I didn’t want to go home, and my dad would still be out working, so I decided I’d return to work. I had a report and an agenda for the public works meeting Mo asked me to put together, so I decided I’d finish that up.
I was walking back toward City Hall when I passed the Italian restaurant and saw Mo sitting at a table near the window. My initial reaction was to go in and let him know I was heading back to work. But then I noticed a woman with him. A woman who had her hands on him. I looked closer and realized that wasn’t just any woman, it was his ex-wife Shelley.
What was she doing in Salvation? Why was she making goo-goo eyes and eating off his plate? Better yet, why was he accepting it? He didn’t tell me he was having lunch with her. As his wife, shouldn’t I know about that? Fake marriage or not, if his lawyer saw them together, it could ruin our plans. Couldn’t it?
To avoid going in and ripping her red-headed extensions off of her head, I moved on, heading back to City Hall. I kept my head down to avoid Trina and locked myself in my office to finish up the report and agenda. I was happy with the work, but unlike other things I’d done for Mo in the past, this one was going to be handed out to public work staffers, and I wanted a second opinion as to whether it was good enough. I called over to Mo’s office, but he still wasn’t back from lunch yet. I nearly called Tucker at the inn to see if perhaps Mo and Shelley had gotten a room there. Mo said he’d be faithful during this fake marriage, but Shelley had a way about her. Like a siren that lured men to their demise. And Mo, well, he’d married her once, so she clearly had some sort of pull on him.
But I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of acting jealous, especially in front of Shelley. So, I decided I’d ask Trina what she thought. It was a risk because she was even more prickly since becoming pregnant, but right now, my work was the most important thing I had. I picked up the folder with the report and agenda and carried them out to the main area of the mayor’s office.
“Trina, would you mind going over this agenda and report the mayor asked me to put together for him?” I set the folder in front of her on her desk.
She inhaled a breath like she was trying to calm herself. Perhaps she was doing it to try to maintain some civility. She opened the folder, and then her gaze shot to mine.
“What is this?” she demanded, and I realized that, no, there’d be no civility.
Before when she used that tone, I felt intimidated. Now, I was just tired of it all. I straightened my shoulders and lifted my chin, ready to take on whatever she was going to deliver.
“It’s for the upcoming public works meeting for the deputy mayor,” I said tersely.
“That’s my job.”
Oh crap. This wasn’t the first time I was unwittingly given something that, in the past, was under Trina’s purview.
“The mayor has felt like you’ve been distracted lately, and of course, with the baby, he wants to relieve you of too much stress. So, he asked me to do it. It would give me experience while taking a little off your plate. Win, win.” I hoped she bought that.
“I don’t need items off my plate,” she ground out. “I need my job. I know you’re trying to take it from me—”
I was right. She was feeling threatened. “I am not. I’m just doing what the mayor asks.”
She stood, her hands fisting at her sides. “I’m about to become a single mom. That last thing I need is for some silly child to try to take my job.”
I stiffened at her referencing me as a child. “And I don’t need a hostile workplace.”
“No, you don’t. I have the resignation paperwork if you want it.”
Realizing this was a hopeless cause, I decided to withdraw before it could escalate. I shook my head and turned to leave, returning to my office.
I felt like crying, but I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction. Or Mo, for that matter. But one thing was for sure, I was done being treated like some naïve, ignorant kid. They both could go to hell if they thought I’d put up with their crap.
I finished up the report and agenda. If Mo didn’t like it, well, too bad for him.
I’d printed off another copy when he poked his head in my door. “I thought you were out for the day.”
I shrugged. “Tucker is getting settled, so I thought I’d come in a finish a few things.”
“Do you have that public works material?”
“Yes, your highness.”
He flinched, and his eyes narrowed. He stepped into my office and shut the door. “What’s wrong?”
Part of me wanted to ignore him, but that would be childish, and I didn’t want to give him any more ammo to use that argument against me. Of course, when I told him my issues, he’d probably think I was immature. Would he decide it was a stupid office squabble if I told him about Trina’s little tantrum? Would he brush off my concerns about seeing him with Shelley since this isn’t a real marriage? I knew he and Shelley didn’t have a great marriage, but I suspected they had a fairly lively sex life. By comparison, I was probably boring since I had no experience. Was this his answer to keeping his hands off me? He’d put them on Shelley?
I shook my head. It didn’t matter what he thought. What mattered was that I was true to myself. I couldn’t let him or Trina or anybody walk all over me. I was good at my job, and I’d made a commitment to this marriage, even if it was a business arrangement. I’d continued to be my best, but I wasn’t going to put up with being dismissed and disrespected.
“I’m sick of all of you treating me like my thoughts and feelings don’t matter.” I stood because I wanted to look him in the eye instead of having him look down at me, where he’d be in a position of power. “I won’t be shit on anymore by any of you.”
21
Maurice
I jerked back, not expecting Brooke to lash out like that. I’d seen her upset before, but there was something different about this time. “No one is shitting on you.” Even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t true. I wasn’t shitting on her, but I was definitely an asshole to her.
Her eyes flashed with pain and anger. “See, you’re dismissing my feelings. Just because I’m young doesn’t mean I don’t have them. I take pride in my work. I meet all my commitments, but to you, I’m a child. No, I’m lower than that. I’m a gnat you simply swat away when you think I’m annoying.”
I wished I knew what the hell was going on. “It’s not my intention to make you feel small or insignificant, Brooke.” My gut burned at the idea I was hurting her more than I’d realized. I was definitely a heel. Lower than pond scum.
She scoffed. “Yes, it is. You use it against me all the time when you bring up how young I am.”
“That’s the only issue with us. Not your work.”
“I went into this marriage of my free will, but I did it for my father and you. Except you both act like I’m some pawn.”
My heart twisted in my chest because this was something that I’d been afraid of. I had a lot at risk. Frank had a lot he needed to save. But Brooke had been the key to put everything in place. Without her, none of this worked.
“I respect what you’ve done for us.”
“Bullshit!”
I flinched, and then my own irritation started to bubble up. After putting up with Shelley, I didn’t need this from Brooke. “Just because I don’t think you and I should be intimately involved doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate your work.”
Her eyes flared hot. “None of you respect me. Trina just accused me of trying to take her job. She offered to help me with the paperwork to quit.” She picked up the report. “Turns out, this public works project has been her duty. You gave it to me without telling her or me. That disrespects both of us, putting me in a position in which she thinks I’m trying to take her job. Do you respect anyone but Sinclair in this office? Do you still carry a torch for her?”
I jerked back, wondering how she knew about that.
“Or Shelley? Did you two go find a nice place to fuck after your romantic lunch?”
I
swallowed, for a minute, feeling like I was in a dream. This was surreal. Finally, finding my bearings, I responded.
“You’re being ridiculous.” The moment it left my mouth, I realized it was the wrong thing to say. It only proved her point that I wasn’t adequately respectful of her feelings.
“And you’re being an asshole, Mo. Are you going to fire me for that?”
I raked my hands through my hair and caught my breath. “First, about Shelley, that was unexpected. I had no plans to see her and, no, I didn’t fuck her, and I have no plans to.”
Brooke glared at me like she didn’t believe me.
I blew out a breath to catch my bearings. “I met with a man who wants me to run for governor, and she showed up because, of course, that would mean I’d finally have the power and influence she craves. But I turned it down. I turned both of them down.” I studied her to see if my words were making any difference. Her anger level seemed to reduce from boiling to simmering.
“As far as Trina goes, I’m sorry for her behavior. She’s always been outspoken to a fault, but her current situation seems to have brought out the worst in her. I’ll talk to her.”
“I don’t need you to fight my fights, Mo. Especially with her. She’ll just think I tattled, and I’ll still be the child”—she used air quotes around the word child—“she thinks I am. Then again, you think I’m a child, so what’s the difference?”
“I don’t think you’re a child. I know you’re not.” She had the lush body of a woman. She was intelligent and clearly knew how to speak her mind. I stepped closer to her, putting my hands on her arms and rubbing.
“You think you’re going to calm me down. There, there, Brooke, it’s okay,” she said mockingly.
I inhaled a breath to keep myself calm. “I do want to help you calm down, but not because I think you’re being childish. I don’t think that at all. You’ve proven yourself in this office. You’ve given up a lot to help your father and me. And I’ve been a jerk. I know it. I hate that I’ve hurt you because I respect the hell out of you, Brooke. I really do.”
Her head tilted back, her angry eyes glaring up at me, and I realized I wasn’t just holding her arms, but that I’d pulled her closer, forcing her head back so she could see me. For a moment, I just looked at her. Those fierce blue eyes. Those lovely, delicious lips.
The air shifted around me as the annoyance morphed into a different sort of frustration.
“I don’t think you’re a child,” I said, my voice sounding husky in my ears.
Her blue eyes flashed with awareness. No, she wasn’t a child. She recognized that the air had changed. She knew I desired her.
“I know you’re not a child,” I said as I leaned my head down and captured her mouth with mine. She wasn’t resistant, but neither did she reciprocate. I pressed my hips forward so she could feel my erection. “You’re a sexy woman that I can’t get enough of,” I murmured against her lips. “My wife.”
This time, when I went full in on the kiss again, she surrendered to it, kissing me back. Her arms went around my neck, and even though all those same warning bells started clanging in my head, I told them to shut the fuck up. This. This smart, strong, sexy woman. This was what I wanted.
I maneuvered her to her desk, and it occurred to me that, at some point, I should do this with her in a bed. But right now, the desk was the best surface. I unzipped her dress, pulling the sleeves down and unclasping her bra.
Her breasts fell loose, and like a man dying of thirst, I sucked one into my mouth to quench my desire. “I love your tits, Brooke.”
She moaned, and I felt both regret at not telling her sooner how much her body drove me crazy and gratitude that my words elicited a response. It made me want to let her know everything about her that made my body heat up in ways I couldn’t ever remember feeling. It also made me want to be sure that I made her happy.
“Do you like it when I suck them?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said on a gasp.
“Bite them?” I gently took the hard nipple between my teeth and tugged.
“Oh God, yes.” Her hands held my head to her.
“Does it make you wet?” I lifted the skirt of her dress and slid my fingers between her thighs. She was soaking, and I groaned as the scent of her arousal reached my nostrils. Need to pound inside her flared hot and wild through my bloodstream, but I tamped it down.
“Yes.” She made a sound that was a cross between a moan and a whimper. “I need you.”
“Need me where?” I asked as I nibbled on her other nipple and gently stroked her pussy over her panties.
“Inside me.” Her hands went to my belt buckle and then undid my slacks. She freed my dick. “I want to suck you, Mo. Teach me how.”
Ah, fuck. How I didn’t come at those words from her lips, I didn’t know. “Another time, my sweet.” I wanted to lay her back on the desk and fuck her hard, but realizing this was all still new to her and wanting to give her a different experience, I took her hand and led her to a chair.
I sat down. “Straddle me, Brooke. Ride me.”
Her blue eyes blazed with the same wild heat I felt coursing through my body. I guided her over me.
“Take your time,” I said, holding my cock so she could fit herself over it.
She lowered down, and our mutual groans filled the room. I had a second to wonder if anyone could hear us. I was certain Wyatt fucked Sinclair in her office on occasion, but I never heard it, so I had to hope the office was soundproof because there was no way I was stopping now.
“Ah, Brooke. You feel so fucking good.” My arms held her hips, and I leaned forward to suck her magnificent tits again. “Do you like it?”
“Yes.” Her hips rocked, and I cursed as electricity shot to the tip of my dick. “What do I do?”
“Whatever you want. Ride me. Rock over me. Squeeze. I’m going to come no matter what. I’m going to come so hard. I do every time with you.” A part of me thought I’d regret giving all this to her, but another part of me knew she deserved it. She needed to know what she did to me. I might think it was wrong, but it didn’t change how she made me feel, and she had the right to know.
22
Brooke
Oh my God. I’d never felt Mo’s dick so deep inside me before. Straddling him, with my weight bearing down, he felt huge, like he filled up the very soul of me. I rocked, putting pressure on my pussy while his dick throbbed inside me. It was nearly perfect. Only nearly because I couldn’t be sure that when it was all over with, he wasn’t going to self-flagellate again and storm off.
But there was something different about this time. He was saying things to me that suggested he’d given in to what he was feeling. They weren’t words of love, but they were admissions of his desire. They were a sexy talk he’d never done before. I wanted to believe it meant that something between us was changing for the better, even as my rational, cautious self warned me against thinking that.
His hands cupped my breasts, and he alternated his mouth on them. Each time he sucked, my pussy contracted, and I rocked. It was almost as if he was the one dictating what my body did. I didn’t have to do anything. Automatically, it did what it needed to do to draw out the pleasure. It coiled tighter and tighter until I was panting and writhing with need.
I gripped his shoulders. I wanted to ride him, but I didn’t have good enough purchase because my feet barely reached the floor. So, instead, I rocked and bounced. Faster, faster, faster.
“Fuck, yes,” he gasped. “So fucking good. Ride my cock, Brooke.”
I loved his words. They showed Mo was as lost in the sensations as I was. He urged me on.
“You’re gonna make me come,” he said. “Do you want that? Do you want me to come in you?”
“Yes,” I managed to say as I strained to reach for my release. I gripped his shoulders tighter. I dropped my head back.
“Squeeze my cock,” he growled. “Fuck, I’m coming, I’m coming…here it is.”
His finge
r brushed over my clit, and just as I felt the first spray of warmth from his body enter mine, my own climax rocked through me.
“Mo!” I cried out.
“That’s right. Come on me, baby.”
I bounced and rocked like a crazy woman as my pussy convulsed and spasmed in pleasure. I started to tire, so he gripped my hips and bucked up, once and then twice, until he finished.
Completely sated, I collapsed, resting my head on his shoulder. His hands rubbed my back. It occurred to me that this was the closest we’d gotten to a post-coital cuddle. We sat like that for a moment, neither of us saying anything. I wasn’t sure what to say since I couldn’t be sure if his regret was about to overtake him again. So, I just held him for as long as he’d let me as I caught my breath.
His dick started to soften, and his come began to drip from me.
“Let me get something to clean up with,” he said.
He kissed my shoulder. It wasn’t my lips. There wasn’t a confession of love. But he wasn’t emotionally withdrawing, either.
I scooted off him, and he stood, reaching for the tissues on my desk. He handed me a couple and then grabbed some to wipe his dick. We started to fix our clothes without saying anything. I began to get nervous that he was realizing what he’d done and was about to reject me again. I kept my eyes averted because I didn’t want to see the regret in his eyes.
I pressed my hands down the skirt of my dress.
“Hey.” The crook of his finger lifted my chin. “You okay?”
I mustered a smile. “Yes.”
Fake Marriage (Contemporary Romance Box Set) Page 53