Engagement Rate (The Callaghan Green Series Book 1)

by Annie Dyer

  He pressed his lips to the top of my head, pulling me in closer. "It was because of my father. He had us working at the office during summers when we weren't at school and we grew up listening to him talk to Marie about cases. She was a lawyer as well – the Greene in Callaghan Green. The two firms merged shortly after they got married."

  "Could you have done something else? You don't seem the type of person to do something just because you should," I said. The tattoos, the longish hair and the motorbike weren't what you would normally associate with someone who managed a law firm. He intrigued me, making me want to know him, listen to him.

  Jackson laughed quietly. "Dad wanted us to go into business of some sort. Going to university was a given and we were fortunate in that the cost of it wasn't something we had to worry about. Callum was a shock for him as working with animals wasn't something dad had considered as a career for us, but he was happy that Cal was happy. Ava's the baby, so she could've done anything and dad would've thought it was wonderful. What about you? Why marketing?"

  I had closed my eyes, surrounding myself with his warmth and voice. His naked skin next to mine was slowly stroking my senses with its silky hardness and soft smell that I couldn't soak up enough of. "I always liked to sell things. My gran ran the post office where I grew up and I was always around there as a little girl, especially after my mother died. I liked to do the displays and dress the window. I was quite arty and adverts fascinated me, so I kind of fell into it. I was the first in my family to go to university and it was a bit of culture shock as I really was a country girl. I had to work hard."

  He nuzzled into my hair, a hand on my ass, pulling me closer still, if it were possible. "You do work hard. I've seen and heard you the last couple of days. What you've done for your firm is impressive. You should be proud."

  The words made me smile. My dad rarely said much about my job, not particularly understanding. Gran had more of an idea, but she'd always been proud of me. It felt good to have someone else recognizing what I had done, even though I was currently in his bed, naked. "There's still a lot to do," I said. "And the whole situation with buying or being bought out by Richard isn't great,"

  His thumbs massaged my ass and I felt my body responding sweetly. "Just appreciate yourself and the massive strides you've made."

  The touching led to soft kisses which slowly became more demanding, my body responding like a well-oiled machine, the emphasis on the oiled. I moved my leg over his hip as he faced me and guided him into me slowly. I came quickly, the angle helping to hit all my hot spots, and Jackson followed, then let me collapse back onto his chest, keeping hold of me.

  "They'll be a wet patch," I murmured into his chest.

  I felt him laugh. "Let's clean up then sleep."

  For the first time in more than twelve months, I slept soundlessly, wrapped up in the heat of another person and I didn't know how I was ever going to manage to sleep without him.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Chapter Nine

  Jackson

  My arms were full of a soft woman when I woke, dark hair spread over the pillows, her ass tipped into my groin where my cock had already decided it was going to get lucky. Sunlight drizzled in through the full windows, tinted so no one could see. I had to take Vanessa outside the night before to prove that we had complete privacy despite there being no curtains. I figured it was about nine and a quick glance at the clock told me I was right. Early enough to doze back to sleep, maybe even put my morning wood to good use, if Vanessa was so inclined.

  Last night had destroyed something in me. Vanessa had been so responsive with her body and her words. I didn't remember coming so hard in my life, watching her in the mirror, balls deep in her from behind, it seemed more like a fantasy I had conjured up. But she was there in my bed this morning, sheets crumpled over her, her bare skin next to mine.

  I put my arm around her, cupped her breast. She was sound asleep still, completely relaxed and as much as I wanted to be inside her again, I didn't want to disturb her when I knew how busy her weeks were with work. Untangling myself as carefully as possible, I silently apologized to my cock for blocking him and headed to the kitchen for coffee, pulling pajama bottoms and t-shirt from a set of drawers.

  I was brewing a second pot and reading a newspaper on my iPad when Vanessa stood at the door dressed in one of my t-shirts that swamped her, making her look even tinier than she was. "Morning," she said, smiling. "Is that coffee I can smell?"

  "I'll get you a mug." I stood and went to the cupboard where she met me, stretching for a mug herself.

  "You don't have to wait on me," she said. "Just tell me where things are." She put a hand on my stomach and I couldn't resist bending down and kissing her. She tasted of mint and herself. I lifted her up on to the kitchen counter, her legs wrapping around me and tried to keep my kiss tame. "What do you want for breakfast?"

  "You."

  Okay, then. Clearly keeping things tame wasn't on her menu. She kissed me back, her hands creeping under my t-shirt and below my waistband. I returned the favor, pushing up the t-shirt and pulling it over her head. There was nothing underneath. "You trust me now that no one can see through the windows?"

  "You think?" She pulled my t-shirt off roughly and started to run her tongue over my chest, following the lines of the tattoos there, her hand slipping into my pajamas, fingers caressing my cock which was now standing to attention.

  I bent down to kiss her neck, nipping on the sweet spot I'd found last night. My mouth traveled down to her tits, sucking a nipple and pulling it between my teeth. She mewled, pushing her chest out further, my hand holding the other one, thumb roughly brushing the tip. I switched my mouth over, sucking harder this time. Vanessa bucked her hips towards me, urging my attention to her pussy. I moved my hand down and slid fingers around her folds and onto her clit. She was wet and she came quickly and loudly with just a few flicks of my finger. As soon as her tremors subsided she pushed my pajamas down with her feet. "You want me inside you? Bare again?" I said. "Never met anyone as greedy." Her hands went on my shoulders and she shimmied her ass back on the counter. It had been years since I hadn't used a condom. Yes, it felt better without, but it gave me some control over contraception and my own health. My family had money, and I'd discovered just like my brothers had, that it was an aphrodisiac on its own.

  "Yes, to wanting you inside me. Yes, to you being bare. Just get inside me, Jackson, I want to come again. I want you to come inside me."

  I said a silent thank you to my father's friend for installing solid kitchen units, arranging us so I could enter her and make good use of the breakfast bar for a purpose that it hadn't been designed for. Her nails dug into my ass as I fucked her, her heat and tightness eclipsing anything else in my universe.

  "Holy shit!" she called out, her tits bouncing with every thrust. "Harder, harder and I'm going to come."

  I did as the lady asked, ignoring the hardness of the work surface under my knees as elsewhere I was in heaven. She tightened around me and yelled my name, milking my cock as she climaxed. I spilled into her, needing to push weight onto my hands to stabilize myself. I looked at her flushed face, satisfaction washed across it. Her breasts heaved with her breath and the next time I knew I wanted to come over them, to mark my territory. I saw her watching me stare at her nakedness and she smiled. "I love you looking at me like that," she said.

  "How am I looking at you?"

  "Like I'm yours."

  "You let anyone else fuck you like that?" I was still inside her, still joined. My dick still throbbed.

  "No one's ever fucked me like that, Jackson. I've never let anyone take me on a kitchen counter before either." She pushed herself up with her hands. "Or from behind in front of a mirror."

  "Good." I wasn't sure what else to say without making myself sound like a possessive stalker. My eyes paraded from her face to her tits, nipples still hard. Her body was toned, muscular and it suited her, her breasts were more than a handful and firm,
large dark nipples that responded beautifully. I groaned as I pulled out of her and grabbed a kitchen roll, attempting to clean her up. "How about a shower? Want to get clean before I make us breakfast?"

  "I tell you what, you can help get us clean and I'll make us breakfast. Although I should disinfect that worktop first." She scooted off the worktop taking my hand, still as naked as the day she was born and led me upstairs to the bathroom. It seemed like a fair deal to me.

  ***

  We were sitting on the terrace drinking fresh orange juice in an effort to curb our coffee addictions when the anticipated group text instigated by Payton arrived on my phone. I groaned. As much as I adored my siblings – even though they annoyed the hell out of me at times – I wanted to spend the rest of the day with Vanessa, on our own. I wasn't ready to share her yet, even though she had known Claire and Maxwell longer than me. I wasn't sure either what we were to each other, outside of work at least. Three days was all we'd known each other and I wasn't stupid enough to say it felt like longer.

  Payton: OXBO booked for 1.30pm. No excuses, and if you're hungover, Claire, they have bottomless prosecco to take away the pain.

  Ava: Have you booked for me too? We're ahead of schedule so I can make it.

  Payton: I assumed you were coming whether you were ahead of schedule or not. Any plus ones while the restaurant manager still likes me?

  Ava: Carey, please. And Maxwell needs to keep his distance from her. She's a friend and therefore off limits.

  Claire: I'm (surprisingly) not hungover but always up for bottomless prosecco. Amelie is coming too.

  I wasn't sure how to phrase my response. I also wasn't sure whether or not Vanessa would want to go even though she hadn't protested when I'd mentioned it before. "Do you have any plans for this afternoon?"

  She looked up from her iPad. "I'm free. I know you mentioned Sunday lunch with your family but don't feel you have to include me."

  "Do you want to go? It's booked for OXBO and if you've not been before it's really good," I said. OXBO was one of my favorites with its bottomless Sunday lunch. "Don't feel obligated though."

  "Do you want me there?"

  "Really? After last night and this morning, you need to ask?" She was leaning into me, her hair smelling of the coconut shampoo I'd used to wash it and the lime body wash I'd used for everywhere else. I hadn't planned on being inside her again when we showered but having her naked and my hands over her skin wasn't going to lend itself to any period of abstinence.

  She shrugged, putting down her iPad. "No, I think you want me to go. We've spent the weekend together; I think you've imprinted yourself on my skin. But going for Sunday lunch with your family is going to lead to them asking questions and while I'm pretty sure Maxwell and Claire especially will not be bothered that I'm working for you or that you and Seph are representing me against he who shall not be named on your property, it does put us out there as having more than just a business relationship."

  She was right; I had already considered it, then ignored it. "They don't need to be told we've spent the night and this morning together. They know – or Payton knows – that I was doing something at a museum yesterday so the chances are between her and Claire they've put two and two together. But only we have the details."

  Vanessa nodded. "That means you can't be touching me every three seconds and we might be best not sitting next to each other." My hand was around her waist, fingers dipped into the waistband of her skinny jeans. I kissed between her neck and shoulder where I had already left a few marks and felt a shot of pride at having branded her.

  "No one will notice."

  She laughed. "They definitely will. Come on, Jacks, we need to give ourselves some space with no pressure. You might wake up tomorrow and think this was a bad idea."

  I knew I wouldn't. I was hoping I'd wake up tomorrow with her again, if two nights on the run was acceptable having only known each other such a short time. "I doubt it, but it might not be a bad idea to keep it subtle and not look like I've spent most of the night and the morning inside you." And as soon as I said it I was needing her again.

  "I promise you can be inside me again if you keep it subtle while we're with your family for lunch," she said, wriggling from my hold and straddling me. She was wearing a loose vest, making it easy for me to slide my hands under it and onto her breasts.

  "Jackson," she said, her tone reprimanding but her tits pushed forward into my hands. "It's only been two hours since the shower."

  "So, why are you sitting so close to my cock?"

  "So, I can kiss you. But second base is as far as we're going right now. Let's have a walk by the river on our way to the restaurant, stop for a glass of wine or something on the way. I'll let you hold my hand," she smiled sweetly and I glared, lightly pinching her nipples.

  "You need to get off me then, otherwise I'll have those jeans off you and you sitting on my cock, riding me hard," I muttered into her ear. "In fact, if I slid my hand down I bet I'd find you wet and ready to go already."

  She backed off me, laughing. "Yes, you're right. I'm soaking wet and I will be all day. That's what happens when you ride bareback, especially more than once."

  "Fuck." I stood up and pulled her to me, kissing the top of her head. I liked the fact I had left my mark inside of her, that my come would be there all day. "That's all I'll be able to think about while we'll eating. You sitting there with my come still... fuck. I don't think you know how much you affect me."

  "No, but I can feel how much I affect you..." She stroked me between the legs and I sat back down.

  "You need to tone it down woman, else you'll be even wetter while you're eating your Sunday roast." I picked up my phone, noticing that there were several more comments added to the conversation.

  Maxwell: Any particular reason you've opted for OXBO, Payts?

  Payton: Fuck off, brother.

  Claire: Is there something I don't know about?

  Seph: There's always stuff you don't know about, for about three seconds, while you torture it out of us.

  Claire: Ignoring that, loser. Why has Payton picked OXBO? We're not going there if I'm going to be sitting in a pool of UST.

  Maxwell: UST? Is that like an STD?

  Claire: Unresolved sexual tension, you fuckwit. And I keep telling you, you can't get an STD just from looking at a girl, Max...

  Ava: Max doesn't look at girls, sis. He looks only at their resumes. Only Ph.D. graduates need apply.

  Maxwell: Payton's been stalking one of the bartenders at OXBO on their social media accounts.

  Payton: Thanks, big brother. Way to deflect attention off yourself.

  Claire: Male or female.

  Payton: Male. I'm passed the female phase. I need cock. Did you read that brothers? Especially Max because I really hope I'm grossing you out right now!!!!!!

  Seph: Ignoring that and not looking at you because we're sitting in the same room and I want to pretend you've never been kissed because otherwise, I have to hit someone. Has anyone heard from Jackson this weekend? He's been weirdly quiet.

  Ava: Unlike the rest of us, he might be getting some.

  Maxwell: Speak for yourself.

  Ava: Well are you bringing a plus one?

  Maxwell: Actually, Killian's out and about this afternoon. Any issues with him joining us? Not as my plus one in the sexual sense, before anyone (Payton) starts.

  Payton: I'll add an extra one for him.

  Claire: Will he smile this time? He was a moody son of a so and so last time he joined us.

  Maxwell: To be fair, he'd just had to have his dog put to sleep.

  Seph: You can be a bitch sometimes, Claire. Moving on, again, has anyone heard from Jacks?

  Payton: He was looking around a museum yesterday.

  Claire: WTF?

  Payton: There was a woman involved.

  Seph: Since when has there not been, although he has been less prolific at the moment.

  Claire: Hang on. Vanessa was taking her
gran to the V&A yesterday. And they disappeared off together on Friday. I smell a dirty weekend.

  Seph: With Vanessa's gran? That's a new low even for him.

  I couldn't help but chuckle. Vanessa looked over, curious. "Here, have a read."

  She scanned through the conversation. "Poor Max."

  "What? You read all of that and your reaction is 'Poor Max'?"

  "He takes so much shit off you all."

  I shook my head and carried on reading.

  Claire: If it were true it wouldn't have been a new low. There's been lower. I must make sure Vanessa is aware of how low Jackson can actually go. She's my friend: I have a duty to protect her.

  Seph: And you brother and your duty to him?

  Claire: He'll have been cockblocked. Duty done.

  Payton: Okay sibs, since Jackson is possibly buried balls deep in our marketing consultant (who seems very nice, btw and I hope he doesn't mess it up) am I not including him?

  Ava: I have a horrendous image in my head right now...

  Maxwell: Consider it revenge for some of the things we know you've done.

  Claire: He's stalking us. You can see he's been reading the messages. Jackson, use your hands to text rather than molest your companion, or more likely, yourself!

  I decided that now would be a good time to make an appearance.

  Me: Cheers for that, C. Me and plus one, thanks, Payts.