The Unblocked Collection (12 page)

Who the hell was he?

She wasn’t dating him; according to Will’s research, she was single. Maybe she was only fucking him. Her tightly wound body told me it was more like
he
was selfishly fucking
her
. Just another amateur who didn’t know her clit from her asshole. Regardless, he got to touch her, and I didn’t. The thought of that made my hands clench.

With the amateur at her side, she walked over to me. “What a surprise, Derek. I thought you said you weren’t coming tonight.” Her tone didn’t match the look she had given me just a few moments ago. She was professional Frankie now. I was sure that had as much to do with the amateur as it did with Julia.

“Good evening, Frankie,” I replied. “My plans changed.”

“I’m glad they did.” Her posture told me the wine in her hand wasn’t her first glass. I wondered if the pinot that warmed the inside of her navel was the one I’d had delivered to her office. “I’d like you to meet Zack Mucci,” she added, pulling her eyes away from me to look at him. “Zack, this is—”

“
Zaaaack
!” Julia said, drawing out his name. Her hand slipped through the air so she could be the first to touch him. She knew she wouldn’t be getting my dick tonight. I’d made sure of that. She’d probably make it her mission now to suck his. “I’m Julia Hayes, the—”

“I know who you are,” Zack said. “And it’s a pleasure.”

“Oh, it is,” Julia said. “But how is it that
I
don’t know
you
?”

Frankie looked past both of them; her eyes were squarely on me. Though she was trying to keep an appropriate distance, she couldn’t hide the desire that flickered across her face. “As I was saying,” she started again, “Zack, this is Derek Block, a developer who just entered the Boston market.”

His hand reached for mine, his boyish eyes lighting up. “It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Block. I’m a huge fan of your work. The use of natural materials and forms in your style are unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

So Zack was a fan…I hadn’t expected that.

“I agree,” Frankie said. “We’re lucky to have Derek in our city, aren’t we?”

Those red glossy lips. I loved when she used them to talk about me.

“Zack,” I said, shaking his hand. His grip was submissive. He probably stroked her with the same weak pressure. It was no wonder she was so tense.

Julia’s hand weaved around my arm again and clung to my bicep. “So Zack,” she said, “do you work in the industry?”

Frankie’s eyes darkened when she noticed Julia’s grip, and her breath came faster. That spark of jealousy told me everything I needed to know.

I looked at Julia and Zack. “I need to speak to Frankie alone.”

Frankie nodded. “I’ll see you in a few minutes,” she told Zack.

I stared at Julia. “What?” she asked. “Me too?”

I had to stop myself from laughing as I pulled my arm out of her grasp. “I’ll be back.” I moved over to Frankie, cupped her elbow, and whispered in her ear, “You’re coming with me.”

I led her toward the entrance of the balcony. Neither her feet nor her body showed any resistance. There were a few people smoking in the corner. We walked to the opposite side, to the end of the deck, where we could have a bit more privacy.

Frankie leaned against the concrete barrier that enclosed the patio ledge. Her eyes slowly traveled over my face. She was thinking about me, taking me all in. I let her. She’d done most of the talking during our encounters. She needed to listen now, to hear what my body was telling her.

It was only when she shivered that I finally broke the silence. “I don’t have a jacket to give you.” I took a step closer. “I can try to block the wind.” My hands came to rest on the concrete ledge, my arms caging her. But I didn’t touch her.

Goosebumps covered her chest, trickling down her arms and up to her neck. “I’m not cold.” Her voice made my cock press against my zipper and my hands clench.
I
needed to touch her.

“You brought me out here, Derek.” Her eyes finally met mine. “What exactly do you plan on doing with me now?”

My teeth ground together.

Did she want the real answer to that question?

FRANKIE

I WAITED
for Derek to respond as his eyes bore into mine. His hands were pressed against the wall behind me, his arms narrowing in around me, constricting the already small space I stood in. The breath he exhaled turned to white clouds of steam from the difference in temperature. He may have been trying to block the chilly wind, but in his presence, I didn’t feel it.

All I felt was him.

It seemed he wasn’t going to give me an answer. “Maybe I should ask you a different question,” I said. His expression remained steely, his stare intense. He looked ready to either reprimand or devour me. I should have feared the latter, but I didn’t. “What are you doing here with Julia?”

“She invited me.”

I looked beyond him, toward the ballroom, trying to hide my emotions. “I have to say I’m a bit surprised you showed up with another agent, considering you offered me a contract only
yesterday
.”

“You mean, you’re surprised I’ve shown up with
Julia
.” It didn’t matter where I looked. He could see right through me. “Is that because she has a reputation for sleeping with her clients?”

Was his question based on assumption or experience? There was no indication in his eyes. “She’s not exactly discreet about it.”

“What Julia does with the men she works with is not my concern,” he said firmly. “She’s not joining my team…you are.”

I wasn’t quite sure how to take that.

I lifted the glass to my lips, the backs of my fingers skimming his chest. I wasn’t at all prepared for how hard and muscular it felt. “It looks bad that you’re here with her,” I told him. No one at this party knew Derek’s attorney was reviewing my contract or that we’d verbally agreed to work together. So maybe my concern wasn’t really with how it looked. Maybe it was more about how seeing him with her made me feel.

“But it’s okay for you to bring a date?”

His tone sounded just like mine. “He’s a colleague.” I should have used the word employee. It could have kept him from questioning me further, but I wasn’t ready for that. Part of me liked this jealous side of him.

“I don’t care who he is,” Derek said. “He’s not me. It sends the same message.” Every exhale wafted more of his warm, minty breath over me. As it hit my skin, I imagined it being the tips of his fingers, caressing my cheeks and stroking the sides of my neck.

“You’re missing my point.”

“I think you’re missing mine,” he said. “I saw the way he looks at you.”

“You’re wrong.”

His tongue swiped his lip. It was more enticing than I wanted it to be. “The second he gets you out of this party, he’s going to put his hands on the inside of your thighs and slowly spread them apart.”

I moved my arms behind me, shoving them into the concrete to stop my hands from shaking. Something in the back of my throat had begun to pound, and a tickling feeling was moving its way down my chest. How could I allow a client to say something like that to me, especially someone who could have such a deep impact on my career?

“You’re wrong. I’m Zack’s mentor. The only thing he wants from me is to learn this business.” Why was I explaining this to him? “Regardless, I don’t spread anything for the men I work with.”

His chin tilted toward his chest and he looked down at me. “No?” It was such a dominant question, as if he already knew the answer. This could have been another test…one I might fail if I told the truth.

Reed and I had collaborated on multiple projects before we became a couple. I had a feeling Derek knew that…he knew everything, including what was happening inside my body. I had a suspicion he thought I’d be spreading my legs for him, not Zack.

“No.” I spoke so quietly. But I knew he heard me, and his face told me he didn’t believe my answer. Or maybe he knew it wouldn’t apply to him. I hoped I had the strength to stop myself before things got that far. He was my client—I had to keep reminding myself of that. For some reason, the power that came with that status didn’t seem to come with the same restrictions it had in the past.

It held even less when his face moved closer to mine. We were standing on a balcony in the middle of the city, and yet his scent made me feel like we were in the woods somewhere. Cedar and autumn leaves, pine needles and warm spice. It corresponded to his style, his architecture—masculine, like nothing I had ever smelled before. It was enticing. It made me want to reach for him, to know what his beard would really feel like brushing over my soft skin, what the bristles would taste like if I wrapped my lips around them.

“If you want me to stop, you better tell me right now,” he said.

“Stop what?”

“Touching you.”

His hands gripped my sides and held my waist tight enough to tell me he was in total control. My lips parted as a tingle shot down between my legs and my nipples hardened to the point of pain. I was opening for him, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. “I…”

“Derek Block,” a man said from behind him, “I didn’t expect to see you here, son.”

His body tensed, his hands clenching me even harder. “Don’t move,” he told me. Then he turned around, keeping me behind him, hiding me with his massive frame. “Randy…what the hell do you want?” His tone was sharp and accusatory.

“Let’s start with an introduction to the beautiful lady standing behind you.”

I clutched his forearms, surprised by how firm they were. The shirts he wore only hinted at his muscular body. I hadn’t expected him to be quite so cut. I leaned around his side and stole a glance. Randy looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him.

Derek shifted to block me again. “That’s not going to happen, Randy. Turn around and keep walking.”

“Not until I get a chance to talk to you,” Randy said.

“Not now.”

“But now is the perfect time.”

I’d felt Derek’s influence and power from the moment I had met him, and I’d felt his desire just moments ago. Suddenly, I felt his anger. He was protecting me from this man. Why was that necessary?

He turned to face me again, his body rigid. “Go inside and grab us another drink.” His tone was insistent, demanding.

“You don’t want to introduce me?”

“Go. I’ll meet you in a minute.”

“Derek—”

“Trust me.”

His order was just like the one Reed had given me the night we had broken up—the night my life had changed forever. Did Reed and Derek have more in common than I’d realized? What if by obstructing me he wasn’t trying to protect me, but hiding me instead? And maybe Randy, whoever he was, was really the protector here, saving me from doing something I would regret.

I didn’t know what the answer was, but I knew how uneasy I felt, and how the urge to trust him was nagging at me.

He wasn’t Reed. I had to keep reminding myself of that.

I held back my response, swerved around him and went inside the party. I could feel the change in the air immediately. Without his body next to mine, it was even colder inside than it had been on the balcony.

DEREK

ONCE FRANKIE WAS
safely inside, I shoved my hands into my pockets and directed my attention at Randy. He was full of gray hair and wrinkles. Regardless, I didn’t trust my fists when I was around him. “How did you find me here?”

“Just happened to see you, son.”

“Let’s get something straight right now: I’m not your fucking son.”

He shook his head like my comment had disappointed him, but I’d stopped talking to the bastard the day my father died. Any exchange since had been as icy as this one.

“I taught you the trade like you were my son,” he said.

I stabbed a finger into the air. “No—my father taught me. We just happened to be at your jobsite when I learned it all.”

“And who do you think taught your father?”

My hands could punish him in a way that would ensure he didn’t leave this balcony alive. That wasn’t how I wanted to take him down. Before I lost control and let my rage feed my temper, I needed to get inside and find Frankie. “We’re done here.”