Romantic Promises (Alluring Promises Series, #2) (26 page)

Although jealousy was my first reaction, I quickly realized that even though she was my mentor she was also my friend. A friend who just went through a divorce and needing to feel wanted and desired, which was pretty close to what I was feeling also since Charles and I were no longer together. Had that been the real reason I had sex with Matt?

Evelyn started to stand and I felt bad for her, knowing exactly how she must feel. I grabbed her arm and politely said, “No, Evelyn. I understand, really I do.” I cleared my throat knowing that last night was the only night I would have with Matt. Not only that, but I couldn’t appear as if I were wanting him also. “I…from my understanding, I don’t think Matt is seeing anyone.” I swallowed back the jealous feelings that were welling up and took another drink from my coffee.

I realized quickly that had been a mistake. I now opened the door to some sort of camaraderie that Evelyn felt she had with me now on a different level other than work. She started talking about Matt and how “hot” he is. How his body and mouth turned her on completely. She continued on for quite some time and as she did, my stomach rolled with jealousy. I tried to keep that and my anger at bay, smiling politely as a good friend would do.

“That Matt is something else. His eyes. Wow. They seem to just undress you!” She giggled like a school girl. “How on earth do you work with him and not get turned on by him?” She nudged me and I smiled. “It’s a very good thing you put that policy in place or you would have to fix heartaches all over the company, I’m sure,” she jested.

I nodded and let out an “Uhh, huh.”

“Oh God, speak of the devil himself. And he looks freshly fucked. Some men just have that look. I wonder who the lucky woman was.”

I glanced up and realized his eyes were fixated on me and I quickly glanced away, darting my eyes back to Evelyn, who was still gawking at Matt. When I looked back at Matt, his eyes were on Evelyn. At least now I knew where I stood. Jealousy swept over me, making my heart race and my face flush with anger. I grabbed my coffee and took a sip, glancing up to see his fantastic body standing at our table.

“Ladies,” he greeted us both. I nodded, not looking at him.

“Matt. How was your night last night? We missed you at the club. I thought you were going to meet us all out.”

“Sorry about that. I saw a friend I needed to speak with.” I felt his eyes on me, burning into me, willing me to look up and when I did, my thoughts were confirmed. I pressed my lips together not wanting to give anything away to Evelyn. I glanced at her and she was still staring him over like a piece of meat. I reached forward, not saying a word as I slid my fingers up and down the handle of my coffee mug.

“Well, whoever
she
was, I hope it was a good discussion considering what you missed at the club.” I glanced over at her and she flipped her hair, licked her lips and winked at him. My God the woman turned into a giggling school girl around him. My eyes flicked over to Matt to see his eyes flicker back and forth between us.

“I’m sure I missed a good time last night. Vanessa, did you ever wind up coming out of your room?”

I swallowed, knowing he was trying to make sure it didn’t look like we were ever together. “No, I decided to keep it low-key last night.”

“Vanessa, you really need to get out more and have some fun. All work can make you a very irritable person,” she teased.

“Yeah Vanessa, we wouldn’t want you to be a mean HR lady,” Matt joked with Evelyn who stood up at the same time walking over to Matt. She gently pulled on his arm.

“I’m sure a guy like you needs to eat a huge breakfast in the morning. I’m starving too.” She tugged on his arm and they walked over to the buffet.

Feeling jealous, sick and annoyed, I turned my attention back to my cup of coffee. Finally glancing up, I began to see some familiar faces from the seminars. Lucky for me a couple of other attendees stopped by to make small talk to keep my mind off my mentor flirting with the guy I just slept with. And that’s all he is going to be to me and I need to keep that in mind. One night and it’s done with.

Matt and Evelyn returned to the table and joined the rest of us. We were discussing how we could apply some of the material we learned here to our jobs. Not that Matt or Evelyn contributed to the conversation at all. Evelyn sat very close to Matt, across the table from me, since Reginald and his friends had taken the seats surrounding me.

I tried my best not to glance up, but I continually heard Evelyn’s silly giggle at anything Matt said. Her hand constantly reaching under the table, it wasn’t too hard to imagine what she was doing as I watched him jerk forward several times. As I glanced at him he had a very uncomfortable look on his face. He pressed his lips together as if to tell me he was not enjoying what she was doing to him. Somehow that thought made me laugh a little and I was actually enjoying him being taunted by Evelyn instead of feeling threatened like before.

The breakfast speaker finished his speech and everyone started to stand and say their goodbyes. Evelyn was glued to Matt’s side as he approached me.

“Are you all ready to head over to the airport?” he asked in a gruff and annoyed voice.

I nodded and was just about to respond when Evelyn chimed in, “My flight leaves soon too. Do you mind if I share a cab ride over with you both?”

I had to smile as I watched Matt try to protest and I couldn’t resist making him suffer just a little longer. “Of course we don’t mind. That would be fine, Evelyn. We’ll meet you in the lobby in a half hour?”

Evelyn smiled brightly and squeezed Matt’s arm and gazed at him with a smile. “Wonderful. I’ll go get my things.” I watched her walk away. She had a sway to her hips that I hadn’t noticed before.

Matt’s expression was serious as he snapped at me, “Really? Did you not see how uncomfortable she was making me?” His brows were pulled together as he gestured with his thumb at where Evelyn stood.

“Oh come on. Poor baby. You didn’t enjoy being fondled throughout breakfast?” I gave him a teasing pout, knowing he probably loved it. I see women hang on him all the time, why would Evelyn be any different?

He shook his head briefly. “No, but it seems like you enjoyed me being tortured.”

I practically laughed as I snickered, “Oh please. You were getting hit on throughout breakfast. You loved it and you know it.”

His mouth dropped open as he threw his arms out wide and his eyes pretty much did the same. “I didn’t in the least. Besides, I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable or jealous.”

It was my turn to pop my mouth open. “Jealous! Why would I be jealous?”

He gave me a curious look as he leaned in, lowering his voice, “Well, you know, because of last night.”

I looked away briefly and swallowed. Although I loved his attention on me, I needed to make sure that we remember our agreement. “Last night was the only night, remember? We agreed on that.” I forced a smile to make light of our entire agreement and started walking.

We entered into the elevator and as soon as the doors shut, he surprised the hell out of me by pressing me up against the mirrored wall. His mouth pressed hard against mine and I couldn’t help but open mine so I could taste him again. His hand grabbed my waist and started to slide up to my breast, squeezing firmly. The elevator stopped at a floor and Matt pulled away quickly as if unaffected by what he just did. I was breathing heavy and trying so hard to catch my breath. He leaned against the side of the elevator, placing both hands on the rail as if he were standing there the entire time. Two people entered the elevator and nodded to both Matt and me. I pressed a fake smile as I tried to regain some composure.

Why did he just do that? Was he trying to tell me he wants me and not Evelyn? That couldn’t be the reason. It was probably some macho crap Matt likes to do. Maybe he was just revved up from Evelyn touching him all through breakfast. That had to be it.

The ride to the airport was the toughest thing ever. Vanessa seemed to get a kick out of Evelyn pawing at me. I think she even gave me a sideways glance on the way there with a smirk. Evelyn had her hands all over me, squeezing my arm and finally my thigh. Normally, I
’d get turned on or even just take her into the airport bathroom just to relieve both of us.

However, my night with Vanessa was…intense. She was fantastic in bed and I couldn’t get over it. I actually had hoped that she was horrible in bed or that she would protest just so I wouldn’t want her any more. Nope. That wasn’t the case at all. And then she left in the middle of the night. I wanted to wake up to her and definitely enjoy her sweet taste again. Just remembering her scent made me hard. Too bad Evelyn thought that was from her groping me.

The night that Vanessa met up with Bob and then left together threw me into a jealous fit. After calling her hotel room and her hanging up on me, I ran into Evelyn. I kept remembering that she told me she needed to talk to me, telling me she had all kinds of pull with Buchanan. I started to wonder if she was fucking him. I knew he wasn’t faithful to his wife from when he visited me in Atlanta. While I don’t agree at all with cheating, I also know it’s not my business — especially when it came to my boss. Discretion was key in this industry.

Then Amanda and Sasha came out of the bar looking for me, wanting me to go hit the bars and casinos with them. So I did. I tried to get Evelyn to go, but I have a feeling she was a bit jealous of the two other women. I felt bad, but at the same time I was a bit relieved. There was something about the way Evelyn was trying to sway me that made my gut tell me something was off. I couldn’t figure it out, but thought it had to do with her being Vanessa’s mentor or something.

We arrived at the airport and I helped the ladies get their bags to the curb and paid the driver. Both ladies thanked me and Vanessa started walking inside toward our gate, leaving me to follow behind with Evelyn. I was thankful she lived in San Diego and her flight would be an entirely different concourse.

She stopped me before we started heading our separate ways. I was pissed off that Vanessa continued walking off without me. Evelyn’s hand was on my arm, squeezing with that massaging intention. The type that lets you know she’s really into you.

“Matt, I wanted to talk to you about your job. I can get you higher in corporate if you really want.”

I realized I didn’t want to know how she would go about doing that and decided to let her down nicely just in case she really did have some pull. I didn’t want to offend her. “Thank you, I appreciate that, but I’m really enjoying learning the ropes where I’m at right now; however, if that changes, I’ll give you a call.”

She smiled and tilted her head. “You do that,” she said as she handed me her business card. I took the card and our fingers touched. She lingered longingly and squeezed my fingertips before letting go.

I couldn’t get away from her fast enough and practically ran to the security checkpoint. I looked at the long line searching for Vanessa and found her way ahead of me. I watched her glance back at me, smirking. I held up my hands and mouthed “Thanks!” She shrugged her shoulder giving me the cutest smile.

One night my ass.

There’s no way I’ll be able to keep my hands off her if she likes to tease me like this.

I made sure to bump us up to First Class again. I could tell she loved it last time and I was sure as shit going to make sure we sat together on the way back.

When we arrived back to our airport, I offered her a ride back since I knew she took a cab to the airport to save on parking fees. Vanessa and I strolled out to my girl. When I stopped in front of her and pushed my key fob, Vanessa’s mouth dropped open. Yeah. I get that a lot from women. They love a nice car and my Porsche was a beaut.

“Is this your car?” She asked, her mouth still hanging open.

I love that. She’s impressed. Maybe she’ll definitely forget the policy now.

“Yep. This is my girl,” I announced proud and slightly cocky. She’s a really nice car.

“You asshole!” She spat at me. “You’ve been parking in my space at work!” Her hands were now on her hips and she was clearly pissed off.

“Your space? Which one?” I asked as I tried to shove her bag into my trunk. I was thankful my duffel bag would stuff behind my seat or I might have to make Ms. Snotty pants hold my bag the whole ride home. The thought made me chuckle to myself.

“The fourth parking space,” she snarled.

I cocked my head to the side remembering which one. “The one without a name?” I couldn’t help but smirk that this whole time I had taken her space. I could just picture her pissed off in her car yelling. Too bad she didn’t know it had been me the whole time. She’d have been in my office a lot more.

She rolled her eyes and huffed. “Yes, that one.”

“Well, if it had a name on it, I wouldn’t have parked it there.” I smiled to her as I opened her door for her. She sat down and I realized then she was dressed in work clothes. Her skirt hitched up slightly, showing her fantastic thigh. Mmm. Damn, I loved being in between those thighs last night. I tried to focus back to our conversation. I was getting another rise out of her and loved the banter with her.

I sat behind the wheel of my girl and put the key in the ignition as Vanessa started to explain defensively, “I’ve been waiting for a correct sign. I had to order a new one.”

I turned my girl on and gave Vanessa a wink. “Well, when you finally get it posted, I’ll stop parking there.”

She rolled her eyes and huffed. I smiled knowing I sort of got her back for the making me sit in back of the taxi with Evelyn.

“Did you drive a blue SUV when you first came to the office when Perry told you about the position?” she seemed to huff the question out.

“Guilty,” I wiggled my brows at my admission.

Vanessa shook her head and I chuckled. I glanced over and noticed her slight smile too. I had this immediate urge to grab her hand and playfully squeeze it. I didn’t.

I started driving and we were both lost in our thoughts. When I turned towards home instead of the office, Vanessa blurted out, “Where are you going? We need to get back to the office.”

“Why? We just flew in. We’re off the rest of the day. Travel day.”

She shook her head adamantly. “No, I don’t do that. I always go in right after my trip, if it’s before five.”

I gave her a sweet smile. “Well consider this a fun day then. I’ve kidnapped you the rest of the day,” I teased her as I raised my brows.

She glared at me as she said, “Umm, no. We need to get back to the office.”

I shrugged as I looked back at the road. I wasn’t giving in on this one; like hell if I’m going back to the office if I don’t have to. “Well we’re not. There’s no reason to go back in. You don’t have any meetings planned.”

“How do you know I don’t have any?” she snapped.

I gave her a quick smile as I admitted, “I already checked.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I thought we would continue what we started back at the conference.”

She lowered her voice as she told me, “It was one night, Matt. We discussed that.” She looked back out the window.

“You didn’t give me a full night. I want the remaining four hours,” I told her as I threw her a taunting smile.

Her head snapped back to look at me as I glanced at her. She sputtered, “I…you…this wasn’t a time stamped deal. It was one night of sex to get it out of our system.”

Nonchalantly, I shrugged. “Well, I still don’t have you out of my system.” I watched her squirm on that one. I gave her my signature licking my lips move. She pulled her brows in, disgusted.

“You can’t determine whether we continue or not.”

“Why not? You did. You left in the middle of the night. I told you at the conference I wasn’t done and I meant it.”

“I…you,” she stammered, but shut her mouth and looked out the window. I hadn’t planned on saying all that, but since we were headed home I figured I’d take a shot and see if it would work. Just like sales, throw it out there and see what bites. Fuck yeah, if she’s going to bite on this one. I got a chub just thinking about being with her again. I started thinking about what I could do.

“Matt, we already discussed and agreed it was the one time,” she told me as she looked out the window thoughtfully.

“Okay, that’s fine. I wasn’t trying anything,” I told her as casually as I could. Lie.

She had this sideways glance, her eyes sparkled as if she were excited. “You were too,” she taunted me with a soft playful laugh.

Please tell me she’s teasing me. It’s so subtle it was turning me on more. I gave her a questioning look with a small smile “How?” I asked.

Vanessa’s eyes grew wide in disbelief and her jaw dropped open, yet she was still laughing along with me. “You were giving me those bedroom eyes and licking your lips!”

I went ahead and did just that. I was dying to see what she would say about it.

She gave a small roll of her eyes. “Don’t give me that. You are totally aware of how you seduce women,” she pointed out. Playful. I am fucking loving playful Vanessa. Where the hell has she been hiding?

I chuckled. “What like this?” I ran my tongue along my lip and gave her my half smile.

She snickered and shook her head. “You’re incorrigible.” I went a little further and raised my eyebrows slightly. Her jaw dropped and she hit my arm lightly. “It’s not doing anything for me and I already told you — No!” She pursed her lips, giving me a smart look, she added, “and I’m immune to your ways.”

I nodded my head. Fine. I’d go a different route in order to get her into my bed. Man, I just need another full night with her. Maybe then I could get her out of my system.

I chuckled. “Alright, fine.” I changed my tone to a more serious one. “What should we do tonight?”

Her smile and playful manner left as she glanced thoughtfully out her window. “I actually have plans for tonight.”

“You do?” I asked with a little more surprise than I had intended.

“Yeah, with this guy Aubrey set me up with.”
Fuck.

Why did I feel jealous? And why did my heart feel like it was coming out of my throat? Why the hell am I so pissed off about all this? I had one night with her, hoping to get her out of my system, but now I feel like I just want more. I hate it when a plan backfires on me.