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
The Second DateIn some ways, a second date can be harder than the first. With a first date, it’s all about testing the waters and seeing if the initial attraction has any possibility of going somewhere. But a second date…that’s when things start to get real.Taking my own advice, our first date was a group date. We went to Luna Park and had a ball. I walked her to her door at the end of the night and gave her a kiss on the cheek and we made plans for our second date.For our second date, I took her to Federation Square and the new art installation they have there. It was just the two of us. I kept it casual still - no fancy restaurant or flashing cash around. We ate tacos from one of the food vans and then sat on the wharf and watched the fireworks light up the sky. It was still casual, but more intimate than our first date.The second date is a chance to get to know her. It needs to be somewhere that is easy to talk. A movie, a concert, or a play are all great ideas, but you can’t e
Finn pushed back from his desk as he finished reading through the next post for his blog. Reliving the date with Peyton for his blog was both amazing and frustrating. He really did have a good time with her and she seemed to enjoy it just as much. He had seen her in several different moods now and last night was probably his favourite so far. For the first time since he had met her, she seemed less stressed and more what he imagined was her true self. And he liked her. He huffed out a sigh and ran his hands through his hair. That was a problem. He wasn’t supposed to like her. He was supposed to stay unattached and unemotional. She was a story, a means to an end. Already his readership had swelled. It wasn’t back to the safe zone yet, but it was getting there. He was getting new subscribers daily as the news spread about his experiment. And that made the way he was beginning to feel about Peyton all the more dangerous. He couldn’t let himself fall for her. That would be a disaste
Frankie was an architect and he worked from home. He was successful enough not to have to go into the office every day. He now had a stable of architects who looked after the day-to-day business and he just worked with the clients he wanted to. Frankie had been the one to design their warehouse conversion. He was a talented bastard. “What are you doing here? You’re not due for a check-up visit for at least another week.” Finn smiled as he sat on the leather Chesterfield. He loved this room. It was all dark, heavy furniture and smelled like leather and whiskey. “Can’t I just drop in to say hello to my favorite uncle?” “Girl trouble?” Frankie said as he took his own seat. Finn dropped his head back against the couch, closed his eyes, and sighed. “Yeah.” “Is it the girl that you’re writing about?” Finn’s eyes popped open and he looked at his uncle. “What?” his uncle said with a shrug. “You think I don’t read your blog?” The side of Finn’s mouth tipped up in a crooked sm
Finn had thought that coming to talk to his uncle would give him the perspective he needed to continue with his story. Instead, he found himself looking at his uncle in a new light. The man was getting old. Why hadn’t he noticed that before? It wouldn’t be too long before the women would stop chasing Frankie and he would end up alone. Was that what he wanted? He had modeled his adult life on his uncle’s. It had seemed like Frankie had the best life, but now Finn wasn’t so sure. “Thanks,” he said, standing to his feet and putting his untouched drink on the coffee table. “I knew you’d help me see the light.” Frankie grinned as he followed Finn out of the den and to the front door. “Any time, son,” Frankie said, slapping Finn on the back. “Any time.”Peyton stepped out of Bailey’s office building and blinked in the sunlight. Thankfully the rain had passed and the sky was blue. The heat was intense, but she breathed it in with relish. Today felt like a new beginning. The whole mess
Peyton rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I did. I met him at the cafe where he spilled his coffee on me. I just ran into him again downtown and he asked if I wanted to go for drinks. Finn and I aren’t exclusive. We’ve only been on two dates and besides, I’m done with the whole long-term relationship thing, remember? This is the new Peyton. Playing the field and having fun while she’s still young.” “O-kay,” Mia said. “Come on Mia,” Peyton whined. “I need this. I need to forget about that whole mess with Dale and what better way to move on than dating two me? Besides, Daniel’s kind of cute in an adorable puppy sort of way and he might have some equally good-looking friends.” She dangled the bait and hoped Mia would be distracted enough to go for it. “Good-looking friends, huh?” Mia said her voice musing. “A-huh,” Peyton said. “And not deadbeats either,” she added. “Businessmen. In suits.” Mia sighed. Peyton knew that would get her across the line. Mia had a little crush o
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