Never to Love (9 page)

Finn’s misfortune worked in my favor this time. With a huge smile, I breezed past Stephanie, dropped into my chair, and kicked my feet up on the desk.

While I waited for Juli to arrive, I grabbed my iPad, leaned back, and caught up on my email. My good mood dissipated with each minute I unnecessarily waited.

Finally, my desk phone buzzed at seven past the hour. “Your nine o’clock is here.”

“Make her wait eight minutes and then send her in,” I replied.

“You got it.”

I didn’t really want to wait another eight minutes to see Juli, but she had to learn who was in charge. If she thought she could get the upper hand by devaluing my time, I could do the same to her.

Exactly eight minutes of web surfing later, Stephanie opened the door a crack and poked her head in my office. When I nodded, she opened it the rest of the way and held it for Juli.

Juli’s eyes followed Stephanie’s ass out of my office. After what I’d walked in on a few hours before, I expected to see some degree of lust in her eyes when she turned to face me. Instead, her features were marred with something more along the lines of disdain, which was still somehow incredibly sexy.

“Does everyone in your employ look like a supermodel? Is that so you can justify banging them three times?”

Jealousy. Fuck yes!
Luckily I was able to contain my fist pump to my imagination.

“Maybe, maybe not,” I replied, leaving her guessing. Self-proclaimed manwhore or not, I never fucked anyone on my payroll. Not even when they begged.

“Where’s Finn? We’re already late getting started.” Annoyed, she dropped into the seat on the other side of my desk.

“He took the morning off.” It may or may not have been a lie since I didn’t know exactly how late he was running. “It’s just you and me.”

Her synchronous sigh and eye roll would have made any teenager proud. Standing again, she said, “I’ll ask Blondie to reschedule on my way out.”

“You don’t have to leave. We both have another,” I lifted my wrist to glance at my Rolex, “seventy-one minutes blocked off on our schedules.”

“Since I’m tired and not in the mood to play games, I’m not going to feign stupidity by pretending I don’t know what you’re insinuating.”

“I wonder why you’re tired.” Based on the broad smile I felt form on my face but couldn’t control, I highly doubt I was able to keep my manly pride under wraps.

Giving me an honest-to-God death glare, she continued, “Even if I wanted to fuck you, which I don’t, we both know it would only use up two or three of the seventy-one available minutes. Not worth it.”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re a terrible liar?”

“That might mean something if I were lying.”

“Oh, you’re totally lying. You want me.” As I stood, I pressed the button on the underside of the lip of my desk to make the windows in my office clear. “See that?” I asked, gesturing at the floor-to-ceiling pane of glass comprising the rear wall of Stephanie’s office.

“Trying to impress me with your view of Blondie’s ass?” she spat. Yep, definitely jealous.

“Nope. Just wanted to show you how close she is.” I extended my arm and turned in a semi-circle, inviting her to look at the dozens of people milling around on the other side of the rest of the windows. Without warning, I frosted the glass again, causing her to flinch and then turn to face me.

Finally dropping her false bravado, she said, “We shouldn’t be doing this. I—I don’t want to
feel
like…” Her hesitant words trailed off as I stalked toward her. The angle of my approach caused her to back up in the direction of the window separating us from Stephanie. “Thomas, this is stupid. Let’s forget about everything and start over.”

“You want to wipe the counter clean? Reset the three-night limit?” I could definitely go for that. It would give me a little more time to decide on my amendment.

“I want to start over as colleagues, nothing more. I don’t even think we can be friends.”

“I’d be much more likely to believe you if it weren’t for the quiver in your voice and your dilated pupils.” Her barely contained lust was so fucking hot.

As I continued to back her up across the room, I grabbed on to her waist and pulled her slightly closer to me. With each step, her resolve faltered a little more until it was virtually non-existent.

When she couldn’t take another step back, I leaned in and whispered, “You want me to press you up against this thin piece of glass and fuck you until you can’t walk. You want to feel me inside of you again, don’t you?” I was an asshole for exploiting her weakness, but if she honestly didn’t want it, she would have been able to say no. She just wanted an excuse to give in.

With my cheek flush with hers, I felt rather than saw her slight nod. “You’ve gotta say it out loud, baby. I’m not going to let you try to blame this one on a misunderstanding.” Still fully clothed, I lifted her into position and rubbed my cock against her lace-covered pussy. I briefly wondered if she always wore dresses or only when she wanted to give someone easy access. “Tell me you want my cock buried inside of you.”

“Y-yes,” Juli said breathily.

“That’s not going to cut it.” Reaching between us, I slipped my fingers beneath the wet lace and gave her a little extra nudge in the right direction. “Say, ‘Thomas, will you please fuck me?’”

“Fuck me, you fucking asshole!”

“Close enough.” As with the previous two times we were together, I didn’t bother to get undressed. I didn’t have anything to hide—far from it—I just didn’t want to waste time. After grabbing a condom, I tossed my wallet in the direction of my desk. Once my fly was open, I rolled the latex on in one quick stroke of my hand as she adjusted her panties to clear the way for me.

“So fucking good.” I groaned as I sank inside of her. “Why do you fight this?”

“Shut up and fuck me.”

“Your body craves mine, doesn’t it? You’re the one who’s become addicted, and you’ve been dying for another fix since last night.”

“I hate you so much.”

“You may hate me, but you love my dick.”

“N-no.”

“You don’t love it? So you wouldn’t mind if I pulled out?” I slid out of her until only the head of my cock remained inside.

“Don’t you fucking dare.” Juli squeezed her deceptively strong legs, shoving me back inside her.

Leaning in close to her ear again, I whispered, “You love not knowing if Steph can hear us, don’t you? Maybe she can see the outline of your ass pressed up against the glass.” Slamming into her harder than before, I continued, “Maybe we’re shaking the whole fucking wall.”

The moan my words drew from her body was nearly enough to throw me over the precipice, but I had to hold on. After her jab at my stamina, she needed to go first, and it needed to happen soon.

“Maybe Stephanie’s pissed because you’re getting my cock and she’s not. Maybe she’s been wanting it for years, and you strut in one day and take what’s hers.”

“Not hers,” she stammered almost incoherently. She was clearly no longer able to form a rational thought, which was the only reason the possessive game we played didn’t freak me the fuck out. Neither of us meant it, but I could use it to prove my point. Julianne Griffith wanted me, and she would no longer be able to deny it.

“Nope. Not hers. Never has been. Never will be.” Rolling my hips, I tried to feel every inch of her pussy with each stroke. Damn, it was good. “Why do you think that is?”

“Not hers,” she repeated.

“Whose is it?” I asked as I snaked my hand between us and flicked the hardware rubbing up against her clit.

“Mine!” she screamed and violently convulsed around my dick.

Not even the Hoover Dam could’ve held back the orgasm erupting from my cock, filling the condom to its maximum capacity.

Yours
.

Fuck. Me.

Juli

There was no denying Thomas Ramsay would be the end of me. Crushing my resolve seemed to be an innate talent of his, and he left me weaker each time. I used to always win the game, but with him, the score was now two-to-one.

“I have to go.” Taking just enough time to make myself presentable, I strutted out of Thomas’s office with my shoulders square in an attempt to conceal my unease. If he could get me to repeatedly break rule number one, what else could he get me to do? There was no way I’d stick around to find out.

What the fuck happened to his rules? Maybe I had it backward. It was far more likely he was the weak one and his mental impotence was rubbing off on me. Most days, my clever choice of words would amuse me, but I wasn’t in the mood to laugh.

Once in the safety of my car, I slid my Burberry sunglasses into place and pressed the button on the steering wheel to activate the Bluetooth connection to my phone. “Call Marina.”

My friend picked up after three rings. “How’d it go?” she asked in place of a standard greeting. I hadn’t spoken to her since before I’d left for the club the night before.

“I need out. Find someone else.”

“Is this about Thomas?”

My silence answered her question on my behalf.

Sighing, she said, “You know I don’t ask you for many personal favors, but I need you. Tate needs you. The kids need you.”

“You know I don’t like kids,” I said with a small laugh in an attempt to divert the conversation.

“That feeble excuse is a load of crap, and you know it. Just because you don’t like being around anyone who isn’t legally old enough to get hammered in this country, doesn’t mean you want them to suffer.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking of me,” I whined. “I’ll find a highly qualified replacement and double my personal donation.”

“You’re the toughest person I know, and I can’t imagine someone like Thomas causing you this much distress.” I couldn’t decide if I should take pride in the compliment or be offended by the implication I was weak for letting Thomas get to me, even though I’d had similar thoughts. “Just think about it, please.”

“Why the fuck are you being so stubborn?”

“This will be good for you. I have a feeling you’ll be thanking me one day.”

Not a chance in hell. “Thanking you for what? Making me spend time with someone who wants to…” I had no idea what he wanted to do other than fuck. I just know I didn’t want whatever it was. “I don’t have time to deal with him. If I constantly have to thwart his advances, when will I have time to do my job? What if the distraction throws me off my game?”

“Haven’t we talked about this before? You’re allowed to have a life outside of work. We appreciate everything you do for us, but we don’t want you to miss out on anything.”

“I’ll talk to you later.” Before she had an opportunity to respond, I repeatedly stabbed the button to end the call, breaking a nail in the process.

Before pressing the button to start the engine, a meeting request popped up on my phone. Since the car was still in park, I took a moment to glance at the details.

Finn Ramsay

Strategic Planning-Rescheduled

Wednesday, 4:00 p.m.

Had it come from Thomas or Blondie, I would have declined immediately. Unfortunately, I was still in a bit of a work slump and didn’t have any prior engagements that would have given me a legitimate out. My thumb hovered over the word “Maybe” at the bottom of the screen when a text came through.

Marina:
Are you going to accept?

Ugh. Marina, Tate, and I shared our business calendars with each other, and the nosey brat must have decided to poke around. Why did my best friend have it out for me?

Me:
Shit like this makes me wish I had more clients.

Until I could convince Marina and/or Tate to let me off the hook, I had no choice but to attend. They knew I refuse to fail at anything, and that’s exactly what I’d be doing if I quit without their blessing. Assholes.

Since it was Thursday morning, I had a week to get my shit together. I could either reaffirm my rules or change the game. Having proven he could make my panties drop on demand, I either needed to start wearing pants or take them off on my own terms before Thomas could get close enough to cast his spell.

The only bad thing about being a workaholic was when I couldn’t vent to Marina, I didn’t really have anywhere else to turn since my job didn’t leave time for friends. Tate would listen, but he was almost as mushy as his girlfriend and wouldn’t understand either. If Thomas weren’t my dilemma, he’d be the perfect person to talk to. Gotta love irony.

Me:
I also wish I had more friends.

Marina:
You know you love us.

Me:
I hate you.

Marina:
Then go to the meeting and make new friends.

Reluctantly, I tapped “Accept” before starting the engine and shifting into reverse. As I backed out of the parking space, I was alerted to an incoming call. The in-dash display read “Mom” and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to answer or not. Having ignored her last three calls, I figured I’d better see what she wanted before the state troopers came looking for me.

“Hey, Mom, how are you?” I asked, only half-caring about the answer. I loved my mom, but I had a lot of distracting things on my mind I absolutely could not discuss with her.

Instead of answering my generic question, she said, “You’ll never guess what happened,” in a tone that made it clear gossip was imminent.

“What happened?” Might as well humor her. Not like I had anything better to do while I was driving, and hopefully, it would help take my mind off of other shit.

“Uncle Leo was caught with his pants down in the wax museum on Hollywood Boulevard.”

“Was he alone?” That question would determine if my father’s brother was a creepy pervert or awesome.

“No, he was with his blonde of the week.”

So that’s where I get it from,
I joked to myself as I gave Uncle Leo a mental high-five followed by a slap on the back of his head. My mother didn’t need to know I’d done the same thing. At least I’d been smart enough not to get caught. “That’s…interesting,” I said, not sure where to go from there.