His Distraction

by Tanya Gallagher

  He drew his eyebrows together. “You mean Yessir is screwing me over?”

  Ramon shook his head. “No, the offer looks solid. I’d run it past your dad, but from what I can see you’re fine. I’m talking about the rest of your life.”

  Jeremy frowned. He didn’t need to hear this right now. As soon as he had wrapped for the day, he’d brought the papers to Ramon’s house. He needed a level head, and as tempting as it was, he couldn’t share this news with Vanessa. Anyway, Ramon had been through it all with him. He deserved to share the glory of this moment. But poking at Jeremy’s personal life wasn’t fair. For the first time, Jeremy had something outside of work. Wasn’t that the point?

  “What’s wrong with my life?” he ground out. It wasn’t his house covered in baby furniture, now was it?

  “Nothing. But you did get a cat.”

  Jeremy crossed his arms over his chest. Shark was not the problem here. “I shouldn’t have shown you the damn picture.”

  Ramon chuckled. “He’s cute, for a cat. But you’re telling me you’re on the verge of selling your company, and you adopted a pet who needs to stay home.”

  “Well, yeah.”

  Ramon shook his head again. “Jeremy. You’re on the brink of being able to live anywhere, do anything, and be wealthier than God, and you got yourself a sidekick. That’s what you wanted to do instead of follow the sun around the world?”

  Well, shit. When you put it that way.

  “It’s not a big deal,” he grumbled.

  His friend’s face said otherwise. “I’m not judging you, Jer, and I’m not saying you’re settling. But it does sound like you’re settling down.”

  Was he?

  For the last eight years, Jeremy had given himself to his business with the biggest rewards. America was so good at celebrating its vices: coffee, sex, busyness. Workaholism just happened to be one of the socially accepted sins, and because the reward was money, people practically glorified it. So he worked. And fucked. And if he was lucky, he slept.

  But the other week he’d stood in the animal shelter and realized, for the first time, that he hadn’t planned a life for himself outside of work. What was he going to do when he sold X Enterprises? At least now he’d be able to come home to his cat. And maybe, if he was lucky, to his woman.

  Jeremy rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Dammit. Maybe you’re right.”

  Emilia stirred in her swing, and Ramon reached for her with expert hands. In the space of a few weeks, he’d gone from someone who’d be a dad in theory to an actual parent, someone who knew how to soothe his daughter with just a touch.

  Ramon adjusted his daughter in his arms and looked at Jeremy again. “Tell me again why you got the cat?”

  “I was volunteering at the shelter.”

  “Ah.” Ramon’s face lit. “That woman has you whipped, Jer.”

  Ramon didn’t know the half of it. Sure, Vanessa held Jeremy’s balls in her delicate little hands—and she knew it—but he felt surprisingly okay with that. She’d done so much for everyone else—the woman deserved the power position every now and then. Especially after she’d given him the control last Friday night, her face transforming into pure bliss as she’d come.

  Jeremy had been so hard, so ready to come himself, that he’d had to sneak into the men’s restroom and finish the job. Thank god no one else had stayed late.

  Instead of telling Ramon as much, he shot a teasing look back at his friend. “I wouldn’t have had to agree to the volunteering if my main salesperson on the Yessir account hadn’t bailed on me.”

  Ramon laughed. “Oh please. If you’d have kept Vanessa on instead of firing her in the first place, you wouldn’t be in this mess.” Jeremy groaned, and Ramon continued. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were pretty happy with the whole arrangement.”

  Jeremy was. If only Vanessa wasn’t going to leave the office the minute he connected her with the University job. He was starting to understand the appeal of forced proximity, the way it gave you an excuse to see each other every day. He’d sure as hell taken advantage of it this last week, soaking up every minute he could with Vanessa, including one very memorable hour after everyone else had gone home, with a bullet vibrator and Vanessa spread on his desk like a prize.

  Just thinking about it made the blood in his body run south.

  Jeremy shook himself. This wasn’t the time or the place. His fucking goddaughter was in the room, for chrissakes. But he could at least man up. He flashed Ramon a shit-eating grin. “Yeah, life’s not terrible right now. But if you were me, what would you do?”

  “Well, what do you want?”

  “Everything.” He wanted to take this industry by storm, to throw his success back in his dad’s face. To prove that every decision had been the right one, whether or not he’d followed a traditional path. And he also wanted a life with Vanessa, with someone who wouldn’t let him get away with his shit. With someone who wouldn’t always tell him yes just because he had a pretty face and a fat bankroll. No, he didn’t just want that—he needed it. He needed her. And if he sold X Enterprises, he could have it all.

  Probably.

  But as Ramon cooed to his little girl, a text message from Piers pinged through on Jeremy’s phone.

  There’s a problem. I’ll be in Seattle tomorrow. We need to talk.

  Chapter 43

  Vanessa paced across the kitchen in her bare feet, the tile still cool against her skin in the early morning light. She set the tea kettle to boiling and rummaged through the fridge in search of breakfast.

  Bea’s voice sounded around the corner as the tea kettle started to sing. “Vanessa, is that you?”

  “Nope. Just another hobbit here to eat your baked goods.”

  Frankly, Bea’s baked goods were delicious. Vanessa considered the spread of desserts in her fridge before settling on a tiny cheesecake shaped like a nipple. There was nothing better than when Bea brought leftovers home from the bakery, and as long as you could overlook the cake design, you were in for an indulgent good time. When it came down to it, a nipple cheesecake tasted like a regular cheesecake. In other words, awesome.

  Bea emerged in the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. When she saw Vanessa, she feigned shock. “It is you! I could swear my friend Vanessa told me she was taking a vacation on sex island, but it’s been weeks and she hasn’t come back yet.”

  Vanessa rolled her eyes. She’d hinted to Bea about Jeremy, but only enough to explain away her absences. “Very funny. You really have a way with words, you know that?” She closed the fridge with her hip and took her cake and a fork to the table.

  Bea grinned and followed her. “So it’s true then.”

  It was true. And Vanessa didn’t feel an ounce bad about it. She just hadn’t expected an ambush in her kitchen at six a.m.

  “Dude. All I wanted was a perfectly innocent cup of tea.”

  Bea stuck out her tongue. “I know. But there’s nothing innocent about you anymore, is there?”

  Vanessa chose to ignore that. It wasn’t like she had been a virgin before Jeremy. She just hadn’t exactly hopped into bed with every man who looked her way. It was okay to have standards. And holding out had paid off more than she’d ever expected.

  Being with Jeremy felt like cashing in at the sex casino. With a man who wanted nothing more than her pleasure and who had the stamina and the skill to deliver it? She’d hit the fucking jackpot. Pun intended.

  Vanessa waggled a fork in Bea’s direction. “By the way, Bob gave me more details about the commission. He’s hoping for a thirty-six by thirty-six-inch painting. That’s a big canvas.”

  “That’s a big commission.”

  Vanessa could see Bea counting the dollars in her mind, and she smiled. Her friend deserved it. And for all she could tell, Bob was really serious. He’d texted her last night to ask for Bea’s contact information. As much as she wanted to dislike him, Bob was starting to grow on her. Her mother was another story.

  She t
ook a bite of her cheesecake before she spoke, and the flavors exploded on her tongue—sweet and tangy, creamy and cool. “Speaking of commissions. If I asked you to make me a special cake today, could I pick it up at lunch?” It might be a stretch to drive across town to the bakery on her break, but it would be worth it.

  “Probably. What kind of cake?”

  Vanessa forked another bite of cake into her mouth so she’d have an excuse to mumble. “A lube cake.”

  “A what?”

  “A lube cake. Shaped like a bottle of lube. That’s gotta be pretty easy, right? Like, maybe you could make a rectangle layer cake and just carve the cap or something.” She was babbling, and Bea let her. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

  “Oh, I heard you just fine. Just wanted to make you repeat that.” Bea smiled again. “But yeah, that should be fine. What’s the occasion?”

  “Just a work thing.”

  It was a lie. It wasn’t just a work thing, though maybe it had started out that way weeks ago.

  Vanessa was going to say yes to Jeremy. To dating him seriously. To giving him the part of herself she’d locked away from everyone. She’d realized it when she woke alone this morning, and she’d let it settle into her skin as she’d pulled herself together for the day.

  Last night was the first night in a week she’d spent alone, and instead of feeling like she was coming up for air, she felt starved for oxygen. Being around Jeremy somehow felt like taking a deep breath, like her lungs could expand and her head could clear. He already owned her, whether or not she said the words. She was already his. So why not make it official after all?

  She threw a quick hug around Bea’s neck. “See you at lunch.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’ll try not to burn your cake.”

  “Bea! You’d better come through.”

  Her friend stole a bit of her cheesecake and grinned.

  The rich, sweet smell of butter and sugar almost made Vanessa swoon as she stared down at the pastry box in the X Enterprises break room. She had to hand it to Bea—no matter if her medium was paint or frosting, her friend had talent. Bea had reproduced a bottle of lube as a towering stack of vanilla cake, buttercream, and fondant, complete with the X Enterprises logo and everything. The cake was going to taste as good as it looked. Maybe Jeremy could lick it off Vanessa’s body later tonight. Or she would lick it off of his.

  She blushed, closing the box and returning the cake to the office fridge. This time if Jeremy asked, she’d stay overnight. She’d packed her silk sleep set in her purse just in case.

  Vanessa took the long route back to her desk, swinging by Jeremy’s corner office just to get a glimpse of that gorgeous face. He was her biggest temptation. Her reward for being so very, very good. But instead of smiling back at her, Jeremy glared at a stack of papers on his desk, a phone wedged between his shoulder and his ear.

  “You’re here? Good. I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

  Jeremy stood and shoved a set of car keys in his pocket, walking toward the elevator as if he didn’t see Vanessa standing right there.

  “Hey,” she called after him. “Will you be back later this afternoon?”

  Jeremy turned to her with his mouth a flat line. He lifted a single shoulder, and the muscle in his jaw flexed. “Should be.”

  So he was speaking in single syllables now. Great. Her skin heated and her mouth grew dry, but this time it wasn’t because he’d sparked her into passion. He was dismissing her like they were back at square one.

  Jeremy had been a lot of things with her—arrogant, rude, charming, seductive, kind. But except for in Los Angeles, he’d never been distant. He’d always been right there with her, whether it was to spar or to fuck.

  A hand squeezed her heart as she watched him walk away.

  Who was he meeting? And why was it such a big secret?

  She leaned against Jeremy’s office door to draw a deep breath. It was okay. She would be fine. Jeremy would be back, and she’d give him an answer. She had all the time in the world. She could wait.

  Chapter 44

  “I thought you were taking me someplace good,” Piers grumbled.

  The Loulay—with its French cuisine and its plush, tufted booths—was one of downtown’s hip, more-than-good restaurants, but what Piers meant was that this wasn’t a club with half-naked women hanging all over him.

  Jeremy shot him a glance. “The restaurant is fine. You called me last minute and wanted a meeting. Here we are.”

  Their waiter appeared, and Jeremy was pleased to see he was a male. No women for Piers today. Served the old bastard right.

  Piers ordered a glass of Scotch and soda, drinking faster than caution would advise when it arrived.

  “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” Jeremy drawled, leaning back against the booth. It had better be a damned good reason. He had been so focused on this meeting that he hadn’t realized the collateral damage until it was too late. What had he done, leaving Vanessa in the office like that? He’d make it up to her when this was all over. But he would rather the misstep not have happened in the first place.

  Sometimes he felt like he was doomed to keep messing up with Vanessa. He still hadn’t gotten the hang of balancing his work and his personal life, and his habit for so many years had been to put work first. He realized, with a pang of regret, that following Piers like a puppy eager for treats was just another way of repeating what he’d always done. He needed to do better—no, he would do better—from now on. Vanessa deserved it.

  Piers reached for his phone, pulling up an image on the screen before sliding it across the table to Jeremy.

  Jeremy’s stomach dropped as he stared at the image of himself and Vanessa from the GROW race. The photographer had captured them at the moment before Jeremy had stepped away, and here you could plainly see Jeremy’s hands on Vanessa’s shoulders. In the photograph, he stared at Vanessa like he’d never been so captivated.

  Jeremy’s hands tightened around the phone involuntarily, but he smoothed his face into an impassive mask. “You found a picture of me. From weeks ago.”

  Piers took back the phone and swallowed another mouthful of Scotch. “We’ve got a Google alert set for your name. This picture slipped through the cracks. Didn’t have your name on it, but luckily your mug is pretty darn recognizable.”

  Jeremy stiffened. This was more than a photograph—it was a message. We’re watching you. Do things right. Don’t fuck around with the wrong people.

  Piers was going to keep him under his thumb, the pressure tight enough that Jeremy would constantly rail against it. That two-year transition period? Piers and Amy and the Board at Yessir Unlimited would own him. Jeremy hadn’t crossed the finish line—he was at the start of the damn race. And when it came to warning him about Vanessa, well. Jeremy wasn’t going to allow it. He might like Piers, but he didn’t have to agree with what he was doing now.

  “Piers, cut to it. I assume you didn’t show me this picture because you wanted a referral to my hairdresser.”

  “Kids and one of the leaders of the adult products industry? It’s not smart what you’re doing. And if you sign the contract, anything that reflects on you reflects on us.”

  Frankly, if Piers had any sense, he’d see that Jeremy’s volunteer work only reflected well on X Enterprises. Sure the link between lube and kids was tenuous, but good press was good press. He hadn’t been seeking it out, but still.

  “What I do in my personal time is on me, Piers.”

  Piers drew his mouth in a line and shook his head. “Not anymore, Jeremy. You can’t get distracted.”

  Jeremy clenched his jaw. Ever since Piers had dangled the offer to make an offer in front of him, he had tried to avoid distractions. Hell, he’d fired Vanessa in the first place just to stay focused. But now he was glad he’d been forced to hire her back. Not just because she’d fallen into his life like a piece he hadn’t known he’d been missing, but also because she’d shown him what life could be if he coul
d step away from this business. Having a life wasn’t a distraction—it was a way to get perspective. No person or business could grow if they were trapped in a box.

  And the box that Yessir wanted to force him into? It didn’t fit anymore.

  He wanted a life with Vanessa, and that wasn’t going to happen if Amy and Piers were in the picture, even on the periphery. The last few weeks—the trip to California, those texts from Amy—they were a way for Jeremy to play the game. To get Yessir’s attention and—if he could admit it to himself—to prove that he was worthy of his dad’s attention as well. But all Jeremy had done was make himself a puppet for them. He’d made his own rules up until now, so why had he started playing someone else’s game?

  If being with Vanessa had taught him anything, it was that there were some times it was worth breaking the rules. He didn’t have to please Piers, and he didn’t have to please his father either. Amy and Piers and this whole deal were the real distractions. He knew what he wanted. This offer was keeping it from him now.

  Jeremy stood, throwing down money for his drink. Piers had come to bully him into submission, and it wasn’t going to work. “Thank you again for making me the offer, Piers. But I’m not selling.”

  He had no regret as he watched Piers’s face morph into a mask of fury—just a feeling that this was all inevitable. Like Jeremy had finally accepted something he’d always known to be true. If he changed his mind one day, there would be other chances with other buyers, but this, today, was the right move.

  He sent Vanessa a message as he turned to leave. Wait for me. I have good news. He would finally be able to tell her everything about Yessir. And everything about how he felt.

  He loved this woman, her softness just as much as her edge. The way she challenged him and made him rise up. With her, he was the man he needed to be, whether or not it was the easier path.