by Nana Malone
Delilah wrinkled her nose, and then met his gaze levelly. “That girl was naïve. This woman is practical. The truth doesn’t matter. Only the perception.”
He pierced her with a gaze. “And what is your perception of me now?” Nate knew he was asking for trouble, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. Less that forty-eight hours in her presence, and need clawed at him.
Delilah met his gaze, lips parted. “It’s not my job to have an opinion. It’s my job to ensure the public has a positive one of you.”
“It matters to me what you think. That you know I’m sorry for hurting you. For letting you down.”
She slid her gaze from his but didn’t move back. He inched forward again, just needing to be near her.
“It doesn’t matter anymore, I guess.”
He was so close to her that if she inhaled deeply, her full breasts would brush against his chest. “It matters to me.”
She met his gaze directly then. “Why does it matter?”
That was his Lila. Never had let him off easy. “Because I can’t stop thinking about how you taste.”
Her breath came in shallow pants, and with every lick of her lips, he almost begged her for mercy.
“Nate, I can’t do this. Our history. And not to mention this is against the rules. I never should have let that kiss in the elevator happen. I could lose my job.”
Now that, he didn't want. He knew what it meant to her. But he also couldn’t help wanting her. “I would never let that happen. No one would have to know. All I want is a taste.” He gently slid his hands to her waist, tugging her closer so her body fit against his. “To prove it was an illusion.”
Delilah swallowed hard. “Nate...”
“If you don’t want me to do this, say the word, and I’ll let you go.” And he would. No matter what it cost him.
But she didn't move. Instead, her gaze drifted to his mouth in silent invitation.
Nate dipped his head to kiss her, at first lightly brushing their lips together. Her lips parted for him, and his tongue slid in to taste her. Spicy, with a hint of sweet.
For several torturous seconds, she didn’t respond, just stood tense in his arms. But then he sucked on her bottom lip, and she moaned, meeting his tongue with her own and lazily looping her hands around his neck. She threaded her fingers into his hair, and he groaned against her mouth. She was so soft. His thumbs traced over her hipbones, and she shivered. Angling his head and deepening their kiss, Nate kept up the teasing until she panted and breathed out a soft whimper.
Just as his hands slid up over her belly, there was a knock at the door. He tore his lips from hers and dragged in a ragged breath. “Just a second,” he called out.
Delilah stumbled backward and blinked up at him with a heavy-lidded gaze. “What was that?”
Me being a masochist. “That was something I intend to do again.”
Her breathing eventually slowed, and she took another deliberate step back. “Don’t you need me as a willing participant?”
He ran a thumb over her bottom lip and watched in fascination as her pupils dilated. “Are you willing?”
And though he held onto a sliver of hope, her answer was a surprise.
“I don’t know.”
Chapter 7
Lunch with Delilah proved to be an exercise in self-control. Bryant Park Grill was a New York staple with its outdoor patio, ivy vines snaking their way up the exterior walls, and a bird's eye view of the park. Lachlan and Jake had selected a corner table in the shade, but that didn't stop Nate from feeling more than a little exposed.
“So, has Delilah been filling you in on what we've been doing to boost your profile?” Jake asked.
“You mean the work to give kids an opportunity for an internship, yeah?”
Delilah chimed in. “It's so much more than that. It really will give those schools a higher profile and maybe pour some money into them.”
Nate nodded. “I'll admit, it's a good idea. I'm not so keen on press covering the event, but otherwise I think it's fantastic.”
Jake scoffed. “C'mon, the press for that will be minimal compared to what we have lined up. Delilah’s contacts are a bit pedestrian, but I'm also working the angle of publications like Forbes and Time.”
Beside him, Delilah stiffened, and Nate ground his teeth. Jake was an ass. He didn’t like how the guy was speaking to her. “Well, as I said in our first meeting, I don’t want some crazy media blitz. I'm not interested. I'd rather let the work I do speak for itself.”
Jake slid a glance to Delilah then back to him. “But we've discussed this. It's important for your profile. How else will people know about the work you’re doing at Synth?”
Lach, the traitor, sided with Jake. “I'm sorry, Nate, but they're right. You have to do some press.”
Next to Nate, Delilah crossed and uncrossed her legs. Her bare flesh brushed against his leg, and he swallowed heard. She stilled, pausing mid-air with her water glass on the way to her lips. Shit. She'd barely touched him.
He cleared his throat. “I'm not saying no press exposure, but I want to remind you that I'm not a rock star. I don't need that kind of press treatment. I don’t want my name in all the magazines. I want to limit what people see of me.”
Jake sat back and crossed his arms. “Well, I'm afraid that's not possible. You have to do some press. It's part and parcel of the package.”
Nate wanted to hit the guy. “Again, I'm not saying no press. I'm just saying, you’re talking about Forbes and Time, and you've mentioned Delilah’s media connections. I don't want this to be a dog and pony show. Especially if I'm carted out of the office in thirty days.”
Delilah put a hand on his forearm and applied gentle pressure. Damn. She could shut him up with a simple touch. His gaze immediately landed on Lach, who was grinning like a moron.
Delilah interjected, “I think what Jake is getting at, is that there's at least a thirty day lead for most of these outlets for print anyway. With the release of your game and the movie, there will be some online coverage, but we’ll keep it as low profile as possible. We understand the tightrope you’re trying to walk. You need the board's perception of you to stay positive. Right now, you’re an unknown entity. One way to do that is with some press. But I understand where you’re coming from. We’ll keep it tasteful. I know you're not trying to be the next tabloid fodder.” She shifted her attention to Jake. “Maybe we limit things to one morning show. Someone big like Today. And we aim for a Forbes and Games Release Mag. They are huge in the tech space, and since Nate has a new game coming out, it'll be good promotion.”
Nate relaxed a little. Something like that he could live with. There was no way he was going to end up on the cover of OK Magazine or some other tabloid mag. “I can work with that.”
She grinned. “Good.”
Jake narrowed his eyes and tennis-matched his gaze between Nate and Delilah.
Nate ignored him. “There’s one more thing.”
Jake put his fork down. “Anything, name it. We’re at your disposal.”
Nate deliberately avoided Delilah’s gaze. She would kill him if she knew what he was going to say. “I want Delilah running point. Nothing personal, but I think she understands what my needs are.” A sharp pain in his ankle made him grind his teeth. She’d found her mark.
“I, uhm, I have other clients,” she stuttered. “And I haven’t had enough experience with this side of our business, you’ll want Jake to take the—”
He pinned her with a hard look. “It’s you, or it’s nothing.”
Jake coughed. “Nate,” he said in a good old boy tone Nate didn’t appreciate. “Look, she’s good. Don’t get me wrong. One of my best and brightest. But—”
Nate slid a glance to Lach who looked too amused for his own good. “Did I stutter, Lach?”
His friend grinned. “Nope.”
Jake’s face turned an entertaining shade of pink, then red, then purple. Finally, he expelled a long breath. “Fine. Delilah wi
ll run point. But if at any time she needs further guidance, I’ll pull the account back.”
Delilah’s voice was firm. “But I don’t want—”
Jake pinned her with a glare. “The client gets what the client wants, Delilah.”
And in this case, Nate wanted Delilah. He tried desperately to keep his attention in the game throughout the rest of lunch, but with every knock of their knees, or accidental brush of a hand, or slide of a thigh, he became increasingly aware of her. Her breathing, her scent, the delicate way she wiped her mouth after taking a bite. The way she enjoyed her food. She looked like she savored every single bite of her gnocchi. Even her salad. Like eating was an experience.
A light shift in the air had him looking up from his plate. He expected to find Lach smirking at him again, but his friend was busy hanging onto something Delilah was saying. Nate glanced around, searching for the reason of his unease. There was a crowd of people on Fifth Ave., and he scanned the faces, looking for someone familiar. Suddenly, his breath caught. For the quickest of seconds, his eyes met those of one of the onlookers. Those eyes were familiar enough. They matched his perfectly. Trent?
He blinked rapidly, but when he looked again, the guy was gone.
Delilah leaned into him. “Everything okay?”
He swallowed hard and surveyed the crowd again. “Yeah, fine. Sorry. Thought I saw someone I knew.”
Jake smiled. “You’re going to have to get used to the onlookers. Like it or not, you're in the public eye now.”
###
Two hours after he’d left lunch with Delilah, Nate still couldn’t shake the scent of her spicy perfume. That, combined with the remembered taste of her, was driving him slowly insane. Concentration was the name of the game. All he had to do was keep his mind on work. How hard could that be?
He also had some concerns about her plan. Or rather Jake’s plan. Instead of keeping his skeletons buried where Nate would like them, they wanted to expose and attack any hidden mine fields head-on. He wanted to keep as low a profile as possible. It was highly unlikely anyone from the old days would read the society pages or the business journals, but he wasn’t going to take a risk like that. He could see it now. The ugly shadows from his past stalking through the lobby, shouting that he was nothing more than a hustling punk who was only pretending at CEO.
Icy dread slithered over his skin. He'd done what he needed to survive back then. And he was well aware that if he'd stayed on the streets much longer, he'd have been dead. But the same thing that had forced him away from his family was still a clear and present danger. If anyone found out who he'd been, he would lose everything, and he'd worked too hard for that.
Delilah hadn’t believed him when he'd said he'd erased all traces of the man he used to be. But he'd done just that. Video games might pay the bills and then some, but before he'd gotten his start, he'd made a hell of a hacker. He didn’t need that truth getting out there either.
He tried to shake the feeling of dread from lunch. It’s only a feeling. But his feelings had saved his hide more than once. There was only one person who could topple his house of cards, and he didn't need him popping up right now.
Focus, man. Nate dragged his attention to the task in front of him. All the department heads he'd met with so far had brought him a mountain of files. If he wanted to convincingly run things for the foreseeable future, he'd feel better if he at least had a minor understanding of the code base, every product, every idea in the incubator. For the next month at least, he was the CEO so he'd better act like it. But it's more than acting, isn't it?
Nate quickly slapped down that flicker of need. In another life he would have wanted to be CEO of his own place. And for all intents and purposes, he was CEO of his own shop, though it was a team of one. There was a time he might have dreamed of running a place like this, but that was for men like Chase with money and connections, and without dark and dirty secrets to hide. Doesn’t stop you from wanting it though does it?
“I see you're settled in.”
Nate brought his head up to meet the gaze of Steven Taraby. “Hello, Steven. I'm sorry. I didn't think we were meeting until later this afternoon.”
Steven shrugged as if he didn’t care what time it was. “Yeah, well, something came up for me, so I thought I'd come now.”
Nate leaned forward and kept his voice even. He recognized the show of disrespect for the pissing contest it was. “Well, as you can see, I'm extremely busy at the moment. I'm reviewing the code base for three of our product lines.”
The other man frowned, his dark brows drawing tight over his forehead. “Is there a particular reason you're doing that? I can tell you anything you need to know.”
Nate slapped on his nonchalant mask. “Of course. No doubt that you'd tell me exactly what's going on with the code, but it's the best way I can familiarize myself.”
“Well it's a complex code base based on—”
Why don’t you want me looking at your code? “Don't worry. I have a good background in software code. I assure you, I'm not touching, just having a look.”
Steven frowned as he crossed his arms. “If I were you, I'd worry more about how to keep the shareholders happy and satisfied than about what's keeping the house afloat.”
Nate grinned. “Is that what you'd focus on? The outward appearance and not the foundation? Interesting. I wonder, is that how you manage your teams or tell them to code?”
Steven must have realized the trap he'd walked into because he started to backpedal. “All I meant was, you're not going to be here that long. Your job is to keep things running while Chase is gone. You probably could do some delegating.”
Note to self: delegate nothing to this asshole. “I'll keep that in mind. Now, if you need to reschedule our meeting, it's probably best if you schedule with Clarissa, Chase’s assistant. She’s got my schedule pretty packed. But right now, is not an option. You'll have to wait until I'm available. Unless this is an emergency, in which case this is an all hands on deck situation.”
Scowl firmly in place, Steven strode forward. “You think you’re slick. No one knows you, where you came from. You don’t have the chops to do this job. This—” he spread his hands and gestured to Chase’s office “—is only temporary. You'll be out of here in thirty days. And then, I'll be sitting in your position. So review the code all you want. Enjoy yourself. You're not going to have this job long. Your thirty days will be up soon enough. Sooner, if I can find out what you’re hiding.”
Even though his jaw locked, Nate forced his lips into a feral smile. “You're welcome to try to remove me, but I warn you. I fight dirty. And I promise, the only way I'm vacating this position is if Chase asks me to.”
Chapter 8
The next evening, Delilah skidded into her bathroom as she yanked off her clothes. She was late. Again. Taking on the additional client load was wreaking havoc with her schedule. And tonight, no less than three of her clients would be at the Gala. Nate would probably need the most help.
She groaned as thoughts of him flooded her mind. Nate Williams was fucking with her head. Add to that, she only had an hour to shower, change, and be back uptown, and she was edgy as hell. Since yesterday’s kiss, she hadn’t been able to get him out of her head...or her response to him. She’d practically melted in a pool at his feet yesterday.
And today at lunch had to be worse than water torture. Every brush of his leg, slide of his gaze, seemingly innocuous graze of his hand had her body humming. In the less than three days since he’d stormed back into her life, he already had her body on hyper alert. The sixteen-year-old Delilah rejoiced. The grown, mature Delilah was more wary. Yes, she wanted him. But she needed to set some ground rules for herself.
For starters, if she were to even entertain this, she’d need a much better separation of work and play. With the day like she’d had, she needed all her wits, and she hadn’t been firing on all cylinders because of how wound up she’d been.
After this project was over,
she could never see him again. She could only keep him from her family for so long.
Finally, Jake could never suspect, have a clue, that it was happening. She was in a murky gray area that made her uncomfortable. He’d said no one would have to know, but in this situation, she was the only one at risk. She’d have to protect herself.
But most importantly, no falling for Nate. He was still charming, and there was a vulnerability in him that spoke to her. But she’d been sucked in once. She wasn't going to do that again. He was for fun, and that was it. Hear that, sixteen-year-old Delilah? No moon eyes and professions of love!
After a record shower, she hopped on one foot as she frantically tried to shave her legs and brush her teeth at the same time. Rinsing her leg under the spray of the shower, she switched legs and managed to only nick herself three times. Fabulous.
In another five minutes, she was dry and moisturized. And since her hair was going all curly afro on her, she opted for a quick up-do and clipped it into place with a flower. If she'd had the proper amount of time to get ready, she'd have had a blowout like every other sane woman attending. She'd have had her makeup done, nails done, the whole shebang. But now, she was going in with minimal war paint, au natural hair, and barely buffed nails.
All thanks to her only other client, Michael Ross.
Just thinking about her bad behaver du jour made Delilah want to gnash her teeth. Through his production company, he’d managed to secure rights to an indie film that had all of Hollywood’s attention. Of course, he’d made it a starring vehicle for himself and managed to get one of the studios to help back the film. So now, he was back in the spotlight after years of having been a has-been D-lister.
All he’d had to do was behave during one simple press junket. But of course, now that he was a star again, he was too much of a prima donna to even handle that. So by the time they'd gotten to the middle of the junket, she'd been called in by his people to fix the situation.
God save her from childish babies as clients. If it wasn't bad enough she'd had to run downtown to deal with him, he'd turned on his patented Michael Ross get-laid charm then gotten pissed off when she hadn’t taken him up on his generous offer to let her suck him off. What she'd wanted to say was blowing has-been movie stars was not on her to-do list, but she'd kept it nice and professional. If there was one client she wanted to get rid of, it was him. He'd been a pain in her ass for so long, and he was always finding some lewd and crude way to hit on her. She’d complained, but Jake kept him as a client because his production company was an investor in the firm. And Jake kept her assigned to Michael because she was the only one who could handle him.