Liar

by Cole, Fiona

“Financial setups. Vivian had me looking at the projected numbers from Carina.”

  “Let me check it out.”

  I expected him to wait for me to get out of the way, but instead, he stepped behind me and reached for the mouse.

  My breath became trapped in my lungs, just like my body was trapped between the desk and the hard, hot man behind me. I didn’t dare move, not wanting to push him away. I stood still and watched his long fingers move over the mouse and salivated as I remembered how they felt inside me.

  My skin vibrated like a live wire as I struggled to keep myself from pressing back against him. If I stood on my toes, I could press my ass directly to his groin. Would I find him hard? Would he stop me?

  I was so lost in my fantasy that I almost jumped when his breath tickled against my neck. I closed my eyes, questioning if I was imagining it all—if I was making more out of it than it was. Maybe he wasn’t as close as I thought. Maybe he just breathed really hard.

  But then my hair shifted, and his heat pressed against my back even though he wasn’t touching me. It emanated from him—reached for me. I swayed back but still didn’t press to him. I just wanted to be closer.

  A small moan crept from my panting lips when his beard gently scraped against the tender skin of my neck. And then a whimper when I heard him suck in a deep breath.

  “Cupcakes,” he whispered, his deep voice like gravel. “You still smell like the sweetest cupcakes.”

  I was about to give in, press myself fully against him, dig my fingers in his hair and pull him down so I could turn and kiss him. Only a breath away from snapping.

  “Mr. Kent,” Vivian called.

  Kent stepped away, and a rush of cool air raced to replace his heat, causing chills to spread down my body. I took a moment to collect myself before turning and seeing the expression on Vivian’s face. If she saw anything, would she tell Daniel? The idea of Daniel knowing I was practically throwing myself at his best friend, sent a shudder down my spine. I didn’t want to see how he’d look at me knowing that. But when I looked over at her, she was walking from around the corner, eyes glued to the papers in her hand. She looked up and gave me the same warm smile she’d given me all day.

  “Hey, Olivia. If you’re done looking, you’re free to go. You’ve more than met your hours for the day.”

  “Okay. Thank you so much for all your help.” I only briefly let my eyes flick to Kent’s, expecting him to be looking away but was instead staring right at me. My glance was too fast to assess what hid in the dark depths, but now wasn’t the time to stare no matter how much I wanted to.

  “How’d she do today?” Kent asked Vivian.

  “Fantastic. You may have to put her on payroll if she keeps helping.” I smiled at her wink.

  “We’ll see what we can do.”

  And that was the last they acknowledged me, turning to face each other and go over whatever was in Vivian’s hand. I took that as my cue to leave and grabbed my belongings from the back offices.

  Everyone said their goodbyes and made sure I was coming back again. I had to admit it was nice to feel so accepted.

  It also felt nice that as I was walking out, I turned to take one last look at Kent to find him staring at my ass. I stopped, and he looked up to find out he was caught. I wiggled my fingers goodbye and bit my lip to keep from smiling at his tight jaw and twitching mouth.

  When I began my exit again, I made sure to add an extra sway to my hips, hoping he enjoyed the show.

  No, Kent and I weren’t going to have a repeat of our night together, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy myself flirting and torturing him with memories.

  6 Olivia

  “If you use the blue painting, it’s more calming,” I said to Vivian. We were currently staring at a slew of canvases leaned up against one of the lobby walls. “Make sure to place it vertical, it will help draw the eye up, and the room appear bigger. And you know what they say, bigger is better.”

  I nudged her with my shoulder and waggled my eyebrows, making her laugh.

  “I don’t know,” a deep voice rumbled behind us. “I hear the motion of the ocean is more important.”

  His voice washed over me, tightening every muscle on its way down to my core. I was on week two of my internship, and I hadn’t seen Kent again after our…I didn’t even know what it was. Apparently, he’d been in New York with other business.

  Forcing the trapped air out of my lungs, I slowly turned. He stared down at me with his dark eyes alight with laughter and a smirk on his lips. I wanted to step into his space and make a seductive joke back and was about to until Vivian playfully slapped his shoulder, reminding me of her presence.

  “Stop, Alex. You’re going to scare the poor child.”

  Vivian’s attention was on Kent, preventing her from seeing my annoyed side-eye. But Kent saw it, and that devious smirk lifted to a full-on smile. I transferred my glare to him, and his chest shook with a quiet laugh.

  “I doubt much could scare Olivia.”

  Vivian shook her head like Kent was an errant child she had to accept would never change. “How was New York?”

  “Productive. We’ll have to set up a time to meet later, and I’ll go over some of the details.”

  “We can go now,” she suggested. “I’m going to make note of the painting and head to lunch.”

  “I was actually going to take Olivia to lunch.”

  My eyebrows slowly rose, confused by the invite.

  “James told me she’d been here more than necessary this past week, and I figured I could treat her. Take some time to answer any questions she had.” He must have seen the direction my mind was going as I thought of all the dirty questions I could ask, because he quickly added, “For her project.”

  “Okay. You two have fun, and I’ll catch up with you later. Thanks for your help, Olivia.” And then she was gone.

  “What if I don’t want to go to lunch with you?”

  “Don’t lie, Olivia. You’re not good at it.”

  “You could have at least asked,” I muttered.

  “Why bother when I know you’d accept anyway?”

  He had a point. I was being stubborn because I could and decided to let it go, even if I was having fun bickering with him. “Where are you taking me?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  The perpetual playful tilt of his lips was in place as he stretched his arm out, gesturing for me to walk ahead. Wanting to get back at him for laughing earlier, I walked too close and stopped when my shoulder brushed his chest. Looking up, I put my own smirk in place and spoke in my best Marilyn Monroe voice. “Welcome back, Mr. Kent.”

  His jaw ticked, and his chest expanded, pressing harder into my shoulder. “Careful,” was all he said.

  “Never.”

  And then I walked to the door, biting my bottom lip, trying to hold back the full smile when I heard his growl behind me.

  * * *

  “Who orders just cheese on their pizza?”

  “Who orders mushrooms?” Kent shot back. “They’re a fungus.”

  I shrugged and made a scene of taking a bite of my pizza, humming.

  He shook his head with a laugh and dug into his own food. We’d been able to walk to the restaurant from the hotel, and it had been silent the entire way. Not that it was bad. It was comfortable as we walked through the streets of downtown, letting the passing cars and people talking fill the silence between us.

  “How have you liked the hotel so far?”

  “It’s good. Better than I thought I’d like it.”

  His head cocked to the side. “Why didn’t you think you’d enjoy it?”

  “I don’t know. There hasn’t been a business that enticed me enough to be excited about it.”

  “You seemed excited when you first accepted.”

  I bit my lip and stared out the window, watching people and cars move past. One, two, three people passed before I decided to go for blunt honesty. I turned back to Kent, watching his jaw move
as he chewed his pizza. The movement was barely noticeable behind the thick scruff that highlighted his lips.

  “To be honest,” I began, shifting my eyes to his, just to find him staring at my mouth. When he looked up, he was unrepentant at being caught, setting a flutter of butterflies through my stomach. “It was you I was excited about.”

  His Adam’s apple bobbed around a swallow, and he sat back, pulling in a deep breath. He sat there silent, and I held my breath, waiting for what he would say in return. I didn’t mean much by my confession. I didn’t mean I had expected anything to happen between us. But the thought of seeing him and feeling the tension strung tight between us had me eager to be around him. And I couldn’t have denied myself that after not having felt that same excitement in so long.

  He finally opened his mouth, and time stood still.

  “Livvie-baby.” The nickname was like nails on a chalkboard, especially when Aaron interrupted what I really wanted to hear.

  Kent’s jaw snapped shut, and he jerked his head to the tall, blond, all American boy walking up to my side.

  “Hey, Aaron.” I didn’t bother to hide my annoyance. “What are you doing here?”

  “Just meeting some of the guys for lunch. Pizza on campus is the worst.”

  The guys walked past him, slapping him on the back as they moved to their table. I expected Aaron to go with them, but he leaned against my booth, licking his lips and staring down like he had a right to look me over.

  “Well,” I began when it was clear he wasn’t moving. “It was good to see you. Enjoy your lunch.”

  “Yeah, you too.” He stood upright, hearing the dismissal. He gave Kent an assessing look, stopping before getting too far and turned to me. “Call me later. Maybe we can meet up for a quickie.”

  He winked and bolted. Probably because he felt my eyes trying to burn him alive with the rage I had pouring off me. I had to cling to the wood of the table to keep from going after him and kicking him in the balls. He had no idea who Kent was, but what if this was an important meeting and he’d just ruined it. Oh, I’d be calling him later to give him an earful.

  “Seems like a nice guy.” Kent’s tone was hard and sarcastic.

  Closing my eyes, I counted to ten before getting the nerve to meet his eyes. He looked like he was holding back his own anger issues.

  “Boyfriend?”

  I laughed. “God, no.”

  A slow nod was his only response. When he continued to stare, and the silence turned awkward, I felt compelled to explain and fill the void between us.

  “He was a boyfriend a long time ago. But he’s a jerk. So, now I just close my eyes and use him for sex.”

  “Sounds smart.” His voice was both bland and condescending.

  I couldn’t help but feel judged, and it pissed me off.

  “Listen, who I sleep with is none of your concern. I choose how much of myself to give, so if my sex-life doesn’t live up to your standards, I’m sorry.”

  When he looked again, the hard glint in his eyes had softened. “I’m not judging you, Olivia. You just deserve better.”

  That wasn’t the answer I was expecting, and it took the wind out of my sails. I relaxed against the cushions of the booth and rubbed my finger along the scratches in the wood. What did I say to that? Honesty seemed to work well the first time, so why not try it again.

  “Let’s just say I’m not hunting for any mediocre college guys. Not much really compares to my night with you.”

  I looked up from under my lashes to see his reaction. His eyes heated slowly, but then he blinked, and a wall came down, filtering it to a barely-there warmth.

  “You shouldn’t romanticize our night.”

  “I didn’t say I did.”

  “Not really. But you do. I can see it when you look at me.”

  My hand stopped tracing the grain of the table. How did he pick up on that from the little time we’d spent together?

  “You put it on a pedestal and think you want more of that, but Olivia, we can’t repeat that night. No matter how much either of us would like. I can’t.”

  Pride swelled in my chest that he’d admitted he would want to sleep with me again. Even if we never did, there was a confidence that boosted my ego just knowing this man wanted me.

  When I didn’t say anything, he continued his explanation. “It’s not just about Daniel. It wouldn’t be the same either way.”

  “Why not?”

  “I used a bit of kid gloves with you.” Now he was looking up at me from where he’d been staring at his fingers tracing the wood. I didn’t ask him to explain, but I hoped my silence would encourage him. “I…have particular tastes.”

  “Like…” I trailed off, trying to hide my desperation to know more. I held my breath as he stared at me and weighed his words.

  “Not what we did that night.”

  I gave him a hard stare, not hiding my disappointment at his vague non-answer.

  A lightbulb went off, and I tried a different approach. “What room would you pick at Voyeur?”

  He laughed softly at my victorious grin. “One that would scare you.”

  This time I rolled my eyes and slouched back into the seat. “Probably not, but if it helps to make me less appealing, then go on believing I don’t want to be tied down and spanked.”

  The words were a guess that rolled casually off my tongue, but I kept a close eye on his reaction. Jackpot. His fists clenched on the table, and his whole body grew in the seat as though just the mere mention of the act called for him to be bigger—to be more.

  Shit. He wanted to tie me down and spank me. He’d done some light smacks to my ass, but nothing that required me to be tied down. It should alarm me to give up that kind of control. But it didn’t. It had me squirming in my seat and almost desperate to make more guesses.

  Before I could push anymore, his control slowly slipped back in place, and I watched him relax one muscle at a time. I knew what was coming before he even opened his mouth, and I cut him off before he could slip another denial in.

  “Don’t worry, Kent. I’m kidding.” I waved away my words like I hadn’t noticed his heated excitement. “I’m just a nice girl, living out her college years with a sad sex life. At least it will help me focus.”

  “That sounds like not enough for you.”

  It wasn’t, but I wasn’t wasting my time either. Unable to deny his assumption, I simply shrugged. “It is what it is.”

  Unless something took over Kent’s body and he decided to give me a repeat, I was stuck where I was at.

  It didn’t mean I couldn’t imagine.

  Closing my eyes, I pretended I could feel rough facial hair against my thighs.

  Only now, I was tied down and spanked between wet, sucking kisses.

  7 Olivia

  This time walking into dinner, I’d at least known to expect Kent sitting at the table. Which was why I’d made it a point to clear my schedule and be there. We’d finished out the week with no incident or discussion of our night together. He was polite and business-like. But I caught him staring more than once, and each time almost burned me to ash. Each time he met my eyes after being caught, there was zero remorse, and he’d scan my body again before finally looking away.

  There was no doubt Kent still wanted me. But there was also no doubt that he wasn’t going to repeat our night. Logically, I knew that was the right decision and didn’t pursue it. I wasn’t desperate enough to throw myself at someone who would continually turn me down. Too bad, my body didn’t get the message.

  “Two nights in one month,” my mom said to Kent across the table. “I’m liking this trend.”

  “How can I turn down such good cooking?”

  “It’s the least I could do for all your help. Usually, David is able to assist me with all my computer woes, but he’s still out of town for work.”

  Daniel slapped Kent’s shoulder. “Kent’s a whizz with computers. Almost got a degree in computer science before I lured him over with my
business plans.”

  “Biggest mistake of my life,” Kent joked, slapping Daniel’s back harder.

  My mom smiled and shook her head. “You two are grown men, and yet, you still act like boys in college.”

  They both shrugged, unrepentant with who they were. Daniel had always been a work hard, play harder kind of guy, and I imagined Kent was the same way.

  “And I get Olivia here twice in one month too. I really am being spoiled with attention.”

  “Har. Har, Mom. I’m here more than twice a month.” I looked over at Kent, who was looking anywhere but at me. He’d had no problem staring at the hotel, but in my home, he avoided looking at me like I was Medusa and would turn him to stone. “Besides, I can’t pass up the opportunity to see my new boss outside of work.”

  “How is your project going, by the way,” Mom asked.

  “Good. I’m enjoying it more than I thought.”

  “I hear you’re there more than you need to be,” Daniel chimed in. “You going to become a hotel magnate like Kent here?”

  Daniel winked, and it warmed me to my bones. He’d always told me I was destined to be great. He said I had too much power within me to be the socialite my parents envisioned.

  “I hardly doubt Olivia will run an empire. Maybe a shopping one,” Mom joked. My parents loved me and supported me, but like most people, they didn’t look past the surface. Not like Daniel did.

  “Maybe someday,” I said, ignoring her comment. “Who knows, maybe I’ll use all of Kent’s information against him and start my own empire to challenge his.”

  He finally looked up and cocked an eyebrow at my challenging stare. His lips parted like he was going to speak when the front door opened.

  “Honey, I’m home,” my dad called from the foyer.

  My mom’s face lit up as she stood from the chair to greet my dad when he walked into the dining room. “You weren’t supposed to be home until next week.”

  “I finished up early and rushed home for my girls.”

  I’d been staring at Kent as everyone’s attention was focused on my dad, and his neutral expression tensed when my father kissed the top of my head like I was a child. During our night together, when I’d admitted I was only nineteen, Kent had frozen, and I was sure he was going to pull away. But he’d already tasted me—touched me. My age hadn’t mattered past having more. But sitting at my family table with my father, my age sat like an elephant between us, impossible to ignore.