Lip Service:A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance(9)

And there was no way in hell I was turning into that girl, no matter how  much I wanted him. Sure, I'd been a virgin, but I wasn't naïve enough  to think it was anything more than hot, recreational sex between two  consenting adults.

If I hadn't already given my notice, I'd be freaking out right about  now. But I had a nine o'clock meeting with my new financial team and  only five more days in the Buchanan office. Which meant I would need to  survive two more meetings between Carter and Ford. Two hours in Carter's  presence. And then? A new job. New people.

New life.

I glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand. Seven, and I still had  to get home, shower, and change into something respectable for my  meeting.

With a sigh, I pulled free of Carter's hold and slid out of bed. First  thing I did was use my phone's app to call a car. I watched the little  dot work its way around the streets a few miles away. Six minutes. I had  six minutes to be out front.

It didn't take long to get dressed, because I hadn't been wearing much.  My panties were gone, nowhere to be seen. I still had on the garters and  stockings, and my bra was on the floor next to Carter's dress shirt.  Unhooking the snagged and ruined stockings, I stripped them off and  dropped them on the corner of the bed. I shimmied into my skirt and had  the little pearl buttons done up on my blouse in record time. I was  hopping on one foot, trying to get my heels on when I felt the energy in  the room shift.

Carter.

"Where do you think you're going so early?" He rolled over onto his  back, the dark sheet low over his abdomen. All that muscle on display  made my mouth water, and from the cocky grin on Carter's face, he'd been  watching me admire him.

"I have a meeting at nine. I have to go." I grabbed my cell phone and  credit card and ID and shoved them back in my bra in preparation for my  walk of shame.

He watched me, his eyes soft and warm. The look he was giving me made my  heart ache, made me long to crawl back into that big bed with him, curl  up and purr like a kitten.

"Stay. Just for a few minutes longer."

"I can't."

He raised a brow, frowning. "Then kiss me before you go."

I shook my head, backing away from temptation. "I don't think so."

"Emma. Come here." He sat abruptly, the sheet falling to dangerous  levels and I got my first glimpse of the head of his very large, very  impressive morning wood. Oh, God. He was magnificent. I'd seen him the  night before, but in the bright morning light …  My pussy clenched as  arousal struck me hard and fast, the slight pain between my legs a  reminder of exactly where that hard length had been last night.

I took another step and bit my lip. "No. I have to go." I was at the  door when he stood, his bare body on display like a Greek god's. His  dark hair was tousled from sleep and he looked even more beautiful.  Approachable. Real. It wasn't fair, his perfection. It simply wasn't  fair to us mere mortals. "I have to go, Carter. I'm … I … " What the hell  was I supposed to say? Thanks for taking my virginity. It was fun?  "Thank you for last night."







"Emma-"

I interrupted him, waving my hand in the air to get him to stop talking.  It was hard enough as it was. "I know it was just one night, Carter.  Don't worry. I won't say anything at the office."

"Emma-that's not … "

I bolted before he could finish his sentence. I didn't want platitudes  or promises he wouldn't keep. I knew the rules, and I'd agreed to play  the game. And what a game it had been. He'd definitely scored a goal,  but we'd both been winners. But the game was over. Now, it was time for  me to act like a mature adult and leave without a lot of drama. And,  apparently, without my panties.

His house was huge, the long hallways filled with classic pieces of art  and rugs that probably cost more than I'd make in a year. Yeah, he was  so out of my league.

Luckily, I made my way straight to the front door. Carter appeared at  the top of the stairs, and he'd taken the time to put on his pants, but  left them unbuttoned and hanging low over his hips. His feet were bare  and his chest was on magnificent display. I paused just long enough to  burn the image into my brain for later inspection and waved as I opened  the door.

"Emma, stay right where you are," he commanded. "We need to talk."

I shook my head. Why did he have to make it so hard? Since when did the love-'em-and-leave-'em types want to talk?

"No, we don't. I'm a big girl. I might have been a virgin, but I do know  what a one-night stand is." I smiled a super-bright, ridiculous, over  the top smile to make sure he knew I was all right, even though I felt  anything but. "Thanks, Carter. Bye."

Slamming the door behind me, I jogged in my high-heels like an idiot  down the ridiculously long, curved drive. Giant trees lined both sides  of the private road leading to Carter's mansion. Perfectly manicured  flower beds and shrubs completed the look of an old, stately estate. I  turned around as I fled and took in the two-story, colonial mansion with  its marble columns, giant windows and bright white walls. It looked  like something out of a fairy tale. The prince with the magical cock.

But I was no princess. Damn it anyway.

The car I'd been expecting pulled up and I slid into the back seat just  as the Carter stepped out onto the porch. I waved as my driver completed  the circuit and pulled away from the only man on the planet I'd never  wanted to leave.

"Bye, Carter." I whispered my goodbyes as the driver pulled onto the  street. I wiped a tear from my cheek. Just one. And I refused to think  about why I was crying at all.





Chapter 7





Carter



"Where the hell is she?" I walked into Ford's office with Emma's panties in my pocket.

She'd run from me. Scared. I should have anticipated that, but I'd  fucked up. I'd let her slip through my fingers. Should have told her  what I felt for her. Why she was the only woman I'd ever taken into my  home, into my bed. She thought I'd wanted a one-night-stand, that I'd  fuck her and forget. Hell, even take her virginity and then walk away.  She'd given it to me and I did not take that lightly. Apparently, she  was under the misconception otherwise. It was time to set things right.

What we shared had been wild and dirty. Steamy hot. But it had also  been …  special. The connection we shared was unlike anything I'd ever  felt before with any woman. I didn't just eat her out, I memorized her  taste. I didn't just take her virginity, I watched her, listened to her  and learned what made her hot, what made her cry out my name. What made  her come on a fucking scream.

She'd fallen asleep a sweaty, panting mess, well satisfied and  definitely no longer a virgin. Why she fled when it was so good between  us was something I'd have to find out.

She said she had a meeting at nine. It was nine-fifteen, Ford was in his  office and a woman I didn't recognize was sitting at Emma's desk.

What. The. Fuck?

If Emma thought she was going to get away from me that easily, she was in for the shock of her life.

Ford looked up from the report in his hand to inspect me. He looked like  he always did, like an uptight prick. Which he was. If anyone needed to  get laid, it was my brother. He looked like me, with lighter brown  hair, milk chocolate instead of dark, green eyes instead of my brown,  and our father's scowl on his face. His eyes bored into me with the keen  intelligence that had led our company since our father's retirement two  years ago. Ford was a merciless, brilliant asshole, and the Buchanan  family counted on that fact every damn day. In fact, I often tried to  emulate him. But right now, I was not in the mood to play games.

"Who?"

"Emma."

"Oh." Ford's dismissive tone matched his expression and he returned his  attention to the paperwork in front of him like I wasn't standing in his  office with my dick in my hand. "Gone."







"What do you mean, gone?"

My brother didn't bother to look up. "She's at a meeting. Miller and Walsh. Two blocks down, shiny building on the right."

"I know where their office is." We'd been doing business with them for  over a decade. Good god, was my brother purposely being an obtuse ass or  was he blind? I sank down into the chair opposite Ford and put my feet  up on his desk, just to piss him off. I slammed my heels, good and hard,  on the polished wood to get his fucking attention. "Why is she there?"

Ford's jaw clenched as he looked at my shoes on his sacred antique  mahogany, but he put the fucking piece of paper down and looked at me.  "She's meeting her new financial team."

"Why do you have a financial team at Miller and Walsh?"

Ford rolled his eyes and slowly smiled. Women tossed panties at him  because of that smile. He didn't do it often, so that damn grin made me  nervous. "I don't." Ford leaned over his desk, his arms crossed and  resting on the paperwork spread out over his desk. "Why are you so  interested in Miss Sanders' whereabouts?"