Facing Nico’s elegant, perfectly pressed doorman while clad in her sparkly dress and high heels wasn’t so easy. What did Mireille call it? The walk of shame? It certainly felt like it. The doorman, however, greeted her smoothly and whistled for a taxi, as if seeing off women dressed for the night before was all part of a day’s work. A good reminder that she was simply one of those women for Nico.
She showered and changed at home, then jetted downtown. The crowds outside the store stretched for blocks, Lashaunta every bit the draw she’d hoped she would be. Practically jumping up and down with excitement, Chloe watched as the pop singer sang four songs from her new album for the crowd and the shelves began to empty of the limited-edition Be. Her problem, she soon realized, was going to be keeping up with the demand, because the same thing was happening worldwide.
She was practically floating on air by the time she arrived back at the office. She had just enough time to check in with Clara before she sailed into a meeting. Which was a budget meeting that happened to include Nico. The nerves came back like a fast-moving tornado.
Sitting across from her at the large boardroom table full of executives, he looked ridiculously handsome in a dark, pin-striped suit and a crisp white shirt. Her heart tripped over itself as she took a sip of the coffee Clara had thankfully provided. He had one of those inscrutable looks on his face. All business.
She told herself to play it cool. Wrapped her nerves in a reservoir of calm she wasn’t close to feeling. But she couldn’t concentrate on the meeting for the life of her. She kept wondering where she and Nico stood after last night.
After an hour of attempting to pretend he didn’t exist, she weakened near the end of the meeting and allowed herself a glance at him. Found him staring at her, a flash of something in his gray eyes that made her breath catch in her throat.
“Nico?” the CFO prompted. “You on board with that?”
Nico nodded.
“Chloe?”
She stared blindly at the balding executive. “Ah—yes. Definitely.”
“Good. Let’s move on.”
* * *
Nico was in a bit of a mood. He had never, in his life, had a woman walk out on him after a night spent together. There was an etiquette to it—an acknowledgment of how good it had been—a mutual expression of appreciation to be communicated.
Instead, he’d woken to an empty bed. Not a text, not a note. He’d known Chloe had her event today, had planned to drive her home after he’d had her again this morning. And perhaps that was the problem. He’d woken up hard and hungry for her with a need that hadn’t abated, and that was never a good way to start the morning.
He sat back in his chair. Took a slug of his coffee. Considered her across the table. Just to be clear, it had been mind-bendingly good sex. Emotional sex, even. The most intensely involved experience of his life, if he were to be honest. They had been crazy for each other. So where was the clinginess every woman seemed to display the morning after? It didn’t seem to be coming. Instead, Chloe looked cool and aloof. Distant. Did she regret last night?
The meeting drew to a close. Chloe headed for the door. Nico moved fast, stepping into the hallway at the same time she did.
“A minute,” he said softly.
Simone, who’d left the room behind them, stopped to ask him something. Her gaze shifted from Nico to Chloe and back again. Registered the charge in the air. She murmured something about asking him the question later and moved off in the direction of his office.
Nico looked at Chloe. “How did the launch go?”
She leaned back against the wall, eyes on his, her lip caught between her teeth. “It went great. We sold out. Had to restock.”
“Congratulations.” He leaned a palm on the door frame beside her, catching a whiff of her elusive, sexy perfume. “Do you have any idea what budget you just agreed to in there?”
She shook her head. “None.”
“You don’t think that’s a bit irresponsible?”
“I do.” A slow nod. “Forgive me. My mind was elsewhere.”
“Where, exactly?”
“The regions,” she murmured. “I have a call with Europe in minutes.”
A curl of heat unleashed itself inside him. He didn’t believe her for a minute. But he had a meeting, too. “We can talk later, then.”
“Of course.”
It wasn’t until seven o’clock that evening, however, that he had a chance to seek Chloe out, a brutal day of meetings behind him. She was in her office sitting behind her desk, frowning over a report of some kind. Her suit jacket discarded on the back of her chair, she looked gorgeous in a sheer cream silk blouse and a gray pencil skirt that showed off her fabulous legs.
He wanted to unbutton her and consume her whole. But first, he wanted to find out what was wrong with her.
Wary, so wary, were the big brown eyes that landed on his as he shut the door behind him. But there was also a shimmering, dark glitter in her gaze, a sensual awareness that heated his skin.
He walked over to lean against her desk. “What’s going on? And don’t tell me it’s Vivre, because I’m not buying it for a second. I’ve seen the sales reports. They’re astounding.”
She put down her pen. “Nothing’s going on. What do you mean?”
Frustration fizzled up his spine. “Okay,” he murmured, “let’s talk about last night, then. How are you feeling about it? Usually women like to talk about it. I thought you might want to, since you walked out this morning without a word.”
A guarded look crossed her face. “I had to get to my event. I didn’t want to wake you.”
“I was going to drive you there, had you woken me up. You took a damn taxi home, Chloe. That is not all right.”
Her lashes lowered, sweeping her cheeks like miniature black fans. “Last night was amazing, Nico. More than I ever could have imagined. I don’t regret a thing, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
Straightforward, matter-of-fact. Honest. But then again, this was Chloe, and she didn’t play games like other women. She wasn’t like any other woman he’d ever met. Hadn’t he always known that? Wasn’t that what had scared him away in the first place? Everything he wanted to know was right there on her face. In those ebony eyes, which looked terribly uncertain at the moment.
“If that’s the case,” he said quietly, “then why do you look like that?”
“Like what?”
“Like you regret it.”
“I don’t regret it.”
“Chloe,” he growled.
She closed her eyes. Was silent for a long moment before she opened them again. “I am out of my depth,” she said softly. “You took me apart last night, Nico. Split me wide-open. It affected me. You affect me. I was trying to get my equilibrium back.”
The muscles around his heart contracted. He’d known this was going to happen. Known it was going to be a mess. Chloe had never been able to separate her emotions from her head. But neither could he lie to himself and pretend last night had been just about sex, because it hadn’t. What he felt for her had always been more complex than that.
“You don’t think I feel something for you?” he rasped, eyes on the naked vulnerability written across her face. “You don’t think I was affected by last night? You don’t think I’m crazy for you, Chloe? Examine my behavior over the past few weeks and it might give you a clue.”
She stared at him. The muscles in her throat convulsed. “I want to kiss you again,” she whispered. “So badly, I can’t stop thinking about it.”
His blood fired. Pushing her chair back with a foot, he sank his hands into her waist and lifted her onto the desk in a single, fluid movement that pulled a gasp from her throat. “You should get on that,” he said softly, planting his hands on the wood on each side of her thighs. “Although,” he murmured, lowering his head to hers so their breath mingled in a warm, intimate caress, “I’m not sure just a kiss is what I’m looking for.”
Her breath hitched. He waited, un
til she curved her fingers around his nape and brought him the rest of the way. It was all he needed to take her mouth in a hot, greedy kiss that blew his brains out. Cupping his jaw in her palms, she kissed him back, opening her mouth for him as he stroked inside with his tongue. Arched her neck back to take him deep.
He abandoned her mouth to explore the delicate line of her jaw. Traced the throbbing line of her pulse with his tongue. His hands dealt with the pearl buttons on her blouse with ruthless efficiency. Exposed her beautiful, rose-tipped breasts cupped in cream lace.
“Nico,” she murmured huskily. “We are in the office.”
“Everyone’s gone home. I checked.”
One hand on her hip, the other closed around her breast, he bent and licked the tip of one tightly furled nipple. Absorbed the low moan that raked through her. Played her, teased her, until she pushed into his hand and demanded more. Cupping her firmly, he took her deep into the heat of his mouth. Rolled the straining, taut nub over his tongue. Between his teeth. She was so lush and perfect, so responsive to his touch, she lit his blood on fire.
He transferred his attention to her other nipple. Swirled his tongue around the hard peak as he plumped her other breast in his palm. “I need to have you,” he whispered against her ear.
Dragging her closer with the hand he held at her hip, he pushed her skirt up her thighs until he exposed her cream lace panties. They were so sexy against her coffee-colored skin, the blood thundered in his veins.
“Nico,” she breathed. “We can’t do this here.”
“Yes, we can.” He stepped between her thighs. Cupped her knee. Gentled her mouth with his. “Let me touch you, please you,” he murmured against her mouth. “I need to have you.”
Her knees fell apart. She watched him with big, hot eyes as he cupped her damp warmth with his palm. Inhaled the musky smell of her desire. “Dio, what you do to me,” he breathed. “You make me lose my mind.”
Pulling her panties aside, he ran a finger down her desire-swollen folds. Caressed her with leisurely strokes. Her eyes darkened to twin ebony pools.
“Nico,” she breathed.
He circled his finger at the slick entrance to her body. Pushed in gentle demand. She was silky and exquisitely tight. He eased inside her, waited while she adjusted to his touch.
“Please.” She fixed her gaze on his.
He moved his finger in and out of her in a slow, sweet rhythm that had her moving to meet him with greedy movements of her hips. Pressing a kiss to the ultra-sensitive skin below her ear, he filled her again and again. Felt the tiny tremors that moved through her.
“Nico.” She pressed against him in a sinuous movement.
He set his lips to her temple. “You want to come for me, baby?”
“Please.”
He rubbed his thumb against her while he filled her with two fingers. Parted them inside her to caress her intimately. To ready her for his possession because he was like steel beneath his pants and she was small and delicate and he wanted her with a craving he’d never felt before—a voracious need that threatened to consume him.
“Nico,” she begged, sinking her fingernails into his shoulders.
Wild for her, utterly unhinged, he reached for the button of his trousers, undid it and pushed his zipper down. Pulling her to the edge of the desk, he slid one hand beneath her hip, palmed his hard, hot flesh with the other and slotted himself against her velvet heat. The sensation of her silken flesh cradling him was indescribable.
He let out an oath. Chloe pulled back to look at him.
“A condom,” he gritted out.
“I’m protected,” she murmured. “It’s fine.”
He pushed inside, her tissues like liquid fire around him—squeezing him, stroking his length. His mouth at her ear, he told her how much she affected him, how much he wanted her, how much he’d always wanted her. She arched her hips, took him deep, until he was buried to the hilt. Seated inside her, sharing the ultimate intimacy, he held her gaze as he withdrew completely, then pushed back in, a mind-blowing, staggering penetration that made his heart beat like a drum.
“Nico.” Her passion-filled gaze rested on his, dark, luminous, irresistible.
“You make me break all my rules,” he rasped. “Every damn one.”
He took her mouth in a hot, hungry kiss. Knew in that moment that one more taste of her had been his undoing. That now that he’d let himself have her, he wouldn’t be able to stop. But he was too far gone to care.
Grasping her hips tighter, he thrust inside her with a power that made her gasp, until they came together in a release that shook him to his core.
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHLOE WAS SO EXCITED, she could hardly contain herself.
Checking her appearance in the mirror for what might have been the fifth time, she convinced herself her short fiery-red dress, made of some rich, satiny material that showed a different depth of color every time she moved, was not, in fact, too short, her makeup—subtle but smoky—was unsmudged and the sleek hairstyle she’d chosen to match the sophisticated dress still in place.
She looked the same as she had five minutes ago. But maybe the dress was too short.
Oh, for heaven’s sake. She spun away from the mirror with a disgusted sound and rummaged for her evening bag in the drawer. Perhaps it was the leftover adrenaline from the Soar launch with Eddie today that was making her jumpy. It had been amazing, frenetic, every TV camera in town out for it. Or maybe, she conceded, stomach clenching with nerves, it was the fact that Nico was back from Europe tonight, she hadn’t seen him for a week and he was escorting her to Eddie’s Score movie premiere.
She shoved a lip gloss and her phone into her bag, along with her keys. It could also have been the very sexy phone conversation she and Nico had shared last night when he’d gotten back to his hotel room that had left her skin crawling with anticipation. Or the way they’d gorged on each other for the two weeks before he’d left, Nico seeking her out in the lab or in her office each night, as if he couldn’t resist the pull between them any more than she could.
She was falling for him—truly, madly, deeply—an unchecked spiral she knew wasn’t wise. If she were smart, she acknowledged, pulling high black heels from her closet, she would be keeping her emotions out of this. Sticking to the deal she’d made with Nico, with herself, of a no-strings-attached fling. But she was sure he felt something more for her, too. Something deeper. Felt it every time he touched her. She thought he was hiding behind his walls—that it was going to take him time to trust how he felt.
And maybe, she conceded, sliding the heels on, that was simply the rosy view she chose to paint for herself. Maybe it had nothing to do with reality.
And maybe, she concluded, stomach sliding out from beneath her, she needed to get her head together. That appeared to be a top priority.
Snatching up her bag, she went downstairs and pulled a warm wrap from the closet. Was digging through her bag to make sure she’d thrown in the right lip gloss to match the vibrant dress when the doorbell rang.
Her heart beat a jagged rhythm. Setting the bag on the entryway table, she rubbed damp palms against her thighs and pulled in a steadying breath. Attempted to manage some sort of composure as she undid the two dead bolts her father had installed on the door.
All of it, unfortunately, flew out of her head as she swung the door open to find Nico leaning against the brick wall of the entrance in black jeans, a white shirt and a blazer.
God, she loved him in jeans. There wasn’t a man on the planet who looked better in denim, all long legs, lean hips and raw masculinity. And then there were the muscles bulging beneath the hip tailored jacket—those powerful, corded arms she’d learned he needed only one of which to hold her in extremely creative positions.
Good heavens, Chloe. She dragged her gaze up to his. Registered the amusement glittering in his gray eyes.
“Hold that thought,” he murmured. “Unless you’d like to skip the movie. I’m more than up
for that.”
Her stomach did a flip at that very tempting idea. But she shook her head with a smile. “Not a chance.”
She’d never attended a premiere before, and this one was slated to be extremely glamorous with Hollywood’s biggest stars set to shine. Not to mention the fact that Soar was going to be everywhere: in the Evolution refreshing stations at the after-party, in the gift bags for attendees, not to mention the fact that Eddie would be wearing it. She didn’t plan on missing a minute.
“Bene.” He walked past her into the hallway and shut the door. She turned to face him, heart thumping like a drum. Snaking an arm around her waist, he tugged her to him, one hand landing on her hip, the other at her jaw. Nudging her up on tiptoes with the hand he held at her bottom, he brought his head down to hers.
“I like this,” he murmured, sliding a hand over her silk-covered bottom. “It’s very sexy. I’m going to enjoy taking it off you.”
She couldn’t answer because she was pretty much panting for him to kiss her, the brush of his lips against hers igniting a thousand tiny lightning strikes in her blood. Then he did, claiming her mouth in a deep, slow kiss that melted her bones, a sensual tasting that seemed to last a lifetime. Powerless to resist, she wound her arms around his neck and surrendered.
She felt his smile against her mouth as he ended the kiss oh-so-languidly and let her feet slide to the ground. When she might have slithered right to the floor, he held her up with the hand he had at her bottom.
“That was wholly unfair,” she whispered, eyes on his.
“Say the word and we stay in.”
She pressed a kiss to the hard line of his mouth. “Hold that thought.”
He gave her a look that said he’d rather not. Chloe’s mouth curved in a smile as he escorted her to his car and spirited them the short distance to the Museum of Modern Art in midtown Manhattan, where the premiere was being held.
The red carpet shimmered in the spotlight as they arrived at the entrance to the impressive modern building, its entire exterior facade a wall of gleaming glass. The crowd that had gathered to watch the arrival of the stars was dozens deep.
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