Valerie
The wine, the amazing food, the general atmosphere all swooned in my head, and I leaned heavily against Carlyle as we three left the restaurant. His hard, warm body strained taut, and the bulge in his pants fit perfectly against my ass. Thick ropes of muscle played against my back, and I closed my eyes to savor the throbbing ache between my legs.
“You’re not going to stop, are you?” There was absolutely no way in Hell that Carlyle missed any hints I dropped— subtle or not-so-subtle— and I shook my head. His grumble rolled down the back of my neck, and a shiver lodged between my shoulder blades before he firmly gripped my biceps and stepped back. Disappointment puffed out my lips, and goosebumps blanketed my skin from the loss of his heat.
Turning me around, Carlyle examined me under tightly knit brows, and the alcohol and food in me made him glow in the blurred string lights hanging above us. I wasn’t drunk by any means, but that was the best wine I’d ever have the ability to drink, and the best food I’d ever put in my mouth. I didn’t try to not let it affect me.
His face got closer, and my breath hitched before Carlyle brushed his soft lips against my cheek. Pleasantness skittered across my face and down my jaw, but he tightened his grip on me before I could really process anything.
“Goodnight, Valerie.” Mumbling gravelly in my ears, his tone twisted the knots in my core, and I bit down on my bottom lip as his teased my earlobe. “I’ll see you on Saturday.”
“As much as I appreciate you being a gentleman, I really don’t appreciate it.” Somehow, I managed to snatch his tie, and Carlyle frowned as I tugged insistently. “Do you really think I’m not a slut enough to screw around in the back seat?”
“I didn’t think you would when I brought your sister on a date, and you just tagged along, trying to shove my hand up your skirt all night.” Carlyle didn’t sound judgmental. In fact, he sounded kinda pleased at my efforts, but his frown didn’t lighten under the dense crease between his brows. Scrunching up my face in distaste, I leaned back and let go of his tie to huff softly. “I’m sure Natasha will come down with something and be unavailable on Saturday, Valerie.”
“Of course, she won’t be available.” His lips twitched up at my confirmation, and he cupped the side of my face to rub my cheek with his thumb. The callouses on his palm told me he wasn’t nearly as lazy as he tried to make himself out to be, and my eyelids fluttered closed.
“I’ll see you Saturday . . . every single centimeter of you.” I couldn’t exactly fight that, and I nodded grumpily as Carlyle smiled a genuine smile. Gesturing me to the waiting Lyft, he popped open the door for me, and reluctance stiffened my knees. “For the record, I didn’t think you were a slut at all, Valerie.”
“Coffee’s not gonna help you, Val.” Snapping me from my reverie, Natasha shot me a sultry grin, and heat slithered up my neck as we waited for our brews. “Do you know what kind of date you’re going on yet?”
“Hopefully, the hot and sweaty kind.” My grumble earned me a snort of a laugh, and I crossed my arms over my chest to stop my nipples from poking through my shirt. “Jesus, whoever would’ve thought it’d be this difficult?”
“Personally, I think it’s a good thing he doesn’t wanna jump your bones at the first opportunity. I also think it was really cool how he rented the whole damn restaurant just for us.” Those points, I couldn’t argue with, and Natasha smiled wider. “I wonder if he has a brother.”
“If he does, he probably doesn’t stack up. Carlyle’s, like,perfect. I can’t help but think there’s got to be something really deal-break-ery about him somewhere.” Last night, after I had time to stew on it, I was actually kinda pissed that Carlyle didn’t want to fool around in the back seat of his car. I thought I looked great, and he did, too, judging by the size of the bulge in his dress pants. Sighing irritatingly, I shook my head just as our cups were set down, and I grabbed mine a little sharper than usual. “Maybe he’s got a diaper fetish or something. It’s just too good to be true.”
“You should ask him next time you see him.” Horror clung to my ribs and splattered on my face, and Natasha laughed as she threw back her head. Weaving past the tables to the door, I emerged into the cool morning air and let it suck the heat from my cheeks. “No, for real, though, I’ve been thinking about last night, and . . . what if I asked him to buy out the firm we work at?”
“Why theHellwould he do that?” Popping the top of my black, sweetened coffee, I blew on it as my sister shot me a snotty look.
“What do I have to lose if he says ‘no’? It’s an opportunity to not work in a cyber sweatshop, Valerie. Plus, he can fire Paul’s disgusting ass, and maybe we can even grow with a boss that actually cares about our opinions. Website design is fine and all, but us employees do want to branch out into other stuff.” Rolling my eyes at the mention of our supervisor, I took a sip of my coffee to hide my frown. Natasha had a point, and she sucked her cold brew up through a straw as we started walking down the sidewalk. “Besides, if he says ‘no,’ no one will ever be the wiser. I mean, Carlyle could’ve contacted anyone, but he asked you, Val. I don’t think it’s all that inappropriate to see what we can get out of this offer. It’s just business.”
“Wow, okay.Youcan do the business, then. I don’t want any part of it. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m gonna sleep with him, and that stuff doesn’t mix well.” Even as I spoke, I couldn’t help but think Carlyle wasn’t the kind of guy to do anything extravagant at the behest of someone else. Sure, he rented that restaurant out, showed us a great time, and flirted with me a lot, but the initial conversation with Natasha . . .
He didn’t make sure that place was empty just to have some alone time.
“Cool, because I’m gonna ask him.” That declaration seemed to end the conversation, and I paused my strides to put the top back on my coffee cup. “Today’s Friday, you know. What bullshit excuse do you think Paul’s gonna come up with to keep us late?”
“Whatever it is, I’m not staying late. We don’t even get paid overtime.” Our office was smack in the middle of downtown, and only a block or two from the coffee shop. Rounding the corner, I could see the building poking out from the skyline, and I ran my hand through my hair absently as dread built in my gut. “Every day, I hate this job more and more.”
“If I could do anything, I think I’d make romance choice games.” My brows rose at that, and I glanced at my sister as she shrugged. “I think it’d be fun. I never really thought about doing anything differently, but if I ask Carlyle and he says ‘yeah,’ then that’s what I would do. Plus, there’s a lot of opportunity with app development, and I know some of the other guys want to branch into that.”
“I guess so.” Taking a warming sip from my cup, I opened my mouth again only to get cut off by a shrill ping, and I dug my phone out of my purse. The ringtone started to blare, and a frown dragged down my lips when I saw it was my mom’s number. “It’s Mom. What do I do? If I ignore it, she’ll keep calling.”
“So answer it and tell her to fuck off.” Taking my brew from me, Natasha’s expression soured, and I swiped the green button on the screen to hold the phone to my ear.
“What do you want, Mom? I’m not giving you money, so don’t even ask.” The line crackled harshly, and impatience simmered in my blood as I rocked back on my heels. “Hello? I’m blocking your number.”
“I wouldn’t hang up just yet, darlin’.” A deep, malicious voice ripped open my eardrum, and I tensed as the blood drained from my face. “Mom here ain’t askin’ for money anymore. She owes me, so I figure why not just skip the middleman and call you myself?”
“Who are you?” My voice trembled, but from fear or anger, I couldn’t tell, yet. Maybe I was just shocked.Shocked by what? My mom owing some nasty loan shark?
“Name’s Sander. I’m sure I’ll be seeing your fine-ass self soon so we can discuss the terms of repayment.” Scoffing loudly, I decided on being angry, and I tightened my grip on my phone as my anger spread through my furiously beating heart.
“You’re fucked if you think I’m gonna repay Mom’s debt.” Natasha gasped in surprise, dropping both our drinks, and I winced as scalding hot coffee splattered my legs. “Fuck you. Don’t bother me anymore.”
I hung up, flipping my phone over to take out the battery and SIM card and smashing it all on the ground. Red seeped into my vision, and I panted with the force I used to smash my heel into the concrete.
