Beck & Call (12 page)

He broke free, panted twice, and kissed her again.

He didn’t groan, but she couldn’t stop making pleasured sounds. He’d shifted their respective positions. The massive ridge behind his zipper now dug into everything that was hurting between her legs.

She wanted him there like crazy. Shoved deep. Pumping. Taking her completely. She clung to his muscled shoulders as he drove one hot hand underneath her shirt. The hot hand’s palm covered her bra cup and squeezed. An incredible thrill streaked through her as his thumb compressed one nipple. The feeling was as powerful as anything caused by the rocking of his hips.

“Jake,” she gasped.

His mouth was on her neck, sucking hard enough to leave a mark. She wouldn’t have expected that to be pleasurable, but she couldn’t help writhing. Her fingers caressed his neck without her actually planning to.

“Jake,” she said more loudly but not less breathlessly. “We signed a contract. Don’t you think this counts as advancing our sexual relationship?”

“Fuck the contract,” he growled and covered her mouth again.

He didn’t really mean that. He was a professional. He wouldn’t sabotage a job that way. Mia more than half wished she were willing to. Instead she pushed at his chest.

Jake kissed her for two more heartbeats before backing off a handspan.

“Don’t move,” he ordered when she would have unwrapped her legs from him.

Though his pelvis no longer pushed at her, his erection throbbed against her jean’s inseam. Along with the rest of her, Mia’s lips buzzed as if they’d been painted with hot pepper. She sensed if she didn’t say the right thing, she wasn’t going to talk either of them out of escalating this.

“You’re just ticked that Damien told you not to kiss me.”

His eyes narrowed, his lashes incredibly thick and spiky this close up. “That’s not the only reason. Anyway it’s just a kiss.”

“‘Just a kiss’ is when I peck Curtis on the cheek. The last time you kissed me like this you made me come.”

He glowered at her.

“You know it’s true,” she said. “You don’t want to screw up this assignment just because you won’t take commands from another man.”

“I can take commands. I used to take them all the time.”

She stroked his chest soothingly.

“Fine,” he huffed and let her down from him.

Her knees were shaking. She had to lean against the wall for a couple seconds before she could stand again. As she tried to recover, she cupped her neck where she feared he’d given her a hickey. Apparently, these signs of his sexual prowess satisfied Jake’s need to feel like a conqueror.

He smirked a little when he told her he’d see her tomorrow.

~

Jake sat in the silver car, waiting for his pounding body to calm enough to drive. Whew, that had been a kiss! He licked his lips, still tasting her on them. He’d adored the way Mia looked against the wall afterward. Weak-kneed. Cheeks aflame. Mussed six ways to Sunday.

Basically, like he’d bedded her already.

The idea got his pulse ticking up again. She’d had a pile of romance novels beside her bed. At the time, he’d found this sweet and funny, but now he remembered hearing women who read them tended to want sex more.

“Cut it out,” he said aloud.

This was getting out of hand. He was too old for Mia, too hard …

Definitely too hard right then.

He snorted at himself and turned the engine on. The vehicle barely made a noise until the wheels began rolling. Jake loved how stealth the sports car was—kind of like Damien Call, come to think of it. Call wanted this to happen: for Jake and Mia to get so sexually frustrated they’d put on a good show for him.

“
Pent up
,” he muttered beneath his breath.

He’d been right to call the billionaire devious.

~

Mia’s wardrobe arrived later that evening, via human and not drone. Damien’s little copter couldn’t have handled it. As it was, the delivery guy took two trips to trundle it all in. When he set down the last package, the main room of her apartment was overwhelmed.

Damien had been serious about furnishing her from head to toe and no scrimping. Her first discoveries were a dozen suits, hung up neatly in custom boxes in individual zip-up bags. Next came shoes and hosiery and—to Mia’s eyes—very pricey silk and lace underwear. The lingerie was politely fancy: nothing red or black or overly pushup, despite which the things made her fingers tingle when she stroked them.

The suits told a similar story: quietly expensive in tones of gray and blue. None of the skirts were short and none of the beautifully tailored matching jackets did more than skim her curves. In her experience, men liked clothes that fit tighter and showed more. Either Damien’s mental measuring tape wasn’t as accurate as she’d thought, or Ms. DeWinter had added her own instructions—to prevent Mia from drawing more of her boss’s attention than she already had. If this was true, she probably hadn’t guessed the modest styling suited Mia’s preferences.

Her sole regret was that every pair of shoes had not-very-modest heels. She didn’t see happy feet in her future.

Her cellphone buzzed with an incoming text. Her heart jumped at the thought that it might be Jake, but the message was from WorldWide. Human Resources expected her at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, presumably to sign a bunch of forms and have her photo taken for an ID.

When she called Jake to see if they could carpool, he didn’t answer. That was disappointing. Had their kiss rattled him more than he let on? Was he avoiding her? She shook her head in negation. Jake wasn’t the avoiding type. Probably he was meeting Curtis off the grid somewhere, updating him on the day’s events.

Mia would have to take the subway in.

She wouldn’t get lost. She knew the lines by heart, but the prospect still unnerved her. She’d never worked for anyone but Curtis, and he was as much friend as boss.

Don’t be a pussy,
she told herself.
People start new jobs everyday.

If you counted what they’d done at lunch, she’d started this one already.

~

Mia guessed she looked like a real employee. Two people nodded at her on the elevator ride to the fiftieth floor. The woman in HR seemed nice, if a teensy bit rah-rah. She explained Mia’s generous benefit package, assuring her she’d enjoy working for WorldWide.

“WorldWide demands competence and hard work, but we reward our people well. We’ve very little turnover compared to other Fortune 500 companies.”

“That’s good,” Mia said. “WorldWide’s people must enjoy being able to settle in.”

She must have sounded like she hadn’t drunk enough Kool-Aid, because the HR lady shot her a funny look. Mia didn’t have time to worry. Ms. DeWinter came down to personally collect her.

Her
formfitting designer dress made her look like a corporate seductress. Her first words to Mia as they strode away along a line of cubbies weren’t meant to be supportive.

“That shirt isn’t supposed to be paired with that jacket,” she informed her.

Mia looked down at it. She’d put a silver blouse with a soft gray suit. Maybe the combo was monochrome, but she couldn’t see that it was
wrong
. “Really?”

Ms. DeWinter jabbed the button for the elevator with a long painted nail. “We expect employees to uphold certain standards here, Miss Beck.”

It was probably just as well she didn’t have a smart comeback. “I’ll try harder next time,” she said, straight-faced.

Ms. DeWinter gave her side eye, but Mia knew how to look innocent. The elevator dinged and they stepped in.

“Where are you taking me?” Mia asked. “Does Mr. Call have something he needs me for?”

“Mr. Call is in Atlantic City. Mr. Reed drove him there for a meeting early this morning. —This way,” she added as they exited into the lobby on fifty-two.

Ms. DeWinter’s walking speed seemed designed to see how out of breath she could get Mia. They rounded the corner nearest to Damien’s office suite then clacked halfway down the next marble corridor. Ms. DeWinter turned the knob on one of the identical plain black doors.

“Your office,” she said crisply.

“I have an office?” Mia didn’t try to hide her amazement. Apparently, she had an office with a view. The space wasn’t huge but it was considerably bigger than the cubby she’d expected—maybe as big as her bedroom. The desk and chairs were mid-century modern, the computer so new and shiny she immediately wanted to sit down and play with it.

“You’re Mr. Call’s personal assistant,” Ms. DeWinter explained. “No one’s going to stick you in a broom closet.”

Mia’s genuine astonishment caused Ms. DeWinter to unbend a bit. It occurred to Mia that if anyone knew the lowdown about Damien Call’s business life, it was this woman. She remembered what Jake said about the best cons sticking close to reality.

“I’m a pity hire,” she confessed with what she hoped was credible sheepishness. “Jake was the employee Mr. Call really wanted to headhunt.”

“I’m sure that isn’t true,” Ms. DeWinter soothed—but as if she were willing to be convinced.

“It is,” Mia obliged her. “Jake has all sorts of advanced driver training, plus his bodyguarding skills. He made us a package deal so I wouldn’t sit at home and get bored.”

Ms. DeWinter seemed to welcome the suggestion that she and Jake were a couple.

“The thing is,” Mia went on, “I really would like to be useful. Do you think you could help me get the lay of the land? I don’t know much about WorldWide. I’d rather Mr. Call not think I’m totally ignorant.”

Ms. DeWinter unbent a smidgen more. “I do have some material you could read. More in depth than what HR will have given you.”

“I would
love
that,” Mia said gratefully. “Do you want me to come get it?”

As it turned out, Damien Call’s executive assistant had a treasure trove of research concerning him and his companies. Mia returned to her office with two fat binders stuffed with clippings and other things. A lot of it Curtis had dug up already, but some of it was new. Ms. DeWinter liked to keep thorough records of her boss’s accomplishments.

Mia waited to return the binders until just before she suspected Ms. DeWinter went to lunch. She’d guessed well. Ms. DeWinter was pulling on her coat to go out.

“Surely you’re not done reading all that!” she exclaimed.

“I read everything I understood,” Mia said, which Ms. DeWinter wouldn’t realize actually meant everything. “Do you think— I don’t mean to step out of place, but do you think I could take you to lunch just today? I don’t know anyone yet, and you seem to have a handle on what goes on.”

Thankfully, this wasn’t laying it on too thick. Ms. DeWinter accepted, saying she knew a quieter place than the company cafeteria. Also thankfully, given that Damien Call was Ms. DeWinter’s favorite topic, it wasn’t hard to steer the conversation onto him.

Pretty sure Ms. DeWinter would frown on her eating anything that might stick to her hips, Mia ordered the same Spartan salad as her superior.

“I know I shouldn’t say this,” she confided once the waitress had gone away. “But, wow, Mr. Call is a hottie! If Jake weren’t so possessive …” She shook her head. “I bet lots of the woman at WorldWide fall for him.”

“Some do,” Ms. DeWinter admitted, probably unaware that the way she jabbed her fork at the lettuce made her wedding diamond flash. “But Mr. Call is particular. He’s not susceptible to the sort of women who throw themselves at him.”

This held a hint of warning. Mia pretended it had nothing to do with her.

“That’s admirable,” she said. “Some guys would hump a stump if they tripped over it.”

“Exactly,” Ms. DeWinter agreed. “Mr. Call is a unique man.”

Mia took a sip of her plain iced tea. “What about that woman I saw him with on the news—the Raeburn heiress, I think it was?”

For a second Mia worried this question was too gossipy. The secretary’s beautiful lipsticked mouth thinned disapprovingly. Luckily, her contempt wasn’t aimed at Mia. “Zoe Raeburn was more interested in Mr. Call than he was in her. She was someone he could attend events with, not anyone he’d be serious about.”

“So more Paris Hilton than Duchess Kate.”

“Exactly,” Ms. DeWinter said again. “To be fair, Zoe Raeburn isn’t stupid. Her father
is
grooming her to take over his company.”

“But she wasn’t special.”

“No.” Ms. DeWinter stabbed a frilly lettuce leaf. “She’s called the office a couple times, but I don’t think he’s seeing her anymore.”

She said this with such satisfaction Mia thought she’d better not let on that Damien had his eye on not one but two new prizes.

~

“Hey, beautiful,” called a sly male voice. “Need a ride?”

Mia laughed, knowing it was Jake even before she turned. She’d been heading toward the subway when the silver sports car slowed beside her to match her walking pace. Given that this was New York, it took two whole seconds before the driver behind him leaned on his horn. Seeing Jake’s grin lightened her heart startlingly.

“Get in,” he urged. “Before I have half the city cursing me.”

She hopped in and shut the gullwing door.

“It’s five thirty,” he said as he rejoined normal traffic flow. “I didn’t think you’d still be at work.”

“I was waiting to see if Damien would come back. Since you’re here, I must have just missed him. How was Atlantic City?”

“Boring. Call met up with some investors. Gamblers but not gangsters, as far as I could tell. They’re helping finance the mini-car he’s developing. The man does not quit working. He was on his phone nonstop while I was driving him.”

“So no sexy stuff,” Mia said.

Jake glanced at her with his lips curving. “Wondering if he got fresh with me when you weren’t there?”

“Maybe,” she said, enjoying his teasing mood.

Jake smiled at her a moment longer before turning to the road. “No. He was all business. How about you?”

“I made nice with Ms. DeWinter and pumped her for gossip over lunch.” She related the gist of the conversation, which he seemed to find interesting. “Sadly, I discovered my personal assistantship doesn’t qualify me to access much of the WorldWide network. I couldn’t even view Damien’s calendar.”