Steal: A Bad Boy Romance (6 page)

“You’re
a natural,” James said. “I’ve had many worse partners than that, trust me.”

I
didn’t want to think about his other partners. For a man like him, I’m sure
there had been many.

“We
have to go out dancing again sometime. I think I found my new
favorite
activity.”

James
led me back to the table and then excused himself to use the restroom. I
checked my phone and sorted through the new messages.

An
email from Nick on my work account made me groan. It was bad enough he ruined my
day; there was no excuse for sending emails late on a Friday night.

It
was short and to the point.

We didn’t sign Onyx, they went
with someone else. I hope you have a genius marketing strategy lined up, or
else you know what the other choice is.

I
stared. Everyone at the office had talked about Onyx like they were a done
deal. The contract was so massive it would have single-handedly doubled revenue
on the year. The loss would be impossible to recover from.

CHAPTER
8

~ J
AMES
~

The night was going perfectly.
Kat had enjoyed the dancing and gave the obvious tells that she was ready for
more. Like most women, she didn’t even realize how easy it was to read her
intentions. Knowing what to look for meant I knew what she wanted better than
she did.

Returning
from the restroom, I knew something had changed from across the room. Her
shoulders and back were tensed, and she stared down at the table, neck craned
at an uncomfortable angle.

What the hell happened?

I
walked up beside her, grabbing my chair and pulling it alongside hers so we
were side by side instead of across from each other.

“Anything
interesting happen while I was in the bathroom?”

Kat
looked at me, face blank. “I’m screwed.”

“Why
do you say that?”

“My
boss just emailed me. A huge client we targeted chose another provider. We lost
a huge source of revenue.”

I
tilted my head. “Why does that mean you’re screwed? You’re in charge of public
relations and marketing, right? I don’t see why that’s your problem.”

She
brushed her long brunette hair back with a trembling hand. “My boss is an
egomaniac and prick. It’s a long story, but we need to have the best quarter in
company history or else I’m fired.”

Her
voice wavered and I could tell she held back sobs. My heart broke for her, but
I clamped down on those feelings.

You aren’t supposed to care
about her. It doesn’t matter if she’ll lose her job, because if you do yours,
the company won’t survive.

Caring
was deadly. Caring threatened the plan.

Still,
I had to pretend to care—and it was a perfect opportunity to gather more
insider
intel
on ARCANE.

“Why
would he hold you accountable for a target like that? You only just started,
and you aren’t the head of sales.”

Kat
drew in a shaky breath. “I found out today he only hired me because he wanted
to sleep with me. I think he’s pinning stuff on me so I have no other choice if
I want to keep my job. He came on to me at the office today and when I turned
him down, he said he’d fire me if we didn’t meet targets.”

My
hands clenched so hard that I had to fight to relax. “He sounds like absolute
scum.”

That makes me gladder than ever
that we picked ARCANE for this job.

Our
reasoning had been solid before, but this was more fuel on the fire.

“He
is. He might be the worst person I’ve ever had to deal with.” Kat’s shoulders
sank. “I just don’t know what to do about this.”

My
recommendation would have been simple if I had no stake in the game. Quitting
was the only thing that Kat should do for herself and her own dignity. But if
she left ARCANE, my plan fell to pieces.

“You
should shut him up by doing what he doesn’t think you can,” I said. “You’re a
smart girl, and I bet you have many connections in this town—you can
leverage everything you have. What about your charity contacts? They must need
better data protection, right? Why don’t you reach out to them?”

Kat
perked up. “That’s true. I will not let that asshole ruin my biggest
opportunity. I’ll succeed just to spite him.”

I
edged even closer to her. The next part would be trickier thanks to this development,
but I still intended on taking the night further. It would have been a slam
dunk to ask her back to my place after dancing, but now it would take more
finesse.

With
a half turn and a lean to face Kat, I dropped a hand to the top of her thigh.
The material of her dress was light and thin, and it would feel like I touched
her bare skin.

“I’m
impressed by how resilient you are. A lot of women would have either caved and
given him what he wanted, or gone hysterical.”

She
smiled. It was an uncertain one, fighting through the roiling emotions that
filled her. “Thank you, James. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t know
how you’d react. And, frankly, I don’t know you that well.”

I
squeezed her thigh, just enough pressure to remind her of the hand’s presence
there. “I feel like I’m getting to know you pretty well, but I’d love to know
you better.”

“I
think I’d like that,” she said it as if it was a revelation to her.

I
dropped my voice and gazed into her eyes, willing her to feel my words and the
intention I placed behind them. “If you want to talk some more, my place is
right around the corner. We could go and relax, learn a bit more about each
other. You deserve the opportunity to take your mind off things.”

Women
loved to be told they deserved everything they wanted.

She
wavered, so I dragged my hand slightly higher. Not enough to be indecent, but
to give her more of a thrill.

“Let’s
do it,” she said. “Before I change my mind.”

Not
willing to take the time to receive the bill or pay by card, I caught the
waitress’s eyes as we stood and placed two hundreds on the table.

“I’ll
pay next time,” she said. “Fair’s fair.”

“So
there will be a next time?” I winked.

“If
you play your cards right.”

Kat
followed the sentence with a flirty turn that swished the hem of her dress up.
She walked out, leaving me to watch and follow.

While
the valet fetched the car, I pulled Kat against me and bent my head to kiss
her. Her lips were as soft as I remembered, a pleasure to tease. I took her
bottom lip softly between my teeth as I sank my hands to her lower back and
pulled her hard against me. Her light moan urged me on, but the car pulled up
before I could do more.

“You’re
too good at that,” she said. “It makes me melt every time.”

I
used my arm around her waist to escort her to the car and opened the door for
her.

The
drive was as short as I’d said—only a few blocks away. It took two
minutes to get to the building’s parking garage. In that time, I teased Kat
with a hand on her inner thigh, sliding up the smooth skin and tugging the hem
of her dress upward.

She
bit her lip. “That’s not fair.”

“Fair
is arbitrary,” I told her. “And in my car, I make the rules.”

She
groaned as I made my way closer and closer to her core. Each time I ventured
into new territory, I pulled back, keeping her on edge.

We
pulled into the garage as I got within an inch of her panties—perfectly
timed to drive her wild with sexual frustration.

When
we entered the elevator, Kat took the initiative. Once I pressed the button for
the penthouse, she pushed me back against the mirrored wall and used a hand on
the back of my head to pull my lips to hers. Her other hand felt my
chest and rubbed up to my shoulder, grabbing on as we deepened the kiss.

I
played my hands up her sides, dancing over her ribs until they brushed the
outsides of her breasts. She wore her dress without a bra, the fabric wrapping
tight enough to offer support on its own. I lifted her left breast and used my
other hand to palm her taut ass and pull her against me.

Kat
moaned, and her hand left my neck to reach between us. My eyes rolled back into
my head as she found my erect manhood through the thin material of the
slacks. She gasped and pulled back from the kiss, eyes wide as she looked up at
me.

“You’re
so hard—and so big!”

I
let a cocky smile take over my mouth. “Just wait until you feel it inside
of you.”

She
bit her lip. “I can’t wait.”

The
elevator punctuated her words with a ding as the door rolled open.

“Shall
we?” I guided her out of the elevator and down the hall, my hand around her
back and never leaving her ass. I didn’t want to give her a single moment to
regain her composure.

The
condo was in the corner of the building, at the end of the hall. It was new
enough that it used a magnetic card as the front door key, so all I had to do
was touch my wallet to the handle to unlock it.

“That’s
fancy,” Kat said. “Oh, my God!”

Lights
turned on automatically as we entered, illuminating the spacious and
well-appointed interior. Modern furnishings in exquisite materials gave the
condo a warm feeling. Huge floor to ceiling windows along two walls provided
excellent views of the city lit up below.

I
gave a quick look around to make sure Addison had hidden all traces of her
habitation. Everything was spotless.

Good girl.

“This
is insane!” Kat wandered into the living room, putting a hand on the leather
couch and looking out the window.

I
followed her. “You like it?”

Kat
swiveled
. “Like it? How couldn’t I? What the hell do
you do at the bank for them to spend so much on a place like this? It must be
worth millions!”

I
avoided the question the easiest way I knew how—I put my arms around her
and kissed her.

She
pulled me back, heat burning between us until we got back to the peak we’d
reached in the elevator. No longer constrained by being in public, I reached
under Kat’s dress and let her breasts spill out of the black, clingy fabric.

“These
are magnificent,” I told her as I lowered my mouth to the upper part of her
breast. She sat on the back of the sofa and wrapped her arms around my back as I
licked and kissed the sensitive skin, worked my way to the nipple before
skipping it and kissing the underside of the perky mound.

“
Mmm
, that feels so good.”

My
hands weren’t idle—teasing her other breast, running up her back,
venturing deep into her hair and pulling gently so she would feel a slight tug
on her scalp. I ran my mouth all the way around her areola and back up to her
neck before I switched sides to repeat the treatment.

Her
nipples had stiffened to attention, and she couldn’t wait any longer.

Kat
put her hands on my head and pulled me to the pink peaks. “Please, James. Stop
teasing me! You’re driving me wild.”

“That’s
the idea,” I replied, but I succumbed to her wishes and licked her nipple
before sucking it into my mouth.

She
moaned at the wet heat of my mouth, and then again when I swirled my tongue
around the hardened skin. “Just like that. Yes.”

My
hands found her thighs and stroked up the inside of her leg as I worked on her
breasts, reaching higher until the hem of her dress rode up to her hips.

Instead
of touching her, I stood.

Kat
looked at me, eyes full of lust. “What are you doing?”

I
didn’t answer, but put my hands around her and picked her up. Her legs
automatically wrapped around me and her hands clung to my shoulders. Her lips
found mine again as I walked with her around the couch and set her down on the
soft leather.

“Sit
back,” I said, breaking the kiss and running my mouth down her body. The dress
still covered far too much of her skin, but it would be a pain to remove. Once
I got to her breast, I skipped to her inner thigh by her knee. I placed my
hands under her knees and pulled, dragging her ass to the edge of the seat.

“Oh!”
The move caught her by surprise. Kat spread her legs more for me to settle in
between easier. Her dress had ridden up enough to see the small pair of
black panties covering her womanhood.

Her
tanned skin was hot and smooth, a pleasure to guide my lips along as I hunted
toward my true goal.

For
the third time that night, just as I was about to get to her panties I stopped
and switched to the other knee.

Kat
groaned. “James, you’re killing me.”

She
ran her hands through my hair, coaxing me further up her thigh until my breath
burned hot over her panties. I extended my tongue to press against the
fabric, barely touching it. Despite the feather touch, Kat gasped and pressed
her hips forward, seeking more pressure.

I
didn’t let her have it, keeping it light to tease her even further. She grabbed
fistfuls of hair to pull me against her, but I held firm against her efforts.

“Goddamn
it, James. I need it.”

I
pulled back. “You need what?”

She
stared daggers at me through her spread legs. “Lick my pussy, you asshole!”

I
smirked. “You didn’t say please.”

Kat
growled. She may have intended it to be threatening, but it was a sexy, sultry
sound.

I
hooked my fingers in the waistband of her panties. “These will have to go.”

You will finally see Kat’s
pussy.
An
adolescent fantasy come true. I’d fantasized about this moment countless times
as a teenager.