Declan
I stood, buttoned my suit coat, adjusted my sleeves, and turned to the others.
“I’m not sitting here waiting for her any longer. Fire me if you want, but I will not cater to her childish behavior.”
I strode out of the conference room and headed toward the elevators, passing the gaping faces of several people on Mara’s PR team. I ignored them all.
I jammed my finger against the call button, sliding my hands into my suit pants as I waited. A moment later, Linc, Heidi, and Walker appeared at my side. The four of us formed a silent wall in front of the mirrored elevator doors. We all stared straight ahead with a similar FAFO expression and stance.
The doors slid open, and the princess herself looked up, pursing her lips as she took us in.
“You! You left me there! This whole mess is all your fault!” she yelled, pointing her finger in my face. “You were supposed to protect me, not abandon me!”
I ignored her rants, stepped around her without a word, and punched the button for the lobby. The others followed me into the elevator car. When the doors started to close, she stamped her foot and stepped into the path of the doors. Heidi moved to block her, and the doors beeped loudly, drawing the attention of those who weren’t already watching.
“We did not abandon you. You refused to leave. As for whose fault it is… well, Ms. Cagot, that’s all on you. You’re the one who stripped, climbed on some guy’s cock, and snorted coke off his chest in full view of the cameras.”
Heidi took another step forward, and Mara backed up. The doors slid closed, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Linc groaned, “I’m going on record that this isn’t gonna turn out well.”
I laughed mirthlessly. He wasn’t wrong. She was a petty bitch and would bad mouth Holt to everyone coming and going.
“Walker…”
He smacked my back and said, “Don’t. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. We knew going in she would be difficult.”
We headed back to the beach house, and I made my way upstairs as soon as we arrived, blowing off the others as they planned what to get into that evening. Shutting the door to the bedroom behind me, I cued up my favorite playlist on my phone before sitting it on the charging station.
Stripping off the Men in Black suit, all the guys on security details at Holt wore, I flipped on the shower while moving to the music, remembering Hayden’s big, graceful body moving sinuously to every song, no matter the beat or tempo.
Anticipation filled me, overriding the niggling doubt and worry from the previous weekend. As a top, my body’s response to him horrified me. Of how I’d submitted to the man with such ease, but I couldn’t rid myself of how good it felt to hand him the reins. My brain screamed at me, reminding me of who and what I was.
Shaking my head, I tossed off the weirdness I still felt about what happened and, instead, focused on how what he’d done to me had led to the best fucking orgasm of my life. I latched onto those memories, lodging them firmly in my mind as I stepped into the shower. I coated my cock with lube. The silky slickness eased my movements as I leaned against the shower wall. Closed eyelids provided the perfect backdrop for the vision of Hayden Marin as I jerked off.
The man had starred in all my dreams, waking and sleeping, since meeting him. One hand roamed my chest, tweaking my nipples, while the other worked my dick until my breath deserted me and my knees went weak. Ecstasy rolled through me like a freight train, and I bit down on my cheek to keep from shouting the walls down.
As soon as my legs recovered and I could stand, I rushed through the shower, shut off the taps, sluiced the water from my hair, and wrapped a towel around my waist.
Grabbing my luggage, I tossed it on the bed before heading back into the closet. I didn’t know what he and his buddies would want to get up to, so I pulled out something for everything. As I headed back into the bedroom, I caught sight of my favorite suit—a custom-tailored Armani—that a red-carpet event forced me to buy. I looked fucking spectacular in the thing for as much as I hated how much it cost.
When everything was arranged, I turned back to the closet for the suit. I doubted I’d fucking need it but being raised by a bunch of military types taught me nothing if not preparedness. I can still hear Walker, Foster, and Uncle Matthew saying, “Two is one, and one is none.”
I sat the suitcase next to the door, grabbed my dab kit, and went to the bathroom to get ready. Primping in front of the mirror until my hair had that just fucked look to it, I dabbed on cologne and deodorant before brushing my teeth. I packed all the stuff in the kit, tucking it in the suitcase as I eyed the clock on the nightstand.
Right on schedule.
The worn denim of my favorite jeans slid up my legs over my naked ass as I got dressed. The jeans were a snug fit, and there was no fucking way I wanted briefs crowding my dick. I tucked myself in and fastened the button fly. The smell of leather filled the room as I threaded my belt through the loops. On the dresser, the last rodeo buckle I won caught my eye, and I hurriedly switched them. I settled the buckle over my cock like a crowning jewel before adjusting myself.
“Damn, I look good.”
I grabbed the plain black t-shirt and pulled it over my head, tucking the shirt in my pants behind my belt, then pulled on my boots. It’d been a long time since I let the cowboy out of the bag. Years of working personal protection and dressing like a G-man had become second nature, but this was me, and I’d missed it.
Filling my pockets with my wallet, keys, and phone, I strapped on my watch, slipped my sunglasses into the neck of my shirt, and headed out of the bedroom with my suitcase in tow. I hoped I’d miss the others, but Linc was playing video games, Walker was video chatting with his kid, and Heidi was curled up in the chair with her current book. By the looks of it, she was on another dark romantasy kick. I’d have to borrow it when she was through.
Stepping up behind Walker, I looked at the kid, who was a miniature version of Foster and me, much to Walker’s chagrin.
“Hey, Jackie! How’s it hanging?”
