Red Hot Rival

by Cat Carmine

  “Now?”

  She gives me a half smile. “Now I just wonder. That’s all.”

  “Well, there’s nothing to wonder about.” I try to say it confidently, but I find myself nervously twisting my hands. “Luke and I are ... well, we’re barely even friends. We only know each other from the fundraiser.”

  “Okay,” Celia says. She’s too quick to agree, and the way her green eyes flash tells me she doesn’t believe a word I’m saying.

  Something makes me turn around then, and I spot Luke talking to one of the bloggers. Kelsey, I think her name is. Kelsey Braeburn. She and Luke are cozied up in a corner, and even though I can’t hear anything they’re saying, I can pretty much read the conversation just by virtue of Kelsey’s body language. Chest out, hips cocked, and she keeps combing her blonde hair down in front of her shoulders and then flicking it back again. I can practically smell her cherry lip balm from here.

  Luke must be in heaven.

  I push down the uncomfortable feeling that’s growing in my chest. Not my business.

  Celia must see me watching them. “That means nothing,” she says, as she wipes down the bar.

  “Oh, I’m not bothered,” I say. I try to say it casually but even to me my voice sounds forced.

  “Women will always flirt with Luke. I don’t see him flirting back though, do you?”

  I look over again. Sure enough, Luke has his arms folded across his chest. His posture looks tense, and he keeps flicking his eyes around the room as if he’s looking for an out. When he catches me looking over, he raises his eyebrows pleadingly.

  I make a snap decision.

  “Excuse me,” I say to Celia, as she chuckles softly. I cross the bar, over to where Luke and Kelsey are talking.

  “Bree,” he says, breathing a sigh of relief.

  “Hello,” Kelsey says. I can’t help but notice that her tone is suddenly clipped.

  “Can I borrow you for a second, Luke? Celia needs us to settle up a few things.”

  “Of course. Nice talking to you, Kelsey.”

  Kelsey, to her credit, is not letting him go that easily.

  “I was just hoping I could pick your brain sometime,” she says, pursing her lips into a sexy pout. “About my designs, and about how we could maybe work together.”

  The way she says ‘work together’ makes it abundantly clear that she has more in mind than brainstorming. Luke runs his hand through his hair and looks back at me. He looks uncomfortable but Kelsey refuses to take the hint. She’s still standing there, tits out, batting her eyelashes at Luke while he shifts from one foot to another. Can’t say I blame the girl for trying.

  “Bree and I are both happy to offer our advice to all participants,” he says finally.

  I nod, backing him up. “Yes. I’m sure we’ll see you around at the next event,” I say. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

  I grab Luke’s arm and pull him over towards the bar, while Kelsey flicks her hair one more time in irritation and grabs her little pink handbag off the table.

  “Persistent little thing, isn’t she?” Luke laughs.

  “I would think by now you’d be used to woman throwing themselves at you.”

  Luke grins. “I am. It’s saying no that I don’t have as much practice in.”

  That makes my lips twitch up into a smile. I should have known.

  Luke is still grinning at me, and I feel my toes curl up inside my heels. Why does he have to be so damn handsome? And why does it have to make me so damn happy that he turned down Kelsey?

  “Come on,” I say, shoving a bar towel into his hands. “We should help Celia and Jace clean up.”

  Between the four of us, the clean-up goes quickly, and soon we’re wiping down the last of the tables and Jace is loading all the empty glasses into the industrial-sized dishwasher in the back. It’s silly how much I’ve enjoyed hanging out with the three of them, and I feel a pang of loneliness for Margaux and my other friends in Paris. I hadn’t realized how lonely I was here in Chicago, and even though tonight has been fun, it’s also been a reminder of everything I’m missing here.

  “I’m going to go wash my hands,” I announce. I don’t want the evening to end just yet, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome either.

  I make my way down the hallway to the bathrooms, and let the door latch closed behind me. I take my time soaping my hands, appreciating the fact that they’ve got something nicer than your usual bubble-gum pink foaming hand wash. This one is light green and smells like mint and rosemary, and I’m sure I have Celia to thank for that.

  I rinse my hands off under the tap and am just about to reach for a paper towel when the bathroom door swings open. I guess I didn’t lock it when I came in.

  “Occupied,” I say. Or at least I start to. Until I see who it is that’s standing there.

  “We have to stop meeting like this,” Luke says, letting the door swing closed behind him.

  16

  Luke

  “We have to stop meeting like this.”

  I let the door close behind me. Unlike Bree, I have the sense to reach behind me and twist the lock closed. Her eyes widen when I do, and I love the way her cheeks redden under my gaze. How does she manage to look so innocent and yet so naughty at the same time? It must be some kind of redhead voodoo magic.

  “We don’t keep meeting like this,” she says haughtily. “You keep stalking me.”

  “Potato, potahtoh,” I shrug. That earns me the faintest wisp of a grin. It’s stupid how much I get off on making her smile. It’s my drug of choice these days — I’d go into a full-blown slip-on-a-banana-peel slapstick routine if I thought it would make her laugh.

  I take a couple of steps towards her, closing the distance between us.

  “Luke,” she says, and something in her voice makes me hesitate. Instead of devouring her mouth with mine, the way I’d been intending, I just graze my fingers along her jaw. She turns her head, pressing her cheek into my palm and letting her eyes flutter closed.

  Her skin, even in the bright lights of the bathroom, still looks as luminescent as it did the first time I saw her in the ballroom at the Grand Windsor Hotel. I use my thumb to tug at her plump bottom lip, and she whimpers a little, nuzzling her face closer to my hand.

  “Bree,” I say. My throat tightens as I watch her. When she finally lifts her head, I expect her to pull away. To tell me that we can’t do this.

  Instead, she leans forward. Her lips are parted and I can feel her breath, warm against my mouth. My heart thuds in my chest, pounding out a primal rhythm of how much I want her. When I can barely stand the space between us, she leans forward further, until her lips are pressing against mine. It’s the moment I’ve been waiting for, the thing I haven’t been able to stop thinking about all night. Bree’s lips against mine, her tongue sliding into mine, her body pressed against mine. Bree, mine.

  I twine my fingers through her thick hair and tug, just the way I know she likes, and she squirms against me. The pressure of her hot curvy body against mine is almost more than I can take, and my cock surges hungrily toward her.

  God, I want to fuck her so bad. The memory of the other day in the hotel bathroom, bending her over the sink, plunging my cock into her slick pussy — it’s all I’ve been able to think about since it happened. And all I’ve dreamt about is making it happen again.

  That’s why I followed her when I saw her slip in here tonight. It was like I was a lion, guided by gut and instinct, to follow my prey.

  And then to fucking devour it.

  Bree is making the softest little whimpering noises into my mouth. It’s a beautiful sound, pure lust and wanting. I could listen to this sound all day and all night. I let out a groan of my own when she presses her body up closer to mine.

  I let my hands drop to her waist and then slowly slide them down over the curve of her delicious ass. I hate having so much fabric between us though, so I bunch up the skirt of her dress so that I can feel her smooth skin. She’s weari
ng a thong on some kind, so her cheeks are bare under my palms. They’re so full and easy to grip and I jiggle them lightly with my hands, making her giggle.

  “God, I love your ass,” I whisper into her mouth.

  “Stop,” she laughs.

  “No, I’m serious. I love a booty with some bounce to it.”

  She laughs again and I kiss her throat.

  “Now, my ass — my ass doesn’t bounce at all,” I say against her neck. “It’s my secret shame.”

  “Now you’re just making fun of me.”

  “I’m not,” I say, pretending to be appalled. “I’m confessing my secret shame to you.”

  “Oh, you are, are you?” She has the sweetest, sexiest smile on her face right now, and I grip her ass and yank her to me.

  “One of these days, I’d even like to fuck that juicy ass of yours.”

  I hear her gasp, but at that exact second, there’s a knock on the door.

  Bree and I both freeze.

  “Occupied,” I call out over my shoulder. I turn back to Bree and go to resume kissing her neck, when the knock comes again.

  “Luke…” Bree whispers and starts to pull away.

  “Luke?” the voice comes from the other side of the door. Shit. It’s Jace.

  “Be out in a sec.”

  “Is Bree in there with you?”

  Shit. Bree’s eyes go wide. She shakes her head frantically.

  “No.” I keep her body pressed to mine. Even with this distraction, my cock refuses to be subdued.

  “Okay.” There’s a pause. Then, “Can you just tell her that we put her purse behind the bar? Celia was worried she’d think it was missing.”

  Shit. I look at Bree, and she’s laughing silently and shaking her head.

  “Yup,” I say finally. Because what else can I say? “Thanks Jace.”

  “Sure. And can you two make it quick? We’re reopening the bar to the public in ten minutes.”

  “Yup,” I say again. Bree leans her head against my shoulder, still laughing silently.

  I tilt her head up and lean in to kiss her. I don’t care if Jace knows we’re in here. I don’t care if everyone in the city knows we’re in here. In this moment, none of that matters. Only Bree matters.

  But instead of letting me kiss her, she puts her hands on my chest and takes a step backwards. She shakes her head.

  “Luke, we can’t. This is crazy.”

  “Embrace crazy.”

  She’s still shaking her head. “This isn’t me, Luke. I’m a good girl.”

  “Really? Because I’d say you’re a very bad girl. It’s just one of the many things I like about you.”

  She hesitates, but then shakes her head again. She takes another more resolute step backwards.

  “We both know this is a bad idea. On about a million different levels. So let’s just chalk this up as a moment that got away from us, and thank the universe that Jace was here to interrupt us.”

  Her face is so determined that I reluctantly let go of her. The truth is, she’s right. I hate that she’s right, but she is.

  “You can go out first,” I say, and gesture towards the door.

  She twists her lips into a half smile. “We can probably go out at the same time — there’s no need for pretense this time. They know we’re in here together.”

  But I shake my head. “I just need a minute. Going to wash my hands.”

  She studies me for a minute without saying anything, and then she nods once.

  “I’ll see you around, Luke.”

  “Yup.”

  After the door has swung closed behind her I go to the sink. I turn on the tap but I don’t bother washing my hands. I just stare at my face in the mirror.

  There are a million women in this city. Many of them would be thrilled to find themselves in a locked bathroom with me. In fact, that Kelsey girl from earlier was practically throwing herself at me. Finding women is easy for me — always has been.

  So what’s with my obsession with Bree? Ever since the first night I’d met her, there’s barely been a moment where she hasn’t been somewhere in my mind, floating around in my thoughts like a warm fall breeze.

  Maybe it’s just the element of the forbidden that’s drawing me to her. I know I shouldn’t be sleeping with her, and as a result, sleeping with her is the only thing I can think about. Maybe it’s not about her at all, but just the simple fact that I don’t like anyone telling me what I can and can’t do.

  I turn off the tap and take one more look in the mirror. I’m not a child. I’m a grown man, and perfectly capable of reigning in my dick. There’s nothing special about Bree, I tell myself, except for the fact that she’s off-limits. Which means, now that I know that, I should have no trouble keeping it together when I’m around her.

  Satisfied, I leave the bathroom. I take a quick glance around the bar and see that Bree’s already gone. Fine with me.

  There are other people starting to pour into the place now, so I head up to the bar where Jace is pouring out a round of pints and take a seat.

  He raises his eyebrows at me. “Have fun?”

  I give him a blank expression. “We were strategizing.”

  He raises his eyebrows, then shakes his head, chuckling knowingly. “Well, next time you’re strategizing, how about not doing it in my bathroom?”

  “Not something you have to worry about,” I assure him, and in that moment, I almost believe it myself.

  17

  Bree

  I’m twenty minutes late getting to work.

  “I’m so sorry,” I say to Geetika, as I rush in. “The line at the coffee shop was crazy. I picked you up a cappuccino while I was there.”

  I drop the take-away cup down on her desk and she looks up with a grin.

  “Bree, you know you’re the boss and I’m the assistant, right? I should be the one bringing you coffee and apologizing for being late.”

  I laugh. “Yes, but you’re never actually late. You keep me in line.”

  It’s true — Geetika is the best assistant I could dream of having. She isn’t that much older than me, but she’d worked with Dad for years, and she knows the ins and outs of this business as well as anyone. Sometimes I swear she’s the only reason I manage to get anything done around here — or at least anything done right.

  Hell, Dad should have just left the company to her.

  She follows me into my office and gives me a run down of my day.

  “Purchasing needs your final decision on the fabric selections by end of day, otherwise we’re going to have to pay rush rates. And Rich said he’s no longer available to meet at two but can do four or four-thirty if that suits you.”

  I sigh and wave my hand. Rich is constantly rescheduling our meetings. I’m starting to think it’s a power trip thing. “Fine. Four is fine.”

  She makes a quick note on the tablet she always carries.

  I expect her to leave then, but instead she hovers at my door. I take a sip of my coffee and look up. She twists her tablet in her hands and she looks almost … nervous?

  “Hey,” I say. “What’s up? Everything okay?”

  She hesitates, but then puts her shoulders back.

  “I just thought you should know that there are rumors circulating.”

  Rumors? My heart leaps into my throat. It’s Luke that I think of immediately — is it possible that someone here knows about us?

  Geetika nods. “About lay-offs.”

  I breathe a sigh of relief, but the look on Geetika’s face makes it clear that this is no laughing matter.

  “There aren’t going to be any lay-offs,” I assure her.

  Her face eases. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “So our jobs are safe?”

  “As safe as can be.”

  She looks visibly relieved. “That’s great. A lot of people are worried.”

  “Well, spread the word. Nothing to worry about.”

  “Thanks Bree. Don’t take it personally — lay
-off rumors pop up every few months. Before your dad passed, we were all convinced he was planning to sell the company.”

  I laugh. “As if. This is Dad’s baby.”

  She shakes her head. “I suppose it seems crazy now. But at the time — well, he was just having a lot of reports pulled together and no one could figure out why. Stuff about our sales history and yearly expenditures. I guess it all makes sense now though — if he knew he was leaving the company to you, he would have wanted you to have access to that information.”

  I chuckle. That was Dad — always prepared. Even when he knew he was dying, he was thinking about me.

  “Oh,” Geetika says, before she leaves my office. “Tomas Rocha from the Friends of Trinity Central Hospital called just before you got here. He didn’t leave a message but he said he’d try you again later.”

  “Oh, great. Thanks.”

  After she’s gone, I lean back in my chair and think about the lay-off rumors. I hope Geetika does spread the word — I don’t want everyone here worrying about whether their jobs are safe. I know Rich thinks it’s the right thing to do, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. I know it’s not what Dad would have wanted.

  When the phone in my office rings, this time I actually recognize the number. I pick it up with a smile.

  “Hi Tomas,” I greet him. “How are you?”

  “I’m great, Bree,” he responds warmly. “I just wanted to thank you again for helping to cohost that welcome event the other day with Luke. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it.”

  “Oh, it was my pleasure.”

  Pleasure.

  My mind races back to the scene with Luke in the bathroom. The way my body had melted against his, the way every part of me had come alive — my nipples hard as rocks, my pussy soaking, my knees shaking, my heart pounding. It’s crazy that he can have that affect on me.

  What’s even crazier is that days later, just the memory of his touch is enough to set off the same chain reaction of events. I clear my throat, praying Tomas can’t tell over the phone just how hot and bothered I am.