Authors: Mari Carr
Full Position
Full Position
Mari Carr
Full Position
Copyright 2014 Mari Carr
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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Formatted by
IRONHORSE Formatting
Table of Contents
Chapter One
“So basically I’m finished with men.”
Justin Lewis rolled his eyes. “Of course you are.”
Bella leaned closer, her face completely earnest. “I mean it. You guys are part of an entire gender of fucksticks. I’m done.”
Ned snorted. “Until next week, when your hormones get the better of you.”
Bella gave Ned a dirty look. “For your information, when that happens I turn to my boyfriend, Roger. He’s reliable, efficient and he doesn’t talk.”
Justin took a swig of Dixie beer. “Giving your rabbit a name doesn’t make it a boyfriend, Bells. It’s still just a vibrator.”
“Yes, but it’s the deluxe model. No expense spared. And thanks to my cushy job with you guys, I can afford the best.”
Bella Carper had worked at Lewis and Kinnaman Marketing since graduating from college with her graphics art degree six years earlier. Justin’s best friend and business partner, Ned Kinnaman, had taken one look at her portfolio and known she was destined to be one of their artists. Since then, they’d helped mold her craft, while giving her the creative freedom to try new things. She’d lived up to every professional expectation they’d had and more.
Ned rolled his eyes. “I’m glad to hear you’re investing your income so wisely.”
Justin laughed at their easy, off-color banter. He hadn’t anticipated that Bella would become a friend as well as an employee. He’d never really had many female friends. Not in high school or even after. He figured his sisters didn’t count. He’d chalked that deficit up to a personality thing. He was too much of a guy—prone to heavy drinking, cussing fluently during televised sports and flirting rampantly with any pretty woman who entered his dance space.
And, of course, he blamed Ned too. Ned tended to intimidate women, which wasn’t entirely surprising. At six foot four and two-twenty, Ned cast a rather large shadow. Add in his dominant personality and his far-too-serious nature and women tended to give both men a wide berth.
Well, most women.
The exceptions were the submissives at Extreme Connections, the private sex club he and Ned belonged to. Those women actually sought them out. Of course, that had everything to do with sex and nothing to do with friendship.
“So what was wrong with this last guy? Phillip?” Ned asked.
“Patrick,” she corrected. “And do you mean apart from the fact he was a complete male chauvinist pig, annoying and a know-it-all? I wouldn’t mind so much, but now I have to find a new personal trainer.”
Ned failed to suppress his
I told you so
grin. “He never should have started an affair with you. It was completely unprofessional.”
Bella flipped her hair over her shoulder. “You and your damn professionalism. He was hot, and I’m pretty sure I won him over with my incredible stamina and flexibility. He just couldn’t resist my lunges and burpees.”
She and Ned laughed at her joke, but for some reason, Justin was finding it difficult to play along with their irreverent, off-color banter tonight. While Bella’s sarcastic wit was as firmly in place as her smile, her pretty green eyes gave her away. She was sad.
Justin realized that look had been there a lot the past few months. “Regardless of your pretzel-like physique, I’m glad you got away from Patrick. I didn’t trust that guy.”
Bella’s eyes widened a bit, betraying her surprise at his confession. Justin rarely commented or expressed an opinion on her love life. “If you want the truth, he was meek as a kitten in bed. All those sleek, hard muscles turned to mush between the sheets. Kept wanting me to take the lead, get on top, blah blah blah. Boring.” She blinked a couple times as if realizing what she’d just said then winced. “God, I’m the queen of TMI tonight—vibrators and boring lovers. I must be drunker than I thought.”
Off-color humor wasn’t uncommon between them and none of them were exactly shy about discussing the whens and whos of their sexual affairs. However, Bella had never revealed quite so many details about the during. Justin put his beer bottle down. “Wait. Back up the bus. Are you trying to tell me you prefer to play the bottom?”
Bella’s brows creased and Ned flashed Justin a warning look. Unfortunately, it was too late. “Play the bottom?”
Justin tried to cover up his mistake. “I meant be on the bottom.”
Bella tilted her head, curiosity radiating. However, before she could question Justin, Ned intervened.
“I think you’re smart to take a break from dating for a while. Gives you a chance to reevaluate what you want in a relationship. Maybe you’re going for the wrong type of guy.”
“The problem isn’t knowing what I want. I know exactly what kind of man I’m looking for. Unfortunately, my fantasy guy doesn’t exist in reality.”
Ned waved the waitress over and asked for another round, even though Justin suspected Bella had been ready to wrap things up and call it a night. Now that she’d mentioned her fantasies, it appeared his friend’s curiosity had been piqued.
What
did
Bella want in a man? Justin knew Ned had always cast her in the role of a Domme. Not that Bella would know that. As a result, his friend had dismissed her as a compatible sex partner. Actually, Ned would never let himself consider Bella in a sexual way because of work, which made Justin wonder if his friend had clung to that Domme excuse as a way to make it easier to stay away from her.
The truth was, Bella was quite beautiful. Her light-brown hair hung in long waves and had just a few touches of blonde highlights that glittered whenever she was outside. Her green eyes were tipped with dark lashes and incredibly expressive. Justin loved to watch them widen whenever she told a funny or exciting story. She also talked with her hands. It was rare to hear words coming out of Bella’s mouth without her hands waving around in front of her. Ned often warned her she’d take flight one of these days if she didn’t stop flapping so hard. She’d always laugh, but never attempted to still her hands.
All of those things had been apparent about her right from the beginning. What Justin had only started to notice lately was her body.
They had a very loose dress code at work, so he seldom saw her in anything other than jeans, t-shirts and her standard ponytail at work. However, about a year ago, Ned had been knocked down with a killer case of the flu the morning of a big presentation. Bella had created the logo, so Justin asked her to help him make the bid. She’d shown up in a short skirt, silk blouse and sexy heels that nearly had him falling to his knees in front of her, ready to beg for mercy—or whatever else she was willing to give him. Her outfit had actually been perfectly professional, but it had taken Justin’s dirty mind to places it had no business going.
The problem was, he and Ned had never revealed any details about their private affairs to Bella either. Instead, they’d sort of taken her under their wing like an adored kid sister, sheltering her from what small-town-girl Bella would likely consider extreme sexual practices. He suspected in her eyes, they were just her easygoing, laidback playboy bosses, kings of vanilla sex with lots of women.
If she knew the truth…
Well, Justin didn’t want to consider what she’d think of that because it would tempt him. He’d been fantasizing about her too much lately as it was. Way too much. Then, six months ago, something else happened. Something that turned the tide for him for good. It was a stupid thing really, but it had burrowed in Justin’s brain and driven him crazy ever since.
She’d come to Sunday dinner at his mother’s house. Over the years, she had become a regular there, usually managing to make an appearance once a month. On that Sunday, Ned, Justin and his brothers—Caliph, Jett, Noah and Zac—had gone to the living room to watch football, while Bella remained in the dining room with his sister Chloe and Caliph’s girlfriend, Jennifer. They’d all been sitting there, drinking wine, talking about girl stuff, but when Justin passed through to grab the next round of beers from the kitchen, he heard Bella talking about wanting children. The image of her pregnant flashed in his mind—and in that instant, Justin realized he was actually jealous of the future father. So jealous he couldn’t see straight.
He’d never met a woman who made him consider marriage or babies. But since then, he’d grown more and more convinced Bella was meant to be his wife, the mother of his children.
However, Ned was determined that they keep their professional and personal lives separate, so Justin played along, despite how much that was starting to rub against the grain. At some point, he was going to have to come clean, going to have to tell his friend about his infatuation for Bella.
When the waitress headed back to the bar, Ned turned to Bella. “Why don’t you describe your fantasy man to us? Maybe Justin and I know him. We could set you up.”
Even as his friend spoke, Justin knew there were no men of his acquaintance he would consider good enough for Bella.
Justin grinned when she hesitated, spying a way to explore that complaint she’d made about her ex earlier. “Yeah, Bells. Give us every dirty detail.”
Bella tilted her head. “Are you asking for personality traits or sexual positions?”
Justin gestured to Ned. “I suspect
he
means personality, but I don’t think that will help you much. If this past lover bored you so much in bed, maybe we need to start with sex and work our way back from there.”
Ned gave him a dirty look, obviously thinking he was crossing a line, but Justin ignored it. Mainly because there was a shortage of blood in his brain. His cock had decided it was time to join the party about an hour earlier. He was sporting one hell of a woody and it was damn uncomfortable. His jeans weren’t exactly loose.
Bella shook her head. “I’m not about to feed your twisted fantasies, Justin.”
Justin leaned closer to her, reaching across the table to grasp her wrist as she went for her beer. The tight grip halted her movement—and drove the most beautiful flush to her cheeks. She didn’t try to release herself, though Justin’s sudden hold had definitely confused her.
Actually, Justin didn’t think it was the grip that confused her. It was her reaction to it. It made him wonder if she understood her needs at all.
“Tell us what you like in bed, Bella.” Justin was usually the most affable man on the planet, and he only ever used this deep tone when they were playing at the club.
“Justin.” Ned’s voice was quiet, but the caution was apparent. They were Bella’s bosses and she was their most valuable employee. Ned had just given Bella shit for starting an affair with her trainer, calling it unprofessional.
