Owned(2)

“That’s good.” I smile. “No lunch for you?” I ask casually.

“I have another meeting in an hour. I’ll be having lunch then. Mark said I could utilize the conference room to do some work to kill time.”

“I see,” I say as I pick up the last folder.

“What about you?” He tracks my movements with his majestic blue eyes. They remind me of a wild jungle cat.

“My lunch is sitting right in front of you. I’ll be dining on miniature cupcakes.”

“Healthy,” he mocks.

“I know, but they’re little. So ... less calories?” I shrug playfully.

“I guess that’s one way to spin it.” He smiles, pulling the silver tray toward him. “Which flavor is your favorite?” Kayne looks up at me like I’m a confection sweet enough to eat. I swallow hard.

“It’s a toss-up between the red velvet and lemon drop.”

“Well, I’m a red velvet man myself.” He picks up the lone red velvet cupcake on the plate. “Would you mind sharing your lunch with me, Ellie?”

“Of course not. It’s only polite to share.” I fiddle with the collar of my dress shirt.

Kayne pulls the wrapper off of the dyed cake, and then splits it in two. “Sit.”

I take a seat next to him, still clutching the file folders in my arms.

He offers me one half of the cupcake, and I take it with trembling fingers.

“Do I make you nervous, Ellie?” he asks as he lightly licks the cream cheese frosting.

“No.” I try to play it cool. “Just too much coffee.”

“I see.” He stares at me intensely as he laps the top of the cupcake clean. I think I just came watching his tongue work the icing. “Aren’t you going to eat?” he asks enticingly, right before he stuffs the naked cupcake into his mouth. I just sit there frozen, trying not to squish the dessert still in my hand.

This man could write a handbook on seduction. Chapter one: Cupcakes.

Kayne looks at me expectantly. Without even thinking, I shove my half into my mouth. Not seductively at all. I’d be the first one to buy that handbook. Kayne smirks, his eyes alight. Then he brushes a crumb off my bottom lip. I nearly pass out.

“Did you decide what school you’re going to attend in the fall?” he asks as he lounges back in his chair. I can’t believe it. We had that conversation over three months ago, the last time he was here.

“You remembered?” I can’t stop the smile from spreading across my face.

“I’m in the business of not forgetting.” He skims his tie slowly between his thumb and index finger. Lucky tie.

“It’s between the University of Miami, NC State, and Hawaii,” I tell him.

“Inclined to warm weather.”

I pout my lip. “I’ve never been away from the East Coast. I wanted a change. I plan to visit Europe next summer.”

“Ambitious.”

His responses are so simple, so controlled, yet so inveigling it feels like I’m falling into a trance.

“I want more than a two-bedroom apartment shared by four people,” I divulge meekly.

“I admire your aspirations. Do you know what you’re going to study?”

“Logistics.”

“Thinking about starting your own import/export? I’d hire you.” His gaze is heavy, probing almost. Is it suddenly hot in here?

“Well, thank you for the vote of confidence. But I’m not sure what I want to do yet. I just know it’s an open field. And something I’ve come to learn.”

“Do what you know?”

“Something like that.”

Kayne nods, glancing at his watch. “Crap, Ellie, I have to go.”

“I understand.” We both stand up, our chests landing an inch apart. I stop breathing.

Kayne stares down at me with those mesmerizing eyes. “Thank you for sharing your lunch with me.”

“Anytime,” I breathe. Inhaling the clean scent of his expensive cologne. The smell is heady.

“Kayne?”

“Mmmm hmmm, Ellie?” He leans a little closer.

“Are you going to Mark’s party tonight?” I ask, a little lightheaded from his scent and his proximity.

A smile plays on his lips. “I was invited.”

“And are you going?”

“Will you be there?” he counters.

“It depends.”

“On what?”

“If I’ll be spending the evening alone or not.” I stare straight up at him, trying not to waver.

“Are you asking me out, Ellie?”

Am I?

“Maybe.” I bite my lip.

“Then maybe I’ll be there.”

Did he just accept?

With that, Kayne picks up his phone from the table and drops it into his pocket. I just watch him like a dumbstruck fool.

“Until tonight,” he says, then steps away from me and starts for the door. “Oh, and Ellie.” He stops short right next to me so we are shoulder to shoulder. “The next time you want to get my attention. Bend over. Your tits are nice, but I’m more of an ass man.”

He then leaves.

With me nailed to the floor.





I SHOULD HAVE SAID NO.

I should’ve just blown Ellie off then apologized for it the next time I saw her. Blaming it on a business issue that needed my immediate attention. But I didn’t. Because right now I’m standing at the bar in the middle of a trendy downtown restaurant waiting for Ellie the way a dog would wait for a bone.

I’ll give it to Mark. He knows where to throw a party. You had to walk through a pawn shop to get into the place. The first floor is a lounge. The second is where dinner is served. The diners can look down over the railing at the patrons mingling on the white leather couches shrouded in florescent light. Like a legal peep show.

Only in fucking Manhattan.

I’ve already said hello to Mark and some other employees of his. I was introduced to some of his other clients as well. Very kissy kissy, shaky shaky business shit. It goes with the territory. Now I’m sucking down bourbon like a drain in a distillery, regretting that I’m here. I regret even more that I told Ellie she has nice tits. Good going. Then, just to add fuel to the fire, I told her I was an ass man. If she only knew how true that was. It’s exactly why I shouldn’t be here. Ellie is too sweet. Too playful. I would never want to take those traits away from her. She reminds me of a frisky kitten tangled in a strand of yarn. She has no idea how tangled she’ll be if she gets involved with me.

I slug some more bourbon. If she’s not here by the time I finish this drink, I’m out. I suck down the last drops of alcohol in the glass and get ready to jet.

That’s when I spot her. I stop dead in my tracks as she walks toward me. She’s wearing a scrap of material I think she’s trying to pass off as a dress. It’s all skintight, long-sleeved, and super short.

“Hi.” She greets me with a bright smile. “Are you leaving?”

I jingle the keys in my hand. I should say yes. I should bolt out of this room and never look back. But instead I say, “I was beginning to think you stood me up.”

“Never. I’m a woman. We’re always fashionably late.” She bats her eyelashes flirtatiously.

Not if you were my woman.

“Buy you a drink?” I ask as I greedily ingest every sexy inch of her in that skintight dress.

“Yes please, a vodka and tonic with lemon.”

“Lemon?” I curl my lip.

“Yes.” She giggles.

“Most people drink it with a lime.”

Ellie shrugs. “I’m not most people.”

You certainly are not.

I order our drinks just as Mark appears from the masses. “There she is. My magic glitter in high heels.” He holds out his arms like she’s a Broadway diva who just gave the performance of her life.

He’s definitely a little trashed. It’s only when Ellie turns to kiss Mark hello do I notice the back of her dress; a huge oval cut-out is exposing her bare skin. Holy shit. It’s provocative as hell, and I nearly choke.

“So glad you could make it, Kayne.” He shakes my hand and tells me again—for the third time. “Take care of my little Ellie here. She’s leaving us soon, and I won’t be able to find my ass without her.”

“Aww,” Ellie coos. “That is the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Hold on to your knickers, kid. If you’re even wearing any under that dress. It barely covers your bottom,” he muses.

And I love it.

Mark pauses, looking between us with his bloodshot eyes. “What was I saying?”

“Goodbye,” I chime in.

He lifts his glass to cheer us and goes on his merry way. I shake my head as he gets lost in the crowd. He is a character. Brilliant, but still a character.

“When do you start school?” I ask Ellie as the bartender serves us our drinks.

“September. I finally made my decision.”

“And where are you going?”

“Hawaii. I mailed the deposit check on my way here.” She’s practically glowing.

“Definitely the school I would have picked,” I say, excited for her, yet at the same time I suddenly feel sad. I shake off the odd sentiment. Maybe the bourbon is going to my head. I raise my glass. “To rainbows, surfing, and getting lei’d.”

Ellie laughs freely, clinking my glass. “To getting lei’d.” Our eyes linger long after we take a sip of our drinks. I feel the heated stare radiate through the whole room.