Imperfect Love: One-Night Stand-In (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by T Gephart

  So, I knew he was smart and capable which only meant I was going to have to work harder to undermine him and prove he wasn’t needed. He had to have a weakness, something I could exploit. Something I could use to—

  “Shit.” I slammed headfirst into a wall of muscle. A chest it seemed, my head so deep in thought I hadn’t been paying attention to where I was walking.

  “Is this my welcome hug, sweetheart? I thought we were going to try and keep it professional.”

  Kyle.

  My morning had already taken a turn for the worse and it wasn’t even seven a.m.

  “If that is how you hug, then keeping things professional is the least of your problems.” I regained some composure and pulled my head away from his pectorals. Never mind that he smelled delicious, a mix of dark roast coffee and masculine body wash. I needed to remember I hated him and sniffing him was not appropriate.

  “And good morning to you too.” He smiled and held up a large paper cup. “Black, one sugar. I heard you liked to get here early.”

  Firstly, he’d obviously been doing some research of his own and I wasn’t sure if that was creepy—no comment considering I had been doing the same—or admirable. And secondly I couldn’t believe he remembered how I took my coffee. He’d ordered breakfast while I had been in the shower after our first and only night and had asked how I wanted my coffee. We’d eaten and had more sex. And I thought for sure when I left, that I—along with how I took my coffee—had been forgotten.

  The gesture—him bringing me coffee—would have been incredibly considerate and sweet. But it was Kyle, which unnerved me.

  For all I knew he could have put rat poison in it and this was all part of an elaborate plan to kill me. Sure, a touch dramatic and possibly a little messy but I had made it clear that I hadn’t wanted him working here, and if he were smart, he would be trying to get rid of me too.

  “Thanks, but I’ve already had one,” I lied, silently cursing myself for the loss of delicious caffeine goodness I most definitely could use.

  “Well I guess more for me.” He took a sip, his tongue sliding across his full lips as he lowered the cup. “Mmmm. So good.” I was almost positive he was not talking about the coffee.

  I ignored him and whatever innuendo he was throwing at me, choosing to walk away and head to the sanctity of my office. At least that had been my plan when I heard the heavy footsteps follow me in.

  “What are you doing here?” I shucked my coat and bag, trying to keep the panic slash excitement—honestly, I wasn’t sure which—out of my voice as he shut the door behind us. Being in such a close space with him was dangerous, it was easy to forget how bad an idea it was to kiss him. No, enemy, remember?

  “Didn’t we already cover this? I work here.” He looked bored, sinking into a chair without even asking. “You have a terrible memory. You should get that looked at.” He took another sip of coffee, placing the cup on the desk.

  “There is nothing wrong with my memory.” Forcing the smile, I tried to forget what he looked like naked. “Yes, I get that you work here, but what are you doing in my office?” And more importantly, when was he going to leave so I didn’t lick the remnants of the coffee from his lips.

  “Well, considering it’s my first day, I thought we could strategize. A morning meeting so we could discuss business.”

  That was a completely logical notion, and I was a little annoyed at myself for not thinking about it first.

  “It’s your first day, I thought you might want to ease into it. I didn’t want to overburden you with details.” Good save, Sarah. I leaned back in my chair, regretting not taking his offer of coffee. This conversation would be easier with caffeine.

  “You’re right, it’s my first day but I don’t want to waste it taking a tour to find the copy room.” He leaned forward, his fingers drumming on my desk.

  “Fine,” I breathed out slowly, “let’s have a meeting.”

  * * *

  Kyle

  There had been two versions of Sarah.

  One was the wild sex kitten who threw caution to wind and had sex with a man she didn’t know in Vegas. And the other was this buttoned-up powerhouse wearing the sexiest excuse of a skirt I’d ever seen. If her outfit was advertising she meant business, then baby I was buying. It wasn’t just the look either, she knew what she was talking about. Her lips spewing facts and figures with ease, showing no intimidation when I asked questions.

  I’d been given a brief about my co-manager before I’d left Chicago. Work history, strengths etc., I assumed she got a similar report of me. Of course, back then I hadn’t connected that Sarah Madison was Vegas Sarah, why would I? And while her resume and listed abilities seemed impressive, I was more anxious to see what she could do. Coupled with the extra info Cami had provided, it was becoming obvious Sarah could more than hold her own.

  Cami was right, Sarah was fierce, and I wasn’t sure which version of her was hotter. I was also harder than I’d ever been in my life.

  Lucky for me she stayed seated at her desk. Her beautiful eyes shifted between the computer screen and mine as she spoke so she didn’t notice the present situation in my pants. Part of me wanted her to look down, to see the rod between my legs and ask me about it. Take it in that beautiful mouth of hers like she’d done at the Bellagio, and then let me come all over her perfect, firm tits.

  “I think we should lead with a social media campaign. It’s in line with their demographic.” Her voice brought me to the present.

  “Agreed, but you need a hook to make it go viral. Just throwing it out there online doesn’t work anymore,” I was able to choke out, which was difficult considering I was still thinking of her sucking my dick.

  “True, we can talk to the social media team, see if they have any ideas.” She grabbed a pen off her desk and made a notation in her notebook.

  With her head lowered, the light coming through the window hit her face at the perfect angle. The sun spread across her skin showcasing her features as she wrote.

  Fuck. She was beautiful.

  I was really, really going to like working here.

  “Am I going too fast for you?” She smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Obviously there was a part of the conversation I’d missed. “I can slow down if you like.”

  She probably hadn’t meant it to be sexual, but coming out of those perky pink lips, it sure sounded that way.

  “I can keep up just fine,” I assured her, resisting the urge to show her exactly how well I could keep up.

  “Okay.” She cleared her throat. “You should probably go to your office and work on what we already have.” She shifted awkwardly in her chair, playing nervously with her earring in her right ear. “I have a meeting in an hour.”

  “Oh?” And that got my attention. She might be fierce, but she certainly had a tell.

  I’d seen it before she’d propositioned me in Vegas. This cute little thing where she reached up and played with the lobe of her ear. And I didn’t get where I was today solely on what I’d learned in a classroom in college. Nope, I had a knack for reading the room, came from having a grandpa who believed Texas Hold’em was an appropriate substitute for Go Fish. And it was that skill which had given me the edge over at Stockwell.

  So, whatever or with whomever this meeting was with or for, she did not want me to know.

  “Well if it’s a client, shouldn’t we be meeting them together?” I threw out a line, waiting for her to bite.

  “I didn’t say it was a client. It’s just a meeting.” She answered a little too quickly. “Nothing you need to be around for.”

  Yeah, right.

  And I hadn’t jacked off thinking about her in the shower that morning either.

  Both of those statements full of shit.

  “Okay then.” I carefully rose out of the chair, doing my best to adjust myself as I stood, trying not to advertise that someone in my pants was very much interested. “I’ll leave you to it.”

  “Mm-hmm.”
She mumbled tight-lipped as her eyes floated down to my cock. And if her irises getting bigger were any indication, I was fairly sure she saw exactly what I had going on.

  “We should reconvene later today.” I pretended I wasn’t packing a hard-on, giving her business as usual. “I’ll let you get ready for your meeting.”

  And with a smile, I turned around, opened her office door and showed myself out.

  It was probably an asshole move, walking out without saying goodbye but I figured if she was being evasive, she was playing dirty too. Fair was fair.

  Besides, she wasn’t going to tell me shit, that part was obvious, so heading back to my office seemed like the smarter option.

  Just few doors down, my four walls were remarkably similar to hers. It was smaller than what I’d had in Chicago. The view was better I noted as I walked over to the huge pane of glass and checked out the skyline. Not that it much mattered; I had little interest in looking out of my window unless it was while I was fucking her against it.

  “Hi.”

  There was a sharp knock at the doorframe of my still opened door.

  “Um . . . I’m Kennedy.” I turned around to the short brunette waving in my doorway. “It was open.” She smiled, her chin tipping toward the door. “Just stopping by to say hello.”

  “Please, come in.” I gestured to the chair in front of my desk.

  Kennedy Elliot was one of Sarah’s closest friends, which I knew thanks to Cami’s report. So she was either in my office for reconnaissance, acting on behalf of Sarah, or her mission was unsanctioned. Both prospects pleased me more than they should.

  “I know you probably have heaps to do, so I won’t take up too much of your time.” She quickly situated herself into the chair. “But you know,” she gave me a wide smile. “Thought I’d be friendly.”

  Hmmm. Yeah. I’m sure that’s what you were doing.

  “Well, I’m new in town.” I returned the smile, taking the chair behind my desk and giving her a little extra charm. “And it’s nice to meet new people, especially friendly ones such as yourself.”

  “Oh, I’m sure lots of people are friendly to you.” She giggled, biting her lip.

  This type of exchange wasn’t new. And typically, a girl like her—giggling and batting her eyelashes—would have her hand down my pants in twenty to thirty minutes flat. And that was being conservative. But that wasn’t the plan today, which was ironic considering that’s exactly what I wanted a few minutes ago.

  It seemed my dick was feeling selective.

  Interesting.

  “So tell me, Kennedy, what do you guys do around here for fun? Any wild after-work drinks I need to clear my schedule for?” I pushed a little further, figured if we were going to flirt with each other I might as well use it to my advantage.

  “No, nothing like that.” She frowned, deflating slightly. “I mean, there’s a bar not far from here we sometimes go to.”

  “Sounds promising.” I leaned closer across my desk, looking her in the eyes. “Sometimes is one of my favorite times.”

  “Maybe we could get a group of us together, you know, to welcome you.”

  “I would like that.” I didn’t need to fake the smile. “A lot.”

  The air slowly passed through her lips on the exhale before she took another breath.

  “Then it’s settled. I’ll organize everything.” Her head bobbed as she slowly rose to her feet. “Just leave it to me.” She backed slowly to the door.

  “I can’t wait.”

  Chapter 5

  Sarah

  “So, don’t be mad.” Kennedy burst into my office, her hands held up in mock surrender. “But I kind of offered to go to after-work drinks with your ex-husband.”

  “What?”

  There were so many parts of the sentence that were cause for alarm. Funnily enough the ex-husband part wasn’t the biggest. Which was a problem.

  “He totally beguiled me. I completely understand how you married that. I mean I was in there for maybe a few minutes, and I would have stripped naked if he’d asked. I mean,” she shook her head, screwing up her face in disgust, “I wouldn’t because girl code and all of that. But ordinarily if you hadn’t gone there, I totally would have.”

  “He’s not my ex-husband.”

  “Fine, not technically.” She eased into a seat. “But I would be totally claiming it if I were you. I would have found a way to make it legal too.”

  “Kennedy, focus.” She was a little more scattered than usual, but then having spent time with Kyle it wasn’t hard to tell why.

  Hell, he had me scattered this morning.

  And if I didn’t know better, I would be convinced he had an erection earlier. Which would be ridiculous, because we weren’t doing anything remotely sexual. Sure I had been aroused, which was even more ridiculous but . . . see—scattered! I was going to have to get a better handle on things.

  “Okay, so I went in there to snoop. You know, see if he would spill any secrets we could then use against him.” She lowered her voice, ducking her head slightly like perhaps the walls might betray her.

  “You shouldn’t have done that, I told you, I don’t want you implicated in case we both end up fired.” The last thing I wanted was to be responsible for Kennedy losing her job, it was bad enough what I was doing was putting my own in jeopardy.

  “Oh, please.” She waved dismissively. “I wasn’t going to get caught. Give me more credit than that.”

  “So . . .” I urged her to continue. “You went in there . . .”

  “And he charmed me. Like he’s magic or something. I’m not even sure how we got talking about drinks, but one minute I was looking to see if he had any open folders on his desk and the next I’m volunteering to organize a welcome party. Oh, by the way, you have to come. We’re going tonight.”

  I wasn’t sure what was worse, that Kennedy had fallen under Kyle’s spell—we already established through no fault of her own—or that I was now obligated to see him in a social situation.

  “I can’t tonight.” I tried to think up a viable excuse, one that didn’t sound like complete bullshit. “Kennedy, it’s too soon.”

  I didn’t want to admit that I didn’t trust myself around him buuuut, I didn’t trust myself around him. Sure, I could keep it professional when we were working, keep my focus on the tasks at hand, but take that out of the equation and I wasn’t sure what would happen. Would it be like it had been in Vegas? Would I lose my nerve and tell him I was planning on destroying him? Would I throw myself at him shamelessly and beg for one more of those amazing orgasms? Too many variables.

  “I can’t,” I said as much for my benefit as for hers. “Go without me, I’ll make up some excuse I had to work late or something.”

  “Yeah, that won’t work.” Kennedy shook her head.

  Damn it. She was right. He was already suspicious when I’d let slip about my Skyline meeting. If I made up some fictional work situation that he didn’t know about, I would get a whole bunch of questions. It was only natural, given that we were supposed to be working together.

  “Fine, I’ll tell him I have a doctor’s appointment.” Not the best idea but one that would get me out of the pickle. “It means I’m unavailable for tonight and he can’t tag along. Solves both the problems.”

  “Okay, but you might want to think something else up in case he asks questions.” Kennedy didn’t seem convinced.

  “He won’t ask, it’s none of his business.” People had doctor’s appointments all the time. Regular ones. It was part of being a responsible adult.

  “All right then, your funeral.”

  * * *

  I had managed to get through most of the day relatively unscathed. Kyle had stayed in his office working on the projects we’d discussed this morning and I had been able to have my phone meeting with Skyline without drawing any unnecessary attention. I was getting closer with them, I just knew it.

  The times we were in the same room, the sexual tension was definitel
y there. And I was almost positive it wasn’t one sided. But as Kennedy had so accurately put it, he had some weird aura or something so I couldn’t be sure I wasn’t under a spell and was imagining the whole thing.

  Which is why I was keeping our contact to a minimum.

  “You ready to go?” Kyle walked into my office and over to where I’d tossed my coat and bag earlier this morning. “Kennedy is throwing me a welcome party.” He smirked like he knew I had already been informed.

  “Ah, yeah. She mentioned.” I was careful not to fidget and look him in the eye. “I can’t make it. I have a doctor’s appointment.”

  “It’s almost six, what doctor’s appointment do you have? You don’t look sick.” He stood beside my desk, my coat and bag still in his hand.

  “Well, that’s personal and none of your business,” I fired back confidently. I had been ready for it, forewarned that it might not be the best of excuses.

  “Psychiatrist, huh? That’s cool.” A reassuring hand gently touched my shoulder. “You could have just said. I’m glad actually, Sarah. I applaud you keeping your mental health in check. Maybe mention the moodiness. Do you need a ride?”

  “I do not need a ride and I am not seeing a psychiatrist.” I shooed his hand and his sympathy away.

  What the hell? Why would he think I needed to see a shrink? I should have just told him I had a date. That would have been easier.

  “So, if you aren’t sick or in therapy, it would be safe to assume this doctor’s appointment is either a routine visit—which can easily be rescheduled—or you’re avoiding me like you have been most of the day.”

  Why the hell was he so smooth and perceptive? Oblivious was what I wanted. In fact, the more ignorant the better. Instead, this guy had every angle covered. No wonder they’d been so desperate to hire him.

  It was a trap.

  I wasn’t sure I could convincingly sell that I wasn’t avoiding him. Which in turn would make me look weak—something I wouldn’t have. Alternatively, going out and spending a night drinking with him and an audience wasn’t happening for all the reasons I’d listed with Kennedy.