When We Break

by E. L. Todd

  I followed his gaze and saw a pretty girl in a black dress. “She’s cute.”

  “I think I recognize her from the magazine. A swimsuit model.”

  I nodded in agreement. “I think you’re right.” After my eyes took her in, I continued to scan the crowd. Almost supernaturally, the smoke seemed to disappear for just a moment in time. A thin brunette emerged from the crowd, owning the room with her silent command. Her long brown hair reached past her chest and it was in slight girls. The second I looked at her I pictured her on all fours on my bed. “That one.”

  “That one what?” He asked, searching the crowd.

  The second I looked at her I knew what I wanted. The other girls were perfect, but somehow she was more perfect. There was no word I use to describe it. “That’s the one I'm going home with.”

  Brandon followed my gaze. Then he stiffened in shock. “You’re joking, right?” He lowered his beer to his side. “You know who she is, right? That's Georgia, the biggest model in the magazine. Shit, the biggest model in the industry. Don’t waste your time.”

  I continued to stare at her, watching her strands move in the nonexistent wind and wondered how they felt in my fingertips. She possessed confidence that wasn't arrogant and I found that innately sexy.

  I wanted her.

  My eyes remained glued to her and I waited for her to feel it. The heat in my gaze burned me and everyone else in the vicinity. There was no way she could ignore it forever. Most of my relationships began nonverbally. We communicated with just our eyes. And somehow that was enough.

  My gaze must have penetrated her because she turned my way, but she knew I was there before she actually saw me. She took me in without preamble, judging me from head to toe. After she finished her scan her eyes locked to mine. Approval shined bright, her interest evident. Instead of continuing to walk across the room she stopped and examined me further.

  Brandon leaned toward me, his voice coming out as a whisper. “Dude, I think she's looking at me…”

  I smiled because I knew how wrong that was.

  Georgia turned her body in my direction, and then she headed my way.

  “Oh shit, she’s going to talk to me.” Brandon straightened his tie and looked flustered. He breathed into his hand and smelled his breath, and then he adjusted his hair. “I've never been this nervous before.”

  “Women respond to confidence, nothing else.”

  “I’m totally confident right now.” He straightened his tie for a second time.

  My eyes never left her face as I raise my glass and took a drink. One hand was in my pocket, and I stood straighter than a soldier. When I finished, I lowered the glass without breaking her gaze.

  Georgia slowly approached both of us then stopped when she was directly in front of me. She crossed her arms over her chest, playing it cool. She was tall, at least 6 feet with her heels. Most models that I knew were extremely tall, but that was never an issue because I was 6 foot three. That’s probably why models liked me so much. “I've never seen you before.” She didn’t ask a single question, but her interest was evident.

  Brandon shifted his weight like he was nervous. Then he fidgeted with his glass and almost knocked it over. “I’m Tony. I mean, Brandon. Yeah… I’m Brandon. What’s your name? Wait, I already know it…” He looked mortified like he wanted to crawl under a rock and die.

  Since I was a good friend I came to his rescue. “How about you get another beer? I'll catch up with you later.” I didn’t look at him as I said it, keeping my eyes on the prize.

  Brandon took off, like he was relieved he had a reason to get out of there.

  When it was just she and I, the silence ensued. Whenever it was quiet it was usually awkward, but in this case it wasn’t. We were sizing each other up, playing the game all lovers played. In this case, we were both going to win.

  “Conrad.” I didn’t extend my hand to shake hers because it was too professional for the type of relationship we were about to have. “It’s nice to meet you, Georgia.” I didn’t act like I didn’t know exactly whom she was. She probably got that all the time. I wanted her to know that with me she was getting exactly what she paid for. There would be no surprises.

  “Your friend is interesting…”

  “He gets nervous around pretty girls.” I shrugged but kept staring at her. “It’s intimidating.”

  She kept her arms across her chest. “You don't seem intimidated.” Again, she didn't ask a question but it was implied.

  “I’m not intimidated by anything…or anyone.”

  She didn't react in any overt way, but there seemed to be a small change deep in her eyes. If she was bored or thought I wasn’t worth her time she would have walked away by now. And if I wasn’t the guy she wanted she wouldn’t have approached me to begin with. More than likely I was going to score tonight.

  I was a very lucky man.

  Georgia examined the buttons of my suit. “Hugo boss?”

  I didn't examine myself. “Not sure, honestly. My assistant takes care of all of that.”

  “You have an assistant? What do you do?” She wore a strapless black dress that showed most of her thighs. Silver heels her on her feet and they matched the silver clutch under her arm.

  “CEO of pixel software.” That wasn’t totally accurate but it was pretty close.

  “Oh… I love their phones.”

  “Yeah, they aren’t bad.” I gave her a flirtatious smile.

  She lowered her hands to her side and slightly oscillated from left to right. Her body language told me she found my humbleness charming. I didn’t know much about her other than the fact she was a famous model, but I didn’t need to know more than that. The only quality I looked for in a woman nowadays was beauty. No other requirements necessary. She could be a little stuck up but that was irrelevant, at least for what I wanted. “Conrad, want to buy me a drink?”

  “Sure. Anything for the lady.”

  “I've never been to the Caribbean. It sounds nice.”

  She sat next to me at the small table in the corner. The dim lighting made visibility poor, but I was close enough to her to appreciate her astounding beauty. She had prominent cheekbones, green eyes, and voluptuous lips. And she had a distinct playfulness to her that I found cute. “It’s nice. I wish I could be there more often.”

  “Why don’t you?” I rested one arm on the table and kept the other of my thigh. I learned a long time ago not to directly hit on a woman. It was better to feel her out and engage her in a conversation before going directly for the kill. Women responded to that really well. Georgia got hit on constantly, and I’m sure this tactic was appealing to her. Not acting desperate was the key. If you came on to clingy, it drove the women away. And I definitely wasn’t desperate.

  “I have to work, silly.” She sipped her drink and played with the umbrella. “I don’t get a lot of vacation time.”

  “That’s a shame. What’s the point of being successful if you can’t really enjoy it?”

  “Well, I have a short career so I can’t waste time doing other things. I'll probably retire in three years.”

  “How old are you now, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Twenty five.” She cringed like it was something to be ashamed of. “I only got a few years left before I become an old woman.”

  “An old woman?” I chuckled because it was ridiculous. “Even when you are forty you’ll be just as gorgeous.”

  She smiled and blushed at the same time.

  I was surprised someone used two compliments every moment of every day could blush like that. “At least we can go to the Caribbean together now, when you retire.”

  “You want to go to the Caribbean with me?” She stirred her drink but kept her eyes on me.

  “I would love to. We could throw you a retirement party. And we could never leave.”

  “That sounds nice.” She leaned closer to me, her leg touching mine under the table. “But you have to work, don’t you?”

&nb
sp; “I have a partner. She can run the place and I’ll take my cut.”

  She grabbed her drink and clinked it against mine. “Looks like we have an arrangement.”

  “Yes, we do.” My hand slowly moved to her thigh, my fingertips reaching under her dress slightly. I never broke eye contact with her, radiating confidence every second. Her skin was soft and her thigh was toned. When she leaned closer to me I knew my affection was welcome.

  Georgia leaned closer to me and stopped when she was just an inch from my lips. She stared at my mouth like she wanted it all for herself, but she didn’t take the final step, like she was teasing me.

  I held my ground and leaned in. I didn’t play hard to get, but I wasn’t easy either. I’ve been in this game for a long time and I knew all the shortcuts. My eyes glanced at her lips and then her eyes. A wide smile stretched my lips. “Are you going to kiss me or what, sweetheart?”

  Her forefinger went to my chin and slowly inched to my lips. She rested it on my bottom lip, her eyes still glued to me. “Sweetheart?”

  “Yeah, you’re sweet, right?”

  “I can be…but I can also be a little sour.”

  “I’m interested to find out what you’ll be for me.”

  She brushed her lips past mind but didn’t kiss me. “You are about to find out.”

  Just when our lips touched I was pulled away. Brandon’s hand was on my shoulder, and he yanked me toward him. He leaned down and pressed his mouth near my ear. “Dude, I need to talk to you.”

  I gave him the darkest glare I could possibly muster. Fireballs were practically shooting out of my eyes. If I could kill him with just the look I would. “Do you mind? I’m in the middle of something…”

  “I need to talk to you. Now.”

  “Well, I’m busy.” I turned back to Georgia, not giving a damn what Brandon wanted. There were rules for this sort of thing. Clearly, I was in the middle of getting laid and Brandon was being very uncool about it. “Sorry about that.” I tried to act normal, like I wasn’t flustered that Brandon was being a douchebag.

  Just when I thought I was in the clear, Brandon grab me again. “Seriously, I need to talk to you.”

  My initial response was to elbow him in the nose but I managed not to. Losing my cool in front of Georgia would ruin what we had. I had to go about this the right way, because being a jerk when get me anywhere. “Fine. Give me a second.” I turned to Georgia and tried to act like nothing was wrong. “I’m going to get you another drink. I'll be right back.”

  She smiled then ran her fingers down my chest. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

  “I won’t.” I gave her a quick kiss on the lips so she wouldn’t forget me while I was gone. I left the chair then buttoned the front of my suit. The look I gave Brandon would frighten anyone who was smart.

  Brandon nodded to the right and we approached the area where the bathrooms were. A long line of girls were standing outside, their arms crossed over their chests as they waited for their turn to powder their noses.

  I wanted to strangle him. My hands actually clenched into fists because I was so angry. “What. The. Fuck?”

  “Listen to me before you go off the deep in.”

  “Better be good, Brandon.” I pictured my tie wrapped around his throat as I choked the life out of him.

  “Georgia is married.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Sorry?”

  “Georgia. She’s married.”

  That was the last thing I expected him to say.

  “I’ve been texting you but you haven’t even glanced at your phone.”

  “You really couldn’t figure out why?” I asked like a smart ass.

  “Well, I needed to give you a heads up.”

  “And why would I care if she’s married?” Her personal life was none of my business. If she wanted to ride my cock tonight I wasn’t going to stop her. Whether she wore a band on her wedding finger or not was none of my concern.

  His jaw dropped. “Because she’s married…do you not know what that means?”

  “Her husband obviously can’t satisfy her if she’s been rubbing her leg against mine under the table.”

  “When he finds out, he’ll kill you.”

  “I doubt he’ll find out,” I said. “It’s pretty clear this isn’t her first rodeo. And if he does, whatever. I’m not scared of anyone or anything.”

  “He might be a CIA agent…or a celebrity.”

  “That still doesn’t make a difference to me.”

  “Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?” he asked. “You can screw all of New York because you’re single, but when did you start sleeping with married women?”

  I remembered the scene at the airport. I sat alone in a chair in the terminal, staring at the screen on the wall as I waited for my flight to be called. I’d never felt so alone in my life. The one person I trusted above everyone else betrayed me. She stabbed me in the gut with a knife then pulled it out and wiped the blade on my sleeve. No one cared about me, not romantically. Lexie never loved me even though she said she did. Why should I respect others when no one respected me? Why should I give a damn about anyone else? “Today.”

  ***

  Georgia eyed every inch of my penthouse the second she walked inside. “It’s nice.” She felt the back of the couch with her hand and her heels echoed on the hardwood floor. Then she approached the window and looked across the city. “And cozy.”

  I pulled my jacket off then rested it on the back of a chair. “It’s hard to leave sometimes.”

  “I bet.”

  “Where do you live?” I didn’t ask about her husband because I couldn’t care less about him. It didn’t matter who he was, where he thought she was that night, or what he did for a living.

  “A few blocks away.” She crossed her arms over her chest and kept her back to me.

  I came behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. My hard-on pressed against her backside, and I could feel her curves through her tight dress. She was all valleys and hills.

  She tilted her head back against my shoulder and turned her face toward me. Her hands found mine and she rubbed them seductively. “You have nice hands…big hands.”

  “They are perfect for touching a beautiful woman.” I pressed a kiss to her neck then pressed my hard dick against her, telling her how much I wanted her. She had the perfect measurements and I didn’t need a ruler to figure that out.

  “Mmm…you’re big in other places too.” She rubbed her ass against me, enticing me further.

  “How about I take you on a tour of the place? Starting with my bedroom?”

  She slowly turned around, my hands still around her waist. “That sounds nice. I’m always looking for decorating ideas.”

  I pressed a kiss to the shell of her ear. “I’ll give you tons of ideas.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Cayson

  I just finished dinner when there was a knock on my door. Skye usually cooked for me, but since I was on my own I had to fend for myself. Most of the time I just made a sandwich because that was the extent of my cooking abilities.

  I looked through the peephole and saw Slade on the other side. Hopefully, he wasn’t there to pester me about Skye. Everyone kept telling me to take her back, and it was really getting on my nerves.

  I opened the door. “I’m not letting you in if you mention Skye’s name.”

  Slade had a distant look in his eyes, like he was somewhere else at the moment. “There’s something else…”

  I immediately let him inside when I realized something was on his mind. We’d known each other long enough to read one another remarkably well. Something was eating at him. “What’s up?”

  Slade grabbed a beer from my fridge without asking then plopped down on the couch.

  I sat beside him and gave him the floor.

  “Got the results back.” The melancholy in his voice made it clear things didn’t go well.

  “I’m sorry…” Trinity must be barren. Now they would h
ave to resort to adoption or something else.

  “Apparently, I have a low sperm count. I shoot a lot of blanks, and the sperm I do produce are lazy and don’t have any motivation to go anywhere…so I’m the problem, not her.”

  I tried to hide my reaction so he wouldn’t feel worse. Slade was so young and…sexual, for a lack of a better word. I was surprised fertility was an issue.

  “So, I can keep trying to knock her up but the doctor says it’s incredibly unlikely. We made an appointment to speak to him next week. He’ll give us our options. Trinity is leading toward artificial insemination but I’m not sure how I feel about that. If it’s dangerous, then forget it.”

  Since Slade wouldn’t make eye contact with me I knew he was really upset over the whole thing. He played with the lid of the bottle because he couldn’t sit still. It was like he was ashamed.

  “I’m sorry, man. But on the bright side, this doesn’t mean you can’t have children. You can. It just isn’t done in a traditional way.”

  “The bright side?” he asked with a dark laugh. “I can’t get my wife pregnant on my own. My dick is handicapped. There is no bright side to this.”

  Slade and I didn’t touch very often but I knew he needed support. I put my arm around his shoulders, just as he had done to me when I broke down in front of him when Skye left me. “It’ll be alright, man. Trinity doesn’t think less of you.”

  “That’s what she says…”

  “I’m sure she doesn’t. If Skye were barren…” My voice trailed away when I realized I should stop talking about her as my wife. She wasn’t my wife anymore—at least very soon she wouldn’t. “It wouldn’t change anything between us.”

  Slade didn’t pounce on the opportunity to change my mind about Skye. “I know Trinity loves me, despite all my flaws and shortcomings. And I know she’ll always love me no matter what. But…I feel like I let her down.”

  “You didn’t, Slade. This is completely out of your control. You can still have children. But in this case, fertilization will take place in a petri dish.”

  “That’s not romantic…”

  “It doesn’t matter. Nine months later Trinity will be in the delivery room having your baby. You’ll grab her hand and help her get through the pain. And when your baby gets here you’ll kiss her on the forehead and tell her you love her. That will be romantic.”