by Larissa Ladd
“Table for two, reservations?” The host asked, a smile touching his lips as we continued to giggle like we were drunk.
“Yes. Under Camden.” I turned to face Lisa. “Cut it out. You’re not serious about moaning some random guy’s name, right?”
Her smile faded. “One hundred percent. If I don’t sound sexy moaning his name, then we’re not sleeping together.”
“You’re so damn weird.” I chuckled, happy as hell to be with my best friend for the evening. With so many things changing in my life, I needed the consistency of her more than anything else.
The host cleared his throat. “Um, right this way, ladies.”
“He probably wanted to call us hookers,” Lisa whispered, and we shared a smile.
After we got situated at the table, she pulled her napkin into her lap and leaned back. “I’m really surprised you want to go to the ballet. I think if I left my dream of owning my own salon that I’d have a hard time going back into a salon. It would just be a hard reminder that I left.”
“I didn’t leave.” I pressed my chin to my hands and rested my elbows on the table. “I was kicked out. Something about gaining five pounds too much and not putting in nearly as much as they expected of me.”
“Five pounds?” She rolled her eyes. “Stupid bitches. I bet Hawke would love to kiss and rub all over that five pounds.”
The thought alone had my nipples budding, my thighs tensing. “No more talking about Hawke. He’s my new boss.”
“And he could probably be so much more.” She reached across the table and grabbed a roll from the bread basket. She waited to continue until after the server came by and got our wine order. “So, is he married?”
“No clue. I didn’t see a ring.”
“Ah! So you looked. He’s gotta be smoking.” She pulled out her phone. “Is it S-E-A-N or S-H-A-W-N?”
“What are you doing?” I gave her a look and dipped my knife into the butter before smearing it all over my roll. The ballet company could suck it. Those five pounds were pure bliss. Life was more than my mother’s dreams for my future.
It was almost liberating the day they kicked me out.
“Looking him up.” She let out a soft sigh and turned her phone around. “Oh, please tell me this is him.”
I took the phone and pressed my fingers to the screen, pulling them apart so the image of Hawke would get bigger. The sexy smile on his lips wasn’t one I’d seen the day we met, but I wanted to see it. His light green eyes were filled with playfulness.
“Yeah,” I responded, somewhat breathy. “He’s so good looking, right?”
“How’s his personality?” She grabbed the phone and turned it back to her before letting out a short laugh. “Forget that I asked. He could be a bump on a log, and I’d ask to ride the bump or the log. God, he’s dreamy.”
I wanted to reach out and take the phone back. “I’m not sure how his personality is. He was pretty straightforward with me today at the gallery, but I’m sure it’s weird for him. He’s never owned an art gallery.”
“Do you think he’ll do a good job?” She glanced up from the phone, her cheeks a little flushed. “Does he have an artistic eye like you do?”
I thought back to him re-adjusting the Rembrandt. “I think he does.”
“Good. I’m super excited to see how this turns out. You guys would make beautiful babies.”
I almost choked on my roll. “Too far.”
“Well for shit’s sake. At least practice with him and tell me how it goes.”
“Deal.” I lied and picked up my menu. The rest of dinner was focused on Lisa and her love troubles. We ate until our sides hurt, but dessert was a must. After sharing two different sugary treats, I paid the bill, and we made our way back to the car. The valet wasn’t there, so I grabbed my keys and pointed across the street.
“Come on. We’ll save ourselves ten bucks by getting the car on our own.”
She laughed and looped her arm into mine. “Sounds like you.”
“Hey! That dinner was over a hundred bucks.” I checked both ways before crossing the street. The beautiful graffiti art all along the concrete wall in front of us caught my attention, and I missed whatever Lisa said next. “Wow.” I paused in front of the art. “How beautiful is this?”
“What?” She snorted and reached out to pat the wall. “This is vandalism. This is not beautiful, and it’s not art. It’s some punk-ass kid trying to express himself where he shouldn’t.”
I ignored her and ran my fingers over the image of the dark-haired man with his back to us. He was looking out a window, the colors outside the room brilliant—beautiful. The darkness of the room, the grays, blacks, and whites were telling. He felt trapped.
Just like I did.
“I love it,” I whispered and sucked in a deep breath. “And this is art at its finest. It’s crude and unusual, but look at the depth of emotion. I’d give anything to have something like this in our gallery.”
“You think Richie Rich is going to let you bring graffiti into his gallery?” She slipped her arm back into mine and pulled me toward the parking lot.
“I think he’ll let me do anything with the right persuasion.” I moaned his name, and we broke up into laughter again.
“There’s your inner whore. Let that girl come out and play.”
“As if.” I shook loose from her and walked to the car, my mind still on the graffiti and Hawke. Maybe, just maybe I could convince him to bring something new, unusual, and unexpected into the gallery. Maybe that was exactly what we needed.
We? I kinda liked the sound of “we.” More than I should have.
7
Hawke
My brother, Kade, walked up and dropped down in the booth across from me. “Hope you haven’t been waiting long.”
The scent of bacon and coffee had me in a good mood. “Nah, I’m good.” I moved the paper I was reading from the table to the seat beside me. “They had a big ass article on Dad in the paper yesterday. I was just checking it out.”
His eyes averted toward it. “Hand it here. All good stuff?”
“Oh yeah. He left a shit ton of money to various charities here in town. Funny how I feel like I knew him a little, but not nearly enough.” I handed him the paper and shrugged. “I mean, I’m fucking grateful for him adopting all of us, but I wish I would have been a little more interested in family back then.”
Kade laughed. “You were a kid. Cut yourself some slack.”
An older woman in a waitress get up stopped beside us and pulled a pencil from her hair. “You guys ready to order?”
“Three eggs, four pieces of bacon, and...” I tapped the menu on the table in front of me, trying to decide on the rest.
“Four pancakes.” Kade winked at me. “I’ll have the same, and a cup of the thickest black coffee you can find.”
“You got it.” The woman cracked a smile. “No creamer?”
“Girly,” I responded at the same time as Kade.
We all shared a laugh before the woman nodded and walked away.
Kade tapped the table in front of me, taking my attention again. “How is the gallery?”
“It’s good.” I leaned back and let my hand drop into my lap. “It’s a beautiful place, and it’s going to be great, but it needs a few tweaks.”
He made a face, a look of pain. “You better tread lightly. You know how you felt when you worked at the record shop as a kid and that new manager showed up.”
“Daniel Tanner.” I let venom slip into my voice as if I were seventeen all over again. “Oh man. I hated that fucker.”
Kade chuckled. “Shit, from the sound of it, you still do.”
“Touché.” I lifted my coffee cup before offering it to the waitress, who filled it up for me.
“So, tread lightly. The people that work there aren’t new, are they?” He lifted an eyebrow.
Damn. He had a point. “No, and the manager is by far one of the most beautiful women I’ve seen in a long-ass time.”
His fatherly expression turned into intrigue. “She married?”
“I don’t know. She wasn’t wearing a ring, but she did go on a dinner date last night.”
“Could have been a girlfriend.”
“Like she’s a lesbian? Nah. She was way too business-like. She didn’t seem comfortable or confident in the slightest. She was almost morose.”
“I hate five-dollar words.”
“But a five-dollar whore will work any day of the week, right, big brother?” I winked and shifted in my seat as the food showed up. Breathing in deeply, I let out a groan of appreciation and thanked the waitress.
Kade ignored my comments. “Did this girl—”
“Jenna, and she’s a woman. Not a girl.”
“Right. Did Jenna receive you well? Was she nice? Rude?”
I thought about it for a minute as I shoved a piece of bacon in my mouth. “She was both. She didn’t like the idea of me being there for sure.”
“So, she was rude?”
“Borderline, but it’s expected, right?”
“I don’t know.” He picked up his fork and knife. “You probably need to be careful about making changes around the place, but press hard to put your foot down that it’s your gallery and you’re in charge.”
“That made little to no sense.” I glanced down and focused on my breakfast, mumbling responses here and there. We made small talk for the rest of the meal, and by the time it was over, I felt more confused than when I walked in.
“Be careful on dating her.” Kade glanced over his shoulder as we walked out of the diner. “If things go poorly, she could leave the gallery, and then what would you do?”
“Um, run it myself?” I rolled my eyes. Idiot.
“Touché.” He turned and smiled. “I’m not going to have to deal with the private jet company until after this quarter. Then they’ll have a board meeting and introduce me.”
“So, you’re free to do whatever you want?”
“Yep.” He lifted his hands to the side. “I was Dad’s favorite.”
“Favorite whipping boy.” I snorted. “Your turn is coming.”
“I’m looking forward to that.”
I turned and waved as I walked off. “No. You’re not.”
* * *
The mood in the gallery was tense when I walked in. If I had to guess, I would assume that Dallen and Jenna had just gotten in a fight, or at least had a tense argument.
“Everything all right?” I poked my head into her office. My heart skipped a beat. With her back to me, she leaned over to write something on a tablet, and every cell in my body pulsed.
How good would she look naked, bent over the side of a bed, moaning for me to fuck her harder?
“What?” She jerked around to glare at me.
“Morning.” I walked into her office and squared my shoulders. “Your dinner date go good last night?”
“Yes. It was great. Best friend’s birthday.” She reached down and picked up a stack of papers. Best friend’s birthday? Nice. “Now that you’re here, you can help with all of this paperwork required by the insurance agency on some of our missing shipments. I would normally do it because your father was never here, but since you’re going to be involved... here you go. Besides, I need to make sure the gallery is ready for the showing this coming week. Why we decided to do these things back to back is beyond me.”
Her smile was tight and unyielding. She was definitely pissy about something.
“Sounds good.” I turned and walked out, letting the tension slip from my shoulders. I hadn’t gotten in a fight, and I was pretty sure letting my employee’s emotions fuck me up wasn’t going to help anyone. Normally, I’d grab a can of spray paint and get busy bleeding out my thoughts and feelings, but it looked like the pen was going to be my tool for release.
“Morning, Hawke.” Dallen walked by, his mood light, his smile broad.
“Hmm... maybe Jenna got into it with someone else?” A boyfriend? I found the cramped office space I’d used the day before and dropped down in my seat. Paperwork sounded like the ninth ring of hell until I got started on it. Working through the images and descriptions of the art that was lost wasn’t bad at all. I half enjoyed it.
After wrapping up, I got up and walked around the gallery with a notepad, taking notes of things I wanted to change for the showing. The gallery hadn’t been in the paper or really in any type of national news that I knew of. We needed to change that.
My father must have had the gallery as a pet project more than anything else.
“You need something, boss?” Dallen moved up beside me and nodded to the Rembrandt. “Who moved this?”
He reached for it, and I grabbed his forearm and gently pulled it back. “I did. Go to the other side of the hallway and press your back to the wall. You’ll see from that distance that it looks great.”
“All right,” he drew out slowly. He moved back and nodded. “I’ll be damned.”
“Right?” I smiled and gave him the list in my hands. “Here’s a few things I want done for the showing this weekend. We can chat with Jenna tomorrow, but gather the supplies for a few changes before Friday for me.”
“Of course.” He nodded and walked off.
I stood in the hallway and breathed in deeply. The place was filled with serenity, and yet Jenna was tense, tight, angry, and annoyed. I smiled at the thought. The girl needed a good lay, a great dinner, a vacation.
Moving to the other side of the hallway, I pressed my back to the wall and let my eyes move over the painting. The beauty of it calmed my nerves and left me thinking about how nice it would be to “try again” with someone. Someone special. Smart. Beautiful.
Someone just like Jenna.
8
Jenna
“Open up.” Hawke hovered above me, his body bare, his cock hard and stiff.
“I’m scared,” I whispered and reached up to paw at him.
“Don’t be.” He moved down and pressed his body to mine, his warm skin so good against my own. Wrapping my legs around him pulled me from my comfort zone. I’d wanted to sleep with someone worthy of my time, but I’d never met anyone I felt was right.
“Stop thinking.” His smile was wicked as he dragged the tip of his nose along my face and settled between my legs. The press of his cock against the pooling wetness between my thighs had me letting out a gasp.
“God,” I mumbled and pressed down, wanting to experience him.
“Someone’s needy.” He lifted up and pressed the thick head of his dick inside of me, spreading me open, forcing me to take what he offered. “So wet. Hot. Tight.”
“I want you so bad.” I reached up and slid my hands up his chest to his neck.
“And you’re going to get me.” He rolled his hips and grinned.
BEEP!
I jerked and gave him an odd look. “What was—”
BEEP!
His eyes fluttered closed as he pressed deep inside of me, the feeling something I never expected.
I jerked up in the bed, my heart racing, my legs trembling. “Seriously?”
After cleaning up the mess I’d made in the bed, I took a quick shower and tried to shake the desperate need building inside of me for my boss. I’d been a bitch all week in hopes of pushing him away in any and every way possible.
Dating someone I worked with, no for, was not going to happen.
Not only would I lose my job when he decided I wasn’t good enough, but as turned on as I was by him, I would be giving up my virginity too.
“Not happening,” I grumbled as I grabbed a pop tart and made a beeline for the door. I was going to be late, even without traffic, which wouldn’t be the case.
It was Friday and a holiday weekend. The city would be out and about and crowding the streets.
* * *
A growl left me as I stopped at my fifth red light. “Almost there. Come on. Come on.”
The cars behind me started to honk as if anyone could go anywhere. I
turned to yell at the guy behind me and noticed another graffiti wall to my left. All the nasty emotion building up inside of me dissipated.
“Wow.” I turned a little more and let my eyes move along the image. It was a picture of the ocean and a sun setting over snow-covered mountains. Green forests lined the sides of the scene. “No way that place exists.”
HONK!
“Okay. Okay.” I turned back around and pressed the gas as traffic finally moved. The wall was a reminder. I needed to chat with Hawke about bringing something in for a showing in the future. Maybe he would be open to it?
I pulled up to the gallery and parked next to a motorcycle, which piqued my interest. There was no way in hell Dallen was driving a bike. Hawke maybe?
After getting out of the car, I walked over and knelt down, appreciating the beautiful designs on it.
“You like it?” Hawke’s voice surprised me.
I bolted up and let out a short yelp before laughing. “Oh. Sorry.”
“No, it’s all good.” He walked toward me, his black button-up and slacks looking way too good on him. My dream roared back to life in my head, and it was all I could do not to moan his name.
Lisa would have been proud.
“I love it.” I crossed my arms over my chest and studied the bike for a few more minutes. “I had a good guy friend of mine in high school that drove one. I rode on the back of his all the time. It drove my mother batshit crazy.”
He chuckled and studied me. “That smile says that you intended to drive your mother crazy.”
“No, but it was a great side benefit to riding it.” I reached out and touched his helmet. “I haven’t been on one in years.”
“Good. Then we’ll go on mine soon.” He nodded toward the building. “Come on. I want to talk to you about a few things for the showing this weekend.”
My stomach tightened, and I started to say something rude about the showing not being a damn bit of his business, but I knew better. My angst was created from fear. I was worried about losing control of the gallery, about failing my new boss, and even worse, about falling for him.