“Wa-ver-ly” her name came out in the three low, melodic, syllables, one large, strong, hand still gripped her door knob.
“I’m coming in,” he informed her.
“Don’t. Your account is fine, we won’t be dropping it.”
With a slam, Walker shut the door firmly behind him and strode inside, “I don’t give a goddamn fuck about the account.”
Focused, he crossed the room toward her, with every step he neared, she stepped back, advance and retreat. He wouldn’t hurt her, she knew that, but his unexpected presence was overwhelming her, making her heart race, forcing her to take deep, calming breaths. This Walker, angry Walker, was intimidating – and unfortunately, arousing.
“Then why are you here? I don’t want you here.”
His eyebrows furrowed over his eyes.
“I came to make sure that you were okay. Are you okay?”
“Of course I’m okay...”
His look changed to disbelief and a bit of his typical condescension, “I saw your face, you were angry. And, hurt.”
His hand reached out to her as he took another step forward, “Waverly?”
He didn’t know her, how could he see through her denial so easily? What did he want from her?
Waverly took another step back, bumping into her kitchen island, “I’m fine, but, I want you to leave.”
Leaning over her, his arms rested on either side of her, caging her into his space.
“You’ve been drinking?”
She watched his eyes turn to take in all of the scattered wine bottles and glasses.
“I made you angry,” he stated, his voice emotionless, but softer.
His warm hands rose to cup her face, his mouth settling on hers placing a gentle kiss, then another, this one deeper. Between the kisses and her tipsiness, Waverly lost any previous train of thought. Forgot that she was angry with him or even why she was angry with him. Undone by him, his concern for her, his kisses, he had rendered her incapable of thought, she melted into him, until his mouth finally pulled away, moving to her neck, then nuzzling and licking. Finally, she felt his warm lips moving against her skin.
“I was wrong. I hurt you.”
Waverly was shocked by his apology, pulling back she peeked up at him, met by his eyes searching hers. If he was looking for approval of his apology, he had it. She was still angry with his earlier authoritarian maneuvering, she really was, it was just hard to hold onto any anger when he kissed her like that. The dumbfuck probably knew that, and now that the kiss was over, she shouldn’t, wouldn’t cave to him.
Raising one of his arms, Waverly eased herself under and away from him, crossing to the other side of her kitchen. A weak attempt at escape, but maybe the space between them, being further away from him, and his voice, and his kisses, she could think again. Walker stood exactly where she left him, calm, arrogant, and imposing, running his eyes over her body. Standing across from him in her booty shorts and a tank, she had forgotten when he barged in, how she was dressed, or rather not dressed.
In a low, silky voice, he urged, “Tell me what’s going on in that head of yours.”
“I’m not angry...I just... This...it’s not good. I...we, wanted to know what it would be like...again. Now we know, but, no more.”
“It’s not good?”
Obviously unhappy with her words, he repeated them softly, then crossed the room to stand in front of her, his head tipping down to meet her eyes.
“Eight times. I counted. Eight times you said my name, when I had my dick inside you, and made you come all over me. Eight times, says you thought it was pretty god damn, fucking, good?”
As he leaned forward, she tried to lean away from him.
“Walker, don’t.”
“Yes or no? ” Leaning forward, he placed his mouth next to her ear, his stubble scratching her cheek.
“Yes. But, I want you to go?” She tried to match his bossy tone.
“Yes, you’re mad, or yes, it was pretty, fucking good?.”
His words, the wine, and his kisses were all confusing her. Scrunching her face and shaking her head slightly, she looked away from him, to collect her thoughts.
His anger dissolved as he watched her process, leaning back with arms crossed, a smug look emerged on his face. Of course, he’s smug, he knows, that I know, that sex between them was phenomenal. Dumbfuck Asshole.
“Wave, be honest, you’re angry with me.”
Waverly’s head jerked back. Wave? The shortening of her name coming from his mouth sounded intimate. She liked it.
“Stop, just stop. We are not sleeping together again.”
Waverly cried out, reaching out with both hands to shove him. He didn’t budge.
The corners of his lips tipped up and Waverly decided that if he came any closer, she was going to slap him. Slap that smug look right off of his face. Unfazed by the frown on her face, he moved toward her again. A stare down occurred between them until the corners of his lips tipped up.
“Nice outfit, Hippie Girl.”
Reaching out, pressing his thumb into her bottom lip, he watched his hand as it slid slowly down to her nipple, paused then traced around it. Over and over. Watching him watch her body’s reaction, she flushed and her breath hitched, causing him to finally raise his gaze from her body and meet her eyes. His breathing was as harsh as hers, and that felt like a victory for her.
Walker broke the heavy silence with his harsh, “Fuck, Waverly. I remember everything about that night at Brown + Grey.”
Reaching for her he lifted a handful of her hair, rubbing it between his fingers.
“Your little black thong. Watching your nipples get hard for me in that little top. Your skin was all tan and so soft, your crazy outfit, your wild hair was a million different colors. Touching you, making you come for me. After all of this time, I thought I would forget it, but I remember it.”
Walker leaned forward, his finger pushed own on her lower lip lightly, then dragged back and forth over it.
“Such a pretty mouth.”
His voice dropped to a rough whisper. Waverly stared up at him with eyes wide, running her tongue over the lip he had just touched, then Walker lowered his mouth to hers again. This kiss was soft, his lips gentle on hers, pulling back slightly, his voice low and deep,
“I’m sorry,” his lips on hers again, this time she let his tongue into her mouth.
“Forgive me,” his hands come up to wrap around her jaw. Tilting her head and pulling her mouth to his, sliding his tongue sliding in deep, then finally pulling away and resting his forehead against hers. “Okay?”
Waverly stared at him, shocked by his apology, she could feel it melting her resistance to him. She was also pretty sure that he knew what he was doing, wearing her down with his sincerity and his kisses. Could she ever wear his resistance down?
“I forgive you, but this can’t happen anymore.”
He took it well, no disagreement or argument, just a calm response, “I’ll leave, Waverly. But this will happen”
Waverly sighed, “You’re very confident. You do realize Mr. Rike, that you just got turned down?”
“Yes,” Walker replied, moving to the door. Reaching the door he stopped, without turning he stated. “Fair warning, Miss Matthews, when I want something, I don’t give up.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Walker was more captivated by Waverly than he liked to pretend, to her – and himself. That stupid fucker Benn was right, he was jealous when he found out that it wasn’t Waverly who canceled the contract. When Benn had taunted him, about his poor treatment of Waverly, he had wanted to throw himself across the desk and beat the shit out of him. It was a misstep on his part and having it shoved in his face, that he should have texted or called after their first night together, irritated the fuck out of him. When he had finally realized that s
he was in the room, witnessed the devastated look on her face, he hated it. Hated how it made him feel to see that look on her face, and, hated that he had been the one to put it there.
He didn’t like hearing her say no to him, and he was determined to do whatever it took to change her mind.
A benefit was coming up that he planned on attending, he knew that she would be there as well, representing her company...with Benn. Prick.
Benn’s stunt with the contract had left him even more unclear about what went on between Waverly and Benn, had they dated, were they fuck buddies, did idiot Benn have feelings for her, and was she aware, or was she completely oblivious. That seemed entirely possible, hell, Waverly seemed to spend so much time in her own head, she could be unaware that it was raining, even if rain was pouring down her face. He snorted.
What the fuck had possessed the guy to cancel the contract on her behalf. Standing there telling him to stay away from her, like he owned her. He still wanted to hit the guy - beat him into the ground. Ben with an extra N, stupid name, stupid fuck. He wasn’t happy to have to admit to himself that he was jealous, but he was, and he wasn’t happy about the feeling.
Although he wanted to see her before then, Walker had decided that it wasn’t wise to ask Waverly to the Gala. This option would give him a chance to watch and assess for himself whether there was anything going on between the two of them.
Pushing the buzzer for Ann, he asked her to come into his office, he had a particular task he needed her to take care of. Shit, he should have just asked Ann if there was anything going on between Waverly and Benn, with two N’s. She seemed to think that she knew every fucking thing about his life.
Ann tapped on the door, then hesitated before he waved her in, waiting while she took a seat.
“What do you need Walker?”
Her greeting was little snippy. Was he getting attitude from Ann now?
“I need you to find this and have it delivered for me,” Walker handed over the paper with his request.
Ann’s eyebrows raised, “A book?” She questioned in a flat voice, apparently, she was unimpressed.
Walker sighed, “You are aware Ann, that women practically throw their panties at me when I walk down the street. I have received lewd texts from women ranging in age from college girls to my mother’s friends. I have even been propositioned picking up my dry cleaning. My track record strongly indicates that I know what I’m doing when it comes to women,” he replied dryly.
Laughing, Ann responded to his diatribe,“You’ve never picked up your dry cleaning in your life. A book is all well and fine, Walker, but have you tried actually apologizing? I know you don’t have much experience with it, but the rest of us mere mortals find it a successful way of communicating our remorse.”
Battle-ax, he thought to himself. Is there a fucking newsletter send out every Monday highlighting the details of my life?.
“The point is Ann... Fuck, never mind, just track down a first edition of the goddamn book and send it to her.”
Ann continued chuckling at her own joke as she sailed out of his office calling back, “Say hello to Miss Matthews for me when you see her Friday night at the Benefit. She’ll be the one wearing red.”
Walker threw his stapler at his door.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Leaning over her vanity, in her sexiest black bra and panties, Waverly shook and shimmied her hips listening to Drake, while trying to perfect a smoky eye look. Rachel who loved makeup of any kind usually took over and did it for her, but they had hit the bars last night and Rachel and Kate were nursing killer hangovers today.
Drinking a glass of wine - she was doing her pregaming solo, trying not to admit to herself that she was nervous about seeing Walker tonight. So far, she had three texts from him and loved seeing the name, Dumbfuck Asshole, light up her screen each time.
He had sent her a gift, an apology he had said, for his altercation with Benn. She had been shocked at the gesture, and it was nearly impossible not to love the book, Auden was a favorite of hers, and it was an expensive first edition. True, it was a somewhat old-fashioned gift, and not at all necessary, but it was a sweet gesture. The man certainly wasn’t known for sweet gestures.
The texts from him had asked if she was okay, if she liked the book, and if he would see her at the benefit. Her feelings of anger toward him were mostly gone, but she still didn’t trust him or his intentions, further than she could throw him. Things between she and Benn had been resolved fairly quickly, she saw where Benn was coming from and knew his concern was genuine. Bottom line, Benn was family, ride or die, always would be. He had even happily agreed to operate as her Walker-cock-blocker tonight, she really hoped she could hold her resolve and that any intervention from Benn wouldn’t be necessary.
An hour earlier, Walker’s latest text had let her know that he hoped to see her at the Benefit. Trying to establish more distance between them, she kept her replies friendly, but impersonal. The thought of seeing him soon made her nervous, excited and ready to throw up, stupid, dumbfuck, asshole.
It was obvious to her that she should stay away from him. She had gotten her revenge, she had enjoyed her revenge, and well, he had enjoyed it too. Finished with him now, she would be cordial to him but that was all. Walker needed to be only a business associate, an amiable acquaintance...but every time she looked at him, her mind went hazy with lust, remembering how they were together. What he did to her. She just wouldn’t think about that, or him that way, or look at him, it was that simple.
Only to herself could she admit that just looking at him made her weak in the knees. Walker was no metro-sexual, his look was rugged, his shoulders muscular and broad, his hands were large and very masculine, clean but showed the signs of hard work. The low husky tone of his voice and the way he looked at her made her feel safe and protected as if she could tell him her troubles and he would do anything in his power to make them go away.
The man was an enigma, an unhappy enigma who was beyond amazing in bed. She snorted, slipped on her black dress, slid into an expensive pair of Jimmy Choo’s and threw back the rest of her wine. Giving herself one last look in the in the mirror, she whispered, “Man up, girlie, Man up.”
Waverly and Benn made their entrance, looking to everyone there like they were a couple, Waverly clasped Benn’s hand as he immediately tugged her to the bar to get them a drink. While he ordered, Waverly searched the room for their co-workers. Scanning the crowd, her heart skipped a beat, standing with a few men roughly his age drinking and talking, was Walker. Although the other men were attractive, Walker’s strength and confidence radiated from him effortlessly, she watched most of the women eying him hungrily. Shamelessly making it clear that if he was interested, they would willingly trot off with him to the nearest...anything. Sighing inwardly, Waverly tried to remind herself why she had said no to him the other night.
A gorgeous, petite, brunette interrupted the group of men, making it clear, that she would take Walker up on whatever he had to offer. He spoke politely with her, then drew the other men into the conversation, and they all conversed, laughing and drinking. Awful elevator music flowed around the chatting groups, still standing with Benn, waiting for their drinks, Waverly continued to enjoy watching Walker without him knowing. He was remarkably handsome, tan, eyes such a cold, deep, blue, his hair styled up a little, his suit expensive, his expensive watch, glittering in the light occasionally.
Dumbfuck asshole, business associates, she reminded herself.
Still talking, he turned, his eyes leisurely roaming the room, the hand raising his no doubt expensive drink halted when he saw her. Wondering if he felt the impact of her presence as she always felt his, Waverly watched his eyes sweep over her body, taking her in from head to toe — his eyes pausing at her hand resting in Benn’s.
Setting his drink down on a nearby table he strolled over.
“Waverly
.”
Ignoring Benn completely, he placed each of his large hands on her arms and pressed a polite kiss to her cheek. Her awareness of his body warmed her cheeks, his lips on her again prompted a shiver. He noticed, the corners of his lips tilted up in his infuriatingly, confident way.
“You look beautiful.”
Both of his hands traveled smoothly down her bare arms, forcing her to remove her hand from Benn’s, which was his exact intention. When she rolled her eyes at his maneuver, he gave her an unapologetic grin.
Benn interrupted their hand holding by offering her a drink, Benn initiated the guy head lift, chin tilt hello to Walker, and Walker reciprocated by holding out his hand. Benn looked at Waverly searchingly for a second, and then returned the handshake.
Chloe and Brian, two WestMat account executives greeted Waverly and Benn, letting them know that they had secured a table for dinner. Walker moved to Waverly’s side, placing his warm hand possessively on her back. Benn noticed and smirked at her.
Walker accompanied them to the group table, waited to seat Waverly, then sat himself her, she watched the pull and stretch of his muscles through his suit, as he reached forward while being introduced to Chloe and Brian. Her face heated, knowing intimately what those muscles were capable of.
Dumbfuck asshole, business associates, she reminded herself.
In his typical, alpha male manner, Walker ordered her another Lemon Drop without asking, looking totally relaxed and at home in their group. Watching him silently while sipping her drink, Walker carried on a pleasant conversation with Brian, for such a brooding, reclusive man he was quite adept in social situations. Their table companions were awed by his presence, although he was being extremely solicitous. Waverly realized that it was a powerful thing that this man, feared by many, boss of many, broker of multi-million dollar deals, had lowered himself to apologize. Concerned that she might have been hurt by his actions, that it mattered enough to him to follow her home was surprising behavior from a man who was only interested in getting into her panties again.
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