Connor stood about fifty feet away, his arms open wide, like, What UP, bro?Klaus whipped around, a look of stark terror on his face.He obviously remembered the voice, too… and the humiliations he’d suffered because of its owner.Toss in the fact that he’d been speaking ill of Connor just a few seconds before, and Klaus was not a happy camper.Me?I was not a happy camper at ALL.Connor strolled over, gorgeous and every inch the billionaire. He wore a tailored, grey pinstripe suit, crisp white shirt, and maroon silk tie studded with a gold pin.I thought he looked a little tired around the eyes… but then I convinced myself I just saw that because I wanted to see it.I didn’t want to believe he could have dumped me and slept like a baby afterward.Although that was probably what happened.I did notice one thing, though, that was undeniable: He didn’t look at me once.He kept his eyes laser-focused on Klaus.Inside, I felt like crying.You can’t even LOOK at me?!But I quickly forgot
I almost went crazy as I sat at my desk, wringing my hands, obsessing about what was going on up in the boardroom.Not least of all because I wondered if anybody noticed a stain on the plush carpet, or if they could detect the lingering scent of sex in the air.“Oh God,” I whispered to myself, and put my head in my hands.Emails went unanswered. I let calls go straight to voicemail.I was a nervous wreck.I played out a dozen scenarios in my head, all of them different in the particulars, but all boiling down to the same inescapable outcome:Connor letting them know that the buyoff was off.Would he tell them that the Teramore job was fake, designed to test the exec comp division?Would he repeat the lie that Klaus had shown him all the files on Friday night?And if he did, what could Klaus do but sit there and take it? Especially after he had lied right to the face of the CEO?And if Klaus sat there, the scapegoat for the failure… just how mad was he going to be when he came out of t
The Lamborghini roared through the parking deck outside my former workplace.I’d never been in a Lamborghini before. I might have enjoyed the experience more if it didn’t feel like somebody had put my brain in a blender and hit frappé.I settled back wearily into the leather seat and lolled my head towards the driver.Connor Templeton.Gorgeous Adonis. Billionaire businessman. Scion of one of the wealthiest families in America.“You’re a real asshole sometimes,” I murmured.He gave a tight little smile. Not one of his usual cocky grins; more like grim agreement.“Yeah, I know,” he said in a low voice.He reached one arm across the center console of the car and took my hand in his.The warmth of his skin on mine melted the tension in my body.The sweetness of the gesture melted my heart.I couldn’t help myself: I broke down in tears.Funny… after the last few hours, I didn’t think I had any left.He slammed on the brakes, pulled off his sunglasses, and stared at me with those gorgeou
Johnny was piiiiiissed.I couldn’t make out exactly what he was saying, but whatever it was, he said it loudly enough for Connor to make a face and hold the cell phone away from his ear.It sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher’s wah-wah-wah-WAAAH crossed with a fire-and-brimstone preacher.Connor let him vent for a few seconds, then said, “I’m getting on 10 East… you can find me, I’ll be the maroon Lamborghini Aventador.”More wah-wah-wah-WAAAAH.“Yes, fine, okay, I’ll drive under the speed limit so you can get to me… jeez, man, I don’t know who’s worse, you or Lily.”Things quieted down on the other end as Johnny asked something in a lower tone of voice.Connor smiled. “Because she’s with me.”Silence. Then Johnny said something else, and Connor pulled the cell away from his ear and hit a button for speakerphone.“Lily?”I smiled. “Hi, Johnny.”“You made him call me, didn’t you?”“Yes.”“Thank you. At least SOMEBODY’S brain is working right.”“Hey,” Connor warned.“Where’d you get th
I experienced vague flashes of the trip as I dozed. Whispered phone calls… the purr of the engine… patterns of sunlight and shadow…Once or twice I woke long enough to take swigs from a bottle of water, but then I lapsed back into semi-consciousness.Until I felt someone’s arms circling around me and lifting me out of my seat.I looked over blearily. “…wha… where…”I tried to force myself awake, but I was still so tired, it was like I was drugged.“We’re here,” Connor said as he held me against his massive chest. Even through his suit, I could feel his hard muscles pressed against my body.The sun was beating down with scorching heat against my skin. I saw the blurry outline of a gigantic white and glass building, much taller than the Dubai Hotel.I winced against the bright light. “…what are you doing…?”“I’m carrying you,” he said, and then we were moving. The bright light ended and shadow enveloped me. There was the sound of an automatic door, and cold air swept over me. The light
I awoke with no idea of where I was or what time it was.I opened my eyes halfway. I was on the edge of the bed, facing outwards. Dim shapes of furniture lined the room, but I couldn’t see a clock or a window or anything that might tell me whether it was day or night.As I lay there in a muddled haze of brain fog, I replayed the last events I could remember, though they were like images from a fading dream: Connor carrying me into the room……slowly undressing me……me pulling off his underwear…At that particular memory, something inside me woke up a little bit more.I turned over in the bed.There he was a few feet away, lying on his back, one arm sprawled above his head, eyes closed and lips slightly parted.Perfection.I began to remember everything: the screaming match with Klaus… finding out my car had been towed… bursting into tears in the parking deck… Connor driving up… his impassioned speech… me crying in the car… his kissing my hand… the conversation with Johnny over the pho
We eventually got up and made our way to the bathroom, where we took a long, sensuous shower together, rubbing soap (and our hands) all over each other’s bodies.Once we got out, I saw a tiny digital clock on the bathroom counter.It was seven o’clock in the evening.“Oh my God, I have to call Anh,” I said in a panic.The last my roommate had heard, I was heading home after being fired. She had probably gotten back to the apartment, found it empty, and wondered if I’d nodded off on the freeway and gotten in a car wreck.For the second time in four days, I was worrying my best friend sick.“You have your phone, or do you need mine?” Connor asked as he toweled his hair dry.I watched below his waist as the movement made his manhood swing back and forth. “Um… yeah…”He saw what I was looking at. “Focus,” he teased.“On this?” I asked as I reached out and caressed his limp shaft – after which it wasn’t quite so limp anymore.“Ah,” he groaned, and leaned down and kissed me. Then he pulled
Sebastian came through with the reservation – which meant the start of the next round of negotiations.“Will you at least put on the bulletproof vest?” Johnny asked.“No,” Connor said as he popped a piece of cheese in his mouth and took a sip of the white wine that room service had brought.“Fine – I just won’t drive you, then.”“Fine. I’ll just take the Lamborghini, then.”As they quarreled, I wandered the main room of the penthouse. It wasn’t the Dubai, but it was pretty damn nice. The ceiling towered thirty feet overhead, and a curving staircase made of pounded bronze connected the first floor with the second. Luxurious couches were scattered throughout the room. The marble flooring – dark green swirled and speckled with white – reflected back the dim lighting from far overhead, with the occasional rug thrown in here and there. There was a flat-screen TV on the wall that was as big as a car, a full bar made of the same speckled marble, and a kitchen and dining area down a hallway t