Lip Service:A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance(10)

"Because she's mine," I admitted it readily, especially since she'd been  in my bed and I claimed her. The only thing left to finalize that was  to forego the condom and fill her with my seed. Marking her with my  scent.

Ford grunted. "Really?"

"Yes, really. She's mine, Ford." My brother opened his mouth, no doubt  to lecture me, but I shoved my hand in front of him to cut him off.  "Don't fucking lecture me on company policy or any of that bullshit.  She's mine."

Silence filled his office as we stared each other down. I wasn't backing off. Not on this.

"Emma Sanders gave notice on Monday," Ford said, his tone even,  completely unlike mine. "She is, at this very moment, at a meeting with  her new transition team at Miller and Walsh."

"She quit?" She'd never mentioned it. But, she hadn't said all that much  besides "more" and "please" and my name after I'd gotten her panties  off. We hadn't had that much time for pillow talk with her walking out  and all.

"She did," Ford confirmed. "Her work here was only temporary. Being my  secretary isn't a career job for her. She's too smart for that. She was  only sticking around until she finished her master's."

Yeah, she was too fucking smart to be Ford's paper-pusher forever.  Knowing she'd had a plan all along, that she had her head on straight,  only made me admire her more.

Shit. I was a selfish prick because I wanted her just one floor down,  not two blocks away. Two blocks. I could live with that, as long as she  came home to me every night.

Ford leaned back in his chair, steepled his fingers. "What's going on between you and Emma?"

"I'm going to marry her, that's what's going on."

Ford laughed like a bachelor who didn't have his heart-and his dick-in knots for one particular woman. "Does she know that?"

"No."

He laughed harder and I flipped him off as I stood and walked out of his office. "But she will."

I got the hell out of there, completely uninterested in being around if  Emma wasn't. I'd already cleared my schedule with Tori yesterday after  I'd heard Emma's plans to get laid. My plan had been to take her home,  seduce her and convince her to stay. She wasn't supposed to run scared  at the crack of dawn. No. She was supposed to be in my bed all damn day  where I could tell her I wanted her, forever, pamper her with kisses,  and fill her with my cock.



Emma



As soon as I walked through the door, I kicked off my heels, stripped  out of my navy suit and swapped it for a pair of yoga pants and a faded  university t-shirt. Using a washcloth, I wiped away my makeup, wiped  away the long day. I'd done it. It was official. I was a Junior Finance  Assessor.

I'd looked forward to the day I'd start my real job for months, the job  that was the first rung on the corporate ladder. A job as a financial  investigator. I wanted to find discrepancies and solve them. I liked  numbers and figuring out problems and the job they offered me was just  what I'd hoped for. And more. I could pay off my loans while doing  exactly what made me happy. Landing the role at the prestigious Miller  and Walsh only made the excitement that much better.

As I rinsed the cloth and laid it over the edge of the sink, my mind  veered away from my new job to Carter. The night we shared. The aching  between my thighs. I'd barely been able to shift in my chair at the  orientation without being reminded of what we'd done. I may have walked  out of his house, but he'd been with me all day.







I'd gotten exactly what I'd wanted. Glancing at myself in the mirror, I  wondered if anyone could tell I was no longer a virgin. Pulling my hair  back, I tied it up into a sloppy ponytail. I didn't look different. I  definitely felt different. My pussy was sore, deep inside, but I didn't  mind. If that was all I could take with me of Carter, then it was worth  it. The ache in my body would fade. But the one in my heart wouldn't.  Not for a good long while. It was good timing then, that we wouldn't be  in the same building any longer. Seeing him every day, seeing him with  other women, would slowly kill me.

So I put on my big girl panties and accepted last night for what it was.  A one-night-stand. I now knew what it was like to be fucked.  Considering stories I'd listened to my girlfriends tell, I was lucky in  that Carter had been good. Not just good, he'd been incredible. But he'd  also been sweet about it. There were so many things I loved about  Carter, especially being held in his arms all night. I'd liked that …  a  lot.

That was why my heart hurt …  a lot. For me, one night wasn't enough. I  was the kind of girl who wanted more. The house, the kids, the dog, the  minivan even. I wanted it all with Carter, but I was kidding myself. I  rolled my eyes at myself in the mirror.

Carter Buchanan in a minivan tossing Cheerios to a cranky two-year-old? As if.

Switching off the light, I walked down the hall to open a bottle of  wine. I deserved a glass …  or a bottle. The doorbell had me veering to  the front door. I peeked through the peephole and I swore my heart  stopped beating.

"I know you're there, Emma," he said through the door.

Why was he here? One-night-stands didn't just show up on your doorstep. That would defeat the purpose of the name.

Taking a deep breath, I flipped the deadbolt and opened the door.

God, he looked good. Today he wore a bespoke black suit with a crisp  white shirt, pale blue tie. His outfit cost more than my run-down car.  His gaze raked over me from my hot pink toenails on up.

"I like this look," he commented.

Oh shit. Yoga pants, old t-shirt, no makeup, sloppy hair. It was the  least romantic look on the planet. Instead of groaning, I said, "What  are you doing here?"

"Taking you to dinner. Hopefully."

"Dinner?"

"You finished your degree and got a new job. It's definitely worth celebrating."

"Carter, I'm not dressed to go out."

He stepped closer and I backed up, then realized I'd never invited him in.

When he stepped inside, he looked around. "Nice place. Suits you."

I'd kept the walls white, but added bright spots of color with throw  pillows and posters. There was only so much you could do to a rental,  but now with my new job, I could start saving for an apartment of my  own.

"Thanks. Carter, I-"

My words cut off when his dark eyes met mine. There was more in those dark eyes than a graduation dinner.

"Go to dinner with me. Not because of your job, but because you want  to." When I just stared at him, my mouth open, he continued. "I want you  to."

The way he said it had my resolve slipping.

"I'm not dressed for dinner." I pointed at his suit.

Without another word, he tugged at the knot on his tie, loosened it and  slipped it from his head, undid the top button of his shirt. Shrugged  off his jacket and slug it, along with the tie, over his arm.

"There. And you look …  perfect, by the way." His eyes heated, but also  held something else I didn't recognize. "We'll go to the diner. Just say  yes."

I wanted to, so, so badly. But with Carter came baggage, tons of it. A  one night stand was one thing, but even though I wanted more with him, I  knew him. I knew his lifestyle. His women. I wanted him so badly it  hurt to breathe, but I also knew the facts. Carter would break me into a  million little pieces if I let him. Last night convinced me of that. If  I let him touch me again, I was doomed. I was too weak to be with him  and not fall in love with him. Hell, it was too late for me already. I  knew it. But that didn't mean I was a masochist either. I knew how this  would end and I couldn't compromise where my heart was concerned.

"Dinner. Come on." His smile came out then. The big guns. "You have to eat."

I rolled my eyes. That fucking smile. It so wasn't fair. "Fine."

I agreed, but only so I could tell him I couldn't see him again. That  was not a conversation I wanted to have in the privacy of my home with a  big, soft bed so temptingly nearby.

He waited as I slipped on some shoes and grabbed my purse, locked up,  then helped me into the car. I was cocooned in the supple interior with  the distinct scent of leather and, of course, Carter.







He slid into the driver's seat and put the car in gear, wrapped his hands around the steering wheel.

I knew what those fingers could do, how dexterous they were. I shifted  in the seat and could not stop glancing at him from the corner of my  eye. God, he was sex on a stick. In just his dress shirt, the linen  molded perfectly to his broad shoulders, thick biceps. I'd been  discreetly studying his rock hard body every day for the last ten  months, but never without a suit jacket. The company gym was on the  second floor, and I often had to track him down there. Gym shorts and a  tight, sweat-soaked t-shirt were a good look on him, and more than once  I'd had to turn away as I spoke to him, afraid the urge to lick him up  and down would show on my face.

But now I knew what he looked like naked, what he felt like.

He drove for a few minutes in silence. I had no idea what to say. I  looked like a slob and felt so far out of his league. I didn't even know  why I was here, in his stupid car. Dinner. God, this …  delusion was just  stupid. It wasn't like this was going to go anywhere and dinner was  just going to make it even harder to walk away. The longer I thought  about it, the more I realized this was a big mistake. Huge. Nothing good  could come from letting my desire, my stupid hope, linger.