Footsteps rushed toward the other side of the door, the latch drew back, and Luna appeared, breathless, makeup free and clad in yoga pants and a loose shirt.
Wrong on all counts.
“Oh!” Luna tugged on the hem of her shirt. She looked down at her bare feet. “Oh, I wasn’t expecting you, Mr. Drake.”
Mr. Drake? Keeping it formal post-kiss, apparently. She’d already been calling me Corban for days. She’d put up brick walls I was unlikely to push through.
“I – uh, wasn’t expecting anyone, actually. I finished my appointments for the day. Please, come in,” Luna said, and her gaze latched onto the journal.
I handed it to her. “I’ve been meaning to give this back to you. I would’ve brought your skirt too, but it was pretty messed up. I don’t think you’d have been able to fix it. I hope that’s okay.”
“Thanks.” She took the journal from me and ran her hand over the cover. “I knew I’d lost this.” She didn’t add a qualifier onto the end of that sentence.
“I hoped to get my suit jacket back. Is that a possibility? It’s one of my favorites. My lucky suit, actually. I closed my first billion dollar deal wearing it.” I lifted the corner of my lip in a practiced Indiana Jones smile – he’d been my hero as a kid. I’d seriously considered forgoing the corporate world to become an ass-kicking archaeologist until I found out that archaeologists didn’t get that many opportunities to kick ass.
“Of course,” Luna said. “How forgetful of me. I – it’s at the dry cleaners. I’ll send it over to your office once I get it back. Is that okay?”
My tongue felt thick in my mouth. “Sure.”
We both went quiet, and I searched for a topic to segue into the next portion of this afternoon’s events – namely, the apology.
“I – would you like something to drink? A cup of coffee, maybe?” Luna asked and walked through an open arch to the left and to a spacious living room.
I followed her through, unable to resist a glance at her toned ass. Yoga pants. I’d have to add them to my list of desirable female attire.
She turned, and I averted my gaze. “Pardon?”
She smiled, facing me again. “A cup of coffee? Tea?”
“Uh, actually…” I rubbed the back of my neck with my hand, “I thought we could head out and have a glass of wine. Maybe some appetizers. You know, go over the details for the event. That kind of thing.”
Luna hugged her journal to her breasts. “Yeah, that would be great. Just give me a few minutes to get changed?”
She made to leave, and I grabbed her by the forearm. The skin on skin contact shocked me a little – silky soft, fine hairs. “Wait a second, Luna.”
“Okay,” she breathed and blinked up at me from underneath long lashes. I could get lost in the depths of her eyes.
“I owe you an apology for yesterday.” I let go of her. Touching her for too long would ultimately lead to an embarrassing situation, and I needed her to know this apology was from the heart. It wasn’t lip service.
“An apology,” she licked her bottom lip, and I was hypnotized by the movement, “ah, it’s okay. I guess most guys don’t know that much about flowers.”
“What?”
“You know. You wanted to use roses? And I said no? I accept your apology for even suggesting it.” She broke the tension with a radiant grin.
God, it made me want to kiss her all over again. “I’m serious.”
“So am I. Roses are the whores of the flower world.”
“Remind me never to buy you roses,” I muttered.
Her eyes widened, and she shifted from one foot to the other. “Wha – why would you–?”
“No, I – shit, this isn’t coming out right.” I squared my shoulders and took control of the situation. “I’m apologizing for kissing you. I know that must’ve made you uncomfortable, and it wasn’t my place to do that. Unprofessional and unwarranted. It’s just that the moment was made up of too much… perfection.”
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry, Luna.” That had to suffice. And if it didn’t, I’d find another way to make it up to her. Several counterintuitive ideas cropped up in my mind, and I squashed them down before they woke the beast below.
“You’re sorry,” she said.
“Yeah, I hope you can forgive me, and we can move past this. I really need this event to go off without a hitch, and I know you’re the woman to get that done.”
Her lips wriggled in place. She worked her jaw, drew in a breath, then bobbed her head up and down, once. “Yeah. We can move past it. Of course.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah. Okay. Fine. I’m going upstairs to get changed, all right?” She backed out of the living room and knocked into a cabinet beside the exit. Glasses rattled inside it.
“Sure,” I said, hiding my grin.
Luna swept out of sight, taking the intoxicating coconut smell with her.
I’d fucked that up somehow. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach. Her reaction hadn’t been what I expected. She hadn’t even cracked a smile.
“Well done, dumbass,” I muttered. What did you expect? For her to throw herself at you, bitch you out about unfinished business all the while ripping her clothes off and asking you to fuck her.
I circled the coffee table and drifted toward the mantelpiece where several picture frames sat on the polished top. One of Luna in a modeling shoot, blowing a kiss that put the model from the Kiss Boutique to shame. Another on a beach, her in a bikini, tastefully shot with a sarong and the shadow of a palm tree dancing across the sand. Her body blew me away. Even after the incident in my office, I hadn’t been able to look my fill, so I stared at the bikini shot, mentally cataloging every nuance of her shape for later.
And then one of–
“What?” I muttered and snatched up the frame. “No way.”
Luna stood side-by-side with Ralph Lauren, both grinning at the camera. What on earth had Miss Faye done to wind up in a picture with him? In my gut, I knew it all had something to do with her past and this damn mansion I stood inside. With trembling hands, I put the picture back where I found it but gazed at the image as if doing so would cause Ralph to speak and ease my confusion with his version of the truth.
It must’ve been taken years ago. In it, Luna was fresh-faced, cheeks padded with baby fat. She was lovely, but she’d matured into a stunning vision of feminine beauty.
Evidence of Luna’s achievements screamed at me from every corner of the room. A framed degree on the wall. Modeling pictures. And even what looked like a tribal shield that must signify international travel.
I took every new find like a punch to the gut. They drove the point home, again and again.
You’re falling for her, dumbass. You’re falling for her. And obviously, you don’t deserve her.
One kiss and a few days of working together, and she had me wrapped around her finger. What was worse, she didn’t even know it. Because she didn’t know that a hard-hearted workaholic like me never fell. I turned away from the pictures and accolades and looked out over the peaceful garden to the sleek car waiting outside. Lou was right.
It’d been a damn long time since I felt anything for anyone.
The last time had been a girlfriend in college, but that relationship had blown up when I found her screwing one of my buddies in my own dorm room. The funniest part? I’d had a ring in my pocket – my great-grandmother’s engagement ring to be exact. My father had gifted it to me, but he told me to give it to the right woman. I still had it.
My great-grandmother hadn’t carried the ring across oceans and land so that it could wind up on the finger of some hussy. The antique diamond sparkler sat in the bottom of my sock drawer and had since I’d left for Japan years ago.
Ross thought I’d initially taken the position in Japan to avoid my ex, Natalie, but the truth was, I’d taken it to avoid myself. I lost myself in work out there and become this person.
A man who wore suits eighteen hours a day an
d spoke in professional, clipped tones. I was a carbon copy of every corporate climber out there, but it hadn’t bothered me one bit until now. I didn’t want to be just another corporate suit to Luna. I wanted and needed to be a man. Her man.
I wanted everything, and it scared the living bejesus out of me.
“I’m ready,” she said from the doorway.
I jolted and looked at her, then lost my breath all over again.
She’d slipped into a cocktail dress. “What?” she asked and touched her silky smooth hair. She spun on the spot and showed off the backless portion. “Is it too much?” The slow turn killed me.
“You look – I mean, yeah. Wow. Great. Not too much. No.” I slammed my mouth to stop the babbling.
“You sound like a robot.” She laughed, and the mirth tinkled in my ears. “Are you sure this is okay? You were already wearing a suit, and I didn’t want to embarrass you by looking like some ragamuffin.”
“It’s – whoo…” I was trying to ease her distress and blinked, I hadn’t meant to make that noise. “It’s perfect. You look great, and I know just where to take you. I’ve got a car waiting outside if you want to head out?”
“Ready when you are,” Luna said.
I hadn’t been ready until that moment.
Chapter 11: Luna
The lounge hummed with jazz music and the laughter of the patrons – young go-getters letting their hair down after a long day at work. Men and women alike wore their suits like badges of honor. I loved the fact that my date looked like a powerful executive. One hundred and fifty percent, full-bodied and glorious male clad in merino wool like a holiday present. If only I could unwrap it.
I leaned back against the cushy chair in our booth, then lifted my glass from the table. I’d chosen merlot for the evening, though, man, I’d been tempted by the long list of cocktails. I always wanted to try something like a Sex on the Beach or a Blowjob, but I’d never worked up the courage to ask. My cheeks flushed scarlet at just the thought of saying those names out loud. Whenever I tried to articulate my passion, Thorn told me to shut up and act like a lady. Right before he stuffed his dick in my mouth.
“This place does the best tapas you’ll ever eat,” Corban said over the music, breaking the ugly memories of my ex-fiancé.
“Oh, yeah?” I shouted.
His eyebrows did a weird, wriggly dance, and he pushed his beer over to my side of the table. He scooted along the chair and around to me, then stopped just short, his leg inches from mine. Damn. I wished he’d close the gap.
I pulled the same move in that Borough restaurant, though I hadn’t dreamed it’d end in a kiss at the time. Ugh, I didn’t want to contemplate that damn kiss. He’d apologized for it. The last thing I wanted from Corban Drake’s lips was, “I’m sorry.”
I’d have settled for a follow-up make-out session. It was like he had some electromagnetic pull from his body to mine. Without thinking, I just kind of drifted ever closer.
“We should get some,” Corban said.
Oh, how I’d like to get some.
I jumped and met his gaze. I’d been totally lost in my thoughts about the man right beside me. “Get some what?”
“Tapas,” he replied with that sexy half-smile.
“Yeah, great, let’s do that.”
He was close enough to kiss again, and I broke the connection between us and opted for a sip of wine instead. Corban had ruined our experience yesterday by apologizing for it. Now that I knew he didn’t want me and was only interested in nailing his marketing strategy for Kiss Boutique, I had to work hard to push that image from my mind. There wouldn’t be a repeat. It had to stay all business.
Maybe I’d raised my hopes too high. After that kiss, my mind had gone into overdrive contemplating the possibility that this guy might be worth it. He might actually like me for me, since he’d seen the good and the bad, and the naked after that fiasco in his office.
The apology changed everything.
“Are you excited about the event?” I asked and put down my glass. “If we pull it off, it’ll be a big step up for you.”
“Hell yeah, I’m excited,” Corban replied. “I’ve spent too much time treading water in Global Marketing. I blame – nah, never mind. It’ll sound ridiculous if I bring it up.”
“No way.” I leaned in to give him my ear. “Tell me.”
“You’ll think I’m a big headed prick if I tell you.”
I tried hard not to grin. “Who says I don’t think that already?”
“Touché.” He chuckled and swigged his beer. I watched his full lips wrap around the neck of the bottle and then his throat as he swallowed. I longed to nuzzle into his neck to smell him again. “All right. I trust you not to take this the wrong way.”
Now, he had my full attention.
“I’ve always gotten the feeling that people judge me based on how I look on the outside, rather than how I perform in the office, if you know what I mean.”
“You’re too hot for corporate,” I said immediately.
“Basically,” he said and knuckled his forehead. “See? I’m a vain ass.”
I rested a hand on his forearm. “No, you’re not. And I understand exactly where you’re coming from. I’ve encountered the same thing in my business. People assume that this…” I gestured to my face, “is all I have going for me. They treat me like an idiot most of the time. I graduated from the Carlson School of Management. With honors.”
Corban nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I mean. It’s like you can’t have the best of both worlds. You can’t be pretty and smart and nice. You’ve got to be one or the other. I just got interviewed for some bullshit article about the most eligible bachelors in the Twin Cities. As if I wasn’t already a big enough target for gold diggers and clingers.”
“Right,” I said, not sure what else to say about the gold digger remark. Was that what was causing his withdrawal from me? Did he have an inkling about my bleak financial situation? No. Larissa and Ross would never betray me like that. It must have just been an offhand comment. “And it wouldn’t bother me so much if it didn’t literally affect the quality of clientele I draw to my business. People are quick to judge based on what they see. And when it comes to the event planning business, that’s a huge problem.”
“Explain.” Corban shifted his craft beer onto a coaster.
“When I interview a new client, I get one chance to impress. If they’re fixated on how I look or their initial opinion of me, say that I’m a bimbo, for instance, I lose all leverage. They cut the meeting short, and I never hear from them again. And in my business, one client lost counts as two, since I rely on referrals for the most part.”
“Right, you host a great party, and they tell Marge and Bill who’re looking to get married next.”
“Exactly,” I said. “That’s exactly right. But I guess it’s idiocy to whine about it. I know Larissa would whack me on the back of the head and tell me to get a grip, and she’d kill to have my body or face.” I spoke from experience there. My bestie had done exactly that on multiple occasions.
Corban’s eyes dropped to my lips. “Don’t take that to heart.”
“I take everything Larissa says to heart because she means everything she says,” I replied. “And she means everything to me. She’s one of those people who doesn’t just call a spade a spade. She picks it up and hits you over the head with it. The spade is truth, by the way.”
Corban burst out laughing, and a little beer squirted over his bottom lip.
My wild side urged me to lick the fluid off his chin and heat up the evening. I ignored wine-drinking Luna where gaffs reigned supreme and stayed in the present. “Anyway, I didn’t mean to make this all about me. I really want this event to go off without a hitch. You deserve a promotion. Larissa told me how long you stayed in Japan for the sake of the company.”
Corban dabbed his lip and chin with a napkin. “Yeah, I missed their wedding. They’ll never let me live that down.” He grimaced. “It’s a pity
I did. I might’ve met you there. I hear you planned the whole thing.”
“I did.” It was a point of pride. Larissa’s wedding was one of my best. A permanent addition to the portfolio. “And you definitely would’ve seen me there. “
“I’m kicking myself for missing it. Trust me.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that after his apology. What was the deal with this guy? He was an Armani-clad enigma.
I emptied the last of my wine and placed the glass on the edge of the table. A waiter appeared and whisked it away immediately. I nodded for a refill.
“Larissa tells me that you’ve had some trouble with your business lately,” Corban said. “It can’t just be because you’re gorgeous.”
Smooth. “I went through a difficult time a while back. It affected my business negatively,” I said and left it at that. There wasn’t much to add because I couldn’t tell Corban about why Thorn and I split up.
It ate at me every day. Signing the nondisclosure agreement and the prenup had been the worst decisions of my entire life. I’d suffered every day since.
Corban tapped his nail against the side of his beer bottle. “This, uh, difficult time you mentioned…” I could tell he was curious but didn’t take it further.
“Yeah?”
“It didn’t have anything to do with a guy, did it?”
“Maybe.”
The waiter arrived with my refill, and the topic faded, thank god. He didn’t know I was Thorn Edwards’ ex just yet, and I’d prefer to keep it that way for as long as possible.
But how long could I hold out? Eventually, someone would tell him, or I’d have to let it slip and any romantic intentions Corban held would fly out the window on the wings of my negative but inaccurate public persona.
“I went through something too,” Corban said. “It was part of the reason I left the states for Japan. You know, apart from the opportunity to live in another country, which was awesome.”
“What was the reason?” I could kinda guess.
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