His Distraction

by Tanya Gallagher

  Sean lifted the bottle from her hands. “Holy shit, that’s not the regulation stuff.” He turned over the can and scanned the label. “This is what the police use. Way more potent.” It was, huh? The thought made her feel warm. Sean handed the can back to her, looking impressed. “Do you know how to use it?”

  Vanessa grinned. “I assume you point the end at the bad guys.”

  “Yeah. Don’t spray yourself in the face.”

  “Dually noted.”

  She waited until her coworkers returned to their desks before sinking into her chair.

  She blew out a deep breath and eyed the drawer of her desk where Jeremy’s vibrator sat like an illicit promise. She hadn’t intended to bring it back so soon, but she also hadn’t planned on Bea discovering it.

  Last night Vanessa had come home to find her roommate on the couch, the offending toy tossed on the coffee table like a gauntlet. Vanessa stood at the edge of the carpet, and for a second the two of them just stared at the vibrator, not sure what to say.

  At last, Bea broke the silence. “In fairness, I was putting away some of your clothes that got mixed in my last load of laundry.” Vanessa said nothing. If it was her, she would have left the toy right where she found it. “So this is one of the things your company sells?”

  Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

  Bea grinned. “Jeremy’s really got you working overtime, huh?” She leaned back against the sofa cushions and waved away the protest Vanessa had been about to make. “It’s okay. I approve of your work ethic.”

  Vanessa snorted. “I was doing a product review for him. For the company.”

  Her friend’s eyes lit up. “Jeremy Glass gave this to you? Personally?”

  Vanessa’s face colored—she’d said too much. Since she’d accepted the job for the second time, she had filled Bea in on the details of her battles with Jeremy. But telling her about this toy felt too intimate. She hadn’t wanted to share the story of how she’d come to own this particular piece of motorized silicone. She wanted to keep it private. Because she still didn’t know what to do about Jeremy and the fact that he drove her the good kind of crazy. He was shifting, more and more, into someone she wanted to spend her time with.

  Either way, the secret was out now.

  “Ugh. Yes, he gave it to me. But it’s not a big deal.”

  “Like hell it’s not.”

  Big deal or not, now that Bea knew about the vibrator, Vanessa needed to get it out of her house.

  Vanessa pulled the toy from her desk drawer and stood on shaky legs. A light sweat broke out on her body as she hurried toward Jeremy’s office. It shouldn’t feel like a big deal to walk through the building with a sex toy in her hands—this was what the business was all about. But this specific vibrator meant something. Even carrying it in her purse on the bus this morning had felt like a wanton secret.

  Jeremy waved her into his office when she rapped on the door. She could tell the moment he noticed the toy in her grip—his eyebrows drew together, and the air grew thick with tension.

  “Thank you for the pepper spray,” she began.

  He nodded. “I have a vested interest in keeping you safe.” He dropped his eyes to her hands, and she hoisted the toy in the air.

  “I figured I was overdue to return this.”

  He held her gaze, so boldly carnal that she had to press her legs together to stop her thighs from shaking. “I trust it met your satisfaction.”

  Asking her with the privacy blinds open felt like a challenge of both what she would say and how she would react with the whole office able to see her. Vanessa didn’t let her hands tremble as she set the toy on his desk, but embarrassment made her stomach drop. She balanced on a narrow cliff, enraptured by the man behind the desk, but also dimly aware of the coworkers wheeling around the company’s office in their daily ballet.

  She wanted to shock Jeremy, to throw him as far off balance as he made her. She smiled and gazed at him through her lashes. “It met my satisfaction. Multiple times.”

  The way his face morphed with pleasure was almost equally as satisfying as the orgasms themselves. Jeremy’s eyebrows lifted, and a glint of light caught in his piercing blue eyes. She flushed with pride as he struggled to regain his composure. “Good.” He cleared his throat. “Was there room for improvement?”

  “Actually, yes.”

  She smiled and reached for the toy, surprising herself with her daring. No matter; she was on a course now, and she’d be damned if she didn’t continue.

  Vanessa stroked her hand along the shaft of the vibrator, the silicone cool and silky under her touch. “This vibrator is great, but it’s full of untapped potential.” Jeremy watched her every move, his gaze riveted. “It has a range of swiveling capabilities, right?” She was proud of the way she’d thought to ask Bex about the mechanics of the design; she’d called Vegas on her lunch break yesterday to learn about the development. Way more intriguing than her PB&J sandwich.

  Jeremy nodded. “Yes, the components can be used in multiple ways.”

  “Good. Then keep this design. But you could adapt the technology a bit for another product.” She swallowed hard, her mouth dry with arousal. She couldn’t believe she was about to say this. What was she doing? Talking to Jeremy like this was going to provoke him, and yet she couldn’t stop. “Add a thrusting vibrator to the line. Some people get off on that kind of penetration.”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw and he practically growled. “It’s a damned good thing there’s a desk between us right now.”

  So much for friends.

  She felt a rush of power—of validation—at Jeremy’s response. He wanted her just as badly as she wanted him. They’d been toeing the line for weeks now, and it was like today they’d both declared allegiance to the same side. The lustful side.

  Why the hell did he have to be her boss?

  She needed to break the trance. “There’s also an open window.” She gestured at the glass walls surrounding them.

  Jeremy nodded in acceptance, and in one moment he pulled his professional mask back on, smoothing his tie and glancing up at the door. “Good work today, Heart.”

  “Thank you. You’ll find my official report on the product design portal.” She smiled and swiveled away. So what if she had resorted to unprofessional tactics? She’d won this round with Jeremy, for sure.

  “Keep it.” His command made Vanessa pause in the doorway. She looked over her shoulder, and he pinned her with his dark blue gaze. His eyes burned with intention, so provocative her inner muscles clenched. “The vibrator.”

  Oh. She forced herself to turn, sauntering across the room like it didn’t mean something that Jeremy wanted her to take it home again. Like it didn’t raise a thousand erotic fantasies in her mind.

  At the edge of the desk, she reached for the toy once more, balancing it lightly in her palm. A wave of heat rolled through her body, like Jeremy was the moon and her emotions were a tide.

  “I’ll get on Bex about a thrusting version.” Jeremy’s voice lowered with the sensual promise. “I’ll deliver that one to you myself.”

  Chapter 22

  The Girls Run Our World race wasn’t quite what Jeremy had in mind when Vanessa had emailed him on Thursday to tell him there’d be a 5K to wrap up the season.

  “You still owe me an extra hour of time,” she’d written. “Don’t flake out on the girls.”

  He hadn’t planned to disappoint anyone, and the reminder of that first missed meeting chafed.

  “Of course, Heart,” he’d responded. “I’ll see you there.”

  He’d envisioned a small park and ten kids running, or something. Luckily, Vanessa wasn’t the only one who knew how to research things. A quick stroll through the internet told him he’d be reviving his remedial running skills at Magnuson Park with over five hundred other runners bearing witness. Good thing he checked.

  Still, nothing quite prepared Jeremy for the chaos that greeted him when he stepped out of his car on S
aturday morning. Preteens and parents mingled on the damp lawn, hugging and swigging water and tying shoelaces. The air hummed with the noise of the crowd, an infectious energy bubbling through participants and onlookers alike.

  He strode toward the central registration where Vanessa had promised to meet him, catching a flash of her dark hair through the neon-clad crowd. She wore black running capris and a strappy pink tank top, and he paused to admire the view. The fabric clung to her inviting curves, hiding nothing. He had to say, if he couldn’t have her naked, having her in Spandex was the next best thing. He was almost a little sad that the GROW season was ending—somehow he doubted whatever activity she signed him up for next week would have a wardrobe equally as appealing as the spandex.

  He tapped Vanessa’s shoulder, and she wheeled around, her face breaking into a pure smile before she stuffed it away. In the space of a few seconds, she’d gone all professional on him.

  He frowned. What had she done with the woman who’d marched into his office with a vibrator in hand and told him exactly which of her buttons to push? That meeting was hotter than Jeremy could describe, and he couldn’t wait to exploit her weakness. He bet there was a dirty girl hidden under that sweet facade, and he wanted nothing more than to draw it out of her. Right now, though, she looked like he could be her dentist.

  “You made it,” she said.

  “Of course I did. I keep my promises.”

  She blushed and dropped her eyes. “Okay. Let’s go find Lainey. You’re going to be her running buddy.”

  The way the race worked, each girl in the program got partnered with a buddy for the race. Every step she took, her partner would take with her. It was a sweet, supportive idea. Jeremy just hoped Lainey wasn’t too fast.

  Vanessa led him through the crowd, her dark ponytail bouncing. He wanted to wrap it around his hands and pull her to him. He wanted to look into her eyes until she couldn’t deny this thing between them, the way she seemed to be doing now. But—oh, yeah—the children.

  A little huddle of girls and their mothers waited for Vanessa under a maple tree, their gear tossed into a circle on the grass. As he and Vanessa approached, the mothers stopped talking to eye him appreciatively. It was a look he’d come to know over the years—one he’d gotten used to ignoring when it didn’t suit him. And today their fawning did nothing for him. As soon as Vanessa cleared her throat, they stopped trying to eye-fuck him and paid attention to the petite powerhouse instead.

  “Okay everyone, we’re going to head to the starting line in just a minute.” He was impressed by the way everyone went silent, trusting Vanessa’s leadership. It was pretty damn sexy seeing her in charge like this. “Why doesn’t everyone grab your running buddies now?”

  Jeremy scanned the crowd, looking for Lainey, but the preteen found him first. She stepped forward in her neon T-shirt and knee-high compression socks. “Okay, Mr. Glass. Or, Jeremy. I have another question for you.”

  “Shoot.”

  She grinned, freckles disappearing into her dimples when she smiled. She held up a finger. “First question. Can you keep up with me?”

  He leaned his hands on his knees so he could look her in the eye. “For every inch you run, I run.” Let’s hope he wasn’t biting off more than he could chew.

  This is practice for Emilia, he told himself, and for a second his world went sideways. He still couldn’t believe he was a godfather.

  “Good.” Lainey raised a second finger. “Next question. Did you know I want to have my own company, too?”

  He grinned at her. “That’s pretty impressive. Tell me about it.”

  She stuck her hands on her sides, jutting out one of her hips. “Well, I don’t know what it’s going to be yet. But I’m going to be the boss. Sometimes I like to sit at the top of the bleachers at my school and pretend everyone on the ground works for me.” She raised a third finger, though there were no more questions. “I want to tell people what to do.”

  Jeremy wanted to encourage her, but maybe this was one of those great mentoring moments Ramon liked to talk about.

  “Hmm,” he considered. “That’s a tricky thing. Being the boss, you have to take care of a lot of people. It’s a big responsibility.”

  That’s what he wondered if his father ever saw—all the things that happened behind the scenes. All the responsibilities that kept him up at night, pacing the floors of his apartment. It wasn’t just creating products and making high-level decisions, but also the way he managed people—guided them and helped them reach their own potential. It was funny because time and time again Jeremy had found that when you acted like you expected people to step up and deliver, they did. So far it had been true for everyone he’d met. Except for his dad.

  Jeremy caught Lainey’s frown. “I’m not trying to rain on your parade,” he promised. He glanced across the crowd to flash Vanessa a thumb’s up. Then he wanted to kick himself. Apparently being around middle schoolers made him act like one, too. “Sometimes,” he told Lainey, “you trust your gut when you believe in something. And you go after it no matter what.”

  Vanessa interrupted before Lainey could give him any indication as to whether or not his words of wisdom sucked. “Ten minutes,” she called to the crowd. All around her the runners had paired up, the young girls with running buddies of all shapes and ages.

  As their team began to shuffle toward the starting line, a photographer carrying two DSLR cameras approached the crowd. “A quick picture for the papers,” he said.

  Jeremy stood at the edge of the group while the man snapped a picture of the girls and their parents.

  “Now the coaches.” The photographer pointed at him and Vanessa. “You and you.”

  The man positioned them next to each other and Jeremy wanted to laugh. He wasn’t a coach. Hell, Vanessa had had to drag him kicking and screaming before he’d finally shown up.

  “No pictures,” he said. Today wasn’t about the press. That’s not why he was here.

  He put his hands on Vanessa’s shoulders and guided her in front of him. If anything, she should be the one in the spotlight. She could use the promotion, mention it to the hiring manager when she interviewed for the advocacy role. Not that he wanted her to leave X Enterprises. Now that Vanessa was back, she’d booked a ton of new business for them. Maybe part of it was that voice of hers, sweet when she wanted it to be, firm when the situation required.

  He had never before considered the line between kind and nice, but Vanessa perfectly illustrated the distinction. She went out of her way to do the right thing, but she didn’t let anyone push her over. He respected that about her. And clearly her customers did, too. Even Amy had called him the other day to put in a good word.

  “Glad you took my advice to hire her back, Stud,” she’d purred.

  It had been more of a demand than a friendly recommendation, but Jeremy had let it go. He’d gritted his teeth but kept his voice neutral. “She’s an asset to the company.” Amy had wanted Vanessa back, sure, but he had no doubt that things could get ugly fast if she had any inclination what Vanessa meant to him.

  The thought of seeing his ex in a few short weeks made him itch. His old life was a skin he needed to shed, but for now, he needed to play whatever role Amy and Piers wanted. Once he sold the company, he could wash his hands of them.

  Jeremy squeezed Vanessa’s shoulders ever so slightly, reassured by the warmth of her soft skin. She glanced up at him, her lips parted and her cheeks flushed. He wondered—not for the first time—if she would look the same way when she came.

  “Eyes over here,” the photographer called.

  Vanessa shot Jeremy a smile before turning away.

  “Sure thing,” she said to the photographer. And before Jeremy could slip out of the picture, the flash went off.

  Chapter 23

  Three o’clock sunlight streamed through the windows, casting a warm glow on the dark, polished floors of the X Enterprises offices. After the last day of rain, the sun energized the building
’s employees. The offices hummed with productivity—brainstorming meetings and phone calls sounding all around Vanessa—though more than once her eyes strayed to the windows to take in the staggering view. Jeremy hadn’t been kidding when he said the job had perks, and the scenery from the top was unparalleled. Especially in the sunlight, when she could see for miles.

  Vanessa’s cell phone buzzed in her purse for the third time in the last ten minutes, and she pulled it out with a sigh. The same number that flashed across her screen now appeared in her Missed Calls list two times. She wouldn’t normally answer a call from a stranger, and especially not at work, but someone clearly wanted to get in touch with her. Luckily, she picked up.

  “Oh my god, are you sure?” She pressed the phone to her ear, stunned, and the voice repeated back the news. “Oh my god.” Her body went numb, and streaks of light filled her vision. The whole room blurred with her tears.

  Somehow she made it into Jeremy’s office. With Ramon gone, Jeremy was technically her supervisor, and she needed to tell him. Not that this had been a professional relationship from the start. But she owed him the courtesy, at least.

  “I have to go. I have to—” She sagged against his doorway, unable to catch her breath.

  Jeremy was at her side in a flash. His assessing gaze swept over her body, but instead of the heat they normally carried, his eyes crinkled with concern.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Lainey—you know, your running buddy from the weekend She’s missing. Her bus driver says she never showed up after school, and her mom told me she never came home. She’s been gone for two hours by now.” Her voice shook on the last part.

  “How could that happen?” Jeremy demanded. “Shouldn’t there be some sort of procedure for when a kid doesn’t get on the bus in the first place?”

  Vanessa shrugged helplessly. “Lainey’s mom called everyone she knows. I’m going to go look for her but I don’t even know where to start.”