His Distraction

by Tanya Gallagher

  Chapter 41

  “I know how to make tonight better for you.”

  Vanessa flicked her eyes closed at the erotic promise in Jeremy’s voice. Each night of the last week was imprinted in her mind, the memories burning like a white-hot filament that she could still see after she shut her eyes. Ever since she and Jeremy had fallen back into this whatever-it-was, he’d made each night better and better. It wasn’t just in bed, though god knows the orgasms he gave her wrung her out, made her sleep better than she had in years. Somehow after the last eighteen months of worrying about everything—paying her bills, finding her place—she’d found the magic pill to melt away the overwhelm and just let her sleep.

  Still, Vanessa dragged herself away from Jeremy each night before she finally let herself crash, afraid the undertow of sleep would pull her to the kind of vulnerable place where she’d say too much and tell him how much he was starting to mean to her.

  The thought of losing him was equally as terrifying as giving him an answer to the offer he’d held out to her in the animal shelter.

  She opened her eyes to find Jeremy studying her. “If you can make dinner at my parents’ house bearable you might be a miracle worker.”

  Jeremy grinned at her. “That’s what they call me.” He reached for a drawer of his desk and lifted a small object. “Do you trust me?”

  She swallowed. “Yes.” She did. Mostly.

  He slipped a wearable vibrator into her hand, and she realized it was the Surrender—a fully-formed version that was just a prototype weeks ago. The U-shaped toy reminded Vanessa of a wireless headset, with one end meant to sit inside her while the other lay flush against her clit. Like all the other toys in the X Enterprises collection, it looked sleek and innocuous. It was deceptive for something to look so pretty and be so sinfully erotic. “Then go into the bathroom and put this on.” Jeremy’s eyes were hooded with arousal—that familiar look that Vanessa had come to love and crave.

  Her body thrilled even as she protested. “I’m driving tonight. I can’t wear this in the car. That would be…dangerous.” Vanessa had taken to bringing her car to work these days—with the late nights she and Jeremy were pulling, she couldn’t be sure she’d have a ride home without it, and she wasn’t stupid enough to try to catch the bus home past ten p.m. even with Jeremy’s pepper spray.

  Jeremy flashed those eyes at her now. “Do you think I’d let you get hurt?”

  She shook her head.

  “Correct answer. Just text me when you arrive.”

  Could she do this? Give him complete control over her body? The toy was called the Surrender for a reason. Letting Jeremy into her underwear with this much power could be another inch closer to letting him all the way into her heart.

  “Go into the bathroom and put it on,” he repeated.

  Vanessa made a face. “Fine.”

  She swept into the women’s room, glad the office had already cleared out for the night. She still thought the decor was over-the-top ridiculous, but ever since Jeremy had found out her favorite flowers were peonies, he’d kept them in rotation in the room. She breathed them in now, their sweet and heady scent filling the bathroom as she eased the vibrator inside her body.

  She strode out with a straight face, sure she would crack at any minute.

  Jeremy’s eyes darkened as she approached his desk. She slipped and smiled, the small move giving her away. “Good girl.” He pressed a button on his phone, and the vibrator buzzed to life—a warm, insistent pulse with one end concentrated on her most sensitive spot and the other end pressing at her from the inside.

  “Jeremy,” she gasped.

  He grinned at her before stopping the toy. “Just testing.”

  “What’s the range on this thing?”

  Jeremy knew the answer, obviously, but he just shook his head. “Guess we’ll see.”

  Vanessa found out in the middle of dinner. One minute she’d been helping herself to salad, the next minute the toy buzzed to life inside her. Whatever the range was, Jeremy was close enough.

  Oh shit.

  She stifled a gasp and her face heated with embarrassment.

  “Are you okay, honey?” Annabelle peered at her daughter with concern.

  Vanessa reached for a glass of water. “Just something in my throat,” she lied.

  This game was going to be harder to play than she’d thought. Why hadn’t she insisted Jeremy wear a remote-controlled cock ring or something? Surely the X Enterprises catalog boasted such a product. She pressed her thighs together. She’d have to dig up something for next time.

  Vanessa forced her face back into a neutral expression. The buzzing wasn’t so strong she couldn’t talk around it. She needed to get through this dinner, for herself and for Bea.

  Between work and Jeremy, Vanessa had missed one too many girls’ nights in the last few weeks, and when Bob reached out about commissioning a painting from Bea, Vanessa knew she needed to take one for the team. See her mom, sell a painting for Bea. She’d check all the boxes if she could just make it through this dinner. But the vibrator might destroy her first.

  She took a bite of her salad. “Tell me again how you heard about Bea’s work.”

  That was Bob’s whole ruse for inviting her, though she suspected it was more likely he had taken up the cause of getting the two Reese women together. Bob cared about her mom’s feelings; she had to give him credit for that.

  Mercifully, the vibrator turned off. Vanessa managed to nod at the right places as Bob recounted finding Bea’s artwork in a local gallery.

  She smiled at her stepdad. “If you buy a painting, it will be a big help for Bea. She’s doing all right at the bakery, but I know she’d be thrilled if she could make a living just doing her art.”

  Her mother leaned forward. “Speaking of making a living.”

  Shit.

  It had been weeks by now, but Vanessa had given Annabelle the perfect in and her mother was going to go there. “I still don’t understand why you turned down the job Bob helped you find. Especially in favor of a temp job.”

  Vanessa hadn’t, of course, given her mother the real details about her new position, but no matter—Annabelle still wouldn’t let her live this down. “It’s complicated, Mom.”

  Its name was Jeremy Glass. The same Jeremy Glass who’d turned the vibrator back on, sending her body on high alert. Vanessa’s skin tingled, and her nipples hardened into peaks beneath her blouse. Her thoughts scattered even as her mother pressed.

  “Why don’t you teach dance? The position at Mariana’s studio is still open.”

  “That’s not what I want anymore.” She set down her fork. The vibrator between her legs made it hard enough to concentrate, and the conversation was heading south. She could see it in the crease between her mother’s eyes. Vanessa was tired of always being the failure, of being less than just because she didn’t fill her mother’s shoes.

  Retreat was not an option, and she was not going to back down this time. Sorry, Bob.

  Maybe Jeremy had rubbed off on her in more ways than she’d thought. At least he’d paused the toy again. It was too hard to feel all this pleasure pushing up against so much pain. Her body didn’t know what to do with itself. She could barely catch her breath.

  Annabelle took a sip of wine. “Well, what do you want?”

  “I want to help people.”

  Annabelle rolled her eyes like she was speaking to a child. “Teaching is helping.”

  Vanessa gritted her teeth. “It’s not the same. There are people who have real challenges.”

  In a few weeks, Jeremy would come through for her, and she’d land her dream job helping those same people with real challenges. And then what? She’d walk out of his life and forget the last few months had happened? That didn’t feel right either. Not when she’d discovered how good she was at the business end of things, too.

  Vanessa smiled to herself. Maybe she could do the Victim Advocacy work and put her new knowledge toward fundraising to in
crease the school’s resources.

  “You’re being stubborn about this.”

  Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Of course I am. We’re talking about what I want from my life.”

  “You’re acting like dance doesn’t mean anything to you anymore. Like it wasn’t part of your life since you were six.”

  Her heart slammed so hard she could feel her pulse in her fingers. Her jaw tightened, her fingers curling into her palms. Enough.

  “It did mean something to me, Mom. But that’s not who I am anymore. I haven’t been that person for years. You would know that if you’d have bothered to stick around.”

  Silence.

  And then the vibrator kicked on.

  Vanessa wanted to moan. Instead, she pushed back from the table and dropped her napkin onto her plate. “Excuse me.” She stood with weak knees, holding the edge of the table for balance as she walked toward the door.

  “Don’t leave this table, Vanessa. We’re not done here.”

  “I know.” But she had to leave—to get to the bathroom right away—because the vibration was increasing. Apparently, this thing had multiple modes. And the blood pounding through her body in anger had a place to go now, flowing from her flushed face to her core. Her skin felt slick with sweat, her underwear soaked with her arousal.

  She was going to come at any minute, and the thought of doing that in this stuffy room was almost worse than not finding release at all.

  Vanessa swore as she slipped into the bathroom, turning on the faucet to cover the sound of her shallow breath.

  Another surge made her double over, gripping the edge of the sink. She couldn’t see straight anymore, the world just a blur of darkness and light.

  Dammit, Jeremy.

  She sank to the floor, unable to stand any longer. She hoped he was enjoying himself, could picture his wicked grin.

  Her body sang as the toy buzzed, the sensations rumbling against her clit and deep inside her. The vibrator pushed Vanessa higher and higher, and she closed her eyes and gave herself over to the sensations.

  And then the toy stopped.

  What? No. Her breath sounded ragged in her ears as she scrambled for her cell phone.

  Don’t you stop now, she texted. Waiting for the sensation to resume was torture.

  Jeremy’s reply came almost instantly. Are you wet for me?

  Her hands hovered over the buttons, her fingers numb. She wanted to tease him as much as he was teasing her. Dripping.

  Sounds like you’re close, he texted.

  She smiled. Close to killing you if you don’t turn that back on.

  Greedy, aren’t you?

  She was, and it was all his fault. Only because you made me this way.

  That’s okay. I like you hot and horny for me. She liked herself hot and horny for him, too. But this, now, was almost too much. Her body walked the fine line between pleasure and overwhelm. The way her heart thudded in her chest pushed her precariously close to tears.

  Jeremy. Turn on the damn toy. If she were talking instead of texting, she would have whined.

  Instead of answering, he made a video call, his face appearing on the screen. Behind him, the Seattle skyline glittered. The view from the X Enterprises office was gorgeous in the day, but at night it was astonishing—a spectacle of sparkling lights.

  Jeremy was still in the office, apparently, but he was also right here with her in this tiny bathroom. His gaze captured her, warmth and desire twinned together in his blue eyes.

  A wave of affection swept over her. He was hers, wasn’t he, whether or not she’d told him as much?

  “What are you doing?” she breathed.

  “I want to see your face when you come.”

  Oh.

  She blushed. “Then you better turn that toy back on.”

  Jeremy shook his head. “Are you going to give me an answer?”

  This wasn’t fair.

  She could have taken out the vibrator, could have turned off the phone. But she had signed up to play this game, to let Jeremy into her life by small degrees. He was starting to fit there. Even if he wanted what she couldn’t give.

  Vanessa bit her lip. “You’re making tonight so much harder for me.”

  “Well, you made it harder for me, too.” When he said harder, he didn’t just mean more difficult. She pictured his erection and gasped.

  Jeremy’s eyes danced with amusement at her breathy moan. “I want you to be mine and mine alone.” His voice scraped lower, and her heart pounded in return. “I’m going to wake up every day and keep proving that to you.”

  She closed her eyes. How did things go from teasing from afar to this intimate discussion? All she knew was if she kept looking at Jeremy she’d say whatever he asked just to get him to send her over the edge. And she wasn’t ready to give him everything just yet.

  “People leave me, Jeremy. That’s what they do. And I get that everyone’s human, but it doesn’t make it easier.”

  Jeremy’s voice was heartbreakingly pure. “Oh, Heart, I’m not going to leave you. Can’t you see I’m already yours?”

  Vanessa opened her eyes and nodded. She did see. He wanted nothing from her except her heart, but it was the one thing she’d always held back. “Just give me time.”

  Instead of answering, Jeremy turned on the vibrator with another wicked grin. The buzzing resumed, swirling deep in her core, the sensation surging against her swollen skin. Her pulse kicked up, and her breathing grew shallow.

  She was going to lose her ever-loving mind.

  Jeremy’s voice rumbled, gruff with his own arousal. “Let me see that face, Heart. You look so pretty when you come.”

  And because she was already halfway his, she lifted the phone to her face. She held it with trembling hands and gave herself over to him, drawing one last shuddering breath before she finally lost control.

  Chapter 42

  “Mail, Mr. Glass.” Naomi from the front desk stood in Jeremy’s doorway, a stack of envelopes clutched in her manicured hands.

  “Thank you.” He waved her inside, accepting the mail and sorting through it idly. One of the trade magazines sat on the top of the stack, and Jeremy shuffled it into the take-home pile on the corner of his desk, revealing an unassuming envelope underneath. Addressed to one Mr. Jeremy Glass. Return address: Yessir Unlimited’s New York office.

  Oh god.

  Jeremy’s mouth went dry, and he slit open the envelope with a practiced flick of the silver-plated letter opener his mom had bought him to celebrate the launch of X Enterprises.

  A thick sheaf of papers fell out onto the desk, and all he could do was stare.

  The contract was here.

  Jeremy paged through it with shaking hands. It was everything he’d asked for and enough money to make every insult he’d heard along the way sound like coins falling into his Scrooge McDuck pile of gold. Piers had come through.

  Tiny sparks fizzed in the corner of Jeremy’s vision. This should feel like validation, and it did, to a degree. But why was his heart pounding like he’d just had his ass kicked at the gym?

  He glanced around the glass walls of his office, forcing his face to remain impassive even though he wanted nothing more than to drop his head to his knees and gulp a few steadying breaths of air. Why had he chosen walls everyone could see through? The idea seemed even more stupid when Vanessa strode down the hallway looking edible in a pencil skirt and a silky blouse. He wanted her, selfishly, to silence the noise in his head. If he could just kiss her, be here in the moment with her, everything else would just fall away.

  “Miss Reese.” Jeremy’s voice shook ever so slightly, but Vanessa still turned her head in his direction, the sweetest smile on her face. He waved her over, and she stepped through his doorway.

  “Mr. Glass?” A tiny smirk graced her lips—quick enough that only the two of them noticed before she reassumed her professional smile. “How can I help?”

  “I heard there might be some trouble in the elevators. Care to inves
tigate with me?”

  Her eyes lit in amusement. “I’d be happy to assist you.”

  She turned and made her way toward the elevators, her ass wiggling under that tight skirt. He hurried behind her, pouncing the moment the elevator doors closed behind them. Fifty-six floors to the bottom. It wasn’t much time, but it was enough.

  “Hey.” Jeremy smiled at Vanessa, backing her against the wall to press a kiss to the spot on her neck that always made her gasp. He wanted to tell her everything, but he was still bound by the stupid NDA from Piers.

  Vanessa moaned, tilting her head to give him easier access. He nuzzled his way to her ear. “You look so fucking gorgeous today.”

  “Another distraction?” she murmured.

  “A welcome relief.”

  She pulled back gently and raked her hands through his hair. “Are you okay? Not that I don’t appreciate this, but you seem kind of off.”

  She was so damn sweet, so damn good to him. She knew him, whether or not he’d tell her as much. Instead of answering he slipped a finger inside her, air hissing in through his teeth when he discovered she was already wet. He was out of control, like being unsure about this offer pushed him backward in time. But he liked being out of control with her. They took each other past the edge of sanity, but what a beautiful line it was to cross. Vanessa’s kiss had the power to soothe him at the same time that it excited him. Maybe he really was the Beast after all.

  He grazed his teeth along the seashell edge of her ear. “I just missed you.”

  Vanessa giggled. “Bullshit.”

  He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. This—this was what he needed. To be held and to be seen. Relief stretched across his face in the shape of a smile. “It’s okay, Heart. I’m gonna be just fine.”

  Ramon looked up from the stack of papers spread on his coffee table and leveled a glance at his friend. “I don’t know, Jer. It sounds to me like you’re pretty fucked.”

  Jeremy shot a glance at Emilia, suspended in some baby swing contraption that looked like it could actually be pretty fun. He knew she was an infant and that she couldn’t keep a dry diaper, let alone understand English, but it still felt weird to curse around her.