody is interested in that anyway. Let’s stick to what I’m here for, okay? To talk about the growth of Drake and Sons and the role we have in the continued evolution of American industry.”
Jake’s eyes widened slightly, then a slow smile spread across his lips. “Wow, I can’t believe how you make boring business sound so sexy.”
What the fuck? Was Jake hitting on Montana? He wasn’t her type. Not at all. At least I hope not. As for Drake, yeah, I could see her falling for him. He ticked all the boxes of great husband material—even I realized that. What’s more, the guy had access to her on a daily basis, something I didn’t have. And she didn’t have to sneak around to spend time with him.
I’d heard that old man Drake had hinted at wanting grandchildren to take over his legacy. From the file I’d read on their company I already knew a bit about Beckham Drake. It was no secret he was ready to get hitched, and who better to snag than the most gorgeous, smartest woman in the country?
I kept watching, but my mind was in a whirl. Fortunately, the rest of the interview went off without Jake stirring up any more shit. Montana held her ground, staying friendly but firm.
That’s my girl.
The interview ended a few minutes later and I poured myself a strong cup of coffee while the advertisements ran, mulling Montana’s words over in my mind. She was hell-bent on never getting married or having kids. At first when she’d told me, I hadn’t quite believed her. But the joke was on me: Montana had stuck to her beliefs, and now I was even more intrigued than ever to find out what made her that way.
A familiar face flashed across the screen. I set my cup down and smiled.
“Tune in next week for our interview with Tyler Sinclair, stockbroker extraordinaire, or, as he’s better known on Wall Street, Mr. Debonair. You won’t want to miss this, so tune in at seven thirty A.M. EST.”
I hadn’t spoken to my cousin in months. As kids we’d been pretty close, but then our families had issues and we’d stopped seeing one another. I kind of followed Tyler’s progress on Wall Street and even got him to invest some money for me. He’d gone from nobody to someone everyone trusted with billions of their hard-earned dollars in a few short years.
Tyler knew a few things about the opposite sex. Maybe he could answer a few questions I had running through my mind. I reached for my phone and dialed his number.
Damn. Voicemail. I left a message for him to call me back and hoped he would soon.
Chapter 6 — Montana
Alone in my own bed that night, drained after the interview, I let my mind drift and found it going back in time, something I hated with a passion because of how it made me feel. I didn’t allow myself to go to the past often, but Levi’s questions the night before about my childhood had unlocked the forbidden door, and then Jake had stirred the slumbering emotions even further.
The past was over. Done. I hated evoking memories, feeling regret or remorse. They were wasted emotions, ones I didn’t often indulge in.
Punching the pillow out of frustration, I closed my eyes and prayed for sleep to take over, but I was too wired to relax enough to nod off.
I’d come a long way from being the poorest girl in the neighborhood. After I’d graduated from college, I’d placed my mother in the best mental-care facility I could find. Not that I could exactly afford it at the time, especially when I’d added my student loans to the other debts I owed, but I’d been determined to make it work.
A day later, I’d packed my few belongings, kissed Mom goodbye, and moved to the city where I’d started a new life. For three years I’d worked two jobs without ever taking weekends off, and often covering double shifts and doing extra hours when possible to pay for Mom’s care and my own apartment. I’d survived by eating baked beans on toast. Damn, there were days when even that was a luxury. But it had been worth it, because I’d shaken the dust and shame of that sleepy town off and never looked back.
Restless and thirsty, I rolled out of bed and padded my way to the kitchen. I opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of sparkling water. I cracked the top open and drank the cool liquid down until my thirst was satisfied. Setting the bottle on the counter, I held my stomach and let out a burp.
What would Levi say if he saw me now?
The real Montana wasn’t nearly as sophisticated as the woman I’d trained myself to become. I missed parts of the old me—the me who didn’t care about etiquette or wouldn’t kiss anyone’s ass just so they would like me. But hey, if I wanted the life I now had, a few sacrifices were to be expected, and they were a small price to pay for the perfectly orchestrated and privileged life I now had.
In the city, nobody knew who I was or where I came from. Frankly, nobody really cared. Most people I met were wrapped up in their own little bubbles, just trying to make it from pay-check to pay-check and stay alive.
New York treated me better than I’d expected. It had taken time to adjust to the never-ending stream of people and the constant bustle, but once I’d gotten the hang of it, I could blend into the eclectic mix of people without feeling too awkward.
Still restless, I pulled an oversized T-shirt over my head, shook out my hair, and went to the living room. I lay down on the sofa and pulled a soft cashmere throw over my legs. Before long, I drifted in and out of a light, twitchy sleep. I hated when that happened the day before an important meeting because it meant I wouldn’t be at my sharpest the next day, and that was as big no-no in my book.
Waking in a cold sweat, I was confused by my weird dreams. It messed with my mind seeing images of Levi mixed in with my past life. It was so realistic that I had to put the light on to wake up properly and remind myself that it was only a dream.
He can’t ever find out what happened. Nobody can.
Especially now that my life was close to perfect. I’d worked so damn hard all those years, and I truly believed that I’d put it all behind me.
Clearly not. Somewhere in my subconscious mind I was still plagued by something that had happened nearly eighteen years earlier. How fucked up was that?
Since there was no point in trying to get back to sleep, I padded to the kitchen and made a mug of extra strong coffee. Funny how caffeine helped solve so many problems.
I sipped the steaming beverage while reading my emails, but my mind kept wandering back to Levi’s words. Why had he asked me to stay over? A year ago, he’d been the one who insisted we should add the stipulation of no sleepovers to our agreement.
What would it feel like to wake up in his arms? How would we be with one another in the morning? I allowed myself to picture us as a real couple and imagine what it would be like to come home to him every day. As much as I fought the idea, a part of me rea
lly liked it.
Damn it. It was never going to happen. I didn’t have time for this BS. I’d known for a long time I’d never have a normal relationship, so why was I feeling like this now?
Face up to reality, Montana. Levi will never be anything more than a fuck buddy.
That was exactly how I wanted it, right?
With a deep sigh, I placed the mug in the dishwasher and went for a shower. Streams of water over my body always settled me down and helped me become rational and logical again.
It was only five-fifteen in the morning, and the sun was just pushing the darkness away. I wasn’t a stranger to early mornings or long hours at the office; it was the only way I’d managed to steadily work my way up the corporate ladder.
After drying myself and slipping into underwear, I sat at the dressing table to fix my hair and face. I brushed my hair with exactly forty strokes before I rolled it into a chignon. Dark puffy circles were evident under my eyes, so I applied a layer of concealer to hide them. I leaned back and dripped eye-drops into both corners. The redness disappeared like magic. What would I do without my beauty tricks?
I quickly dressed in a blue shirt, cream Armani pants and a matching jacket, and made my way to the door.
“Good morning, Miss Marx,” the doorman, Albert James, greeted me with a warm smile as he held the door open. “You’re up bright and early today. It’s not many women I see work as hard as you, my dear.”
I quirked an eyebrow at the greying man and flashed him a smile. Mr. James reminded me so much of my grandfather that we’d become quite friendly.
“You know what they say—”
“The early bird catches the worm?” he said, before I could finish my sentence.
I laughed. “My granddad always used to say that. Believe it or not, I hated waking early when I was a kid.”
“Yeah, but just look at you now. You’re smart and doing so well for yourself, and I’m sure your grandfather would be proud of you, Miss Marx.”