by Ali Parker
“I think…” Sophie paused, tapping a finger to her lips as she pondered, “I think it suits you.”
Cayden nodded. With the raw brick walls and bold art prints, he agreed. He cleared his throat, suddenly nervous. Damned if he knew why. He’d taken plenty of women back to his apartment. But it felt different this time. Being with Sophie felt different. He spoke hurriedly to cut off his train of thought.
“Do you want anything? A drink?” He blurted out as he slipped out of his jacket. Thank god he’d had that at dinner.
Sophie slowly walked back to where he was still standing, her gray eyes big and luminous behind her glasses and suddenly he felt like he was drowning in them. And he didn’t give a fuck.
“You know what I want, Ray?” Sophie purred the question and every muscle in his body tightened so fast it was painful. Damn it. Who would have known a virgin would be so potent? Not a virgin anymore, a small voice whispered in his head and a surge of possessive, protective emotions burned through him at the memory.
“Wh– What?” he stuttered, his pulse suddenly racing as Sophie stepped even closer, standing up on the tips of her toes to whisper the words again his ear.
“I want you.”
That was it. Three little words and his control was gone. Cayden didn’t pause as he scooped her up in his arms, practically running towards his bedroom. He stopped next to the king sized bed and let her body slide down his, feeling all of her sweet curves pressed against them. They were both frenzied, tearing at each other’s clothes until they were naked and panting with need.
Cayden didn’t slow down as he grabbed a condom, ripping the packet open with his teeth as Sophie crawled onto the bed. She rolled onto her back, her legs sliding open just enough to let him catch a glimpse of heaven and she was already soaking wet and ready for him. Good. He couldn’t wait. Not now. Not tonight.
“I can’t wait, Sophie,” He whispered his thought out loud. And then he was moving, his hands wrapping around her thighs to pull her hips to the end of the bed. A perfect height for him to thrust forward and slide all the way inside her.
“Oh, fuck.” He bit off the word as Sophie surrounded him, the whole world disappearing except for the point where their bodies merged into one. Faster and faster, their hips met until both of them were moaning out in pleasure. All Cayden could see was a red haze and his body was an inferno. He was burning alive and damned if it wasn’t the best feeling he’d ever had.
Cayden had to grit his teeth against the orgasm that he could feel rising up inside him but it was too late. He was like a volcano about to erupt but he never left a woman unsatisfied. He could tell that Sophie was close to the edge. Her eyes were squeezed tight, her mouth open as she sang his name on every thrust and her cheeks were that particular shade of pink that he was coming to recognize.
He slid his thumb down her body until he hit that magic spot that had her back arching in pleasure, rubbing it in small circles until he felt her explode around him. Her muscles tightened hard as Sophie shook in his arms and it was all it took to have him erupting right along with her.
His world when bright white as pleasure surged through his body and it seemed to last forever. Finally, he collapsed on the bed, drawing in deep panting breaths as he tried to calm his pounding heart.
Cayden hadn’t realized his eyes had slid shut until he felt Sophie moving on the bed next to him. He opened them, but almost wished he hadn’t. Damn she was gorgeous. Her long, brown hair hung in waves down her back and her curves called to him. And those legs.
It was torture as Cayden watched Sophie move around the room, hunting for her clothes that he’d thrown haphazardly on the floor. He had to fight the pang of disappointment at her leaving. A part of him already missed the feel of her curled up against his side as they slept, arms and legs tangled together.
The disappointment oozed together with the guilt that had been his constant companion since handing that article in to Harry. He knew Sophie was going to be furious on Monday morning when she realized what he’d done. Logically, he knew it was just business. He was doing what he needed to score the promotion, and the article was a guaranteed win for him.
Then why didn’t it make him feel any better? Trying to shake that thought, Cayden pushed himself to his feet, throwing on a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt.
“Come on, I’ll walk you downstairs.”
“Really, it’s okay Cayden. I’m a big girl.” Sophie snorted as she pulled on the skirt and blouse, finally finding her other shoe underneath a chair.
“Believe me, I know you are,” Cayden muttered under his breath as he watched her dress. Fuck, he wanted her all over again. But he knew how impossible that was. “It’s late. Just let me get you a cab, alright?”
“Alright, alright.” Sophie said, throwing her hands in the air in mock surrender and Cayden bit out a chuckle. He walked with her down to the main entrance of the building and a cab was parked just down the street. Cayden felt another pang that he wouldn’t get to spend more time with her. After Monday, he doubted she’d have anything nice to say to him, if she spoke to him at all.
Cayden reluctantly held out a hand, waving at the cab before turning back to Sophie.
“Goodnight, Sophie Stone.” He said softly, and she gave him an odd look at his serious tone. But then she was leaning up on her tip toes and brushing the sweetest kiss against his lips and he couldn’t say another damned word.
“Goodnight, Cayden Ray.” Sophie turned to get in the cab, but paused turning back to him with a serious expression of her own. “We probably shouldn’t keep doing this. Now that we’re back, I mean. It’s best if we stop seeing each other outside of work.”
Cayden nodded his agreement but his throat was still hampered, he couldn’t force out a single word and all he could do was wave as Sophie finally got in the cab and left.
Chapter 15
Sophie
Sophie flinched as she dabbed a little more concealer on the side of her forehead. The stitches had been taken out the day before and the bruise was nearly gone thanks to a few days of much needed rest and half a bottle of her favorite makeup. She still had to fight off headaches now and then but they were nothing a few aspirin wouldn’t take care of.
She swiped on a few coats of mascara before meeting her own gray eyed reflection in the mirror.
“I can do this. It’s only been a few days. I’m ready to get back to work.” Sophie said the words out loud and she meant them, mostly. As wonderful as it had been to see her parents and spend a few days showing them around New York, she was more than ready to put the past week behind her and get back to her job.
Writing articles. Reporting the news. Digging up the truth behind a story. That’s what she loved to do and Sophie was anxious to get back in the saddle. But there was one thought that kept niggling in the back of her head and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t ignore it. Cayden Ray.
Just the sound of his name echoing in her head had Sophie swallowing hard against a whole pile of nerves that threatened to explode inside her. It had been three days since she’d last seen him but still memories of their last night together had haunted her dreams. She’d woken up aching and sweaty and for a moment she would consider picking up her phone and calling him.
“No. I did the right thing. We are just co-workers. Keep it professional, Sophie,” She told her reflection. It would be easier for both of them in the long run. She knew he had a bad habit of letting information slip about his ‘conquests’ and the last thing she needed was to be office gossip.
The nerves were back, and for a totally different reason as that thought echoed in her head. What if he had already let it slip? What if Cayden had bragged about finally sleeping with her? What if everyone at the paper knew?
A cold sweat broke out across her forehead as she contemplated that and Sophie had to touch up her concealer before finally forcing herself to turn around and leave. It was as good as it was going to get.
By the tim
e Sophie arrived at the office, that thought had taken root and nothing she did seemed to be able to make it disappear. Her nerves were jangling inside her and it didn’t help that she was showing up empty handed. Sophie hated that she didn’t have an article to turn in. Despite everything that had happened with the assignment in D.C., getting knocked unconscious and ending up in the hospital, she still felt like she’d failed.
At least I’m not the only one without an article, Sophie thought, trying to calm herself as she pushed open the heavy front door. When Harry had canceled the assignment, Cayden had told her that he wasn’t going to work on anything. She took a deep breath. Maybe this whole thing could just stay in the past, and Harry would give them another, less volatile assignment to decide who was going to get the promotion.
Sophie walked down the hallway to the bull pen and headed straight for Blair’s desk. She desperately needed to talk to her friend before jumping back into the thick of things but as she neared the photographer’s desk it was clear that she wasn’t there. Despite her best efforts, she hadn’t been able to keep herself from trying to spot Cayden but there had been no sight of him either.
Blair and Cayden were both absent and as she stood there, staring around the cubicles filled with reporters and interns and designers, she noticed something. People were staring at her. It was slight at first. She’d catch someone out of the corner of her eye but as she made her way to her own desk the stares became more blatant, more obvious, and a hell of a lot more unnerving.
Feeling self-conscious Sophie set her bag on her desk and held a light finger up to her forehead to see if her makeup job was still intact. Sophie tried to shrug it off as she booted up her laptop. She supposed they’d all heard about what had happened at the protest and were curious. It probably didn’t help that she was still a little black and blue around the edges.
Barely forty minutes into the workday and already the stares and looks and whispers hidden behind hands were starting to make her feel jumpy and paranoid. What the hell was going on? It certainly wasn’t the first time she’d gone through a rough time trying to get the scoop on the story. Her, and nearly every other journalist there. It was their job for Pete’s sake.
“Stone! In my office!” Harry’s baritone shout had her jumping in her chair and she chastised herself for acting like a fool as she saved her work and then walked through the cubicles to Harry’s office.
He was standing as she walked in, one hip leaning against the edge of his desk and the move had toppled a precarious pile of memos.
“You wanted to see me, Harry?” Sophie asked, trying to ignore the paranoid voice in her head that could still feel her co-worker’s stares trained on her back. She let out a sigh of relief when Mr. Brewer walked around her and gently shut the door, cutting off any prying eyes.
“I wanted to check up on you,” He admitted gruffly with a slightly annoyed look on his face as if he couldn’t quite believe he was going soft. It was an ill-kept secret around the office that Harry was about as hard as a teddy bear, despite his rough ways.
Sophie sent Harry as small smile as he gestured for her to take a seat and she hurried to assuage any concerns he might have as he walked back around his big desk.
“Really, boss, I’m fine. A few days of rest and recuperation and I’m as good as new. Ready to get back to work, actually.” Sophie said earnestly. Harry nodded solemnly for a moment before he responded.
“Well, I just want you to know that everyone here at the paper was real concerned for you. It’s never a good thing when one of our own gets hurt. Never a good thing.”
“Like I said, Harry. I’m right as rain.” Sophie gave him a sideways glance as she leaned forward, “Speaking of getting back to work, I was wondering if you had a new assignment for us?”
“Us? Who’s us?” Harry shot her a confused look and Sophie’s browed furrowed as she explained.
“Us. As in me and Cayden. Obviously, things didn’t exactly go as planned in D.C. but I figured you’d have another assignment for us since neither of us had an article to turn in. You know, to decide who gets the senior writer position.” Sophie lost some steam as she spoke, noticing the way Harry’s eyes darted to the paper folded in front of him on his desk and then he wouldn’t meet her questioning gaze.
“Uh, listen Sophie.” Harry started, but then stopped just as suddenly as he grabbed the newspaper and handed it to her, “You know what, just read it for yourself.”
Reluctantly, Sophie took the paper and it took her all of three seconds to absorb what it said. It was Cayden’s article, the one he’d said he hadn’t written, and it was right there in black and white on the front page of the World News.
Her eyes frantically searched out the tag line underneath the header and there it was. Words that hit her so hard she felt like she’d had all the air knocked from her lungs. Cayden Ray, Senior Writer.
“What? I don’t understand, Harry. You said the assignment was canceled!”
“It was.” Harry said, still not quite meeting her accusatory gaze, “But Cayden still did the work and it was a damn good article. He earned that promotion, Sophie. By his writing, and his behavior.”
Sophie stared at him for a long moment, lost for words as anger threatened to boil over inside her and she knew she needed to get the hell out of that office before she said something she truly regretted.
Without another word she rose to her feet, tossed the paper back on the desk and left. She stomped her way toward Blair’s desk, hoping that she would be back by now. She needed to fume before her head exploded. How could Harry do that? Give the position to Cayden without even giving her a fair shot? And Cayden!
He’d told her he wasn’t going to write an article. He’d told her that they would probably have another shot at competing for the job. He’d slept with her after lying to her face and stabbing her in the back. No, she didn’t need to talk to Blair. She needed to talk to Cayden and demand some answers.
Sophie had just turned around, marching towards Cayden’s desk and nearly ran into Brad. An employee at the paper and she knew, one of Cayden’s closest friends. Personally, she’d always found him a little slimy. He and Cayden must be two peas in a pod.
“Brad,” Sophie growled, pointing her finger at the man and he froze mid-step, sending her a wide-eyed look, “Where the hell is Cayden?”
“Damn. News travels fast,” Brad said, giving her a casual shrug, “I guess you found out, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess I did,” Sophie fumed, “Now, where is he?”
“He’s on an interview. Your friend Blair is there with him taking photographs for the paper,” His expression changed, growing sly and even more slimy as he took a step closer, “You know, it’s really nothing to get your panties in a bunch about. Cayden’s slept with plenty other women here and everyone ends up finding out about it.”
His words were like a bucket of ice water. Her entire body froze as they sank in and she had to work hard to unclench her jaw and force out her question.
“What did you just say?”
“Well, with the looks and whispers,” He leaned forward as he spoke and Sophie had to fight the urge to vomit, “I knew it was only a matter of time before the gossip got back to you. A word of advice, Sophie. Cayden is a player. Always has been. Always will be. The sooner you accept that the easier it will be for both of you.”
“He…he told you?” She choked out and Brad just gave another infuriating shrug.
“He told me. I may have let it slip to Barb in accounting and, when I got into work this morning everyone was talking about it. You know how she gossips. I wouldn’t let it get to you. Like I said, you’re not Cayden’s first conquest at the paper.”
“You are the most disgusting…” Sophie trailed off, anger filling her to the point that she couldn’t even form a cohesive sentence. Brad just brushed off her words, giving her one last sly smile before turning and waltzing back down the hallway.
Sophie’s hands were shaking as she fum
bled to pull out her phone. It all made sense now. The looks. The stares. The whispers. It was bad enough thinking that everyone just assumed she was incompetent and injured, but this…this was worse than anything she could have imagined.
Like a bolt of electricity, one thought filled her mind and she knew that it was true immediately. She couldn’t stay there. She couldn’t continue working at the paper. Soon enough Harry would find out and then she’d come under review for breaking the paper’s code of conduct by fraternizing with a co-worker. It wasn’t strictly enforced. Probably wouldn’t be enough to get her fired but her personal business would be smeared in front of everyone. She couldn’t do it. No, she wouldn’t do it.
Her fingers were still trembling as she dialed Blair’s number but her legs were steady as she made the long, terrible walk back to her desk. She had a letter of resignation to write.
Chapter 16
Cayden
“Okay, I’ve just got a few more questions for you, sir, if you wouldn’t mind.” Cayden asked, writing furiously in his notebook as the politician standing in front of him nodded absently as he waved to the small crowd around him.
“I’m a representative of New York,” Noah Clarke said as he shot another politician’s smile out over the crowd, “ask me anything you’d like.” He finally glanced over at Cayden, “I won’t promise I’ll answer you, now. But ask away.”
Cayden forced a harsh chuckle at the man’s words. God, he hated interviewing politicians. But he better get used to it. He’d be writing a lot more high profile articles now that he had officially been promoted to senior writer at the World News.
He cringed slightly to himself as he pictured the look on Sophie’s face as Harry broke the news to her. Cayden had been nearly ecstatic when Brewer had told him that he and Blair were going out on assignment to cover Clarke’s promotional speech. Harry had a feeling the man would be running for a higher office in the next few years and wanted an early scoop. Cayden had just been glad to get out of the office. He didn’t want to be within ten miles of Sophie when she found out that he’d been promoted over her.