“Well, let’s find out. I’m going out on the yacht tomorrow, and I would love for you to join me and keep me company.”
She stopped walking and turned to face him, a doubtful scowl on her face. “Look, Mr. Princeton…”
“Tyler,” he corrected.
The lines on her forehead grew deeper, her expression more disturbed. “Tyler. I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but whatever it is, I don’t appreciate being made a fool.”
He shook his head, smiling. “It’s really hard to believe that someone as beautiful as you isn’t used to being asked out.” He felt a stab of satisfaction as she blushed. “Look, Valerie, I’m not going to lie to you. I find you incredibly attractive. Is it so wrong of me to be up front?”
Her blush darkened and spread down her throat. “I guess not.”
He stepped closer so they were almost touching, leaning down so his lips hovered only slightly above hers. She trembled visibly as his breath tickled across her face. “So, is that a yes?”
With a shuddering sigh, she said, “I guess so, yes.”
Triumphant, he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, his face only inches away from hers.
“Perfect. Now, let’s hope the Blues Brothers stay in their office all day. It’ll mean a very light work day for you, and less pretending to be busy for me.” He laughed at her suspicious look. “I’m only here to pacify my father, Valerie. Of course, I don’t regret coming now that I’ve met you, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to conform to dear Dad’s idea of success.”
* * *
As it turned out, Sean and Aaron came out of the office about twenty minutes before lunch, one of them sending Valerie a disinterested wave over his shoulder as they headed for the elevator. And a mere twenty-five minutes later, the lift dinged, and a bike courier delivered lunch for Tyler, who popped out of his office and handed over what looked to Valerie like an exorbitant amount of money for a tip.
When the carrier left, he began opening bags and arranging contents on her desk.
“Tyler, I’m sorry, but I have some work to do, and your lunch is in my way.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “Aren’t you hungry? I ordered with the intention of feeding two. I can’t eat all this myself.”
Valerie couldn’t believe this. The food smelled incredible, and as he opened it to reveal Indian cuisine, she couldn’t help but be grateful as her stomach growled at the delicious smells. He’d even ordered her favorite chicken masala, and she waved him away from it as she grabbed the dish.
“That’s it, the rest is yours. This? Is all mine.”
He laughed, and the sound was deep and enticing. “I see I’ve hit a soft spot. I’ll have to remember that.” Surrendering with flourish, he held up his hands and bowed. “It’s all yours.”
As they ate, Tyler talked to her about sailing, and she listened intently, genuinely interested. Sean and Aaron returned as they were cleaning up, and one of them gave her a smile she was sure was meant to be salacious.
“Tyler, who is your friend?”
One look at Tyler proved he had no sense of humor about this matter. “Don’t you recognize her? This is the third time you’ve passed her today. She’s our legal assistant intern. Valerie, meet my cousin, Aaron and his brother,” he offered, indicating the one standing to the side with a look like he’s smelled something rotten, “Sean. Guys, this is Valerie Gordon.”
Aaron took her hand and tried to raise it to his lips, but Valerie pulled away, and Tyler instantly put a hand on her shoulder. She wasn’t sure if that was protective or territorial, but at this moment, she didn’t much care. Aaron was obviously a leech, and as for Sean, if he was going to look down on her as if he’d just pulled her out of a bog, she certainly wanted nothing to do with him.
“I’m sure she’s pleased you’ve finally had the manners to acknowledge her existence. Now, go back to your video games and YouTube and leave her alone.” He turned back to Valerie, taking the trash from her desk. “I’m going Gordontairs for a cigarette, if you’d like to join me.”
She didn’t smoke, but there was enough tension in the air to crackle like static electricity, and she was grateful for the exit. “Sure, I’ll go down with you.”
“Or maybe go down on you,” she heard Aaron mutter under his breath.
In the blink of an eye, Tyler had crossed the room and had his cousin pinned against the wall. “You will show respect to our assistant. She is my father’s employee, just like you, and that makes her your equal, not the butt of your jokes. If I hear another comment like that from you, I will have harassment charges filed against you, and you’ll lose this job, your reputation, a lot of money, and that precious license to practice in the state of Washington.”
Tyler released him and turned before he could answer, taking Valerie’s hand and leading her to the stairwell. He had no patience left to wait for the elevator. He was fuming. Had he not obligated himself to working here long enough to reap his trust fund reward, he would have pummeled the a**hole into the ground and not thought twice about it. As it was, he had about a year to fulfill his obligation, and he didn’t want to come off as too much of the bad boy he was to the very clean-cut Valerie.
But apparently he’d already messed that up. “How many tattoos do you have?” she asked as he rolled up his sleeves and lit his cigarette. He looked down and realized that the dragon winding all the way from the top of his shoulder to the tip of his little finger was very much exposed in all its bright, colorful glory. He wanted to curse.
Thinking and counting, he sighed heavily as he replied, “Fifteen and a half.”
Her laughter rang out in the air like church bells and gave him goosebumps. “What do you mean, a half?”
He couldn’t help but smile as he unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and watched her swallow hard as she looked at his chest. He pulled the material to the side, showing her the outline of the Gothic castle and the reaper-like creature standing guard.
“I mean, these are drawn but not shaded with color yet. I’m getting that done this weekend.”
“Nice.”
He chuckled softly in disbelief. “You don’t have any tattoos?”
She shook her head, deflating a little. “I could never decide what I wanted enough to stick it on my body permanently.”
“You should think about it. You have great skin for it and a gorgeous figure. You should definitely show it off with a little ink.”
For what had to be the eightieth time today, Valerie felt herself blushing. He must have some ulterior motive because men with half his looks had balked at the idea of dating her. She was by no means beautiful, and she saw it everywhere in fashion trends like skinny jeans, runway models getting taller and thinner, a new diet on the bestseller list every week. What on earth could Prince Alarming really find attractive about her?
She’d give him his date on the yacht tomorrow, but then she was done with this. There would be no more playing around with a boss who was obviously just looking for a temporary distraction.
* * *
“You planning on showing up on time tomorrow?”
The door barely shut, Tyler leaned his head back against it, grinding his teeth at his father’s disappointed voice as he called in a dry tone from his seat, no doubt, in front of the television.
“I was only five minutes late today, Dad. Maybe you didn’t know this, but I had to fill out paperwork with human resources in order to start getting a paycheck.”
His father’s sarcastic laugh rankled him, and he clenched his fists as the man, who still for some reason considered himself a southern gentleman and not the shark he was in the courtroom, appeared at the other end of the long foyer hallway. “You shouldn’t even be getting paid. I should treat you like a damn intern and pay you pennies on the dollar. You have all the money you need. You should learn some work ethic.”
This coming from a man who charged companies going through bankruptcy more than their business had ever been worth. Who had taken poor men to the cleaners to build his initial fortune when he’d been a criminal attorney.
“I’m not lazy, Dad.”
“No, you just waste all your damn time with useless shit like racing and playing kid games.”
Hockey had never been just a game to Tyler, but his father couldn’t understand that. He was too wrapped up in his own world and his love of money to care what his son wanted in life.
His anger boiling over, he spat back, “Maybe I feel like what you do is all a game. Arguing with grown men in a courtroom where another old man bangs a gavel to calm you down before you start wrestling on the floor and punching each other’s lights out.”
“Listen, you selfish little bastard, all I want for you is success. So don’t embarrass me, or I will cut you off. Right now.”
Tyler pushed past his father. “I don’t have the energy for this. I have to be at work in the morning. I’m going to bed.” He stomped to his bedroom and slammed the door, knowing it was childish and not caring. His father charged between $600 and $1000 an hour for his services. In 45 minutes tonight, Tyler had made $3000. But because it wasn’t a ‘respectable’ profession like being a bloodsucking lawyer, racing bikes didn’t count as a source of income, even if you were good at it.
Just like signing a multimillion-dollar contract to play professional hockey had been out of line.
“Guess what, Dad,” he muttered to himself as he stripped down to his skivvies. “I’m pretty sure you won’t approve of my date tomorrow, either.” But screw it, he liked Valerie. And more than that, he desperately wanted to feel her in his arms, to run his fingers over those stunning curves, to taste her sweet nectar. He’d abide by the requirements of his agreement with his father so he could get his trust fund, but then he’d quit the damn firm and live his life the way he wanted, out from under his father’s thumb.
Lying on his bed his thoughts turned to Valerie. Imagining her nak*d, riding him while he massaged her br**sts and watched the hunger growing in her eyes. He envisioned her voluptuous body pushing down on him, accepting every inch of his c*ck and before too long the rage he felt towards his father was gone, replaced by the strongest desire for a woman that he’d ever felt. And it surprised and scared him.
* * *
Valerie had spent the entire day at her desk, and she was utterly grateful that none of her charges had asked her for anything. She didn’t think she would have been able to concentrate on any assigned task. All she could do was watch time tick by on the clock and wait impatiently. The tension rode high, and while she was a bit frightened that this was all just a joke, a horrible prank, just like in high school, the idea of going on a date with Tyler truly excited her, in more ways than one.
As her thoughts wandered to what they might do alone on a yacht in the middle of the water, she had to go to the restroom several times to clean herself up, the moisture constant and threatening to seep through her clothes. She’d never been so attracted to someone that just the thought of that person made her wet, but something about Tyler was different. So very different. She couldn’t stop thinking about him, about what he would look like in nothing more than a fitted pair of shorts, the sun kissing his bronzed skin, the sparkling water reflecting in those beautiful blue eyes.