The Satin Sash (7 page)

If he dared give her sash to Heath Solis . . .

Pushing the alarming, tantalizing thought aside, she threw on the first pair of jeans she found and a downy cashmere pullover, then strolled down the hall.

After pouring herself some coffee, she maneuvered around the couch to her workspace. Light filtered into the living room through the window overlooking the street, enough light for her to work with during the day. Setting her cup on her small, cluttered desk, she took her chair, lifted her laptop lid, and scanned her flagged e-mails from clients.

Unable to concentrate, she eyed the screen, and found her finger rising almost of its own volition, caressing Grey’s mark.Tempted to see if he was out of his usual morning conference, she logged into an online messenger and typed him a message.

Nothing returned for a couple of seconds, so she answered one more e-mail and opened her work files. Then the orange screen popped up.

Her hands paused on the keyboard. She gathered her courage, drew a long, tremulous breath, and typed . . .

Toni felt the blood leave her face. A weekend to where? And dinner!

She clicked the mouse and brought up Grey’s window. She tapped a finger.
Dinner
. Was he testing her?

Of course he was.

He was cunning, he was ruthless, and he was Grey Richards.

She wanted to tell him to take his dinner and shove it up his behind, and at the same time, she wanted to storm into whatever restaurant they were going to, ignore that presumptuous handsome bastard Heath Solis, and prove to Grey he had nothing to be concerned about.

Did he feel he couldn’t trust her?

Dread spread through her at the thought. Because she trusted him in a way she’d never trusted a soul.

Not because of his MBA from Stanford, his ruthless business instincts, the empire he’d built almost single-handedly, or his knack for accomplishing anything he set his mind to. Not because when he opted to turn on the charm, he could very possibly negotiate world peace, but because he was fair and intelligent and amazing.

With him, she’d discovered herself. Plus a world she hadn’t known existed until Grey.

She’d never known sex could be so pleasurable, that she could feel so desirable, so comfortable with herself, her body. All her reservations and fears seemed to be ebbing away, spurred on by Grey’s blatant, overwhelming desire for her. But when did you stop exploring? When was enough sex enough?

This puzzling, powerful attraction to the fascinating Heath. Where in the world had it come from?

It’s been there for months, years, from the start,
a little voice answered. That enigma of Heath.The one person her lover thought so highly of.

A threesome . . .

Grey had been mentioning it during sex. He was gauging her, she knew, seeing how much she wanted it. And embarrassingly, she got so
wet
!

A part of her wondered why he insisted on it. Kept teasing her with the ménage. Did he want one just to please her? To prove to her and himself he was truly the only one for her? So she would not be curious anymore? Or did he believe she would stray like his mother, having all those lovers under his father’s perfect, arrogant nose?

While deep down she craved to keep things between them just as they were, she couldn’t deny the excitement the prospect of a threesome gave her. Sex with Grey and Heath Solis.
Awesome
sex with Grey and Heath Solis.

But if they did this, would it be the best sex of their lives or something to regret forever?

Shaking her turmoil aside, she typed . . .

Toni blinked, dumbstruck. Marriage was an institution that created false expectations between two people and . . . she sighed, and shook her head dejectedly. There was
nothing
wrong with marriage.

Except being in love with someone who did not believe in it.

Afterward, she chatted a bit more with Louisa and then rose to sift through her designs at her corner workstation. But as she settled down in her old comfy chair and shuffled through her material, there were no thoughts in her mind but of
sex between three . . .

An image of that handsome bastard Heath Solis sprang to her mind. Those glimmering black eyes. The hands . . . god! His
smell
. And the cruel, decadent way he smiled . . .

Her pussy gave a furious clench at the memory, her nipples beading eagerly under her sweater. A slight tingle in the pit of her urged her to touch herself. Delve into her jeans with her fingers and fondle where it hurt and imagine it was Grey. And right there on the chair in the corner, or maybe by the front door, Heath watched them. And Grey would be so hard and hot and moving inside her, and she’d be riding him with all her might....

She halted her hands before she could fondle her breasts, shaking her head in disgust.
Work
. She had work to do.

“Here we go, just as you requested!”

Seated behind his desk at the far end of the wood-paneled office on the nineteenth floor of the RS building—where he regularly spent ten hours a day, with the exception of Sundays—Grey took the files Louisa handed him and gave them a quick scan as she sank into the seat across from his.

“These are the Carson City files, Louisa. I asked specifically for the Columbus, Ohio, ones. The Four Stars shopping mall.”

Rather than rise to fetch them, she licked her red lips, blinking. “You said Carson City.”

Grey frowned.“Carson City? We finished our building last year.”

“You asked for Carson City,” she insisted.

He leaned back in his chair, let the papers fall on the desk, and pinched the bridge of his nose to stifle an oncoming headache. “I apologize. I’m not myself today.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get those for you.” She rose to her feet, tugging her skirt back to her knees, and Grey snatched the file from his desk and held it up for her. He was not
in the mood
for her fumbling today.

“You can take this one, Louisa.”

“Oops.Yes.Thank you.”

He picked up a financial report on his desk and skimmed it. “Toni’s rent is due Friday. Pay it before she does.”

“Of course.”

He turned the page.“The Cabo San Lucas arrangements I asked for?”

“Pilots all set for Friday, and your housekeeper has been notified. Oh, and Mr. Solis is here to see you.” She pointed a thumb at the massive carved double doors. “He’s just outside.”

“Mr. Solis can come right in,” he said, dropping the report as Louisa flung open the doors. Heath immediately stalked past her.

“Well, do come right in, Mr. Solis,” she said cheerily.

“Heath.” Grey slid their latest contract across the surface of his desk. “Since you’re here.”

Propping his hips up on the edge, Heath grabbed the papers and plucked a pen out of the leather stand. He was clad in torn jeans and a solid black T-shirt that bulged around his biceps—his usual attire, one that gave voice to the phrase
I don’t do suits
.

“I made two amendments, pages five and nine,” Grey said, settling back in his chair.“A few clauses on payment and discretion on the deal. If they break it, we walk.”

“It’s all good.” Heath did not read them, but initialed them all and signed the last page before slapping it down on the desk.“What else?”

Grey tossed down a pen as he rose. “You know what else.”

Heath sank down in the recently vacated chair and stretched his legs out before him, watching as Grey came around.

Grey leaned back against the desk, crossing his arms and tucking his hands under his armpits, his voice deceptively soft as he said, “I’m thinking of tearing your head off.”

While the words might inspire any,
any
, of his employees and collaborators to genuine fear, Heath merely crossed his arms, leaned back in his seat.

“You
knew
she was mine, and you still came on to her.”

“Yes.”

“Why?” he demanded. “You’re suddenly in the city. At a party, which you hate, and then you deliver your whopper of a news flash.”

Distracting himself, Heath followed the curl of his fingers into his right palm. “I don’t want to play house with her, so you can relax.”

“You fuck with her, Heath, and you’re fucking with me.”

Heath loosened his fist. “I know better than to fuck with you.”

“Then don’t.”

The narrowed black eyes Heath leveled at him held anything but contriteness. “I would have had her right then if it weren’t for you.”

The tomblike silence that followed was disturbed by a chirpy “Here we go, the files you requested, Grey.”

Grey didn’t bother to look at her. “Thank you, Louisa. Just set them on the desk.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to—”

“No, that will be all.”