CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 19
I think I just heard the greatest love story of the twenty-first century. I also think I need to vomit. “You look tense.” George stepped behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders, his thumbs digging in at the bottom of my neck. I bent into his touch, unable to help the sigh that escaped me. “So would you if you’d had the night I have.” “Same again.” He nodded at the bartender and sat me on a stool. “Let me guess. You got the soap allergy story too?” I turned. A small smile played on my lips. “For real? He told you too?” “Oh yes. He wants us to do his marketing.” “No wonder his wife was so far up my ass she could see my brain,” I muttered. George laughed, a rich sound that curled my toes. “Gina,” he admonished. There was nothing to it. He was merely masking his amusement. “Behave.”
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 20
“If I knew then, standing in front of you for the first time, that I was captured, caught, royally fucked, then don’t tell me now that I’m not. Don’t stand there with a guard around your heart and your memories and tell me that I’m not still caught up in the person who stole my heart and ran fucking marathons with it.” “Fuck you and your memories.” “And fuck you and your defiance, Gina. Just for five goddamn minutes, surrender control. Let me in.” I drew in a deep breath. No, no. My job is the epitome of control. Every detail of my life—controlled My orgasms—controlled Every. Fucking. Thing. “No.” I pushed back into the glass harder. George’s hand slid to my side and undid my zipper. He tugged the dress down roughly until it was pooled at my feet and my bare skin was against the cold glass. “You can surrender by choice or I can make you
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 21
The suite door closed. “Gina?” “In the bedroom.” My cheeks flushed. This was the first time we’ve spoken since we left Vegas—since he pinned me against a glass wall and fucked me with his fingers until I came spectacularly. We both slept during the flight and he left early this morning while I was still in bed. My skin hummed with awareness when he walked into the room, and a low, appreciative chuckle left him. “Not what I was expecting to see, but welcome all the same.” I flipped him the bird over my shoulder. “I have nothing to wear.” “You’re standing in front of three suitcases. How can you have nothing to wear?” “I didn’t pack for a trip to the surface of the sun.” George unzipped his own suitcase on the other side of the room, and I heard the swish of material as he changed. “It’s not that h
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 22
“There’s nothing lucky about me walking into your booth. I’ve wrecked more guys than I’ve made.”“And you did both to me, once upon a time.” He leaned in and brushed his lips across mine. “But it was lucky because every time I’ve been in Seattle, I’ve always thought about you. Wondered where you were living, what you were doing, if you’d met anyone or had kids. And now I know.”I pulled back slightly, this revelation making my head spin. “Why didn’t you ever look for me?” Is that hurt in my voice? Fuck. No. Get back in your box, teenage Gina.His blue eyes found mine. “I don’t know. I didn’t know where to start, and I was a little scared. We promised each other we’d be just a summer romance, a fleeting fling in a European city. I should have forgotten you the second we got b
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 23
I smiled widely and scribble a note.To Monica Yung, from Gina McCartney.Pay Brenda two hundred for international calls. I owe you—take extra from the next.And get my cell sorted so it works. I don’t wanna be paying her crap again. Thanks xoI handed him the message with her contact details and touched his arm. “You’re a doll, Hillary. Thank you so much.”“You’re… You’re welcome, Miss Gina. Oh, Mr. Stone. Can I help you?”The hair on the back of my neck prickled, and I turned to George. He was amused and pissed off simultaneously. I placed my hand against his chest.“Hey, baby. Did your call go well?”“It did.” He wrapped an arm around my back.“How’s your dad?”“He’s fine. Are you harassing the receptionist?”
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 24
He opened the elevator doors and smirked. “Get your nails and hair done while you’re at it. You have a few split ends.”“Fuck you!” I shouted as he disappeared behind the closing doors.Do I?I grabbed a section of hair between my fingers and pulled it in front of my face. My eyes flitted over it, examining it, and I dropped it with a curse.“Bastard,” I muttered to the buzzing of my phone.Kidding, he texted. Your hair is perfect.I’m making you pay for that, asshole.Good.I tossed my phone on the bed and looked at the time. Shit. Skype date with Brenda!I ran into the front room area and pulled my laptop from its case. The Wi-Fi connected in seconds, and two minutes later, I was staring at the blond bombshell that is my best friend.“Spill. Everything,” she
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 25
I turned my face to the side and caught his eye. “Is the dress okay?” “Okay? You’re standing in front of a fucking mirror and you’re asking me if it’s okay?” He crossed the room and rested his hands on my sides. He dropped a kiss to my bare shoulder. “There’s no way you won’t be the most beautiful woman in the room tonight. If every guy doesn’t have their eyes on you the whole time, they need their eyes tested. Shit, Gina. You look fucking incredible.” I looked at the floor and smiled. “No.” He cupped my jaw from behind and lifted my face to the mirror. “You don’t get to look at the floor. Look in this mirror and see how devastatingly beautiful you look.” “Shut up,” I murmured. “It’s just a dress.” “No. It’s the woman that makes the dress. And you? You make this dress something that borders on illegal.” He lowered his mouth to my ear. “Tell me I b
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 26
And those eyes were on George. Some fleeting glances. Some blatant stares. Some coupled with fluttering eyelashes and pouting lips.I hated every single one.I hated that I hated them.I excused myself for a moment, and a server directed me to the restrooms. The room was suffocating. The whispers and stares I usually ignored were all encompassing, making my head spin and my stomach turn. Things that shouldn’t matter did. Things that shouldn’t bother me did. Because of George.Because I cared about him, and the way people viewed me when I’m connected to him mattered. It mattered for his reputation as a man and a CEO.And right now, all I could hear was the not-so-quiet mumbles asking who I am and wondering how I ‘bagged him.’ I was remembering how dangerous this world is—where money is no object and no price is too high for information&md
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 141: EPILOGUE
EpilogueFour Months Later“No, no, no!” I dropped my forehead to the table. “Why is this so hard for them to get right? Champagne and ivory are not the same color. The seat sashes are supposed to be champagne, not fucking ivory!”Brenda patted my shoulder. “There, there, Bridezilla. You have three months still to chew their asses out until they get it right.”“Brenda, with the amount George is paying them to get it right, I shouldn’t have to be chewing asses.” I sighed and straightened again. “This is crazy. Why can’t we just elope in some tropical country and get married without all this fancy crap?”My best friend laughed and shut the laptop down. “Okay, babe. Let’s get you a drink. You and I both know you wouldn’t want to have this any other way.”“I know. I just… I
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 140
I was not getting it out of him no matter how hard I tried. I knew he wouldn’t give anything away until he was good and ready, so I was stuck sitting here in my awkward limbo until he did. Stuck here, wondering, waiting, what-iffing.Our plates were cleared away and replaced with our main course. Again, it was eaten in silence, our eyes flitting from our plates to each other’s. The only difference was that there was a zinging of tension, one tight enough to cut, and I swallowed hard. My fork clattered as I placed it against my plate and looked at him firmly.“Do you want dessert?” he asked innocently, his steady voice betraying the tightness between us.“No. I want to know what this is.”“This? It’s dinner in the Eiffel Tower, sweetheart.”“No. What is it? Why are you doing it?”Geo
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 139
He prodded me in the side. “I think I found desires you weren’t aware of over the last few days.”Ah, this much wass true. Who knew having sex in front of a large bay window in the middle of the day was so fun?“I was very much aware of them. They’d just never been satisfied before now.”“They’ll continue to be satisfied, too.”“I should hope so.”He laughed quietly, burying his face into my neck. “Sit up. Let me wash your hair.”I did as he said, and he grabbed the showerhead from the little holder I placed it in for easy reach. When the water was the right temperature, I leaned my head back and let him wet my hair.“Ivan’s coming back to Seattle in a few weeks.”“He is?”“Hmm. He said he’ll call you to arra
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 138
“Again?”“Mhmm.”“Oh no.” I wrestled myself from him. “No, no, no!”I laughed, running through the apartment. And as I slammed the office door shut behind me, I realized my mistake.You never run from someone willing to stalk you until he can catch you.“Gina.” He hummed my name through the door. “Do I need to break the door down?”“That’s a habit for you.”“Open the fucking door. The longer you keep me waiting out here, the harder I’ll have to fuck you.”Oh, silly, silly man. When will he realized that, that was not a bad thing at all?I giggled and tapped out a random beat on the door. Truth was, I had no intention of letting George Stone fuck me right now.I planned to sit him on that fancy-ass leather chair an
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 137
“We are?” “Yes. You’re wearing my shirt again, and I believe it was some six hours ago I was promising to fuck you on my desk, so I suggest you get your ass into my office and hop up onto that desk pronto.” “You’re getting more demanding by the day, Mr. Stone.” I added some extra wiggle to my hips as I walked, and I was rewarded by a low growl of pleasure behind me. And punished with a sharp smack on my ass. “I never said anything about a demand. I’m requiring you get on my damn desk. Now move.” *** “Thank you.” George took a large envelope from someone and closed the door behind him. I watched from my slouched position on the sofa as he pulled a letter opener from the kitchen drawer and sliced the letter open. Because who doesn’t keep one of those in their kitchen?
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 136
It was ten in the morning and George still wasn’t up.That alone told me how much yesterday tired him. He was incapable of sleeping past six. Crazy man.I rocked my head from side to side. If I had any idea exactly what he was doing last night, I’d go into his office and finish it. As it was, I had no idea, so all I can was sit there like a freaking orange waiting to be juiced.I couldn’t read because my concentration wouldn’t last beyond a page. I had done my Candy Crush and Coin Dozer thing, and if I saw one more whining status post on Facebook, I’ll do one of my own.The sound of a phone ringing in his office cut through the silence, and I paused. Oh hell.I jumped down and ran into the room, barely blinking at the name on screen before answering. “Hello?”“Hello? Gi
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 135
I sat up, brushing hair from my face, and listened for any indication of him being around. There wasn’t any, so I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and made my way out of the room. The city lights flooded the front room, and I glanced at the clock. Three a.m. Where could he possibly be at this time? Something creaked in the direction of his office, and I walked down the hall to it. His door was cracked open slightly, and a gentle light from the television was flickering through the tiny gap. I wrapped my fingers around the edge of the door and eased it open, my eyes landing on his exhausted, shirtless figure. He was slumping over his desk, his fingers buried in his hair. His laptop was open in front of him, papers were scattered everywhere, some lying idly on the floor, and a desk light was illuminating the mess. “You should be in bed, asleep,” he mutte
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 134
“George!”“What does it say?” I looked at her. She bit her lip. “Rachel. Tell me now!”“She said that if you don’t pay within the hour, she’ll have it distributed to a large number of websites and presses ready to run a breaking news story first thing tomorrow. They’re waiting for her story.”“Will she fuck.” There was no wavering in his voice. Despite his lack of jacket and tie, George looked as serious as ever. “Rachel, get me her on the phone ten minutes ago.” He turned. “Alexander, get something drawn up that prevents her from contacting either Gina or me for the next fucking lifetime. This ends right now.”“George, you can’t pay her!” I wrenched myself from his mom’s grip. “Don’t be so fucking stupid!”He br
CALL GIRL #1 CHAPTER 133
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, looking at my feet. Guilt and remorse—they flooded me. Consumed me.George pulled me into him and tilted my face back. “Look at me, Gina.”I shook my head. I couldn’t. Not this time. I couldn’t look in his eyes and know that everything we have was on the line. Everything he and his father have worked for was now hanging in limbo because of me.How many reporters have picked that up? How many stories will I see tomorrow? How many news alerts will pop up on my cell?“Gina.” His voice was hard. No-nonsense. “Look at me. Now.”My eyes disobeyed me. They raked up his body until they found a sea of bright blue.“We will figure this out. Do you understand me? It’s unexpected and sudden, but we will fix this.”Tears born of a real fea
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