He shook his head and smiled. “No, for men.” She nodded. “Are you trying to improve your female readership?” “It’s not necessarily the aim, but we would never turn away new subscribers,” he replied trying to smile convincingly. “So, what? You’re going to take some guy off the street and turn him from a fashion don’t to a fashion do?” “That’s about it,” he replied. “Not just clothes, though. We want to go into hair and skin care, general health, and exercise. A complete makeover.” “I like it,” she said with a wide smile. He really did like Emma…not like that. Liam genuinely thought she was a nice person and Jonathon was a lucky guy. He knew he was partly responsible for them hooking up. “How is everything?” the owner of the restaurant asked with an anxious glance at Jonathon. “Everything is great,” Liam replied, but Julio wasn’t looking for his approval. He wanted Jonathon to give him the validation. Jonathon was a big powerful billionaire,
The elevator opened on Liam’s floor and he got out waving at Finn and Peyton. He trudged to his door and got his keys out. As soon as he slid the key into the lock, the door to the other apartment on the floor opened. Liam turned to see Parker leaning against the door jamb, his arms crossed over his chest. “You’re home early,” Parker said. “Where’s Loretta?” “She’s staying with Jonathon,” Liam replied, not able to hide his sarcasm and jealousy from his best friend. “I thought she was staying here.” “Yeah, well she’s not,” Liam said, swinging his door open. “If you want to gossip like an old lady, I’m going to need a drink.” Liam stormed through his door and across his open-plan apartment until he reached the bar. He heard the door close behind him and Parker’s measured steps followed him. Liam poured two glasses of scotch and handed one to his friend. “Dinner didn’t go well?” Parker asked with a raised eyebrow. “It was fine,” Liam replied with a huff
“I don’t give a fuck what time it is,” Liam whisper yelled or thought he did. It might have been a bit louder than a whisper. Carter grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the apartment, slamming the door behind them. Liam let Carter manhandle him over to the kitchen bench and push him onto a stool before going around and grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge. He unscrewed the lid and plunged it down in front of Liam. “Drink,” he said. “You smell like a distillery.” “I’m not thirsty,” Liam grumbled but lifted the water to his lips anyway because he wanted to, not because Carter told him to. “I take it from this performance that the dinner with your brother didn’t go well,” Carter said with a sigh. “This has nothing to do with my brother,” Liam replied. The words still felt foreign on his tongue. “It has to do with you forcing an intern on me without even talking to me about it.” Carter looked at the ceiling and exhaled slowly. Before shak
Mia checked and double-checked her handbag to make sure she had everything she’d need for her first day at The Playbook. She had her pocket-sized portfolio, her wallet, apartment keys, phone, and mints, plus all the rest of the crap that filled her handbag like tampons and old shopping receipts, and tissues. She ran her hands over her body just to check that she was fully clothed even though she’d checked herself in the mirror a hundred times or more since getting dressed. She hitched up her panties. The damned things kept inching down her hips. It had been a slight oversight on her part to make sure her laundry was done. She’d been so focused on ‘The Outfit’ she hadn’t put much thought into what she would wear underneath. Thankfully her favorite bra was clean, but she was down to her last few pairs of panties and she’d had a choice between the crotchless ones Peyton had given her as a joke present for her birthday, the granny panties she saved for the first day of her period, or
She hated the way she became some simpering twit whenever she was around a hot guy—Peyton called her out on it all the time—but she couldn’t help it. Her brain just seemed to malfunction whenever it was overloaded with too much stimulation of the beefcake variety and that was the absolute last thing she needed as she embarked on this new season in her life. She needed to get ahold of herself and act like a professional; a mother-trucking grown-up. The alarm on her phone sounded, a reminder that she had to leave right that instant or risk missing her tram. Mia scooped up her bag, gave her face one last look in the mirror by the door, and then practically ran out of her apartment, nearly bowling over Mrs. Feeney as she barrelled out of the elevator into the foyer. “Sorry, sorry!” Mia called over her shoulder as she kept running for the front doors, hitching her underwear up on the way. Mrs. Feeney waved her umbrella at her and scowled and Mia made a mental note to pi
That was okay. The woman was busy, even Mia could see that and appreciate the pressure she was under. Plastering her smile back on her face she went back over to the security guard and flashed her card at him. “I have my security pass,” she said. “Just scan it at the elevator and you’ll be good to go,” he replied gruffly. “Thanks for your help,” Mia said, practically skipping past him to the bank of elevators. She joined the queue and when the elevators opened she slid her card past the reader with all the others as they boarded the lift and pressed the button for The Playbook. With her back to the side of the elevator car, she tried to adjust her underwear which had begun to slip down her hips in an alarming way. She would have to throw them out at the end of the day, there was no way she was going to go through another day hitching up her panties. It was time to retire them. The doors opened and she pushed through the crowded elevator to escape onto her floor and took a br
He remembered the way she tasted when he ran his tongue along the side of her neck, when he kissed her lips when he buried his face between her legs. It washed over him like it had been only last night and not months ago. The sounds she made when he pulled her stiff nipple into his mouth, the sharp prick of her fingernails as she gripped his shoulders. He remembered the scent of her hair and her arousal and the way she’d urged him to take her, to thrust into her harder, to give her more. He felt his body reacting involuntarily to the vivid scenes playing through his head. His breathing became raspy, his skin flushed with heat and his cock hardened in his pants, pressing against the zipper trying to break free and get to her. Fu-uck. He could still feel the way she squeezed around his hard length as she came. He could still feel the slick glide of her body against his. He could still see the dark, heady look in her eyes as he held himself above her with the moonlight streaming th
Mia felt like an exotic animal at the zoo as everyone—everyone except Liam—turned to look at her. She swallowed thickly, her throat dry, and tried not to fidget with her skirt. No one could tell she wasn’t wearing any underwear, right? Her skirt fell to below her knees and it was a substantial black wool with a satin lining, completely un-see-through, but still, she felt naked. Going commando always sounded so badass—uh, so bad-to-the-bone but no one ever said it would feel like the people around her suddenly developed x-ray vision and could see everything that was now on display. She forced a confident smile to her face as Carter introduced her and looked around the table at the people who were now her colleagues. Woohoo! She had colleagues. Finn gave her a wink and she felt the stiffness in her shoulders relax slightly. Liam still hadn’t looked at her, too dagnabbit concerned with whatever was on his phone to even acknowledge her. “Hi everyone,” she managed to squeak out w
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