The Wrong Man (11 page)

“He’s okay,” Talia said, rubbing circles on Ryker’s back and swaying from side to side with him in her arms. She kissed the top of his head.

This might be the closest she ever came to having a child. She’d decided a baby wasn’t in her future because she had to concentrate on her career. Yet her chest ached, and she battled the deluge of sadness that always buffeted her insides when she thought of never having children of her own.

She hid her face in Ryker’s neck and relished the moment. She closed her eyes, temporarily transported from the kitchen and inhaled powder and his clean baby smell.

Maybe later she could have a baby, if there was time.

Ryker squirmed to get down and ran over to where his father was taking out plates and silverware to set the table.

“I’d like to wash up before dinner,” Bianca said. “Where’s the bathroom?”

Shawna pointed with a stalk of celery. “Turn there. First door on your right.”

As Bianca exited, Tomas came to stand beside Talia, brushing against her. Having no doubt he’d done it on purpose, she stepped aside. “Are you staying for dinner?” he asked in a low voice.

“No.” She wouldn’t look at him, keeping her eyes on Ryan and Ryker’s interaction. Ryan handed a spoon to his son so he could participate in getting the table ready for dinner.

“Don’t leave on my account.”

“I’m not doing anything on your account.”

“I know how this looks, but she’s a friend.”

“A good, good friend,” Talia said snidely. She sounded like a jealous hag, unable to curb the bitterness that crept into her voice. Would it be wrong to scratch out Bianca’s eyes?

“My friend Manny owns a Cuban restaurant where I hang out a lot, and she’s his cousin,” Tomas explained. “She’s new to Atlanta and I’m being friendly by introducing her to people and showing her around.”

“That’s very nice of you, but you don’t have to explain anything to me. By the way, does being friendly include having sex with her?” She held her breath.

“I’m not having sex with her,” he said evenly.

She didn’t let on how much his response thrilled her. “Will wonders never cease? You can actually exercise restraint,” she said from the corner of her mouth.

They spoke in low tones so Ryan and Shawna, preoccupied with each other and Ryker, couldn’t hear.

He leaned closer, and his warm breath brushed her ear when he spoke. “Why are you so mean, hmm? Am I going to have to put you over my knee and spank that cute little ass of yours again,
pequeña
?”

Talia drew in a sharp, silent breath and closed her eyes briefly.

The vivid memory of how he’d paddled her bare bottom with his hand, each blow stinging and arousing at the same time, came back with brutal force. She’d experienced an incredible orgasm—her first from that kind of contact. Then when he’d finished he put her on the bed and soothed her throbbing skin with moist kisses. She’d thought he’d stop there, but then he’d pushed her thighs apart and licked at the moisture between her legs, using one hand in the middle of her back to hold her face down until his tongue had wrenched another orgasm from her.

She moistened her lips, acutely aware of how his words alone had affected her body. Thanks to him, she now throbbed and ached at a most inopportune time.

“Shawna, I’m leaving,” she said loudly.

“Oh.” Disappointment filled Shawna’s voice. “You sure? There’s plenty of food.”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Talia grabbed for her keys on the marble countertop but accidentally knocked them to the floor. Tomas picked them up.

“Here you go.”

Instead of dropping them into her hand, he placed them in her palm and purposely raked his calloused fingers across her skin, extending contact between them longer than necessary and reminding her of how his rough hands had caressed her entire body with commendable single-mindedness. Tingles darted across her skin, and from the laughter in his eyes, he knew exactly the effect he was having on her.

She clamped her hand around the keys and fixed Tomas with the dirtiest look she could muster. “See you guys later.”

She hurried out of the house, raced down the steps to her car, and sped out of the subdivision with the swiftness of a drag racer. Berating herself, she insisted she was every kind of fool for wanting a man so obviously callous in his relationships. But no amount of self-rebuke could hide the truth—how difficult it would be to ignore him when he’d made such an indelible mark on her mind and body.

Not when her heart was thudding. Her blood pounding. And her panties wet.

Chapter Thirteen

Call him.

No!

Talia twirled in her office chair. The same argument rewound in her head all day. Since she’d left Tomas’s house, she hadn’t been able to find her Prada sunglasses, and she wanted to call and ask if he’d found them, but knowing him he’d think she’d purposely left them there as an excuse to get back in touch.

Groaning, she buried her head in her hands.
Enough already!

She had work to do and had skipped lunch to prepare for a meeting with Jay and others on the executive team but hadn’t made much headway. If she grabbed a snack from the vending machine, she could appease her empty stomach and spend the next thirty minutes or so preparing for the meeting.

She rose from the chair and walked across her office, running through the checklist of items she had to complete before the end of the day. She opened the door but pulled up short when she saw Tomas standing on the other side, smiling and talking to her secretary at her desk. Their cozy little tête-à-tête fueled her anger at him.

“What are you doing here?”

Lillian jumped guiltily to her feet. “I was about to call and let you know you have a visitor.”

Talia’s lips tightened and she folded her arms over her chest. “I said, what are you doing here?”

She shot daggers at Tomas and knew she was being a bitch, but damn him for looking so delicious without even trying, with a rough ponytail, wearing a pair of distressed jeans and another T-shirt that he knew good and well was too small when he bought it. No other man she knew managed to look so good with such little effort.

“I came to talk to you, if it’s not too much to ask,” he said.

She wanted to slap the smirk off his face.

“About what?”

“Would you like me to discuss it in front of Lillian?”

The way he said her secretary’s name sounded intimate, as if they’d known each other for a long time. Her gaze bounced between them, noting Lillian’s flushed cheeks and how she couldn’t meet her gaze.

“Hold my calls.”

Talia stalked back into her office and expected him to follow, but of course he did so on his own time. She could hear him outside talking to Lillian in a low voice and they laughed again, infuriating her more. He finally came in, shut the door, and walked over to her desk like he had nowhere to go and nothing to do and expected the same of her.

“So this is where you work.” He surveyed the room.

“Make it fast. I have a lot of work to do.” She sat down and crossed her legs.

He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. Her sunglasses. Holding them up, he asked, “Look familiar?”

She straightened in the chair. “Where did you find them?”

“Where you put them, under the table in the kitchen.”

“I did not put them there. They must have fallen out of my purse when I put it on the table.”

He smirked. “Come on, Talia.”

She sighed in defeat. He thought exactly what she’d imagined. “What’s the point? Believe whatever you want.”

He set down the glasses and walked around the desk to perch his firm backside right in front of her. The arrogance! Who else would do such a thing? Who else would have the audacity to sit on the edge of her desk as if it was his office? Not to mention sitting there brought him too close for comfort. He didn’t comprehend the concept of personal space and the etiquette of boundaries.

She stared at the wall behind him.

“Why are you so upset?” he asked.

“I’m not,” she said coldly.

“Yes, you are. If you didn’t leave them behind on purpose, you should be happy I found your overpriced sunglasses.”

She made the grave mistake of looking up at him, intending to inform him her sunglasses were not overpriced and quality was worth the cost, but the words lodged in her throat. He was watching her legs, covered in sheer black stockings. Well, he could look all he wanted, because he’d never get another chance to—

He licked his lips, and her breath stuttered. His gaze now rested on the rise and fall of her chest. The acute interest made her realize how labored her breathing had become, and her traitorous nipples swelled in anticipation.

“Are you upset because of Bianca?” he asked.

“I don’t care about you and your little escapades,” she said with a flippant wave of her hand.

“Are you sure? Because you’re pretty mad for someone who doesn’t care.” His voice sounded low and as smooth as silk.

“You need to get out of my office.”

“Tell the truth, you don’t want me to go.”

She rose from the chair. “I’ll escort you out.”

Before she could get around him, he caught her by the waist and twirled her around, pulling her between his open legs. She brought up her hands to resist being crushed against his hard chest.

“I admit it,” he said in a low voice. “You win.”

“What are you talking about?” she whispered, already breathless.

“I was glad when I found the planted sunglasses because I wanted to see you again.” He brushed his lips to her chin. The barely there touch was deliciously erotic.

“I didn’t…plant them,” she panted, silently cheering that he’d wanted to see her. She could barely concentrate while he nibbled on her neck. Her swollen nipples became hard nubs and wet heat flooded the apex of her thighs.

“No?” He licked the spot where her shoulder and neck met.

“No,” she insisted, leaning into his tongue. His big hands palmed her bottom and pulled her snug into his body.

“Do you still want me to leave?”

“Yes. No. I…”

“
Me gusta como hueles
,” he whispered. “What scent is that?”

“It’s…um…I think it’s…”

Her mind went blank when he squeezed her bottom. These same hands had restrained her passionate responses and soothingly caressed her damp skin after their marathon session in his bed almost put her in an orgasm-induced coma. She simply couldn’t concentrate.

His mouth fused to hers, prying her lips apart for an intimate tangling of tongues. He plundered the deep recesses of her mouth, and the kiss deepened, becoming almost violent. Her nails dug into his tight shoulders, and the next thing she knew, he’d lifted her from the floor and deposited her on the desk. His hand slid up to the apex of her thighs, and one long finger stroked her clit through her panties.

“
Te desiro ahora. Aqui
,” he groaned.

She almost agreed. Right here, right now—anything to quench the thirst for him she couldn’t shake. But when he eased her backward, the prod of a stapler in her lower spine caused common sense to return.

“No, no, wait.” She pushed at his chest. “We can’t. This is where I work.”

Heavy breaths fanned her face as he wrestled to regain control. Reluctantly she pushed his hand from between her legs and wiggled to a sitting position.

“You’re right, this isn’t a good idea,” he said tersely, running his hand over his hair. “If it was after hours and we were here alone, maybe, but we both know you can be very…vocal.”

“Excuse me?”

“That means loud. It means—”

“I know what it means,” Talia said hotly, her cheeks burning.

A muscle in his jaw worked and his eyes devoured her as if he planned to rip the clothes right off her body and to hell with where they were. “When?”

“You want me to pick a time?”

“Yes.”

He was serious, and she couldn’t believe she was doing this. She shouldn’t. “I don’t know. Maybe later tonight, or—”

He moved closer, within inches until the heat from him warmed her already hot skin. “Let’s go somewhere now.”

Tempting offer—oh, so tempting. The impatience in his voice stoked the flames of her own desire. “If you’re suggesting I leave work, I can’t.”

He was about to speak when a knock sounded on the door. She pushed him away and jumped off the desk right as Jay poked his head in. “Hi there, I didn’t know if you were in or not. Lillian’s not at her desk.”

He came in, followed by Carter. Tomas stiffened, and Carter didn’t look pleased to see him, either.

“Can I help you with something?” Talia asked, happy her voice sounded cool and professional instead of the breathless and needy quality from a few moments ago. She smoothed a hand down either side of her skirt.

When she noticed Jay’s curious eyes land on Tomas, she introduced the men to each other. Tomas greeted Jay, but Carter stuffed his hands in his pockets and ignored Tomas.

Jay silently observed the dynamics in the room before he proceeded. “The meeting’s been moved up because I need to leave early. I’ll see you in fifteen minutes?”

Nowhere near ready, she’d have to throw something together. “Sure, that would be fine.”

“Nice to meet you, Tomas.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” As soon as the two men left, Tomas turned to her. “Fifteen minutes doesn’t give us much time.”

Talia’s eyes widened in disbelief at his insistence. “No way.”

“Why not?”

“Because I have work to do.” She pointed at the door. “You have to leave.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

He stared at her, as if he could wear her down through telepathy. Finally he seemed to get the message and ran his hand over his face with a heavy sigh. “This isn’t over.” He walked toward the door.

“How about after work?” Talia blurted. She bit her lip.

He paused with his hand on the door and assessed her in silence. “I’ll come by your place,” he offered. “Six-thirty?”

“All right.”

They made the arrangement like two people getting together to hang out. But already her hands became clammy as she looked forward to the prospect of seeing him later. She gave him the address, the entire time thinking she must have lost her mind. After he left, she sank into her chair. They weren’t supposed to see each other again, but she’d just made an appointment to have sex. Yes, she was definitely losing her mind.