by Ivy Layne
Tate didn't respond, but I saw his lips twitch in a half-smile from the corner of my eye. He was messing with her. My head wrapped up in the problems with Darren and thoughts of Holden, I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Maybe it was good for Emily to step out of her comfort zone.
"Well?" she demanded. "Is it true?"
"Is what true?" Tate asked evenly. I stifled a laugh when Em gritted her teeth.
"Either! Both! It seems unlikely that you could be doing both, but I know you have a huge team at WGC and they're crazy talented, so it's possible, but . . ."
She trailed off as it became clear Tate wasn't going to answer her. I could have sworn I heard a low growl in her throat. I'd always known gaming and computers were the key to getting past Emily's shell, but I couldn't quite believe how open she was being with Tate. Normally, a guy like him—gorgeous, rich, successful, and a player—would have frozen her mouth shut. Instead, she was almost sparring with him. Still, what happened next took me by surprise.
Tate pulled the car into a spot on the street a block from Darren's apartment and turned in his seat to face Emily. "Go out to dinner with me," he ordered.
"What?" she asked, her voice more like a squeak.
"Go out to dinner with me, and I'll bring you to WGC for dessert. I might even let you see a demo of what we're working on."
Emily's eyes flashed wide, excitement flaring through the clear gray for just a moment before a wall came crashing down. She looked away from Tate, drew in a short breath, and said, "No, thank you," in a cool, prim tone.
It was Tate's turn for the wide eyes. Looking at the blank expression on his face, I wondered if Emily was the first girl to turn him down. Taking in his thick, dark hair, perfect cheekbones and full lips, I wouldn't have been surprised to find out that no female had ever said no to him.
Part of me wanted to referee whatever was going on between my best friend and Holden's cousin, but I had an ass to kick before I could see Holden. Tate and Emily could work out their issues later.
I opened the door of the car, shaking them out of their absorption. Tate followed me out of the car, Emily just behind. I strode to the door of the building, then stopped so abruptly, Tate had to put a hand on my shoulder to keep from walking into me. Turning to him, I asked in a small voice,
"He really called? You're not screwing with me?"
Tate leaned down and met my eyes with his. We'd only just met, and though he looked like Holden, his dark blue eyes were all his own. Still, they seemed sincere when he squeezed my shoulder and said, "He's a mess. I swear, he's called you at least three times a day. I'm not setting you up to get burned. That's on your friend upstairs. Let's go take care of him so you can put my boy out of his misery."
I nodded, reassured. I'd accepted Holden walking away so easily because it made sense. In my world, billionaire hot guys didn't fall for geeky chicks who looked more like they belonged in a library than on a runway. It had been too easy to believe he'd slept with me and then forgotten my name. Believing that he was missing me as much as I missed him? That was a lot harder.
With Tate's reassurance to bolster me, I opened the door and climbed the stairs to the second floor. I'd only been to Darren's apartment a few times, but I remembered how to get there. My anger had me on auto-pilot.
I pounded on the cheap wooden door without pause until it swung open beneath my hand. Darren's face broke into a smile at the sight of me. His expression dimmed when he saw Tate and Emily behind me. Shifting uncomfortably, he shoved his hands in his back pockets and said, "Hey, Jo, what's up?"
I held up my phone and waved in in his face. "Leave something in my phone, Darren?"
His eyes flicked from me to Tate to Emily, landing on my phone. He made a grab for it, but I tucked it in my back pocket. When he looked as if he'd go for it anyway, Tate stepped closer.
"Don't even think about it," he said, his arms crossed, his body slightly angled between me and Darren. He wasn't getting in my way, but it was obvious he'd take Darren down if he tried to lay a finger on me.
Darren slid his hands back into his pockets and tried for an innocent expression. "I don't know what you're talking about, Jo. I haven't touched your phone."
"You're an idiot, Darren," I said. "I don't know how someone so smart can be such a stupid tool. Everyone saw you working on my phone on Wednesday. I have a copy of the virus, and it's got your signatures all over it. What the hell were you thinking?"
He shrugged, not meeting my eyes. "You were just supposed to think he was blowing you off. He's already stopped calling. I was going to take it off tomorrow in the lab. You never would have known I did anything."
Tears sprang to my eyes as I realized he was right. If Tate hadn't confronted me, I would have just assumed Holden was done with me. Darren would have erased the virus, and I never would have known what he'd done. My chance with Holden would have gone up in smoke, a victim of Darren's jealousy.
"Why?" I asked, willing myself not to cry in front of him. "I thought we were friends."
"We are," he protested. "You're too good for that guy. He's fucked half the city. He's an entitled man-whore. You can do so much better than him—"
Darren didn't get to finish his tirade against Holden. Before I could think it through, my fist shot out, and I hit him on the face. Once. Then twice. Pain exploded in my hand, but I hit him again a third time, hard enough that he stumbled back, tripping over his own feet and landing on the floor.
"Don't talk about Holden like that," I said, my temper so lost I wondered if I'd ever find it. "You know nothing about him. He's a good man. He deserves everything. He deserves so much better than an asshole like you fucking with his life."
I took a step forward, maybe to kick him, I don't know. I wasn't thinking clearly. A strong arm hooked around my waist, pulling me back into a hard chest. Tate swung me around until I was facing Emily.
"I think you're done, hot shot," he said. "His nose is bleeding, and so is your hand."
I checked my hand, suddenly feeling the throb in my now bloody knuckles. I did not know how to throw a punch. As the adrenaline faded, my hand started to seriously hurt.
"Fine," I said to Tate. To Darren, still on the floor, I said, "I'm turning you in. I have the virus, and anyone who's worked with you will be able to verify it's yours. Plus, you just confessed in front of witnesses, genius. You're fucked. Have a nice life."
Cradling my hand against my chest, I turned for the stairwell at the end of the hall. I was done wasting time on Darren. All I really wanted was to set things straight with Holden.
Chapter Eleven
Josephine
It was a short, quiet ride from Darren's apartment to Mana. Tate said Holden was there, apparently shut up in the back office with paperwork. Emily hadn't said a thing since Tate had asked her out. Tate was equally silent, saying only that we needed to get ice for my hand before turning his attention to the road, sneaking looks at Emily in the rearview, a puzzled expression on his face.
We pulled to a stop in front of Mana, where Tate handed his keys to a valet and ushered us around the corner to the same VIP entrance I'd used with Stuart the weekend before. Tate exchanged a greeting with the bouncer, slapping him on the shoulder as he passed through the open door. Emily followed, ignoring Tate and the bouncer, her head down, body braced against the crowd and music inside. A nightclub wasn't Emily's idea of fun—tons of people, loud music, flashing lights. There was no way she wanted to be here. She was a great friend, but this was above and beyond. I caught up to her and said, "You don't have to come in if you don't want to."
"I'm okay," she said, her voice shaking a little. "I want to see what happens." She shot a grin at me, and I dropped it. If Em was stretching her boundaries, who was I to discourage her?
Tate led us down a back hall, past the restrooms, to a locked door. Pulling a key from his pocket, he opened the door, shoved me through, and locked it behind me.
I was in a cramped office lined with shelves, stacke
d with papers and boxes. Holden sat hunched over a laptop, scowling at the screen. His dark hair fell in his eyes as if he'd run his fingers through it one too many times. He tapped one finger on the desk in impatience or irritation—I couldn't tell which. I drank in the sight of him. It had been four days since I'd seen him, and it felt like a year. Without looking up from the screen, he said, "What? I'm almost done. Stop bugging me."
I had no idea what to say. I'm sorry? Darren's an asshole? Instead, I just stood there, staring at him, before I finally said, "Holden." Just his name. I couldn't manage anything else. His head rose, slowly, and he blinked.
"Holden," I said again, taking a step closer. He stared at me, his dark eyes locked on my face, his expression closed. I pulled my phone out of my pocket with my left hand—my right was throbbing—and held it out to him, saying, "Darren put a virus on it. It stopped me from getting your calls, or you from getting mine. I texted you. I thought you were blowing me off."
I shrugged helplessly as he took the phone from me, turning it over in his hands, as if looking for evidence of the hack when both of us could see that the phone looked completely normal.
"I called you," he said, placing the phone carefully on his desk and standing to face me.
"I know," I said. "Tate told me."
"Tate?" Holden asked. As if he were waiting for his entrance, the key scraped in the lock and the door swung open to reveal Tate, with Emily behind him. Tate handed me a plastic bag filled with ice and looked between us before he said to me, "You good?"
Holden answered for me. "She's good. You can go."
"Jo?" Emily asked, her eyebrows raised.
"I'm good," I said in reassurance, even though I had no idea if I really was. Holden hadn't said much. He definitely hadn't rushed to my side and kissed me senseless, vowing his eternal love for me. Shutting the door behind Tate and Emily, he flipped the deadbolt and watched me press the ice to my hand.
"What happened?" he asked, taking my injured hand in his and smoothing the ice bag gently across my battered fingers. The heat of his hand cradling mine made me a little dizzy. I'd missed touching him. He leaned into me, rubbing his thumb along the side of my pinky finger. "How did you hurt yourself?"
"I punched Darren."
"You what?" He asked, his fingers squeezing mine. I winced, and he loosened his grip, his eyebrows knitting together. "Sorry. Did you say you punched him?"
"He was being an asshole. He was trying to justify what he did, and I . . ." I trailed off and shrugged, embarrassed that I'd hauled off and punched someone. Even if he was being an asshole.
"Don't do that again," Holden said. He lifted the ice bag and studied my red, raw knuckles. At least they'd stopped bleeding. "You can really hurt your hand hitting someone if you don't know what you're doing. How many times did you hit him?"
"Three," I said. "But I think I caught his teeth. It hurts."
"It looks like it." He tucked my hand between us and pulled me closer. I leaned into his hard chest and inhaled his woodsy, male scent. My head was spinning from being so close to him. I rested my forehead against Holden and said,
"I thought you were done with me. You didn't call, and then Darren showed me a picture of you with a woman. I didn't know she was your sister."
"I don't think I'm ever going to be done with you, Josephine," Holden said in a low voice. I leaned back to look up into his warm brown eyes.
"I think I'm falling in love with you, Holden Winters," I said. "It's crazy, because I've only known you a week. So maybe it's just the amazing sex."
"It's definitely the sex. But I think I'm falling in love with you too, Josephine Miller. I don't care if it's only been a week. I know what I feel. When I thought you didn't want to see me—"
I placed a finger over his lips. I knew exactly how that had felt. He didn't need to tell me. And I was finished with talking. Sliding my hand around to grip the nape of his neck, I ran my fingers through his thick, silky hair and tugged.
Holden didn't need any more hints. Dipping his head, he brought his lips to mine, brushing over them in a slow, sweet kiss before urging my mouth open and sliding his tongue against mine. I dropped the ice bag on the floor and leaned into Holden, falling into his kiss.
It started sweet, but once I got the taste of him, my knees went weak, my pussy was wet, and the kiss turned hard and hungry. Holden backed me up to his desk, reaching behind me to shove a pile of papers to the side. They fell in a rustling cascade, spilling around our feet. Holden's hands slid beneath my sweatshirt. He gave a low hum when they encountered nothing but bare skin.
"No bra?" He murmured, dragging the fabric over my head.
"I was in a rush. I missed you."
My hands went to the fly of his jeans, my fingers fumbling on the snap, desperate to get to him, needing to feel him inside me again. He had no such problems, flicking open my jeans and peeling them down my legs so fast, it felt like magic. He went to his knees, one arm around my waist as he helped me lift my feet free. I stood above him, naked in his office, grateful he'd thought to lock the door with the deadbolt.
Holden looked up at me, catching my eyes with his. Leaning in, he hovered before my hips, his breath skating over my skin. Shivers ran down my spine at having him so close, at the sheer sexual intent in his eyes. Without looking, he opened the desk drawer and pulled out a condom.
He had condoms in his desk? Reading my mind, Holden shook his head, negating the thought before it could fully form.
"I share the office with Tate. But he won't mind me borrowing one," he said, his words sending puffs of air against my clit. I trembled. Maybe it was the arousal talking, but I said, "I don't care. I trust you, Holden."
I did trust him. I knew, in my soul, that I could trust Holden with my body and my heart. With my everything.
"I won't let you down, Josephine."
I opened my mouth to tell him I wouldn't let him down either, but all that escaped was a strangled squeak as the flat of his tongue came down on my clit. He pressed hard, then licked up, lifting my clit, tugging it, sending sparks of pleasure shooting up my spine. My legs shaking, I reached behind me to brace my hands on the desk, wincing at the pressure on my bruised knuckles.
A little pain didn't matter. I let my legs fall apart, opening for Holden's mouth, moaning aloud as he sucked my clit, his fingers sinking into my hips, holding me still as I squirmed.
"Holden," I cried out, tugging on his hair. As much as I loved his mouth between my legs, I wanted him inside me, fucking me, filling me up. I wanted to kiss him while he took me. I needed to feel so close to him, nothing could ever pull us apart again.
He rose to his feet, and I sat back on the desk, spreading my legs wider, watching with hungry eyes as he lowered his zipper and pushed his jeans down, freeing his thick cock. I'd never seen a cock like Holden's before. Not that I had a ton of experience, but his was thick and long, better than any I'd dreamed of in my hottest fantasies. My mouth watered at the thought of tasting him. Later.
I reached out with my legs and wrapped them around his hips, drawing him closer. He resisted, rolling on the condom. A heart beat later, he was on me, his hands everywhere, his cock pressing into my pussy, stretching me open, filling me up. I cried out with the sheer bliss of it, gripping him with my legs, my arms wrapped around him.
Holden's mouth came down on mine, kissing me with a desperate need as he fucked me hard. The desk rocked back, papers falling to the carpet, then something heavier, cracking to pieces. Holden didn't even slow down, driving me closer and closer to orgasm, kissing me and fucking me with everything he had. I held him tight, moving with him, my pussy clenching around him in hard pulses as he fucked me into heaven.
Holden followed me into release, burying himself to the hilt and freezing there, his arms steel bars around me, holding me to his chest. When his breathing evened out, he said,
"I don't think I'm falling in love with you, Josephine. I know I am."
I let out a shaky laugh, still
reeling from the orgasm, my heart tight in my chest. I reached up to press a kiss to the hard line of his jaw, drawing a deep breath, filling my lungs with the potent scent of Holden and sex. Of us. Together. It was primal. Life itself. I had no hesitation when I said,
"I know it too. I love you, Holden."
We stayed there, wrapped in each other, until Holden helped me off the desk and into my clothes. I'd never been into the risk of being discovered. I still wasn't. There was no way I would have had half as much fun if Holden hadn't locked the door. But we were definitely having sex on his desk again. Looking down, I saw his laptop in pieces on the floor.
"Oops," I said. Holden followed my gaze.
"I backed it up," he said. "Right now, I couldn't care less."
He wrapped his arm around me, leading me down the hall, out the VIP door, and down the alley to a private parking area. I saw a sign for Tate, nailed to the wall above an empty parking place.
"Do you think Tate took Emily home?"
"I'm sure he did," Holden said. "He wouldn't have let her walk at this time of night."
"He asked her out, and she said no."
Holden burst out laughing. "It's probably the first time that's ever happened," he said.
"That's what I thought. He looked a little shocked," I said.
Holden started the car and turned down a side alley I hadn't seen, neatly popping out into the street around the corner from the club. He headed for his place, still laughing.
"I should call her," I said, mostly to myself.
"I think we left your phone in my office. The last I saw, it was on my desk."
"Oh." I hoped it wasn't in the same condition as his laptop. "Then I guess we'll have to find out what happened later," I said.
Holden took my hand in his, lacing his fingers through mine. "Later," he agreed. "I'm sure Tate got her home all right. We don't have to call. I went without you for almost four days. I have a lot to make up for."
That was fine with me. "Did you get your problems at work fixed?" I asked.