The holiday break would give her time to get all her ducks in a row at the office. In the balmy sunshine, she couldn’t believe Christmas was just a few days away. What a bizarre way to spend such a special time of the year. Especially in New York City.
When the food came, she and Jonathan ate in blaring silence. The bacon cheeseburger should have felt warm and cozy in her stomach. Only she was tied up in knots and found it hard to swallow past the lump in her throat.
Jonathan took two polite bites then asked for the rest to-go. When a box and the bill came, he signed his name on the check and tossed the billfold aside.
“Text me when you’re ready to be reasonable. I, uh, have to go. I have, uh...” Without finishing, he stood and bolted from the table.
“Yeah, I know what you have to do.” She just didn’t know whom.
Laney slid the billfold under her napkin and when the waiter came back, she said, “Can I get a Balvenie, please?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Laney
Laney sat alone in the dark. Okay, not really alone. There were at least fifty other people in the theater. All rolling down the aisles, cackling at the romantic comedy up on the big screen. Okay, not literally rolling down the aisles, but the roar of laughter made her feel disconnected because she didn’t find anything funny at the moment.
If only she found the humor in her own situation. The absurd irony of it all. Sneaking onto Jonathan’s cruise to seduce him, only to get blindsided by another man who’d made it his mission to seduce her.
And yet, neither was real.
Twelve hours. Twelve excruciating hours until she got off this damn ship.
After the third go around with this movie, she left to get some air. Once she was out of the theater cave, her phone came to life. Texts from Nikki. And only Nikki. She breathed a sigh of relief. Tristan must have gotten the message. While it stroked her ego to turn down a man like that, to have him give in broke her heart.
The boat had left St. Thomas hours earlier and increased to a racing speed in order to reach New York by dawn. With every passing hour, the temperature dropped lower. The North East winter arrived on the boat before a single light from the dazzling Manhattan skyline came into view.
The moon sparkled down on the water and she bundled against the cold to gaze out over the railing for a while. She wasn’t going near the thump-thump-thump she heard from the party deck above, despite being dressed to kill. Her favorite plum coat dress and strappy sandals had seemed like a good idea when she left her cabin several hours ago. Now she was freezing her ass off.
Impending footsteps sent her shoulders up around her ears. “I knew I’d find you here.” That voice relaxed her and made her smile.
“Hey, Nik,” Laney said, still staring at the ocean. “I’m predictable, right?”
“Hiding out on the last night of the cruise? Yes.” Nikki brought out her phone. “That and the Find My iPhone app came in handy.”
“Just needed to clear my head about what happened this week.”
“Can I say something about that?” Her assistant’s voice sounded unusually hesitant.
Laney pressed her eyes closed for a moment then faced Nikki. “Okay.”
“I think if you really wanted Jonathan this week you would have tried harder.”
“Are you justifying my failure by saying I must not have wanted it so much?”
“In a way.” Nikki edged closer. “You wanted Tristan and bam, you got him.”
“I didn’t want him, though.” She hadn’t even tried to be with him.
“Of course, you did. I saw it. He saw it. It showed in everything you did and said. You were so different around him compared to Jonathan.”
Perhaps that was so. “Tristan was a stranger. It felt safe to be open and honest with him. Jonathan was always a secret mission because he’s our boss.”
Despite Tristan sharing his dreams for The Sterling, he’d also made his relationship goals very clear. Sleep with his ex every couple of months to pass the time until this stupid cruise crept up on the calendar. Next year he’ll probably be a crazed animal considering all the tail he’d missed out on.
Because of her.
Nikki sighed and leaned into her. “So, are you packed yet?”
“No.” She hadn’t bothered, figuring she’d have all night. She planned to stop at the sundry shop for one of those ridiculous large bottles of rum. Get spectacularly drunk and then pack.
“Okay. Let’s go get that taken care of.” Nikki hip-checked her to get her attention.
“Nik, stop. You’re on vacation. It’s not your responsibility. I’m not your responsibility, right now,” Laney said firmly.
Nikki got her disagreement face on, ready to argue, but her eyes grew wide glancing over her shoulder. “Um, I think someone else knows you pretty well, too.”
Laney’s heart raced wanting it to be Tristan, although he had no business fighting for her when she’d stated firmly, any connection they’d made was over. Severed.
Taking in the shape of the shadow cast out on the glossy planks, Laney’s heart fell. Nope. Not Tristan. Oh crap, the Balvenie scotch charge on Jonathan’s bill. He’d already been furious with her before she tacked on an extra four hundred dollars to the cost of lunch. Elongating her spine, she planted her feet, battle-ready.
The expression on Jonathan’s face was unreadable at first, then Laney recognized it. All too well. After a week of his hungry, drunk-on-sex gapes, Laney almost forgot the man she knew, the man she worked with. That’s who swaggered right up to her now.
“Hey,” he said, his voice soft and...sweet. “I’m sorry about before.” There was barely an inch between them.
Huh?
Swallowing, she said, “It’s...okay.”
He cupped her hand in his and brought it to his mouth. “It’s our last night here. Let’s spend it...having some fun. Come have a drink with me.”
What the heck?
Her eyes strayed to Nikki who stood off to the side, looking just as dumbfounded, if not more. Before Laney answered, her assistant, who probably couldn’t help it, slid up next to her. “Laney, can I talk to you for a moment?”
Jonathan practically growled in her direction.
“I’m...” Laney slipped her hand away, but kept her face even. “I’ll be right back.”
Shell-shocked, she followed Nikki to a stack of life rafts several feet away. “What?”
“You got him,” Nikki whispered.
“Did I miss something?”
“I know that look on a man’s face. Smack some of that pretty gloss on your lips and go be with the man you’ve wanted for three years.” Nikki gave her a once-over. “You said you wanted to walk out of our office with Jonathan in full-on regret about never seeing you again.”
Laney had meant that with spit and vinegar six days ago. Now...
“Think of how much you’ll regret it if you don’t do this,” Nikki continued. “You’re never gonna have a better chance than right here, right now.”
“You’re right,” Laney said, fingering the hem of her dress.
“I’m always right.” Nikki smiled. “Go do this.”
The stranger, the uptight asshole who had flounced around the ship this past week jarred the crap out of her and Nikki. The smiling sexy flirt who wanted to buy her a drink was the guy they knew. Everyone changed on the ship. Maybe the cold air snapped the real Jonathan back.
After a deep exhale, she squared her shoulders and approached Jonathan whose dark sexy eyes smiled at her.
“I’d love a drink,” Laney said and let him lead her away.
Tristan
THE CALL TO LUKE HADN’T ended with canceling the jet. Tristan had launched into a full recount of his week. And like an idiot, brought up Laney. He couldn’t hold back. Her designs. Her fabrics. Her ideas. Luke ignored all that and turned into a goddamn shrink, hammering Tristan with advice about his life in general. Time to move on, all that bullshit.
When the sh
ip left St. Thomas, his chance to fly home had vanished.
After hanging up on Luke, Tristan realized his best play with Laney was to let nature take its course. He trusted somehow Jonathan would mess things up and Laney wouldn’t end up in his bed. That was only part of his problem. He had his own demons to face with her.
And apologize for. Which he planned to do. On dry land.
With hours to go and his bags mostly packed thanks to his panicked false alarm, he decided to get shitfaced. Anything to pass out and make the hours fly by quicker. His tongue itched for the scotch he loved. He ached for one damn sip of Balvenie to stoke the memory of Laney’s lips on his glass. The way it tasted in her mouth.
Tristan’s steps quickened until he saw what his heart dreaded most: Jonathan steering Laney into the same bar. Fury and jealousy fired off in all directions. That’s my woman. That’s my bar.
Laney’s bare legs under a short dress and the way those high heels made her calves look, caused a growl to swirl deep in his chest. Mine. Why was she dressed up for him? Were they on some kind of date? What had that moron said to make up for his rude behavior earlier?
Once Laney had gone inside the bar, Tristan charged for the door. His fingers tightened around the brass handle and the cool sting reminded him how close they were to New York. Home. An incoming blast of perfume spun him around before he opened the door, though. Wet lips landed on his and the feel of large hard breasts against his chest gave away who had kissed him.
“Enough is enough, Tris.” Cass held him by the waistband of his slacks when he tried to jerk away. Her knuckles hit the top of his cock. “We’ll be in New York in a matter of hours. I want you and I’m not letting you say no to me.”
He’d always known where he stood with Cass. Every year, it’d been a relief. He prided himself on not being one of those assholes who used girlfriends and threw them away.
Laney had seen that about him. Cut right through the bullshit, that he’d rather not carelessly break anyone’s heart if he couldn’t commit. Here there were zero expectations.
A fucking war raged on in his head as he stared past the crackled glass into the ambient lit bar. Tristan’s throat closed watching that bastard, Jon, touch Laney.
“Tris,” Cass whispered.
Tris. That’s who she wanted. Cass wanted the sex god. Would he regret leaving this insane hook-up devil world with his spiked tail between his legs without one last fling?
Seeing Jonathan’s lips on Laney in the bar gave him the answer.
The alpha doesn’t watch. Tristan couldn’t watch. The pain in his heart hurt worse than he’d imagined. He needed anything to take those images away.
Even if he had to lose himself in another woman. “Let’s go.”
Laney
SHOWING UP AT THE SAME elegant bar with Jonathan after being here with Tristan, Laney tasted bile in her throat. Before she came up with a reason to go someplace else, Jonathan sat her on one of the leather stools. The smells and sounds were the same as the other night, sweet incense and soft jazz humming away. The sconces lit a soft glow on everything, but nothing touched her the way it had when she’d been here with Tristan.
“What do you want?” Jonathan asked with seductive eyes.
Jeez-Luis, where do I start? But his arm rested on the wooden counter and two twenty-dollar bills peeked out of his hand. To drink dummy! “Oh. Whatever you’re having.”
“Two vodkas, straight up, Absolut,” he called out to the same server from the other night.
Miss no-button shirt sized Laney up with a judgmental stare that felt like a scratchy sweater. She’d left with Tristan and since he had a reputation on this cruise, anyone could make a reasonable assumption that she’d ended up in his bed.
Oddly, she had no problem if being with Tristan Hart was the last thing anyone on the cruise remembered about her. To be seen with Jonathan now kicked her in the stomach. The server’s pity frown silently suggested she figured Laney had not been good enough to hold on to Tristan.
“Cheers.” Jonathan clinked his shot with hers and drained the entire glass.
Laney cringed through the bitter sip. Amazing how hidden in her Cosmos, vodka tasted delightful. Straight up, it was just nasty. Unlike Tristan’s wonderful scotch.
After Jonathan wiped his mouth on a napkin, he said, “I feel like I hardly ever say thank you.”
Rather than agree with him, she said, “It’s more important that you—”
Out of nowhere soft lips rested on hers cutting off her words. Scared shitless, she pressed her eyes closed as well as her mouth.
Jonathan’s tongue probed her lips. Everything was wetter than she’d imagined. Not in a good way. She gasped and wiped her mouth, waiting a beat to make eye contact. Surely that kiss had not been a ‘violins playing in the background’ moment for him either.
Three years and that’s how he kissed?
I’m so stupid.
When he didn’t go in for another kiss and the subject returned to work, Laney unclenched her stomach. Perhaps the awkward kiss was a prim and professional thank you for the tons of money she’d made him. With some tongue on the side.
As she dissected his motives, her sense of anxiety melted into utter relief. She’d be playing all kinds of games in her head, yet it’d been so easy with Tristan. Flirting with Jonathan became a workout.
He finished his drink and signaled for the bartender. “Do you want another?”
“Um, do you?” One kiss, one drink, and maybe that was going to be it.
He winked. “No. I want a clear head.” Jonathan probably wouldn’t want his report to Human Resources filled with incoherent recollections.
“Wise move.” She finished the bitter sip of vodka and put the terrible drink down on the bar. Packing up her clothes started to look more exciting.
“Laney.” He grabbed her hand when she reached for her wristlet. “Please come back to my cabin with me.”
Whether he had invited Laney, his work partner, or Laney, the woman out for a drink, he just made it clear what he wanted. No matter who she was to him.
The power dynamic changed at that moment. Asking Jonathan for sex was no longer her risk to take. He wanted her. Where the miraculous turn around came from, beat the shit out of her.
“Um.” Either her conscience or Nikki were going to kick her butt back in New York for blowing this chance.
A sudden rush of pain settled into her temples. Was she ready for this? She came on this cruise to lay it on the line with Jonathan. Tristan had been a distraction. A great one. Perhaps she wouldn’t have been able to sit here and not fly off the stool to go be with Jonathan if Tristan hadn’t relaxed her so much with hours of sex.
Whatever Jonathan wanted, it was one and done. She didn’t want a relationship with him now, considering how he’d behaved all week. His pre-holiday cruise activities had nothing to do with it. Tristan was there for the same reason, but he wasn’t an asshole about it.
Her empowerment moment had arrived. Even if her being with Jonathan turned Tristan off, she deserved to achieve her goal.
Jonathan leaned in to kiss her again, licking his lips.
She gently held his chin. “Not here.”
“Let’s get out of here, then.” Jonathan smiled, sliding cash to the bartender.
“Let’s go,” Laney said, taking his arm.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Laney
The hard liquor coursing through Laney’s system made her feel both alive and dizzy. Or maybe Jonathan peering at her, sizing her up in the elevator caused the brain fuzz.
“Where’s your cabin?” she asked, knowing he’d been holed up nowhere near her and Nikki.
“A few decks down,” he answered.
Jonathan didn’t say anything else for the rest of the elevator ride and as they ambled down his passageway, his jaw kept twitching with every check of his phone. In his cabin, a short hallway separated the front door and a large open room. Being on a different deck, the room was laid
out much differently from hers...and Tristan’s. Abruptly, Jonathan leaned her against the wall and fumbled his way to the third button of her coat dress. He exposed her blue satin bra and glided his fingers past her navel, but stopped short of the matching low-cut bikini underwear.
“Come on.” Jonathan took her hand. “I prefer the bed.”
Holy shit, this was going to happen! Laney cleared her throat and followed him through the cabin’s sitting room and into a messy bedroom. Faced with his unmade bed, she wondered if a woman had been there that afternoon. The room smelled of his cologne and dying flowers, but before she could consider which devil lady used cheap knock-off perfume, Jonathan pushed Laney down into the tangled-up sheets.
He flopped on top of her and began kissing her throat with his fingers dancing down her body. Without warning, one hand rested against her pelvis, inching into her panties making her forget what was happening above the waist.
“I can’t believe my dinner will be just as good as the dessert,” he mumbled, nibbling her neck.
“What?” she asked, breathless. “What’s your dinner?”
His eyes shot open wide. “It’s just an expression.”
His mouth covered hers, stealing her breath along with another question. Shifting the pace into high gear, he slid his fingers under the bra clasp and turned the small piece of plastic. “God, I love bras that open in the front.”
The soft clicking sound snapped her back into reality. “Jonathan, wait.” Laney re-clipped her bra. “Stop.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I need a second.” She squirmed away, clutching a handful of fabric.
Feeling as if time had skidded by like a fast rock skipping on the surface of water, she couldn’t recall exactly how she ended up where she was. After a hard swallow, her eyes turned back to Jonathan who sat on his knees. With his shirt unbuttoned and his zipper down, the noticeable bulge against tight gray briefs suggested he was ready.
She wanted Jonathan for three years and finally got him in bed. This was the moment she’d waited for. He’d been a cock-tease all these years, but chose the last night of their cruise to aggressively change their relationship. Red flag!
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