Going Down (Quickies #1) (2 page)

He hadn’t even acknowledged my presence and I was already wondering what the smooth wood of his desk would feel like beneath my palms as he bent me over it, and
oh god
my thoughts were getting dangerously close to being X-rated. That wouldn’t be a bad thing per se, if it weren’t for the whole trying-to-get-my-best-friend-out-of-work thing. I needed to keep a level head here. Surely I could manage to do just that for at least a few minutes, right?

I nervously cleared my throat, trying to distance myself from my increasingly dirty mind and steadily growing libido.
 

Then, Carter Armstrong had the nerve to look over at me and smile like he wasn’t even surprised to see a stranger in his doorway. It was a disarming smile, one that made it difficult for me to focus. What was I here for again?

“Miss Moore,” he said as he stood, pressing his tie against his chest with his right hand. Huh, maybe he wasn’t surprised to see a stranger standing in his doorway after all.
 

I blinked. “How did you-”

“I own this building, and I employ the security guards who protect it. You think they don’t call me when a beautiful, angry blonde is on her way up to my floor?”

I sighed, all the dirty thoughts flying right out of my mind as I remembered who it was I was talking to. Evil-empire-owning Carter Armstrong. Doesn’t-care-about-anyone-but-himself-Carter Armstrong. Cocky Carter Armstrong.

No. No, I needed to think of another word to use besides ‘cocky.’
 

“I’m sure it’s not the first time you’ve had an angry blonde in your office,” I said with a smirk.
 

Carter laughed, and it was kind of sexy. Okay, it was a lot sexy, and I could begrudgingly admit that I wanted to hear it again.
 

“
Beautiful
angry blonde,” he corrected, his eyes soft from his smile.
 

Ah hell. I knew I was in trouble.
 

“So, Miss Moore. What can I do for you?” Carter asked, leaning over his desk, spreading out his palms. It wasn’t unlike the position I imagined him putting me in just a minute or two ago, and I had to fight the blush that I knew was spreading up my neck and across my cheeks. He had a way of looking at me, with an intensity that made me feel like he knew what I was thinking.
 

“My name is Chloe,” I told him, my voice as steady as I could make it. “And I’m here because today is Paige’s birthday, did you know that?”
 

Carter straightened and took a deep breath, shrugging as he adjusted his tie. His eyes shifted down, hiding what would almost pass for a guilty look in his eyes. I would’ve believed that he didn’t know if it wasn’t for the several bouquets of flowers on Paige’s desk and the balloons tied to the back of her chair. No man made the kind of money Carter did by being oblivious to things, especially ones that were right there under his nose.
 

“No,” he replied. “I didn’t.”
 

I gave him my best ‘
I know you’re bullshitting me
’ look, my eyebrow raised as I studied him.
 

“The flowers and balloons at her desk didn’t give it away?” I asked, crossing my arms. He looked down, following my movement, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d almost think he was checking out my breasts. Just the thought of it sent another warm flush through me, and I shifted my weight to help stave off the nervousness I felt bubbling up inside of me.
 

Carter shrugged, his eyes raking over my body until they met mine. “I thought maybe a boyfriend was apologizing for something.”
 

“Is that how you make up with your girlfriends? Flowers? Balloons?”
Everything generic,
is what I wanted to say, but didn’t.
 

“No,” he replied, shaking his head as he stepped around his desk, walking toward me. “I don’t have
a girlfriend
, but if I had something to apologize for, I’m sure I could think of something more original than an office full of flowers and balloons.”
 

I felt the sudden urge to make him angry enough to have to apologize for something; I wanted to see what would pass for ‘more original’ in his book.
 

“I bet you could,” I said, sounding more exasperated than I had intended.
 

Carter came to a stop a few feet in front of me, and the air between us was electric. I noticed that his breathing picked up, guessed maybe he could feel it too. That was ridiculous, wasn’t it? By virtue of having a vagina, I was probably at the top of the list of people who should be swooning over Carter Armstrong. But the mere thought that I might be having an effect on him too? That was more powerful than an aphrodisiac.
 

“I suppose you’re here to negotiate a release of some sort?” He sounded like a total asshole, and I couldn’t help the sigh that escaped my mouth. It brought out a maddeningly beautiful smile on Carter’s perfect lips.
 

“You could say that,” I said, taking a step forward.
 

“What exactly are you offering?”
 

“I want you to let her leave. Our friends and I spent two months planning a party for her, and she’s missed too much of it already.”
 

Carter took a deep breath and slid his right hand up his forearm, probably trying to divert my attention, the tricky bastard. It worked, too, and I let myself enjoy the tanned, muscle-y view for a few seconds before my gaze drifted back up to meet his.
 

“That sounds like a great deal for
you
, but what’s in it for me?”
 

“I’ll stay here and finish her work.” I shrugged, trying so hard to be nonchalant about the whole thing. Carter struck me as someone who could probably smell fear and desperation, and I got the feeling that if he knew how badly I wanted this, that he wouldn’t let me have it.

He looked at me a long while, his piercing green eyes making me nervous, but I refused to look away.
 

“I’m afraid I can’t accept that offer,” he replied with a smirk.
 

My eyes narrowed, and I didn’t even try to conceal the fact that I was offended. “I graduated at the top of my class at NYU, Mister Armstrong. I’m completely capable of polishing up a presentation.”

He had the nerve to actually grin. “Call me Carter. And I’m sure you’re capable of doing a lot of things, but I’m looking for something more.”
 

I inhaled a surprised, sharp breath, and I know Carter heard it. We were standing too close for him not to, and besides, the way his smile grew wider gave him away. I couldn’t tell if he was flirting, or just messing with me. Either way, he was enjoying the hell out of it.
 

He slowly moved closer, erasing the already small space between us, and there went my breathing,
again
. It seemed like my lungs were having as much difficulty keeping themselves under control as the rest of my body was. I bit my lip, worrying it between my teeth to keep myself from saying something stupid while I thought of how I should respond to that. In the end, I decided to keep it simple.

“What do you want? Name it. I’m not saying I’ll agree, but-”

 
“You’ll agree,” Carter said.
 

He was so close I could smell him, just a hint of soap and a little aftershave. Subtle, nice. It was a smell that made me want to get closer still.
 

I let out an indignant huff, but decided to play along. “So, what do you want?” I whispered.

“I’ll let Paige leave, and-”

“And?”
 

“And you’ll have dinner with me tomorrow night. At my place.”
 

I actually laughed, completely and utterly involuntarily. It was shock and surprise, along with a fair amount of giddiness that I was one-hundred percent sure I didn’t want him to see. “You’re actually serious.”
 

Carter offered me a crooked, knowing smile. “I never joke about dinner.”
 

“And I’m just supposed to go to your house, like that’s not the beginning of every cautionary tale known to man.”
 

He shrugged. “A famous stranger. Besides, if I hurt you? Paige has the power to ruin my life.”
 

“Can’t risk your stock portfolio,” I joked, laughing.

“Absolutely not.”
 

My mouth turned up into a smile, and I reached out, the tips of my fingers skimming the tips of his. His skin was so warm, and it felt like every single cell came alive where we were touching. If Carter felt the same thing, he didn’t let it show, but he moved almost imperceptibly closer. The only reason I noticed it was because his lips seemed like they were easier to access, and I was having incredible difficulty not stepping on my tiptoes to, well,
access
them. With mine. Because I had never wanted to kiss someone as badly as I wanted to kiss Carter Armstrong in that moment.
 

“A handshake is as good as a signature with your people, isn’t it?”
 

“My people?” he replied, eyebrow raised.

“You know, the upper crust, the elite, high society…”

Carter let out a soft laugh. “I get it.”
 

Slowly, he slid his hand against mine, and I immediately wanted him to touch me, well…everywhere. When I finally dared to look him in the eye, I could tell he knew exactly what I was thinking, and maybe, just
maybe
, he was thinking the same thing too. Which was utterly ridiculous, because what exactly would he see in me? I was the poor girl from Indiana who managed to attend NYU thanks to hard work and a scarily large amount of student loans. Dirty blonde, curly hair and brown eyes, I was girl next door kind of pretty, sure, but not snare a billionaire kind of pretty. I had to will myself to stop thinking about it, otherwise I’d talk myself out of this date.
 

No, not a date,
I told myself.
Dinner, Chloe. Dinner.
 

“I’ll have a car pick you up at seven.”

“Okay,” I replied with surprising ease before I took a step back. “I…I guess I’ll see you then.”

He nodded, and it seemed we both could breathe easier with a little bit of distance between us.
 

I turned to leave and could feel his eyes on me; they felt like they weighed a hundred pounds. They made me walk carefully, made me swish my hips a little more than usual.
 

“Wait. Where’s the party?” he asked, his voice a little choked.
 

I shot him a look over my shoulder, aiming for flirty and hoping I succeeded. Who had I become in the five minutes since I walked into this office?

“Why, you wanna crash it?”
 

Carter shrugged and smiled. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
 

I weighed my options, considered the possible outcomes of telling him. He could show up, which would probably not be a good thing. He could send a bottle of champagne to our table to apologize to Paige for making her stay late, which would be awesome. I decided to err on the side of possible awesome.
 

“
Azure
,” I told him.
 

He nodded and slid his hands into his pockets.
 

“Thank you, Chloe.”
 

“It was my pleasure,” I teased.
 

“No,” he replied, a cocky grin spreading across his lips. “But it will be.”

Early the following evening, I was rifling through my closet, frantically sliding dress after dress across the rack from one side to the other. How could I, a self-proclaimed clothes horse, not have a single thing to wear to dinner?
 

This one was too short.
 

That one was too long.
 

The others weren’t date-y enough (not that this was a date, I had to keep reminding myself).

The hangers clicked angrily against each other as the panic slowly started to overtake me. And why was I so nervous? I knew which forks went with which course, if he was going to get super fancy about it.
 
It was just dinner; I ate dinner every night. I even had dinner with men on occasion, so it wasn’t like the concept was something new to me.

No, that was a lie. This
was
something new, because last night I walked into Carter Armstrong’s office practically hating him, and I walked out of it wanting him more than I’d ever wanted another man in my entire life. It was strange, feeling such an instant attraction to someone. Maybe I’d find him intellectually interesting once we’d spent some time together, but I was much more interested in sliding my hands across what was sure to be an impressive set of abs, if the way he filled out his dress shirt was any indication. And his arms,
god
. I wanted them wrapped around me, holding me up against…something; I didn’t even care what. A hard surface—preferably vertical—probably.
 

“Chloe!” Paige shouted.