by Lila Monroe
I’d tried everything to relax. I wore my comfiest pink silk pajamas festooned with yellow ducks (and Kate’s lingerie under them, which was surprisingly comfortable), and my childhood blanket was wrapped all comfy and toasty around me. Lavender aromatherapy candles were burning around me, suffusing the air with their calming scent. The TV flickered with the light of the DVD menu for my favorite cheesy spy show. A mug of hot chocolate with plenty of milk was in one hand, and a well-worn copy of my favorite romance novel—don’t even ask about the questionable art of a kilted Scotsman with an unexplained Maori tribal tattoo on the cover, please—in the other. I’d even put on the CD of‘soothing nature sounds’ that my folks had gotten me for my last birthday, because it’s never too late to try to distract your daughter from her dream of running a successful business by turning her into a hippie. Birds chirped, leaves rustled, brooks burbled gently.
And I wasn’t even a little bit sleepy.
Maybe because I wasn’t used to getting to bed as early as eleven? I was trying to take it easy, though. I was still in a bit of a tizzy about all the attention Grant had been showing me. He…he couldn’t really be interested in me, right? Or was I being paranoid? Was this just the memory of too many high school assholes and college frat boys who thought it was funny to flirt with the big girl and then laugh with their friends when she took it seriously?
My phone rang, and I snatched it off the sideboard. Maybe it would be Kate and we could talk about—
The caller ID said Grant Devlin.
I flipped it open immediately.“What happened? What did you do? Do the papers know yet, or—”
“Nice to know how high your opinion of me is, Miss Newman,” Grant said dryly.“Can’t a man just be looking for some intelligent conversation with a lovely lady?”
“I’m sure you’ve got six dozen of them on speed-dial,” I shot back, my heart rate slowing down as I processed that the company wasn’t going to tank after my first day in the new job.“Seriously, what’s going on?”
“Nothing,” he stressed.“I’m just bored.” His voice took on a pouty tone that I’d bet serious money had brought out the maternal instinct in all his previous relationships.“It’s your fault, you’re the one who’s clipped my wings. I’m housebound now, and there is nothing to do here. You should entertain me.”
I rolled my eyes mightily, wishing he could see it.“Not in my job description.”
I heard a clicking sound, then the background noise shifted. “Did you know how terrible television has become in the last ten years?” Grant mused as if I hadn’t spoken.“It’s heartbreaking.”
“That’s why I only watch the classics.”
“Watching any of those classics tonight? You could come over and watch them in my private theatre.”
“I’ve had my John Steed ration for the night, thanks,” I said, glancing at my own TV screen—doubtless several orders of magnitude smaller than the one Grant was watching—where the spy in question sighted the episode titles along the line of his umbrella gun.
“You like a sharp-dressed man, eh?” I swore I could hear that smirk. How did that man have an audible smirk? Had he had it specially engineered?“Will you come over and tuck me in if I promise to wear a suit and tie?”
Oh, now there was a mental image…Grant in a suit and tie, and me in my new lingerie—or nothing at all—sprawled out across his great big bed…wait a second. How many other women had fallen for that exact line before? And how many of those women had been left in the wake of his ravenous appetite?
“I’m not your babysitter,” I deflected, and hung up.
• • •
Twenty minutes later, I was still trying and failing to concentrate on the romance novel—the love interest is supposed to be this swarthy guy with dark green eyes, but guess who kept picturing him with gold-kissed brown hair and eyes like a stormy sky?—when the doorbell rang.
I took my hand out from between my thighs—hey, a girl’s gottado what a girl’s gotta do—and looked at the clock to check. Yup, it was dark-as-fuck-thirty.
So who the actual hell was at my door?
I padded to the door in my pajamas, mug of hot chocolate in one hand, covering my yawn with the other. I looked through the peephole and discovered Grant’s driver, cap off in his hands, face looking apologetic but also resigned.
Oh great. I should’ve known Grant Devlin wouldn’t give up that easy.
“Miss? I’m here to pick you up, miss.”
I contemplated going right back into bed, and turning my TV as loud as it would go, until the over-the-top fight music drowned out everything else in the world.
“I’m sorry, miss, but—well, he really would like to see you.”
“He can’t wait till morning?” I muttered, but I was already turning the lock. This wasn’t going away, it seemed. Hell, in a way this was just another part of my new job: hand-holding Grant through the process of getting the company back on its feet. I’d just bill him for overtime.“Fine,” I said to the driver.“Let’s go.”
“Uh, miss, if you want to take a few minutes to change—”
“Nope,” I said, feeling a rebellious smile steal across my face.“If Grant Devlin wants my company so badly, he can have it. But I’m keeping the pink ducky pajamas.”
• • •
Stepping into Grant’s penthouse took my breath away. It was so huge I felt like I might have starting shrinking like Alice in Wonderland—if Wonderland were designed by a minimalist cousin of Frank Lloyd Wright from the future.
Everything was sleek, shiny—miles of black marble floor and white marble countertops, walls that stretched onward and upward like cliffs, giant windows that looked out over an infinity-edge rooftop pool, the city spread beyond it like some kind of giant painting in bold strokes of neon red, green, white, and yellow against navy blue and black.
“Lacey, is that you?”
“No, it’s Santa Claus,” I called back.“And you are getting all the coal in your stocking this year.”
“Oh, so you’d say I’ve been naughty?”
“Damn straight.” I followed Grant’s voice into the kitchen, where he was uncorking a bottle of wine in a v-neck t-shirt, loose pants, and bare feet.
He took in my attire and raised an eyebrow.“What a charmingensemble.”
I crossed my arms, suddenly awkwardly aware of how thin the fabric of my pajamas was, and how flimsy the lingerie underneath.“Exactly how fucking entitled do you have to be to call up your employee at eleven fucking o’clock and then complain about her goddamn—”
“One moment,” he interrupted,“and then feel free to continue yelling if you want—it’s very stimulating, I do have a weakness for a woman with a temper, and also for the record I would never dream of complaining about your outfit—but do keep in mind that the longer you yell about my inconsiderate nature, the colder the food will become.”
“The food?”
I glanced around at the pristine kitchen, which looked like it hadn’t seen a single crumb mar its existence since the moment it came out of the catalogue. You know how matter and antimatter can’t come into contact without some kind of explosion? That’s what looked like would happen if food ever came into contact with this immaculate countertop. It looked like it didn’t even know what dust was.
“I ordered takeout from Rama,” he said, finally managing to wrest the cork from the wine bottle.“You seemed to enjoy it at our last meal, and I know you didn’t have lunch today. It’s not healthy to skip meals.”
“You’re a nutritionist all of a sudden?”
“I’m simply concerned.” For a moment his eyes met mine, wide and earnest—and then they shuttered, that smirk quirking his lips.“After all, where would the company be if it lost its most tireless advocate?”
I eyed him skeptically.“So this is all for my own good.”
He shrugged.“You’re taking care of my company. Someone should take care of you.”
Okay, that was actually…sort of thou
ghtful?
I listened intently for the Twilight Zone theme.
Still, weirdness aside, I was mollified. What can I say, food does that to me. I followed him into the living room and joined him on the sofa—a plush leather monstrosity larger than some trailer homes, that probably cost more than I even had in my savings account—and dug into the food. Jackfruit curry, grilled chicken, spicy papaya salad—if the way to a woman’s heart was through her stomach, I was so screwed.
For a long time neither of us spoke, simply enjoying the cuisine. I was waiting for him to say something, but he seemed content to nibble on mango slices in my presence, leaning against the couch and smiling slightly at nothing in particular—at least nothing I could fathom.
Finally I licked the last bit of sauce off my fork—chili sauce that delicious should be illegal—and said,“Now what?”
Grant seemed at a loss for a second. He looked all around the room as though he were realizing for the first time that for all its grandeur, it was remarkably empty: no photos, no books, no sign that anyone really lived there. Just a couch and a TV.“I don’t suppose you play video games—”
“Sure I do!” I rejoined.“I haven’t had the time lately, but I used to rack up some major hours on Call of Duty.”
“Well, I don’t know that one too well,” Grant said sheepishly. Then he grinned, and leapt up to pull open the drawer below the TV.“But I have an advance review copy ofthis—” he flourished Death Squad, the game that all the online chatter had been hyping for months—“if you’re interested.”
I didn’t have to think twice.“Hells yes. That is, if you don’t mind getting your ass handed to you.” I narrowed my eyes.
That grin got so much wider. I liked it much better than his smirk. Made him look…younger. More vulnerable. More open.
“Your wish is my command,” he said, and I settled down for something that definitely wasn’t in my job description.
• • •
“Boom! Victory.” I leaned back into the couch and laughed, tossing my controller onto a cushion. Grant had been a tougher player than I thought he’d be, but I’d still managed to best him with six out of ten wins.
Grant tossed down his controller too, then grabbed the wine bottle and emptied the last of its dregs.“I admire a competitivespirit.”
“Hope you don’t mind,” I snarked.“Hey! Save some of that for me!”
“Too late,” he said with a devilish grin.“And I’ve never believed in women toning down their skills to make themselves more palatable to men. When you pretend diamonds are glass, they end up in the hands of those who cannot appreciate them.”
“Well, I gottasay, I appreciate it,”I said.“And it’s no fun when guys let me win either, so thanks. You have a pretty competitive spirit too.”
He gave me a puzzled look.“You say that like it surprises you.”
“Well…” Maybe it was the warm glow of the wine, or maybe I was feeling magnanimous in victory, but I found myself oddly reluctant to hurt his feelings.“A little bit. Yeah. You already have so much. You don’t seem like you have anything left you want to pursue. Or would need to.”
He reached over and took my hand.
“I assure you,” he murmured,“that is hardly the case.”
I was suddenly very, very aware that we were sitting with our thighs almost touching. His hand in mine. The warmth of his hand, and his body so close, and the wine…
“I’m talking about the company, of course,” he added.
“Of course,” I echoed, pulling my hand back and feeling like an idiot. Yeah. Of course. Obviously. The company.
“I don’t want to lose it,” he said.“I want to make it greater than it’s ever been. My grandfather—God, he saved my life when I was a kid. My own parents were like ghosts, but he taught me everything I know. He was my world.” He choked slightly on the last words, and for a second I thought he was going to cry.
“I’m sorry,” I said.“I’d no idea.”
Then he swallowed, and with an effort, pulled his voice back under his control.“He left me something amazing when he died, and I want to honor that by making it even better. I want to break it out of all the tired old structures that don’t work anymore and really see it fly.” He gestured with his hand, as if he could fling the company into that bright future through sheer force of will. His eyes glowed with passion. “God, Lacey, we could do so much good. Not just directly, with the media content we bring, but with the charity projects that intersect with our goals. He would—” His gaze went far away for a moment.“He would have liked that.”
He looked away, embarrassed, maybe, about revealing something real. I cast around for something that would get us on lighter ground, let him save face. He deserved that much.
“So you don’t mind the kitten hair?” I asked, gently teasing.
“Hardly,” he said with a smile.“It’s a small price to pay for finally feeling like the company is moving in the right direction. It’s not that I don’t know where I want it to go, I just…” He shrugged.“People. They’re difficult. I don’t really understand how to make them see my vision. Incite them to action. But you do.”
“If you feel this way, then why do you…” I struggled to think of a diplomatic way to say‘piss it down the drain.’ “Behave so, well, irresponsibly all—some of the time?” I watched his face, ready to cut off if I pushed too far.“I mean, gambling? How do you square that with your vision?”
“I gamble with my own money, not the company’s,” Grant pointed out.“Or on the company’s time. And business doesn’t just take place within the office, Lacey; remember Carlo Montoni? He won a handful of change from me at the poker table, and the very next weekend he invested twenty million in our Jacksonville venture.”
“I guess I never thought of that before.” I remembered that deal. It had been just what we needed to pull out of a slump and finish the financial quarter successfully. Without that money? We’d have been up shit creek without a paddle.
“I’m sorry,” I said, blushing.
“What for?”
It was hard to look in his eyes now.“All the stuff I said to you. The stuff I’ve been saying. I’ve just been shooting off my mouth like a total bitch and…I didn’t know you actually cared.”
“No reason you would.” His voice was soft as satin and deep as the sea, sexy, intimate. His fingertips brushed my chin, turning it upwards until I was drowning in his eyes.“It’s a bad habit, I’m afraid…when you don’t want to be hurt, you learn to pretend to care about nothing at all.”
His finger traced the line of my chin and for a second, I forgot how to breathe. My skin tingled where he was touching it, and he leaned in, his eyes soft yet intent, his lips slightly parted—
I jerked away.“I have to leave,” I said, standing quickly. This couldn’t happen. I couldn’t let this happen. Not with my boss. No matter how much I—“Thankyouforalovelyevening,” I rushed, barely leaving any spaces between the words as I made my way to the door.
He stood.“Lacey, wait—”
“A lovely, lovely evening, just like, surprising lovely, almost shockingly lovely, lovely, really, I have to go—”
I made it into the hall, and then his hand was on my shoulder. He spun me around, pressed me against the wall, and kissed me like he was drowning and I was his last breath of air.
NINE
The touch of his lips lit a fire in me, heat burning through my veins, my skin flushing from my face to my neck and my breasts, his tongue teasing gently against my mouth. I kissed him back, savoring the taste of him, opening and letting his tongue explore, gently at first, and then urgently.
I gripped his strong shoulders and pulled him closer, loving the feel of all that muscle, all that power, beneath that fine fabric, beneath my hands. I felt so small against him, cherished and desired as his hands clutched at my hips with fierce possessiveness, as if I were the only thing he wanted, as if he would never let me go.
I felt his arousal lo
ng and hard against me as he ground his hips against mine, and I moaned into his mouth, breaking away for a second to nip at his ear.
He gasped, and I began to nibble lightly on his neck, reveling in those deep gravelly moans that worked from his throat, groans that made my nipples harden and my pussy clench in anticipation. His hands slid teasingly across my stomach, making small circles before traveling upwards to my breasts, tracing their curves through the thin silk, my nipples hardening further against the soft fabric and the teasing pressure of his fingers as I whimpered.
Then they slid lower, down between my thighs. Oh God.
“Do you want more?” he whispered, teasing over my pajama bottoms, and all I could do was nod.
“Say it,” he demanded huskily.“Say that you want me touching you.”
“I want it,” I breathed, the words leaving my mouth before I was even aware I had planned to say them.
His hands slid down and under the hem of my pajama top, lazily making their way up my stomach, his fingernails lightly running over my skin, stroking my stomach, tantalizing me with just a brush of my breast, just a slight dip below my waistband…I pushed myself against him, eager, no, desperate—I needed him to touch me, to grab me, to take me—
He grabbed my hip with his left hand and pushed me back against the wall, just too far away to press myself against him, just close enough that he could keep tormenting me. He bent his head, his lips brushing the sensitive skin of my neck like a brand, and I whimpered.“Please…”
“Say that you want me,” he growled.“You want me inside you, you’re wet for me.”
“I want you,” I whispered, all my breath stolen by the intensity of his gaze.
He sucked at my neck and I almost sobbed at the sensation, like an electrical line between where he touched me and my nipples and lower: I was sopping wet between my legs and I wanted him so badly, he sucked harder at my neck and his fingers began making slow lazy circles over my breasts, not quite touching where I wanted them to, where I needed them to—
“I want you, Grant” I said again, and he pinched my nipple hard and I bucked against him, crying out.