Stiff_A Graves Family Romance

by Kim Linwood

  But it’s not all about me. Whether we work out or not, I need to do what’s right for the company. And for my family. For a long, long moment, I close my eyes and grip the pen tightly. I draw a breath, holding it and then as I release, I stare down at the simple black line at the bottom of the contract. Two names, written three times, and then as soon as the papers are in Carter’s hands, it’ll all be over.

  Glancing up, I find Zoe watching closely, waiting for me to do something, whether it’s to sign or just crumple up the paper and toss it in the trash.

  I arch a brow at her. “I know why this is such a big deal for me, but, seriously, why are you so invested?”

  She starts to pace in a little circle in front of my desk. “I’m sick of seeing you stress over this. You and Carter have been doing your little ‘I hate you, no I love you’ dance for so long that I just want to see you do something, even if it’s just a formality. Come on, there’s no way you aren’t signing at this point, right? I think you’re stalling because you’re afraid he’ll take off as soon as things are finalized.”

  “Oh, ouch,” I say with a wince. “Big sisterly love, huh? Tell me what you really think.”

  With a sardonic smile, she pauses, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms over her chest. “I always will, you know that. I worry about you, Sadie. Besides, how am I supposed to date vicariously through you if you’re not dating? Think of someone besides yourself for a change.”

  Shaking my head and stifling a quiet laugh, I grip the pen with renewed determination. “Fine.” I mean, she’s right, but it still feels weird.

  “Go on, make your parents happy,” she adds.

  Three quick scribbles later, one for each copy, and then the deal is done. I slide the paperwork into my desk to send out later.

  “Really? More procrastinating?” Zoe glances at the drawer and then back up at me reproachfully. “Let me guess. You’re out of stamps.”

  “I’ll see Carter tomorrow. I’ll give them to him then.”

  “Mmhm.” She doesn’t look convinced.

  “I will. Jeez. What are you, my parole officer?”

  Zoe points at her eyes with two fingers before pointing them at me. “I’ve got my eyes on you.” I throw my pen after her, but she’s too quick and it clatters uselessly against the door. Her laugh teases me from the hall.

  I peek into my drawer at the signed contracts. Am I still procrastinating? No, this is definite progress. And I really am out of stamps. I grimace before slamming it shut.

  I’ll get to it tomorrow.

  28

  Sadie

  I’m painting a penis.

  Thick, veiny and with a big bulb on the end. I trace its smooth lines on the canvas with long, careful strokes. The pinks and reds need more subtle blending, but the shape is coming together just right. Absentmindedly nibbling the end of my brush, I consider whether the top needs more purple to make the edge pop.

  And would a silky white drop leaking from the tip be too much?

  Of course it’s not too much.

  I dip my brush in the paint and giggle softly to myself. God, this is silly, but talk about a finishing touch.

  “Sadie?”

  I scream, my brush slipping and spattering way more drops than I’d been intending in a suggestive white spray across the canvas. How did I miss the chime? Or my office door opening for that matter? Thank God my little desk easel faces away from the doorway, which is now full of Carter.

  “Wha… what are you doing here?”

  “You all right?” His eyebrows are raised at my overreaction. “Did you forget I was coming today?”

  I take a look at my painting and then back at Carter, unable to hold back the giant snort of laughter that bursts out.

  His eyebrows furrow in suspicion and he steps into my office. As always, he looks good enough to eat, even more so now that I know what’s hidden underneath his tailor-cut business suit. If Zoe and Kenny weren’t lurking around, I’d be tempted to take a bite.

  He must see the spark of interest in my eyes, because the smoldering look he returns it with is full of dirty promises. I lick my lips, too distracted to do the sensible thing and hide my painting before he gets close enough to see what I’m working on.

  “What do you have there?” He reaches for the easel.

  “It’s not done!” I throw my brush into the water cup with a splash and scramble to move the easel before he can get a look.

  “Don’t be silly. I’d love to see how you work. If it’s anything like that one,” he points to the lips from the other day, “I’m sure it’s already amazing.”

  “Nope. No way. It’s… uh… disruptive to my creativity.” Ugh, that sounded lame, even to me. I’m never going to live this down if he sees it, though. The last thing Carter’s ego needs is for him to start thinking he’s my muse.

  “Mmhm,” he hums, obviously unconvinced. He pulls a small stack of papers out of his briefcase and tosses it on my desk. “I brought a few copies of the contract just in case you lost yours.” The sexy grin on his face takes any sting out of his words.

  Hah! I grin right back, because for once, I’m ahead of the game.

  I reach for the drawer to pull out my signed contracts.

  Taking the opportunity, Carter reaches for something else. He plucks my canvas from my desk and turns it towards him. A sharp, surprised laugh erupts. “Sadie, Sadie, Sadie… you naughty girl.”

  My head snaps up and I gasp. “Hey, I told you not to look!” Heat fills my face, part anger, mostly embarrassment.

  “I think you really captured me well. I’m impressed.” Carter holds the canvas in front of his fly, lining up my still wet painting for maximum effect. “I must’ve made a good impression.”

  “Put that down!”

  He leans in close. “How about I shut the door, and we can do a comparison just to make sure you’ve got all the details correct?”

  “Give it to me!” I race around my desk, trying to grab the painting, but he deftly slides away, keeping me easily at arm’s reach.

  “What’s going on?” Just to make matters worse, Zoe appears in the doorway, looking confused. Then she sees the painting in Carter’s hands and explodes in laughter so hard she has to support herself on the door frame. “Sadie! And I—” She stops to draw a breath. “And I thought the lips were bad.”

  “I liked those,” Carter interjects. “Wait, are those me, too?”

  Zoe snickers. “I can neither confirm nor deny that she painted those right after your first date.”

  I glare at her. “Dirty traitor.”

  He laughs, holding up my penis painting in one hand and keeping me from grabbing it with the other. “I’m flattered. Are there any other paintings I should know about?”

  “No,” I grumble, pulling back with resignation. “And even if there were, I’d never tell you. Or you,” I aim at Zoe.

  They both laugh at my artistic humiliation.

  “That’s too bad. If you did one of my ass, they’d go great over my bed. Two wouldn’t fit as well, but maybe I should keep them anyway.” He holds up the penis, making a big show of admiring it. “They’d fit in my office,” he adds thoughtfully. “With the right frames, of course.”

  “Oh God,” I say with a sigh, dropping back into my chair. “Please, don’t.”

  “Would you sign them if I asked nicely? I can’t help but notice that you forgot, and if there’s anything I’d like your hand on, this is definitely it.”

  Zoe gags theatrically and throws her hands up. “All right, I’m out of here. Want me to close the door?”

  “Sure.”

  “No!”

  Carter and I reply at the same time, him grinning at me and me glaring right back.

  “Hey guys, where is everybody? Did I miss a staff meeting?” Kenny’s voice sounds from the reception area.

  “Art critique session,” Zoe yells out.

  “Oh, cool. Can I see?”

  “No!” I seem to be yelling that
a lot today.

  “Jeez, fine. Just asking.” There’s a slurping sound like he’s dredging the bottom of a milkshake. “It’s not like I’m an art major or anything. What would I know?”

  “It’s all right, Sadie. You should show him,” Carter teases. “I’m sure his commentary will be fascinating.”

  “Would you just shut up?” Lunging desperately, I finally manage to snatch the painting and stash it away in a drawer with only a minimum of paint getting on my hands. With a slam that can probably be heard out on the street, I shut it resoundingly. “Art appreciation hour is over. Don’t you people have jobs to do? Get out of my office!”

  “I’m not even in there,” Kenny yells. “Though, as an art student, I bet I—”

  “It’s over, I said.”

  “I’m already gone,” Zoe calls from the top of the stairs. “I have enough stiffs in my basement as it is. You can keep Carter’s.”

  Carter barks a laugh as I groan, then he shuts the door, leaving just the two of us in my office. I’d really rather he’d be on the outside too, but it beats having a full conference in here, at least.

  “The human body is a classic art subject,” Kenny grumbles loud enough to carry through the door. “You people are so immature.”

  I thunk my forehead against my desktop repeatedly before resting it on my arms. “I don’t deserve this. I really don’t.”

  “You painted a big, red erupting cock,” Carter points out, kneeling next to me and patting me gently on the back. “If my family caught me doing that, I’d never live it down. Bran would probably send it out as my holiday card.”

  “The eruption wasn’t planned. You surprised me. It sort of went everywhere.”

  “I’m pretty sure that’s supposed to be my line.”

  “Oh my God.” I groan and press my face deeper into my arms.

  He leans in, his breath brushing across my ear. “I can think of other ways I’d rather hear those words.”

  A shiver passes down my spine, encouraged by his fingers tracing circles over my shoulder blades. It takes me a moment to remember I’m at work and another before I decide it matters. I take a deep breath and look up. “I can’t believe you saw that.”

  “Baby, I see it every day, but if you ever need me to do any modeling…”

  I snort. “Smartass.”

  “Don’t make me take you over my knees for being insubordinate.”

  “You’re not the boss of me. Not quite yet, anyway.” Not until I actually hand over the papers. Which I suppose I should do.

  Carter’s eyes roll to the ceiling and he sighs. “Everything with you is about that contract. When is it going to sink in that I’m not going anywhere?”

  I look down at the papers he dropped on my desk, and then back up at him. “Oh, right. They obviously don’t mean anything.”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Sadie.” He stands up and stuffs the papers back into his briefcase. “No talking about contracts today. No work. No business. No negotiations or event planning. Just us.”

  “Just us?”

  “Just us.” He holds out his hand. “Can Zoe and Michelangelo out there keep an eye on the place for a while?”

  I shrug. “Probably. Kenny knows his chores, and Zoe can get ahold of me if anything comes up. Why?”

  “Because you’re taking a day off and coming with me.”

  “Carter, I’m the director. I can’t just take the day off for no reason.”

  His mouth spreads in a sinful grin. “As your eventually-soon-to-be boss, I’m giving you permission. You need a break, and I’m going to make sure you enjoy every minute of it.” The look he gives me is intense… and sincere.

  I swallow, trying to calm the nervous butterflies that flutter in my stomach. “Okay.”

  “Good. Get yourself ready. I’ll let everyone know you’re going to be out.” He leaves to spread the message.

  Get myself ready? For what?

  Standing up, I straighten my skirt and then check myself with the compact mirror in my purse. My clothes look nice for work, but I’m not exactly ready for a night on the town. He’s probably taking me out to a casual lunch, but I touch up my lipstick.

  Just in case.

  29

  Carter

  “You know, I think this is the first time I’ve been in your car. Does your brother know it doesn’t even have a spoiler?” Sadie looks over my Beamer while I hold the door open for her.

  “Oh, don’t get Brandon started. If it were up to him, he’d buy Mustangs for all of us.” I shrug. “I like this car. It hugs the road and it’s comfortable. Call me boring, but I like to impress my dates without having to deal with getting pulled over every other day.”

  “I’m not sure Zoe would approve.” She slips into the passenger seat, giving me a nice look at her great legs as she settles. I’d like to say I held her door out of courtesy alone, but the flash of cleavage and thigh is a much appreciated side benefit. “Then it’s a good thing I don’t care what Zoe thinks of my car.” Making sure Sadie’s tucked safely inside, I close the door.

  “So where are we going?” she asks as I slide behind the wheel.

  Good fucking question. This was a spur of the moment decision. I made a few calls, but in spite of the magic of personal assistants, there’s still time to kill before everything should be in place.

  She senses my hesitation. “I can always go back to work, you know. This was a nice idea but there’s plenty to do.”

  I hit the door lock button. “Nope. I’ve got you right where I want you and you haven’t thrown anything at me yet, or tried to hit me. I’m riding this streak as far as it goes.”

  She muffles a laugh, but doesn’t deny the truth.

  “Let’s take a ride along the lake.”

  She looks at me funny, but nods. “Okay.”

  “You mind if I roll down the windows?”

  “No. It’s nice to get a breeze instead of recycled air.” She rolls a hair tie off her wrist and pulls her soft brown hair up in a quick ponytail.

  Do all girls have those on them all the time? “Good.”

  Ten minutes later, we’re cruising. The midday sun is hot, but not so much that the air doesn’t feel good streaming in the windows. I glance over at Sadie. She’s looking out over the water, letting me admire her without her noticing. Her pretty hair is pulling loose and fluttering behind her, exposing her graceful neck. She looks completely unaware of how sexy she is just sitting there in an elegant blouse with her pencil skirt clinging to her legs. I’d love to see it pushed up around her waist.

  Again.

  She turns towards me, as if she can sense the direction my thoughts are wandering. “Shouldn’t you be keeping your eyes on the road?”

  “I’m watching.”

  Her mouth turns up in a half-smile. “I see that. But I’m not the road.”

  “As beautiful as this area is, you’re a hell of a lot prettier.”

  Sadie laughs and turns to look back out over the lake. “Flattery will get you everywhere, but I’d rather that not be in a ditch. That wasn’t your plan, was it? Because I would’ve worn more practical shoes if it was.”

  I reach over and run a hand down her arm. “Then you can be sure that will never be my plan, because I wouldn’t want to miss the sexy view of your legs in those heels.” The blush that spreads from her face and down her neck is fucking adorable.

  “So where are we going?”

  “Isn’t enjoying the view enough?”

  She sends an accusing stare. “Carter, I grew up here. I could paint postcards of these mountains from memory in my sleep.”

  “That would be an interesting party trick.” I lean back into my seat, letting an arm hang out the window. “But I don’t know if I would trust your subconscious not to sneak a few naughty bits into the view.”

  “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

  “Nope. We’re going to be old and gray and I’m going to make sure to leave those paintings to whichever of our
grandchildren would be the most horrified.”

  Sadie’s eyes cut over to me quickly, a slightly shocked look on her face. “Grandchildren?”

  What? She didn’t think I was in this to win it?

  “Definitely,” I say with a wink. “I figure if we have eight, nine kids, then the chances should be pretty good.”

  She rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “That’s pretty presumptuous, Mr. Graves.”

  “Of course it is. If you don’t dream big, you’ll never find out how far you can go. And, Ms. Williams, I don’t need to be able to see the future to know who I’d like to be there with.”

  Sadie swallows, hard. Her blush had faded, but comes back in full force.

  “Don’t tell me I managed to make you speechless,” I tease. “This is the part where you break my heart and tell me I’m still only rating a solid ‘meh’ on your scale.”

  That shakes her out of her shock and makes her laugh. “Carter, we’ve had sex. You passed ‘meh’ a long time ago.”

  “Really? No one ever tells me anything.”

  “You’re…” She wiggles her hand in the air in front of her. “At least up to solidly adequate. I skipped you right past tolerable.”

  I nod my head. “Nice.”

  “You might’ve even made it up to interesting if it wasn’t for the whole hiding in a casket thing.”

  “Oh, come on! You’ve got to admit, that was pretty interesting. How many other guys have given you exclusive tours of the latest in high-end burial technology?”

  “Thankfully, none.”

  “Losers.”

  She laughs and slaps me gently on the arm, seeming much more relaxed again. “So, eight or nine kids, huh? I’d’ve expected you to be done with big families from the way you talk about yours.”

  I can tell a subject change when I hear one. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? They’re the bane of my existence. Well, Danielle isn’t half bad, but that’s probably just because she’s the baby.”