Beck And Call (3 page)

shoulder. His other hand covered a breast, kneading it

roughly. Still not sure who had her, she struggled in his

grasp. One hand reached for the knife-block and he

caught her wrist.

“I’ve been without you for nearly two weeks, baby,”

he whispered hoarsely in her ear. “I’m not waiting

another minute to fuck you.”

His hands pulled up her skirt and ripped her

panties from her legs. Two fingers plunged into her

pussy and his palm rubbed her clit. Sheila groaned. As

his fingers stroked her wet heat hard and fast, Sheila

ground her pelvis against him.

“Steve,” she moaned.

“Did you miss me?” he demanded. “Did you have

trouble sleeping because I wasn’t holding you?”

“Yes,” she nodded, already panting and pumping

her hips against his hand. “I never sleep well when

you’re gone.”

“I’m going to make you come and then I’m going to

fuck you. Right here, right now.” His hand covered her

breast over the sweater and pinched the nipple while he

rubbed his cock against her ass. Steve’s mouth nibbled

along her neck and shivers had her body trembling.

“Can you feel how hard I am?”

He felt her pussy clench as his stroking fingers

pushed her closer to orgasm. He’d never been so rough

and urgent. He’d never used language like that with

her. Steve couldn’t believe how his actions and words

aroused her. The hand at her breast kneaded and

pinched. His lips moved to the pulse on her neck as his

fingers hooked and pressed against the spot he knew so

well. Almost immediately, she arched up and her cry

echoed in the kitchen.

Steve moaned as her hot core tightened around his

fingers. God, she was so sexy!

“I’m going to bury my cock in your pussy right here,

Sheila. Right now.”

Releasing her breast, he pulled away slightly to

work his pants down. When she tried to turn around, he

nipped her neck gently.

“Stay still,” he growled. “I’m going to fuck you,

Sheila, and I don’t want you moving.”

Pulling her skirt back up around her waist, he

pressed her upper body forward until she rested against

the counter. His foot nudged hers until her thighs were

farther apart. The tip of his cock glided along her ass

before he found her pussy lips. For a brief moment, he

held himself there just inside her pussy.

“Steve, please,” pleaded Sheila. “Please.”

With a groan, he drove fully into her, his cock

straining the limits of her slick walls. His strong hands

gripped her hips and held her still as he pounded into

her. Sheila whimpered as he took her.

“Steve, Steve,” she panted.

He grunted, focused on fucking her. With a roar, he

exploded, his upper body collapsing over her.

“You okay, baby?” he asked, brushing damp tendrils

off her cheek.

“Yes,” she managed. “Steve?”

“Yeah, baby?” Several light kisses pressed against

her temple and neck.

“I like surprises like this.”

He smiled against her hair.

“Really?” Had he found a way to keep the spark

between them alive? “You like me coming home early

and fucking you like this?”

“Yeah,” she whispered shyly. “You don’t mind?”

Chuckling softly, he cradled her in his arms.

“Baby, I was afraid you’d kick and scream if I ever

did something like this,” he said quietly. “But, now that

I know it turns you on…”

He pulled out of her and turned her around.

“Yes?” she breathed, mouth parted in anticipation.

“Now what will you do?”

“I’m going to come up with more surprises.”

Serena closed the book, feeling heat suffuse her

face. None of the romance novels she’d read had ever

affected her like this! She nibbled her lower lip and

tried to figure out how many months it had been since

she’d had sex—more than two years ago.

Tears filled her eyes. She accepted that she would

only ever be seen as a super-efficient assistant to Keith,

but also that she hadn’t had sex since Todd. A brief

image came to mind and she flinched, squeezing her

eyes tightly. Dammit! The daydream of Keith suddenly

sweeping her into his arms and declaring his undying

love was just that—a dream. A dream she knew

wouldn’t come true. The tears flowed down her cheeks

for several minutes.

The grandmother clock on the wall chimed softly

and she inhaled, her body shaking. Sniffling, she wiped

her cheeks.

This wouldn’t do at all. She’d never been much for

pity parties and wasn’t about to have one now. She’d

worked too damn hard to prove herself to too many

people.

Okay, then, what was the plan? She’d learned a lot

working for Keith. One of the first rules he’d taught her

was that before any course of action, it was important to

work out the steps for success, figuring out the worst,

mid, and best case scenarios. Serena gazed at the

miniature she’d bought with the first bonus Keith had

given her. The irony of staring at the painting struck

her and she smiled. She would talk to Claire and

Debbie tomorrow and try to break out of her self-

imposed shell. They could help her get back into

circulation. Worst case, she’d have aching feet from

dancing and a few nights with less sleep than she liked.

Mid case, she’d have great times with her friends. Best

case, she’d meet the man of her dreams. One thing was

for certain - she certainly wasn’t going to meet the love

of her life sitting in a rocking chair every evening!

Returning from an office visit, Keith paused in the

hall to hear the hushed whispers of women. Straining to

listen and feeling slightly foolish, he stayed where he

was. He could pick out Serena’s voice, but didn’t

recognize the second.

“…with everything that’s happened, it’s been so

long,” Serena was saying. “I must admit, I feel rather

embarrassed asking you for help, but I really don’t

know how to do stuff like that anymore.” There was a

heavy sigh. “I was never very good at it to begin with.”

“It’s like riding a bicycle. You’ll get back in the

swing of it with no problem. Now, a bunch of us are

going to this crazy hot club tonight.”

“Tonight?” Serena’s voice seemed stunned. “It’s

Thursday.”

The other woman laughed.

“So? You want to get out more, right? Let’s get to it.

Why wait?”

“Debbie,” Serena’s voice seemed nearly strangled. “I

was thinking we’d build up to it, not jump into the deep

end.”

Keith stepped back and swore under his breath.

This was an unexpected development. He’d never

considered that she would start hitting night clubs.

He’d have to act fast to nip this in the bud.

“C’mon, Rena,” cajoled Debbie. “It’ll be a blast!”

“I don’t know,” hedged Serena.

“Um, what would you wear?” Keith didn’t hear

Serena’s response, but evidently Debbie didn’t like it.

“Oh, no! That won’t do at all. We’ll have to leave early

today and go shopping. There’s a boutique just a few

blocks away that has the
cutest
things!”

“No,” Serena spoke up. “Keith said he might have a

conference call tonight.”

“With whom?” Debbie demanded. “Everyone else

with a life will be out enjoying themselves.”

Reminding himself to reward Serena for her effort

to backtrack, Keith decided to back up her comment

before Debbie had a chance to say anything else.

Striding forward, he went through the door at full

speed.

“Ladies,” he nodded. “Serena, I need to refresh my

memory about that CEO in Tokyo. Do you have his

information handy?”

“Mr. Lee?” she replied, meeting his gaze with

obvious relief. “I’ll pull up the notes and print them out

right away.”

“Thank you,” he smiled.

Serena opened her mouth to thank Keith, but

closed it quickly. If she thanked him, she’d have to

explain the entire conversation and also the reason she

was going to go to a club in the first place. Debbie

hadn’t thought to ask why. Keith would.

She looked at Debbie with what she hoped was an

apologetic expression.

“Better get back to work.”

Debbie was disgruntled and didn’t have the tact to

hide it.

“Rena, just because
he
doesn’t have a life doesn’t

mean you can’t.”

“Deb, he makes sacrifices so you have a job,” she

replied stiffly. “Try showing a little respect, all right?”

“Sheesh, lighten up, okay? I just want you to live a

little.” Serena nodded and Debbie shook her head. “Hey,

I know things have been rough for you lately. You’re

still getting over your grandpa’s death. And Claire told

me Todd the jerk has been calling you. Now
there’s
a

total loser!”

“Todd’s not that bad,” Serena said, feeling slightly

defensive. She’d gone out with him for two years and

admitted they were incompatible, but he was not a total

loser! “He just has different priorities in life.” She met

Debbie’s cynical expression and laughed. “Okay, so he’s

Peter Pan in a hunky outfit. That doesn’t make him a

total loser.”

“Yeah, right,” Debbie scoffed. “Anyway, this might

actually be a bigger step than you’re ready for. I mean,

some of the clubs can be intense. Tell you what.” She

put an arm around Serena’s shoulders. “Why don’t I

check around and see if I can’t fix you up?”

“You mean, a blind date or something?”

“Yeah. That way you know a bit about the guy

before you met him and…oh, I know what we can do.”

Debbie bounced on her toes. “I’ll have a party with lots

of single guys, that way you can meet a bunch all at

once.”

“What reason will you give for having a party?

You’re not going to tell everyone that I’m…”

Debbie rolled her eyes.

“I don’t need a reason except that I feel like having

a party. It’ll take a couple weeks to coordinate schedules

and get everything set up.” She grinned. “I’ll have

Claire ask Paul for the names of some of his single

friends. Lawyers, investment bankers,” Debbie winked

at her. “In the meantime, we’ll start getting you back

into circulation. I’ll get with Claire and work on that.”

She hugged Serena and skipped out of the office.

“Oh, Lord,” Serena breathed, sitting heavily in her

chair. “I think I’ve unleashed a monster.”

“Serena?”

“Just a moment!” she called back, typing quickly to

pull up the file of their combined notes on Tokyo.

In his office, Keith felt like he’d been given a brief

reprieve from a looming deadline and future possible

hurdles. Of course, that depended on what Debbie and

Claire came up with.

“Going to have to speed up the timeline,” he

muttered, scowling at his monitor.

“Not a good walk-through?” Serena asked, pausing

at the door.

“A mixed bag,” he replied. “You and Debbie

planning a shopping trip?”

“What did you hear?” she asked nervously.

“Just something about a boutique with the cutest

things,” he told her, reaching for the folder in her

hands. “Is there a problem working this conference call

for me this evening?”

“Not at all,” she smiled.

“Good. See if Mr. Lee is available.”

“Certainly.”

Keith watched her leave and mentally reworked his

plan. He couldn’t give her the next book now. He

needed her to focus on the call. But first thing in the

morning would work perfectly. He smiled. Oh, yes, that

would be perfect. She’d already shown a tendency to

read a bit as soon as she got the book. He couldn’t wait

to see how she squirmed after getting another one.

Serena unlocked her apartment door and bolted it

behind her. She glanced at her watch and groaned.

Nine-thirty. No treadmill, but she’d never get to sleep if

she didn’t do some yoga to relieve the tension in her

muscles. Hanging her suit up, it occurred to her that