Fall Into You (28 page)

Charli kept herself together for the rest of the meeting. She served cheese and samples
of the wines, helped hand out more documents, and adjusted the slide projector when
Grant asked. She was finally getting used to the heels and managed not to trip again.
But as soon as she got a minute free, she scrawled a note on the back of one of the
handouts and set it on top of Kade’s legal pad.

She pretended to take a strong interest in the presentation, but she didn’t miss the
curious look or the barely concealed smile when Kade read her note. When she refilled
his water glass a few minutes later, the slight nod from him was all she needed. The
plan was a go.

Now the question was, could she actually pull it off?

Grant wrapped up the meeting, and everyone started to gather their things to head
out. Many went toward the front of the room to shake hands and talk shop with Grant,
and the room grew exponentially louder as people chatted amongst themselves. But after
exchanging a few quick words with the man next to him, her recruited partner in crime
made his way over to her.

Kade wasn’t as tall as Grant, but he still had an inch or two on her, and he walked
with the swagger of a guy who knew he didn’t have to try too hard. When he got close
enough, he put out his hand. “We weren’t properly introduced. Kade Vandergriff.”

His accent was refined twang—old Texas money, she’d guess. She gave him her hand.
“Charlotte Beaumonde.”

Instead of shaking her hand, he brought it to his mouth and laid a kiss on it. “A
pleasure, Charlotte.”

Her gaze shifted toward the front of the room, and she caught Grant peering in her
direction. She looked back to Kade and put on her best attempt at a seductive smile.
“Thank you so much for helping me, Mr. Vandergriff…with the brochures. I can’t believe
I was so clumsy.”

“No problem. I can’t resist a beautiful woman in distress.” He leaned a shoulder against
the wall, putting his back to Grant and the front of the room, caging her a bit in
the corner. Amusement colored his features. “I have to say you must be a particularly
brave sub or one who gets off on being bratty. Baiting your dom isn’t usually wise,
especially if you’re dealing with someone like Grant.”

She tilted her head and laughed a little, like he’d said something wildly charming.
“I have my reasons.”

“Wish I could stick around and see the ramifications. I have a feeling it will be
quite entertaining to watch.”

He said it with good humor, but her cheeks warmed anyway. They were putting on a show
for someone else’s benefit, but she could sense Kade was being genuine. He was flirting
with her and helping her out because he found her attractive. The thought gave her
a secret little thrill. Maybe this whole thing
was
transforming her. A week ago she would’ve never felt confident enough to even faux
flirt with someone like Kade.

“He’s watching us,” she said, leaning a bit closer to Kade. “Maybe he doesn’t mind.”

“We’ll see.” Kade’s voice had dropped to a conspiratorial level.
“Want the true test? I’m going to touch you, Charlotte. If he really sees you as his,
that’ll piss him off more than anything.”

She bit her lip, attempting to look coquettish, and Kade reached out to push a hair
that had escaped her French twist behind her ear. His fingers lingered at her nape
a bit too long.

“You’re quite enticing, Charlotte. I have a feeling you keep a dom on his toes. When
your training ends with Grant, you should look me up.”

“You’re sweet.” And he was—sexy even, but all she could think about was the man at
the front of the room. Grant glanced over from his conversation when Kade’s fingers
were still against her skin. Grant’s lips pressed into a hard line, but he turned
back to the man he was talking with.

Her heart sunk. Damn. Maybe this wasn’t going to work at all. Maybe what she’d thought
had happened between them last night really wasn’t anything more than sex. Maybe she
was the only one developing a stupid attachment.

Epic fail, Beaumonde.

Grant couldn’t even hear the words coming out of Chef Lane Donovan’s mouth. Blood
was roaring in Grant’s ears, and his temperature was rising faster than the desert
in summer. What the fuck was Kade Vandergriff doing with Charli?

Seducing her?

By the looks of it—yes. Charli couldn’t seem to stop smiling, and the fucker had just
touched her. Touched
his
sub.

Asshole.

Kade was a friend, a colleague, and a member at The Ranch. A good guy. But right now
Grant had the urge to throttle him. Grant dragged his attention back to Lane. “Can
I give you a call on Monday and we can discuss the details? I want to make sure we
get you exactly what you need to complement your spring menu.”

“No problem.” Lane reached out for a handshake. “I’ve got some time before I need
to confirm the wine list. We can get the details worked out next week.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Grant saw Charli put a hand to Kade’s chest in that
oh-stop-it thing women did. He ground his teeth together. Well, Charli had certainly
honed her flirting confidence in the last few days. With a quick good-bye to his friend,
he freed himself from his conversation with Lane and headed toward the back of the
room, forcing himself to be calm. This wasn’t a playroom at The Ranch; the same rules
didn’t apply.

But Charli’s eyes widened when she caught sight of him coming her way, so his expression
must have been more charging bull than he’d intended. Grant laid a hand on Kade’s
shoulder, squeezed firmly enough to make a point. “Vandergriff, glad to see you could
make it out here today.”

Kade turned around, wearing an easy smile, and shook Grant’s hand. “Of course. Your
wines always do well in our locations, so I wanted to see what the new products were
going to be.”

“And I see you’ve already met Charlotte,” Grant added.

Kade gave Charli a too-friendly look. “Yes, she was telling me her position with you
is temporary, so I was letting her know that I’m in the market for a permanent…assistant
if she was interested.”

The words and the unspoken meaning behind them were like a fist to the jaw. Grant’s
fingers flexed, the urge to pull Charli to his side almost impossible to deny. But
Vandergriff wasn’t saying anything that wasn’t true. Grant’s agreement with Charli
was a short one. If she discovered she liked the submissive role, she could move on
to whichever dom she wanted. And Kade was a great one. Hell, if Charli had been a
normal trainee, he’d already be looking for which dom to match her with at the end
of training. And Kade would’ve probably hit the list.

But dammit if Grant didn’t feel like punching out every one of
Kade’s perfectly straight teeth at the thought. And that feeling was one of the most
dangerous ones he’d had in a while. He couldn’t feel territorial about Charli. She
was going to walk away in a little over a week. Even if he offered to extend their
arrangement, she’d never settle for what he was willing to give. She’d naturally gravitate
to doms like Kade who were in the market for a relationship, who wouldn’t flinch at
the idea of a kiss or sleeping in the same bed, who’d be capable of truly loving her.

Something tightened in his chest.
Fuck
. What was going on with him? He wasn’t this guy. He was possessive with his subs,
but he didn’t do jealousy. The feeling was so foreign he almost hadn’t recognized
it.

Whatever attachment he was forming to Charli needed to be broken now. She wasn’t really
his, and he needed to stop acting like she was going to be. This was training. And
fucking. And fun. In a few days they were both going back to their own lives. He needed
to get that through his thick skull.

He sucked in a deep breath, bracing himself for what he was about to do. “Charlotte,
it is highly inappropriate to discuss
employment
with someone else while you’re still working with me.”

She looked down, the fake glasses sliding down her nose a bit. “Sorry, sir. I didn’t
think it was a big deal.”

“This is going to require disciplinary action,” he said, his voice sharp but low enough
so that no one else in the room would hear.

Her head snapped up. “What? But—”

He raised a finger, quieting her protest. “Don’t try to backpedal now. I need to discuss
a few things with Kade, then you and I are going to have a chat.”

Grant clapped Kade on the back. “You got a few minutes, Vandergriff? I’d like to iron
out the details about the tastings you wanted to set up at your locations.”

Kade’s surprise was evident, but he recovered quickly, smoothing his expression. “I
could probably stay for a bit.”

“Great. Come with me.” Grant nailed Charli with a hard glare. “Ms. Beaumonde, get
this room back in order. Then I expect you in my office. Dawdle and you’ll regret
it. It’s the door at the end of the hall.”

Fear flared in her eyes, and he could see her pulse hopping against her throat, but
she nodded. “Yes, sir.”

He turned around and headed out of the conference room with Kade at his side. Grant
was going to fix his little jealousy problem and make this good for Charli, but boy,
was it going to take every ounce of his willpower to allow it to happen.

Charli stood in front of Grant’s closed office door, trying to hold herself up on
shaky resolve. Voices murmured on the other side. Kade was obviously still with Grant.
And she had a feeling he may not be going anywhere anytime soon.

What the hell had she gotten herself into? She’d tried to reverse the rules on Grant,
and it had completely backfired. Instead of stirring up his possessiveness, she’d
managed to inspire him to bring in someone else.

Clearly, he didn’t have any feelings for her. This was simply a game. Sex. Power play.
An arrangement. Her insides twisted at the realization, but she knew it’d been a long
shot anyway. How could she expect him to feel anything for her when they still hardly
knew each other? She’d been ridiculous to think she could drag him out of the cave
he’d locked himself in when his wife had died.

She needed to accept this fact and enjoy their arrangement for what it was worth—great
sex. An adventure with a man who could coax her body to heights she hadn’t known existed.
She was going to have to tamp down her own misguided emotions and focus on
the physical, on the way her body responded to him. Even with the emotional letdown,
knowing what was on the other side of this door had her woefully turned on—albeit
slightly terrified. She could do this. Keep it on the surface.

Men did it all the time. And if she knew anything about herself, it was that she could
go toe-to-toe with any man on just about anything.

After one deep, cleansing breath, she knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Grant’s baritone cut through the door like the thing was made of rice paper
instead of solid oak.

She turned the knob and slowly opened it, the creak of the hinges echoing through
the now-empty building. When she stepped inside, she had to catch her breath. Sitting
behind a massive wooden desk, Grant looked every bit the angry boss. He’d taken off
his suit coat and hat, and his shirtsleeves were rolled to the elbows, a move she
was starting to recognize as a harbinger. A hot shiver raced right down to her toes.