Everyone nodded and murmured their agreement, and I smiled and left the conference room to head back to my office within the campaign headquarters. My head was pounding—it wasn’t easy working for the city council and running my own senate campaign—and I needed a damn glass of scotch after the day I’d had. Firstly, I had the meeting with the private donor, and that went well, but then I had to return to my usual city council work, and by god, the bureaucracy was driving me fucking insane. It was a wonder anything ever got done in this city at all.
The worst part was that all throughout the day, I hadn’t been able to get sweet young Lily Rubio off my mind. What was it about her? I only saw her for a few seconds this morning as I drove by.
But damn….those few seconds had an effect.
Maybe it was just the shock of seeing her all grown up that was doing my head in. Or maybe I was just fucked up and part of me subconsciously wanted revenge on the Rubio family for what Karen did, and that’s why I was fantasizing about ruining that sweet young innocence. Either way, she’d been playing on my mind all day. Those hips, those thighs, those eyes. Every inch of her.
I shut my office door and sat down with a sigh, my cock already hard again at the thought of Lily. Grabbing a tumbler from the desk in front of me, I filled it with scotch from the bottle I kept on the shelf behind me, and then I eased myself backwards, relaxing into the chair. Thoughts of Lily still flooded my head, and I loosened my belt and unzipped my pants as my cock pulsed and stiffened further, unable to resist the temptation. No one was going to come in here anyway; locks were invented for a reason.
Closing my eyes, I imagined what Lily’s tight little body would look like under her clothes. What it would be like to touch. Like magic my cock hardened even more, and I wrapped my fingers around it and began to pump along the shaft in slow, lazy strokes. I could see it all now. Firm, perky breasts with perfectly round pink nipples. Those nipples would swell under my touch, hardening to stiff nubs.
My hand began to pump faster as I imagined what I would do to Lily if she were mine. If she were my little toy. I wondered if she would even let me. If she’d be into it. Most women I came across weren’t. Don’t get me wrong; I wasn’t some sort of depraved sicko. I enjoyed sweet vanilla sex just as much as the next guy. Wouldn’t mind doing it every day if that’s what my girl wanted. But I had another side, too. A slightly kinkier side. Sometimes I needed control. To be in charge. To dominate. Be a man. That wasn’t so bad, was it?
Of course not. It was only natural.
When I thought of Lily naked, all I could picture was her tied down, gasping and begging as I slapped her ass red raw. Pounded her tight little snatch. Took her ass. Hard. Fast. She’d be squirming and whimpering with pain and pleasure, and she wouldn’t be able to move. Wouldn’t have an iota of control. That belonged to me and me only.
She’d be all mine. My perfect little pet.
Christ….
My fist wrapped tighter around my cock, pumping harder. Hot pleasure began to build in the base of my groin, and I let out a soft groan.
A sudden noise from the front of my office startled me, and my eyes flew open as I realized it was my door. Shit, did I forget to lock it? The thought of getting caught jerking it by a staff member was an immediate boner killer. I stood up straight and hurriedly zipped my pants back up as I saw Kaye entering, her violet-scented perfume lingering in the air. She froze when she saw me, and I realized my belt was still loose around my hips.
“Ate too much earlier at lunch,” I said by way of explanation, patting my stomach.
She smiled. “Urgh, I hate when that happens. I always have to take my pants right off after a big steak,” she replied.
I gave her a genial grin, wondering if she really bought my lie, or if she was just being polite. Probably the latter. There was a reason she’d been my exec assistant for so many years. She was good at her job, rarely asked questions, and most of all she was loyal. Too loyal, if you ever asked Jenna back when she was alive. She’d always suspected that Kaye had a serious thing for me, although I’d never seen evidence of any romantic interest myself. Sure, sometimes she made the odd flirty comment, but it was always in a joking way. That’s just what happened when two people worked closely together for a long time. Besides, she wasn’t my type at all. Too tall, too angular. Nothing wrong with that; just wasn’t to my taste. I preferred soft, petite women. Like Lily. So even if Kaye had ever been interested in me, she didn’t stand a chance.
“I’m heading off soon,” she continued. “I assume you are too?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“I just came to give you a message before then. A girl called for you about five minutes ago, right after the conference.”
I frowned. “A girl?”
She glanced down at the piece of paper she was holding. “Someone named Lily Rubio. Sounded young. Didn’t say why she was calling. Just asked me to ask you to call her back.”
My eyebrows shot up. Jesus, what were the odds? I’d literally just been thinking of Lily—well, jacking off to her, anyway—and suddenly she was calling my campaign office? Why? Had she seen me drive past this morning and randomly decided to give her dad’s old best friend a call? I couldn’t think why else she might call, although that didn’t seem like a decent explanation at all. Surely she must’ve noticed that Craig and I didn’t exactly hang out anymore.
“She leave a cell number?” I asked. I didn’t want to call the Rubio’s house line and risk Craig answering.
“Yes. Right here,” Kaye said, handing me a slip. She eyed me suspiciously. “Hot date?”
I shook my head. “No. It’s my best friend…I mean, Craig’s daughter. You remember Craig Rubio?”
Kaye nodded, her face not betraying any emotion. She’d been around well before the time of Jenna’s murder, so she knew exactly what happened back then. Jenna’s death had hit her pretty hard too, seeing as she knew her via working for me. She hadn’t been in to work for two weeks afterward. Not that I had, either. “Oh, yes. I wondered why her name sounded so familiar. I think I even met her a couple of times at some of your parties. She was just a little girl back then.”
“That she was,” I said. Not anymore.
“Why would she be calling?” Kaye asked with a frown. “You don’t see her father anymore. Not after…”
“No, I don’t,” I said sharply, cutting her off before she could say either Jenna or Karen’s name.
“Are you going to call her back?”
I hesitated. Honestly, I wasn’t sure. The darker part of me wanted to call her back, find out what she wanted. Maybe take what I wanted from her in return. But the better part of me knew it would be wrong to do so. Lily and Craig hadn’t done anything bad to me; they’d just been related to the wrong person at the wrong time.
“I’ll call back tomorrow,” I said, finally deciding on a path of action. I’d call her back in the morning when I wasn’t already one glass of scotch deep, and I’d calmly find out exactly why she was calling me before politely rebuffing her.
Whatever she wanted, I couldn’t give her.
I wouldn’t.
“All right. Now, I know you said you’re still full from lunch, so dinner is out of the question, but why don’t we go grab a drink at Zanzibar’s?” Kaye asked. “To celebrate the Delgado funding. It’s Friday, anyway. We deserve a nice night off.”
I wasn’t really in the mood for a night of drinking with my assistant, but I could use the distraction from more intrusive thoughts of the pretty little girl next door.
“Sure. I guess we can have a few drinks.”
Kaye’s cheeks pinked up, and for the first time, I wondered if maybe I’d been wrong about her all these years. Perhaps she did have a crush on me. It’d certainly explain why she’d been single for so long. At least I assumed she was; she’d never mentioned a boyfriend or girlfriend to me.
“Better make that just one drink,” I added, not wanting to give her the wrong impression if she did ind
eed have a crush.
But fuck, with Lily’s tight ass still playing on my mind on a loop, I was gonna need more than one drink tonight…
Chapter Five
Lily
“He didn’t call me back yet. Jackson, I mean.”
I poured a cup of coffee for myself and sat down with a sigh. Dad was about to walk out the door, and he straightened his tie and gave me an exasperated glance. “So call him again.”
“Don’t you think that’s too—”
“Sorry, Lily, I have to get to the office. I can’t really talk about this right now,” he said, holding up a hand and cutting me off.
“Why do you have to work weekends?” I asked timidly, wishing we could return to the night before, when Dad had actually been kind and asked questions. It was so rare, so nice. “Surely not many people think about building houses on a Saturday morning.”
He scoffed. “Saturdays are our busiest time. People aren’t at work, so they get everything done on the weekend that they needed to but otherwise couldn’t due to their weekday jobs.”
“Oh.” I felt stupid. Of course.
His face softened. “Look, if I have time, I’ll call Jackson myself. Maybe he’d be willing to talk to me over you.”
I shook my head glumly. “No, I’ll figure something out,” I said. “You’re too busy.”
He didn’t argue, and seconds later he was out the door. I leaned back in my chair with a sigh, trying to think of some other places I could apply to for an internship as I sipped my coffee. My mind kept drifting back to Jackson. I knew there was more than one reason I was disappointed that he hadn’t taken my call last night. Of course I was desperate for an intern position, but a bigger part of me was disappointed that I hadn’t been able to hear his voice; hear him talking to me….little old me.
Did he even remember me?
My cheeks grew heated at the thought, and suddenly I was incensed. It was one thing for him to avoid our house, avoid our family. I understood that. But how could he just act like we never existed? What Mom did was terrible, so terrible, but it wasn’t my fault. It wasn’t Dad’s fault. So was it really so hard for Jackson to just give me a call back to acknowledge my message? I knew he was a busy man. A powerful man. But surely one phone call wasn’t so hard.
Maybe it was the desperation to pass my course that was making me mad. Maybe it was something else. Something more primal. Either way, I found myself setting my coffee down and marching out the door. I didn’t even realize what I was doing and where I was going until I was halfway there, but five minutes later I was on Jackson’s front doorstep, still clad in my pink and white striped pajamas.
I rang the doorbell, and as I waited, my heart pounded. I tried to think of what I could say. Hi, Jackson. I don’t know if you remember me, but my mother flew into a psychotic rage and killed your girlfriend six years ago. Care to give me a job?
Jesus, what was I thinking? I should’ve never come here.
Before I could turn and hoof it away at the speed of light, which I so desperately wanted to do now, the door opened, and there was Jackson in the flesh. Damn nice flesh, too….he was bare-chested, clad in only boxer shorts. Up close and with so little clothing on, he looked even hotter than I remembered from yesterday, and my mouth completely dried up as it fell open. I must’ve looked like a fish out of water.
My insides seemed to melt as I took him in. When he was in clothes, he was all business—professional, neat and clean-cut. But out of them he was something else. He was rugged, muscular, manly, and oh so sexy. Sexy as sin. Most of all, he looked commanding. He was so big and strong that he could easily overpower me, make me do anything he asked or demanded.
Wicked thoughts bloomed in my mind like spring flowers, and I nearly forgot why I was here. Nearly forgot our shared history. All I wanted to do was climb the powerful body that was currently towering over me, run my hands all over the tight muscles. Let him do whatever he wanted to me. Hold me down, control me. Just the idea of it sent a warm flush creeping over my cheeks, and I felt my nipples pebble beneath the thin fabric of my pajama top.
“Lily,” Jackson said by way of greeting, staring down at me. I thought he’d be shocked to see me standing on his doorstep, but his expression was impassive.
“You remember me.” I blurted out the words before I could catch myself.
“Of course I do.”
“I tried calling you yesterday.”
“I know.” That was all he had to offer up in response, and I cringed at how badly this was going.
“I just thought….I just wondered…”
“I was going to call you back,” he said, talking over my stuttering failure of a sentence. “But I was very busy last night, and Saturday mornings are one of the rare times I get to sleep in.”
My cheeks flamed with embarrassment. Of course. I was such an idiot. It’d only been fourteen hours since I made the damn call. Why couldn’t I wait a few more hours?
“I’m sorry, sir,” I said hastily.
There was a flicker of emotion in his eyes. Finally, the smallest hint of an expression. Was it because I called him sir? I suppose men in his position liked to be respected after all the hard work that got them to where they were in life, and to be honest, I liked doing it. I liked giving him the respect he deserved.
“No apology necessary. Why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind?” he said. “It’s clearly urgent if you’re over here.”
“Um. I…” My mouth dried up again.
His lip twitched. I couldn’t tell if he wanted to smile or frown. “Spit it out, Lily.”
“I know you’re busy. You have so much work to do, especially with your campaign. I read about it a few weeks ago in the newspaper. So I thought…I thought maybe you might need an intern. I…uh…I need an internship for college,” I said, nearly tripping over every single word.
“You’re a college girl now, huh?” he said, his face impassive again.
I nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“And you want an internship. From me.”
“Um. Yes. I was hoping you could help. I wouldn’t have asked, but I don’t know anyone else…” My voice trailed off, and I knew my face was scarlet now. I could feel it burning with shame.
“And this is how you dress to search for internships?” Jackson asked, gesturing to my pajamas with one big hand. His voice dripped with condescension, and I regretted coming over here more and more with each passing second.
“No. Of course not. I just thought…actually, I don’t know what I was thinking,” I said stupidly. Hey, at least that was completely honest.
Jackson stood and regarded me for a long moment, and I squirmed from the horribly awkward silence, wishing the area between my legs wasn’t tingling so hard. And why was it? I wasn’t actually turned on from this humiliation, was I?
“Sorry, kid. I can’t help you,” he finally said.
His words cut me like a knife. It wasn’t the rejection. It was the fact he’d called me ‘kid’, like I was just some silly child. Granted, I certainly looked like one right now, but still, it made me feel like crap. I didn’t want Jackson to view me as a tiny kid. I wanted him to see me as a young woman. And I was a woman now. Just because I lacked experience didn’t mean my body wasn’t mature. Ripe. Ready.
Surely he could see that just from looking at me. I wasn’t wearing a bra under my pajamas—too uncomfortable to sleep in—and anyone with eyes could see that my once-flat chest was now full and bouncy; two nice handfuls just begging to be grabbed and squeezed.
“Okay,” I replied timidly, my eyes on the doormat. “Sorry to bother you, Jackson.”
“I didn’t say you could call me that,” he said sharply.
My eyes shot up to meet his dark gaze. What? What the hell was his problem? Jackson was his name. I’d always called him that, even when I was six. Did he expect me to call him Mr. Barker now that we were no longer in touch? Or ‘sir’ again?
All of a sudden, I was incensed all over a
gain. “You know, I’m not actually a kid, Jackson,” I blurted out before launching into a tirade I hadn’t even known was simmering deep inside. “And you know what else? I’m not her. Not my mother. I thought maybe one day you would be willing to look past who I am. Who we are. You and dad…you used to be such good friends. I understand why you cut us off. Why wouldn’t you? But to act like you never even knew us….”
I shook my head and went on. “You’re not the only one who lost someone that day. I know it’s much worse for you. I really do. I know Jenna was murdered, and that’s awful. Terrible. But we lost someone too, in a way. My mom. She used to be….normal. Loving. Caring. She changed that day, and she did something terrible. Something she couldn’t undo. And now she’s still in hiding without a word to us, and we have no idea if we’ll ever even see her again. We have no idea if she’ll ever come back. If she’s even still alive. She might’ve done something truly unforgivable, but she was still my mother. I still want to see her again, just to ask why. Just to know if she’s alive. But I can’t. At least…at least you know what happened to Jenna. I’ll probably never have that same knowledge about my mother. So you don’t need to be so rude to me just for coming here to ask you a simple question, when surely you can understand all that!”
I felt like a horrible person the second the words were out of my mouth, and I instantly regretted saying anything about Jenna at all. But I hadn’t been able to stop the outburst, couldn’t stop the flood of emotional words. Maybe I needed to let it all out. I did feel a little better now that I’d said it, to be honest.
Jackson stared down at me, still unmoving. His eyes coasted over every inch of me like I was a piece of meat, ready to devour. And my god, despite the crazy irrational anger I felt for him right now…I wanted it. I wanted him to devour me.
“Go back to your daddy, little girl,” he finally said, taking a step back and reaching for the door.
My eyes widened. “You know, once upon a time, you were practically my second daddy,” I threw back before he could close the door in my face, putting the word ‘daddy’ in air quotes. “That’s how close you and my father used to be. It’s a shame you’ve both forgotten that.”
Daddy's Fake Bride (A Fake Marriage Romance) Page 26