Her face distorts with pleasure as she comes, but I don’t let up. “Once more,” I tell her, my voice muffled by her pussy.
“I’m good with that,” she exhales, and both Daniel and I chuckle. That statement is pure Bailey. She likes her orgasms, my fiery redhead, and she’s not afraid to ask for them.
“Switch with me,” Daniel tells me. “I want a taste too.”
We trade places. I move up the bed and kiss Bailey deeply. I’ve never told a woman that I love her. Work has kept me busy, and my restaurants have been everything to me. Today, on a day when Seb New York has almost been destroyed, I feel the warmth of Bailey’s body next to mine, and the fire doesn’t seem to matter as much. Those three simple words - I love you - seem to bind us closer, deepening the intimacy between us.
She tries to wriggle away from Daniel’s mouth, her pussy sensitive as a result of her first orgasm. This is typical Bailey as well, and Daniel and I exchange grins. She wants the orgasm, but she’ll try to writhe away from it. “Stay put, sweetheart,” I tell her, pinning her in place with my leg.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she throws her head back on the pillow, her red hair a contrast against the pristine white of the sheets. “Daniel, please…”
Her body trembles and shivers as she comes with a moan. It’s too much. I need to be inside her right now, and from the look in Daniel’s eyes as he lifts up his head, he feels the same way.
Grabbing a condom from the side table, I roll it on and ease myself into her hot pussy. She’s wet and tight, her sex swollen from her two orgasms. The sensation is bliss. Pure, unadulterated bliss.
Daniel positions himself behind her and pushes in her asshole, after the application of generous amounts of lube. She groans as we both fill her. “This,” she gasps, “feels so good.”
Daniel kisses the back of her neck, pushing her curls out of the way. My palms graze over her erect nipples, and she hisses in pleasure and rakes her nails down my back. “Tiger,” I accuse her with a smile.
She starts to say something in reply, then Daniel nibbles at the curve of her shoulder, and she loses her train of thought, throwing back her head in a gesture of complete abandon. “Bailey,” Daniel mutters. “You are so beautiful.”
It’s been the day from hell. As my lips meet hers, it all fades away. In the softness of her body, in the sweet sigh of pleasure she makes, in the sheen of sweat on her skin as she rocks between us, I come home. As she writhes against us, I know I can’t last much longer. I’m going to come, whispering her name, kissing her skin, touching her and holding her.
This is love, and it’s the only thing that matters.
* * *
“I forgot to ask earlier,” she says, once our passion is sated, her voice heavy with exhaustion. “Did you guys ever talk to Juliette?”
Daniel’s playing with a lock of her hair, winding it around his fingers and releasing it, then winding it up again. “Yeah,” he says. “We talked to her.”
“And?” She props herself up on an elbow and looks at him. “What did she say?”
I think back on our conversation with Juliette. It had been unexpected. I thought she would deny what she did, but she had confessed to everything. Cyrus had lied to her and he’d used her. She’d given him the photo, but she swore to us that she didn’t know he would leak it to the press.
Though I’m furious, I think I believe her story. Of course, our business relationship is over. I won’t work with someone I can’t trust, and whether Juliette intended harm or not, she should have never gone behind my back.
“She confessed that she planted the camera,” Daniel says. He shakes his head. “Cyrus gave her the idea. He’s been grooming her for weeks, insinuating that Sebastian would be much better off without either you or me holding him back.”
“Oh.” She bites her lower lip as she thinks that over. “She gave Cyrus the camera?”
“No, thank heavens.” This is the bit I’m most grateful about. “Cyrus promised her that he’d just use it to scare Daniel into ending the threesome, but she grew uneasy with the plan.” I frown. “She’s a little too comfortable with the idea of blackmail, Juliette. I don’t like that.”
“She didn’t trust Cyrus, I take it?” she asks.
Daniel shakes his head. “No, she didn’t. She just gave him the one photo with your face obscured. Cyrus knows who you are, unfortunately, but at least there aren’t any photos. Or worse, video.”
“What happens now?”
Daniel exhales. “There’s more to the story. Have you ever wondered why I’m in the press all the time? I’m a CEO, not a celebrity. I might be rich, but in New York City, there are at least two dozen people richer than me, and they never get photographed. Stone Bradley figured it out. Cyrus has been selling me out to the tabloids all along. He’s been paying the paparazzi to trail me.” He looks grim. “He could never move directly against me. I have enough votes on the board. This way however? If he portrays me as an irresponsible playboy, and if he can blame the failure of the Ryan Communications deal on me?”
She hisses. “Suddenly, your board reconsiders. Damn it. What are you going to do?”
“Expose him. Juliette’s agreed to tell her story to the board tomorrow.”
“Is that going to be enough?” Her voice is skeptical. “It’s her word against his, isn’t it?”
“Stone’s looking for evidence,” Daniel says. “The board meets in the morning. If he’s found something by then, I’ll use it. If not, Juliette’s the best that I have.”
We’re all silent as we each contemplate the next day. Daniel’s going to be in the fight of his life to protect his company from Cyrus. Bailey has her hearing at NYU to contend with, and I have to go deal with the aftermath of the fire.
Tomorrow’s going to be another long day, but no matter what, I know we’ll all be just fine. Because today, we all discovered something really important. We can handle anything the world throws at us. As long as we are together.
42
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets
Bailey:
I’m so used to staying over at Daniel’s that it takes me a few minutes the next morning to register I’m somewhere different. The usual morning aroma of coffee is absent, as is the sound of Daniel clattering around in his kitchen, trying to make breakfast, until Sebastian mutters a curse and swings out of bed to help him.
I’m at the Plaza. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that today’s the Day of Judgment for all three of us. Daniel meets his board. I have my review with the university and at some point today, Sebastian will meet the safety experts and the insurers and find out how long it’ll take for Seb New York to reopen.
Sebastian strolls into the bedroom, his hair damp from a shower. A towel rides low on his hips and I openly lick my lips. I’m not looking forward to today, and staying in bed and having sex with Sebastian seems like a much better plan.
“Don’t you dare,” he warns as he realizes my intent, though from the gleam in his eyes, my horniness isn’t entirely unwelcome. “Come on. Out of bed with you. Don’t you have a meeting with your university president this morning?”
“Yes,” I groan, pulling the covers over my head, muffling the sound of my voice. “I would like to skip it entirely.”
Daniel enters the room, holding a cup of coffee. He’s fully dressed - he’s wearing a gray suit with some kind of darker weave running through it, a light shirt and a purple tie, and he looks good enough to eat.
With a grin, he waves the cup in my direction, and I emerge out from under the covers to glare at him. Damn it, that coffee smells really good. Good enough that I want to get out of bed for it. “That’s not fair,” I accuse him.
“But it’s remarkably effective,” he replies. “Come have breakfast with us before I have to take off. Is the tie too much, do you think?”
With a start, I realize Dani
el’s nervous. Most of the time, Daniel’s in perfect control. He’s smart, he’s well-informed, and he’s entirely too self-assured for his own good. When he plays, he plans on winning. He doesn’t make bets he thinks he can lose.
Today’s situation is different. Anything can happen, and by the end of the day, he could be forced out of his own company. If it happened to Steve Jobs, it can certainly happen to Daniel Hartman.
“The tie looks great,” I reassure him, swinging out of bed and taking the cup of coffee from his hand. “Stop worrying. You’ve made the company too much money for the board to fire you.”
“We’ll see.” His tone is deliberately neutral. “Half the board are cronies of my grandfather, people who still resent my father for marrying my mother. Cyrus might not be what’s best for Hartman, but he’s one of them and I’m a wild-card.”
“A wild-card who’s in a threesome.” I wink at him, hoping to tease him out of his grim mood. In the back of my mind, I wonder if he’s called NYU on my behalf, but I don’t bring it up. I don’t want to nag. If he’s remembered, that’s great. If he hasn’t, I’ll deal with the consequences.
“What time is your meeting at the university?” he asks as we sit down.
“Ten-thirty,” I mutter, not looking at them. I don’t want to think about my academic career going up in flames. Only a few days ago, I was sitting on top of the world. I had two perfect guys, they were supportive of me going off to Argentina for six months, and my pool game had improved by leaps and bounds. Now, it feels like a guillotine hangs over my head.
The table is crowded with dishes - scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast, fruit and more. I raise an eyebrow at the spread. “Hungry this morning?” I ask as I reach for some toast.
“I thought you liked variety, Bailey,” Sebastian winks. He’s the most relaxed person in the room. He fills his plate with scrambled eggs and adds two slices of bacon.
Daniel’s more like me - he can’t eat either. He’s just pretending to munch on a piece of toast. “I haven’t forgotten about your meeting,” he says. “I’m going to call the president on my way into work. I promise you, it’ll work out.”
“Thank you.” I lace my fingers in his. “I know you have other things on your mind.”
“There’s nothing more important than you, Bailey,” he says lightly. “You should know that by now.” He puts down the toast onto the plate and rises to his feet. “I have to go,” he says. He leans down and presses a kiss against my lips. “I’ll be in a board meeting the same time you have your review, so I won’t be able to call you. Text me as soon as you know something?”
I put my arm around his neck and draw him into a deeper kiss. “You too,” I say when I let him go. “I’m almost as nervous about your board meeting as I am about my job.” That’s a lie - I’m far more nervous about Daniel than I am about the university.
Sebastian rises to his feet and the two of them exchange a hug. No words are spoken between them - they’ve been friends long enough that no words are necessary.
“Are you nervous?” I ask Sebastian once Daniel has left.
“I’m terrified,” he says. “All last night, I kept dreaming about Daniel’s stupid board meeting. This is my fault, you know. Juliette works for me.”
“You didn’t make her give Cyrus that photo,” I tell him. “And I didn’t plagiarize from Valentin Perez. Other people did. The situation sucks, that’s all.”
“True.” He finishes the rest of the food on his plate. “Want me to walk you to NYU and lend you moral support?”
I beam at him. “Would you do that? What about the restaurant?”
“My meeting with the insurers is not till one,” he replies. “I can do both.”
“Thank you,” I say again.
Yes, this is a pretty grim day, but my heart lightens as I realize something. I don’t have to face it on my own.
43
Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Daniel:
Never bring a knife to a gunfight, they say. Unless Stone Bradley’s come through with evidence that Cyrus has been selling me out to the tabloids for years, I’m about to do just that.
“Mr. Bradley’s waiting for you in your office, Mr. Hartman,” Sophie says to me as I walk in. “And Ms. Kincaid is there as well.”
I close my eyes to conceal my relief. Though I didn’t tell Bailey last night because I didn’t want to worry her, there’s always been the possibility that Juliette wouldn’t show. Thankfully, she’s here, keeping up her end of the bargain.
“Thanks, Sophie.”
She smiles up. “You’ll beat this, Mr. Hartman,” she says. “I have complete faith in you. And there’s coffee in your office, and I ordered bagels and cream cheese.”
“Don’t worry, Sophie, I’m not going anywhere.” As I open the door to my office, I hope I’m not lying. If there’s ever a time for Bradley to earn the exorbitant fees he charges, it’s now.
Juliette’s looking out of the window with a coffee cup in her hand. Stone’s pretending to be engrossed in reading his newspaper, but he’s subtly checking out her ass. I roll my eyes, and he grimaces, abashed at being caught.
“Daniel,” Juliette exclaims, turning in my direction as she hears the door open. “I’m so sorry. Last night, I couldn’t sleep at all, thinking about what I’ve done.” She pauses and straightens her spine. “Never mind, the way I feel isn’t your problem. I’m here to try and fix what I did.”
“I appreciate that.” I’m not lying. Without Juliette, I’d have nothing to offer the board in my defense. But is Juliette’s testimony enough? Or does Stone have something more for me? “Stone? Have you found anything?”
He grins. “I struck gold. There’s a problem when you ally yourself with paparazzi sleazeballs, Hartman. These guys would sell their grandmothers out for a story. I waved some cash in front of them, and it wasn’t too hard to get them talking. Cyrus has been paying for reporters to stalk you and he’s been dropping some serious dough so that the editors of the tabloids will run your mug in their paper.”
Stone Bradley sounds confident in his claims, but accusations aren’t going to be enough for today’s meeting. “I need proof.”
He hands me a folder. “And I have it. Printouts of emails from your uncle to the editor of the Post. Communication between the photographers and Cyrus. Bank transfers. And much more.”
“He used a traceable email address?” I’m aghast. “How dumb is he?”
“Cocky, maybe,” Stone shrugs. Juliette’s listening to our conversation with keen interest. “Perhaps he thought he’d be above suspicion.”
He would have had cause to think that. I’d always muttered curses about the tabloids, but I’d never wondered why they followed me around. I was too busy running my family company to pay attention to that. Cyrus almost got away with it. Until he involved Bailey.
I flip through the contents, my relief growing as I read each damning bit of evidence. “This is good stuff, Stone.”
“I told you I’d take care of it,” he replies.
Stone’s earned his arrogance. He had twenty-four hours to track all of this down, and he’s come through in spades. “My bill will be in the mail,” he adds.
I laugh. “No doubt.” I stick out my hand and shake his. “Thank you for your help, Bradley. I really appreciate it.”
“No worries,” he says. He pulls a business card out of his wallet and hands it to Juliette with a wink. “Call me, Juliette. Let’s do lunch.”
When he departs, Juliette looks at me with a confused look on his face. “Did he just ask me on a date?”
I chuckle. “His timing could use some work. Then again, maybe he just believes in seizing every opportunity.”
She rolls her eyes, though she does tuck away the card in her bag. “What time is the board meeting?” she asks.
I glance at my watch. “Fifteen minut
es,” I tell her. “You want a bagel?”
“No thanks,” she says. “I’m so nervous I’ll throw up if I eat.”
We wait in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Had she not involved Bailey, I would feel sorry for Juliette. Cyrus fed her a bunch of lies and half-truths, and she fell for it. But she did involve Bailey, and there’s no forgiving that, not by me.
Once upon a time, I would have said that Juliette and I were friends. Not anymore.
* * *
I walk into the boardroom on my own. Juliette’s waiting in my office, and Sophie will bring her in at the right time. First, I need to assess the lay of the land.
My mother’s sitting at the long conference table, as are the rest of the board members. Cyrus is present too, barely concealing his smugness under a somber look. I ignore him for the present, and give my mother a questioning glance.
She rises to her feet and inclines her head toward the coffee. I follow her and pour myself a cup. “I would have come to your office,” she says in a low voice. “But I wanted to get a sense of what you are going to face.”
“And?”
“This could go either way,” she whispers. “I think Cyrus has something up his sleeve.”
“I know what it is,” I reply. “Ryan Communications voted last night to reject our deal.” That piece of news was in my email this morning, but I hadn’t shared it with either Sebastian or Bailey. The two of them are worried enough for me. I didn’t want to make it worse.
She draws in a sharp breath. “That’s not good.”
I nod. “He’s not the only one with an ace up his sleeve, mom,” I tell her with a small smile. “We’re about to find out if the board gives a shit about ethics, or if they care only about pedigree.”
Betting on Bailey (Menage MfM Romance Novel) (Playing For Love Book 1) Page 22