The Sunday Arrangement

by Lucy Smith

  Staring at the strong lines of Pierce’s jaw as he spoke, I bit my tongue. We hadn’t spoken of Sunday. Yet here we were, business as usual. I hated myself for it, but I wanted some small acknowledgment that we had fucked—because that’s what it was. A mind-blowing, fantastic fuck. Didn’t that deserve some sort of recognition? Maybe it was nerves. Maybe it was my feminine wiles. Maybe I was just self-conscious. But I needed him to stop waxing eloquent about the schematics for Toby’s potential design and the crotchety investors and the extensive casino plans that he wanted so badly to build.

  It was entirely unlike me, the corporate guru. The business loner. The no-life Nelly I had turned into the last few years. But my world had wonderfully shifted Sunday evening, and I was still getting used to the adjustment. After all, weren’t we going to do this again? How was I supposed to wait five whole days to feel the warmth of his touch once more? And what fantasy were we going to play out? The suspense made me nauseous; I didn’t enjoy the unexpected. I needed a plan. And unfortunately, there was no way to plan and prepare for spontaneity.

  I wondered if he even had anything in mind. He told me he was going to take the first turn, but I had absolutely no reference, no way of knowing what we’d be doing. I hoped he’d ease me into his fantasy world gently, though there wasn’t anything gentle about our elevator rendezvous. I smiled to myself, recalling the strength of his arms as he pressed me against the wall.

  “Lauren, did you hear a thing I just said?”

  I’d been staring at the wall for a while now without realizing it. Pierce sat across from me, typing up the draft for the proposal. “I . . .” I wasn’t sure what to say. I shook my head as if that would release my sexual distraction from my mind. “I’m sorry. I guess I just got a little distracted by . . . something.”

  He grinned, and I saw the recognition in his beautiful eyes. He knew exactly what had me distracted and unfocused this morning and what I had been thinking about. I was as easy to read as he was to stare at. Where had my business poker face, my corporate cold shoulder gone? Inwardly, I shrugged. His recognition only meant that he was thinking about the same thing—a thought that I thoroughly enjoyed.

  “Can’t you just tell me what exactly we’ll be doing?” I asked him before I could stop myself. I cringed as the words left my mouth. The question made me sound like a small child eager to learn what her Christmas present was going to be, not a grown woman talking to her lover.

  “Now where would all the suspense be if I told you today? It’s only Tuesday,” he said coyly. “You’ll just have to be patient and find out Sunday morning. Until then you have to wait like a good girl.”

  My eyes narrowed. The condescending bastard was thoroughly enjoying this.

  “You’ll figure it out soon enough,” he added.

  Curiosity won out over my pride and I had to ask, “Why Sunday morning? I thought we were meeting at night?”

  “Oh, we are. You just get to find out what the fantasy is on Sunday morning.”

  Somehow, I found this reassuring. It was time to get back to business. “Fine then. Now tell me more about Mr. Levins and how you plan to get him interested in backing this casino.”

  ~*~*~*~

  “You did what?” Kat shouted over the phone.

  “I know. I know,” I whispered. “Please don’t judge me.” I covered the phone and walked farther down the hall of the hotel. We were on a break from the day-long meeting with a couple of the investors, and I had taken the opportunity to escape.

  “This was Sunday and you’re just now calling me?”

  I licked my lips. I knew she was going to be a little upset over my neglect. “I didn’t want to tell you. I’m sorry. This wasn’t exactly according to the plan. . . .”

  She let out a low whistle. “Boy, I’ll say, Lo. I mean, last we talked, a mere three days ago, you weren’t thinking three months in Vegas with this guy would be any fun. What gives?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t even explain it. I still think he’s a bit arrogant, but he’s definitely growing on me,” I said with more confidence than I felt.

  “I’ll say he is. So you’re just in a habit of sleeping with men you’re not sure you even like? Got it.”

  I rolled my eyes, thankful she couldn’t see my reaction. “No, listen. He’s still not my favorite person. God, you should see some of the things he wants to pull with this project, Kat.”

  “But . . .”

  I quickly looked down the heinous floral-carpeted hallway to make sure no one was coming up behind me. “He’s arrogant and cocky, but aren’t I a little bit? Our families absolutely loathe each other, but I don’t know, Kat. He just does something to me. It’s like I can’t say ‘no’ and what’s worse, I don’t want to.”

  “Moth to his flame, huh?”

  “Exactly.”

  Kat sighed. “So what does this mean, Lo? Even I’m at a loss for words here.”

  “I think it just means that I’m horny, and it’s been a while. I think I may even be discovering my inner sexual animal,” I said playfully.

  “Well, it’s about time, my friend. What’s it been—five or six years since the professor?”

  “Almost seven.”

  “No wonder you’re horny.”

  I laughed. “It’s not like I haven’t been with anyone since then. You know that.”

  “Yeah, but those were always some random guys at bars. Or that one guy you met online and dated for a few weeks before he asked you for a lock of your hair. God, that was creepy.”

  “Don’t remind me.” I leaned up against the wall, relaxing. Kat had a calming effect on me. Even when I was confessing my latest exploits, she had a way of understanding and consoling me.

  “But this is different, Lo. This is so unlike you, mixing business and pleasure.”

  I had to admit she was right. “Maybe that’s why I like it so much. It’s so wrong that it somehow feels right.” I paused before adding, “I know that probably doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Yeah, I get it. He’s the bad boy, and your dad would have a complete conniption if he knew about your sudden interest in Pierce’s . . . endowments.”

  “Not exactly new material, huh?”

  “You’re a classic Juliet, my friend,” Kat said. “This story has practically written itself.”

  “God, I hope not,” I sneered. “She was like fourteen, and she . . . well, she died.”

  “Yeah, please don’t kill yourself over money bags.”

  “Duly noted.”

  There was a brief silence. Part of me wanted to just hang up. I loved Kat, but she was making me feel like a hormonal, stereotypical teenager, not a grown woman taking the reins of her sex life.

  “Just remember to guard your heart, Lo,” she said.

  “Okay, thanks for the parental scolding,” I chuckled. “What’s next? Want me to go up to my room and be grounded for a month?”

  “Ah, shit. Did I pull a classic mother-daughter tirade? Listen, all I’m saying is that guy obviously just wants to get in your pants and—”

  “And all I want is to get in his.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure you do. And that’s great. It’s about time you dusted off the ol’ cobwebs down there, if you catch my drift. I’m just saying, protect yourself and be careful. Just some friendly advice from a concerned friend, okay?”

  I folded my arms across my chest. I knew Kat was right, no matter how much I hated to admit it. “Okay, okay. I’ll be careful. Happy?”

  “Be careful, but have fun. . . . Just how good was he anyway?”

  I sighed, unsure how to properly describe the magnitude of the night without sounding like a love-struck bimbo. Which I wasn’t. I was just a woman in awe of one man’s dick and what he was able to do with it. “Well . . .”

  “A speechless Lauren? Now there’s something I haven’t heard in a while.”

  “It was really, really fantastic, Kat. Unlike anything I’ve ever had before.”

  Kat giggled. “Glad he�
�s worth it, friend. Keep me in the loop with you and the Mav man. I’m living vicariously through you now, ya know.”

  I glanced at the face of my gray watch. “Hey Kat, I’ve got to get back in there. Are you coming down soon?”

  “I got scheduled this weekend at the brewery, but I’m thinking maybe next weekend?”

  “Okay, sounds good. Love ya.”

  “You too, babe.”

  I hung up and hurried down the hallway in my nude heels with a few minutes to spare before the meeting.

  “Lauren, where have you been? We’ve got to get this slideshow going before the guys get back in here,” Pierce said. His tone was harsh. I doubted he wanted to hear the details about how I had just confessed our Sunday arrangement to my best friend in between our important investor meetings.

  “Sorry, I’m here now. It’ll just take a second . . .” I still needed to set up the PowerPoint presentation on my computer so that I could make the presentation to our future investors. If all went well, we’d be looking at twenty new investors and nearly forty million for this new casino.

  “It better!” he snapped. “They’ll be here any moment.”

  I cringed. He was acting as though he had completely forgotten about our time together. I knew better, but it disgusted me a little that he treated me so poorly under pressure. And it repulsed me more that I cared so much. Get a grip on your ovaries, Lauren. Stop being such a pansy. “Uh, sorry. Hang on,” I mumbled while clicking on my laptop.

  “Just make sure you get it on the screen in the next minute. We’re so close to nailing this thing, Lauren!” He came up behind me and squeezed my shoulder.

  As quickly as it had surfaced, his anger vanished. A switch flipped. I appreciated his efforts to be kind, as confusing as it was. Hot. Cold. Off. On. It seemed impossible to keep up.

  But he was right. We were so close to closing a multi-million-dollar deal with these investors. Usually at this point I started to get “deal arousal”—my made-up business term for the conquest of another project’s near success. Today, however, the only thing arousing me was the thought of next Sunday and the sexual adventure Pierce had in store for us, even if he was just an arrogant ass trying to prove himself.

  Chapter Eight

  The next day Toby arrived around two in the afternoon, just as he’d promised. Thankful for both the interruption from the drone of the afternoon and the free moments away from that dashingly handsome, but ever-distracting Maverick, I picked up my brother in a Hummer stretch limo.

  “Snazzy!” he said, entering the vehicle. “You didn’t have to bust out your best guns for me, sis.”

  “Good to see you, Tobe. And of course I did. Nothing but the best for you.” I pointed to the small black cooler in the middle of the leather console. “Champagne is in there, if you’re interested.”

  He shook his head. “I think I’m good. I had a few drinks on the plane.”

  “So how’s it going?” I asked after I told the driver to take us back to my condo.

  He scooted down the leather seat next to me. “Could be worse, could be better. Hope you plan on getting me pretty drunk tonight.”

  I raised my eyebrow. “That bad already? You just got here!”

  “Oh, it’s nothing new, sister,” he said with a forced laugh. “Just the same ol’ stress. Being an adult can be pretty shitty sometimes.”

  “Well, I should probably tell you now that your stress level may not be alleviated while you’re here. You have the Mavericks to thank for that. How much did Dad have to bribe you to ditch one of your projects for this job anyway?”

  Toby dramatically rolled his brown eyes and let out a long breath. “Not much more than he usually does. I needed this one though, Lauren. Freelancing has been a little unstable the last two months.” He combed his fingers through his thick black hair. “Besides, Dad seems a little weird about this whole project. Just the fact that he invited the Mavericks in on this venture was enough to pique my interest.”

  I straightened my pink pencil skirt and sighed. “Let’s not try to analyze Dad now. He’s like a salmon swimming downstream, lost in the rapids. There’s no use trying to understand the routes he swims.”

  “Yet somehow he always seems to make the right business call.”

  I nodded. “Exactly. So we need to trust him in this, even though working with this family goes against everything we’ve learned the last several years. You know what Dad always said, ‘If you can’t beat ‘em —’”

  “‘May as well join ‘em,’” Toby interrupted. “I seriously doubt he ever had Peter Maverick in mind when he said that.”

  I shrugged. “I don’t see how we can do anything about it now, ya know? Might as well do what Dad says. What’s done is done.”

  “Just like you always do.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I folded my arms and furrowed my brow. “I’ve done plenty of things Dad didn’t approve of.”

  “Whoa, easy there, tiger.” Toby put his hands in the air as if to surrender the rest of the conversation. “I think you know what I meant, Lo. I mean, c’mon. You’ve been working for Dad since you were in college. You always do his bidding, whether or not you agree with it.”

  “So? He’s my boss. I’m contractually obligated to.”

  “Has he even called you to see how everything is going with Pierce?” Toby let my silence hang for a few moments before he continued. “Do you remember the Jones project?”

  I shook my head. “Like I could forget it.”

  “You were young when it happened, so you don’t even know all the hairy details. But you and I both can agree that Dad did some exceptionally shady deals to accrue his millions for that specific project.”

  “I can hardly control how Dad runs his business.”

  “True,” Toby said. “But you can choose to be a part of it or not.”

  Toby’s disgust for the unethical way our father sometimes chose to do business was contagious, like the measles. Every time I spoke to him and analyzed Hart Corp, I found myself covered in those pesky red little bumps before I knew it. The itch was undeniable. Jealous that Toby was able to break away, part of me longed to do the same. To follow in his independent footsteps. To abandon Dad like he had done to us so often during our childhoods. What kept my feet planted, however, the anchor forcing me to stay still, was fear. My life apart from the Hart Corporation office was a giant question mark. I held on to the hope that things would be different if I could only be named CEO.

  “You’ve been here five minutes and you’re already going to try to convince me to quit the company again?” I asked, trying to keep the tone light. “You’re here for a Hart Corp project, after all. Don’t you think that’s a little contradictory, brother dear?”

  “I work for Dad on a need-by-need basis. I choose the projects I’m actually interested in designing. The second I sense something shady’s happening, I bail. Just like I did with the Jones project.”

  “Dad’s still licking his wounds over that one.”

  Toby glanced out the limo’s window. “One day he’ll understand. He’ll never have both of his children working full time for Hart Corp ever again.”

  “He’s not the only one who’s sad, ya know,” I said. “But let’s just ignore that ugly little detail for as long as we can. Enough about Dad. Tell me about your life.”

  The two of us chitchatted as we made our way through the bustling streets of Las Vegas to meet Pierce at the lot he had so carefully chosen for the building site. It was sure to be an exhaustingly long day. We would all have to discuss dimensions, theme, overall artistic leeway, along with a million other intricate details so that Toby could begin forming ideas in his head. If Pierce was so selective about the building’s location, I shuddered to think about the ridiculous hoops he would force Toby to jump through regarding the building’s design and fancy features. Toby was a gifted architect, but he wasn’t God. And I expected Pierce to demand nothing but divine capabilities for his casino’s constru
ction.

  When we pulled up to the site, my brother turned to me. “So how much will I want to punch this guy in the face by the end of the day?”

  I grimaced. Pierce had obviously started to grow on me, in more ways than one, but I couldn’t let my older brother know this. It wouldn’t take him long to put two and two together and figure out that Pierce and I were strangely involved. He’d tell Margret, she’d tell my mom, and word would surely get back to Father faster than I could say the word “fantasy.” The Harts were one big rumor mill of a family. Dad would have a heart attack or a stroke and, knowing him, probably both. And then he’d fire me, no question. At this point, I couldn’t afford to lose my job. I had worked too hard, even if my father was an unethical dictator.

  I tried to keep a straight face. “Pierce isn’t so bad,” I said. “Yes, he’s arrogant. Yes, he’s young with a million harebrained ideas. Seriously, he thinks he knows it all.”

  “Sounds like someone else I know . . .”

  “I’m going to pretend you’re talking about Dad,” I said with a small smile. “Really though, the twerp is barely out of college.” I folded my arms across my chest. “But he’s a hard worker, and he’s trying to prove himself with this project. It’s sort of admirable.” I prayed he bought my bit. Though I meant every word of it, I definitely didn’t feel my dislike of Pierce as strongly as I let on. Sure he wasn’t my favorite person to be around at work, but I could hardly wait to get into bed with him once again. Talking wasn’t exactly a requirement for an excellent fuck.

  “I guess we’ll both need some drinks with dinner tonight?” Toby asked.

  “I couldn’t agree more.”

  We got out of the car and made our way over to where Pierce was standing beside his Shelby Cobra. A tall, blonde woman stepped out from the passenger side. Her hair was long and curly, her dress sleek and black. She glanced my way before forcefully smiling at Pierce.

  Immediately, my heart began to pound. I felt my skin coil. A million questions danced in my head as my brother and I approached the two. Who was this woman? Why did I recognize her? And for Christ’s sake, why did she have to be so damn beautiful?