They stood in a group on the tram as it wound its way towards St Kilda. The car was packed and with each sway and turn Peyton brushed against him. Finn clenched his jaw against the sensation and tried really hard not to notice the delicate honeysuckle scent that wafted up from her hair and into his nose. He tried to ignore the way her softness felt as it slid along the hard plains of his chest and stomach. Her perky little arse was at just the right height to brush across his thighs and he was thankful that she wasn't a shade taller. If she had been then it would be a whole different hardness that she would be brushing against. He also ignored the looks he was getting from Carter. The other man was shooting him speaking glances that were so loud he was surprised no one queried them. Finn studiously avoided making eye contact with him. The man was his long-time friend, but he was also the reason Finn was in the awkward position he was in. It was just too damn bad if Carter found i
In Like FinnThe First Date - Keep it CasualSome of you out there might disagree with my approach here. Long-time readers will probably think I've lost my mind. But the fact is, when approaching a woman with a long-term commitment in mind, you can't use the same strategy as you would for a casual hook-up.Let's be honest. The whole point of picking up a woman in a bar, or taking her out to a fancy dinner, is to get her into bed. It's all part of the foreplay. You splash some cash around - the human equivalent of a peacock spreading his tail feathers - and you try to impress her. You have limited time to snag her attention and then you have to keep it long enough to convince her to go home with you. It's not pretty, but it's the truth.If you have an eye on something more long-term, then you want to build up to that. We want to get past the lust to the attraction phase. And getting her into bed as quickly as possible is not going to help your cause. For a woman to fall in love with yo
“Oh God! I’m so sorry!” Peyton clenched her jaw against the desire to spew profanities as the hot coffee soaked through her shirt. She looked at the guy standing in front of her and tried to smile through clenched teeth. He was tall and cute in a Clark Kent kind of way, complete with the dark-rimmed glasses. He also looked mortified to have spilled his coffee all over her. She pinched the wet fabric between her thumb and finger and held it away from her skin so as not to further scald herself. “It’s okay,” she muttered as she stepped out of the way of the growing line of people waiting to pick up their coffees. “Here, let me help.” The guy stood there with a wad of napkins not knowing quite what to do with them. Peyton could see the indecision cross his face as he looked at the wet splotch on her chest. To save him and herself from further embarrassment, she reached out and plucked the napkins from his hand and blotted the wet fabric with them, not that it did anything to help
“Peyton?” Peyton looked up into Clark Kent’s eyes and froze. How the hell did he know her name? God. She’d had a moment where she hadn’t had to worry that her reputation had gone before her and now here it was back in her face again. Of course, Clark Kent knew who she was, he had just been too polite to say anything before. Peyton started gathering her stuff. “Look, I need to go—” “Whoa, hold up,” he said, his brow scrunched. “I just came over to apologize again and maybe ask if I can make it up to you by taking you out for a drink.” “Thanks, but no. I know about the whole bet thing going on and really I’m not interested.” “What bet?” Peyton rolled her eyes. “You know my name so you obviously saw the interview on television—“ “I know your name because it is written on your cup.” Peyton stopped and looked down at her coffee cup where the barista had written her name on the side. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, counting to five before lifting them to Clark Ke
Ostensibly she knew that the video had been her choice, but it was so much easier to blame Dale and his thoughtlessness. He was the one ultimately responsible for the whole chain reaction. If he had manned up and been honest with her then none of this would have happened. Yes. It was much easier to blame him and not think about how she had pursued him in the first place. It was easier to let the fault be his instead of thinking about how she had manipulated him into asking her out and then pressured him to pop the question. She’d had her plan and Dale had fit neatly into it. He hadn’t even given her any resistance along the way, so really it was his fault. None of this would have happened if he’d been honest with her from the start. Suitably mollified by her own justification of the events, she turned back to her work. The day had already gone to shit, what with the spilled coffee and then being late. Now she had lost one job and that meant losing one income. She needed to do som
He cleared his throat as he ushered her onto the tram. Her honeysuckle scent filled his nose and he had to fight the desire to pull her into his arms. He needed to keep his distance. This was not about getting her into bed, this was about getting her to fall in love. It didn’t matter that his cock was hard and begging for her. It didn’t matter that her lush curves called to him. Sex was completely off the table. It had to be to preserve the integrity of his story. “So where are we going again?” she asked as they sat down and the tram pulled out. He chuckled. “I told you, it’s a surprise.” She huffed and folded her arms and his smile grew. “Tell me about your day,” he said, just so he could keep her talking. She sighed and looked down at her lap, her fingers twining around themselves. “I got fired,” she said. “What?” She looked up at him and her mouth twisted into a grimace. “Okay, not fired exactly. Asked to take a leave of absence.” “What
She wasn’t above begging at this point. She felt like she was going to explode if only he touched her where she needed it. But the man seemed to know and made a point of skirting around it, licking, sucking, and even nipping at her everywhere else. He was driving her to distraction. She was so turned on that she could barely think. The world around her was mushy like she was cocooned in a giant marshmallow. Her only point of contact was him and where his tongue was currently teasing her. Finally, she felt his fingers spread her lower lips and she moaned in appreciation. He licked her once. One long lick with the flat of his tongue and her hips bucked involuntarily. She would only need another one or two like that and she would rocket into the stratosphere. Peyton couldn’t remember ever feeling this worked up with need, not even with the help of her trusty vibe. “Again,” she demanded and he chuckled. “Again, Finn.” He obliged her, licking her again with the flat of
He shrugged and blushed. It was cute. “I don’t think I made a very good impression on you yesterday what with the coffee spilling and everything.” She waved his comment away as they moved forward towards the cashier. “Accidents happen,” she said, breezily. Yesterday was a disaster of epic proportions, but today she was chill. It was amazing what a good couple of orgasms could do. She was in a good mood, a great mood even, and she was determined that nothing would ruin it. It had been far too long since she had such a feeling of well-being. Her life had been a complete shit-show of late but maybe things were starting to turn around. “So what do you do, Peyton-no-last-name?” Daniel asked. “I work for Sabre Management Systems,” she replied. His eyebrows rose in appreciation. “Impressive,” he said. She shrugged and smiled. “Not really. I’m just a PA. My boss is the one with the brains.” “Don’t negate what you do,” he said, his eyes earnest. “I’m sure you
6 months later“Are you ready for this?” Anthony asked as they stood outside the courtroom. Talia nodded and gripped Parker’s hand. The judge had called them back in for the verdict on Mark’s trial and she couldn’t deny she was nervous. The weeks spent preparing for the trial and then sitting through the witness statements and being cross-examined by an aggressive defense attorney who made her out to be some sort of diva and ungrateful bitch who was somehow ripping off the father who had done everything for her had taken its toll. And the media beat-up was just as bad. However, not all the media had been on her father’s side. Talia had discovered she had far more supporters than she’d thought. Her fans—the true fans—had gathered in force to support her and she loved them for it. Not enough for her to consider going back into acting, but enough that going through the trial had been bearable. But if not for the constant and unwavering support of Parker, Talia didn’t think she woul
Parker rolled his eyes as he took her hand and stood. “Seal the deal?” “Isn’t that what you said earlier?” He shook his head, his grin still in place. “No, I said celebrate.” “Okay, good. Let’s do that then.” Parker grabbed her and lifted her up, making Talia squeal. He kissed her and she wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders. Stumbling, he carried her to the bedroom and tossed her on the bed with a flourish, making her squeal again. “I feel like we need champagne and strawberries or something,” Parker said, standing with his hands on his hips as he looked around the room. “You mean like pouring champagne in my belly button and licking it out?” Talia asked, lifting her shirt to reveal her navel. Parker cocked an eyebrow. “Hmm…that’s something to think about for a later celebration,” he said. Talia pouted. Parker held up his hands. “I don’t have any champagne on hand,” he protested. “Then I’ll just have to
“You called Isaac,” Parker said when he walked into the apartment. Talia looked up at him and bit her lip. “I did,” she said. “But before you get mad, I didn’t say anything about what happened. And I did it because I knew you wouldn’t say anything to defend yourself.” Parker sighed. “I’m not mad,” he said, walking over to where she was seated, working on her miniature diorama. He leaned down and kissed her. “I’m grateful. Thank you. What you said to Isaac helped.” Talia grinned up at him. “So, they’re going to let you do the article?” Parker nodded. “They are.” “That’s so great,” Talia replied. “So it all worked out.” Parker pulled out a chair and sat down beside her. “Things have worked out for me, but what about you? What are your plans now? Without Mark controlling your every move, you can do anything you want.” Talia dropped her head and fidgeted with her fingers in her lap. “I don’t know what I want to do,” she said quietly. “I don’t think I wan
Talia pulled back from the kiss. “Don’t you think it was pretty selfish of me not to sacrifice myself for you?” she asked. “No,” he said, reaching up to tuck some hair behind her ear. “What you did wasn’t selfish, it was survival. There’s a difference. Me expecting you to sacrifice yourself for my job would have been selfish. Are you doing what you need to in order to survive? Not selfish. Not in the slightest.” “It feels selfish,” she mumbled, leaning her forehead against his. “I feel like I need to do something to make it up to you.” Parker cupped her face. “Talia,” he whispered. “This is not some quid pro quo thing. There will be times when you will save me. I have no doubt about it. That’s how relationships work. It’s swings and roundabouts. There is no big tally sheet in the sky and nobody is keeping score.” “I just don’t want you to feel resentful—” Parker cut off the rest of her sentence with a kiss. “How could I be resentful of the fact that I get to have you in my l
“She’s asleep,” Parker said, coming into the living room from his bedroom where Talia had finally succumbed to sleep. He slumped onto the couch beside Stephen and laid his head on his father’s shoulder. Anthony looked over at him from where he was sitting, going through some paperwork on his laptop, and Carter paced, not able to sit still. “I take it the article came out,” Parker said. “Yeah,” Carter replied with a sigh as he raked his hand through his hair. “It’s going to do us some damage,” Parker said. “Maybe,” Carter said with a shrug. “Maybe not.” Parker frowned at him. “What does that mean?” “It gets your name out there,” he replied. “It will drive people to your blog.” “Fucking hell, Carter,” Parker exploded, jumping to his feet. “Seriously? You think this is a good thing?” “I didn’t say that,” Carter replied. “I just said it wasn’t necessarily damaging to us.” “And what about Parker asked. “The article would have tanked that de
Anthony had filed a police report as soon as he arrived in the city. “Their hands are tied,” Anthony said with a sigh. “There is no evidence of force and as she recently hid from the public because of a scandal, we have nothing to say she isn’t doing it again because of the latest issue.” “But can’t they force her to at least speak with them? To check that she’s okay?” Parker asked. “As far as they’re concerned, she has just gone into hiding again,” Anthony reiterated. “Until we have something to say otherwise, they can’t do anything. This has the potential to be a high-profile case because of who she is, so if they make a big deal about it and it turns out to be something innocent, it might blow up in their faces.” “That’s bullshit,” Parker growled, pushing up from his seat to pace around the room. He hated that he was sitting there doing nothing while Talia was trapped in her father’s house. It was torture to know where she was and yet not be able to get to
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Talia said. After Mark’s big reveal the night before, Talia had been left to sleep off the effects of the sedative he’d given her. The fucking bastard. He’d locked her door so she couldn’t get out and the window was too far from the ground for her to escape that way. Not without breaking something, anyway. Which Talia wouldn’t have minded, except with the way she’d been feeling, the thing that got broken might very well be her head, and she was kind of attached to it being in one piece and remaining on her shoulders. So Mark had stalked her and Parker and then kidnapped her and drugged her and imprisoned her and he was under the impression that he was perfectly within his rights to do so. “I’m doing this for you,” Mark said. “Your mental health is at stake here.” “The only threat to my mental health is your arsehole behavior,” Talia snapped. They were sitting in the sunny kitchen at the table and Mark was trying to pretend that it
Carter clicked his fingers. “The original photos, the ones that were taken when you took her out to look at the miniature street art.” Carter turned to Parker. “You were in some of those photos. Your face was blurred, but that could have been done after the fact.” “So he’s been following me?” Parker asked. “You and Carter. Both would be my guess,” Jack said. “So he’s been following us, but how did he know I was sending a car to pick her up?” Parker asked. “Have you noticed anyone following you?” Carter asked. Parker shook his head and then paused. “What?” Carter asked. “What’s that look?” “It’s probably nothing,” Parker said. “Just say it,” Carter said. “I was speaking to Talia just before I went into the meeting he said. “When I hung up from the call, I bumped into a guy…you don’t think…nah. It can’t be. This isn’t some espionage movie.” “Could he have overheard your conversation?” Jack asked, leaning back in his chair and looking up
Parker was on a high. By all accounts, Atticus was on board with his proposal. Isaac just wanted to check in with the rest of the band before giving him a definitive answer. That was fine with Parker. Things would go much more smoothly if everyone was in agreement. The last thing he wanted was a hostile environment and if any of the members had misgivings about the proposal, then he would walk away. It would hurt, but he would do it. For this to work—for everyone involved—there had to be open communication and a willingness to participate. Without that, Parker may as well give up now. He climbed into his car, cursing the parking ticket and flapping on his windscreen. Getting out again, he grabbed it from under the windscreen wiper and shoved it into his glove compartment. The Playbook could pay for that. It was the price of doing business, after all. He turned the music up loud as he navigated through the heavy traffic toward his apartment building. He couldn’t wait to tell Ta