by M. Malone
It was such a strange compliment. The words were kind but he looked almost pissed off about it. Like he was annoyed to be attracted to her.
She wasn’t sure what to think of that. There shouldn’t be any surprises. Maybe the dress was a tad too short but he'd seen what she looked like before at the club in way more detail. He was lucky she hadn’t worn something with a split up her leg and half of her cleavage coming out.
Before she could think on it too long, a woman with platinum blond hair approached.
“King? There you are darling. I was wondering if you weren't coming.”
King kissed her on both cheeks just as a distinguished older man appeared at his elbow. He looked a lot like King so she assumed this was his father.
"Olivia, this is my mother, Fiona Kingsley. Mother, this is Olivia-" King stopped abruptly and then laughed. "I'm sorry, I actually don't know your last name."
An awkward silence fell over the group and Liv could feel a blush creeping over her cheeks. Geez, maybe instead of stressing out on the way there they should have been exchanging the basic information.
"It's Reyes. Olivia Reyes." She extended her hand and a beat before she would have withdrawn it, his mother took it.
"Lovely to meet you, Olivia. This is King’s father, Thane the Third."
"Oh, you're named for your father. That's nice."
King rolled his eyes but she guessed his father must have agreed because he accepted her hand looking slightly more pleasant. "Yes it is, isn't it? It's an honor to carry a name that goes back for generations."
Fiona patted her husband's chest distractedly. "Of course it is, dear. Now Olivia, how did you and King meet?"
The blush that had started to recede marginally came back full force. "Oh, we met yesterday." She glanced over at King who was watching everything with a strange little smile. He didn't seem inclined to jump in and make this less awkward so she grabbed his arm and squeezed.
"Actually would you excuse us for a moment?" She walked back toward the hallway, dragging him behind her.
King allowed Olivia to drag him along until they reached the living room. All of the furniture had been moved out to make room for a dance floor. After a split second of thought, he tugged on Olivia’s hand until she turned and tumbled into his arms.
He guided her until they were moving smoothly with the other couples. The band for the event consisted of a harpist, a violinist and a flute player. King sighed. If his blood wasn’t rushing from being plastered against Olivia’s shapely body, he’d be on the verge of falling asleep already.
She glared up at him. “What the hell was that back there?”
He looked around. Her sharp words hadn’t gone unnoticed. The couple dancing right next to them looked at them in shock and then moved a little further away. Good. Maybe she’d cuss him out right here and now and they could get this over with.
“What do you mean? My parents seemed to like you.”
She pulled back putting some space between them. Her eyes narrowed but she didn’t say anything else.
“King! I can’t believe you’re actually here!”
Olivia jumped back as he was tackled from the side. He managed to keep from falling on his ass as his sister, Georgina, threw her arms around his neck.
Olivia watched with amusement. Ex-girlfriend, she mouthed. He could see why she might think that. His sister was gorgeous and he didn’t just think that because she looked a little like him with her long dark hair and sky blue eyes. He’d had to come to terms with it after fending off quite a few of his friend’s who’d shown interest.
“Georgie, this is Olivia. The girl you just shoved out of the way just now. Olivia, this is my little sister, Georgina.”
Georgie turned and clapped her hands over her mouth. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!”
Olivia glanced between them and then her eyes bugged out as Georgie enveloped her in an enthusiastic hug.
“I get a little excited sometimes. My brother always says I’m like a terrier when I get worked up.”
Olivia glanced at him. “That’s okay. Not everyone can be a robot like King.”
Georgie giggled. “Exactly! That’s what I always say too. You should come meet my friends!”
This evening was quickly getting out of control. King needed Olivia with him so they could do something inappropriate and get his father to back off his maddening plan to force him to settle down. They couldn’t do that if she was off talking about nail polish or whatever inane nonsense his little sister and her friends talked about.
“Wait a minute, you’re stealing my date?”
Georgie rolled her eyes. “It’s not like we’re going that far. You can survive without her for a few minutes.”
Before he could say anything else, Georgie had Olivia by the arm. He stood there awkwardly, watching as they were stopped by his father. Olivia said something he couldn’t hear and his father’s laughter rang out through the room. He hadn’t heard his father laugh like that in a long time.
“Damn it.” King stalked over to the bar. He’d just ordered a scotch when his father appeared at his elbow.
“Glad to see you’re taking this seriously, son. She’s a beautiful girl. Not what I expected but somehow she seems to have your number.”
He glanced over his shoulder to where Olivia held court in the middle of Georgie’s friends. She was telling some story, her hands moving around her face animatedly and the entire group erupted in laughter. The women seemed to have accepted her as one of their own already and he’d noticed more than a few men eyeing her.
He gritted his teeth. This evening was definitely not going according to plan so far. The only way his father would back off was if he saw for himself what a liability the wrong wife could be. But Olivia wasn’t doing any of the things he’d expected. He’d expected her to come inappropriately dressed and scandalize them.
Instead she was charming the women and inspiring lust and envy in the men.
“So, I’ve been doing some more research on AliCorp and they’re prime for a merger. Our meeting next week should be nothing more than a formality at this point.”
His father nodded. “I’m not worried about it. You’ve never let me down.”
Instead of making him feel better, the words enraged him, mainly because of how true they were. He’d dedicated his entire life to making his father proud and working to ensure that the Kingsley name represented excellence.
“I’ve never let you down and yet you’ve threatened to turn it all over to Colin if I don’t do what you want?”
His father clapped him on the back. “Your brother isn’t as daft as you think he is. He just needs someone to believe in him. You, on the other hand, need to learn an entirely different lesson.”
“Please. Enlighten me, Dad. Because I don’t get it at all.”
His father regarded him for a long moment. Then suddenly his brown eyes looked weary. “I know you don’t. All I can hope is that you’ll figure it out before it’s too late.”
CHAPTER SIX
King groaned and swallowed the last of his scotch. Another round of laughter came from the corner of the room. That was it. He put his glass down on the bar and pushed his way through the crowd. The laughter petered off as he shouldered his way through. Olivia peered up at him with innocent eyes.
“Hi, King. Is everything okay?” She didn’t say anything else but he got the definite impression that she was laughing at him.
“No, everything is not okay. I haven’t gotten to see you all night.”
In hindsight, that wasn’t at all what he’d meant to say. He’d wanted to remind her that she was supposed to be helping him and not socializing but somehow it came out sounding more like the complaint of a jealous lover. Like he… missed her. Which was ridiculous, of course.
He scowled when the girls all sighed and cooed about how romantic it was. His own damn sister was no help. She put her arm around Olivia and squeezed.
“I’ve never seen my brother like this, Livvy. H
e’s always a grump but he usually doesn’t care about anything except business.”
King gritted his teeth so hard it felt like his jaw would lock in that position. Olivia must have sensed that he was nearing the end of his patience because she carefully extricated herself from the group and took his hand.
“Well, ladies, it’s been fun. But I think I’d better dance with my man before some other girl throws herself in his arms.” She winked at his sister. “See you later, Georgie.”
He didn’t wait around to see what his sister would reply. With the way the night was going she’d come up with some other reason to keep Olivia away from him. Bypassing the dance floor, he made his way through the kitchen to the back stairs. Olivia rushed to keep up with him, the sound of her high heels on the polished wood floors like gunshots.
“Where are we going in such a hurry? And why are we leaving the party? I thought the whole idea was to mingle.”
She huffed out an exasperated breath as he led her up the stairs and down a hallway. Then he pulled her through the second door on the left. As soon as she cleared the threshold, he closed the door and pushed her against it.
“King, what–”
Whatever she’d been about to say was swallowed as he attacked her mouth. His hands were all over the place, under her dress and in her hair, trying to take in every inch of her at once. She melted against him and wrapped her hands around him, shoving his suit jacket to the side so she could get closer. Their tongues tangled as he tried to get more of her taste. Her lavender and lilac scent was all over him and he abandoned her mouth to kiss his way down her throat, trying to find the source of the drugging scent.
He lifted her under the thighs, hefting her higher so he could settle between her thighs. When his cock, rigid in the confines of his suit pants, nestled against what he knew had to be itty bitty panties, she let out a throaty moan. Any remaining blood in his brain quickly abandoned ship and flowed south. He’d never been this hard, this needy, this desperate before. He could give a shit about his parents downstairs or what they thought of him right now. His entire world condensed to right here, right now, and whether or not Liv was going to let him inside her soft, wet heat.
“King, what the hell are we doing?” she gasped. Her lips attached to his neck and placed suctioning kisses all the way up to his ear. She took the lobe between her teeth and bit down gently, causing him to cry out.
“Fuck, bite me again.”
She moaned and bit him again, this time right below his ear. His last bit of restraint snapped and he fumbled with the front of his pants, almost ripping the zipper off in his haste. Olivia chuckled as he struggled to push his pants down. Her laughter cut off abruptly when he nudged into position, easing through her wet folds until she took him to the root.
“King. Oh my god.”
She shuddered and satisfaction stormed through his veins. He’d put that look on her face. He’d drawn every one of those helpless, erotic sounds from her throat. Him. She was all his.
He grabbed her hands in one of his and held them over her head, forcing her to hold still as he established a hard rhythm, angling so she’d get tons of friction right where it counted.
It wasn’t long before her moans turned into soft whimpers. King struggled to hold it together as she exploded beneath him, her legs tightening around his back as she rode out her release. He pressed his face against her neck, panting with the effort it took to hold back, trying to prolong her pleasure. Then she clamped down on him and his mind went blank. He lost it as his own orgasm swamped him and his legs went so weak he almost dropped her.
He managed to hold it together and keep them upright. By the time he came back to himself, she was breathing deeply and he felt like every one of his muscles had been wrung out.
A small bit of his reason returned and he acknowledged that taking her in his childhood bedroom while his parents and their friends were right downstairs wasn’t the best course of action. But even more than that, was the fact that after such a small taste of her, he only wanted more. The enormity of how much he wanted her frightened him. He was supposed to be getting her out of his system, not sinking in deeper and deeper.
“We should get back.”
He pulled out gently and set her on her feet. She stood up straight and then she paled slightly.
“Oh no. We didn’t use anything.”
King reared back in shock. He closed his eyes. How could he have been so careless? He’d never forgotten a condom before, not even when he was drunk. It wasn’t the kind of thing a man in his position could afford to be careless about.
She held up a hand before he could speak. “It’s okay, I’m on the pill.”
“Even so, you have every right to be angry. I can’t believe I forgot. I’m so sorry, Olivia.”
She straightened her dress and pulled the bra back into place. “It was an accident. How can I be angry when I didn’t remember either? You make me forget everything.”
They both arranged their clothes and tried not to look at each other. God, this was awkward.
Olivia touched his arm. “King, about what happened. Just… don’t pay me. This was… just don’t pay me anything, okay?” She blushed deeply and then tugged at the top of her dress. “Maybe we should go back now.”
Her words brought a whole new element to his discomfort. He’d forgotten all about their deal. Everything that had happened tonight was completely off script. The only thing he’d been thinking about tonight was Olivia and how she affected him.
“Yeah. We should go.” King reached behind her and opened the door. She walked out without looking back.
What the hell was he really doing here? His plan was clearly a failure since his parents and his sister seemed to like her. Sure, he could tell them the real story of where he’d met her but after watching Olivia in action, he had a feeling they wouldn’t care.
The only one in danger here, was him. Every moment he spent in her company would only make it harder to walk away.
It was time to bring this experiment to a close.
Three weeks later…
Olivia double-checked her appearance in the mirrored elevator doors. When her mother called to make sure she was still coming to their fundraiser, she’d been so tempted to make an excuse. However, no matter what had ever happened between them, she wouldn’t embarrass her parents. Even though that was all they expected from her anyway.
The doors opened and she stepped out into the main lobby of the Ritz-Carlton hotel. Her parents had started Race for a Cure when she was only a child, gathering their peers in the horse ranching industry to support a cure for breast cancer. Her mother had beaten the disease but had been determined to use her position to advocate for all of the women who didn’t have the same resources.
She was so fiercely proud of everything her mother had accomplished in the years since then. Despite her tense relationship with her father, she would put on a smile and charm the attendees into opening their wallets.
This day wasn’t about her or how incredibly stupid she was for once again falling for the wrong man.
Just the thought of him made the headache that had been lingering behind her right eye for the past few days throb dangerously. She blew out a breath, determined not to let thoughts of him derail her night. What had she really expected? For him to call her the next day? To become her boyfriend? To take her out and listen to her and spend all night whispering sweet nothings in her ear?
Gah!
She could just kick herself for allowing even the idea of him into her thoughts. Thane Kingsley the freaking Fourth, and yes she’d looked up his full name on his Club Prestige paperwork, was an ass. An entitled trust fund baby and a double douchebag of the highest order. She had clearly gone way too long without a man if he could affect her this strongly after only one night.
But Bennett had really stepped up to fill the void. She smiled thinking of her best friend. Normally so shy, she hadn’t expected him to ever initiate their phone con
versations or call her just to check on her. But for the past three weeks, he’d been so attentive. He was still awkward, it was Bennett after all, but he was making such an effort to be there for her. She’d tried to play it cool the first time they’d spoken after her ill-timed night with King but somehow she’d ended up spilling the whole story.
Bennett had listened, asked questions and even offered up some useful advice. He’d asked her to come up early before the award ceremony so they could hang out. It had been years since they’d had time to spend together doing absolutely nothing. She’d been completely right about Bennett. They were going to be great together.
Once she got all thoughts of the double douchebag out of her head!
Having been to this hotel for prior year’s galas, she knew exactly where to go. Her mother stood just inside the doors of the main ballroom wearing a gorgeous bright blue floor-length gown. Daniela Reyes was still a beautiful woman and for a moment, Olivia was overcome with sadness. Even though she talked to her mother on the phone every week, their once close relationship had grown distant.
When she’d gotten pregnant, her father had been livid and wouldn’t allow her in the house and her mother hadn’t stood up to him. With time and distance, Olivia didn’t really blame her mother. She was a soft-spoken woman, easily flustered by harsh words and confrontation. But even though she’d come around to forgiveness, their relationship had never been the same.
“Olivia! You look so beautiful, baby.”
“Thanks, Mom. Where’s Daddy?”
Her mother looked across the ballroom. Olivia followed her gaze to where her father stood talking to someone she didn’t recognize.
“That’s Senator Denton. I believe they play golf together.”
They watched as her father shook hands with the Senator before walking toward them. Her father acknowledged her presence with a nod. She hated it but his scrutiny immediately made her stand up straighter.
“Good, you’re here. I was worried you’d be late.”