I take another sip of my beer and nearly choke on it. Lying on a chaise in the smallest bikini I’ve ever seen is Cora. What the fuck? Am I so taken with her that I’m hallucinating now?
Pulling out my phone, I tap out a text to Jack.
J ust saw Cora from my balcony.
A few seconds go by before I see the little typing icon.
I set her up with an apartment in your building while she’s here, so you’ll see her around. I should have mentioned it.
P erfect . She’ll be at the office. She’ll be here. There’s nowhere in my immediate life that won’t be touched by her. Touched by her, God I wish. I can’t take my eyes off her, the red fabric of the bikini leaving so very little to my imagination, and I am using my imagination. She’s even hotter than I thought under that dress, and now I’m hard again. Fuck.
I put my beer down and go inside. Enough is enough. I’m barely through the door into my bedroom when my cock is in my hand. I’m hard enough that this could be over in seconds, but I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep being overwhelmed just by the sight of her, and so I’m going to take my time. To get her out of my system once and for all. Just this one time, I’ll give in.
My clothes hit the floor and I’m seeing her laying by the pool again, all tan skin and red curls. If we were alone out there by that pool, I’d start at her legs. Just look at them, run my fingers along them, see how they felt under my hands and on my lips. My muscles tense as I control myself, stroking slowly. I refuse to go too quickly—I have to make it last.
I’d work my way up her body, but I’d skip ahead. I want to undo that tiny top with my teeth and throw it off the building. I want to see what color her nipples are and how they’d harden under my touch. I want to suck them deep into my mouth and hear her moan. I’d tease her until she was panting, ready to come from just my attention to those gorgeous tits. She’d be begging for me to touch her there, to move on, since I saved the best for last.
I wouldn’t take that bottom off. Not at first. No, I’d touch her through the fabric. I want to see how wet she’s made that skimpy piece of cloth and see how she reacts to its friction under my fingers. My hand starts to move faster, I can’t stop it. The scene in my head is taking on a life of its own like I’m no longer dictating my own fantasy.
Cora guides my fingers around the fabric and I feel that delicious wet heat as I sink my fingers inside her. She arches her back, breath going short as I work her up to the edge, but I won’t send her over. No, not yet. The first time I make her come I’m going to be deep inside her.
She wiggles the bathing suit off her hips, and I’m mesmerized. Her pussy is wet and pink and begging for me to bury myself in it. I can imagine what I’d say to her. I’d tell her how badly I want a taste, and after I make her come with my cock, I’m going to do it with my mouth. And then maybe my cock again.
God, this feels so good, and I’m so close. I squeeze down harder on my cock, stroke faster, my hand straining. I imagine sinking my cock inside her and watching her eyes go dark with lust. Groaning as I’m enveloped by her heat. I can’t even breathe; I’m so close. Cora. God. Fuck.
My cell phone rings shrilly in the silence and I can suddenly hear how hard I’m breathing. The spell is broken and I lose momentum. It’s okay. I ignore it. Pleasure builds at the base of my spine again and I focus on that final image: my cock buried deep inside Cora’s pussy, seeing it filled up with me and hearing her call my name.
The phone rings again, and again I lose how close I am to coming.
“Fuck.” I stalk into the living room, completely naked and cock still standing at attention to retrieve my phone where I left it. Jack’s name is on the screen. “What?” I practically growl.
The amusement in his voice makes me want to throw the phone. “Did I interrupt something?”
“Yes, actually.” And you’d kill me if you knew what.
Jack laughs like he knows that he’s caught me with my dick in my hand. “Sorry,” he says, even though it’s obvious that he’s not. “Need you to haul ass to the bar.”
I sigh. “I just got home, Jack. Can it wait?”
“Unfortunately, no. I’m at the Silver Spoon. I’ve got some guys in from New York with Jefferson Tech—they’ve got some great ideas for us and might be willing to help finance them, but they want to meet you. You’re the brains of this thing after all.”
My stomach sinks. “You took a meeting with potential investors without telling me?”
“I was planning to, Michael. They were supposed to come next month, but they came out here for something else and suggested we get drinks, so I couldn’t refuse. They’ll be back again next month.”
I don’t say anything. I’m still hard as a rock and barely thinking straight. The last thing I want to do is go meet a bunch of business people right now. Especially since Jack and I are clearly not on the same page about some things. “Look, I don’t think I’m up for that right now. Show them a good time, and I’ll be better prepared to talk to them when they come back to town next month.”
“Michael,” he says, and I recognize the tone. He’s not going to let this slide, and I can practically hear him seething over the phone. “I don’t care if you’re up to it. This is our business, and I need you to get your ass down here now .”
I sigh. “Jack—”
“This is not something that’s negotiable. Be here in ten minutes.”
The line goes dead and I have to lock down my entire body in order to not throw the phone across the room. Somewhere in the last six months our communication has degraded. We need to sit down and talk all of this out, because if we don’t agree on where Tailor Me is headed, we’re going to sink the business by trying to pull it in two different directions. In order to have that sit down, I need Jack to be speaking to me. That means I have to get myself to that bar. I don’t even have time to shower, and I don’t have enough time to finish.
Few things are worse than masturbating and getting that close without being able to finish. I’m going to be on edge all night, jumpy because my body is still waiting for the release that never came.
At least Cora won’t be there so I won’t be fighting yet another hard-on while I talk to these New York guys. Small favors. I file away my fantasy to finish later. I said I’d only do it once, but I was robbed. I need to do it once and finish .
Sighing, I glance out the window to see if she’s still there. The chaise where she was tanning is empty, and I don’t see any sign of her around the pool. Probably for the best. Let’s get this over with.
3
T he Silver Spoon has been one of Jack’s favorite places for as long as I can remember. It’s an upscale tavern that marries classic Texan charm with a sleek twenties sensibility. I like it, but I prefer my bars with a little more natural character.
I see Jack immediately when I walk in. He’s a good head taller than most men, and he’s towering toward the back of the bar. From the looks of it, the group is mingling around a table. Four men are in conversation and laughing, and I can see from here that the suits they’re wearing cost money. When you’re in this line of business you learn how to evaluate someone’s clothing quickly, and what they’re saying is “money.”
I put on my business mask and approach the table. “Jack,” I say, giving him a heads up.
He nods at me. “Gentlemen, I’d like you to meet Michael Foster, my business partner.”
They each shake my hand in turn, and now that I’m closer, I’d be surprised if any one of them had hit thirty yet. Their names slip in and out just as quickly. It might seem callous, but I don’t plan on getting to know these men that well.
“So, Michael,” one of them says to me when introductions have finished, “Jack here has been telling us all about these new ideas you have for the company expansion into different markets.”
“Has he?”
“Yes,” he continues, missing my sarcasm. “We’re very excited about some of the possibilities that would all
ow you to break out and compete with companies like Takedown.”
I press my lips into a line. “If you look at the numbers, I think you’ll see that they’re expanding so that they can compete with us .”
His eyes narrow a little. “All the same, you can’t stay on top of the pack if you don’t change, and we’d be excited to help you with that.”
“Well, I’d be happy to talk about that with you, but I think I need a drink first.” I laugh a little, a trick I use to put them at ease, and they laugh with me right on cue. “Jack, can I speak to you for a moment while I order?”
“Certainly.”
We take the few steps over to the bar, and I flag down the bartender who’s at the other end serving someone. He gives me a nod to indicate he’ll be with me shortly. “What are we doing here, Jack?”
“What do you mean? I told you.”
I lean my elbow on the bar, making a point to look casual so Jack’s companions won’t see any tension if they happen to glance over. “Yes, you told me. But I don’t understand. This morning you said you wanted to evaluate Takedown’s strategies, and now you’re talking to investors and pitching ideas without consulting me.”
Jack rolls his eyes. “You’re being dramatic. I have a plan; you just have to trust me.”
“We didn’t build this company just trusting each other. Everything was planned and explored. We’re in too deep to fly off on whims. We need to talk and evaluate. That’s how we do things.”
I don’t miss the way his left hand tightens into a fist. He’s irritated. “Don’t you see what a huge opportunity this is? We could expand in the way we need to without spending our own capital.”
“And we’d also be beholden to them. Jack, we need to have a discussion about these expansions and why you think we need them.”
He waves a dismissive hand. “Of course, of course. We can do that later this week. But tonight’s not about that. Tonight’s about showing them a good time, telling them what they want to hear, and make sure they’re willing to write as many checks as we ask them to, for whatever we ask them to.”
The bartender appears and I order a shot of whiskey.
“And to that end,” Jack grins, nodding behind me, “my night just got easier.”
I turn, and impossibly my stomach leaps and drops at the same time. Cora just walked in the door, wearing a dress that’s even more gorgeous and maddening than the one she was wearing at the office. Black and flowing, the neckline plunges low, making it clear that she’s not wearing a bra, and my cock rages back to life. Her red hair falls around her face in waves, and suddenly I’m imagining it spread out on a pillow as she writhes beneath me. Damn it. She wasn’t supposed to be here. Any more of this and I’m going to spontaneously combust.
“She’s my secret weapon,” Jack says conspiratorially and watches Cora as she walks across the room, nods to the two of us, and introduces herself to the men at the table.
The back of her dress plunges even lower than the front, and damn , that’s the only word my brain has for it. Within seconds she’s smiling and laughing with the guys, and I find my fingers gripping the edge of the bar to the point of pain.
“I lucked out when she contacted me, didn’t I?” Jack says, “We get free arm candy for three months while she’s here. Business dinners will never be so easy, and since she’s my daughter, they’d never think of mistreating her. As long as I get her back in the morning, right?”
“Are you serious?” I think I might throw-up. He brought her here to seduce these men, to use her to grease their palms so they’ll be willing to make a deal with him. Whatever deal that might be.
Jack gives me a long look. “You use whatever you need to, and we need this.”
“No, I don’t think that we do.” I grab the shot glass off the bar and pound it back, the whiskey burning my throat. I walk away from the bar, away from Jack and Cora and the group of New Yorkers. I know I can’t leave, but I can’t be here just now. I need a second to regroup. The hallway in the back of the bar that leads to the restrooms is long, and I know I’ll have a little bit of privacy while I try to fight off my anger and get the mask back in place.
I don’t know what I’m more furious about: that Jack is using his own daughter to further our business or the fact that watching his daughter flirt with these men makes me see red. I don’t know what it is about Cora that sets me off. I’ve never encountered a woman that made me feel this way before, especially one that I’ve known for such a short time. But I couldn’t even look at her with them. I saw her smile and laugh, and all I want is for that smile and laugh to be directed at me.
It’s ridiculous. I don’t have some caveman type claim on her. She’s free to do whatever she wants. But if Jack is telling her to sleep with potential investors, does she really want that? Does she feel like she has to because their relationship is new and she wants to do well with him and at the company? The idea that she might feel pressured into sex by her own father makes me feel even more rage. I’ve known Jack a long time, and he’s one of my closest friends, but I know for a fact that if I walked out of this hallway at this moment I would punch him in the face.
I sit down on a small bench and run a hand through my hair. I’ve got to get out of here. I have to; it’s too much.
“Michael?” Cora rounds the corner, and I spring to my feet. “We’re missing your company. What are you doing?”
“I don’t think I’d be very pleasant company at the moment,” I say, schooling my features. The heels she’s wearing make her just a little taller, which means her face is that much closer to mine as she approaches. And approach she does, taking each step deliberately. It’s easy to see the sensuality she’s putting into every movement. It puts a bitter taste in my mouth. “I know why your father brought you here, and that’s not for me. I would never want or ask you to do that.”
She smirks. “Yes, that is why he brought me here. Thankfully, my father doesn’t control what I do. And I’m not sure it’s any of your business.”
My chest feels tight because of how close she is. I could reach out and touch her. Kiss her, just like I’ve been thinking about all day. I pray to God she doesn’t look down because after everything today, I can’t control myself anymore. I’m hard, and I’ll probably have to fix this problem in the bathroom before I come back out in front of people. “It is literally my business,” I say. “What you’re doing affects that, and I don’t want anything to do with it.”
Cora takes another step closer. “Do I seem like the kind of girl who would do that?” She doesn’t sound angry or offended, just curious, and that step closer lets me get a hint of her perfume. Jasmine. Dear God, I think I’m going to explode.
“I don’t know what kind of girl you are,” I say. “I barely know you.”
“You want to know me better though.” Her voice drops, low and sultry. “And I want to know you better. I didn’t come here tonight for them.”
She reaches out like she’s going to touch me, and I grab her hand, stopping it. If she touches me, I won’t have any control left. “That’s not a good idea.”
She smiles, and I know the roughness in my voice is betraying me. I’ve faced down some of the toughest men with ease, and this woman is undoing me with the possibility of a single touch. “Maybe I’ll decide what a good idea is, Mr. Foster . You don’t control me any more than my father does.” I’m still holding her wrist, and I can feel her pulse beating fast under my fingers. “Besides, why would you care if I sleep with one of those suits? Your company only benefits from this, right?”
I grit my teeth. I’m not going to get into this. I can’t. “No. I don’t want to see you do that.”
“Why not?” She presses forward until our bodies are almost touching, looking up at me, daring me to rise to her challenge.
There’s no denying this heat between us, the way it’s spiraled out of control. She knows what she’s doing to me, and I can’t hold myself back from saying it. “Because seeing you flir
t with them makes me angry in a way I can barely explain.”
“So maybe this,” she glances to my hand, wrapped around her wrist, “is a good idea after all.”
“It’s not. You know it’s not.”
Her eyes are all fire. “It is.”
I drop her hand and take a swift step back, the frustration of the day boiling up and over. “Why are you doing this, Cora? You shouldn’t be. You know, maybe have a little respect for me and the positions that we’re both in right now. For the next three months I’m your boss, so even though we’re not at work, my word is final.”
Cora’s breath hitches in her chest and her eyes widen, but that’s not fear I’m seeing. It’s excitement. That seductive smile she has appears, and she closes the gap between us, pushing me back against the wall and pressing her body against mine. Fuck , I can feel her every curve. Her breasts are pressed into my chest and I can feel how hard her nipples are, and there’s no way she doesn’t feel my cock. She moves, rolling herself down with a slow arch of her back and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from groaning.
“If you think what I’m doing is wrong, then you should punish me,” she says softly, her face inches from mine.
My entire body goes still, processing her words before my mind does. And then I see it, her words spinning into images in my head, of all the ways I could punish her with pain or pleasure that would satisfy us both.
She tilts her face up to mine, and her voice is barely a whisper. “Punish me.”
My control snaps. I pull her closer to me, so that while we were touching before, we’re glued together now. “That’s what you want?” I don’t give her a chance to respond. I pull her across the hallway to that little bench and suddenly she’s over my lap. Anyone could come around the corner and see us in this position, but after today, I can’t even bring myself to care.
Dating My Friend's Daughter Page 2