Desire Page 5

  “Hey bro, what’s up?” he says with a hint of a fake Australian accent.

  “Got a good offer for the company today,” I say, trying to mask the contempt I feel.

  “So what.”

  “So, we should sell.”

  “Not gonna happen,” he says, not bothering to stifle his laughter.

  “Are you going to run it? Because I’m tired of running this thing.”

  “So find someone else.”

  Knowing exactly where this conversation is headed, I hang up. Every time we speak, we revert to our childhood selves. All he does is rile me up. There’s no point, I have to get through to him another way.

  I quickly call my assistant, Laura.

  “Hi Leo,” she says, answering almost immediately.

  “Hey, I need you to do something for me. Speak with my private legal team and figure a way for me to sell the company without my brother standing in my way. And when I say to figure it out any way, I mean any way. I don’t care what it takes.”

  “Okay, no problem.”

  “I mean it, Laura, anything.”

  I hang up and toss the phone onto the sofa. As I move from the suite’s living room to the bedroom, I strip off my suit.

  My muscles ache with fatigue. But as inviting as the palatial bed is, I can’t help wishing I was back on the floor with Grace.

  Stripping back the covers, I’m about to climb into bed when I’m struck with thoughts about Grace. I hurry into the living room and retrieve my phone. With it firmly in my hand, I crawl under the covers.

  Damn. I still haven’t forgiven myself for not getting her last name. Or her number. I would call her right now if I could. The sweet virgin with the magical mouth.

  The name of the company comes to me, Mini Motivations, and I Google it. There is no mention of Grace on the website. Not surprising, she’s young and probably junior.

  I do take a good look at the founder in her bio. The owner who is so desperate for funding that she sent a young virgin to whore herself on the company’s behalf.

  My chest sinks as a thought hits me. They’re going to think she’s a failure. That she spent the night with me, and still couldn’t get any funding. A pang of guilt settles in my stomach.

  Another feeling travels lower, and my dick twitches at the memory of how she made it feel. Everything about her was perfect, and I once again curse the man for finding us at that moment.

  There’s nothing I wanted more than to fill that sweet mouth with my cum.

  I close my eyes, and remember the feel of her tongue against me. My cock is fully erect, and I take it in my hand.

  As I stroke it, I remember everything about Grace. The smell of her hair, the sound of her laugh, our hours of talking in which she didn’t want anything from me other than me.

  My mind carries on to the moment she woke me up humping my leg. I grow harder as I remember the feel of her tight pussy around my fingers, and how easily I made her come.

  I rub harder and faster as I remember the way she pounced on my dick. The way she squealed, and squirmed while sucking me off. It seemed like she was enjoying it as much as I was. And it was nothing to do with my money.

  My balls draw tight against me and shudders rocket up my back as an orgasm hits me with as much force as the one with Grace caused. I groan, and dig my head back into the bed.

  As my breath calms, I can only think one thing. I want more of her.

  Chapter 10

  Grace

  “I don’t know why you’re in such a hurry to get married anyway,” I say, spinning my desk chair away from my computer to face Anna. Our desks are side by side in the noisy open-plan office.

  “I never was before, it’s just that Tyson has changed my outlook on everything. I want to spend every second with him. I want to have his baby. Now. The idea of not having him in my life causes me physical pain,” Anna says, gazing at the photo of her and Tyson cuddled together on our sofa.

  Her work desk is cluttered with photos of Tyson, just like her bedroom at the apartment we share. I swear her hair is a different color in every photo. I’d be surprised if she knew what her natural hair color actually is. Today, her hair is powder blue.

  It must be nice to be so in love. But as the roommate, best friend and co-worker, the non-stop gushing can be more than a little annoying.

  She’s even lost interest in work. We used to share the same drive for our careers, and both of us wanted nothing more than to make tons of our own money. When I started at Mini Motivations, Anna saw herself in me and took me under her wing. We’ve been inseparable ever since. At least until Tyson arrived on the scene.

  “Somehow, I don’t think it’s going to kill you if you don’t get married immediately,” I say, laughing.

  “You need to find someone, then you’ll understand.”

  “Not going to happen.” I shake my head, thinking of how her boyfriend would only be a distraction from my career. I have to be strong and focused, and keep my career goals front and center. There is no way I’m going to end up like my mother or my sister.

  “What about Leo Newbury? Things sounded pretty hot in that closet you got trapped in.”

  I chuckle though a flash of heat flickers through my core. Even though it was several days ago, I cannot get the memory out of my mind. It’s fair to say that Leo Newbury has been monopolizing my thoughts.

  “Don’t be silly, the man’s a billionaire. What interest would he possibly have in me? It was just one crazy night. As soon as we were found, he rushed me into a taxi. He didn’t even kiss me goodbye, let alone ask for my phone number.”

  “I still can’t believe you didn’t have sex with him. What a lost opportunity for an amazing one-night stand.”

  Anna knows I’m still a virgin, a status she cannot understand. It doesn’t matter how many times I tried to explain about my mother and sister, she still insists I’m punishing myself for no reason. Still, I can’t stop thinking that I gladly would’ve let Leo be my first right there in that closet if we hadn’t been found when we were.

  I can’t decide if I’m glad we were found at that moment or not.

  Well, a minute later would have been better. Then at least the man wouldn’t have seen Leo ejaculate.

  “It’s better I didn’t. I don’t want to end up like you, so gaga over a man that you stop caring about anything else.”

  “That’s not true, I still care about you.” Anna wheels her chair until it’s against mine, and rests her head on my shoulder, looking up at me with her puppy dog eyes.

  “Spare me,” I say and playfully push her away, laughing.

  The main door to the office opens, and a hush comes over the room. I look up to see what silenced the room.

  Leo Newbury stands in the doorway, seemingly ten times larger than the rest of us. He exudes power and confidence without moving a muscle. His mere aura commands all the attention in the room.

  My heart stops at the sight of him. He’s wearing a navy suit that can only be custom made, and not a hair on his head is out of place.

  One of the founders, Shawna, drops the papers from her hands and rushes to Leo’s side. Though the room is silent and you could hear a pin drop, I can’t hear what she says to him because my brain is too busy screaming ‘oh my God.’

  Everyone’s heads turn as they follow Shawna and Leo on their walk to the meeting room. Leo cranes his head around the room, but Shawna blocks me from his line of sight. The second the door clicks shut, my co-workers start talking in hurried tones to the person nearest to them.

  “I thought you said you couldn’t convince him to come,” Anna says as she bolts to my side, her eyes searching my face for answers.

  “I didn’t think I did.”

  I search my memory for any hint from Leo that he would meet with my company founders. Nothing. Instead all I can remember is his adamant stance that our company was not worth investing in.

  But now, here he is.

  And looking even better than I’d reme
mbered.

  After the lights in the closet came on, everything was so rushed and hurried that I didn’t really look at him again. The only time I really saw him was during the awards event. It’s funny, most of the time I’ve spent with Leo was in the dark.

  Seeing him again in the daylight is enough to take my breath away.

  “I can’t believe you didn’t have sex with that,” Anna says, struggling to keep her mouth from hanging open.

  “Not this again.”

  “Yeah, but now I’ve seen him in the flesh, I have to ask the question all over again. Because oh my God, that is the finest male specimen I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

  “What about Tyson?”

  “He’d agree with me. Even the most heterosexual man going would think that.”

  I roll my eyes at her but inwardly agree with everything she said. I realize how fast my heart has been beating since Leo arrived and spin my chair away from Anna so she doesn’t notice me trying to calm myself with deep breathing exercises.

  As soon as my chair points to the room, I notice everyone is staring at me. I manage a weak smile, wondering what they think. Someone gives me the thumbs up and another person winks before two of the programmers start clapping. Before long, the entire room is applauding me.

  Hopefully they don’t think I slept with Leo in exchange for this meeting. My cheeks redden at the attention.

  “They probably all think you fucked him,” Anna says in a hushed tone.

  “Really?” I say, not wanting it to be true but knowing it probably is.

  “Relax, they’re all jealous. Even the guys.”

  The door to the meeting room opens a mere five minutes later, and Leo steps through it. A hush comes over the room again and all eyes fix firmly on him.

  He scans the faces in the room, glancing over all the people who are depending on him to save our company and jobs. I wonder if he notices the desperation in their faces.

  Finally, he notices me in the back of the room. His face lights up as his eyes laser in on me. My body fills and bursts with heat from his attention.

  Leo starts walking to my desk, and the rest of the room melts away. All I can see is Leo, and he’s headed straight for me.

  “Come to lunch with me, Grace,” he says, his eyes roving over my body. Heat coats my skin everywhere he looks.

  “It’s not even nine-thirty.”

  “That doesn’t matter,” he says, extending his hand to me.

  Shawna comes into view behind him. She’s giving me two big thumbs up. I don’t know what to do. I want to go with Leo because of what happened between us and because I haven’t stopped thinking about him since. But is this another setup from Shawna to try to save the company? Has she offered me up to him again?

  What did they say in those five minutes? Because it clearly seemed to involve me.

  I’m frozen in thought, contemplating the situation when Anna kicks me and sternly says, “Go.”

  Without waiting for me to stand, Leo takes my hand and pulls. As I stand, I glance around the room. Ten hopeful faces stare back at me. I manage a smile and Leo clasps his hand in mine.

  Chapter 11

  Leo

  Having Grace’s hand in mine relieves some of the tension in my shoulders.

  I’ve been in Tokyo all week, working with Sun Toys trying to come up with a plan to sell the company. Due to the size of our companies and the amount of money involved, these discussions take months. But in the back of my mind I’m not convinced I’ll be able to get my brother to agree to sell.

  Every day the tension in my neck and shoulders got tighter and tighter. Especially whenever I spoke to George on the phone. I don’t know what his problem is.

  He thinks the world is his playground and everything revolves around him. I don’t know how we ended up being such different people.

  It’s been weighing heavy on my mind all week.

  That and the need to find Grace again. I had my secretary track down her company, and decided to stop in for her on my flight back to New York.

  When I saw Grace sitting at the back of her open-plan office, I immediately felt more relaxed than I have in months.

  I haven’t been able to get her out of my head all week. She’s been the obsession of my nightly fantasies. And she’s every bit as wonderful now that she’s with me in the flesh.

  “There’s a good coffee shop a five-minute walk from here,” Grace says as we step out of the elevator.

  “Sounds good.”

  We rode down in silence, each lost in our own thoughts but with our hands clasped together. We walk down the street hand in hand, but I can’t help thinking there some rigidity in Grace’s arm.

  What is she thinking?

  “I didn’t have a way to contact you,” I say.

  “You got rid of me in the taxi so fast that I assumed you never wanted a way to contact me,” she says, looking down.

  “The rescue happened so quickly I wasn’t thinking straight. I was only concerned with getting you home safely.”

  “This is the coffee shop,” Grace says, gesturing to the door.

  The sign above the door says Market Bean and the inside is done up to look like an old-fashioned farmers’ market. I hold the door open and follow Grace inside.

  After ordering a cappuccino and a skinny latte, we weave through the room to a table in the far corner, beside a crate filled with burlap sacks of coffee beans marked Kenya.

  Grace slides into the seat facing the front of the coffee shop, and I take the seat across from her.

  She takes a sip of her latte, the corners of her mouth turning up as she drinks. I can’t help but be mesmerized by her.

  At the awards dinner, she was dressed skimpily with heavy make-up. We sat side by side and I didn’t get a good chance to really look at her. Plus, my eyes spent most of the time fixed on her cleavage. Then, of course, in the darkness of the cupboard I couldn’t see her at all.

  But now, in the daylight and with her in conservative work clothes and natural-looking make-up, it’s a struggle to take my eyes off her beautiful face. She’s even more stunning than I remembered all those nights when I had my cock in my hand while thinking about her.

  And I haven’t even looked at her chest once.

  “So, it was a weird night, huh?” Grace says, holding her mug with two hands.

  “Definitely one of the weirdest I’ve ever had, but also one of the best,” I say, holding her eyes in mine.

  She stifles a laugh but can’t hide the redness in her cheeks.

  “It ended well enough,” she says.

  “I would have preferred it if we hadn’t been found for another thirty minutes or so.”

  This time the redness spreads from her cheeks and down her neck. She turns her head away and casually does up the top button on her blouse. I’d like nothing more than to undo it again.

  No. I’d like to watch her undo them all.

  The redness lessened, she turns back to me and says, “You didn’t speak to Shawna for very long.”

  “I wasn’t there to speak to Shawna. I only came to find you.”

  “But what about the company? Did you talk to her about licensing brands?”

  “Briefly,” I say, thinking I should’ve talked to the woman longer purely for the sake of making Grace look good to her boss. I have zero intention of entering into any agreement with her company.

  Her face falls, unable to hide her disappointment.

  “I’m in a hurry today. I’m on my way to New York from Tokyo. But I couldn’t wait to see you again, so I altered the flight plan and I have a couple of hours here.”

  “You landed your plane just to see me?”

  “I did. But I don’t have long, I have to be in New York for a meeting which means I have to leave here by ten-thirty in order to make it on time.”

  A broad smile springs across Grace’s face, and her eyes light up. “I can’t believe someone landed an airplane just to have coffee with me.”

  �
�Jet,” I say, correcting her.

  She giggles and rolls her eyes the same time. “Fine, jet. How do you just stop to have coffee like that?”

  “Easy, to just tell the pilot to land and they alter the flight plan.”

  She shakes her head. “It was a rhetorical question. I mean, just for coffee?”

  “I was hoping for more, actually.”

  Grace’s eyes flare and she pulls her mug in close to her chest. I smirk, knowing exactly how she took that statement. I let the silence hang heavy between us and wait to see how she’ll respond.

  “So, Leo, are you hoping that your brands on the Mini Motivations app will be a massive success and make you lots of money while increasing your brand visibility?”

  This time I laugh. I decide to give her some hope. “Well, now that I’ve met Shawna, I can learn more.”

  “I’m happy to tell you anything you want to know about the company. I may be junior, but I’m very knowledgeable about it.”

  “Trust me, the last thing I want to talk to you about is business.”

  “Right, I’m the something more than coffee that you want.”

  “Exactly. I want you to come to New York with me for the weekend.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “Why not?”

  “I have to work tomorrow, for starters.”

  “You don’t. I’ve cleared it with Shawna. She thinks it’s a great idea for you to come to New York.”

  Grace’s face becomes unreadable. Her eyes narrow in thought and she purses her lips together. But at the same time, her cheeks blush again. I wonder if she thinks Shawna is using her as an office whore again.

  If that’s what it takes to get her on the plane, then so be it.

  “I have another event to attend tonight, and I’d like you to,” I pause, choosing my next word carefully, “escort me to it.”

  She shifts her eyes to the remains of the coffee in her mug. I’m sure she’s contemplating all sorts of things, and I wish I knew which ones were foremost in her mind — Shawna or the memory of my cock.