Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Josh, what’s the word on Collins?” I asked as soon as my cousin answered his phone.
“I’d managed to get close enough to him to plant a listening device in his car.
So far, there had just been a bunch of grumblings to his lawyers about the deal you gave him.
There are no loopholes. He’ll either have to take the deal or give his company over to his son, and you’ll have controlling interest either way.
But he was on the way to the airport. There was no mention of where he was headed, though. What did his assistant tell you?”
“You mean in between the screaming orgasms,” I chuckled, and Josh laughed with me.
Damn, she was fun.
“Yeah, what secrets did she tell you in your secret room?”
“Only that he was leaning toward giving the company to his son to run. He’d rather keep it in the family than me take it over.”
I put my feet up on the coffee table, enjoying the fact I had the upper hand in this situation.
“I still can’t believe you put that shit in an offer. Man, you are fucking crazy.”
“It’s a lose-lose situation for him. I win regardless of what he chooses.”
“How did everything go with Lowery? Is he still refusing?”
The adrenaline pumped into my veins thinking about how fucking badass Tisha McLean was. She was all I thought she was and more.
“After our little visit, I don’t think that will be a problem any longer,” I said.
“Really? And why is that?”
“Let’s just say, Miss McLean is going to be worth the money.”
Josh belted out a laugh over the line. “Oh hell, she’s fucked. I see you have your radar set.”
I took my feet down from the table and headed to my bedroom. I needed to start getting dressed for this gotdamn charity ball tonight.
“You could say that,” I agreed, thinking about Miss McLean in the dress I had Donavon buy for her.
The jewelry was a last-minute addition. I knew she’d probably refuse to wear the dress and the jewelry, but for some strange reason, I wanted her to like them.
I wanted her to know I bought them for her.
“I’ll be in touch, Josh,” I said, hanging up. A beautiful distraction was on my mind for the moment that I wanted to concentrate on.
Typically, I didn’t buy jewelry for women, not even those I fucked.
And I definitely didn’t give a damn if they liked me or not.
But with Miss McLean, it mattered. I pushed the reasoning behind it to the back of my mind as I strolled to my closet, pulling out my tux.
I hated going to shit like this, but I had to keep up appearances for my legitimate business and the press.
The media would be there tonight, so I needed to warn Miss McLean about the potential headlines that were going to accompany the pictures that would be taken of us.
I threw my tux on the bed and sauntered to the window. I opened the curtains and stared out over the city. It was so different from my beloved Chicago, yet the same. The busyness of downtown wasn’t that dissimilar, but there was nothing like Chicago.
I inhaled deeply, then blew it out. I was tired. Tired of people trying to kill me. Tired of the business, but I had too much riding on my work. This was my life, and I accepted that a long time ago.
Well, man the fuck up.
There were less than two hours before I had to be at the mayor’s house. I still hadn’t touched base with Donavon. I dialed his number. “Donavon. Talk to me.”
“Everything is in place for tonight. The guys are about to leave now to meet up with security at the party and do their rounds. Miss McLean’s dress, shoes, and jewelry were placed in her room before the two of you got back.
And…” He paused. I could hear paper rattling through the receiver.
“Lowery has sent out the shipment you asked for. It’s coming by truck and should be in Chicago in about two days,” he finished.
I smiled. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. I’ll be ready to leave in an hour and a half.”
“I’ll let the driver know. Anything else?”
I shook my head as if he could see me. “No. Take the rest of the night off.”
“Will do.”
I ended the call.
I peeled my clothes off, ready to hit the shower and get rid of some of the stress for the day. I kept seeing how stunned Miss McLean had been after shooting a man. Certainly, in her line of work with the Navy, she’d shot someone before, but you would think she was in shock by her reaction earlier.
She made my protective instincts rise. I never wanted to comfort someone before, and I didn’t know why in the hell I pulled her into my arms. All I thought was how good her soft curves felt in my hands. Even now, I was getting hard thinking about her in that dress tonight.
I palmed my dick as I turned on the spray of the shower.
I stepped under the flow, letting the water beat down my body, relaxing me.
I pictured Miss McLean. Her hair pulled back in that vicious bun she wears.
Her pink pouty lips would look perfect around my dick.
I tugged the length of my shaft, groaning.
I’d never been one to indulge in masturbation.
I didn’t have to with a readily supply of pussy, but I wanted Miss McLean so bad.
A release was required before I spent the rest of the night with her.
My hand worked overtime as I pictured her with her legs spread, her pussy wet and ready for me. I’d never come as hard or as fast. If I gave a fuck, I would be embarrassed, but I wasn’t in the slightest bit.
I finished my shower and stepped out of the enclosure, turning the water off. I grabbed a towel from the bathroom linen closet and wrapped it around my waist.
It wouldn’t take me too long to get dressed, so I decided to have a drink. It would take all I had tonight to put on the fakeness required to schmooze with those pompous assholes.
“I hate this bullshit.”
I opted for the whiskey from the fully stocked bar of top-shelf everything, uncorked it, and poured it into a tumbler.
I downed the glass, then added two blocks of ice to the empty glass and poured more.
This time I sipped, savoring it as I stepped out onto the balcony to sit and enjoy the fresh air.
I had no shame in what my physique looked like. I was still in good shape.
I never took the time to be at home. I supposed that was why I often took trips out of town. Not every trip was about business. Some of them were for my mental health. It was fucking exhausting looking over my shoulder all the time.
I couldn’t put off dressing in the tux any longer. I reluctantly downed the rest of my drink, stood, and stretched.
“Fuck, I feel old.”
I headed back inside, putting the glass on the counter as I passed by on the way to my room.
I needed to pick up Miss McLean. I had a feeling the note I left her was not going to go over well with her.
I was surprised she hadn’t banged on my room door yet.
Satisfied with my look, I headed for the door.
I put my room key inside my inner jacket pocket and stepped out into the hallway.
I wasn’t sure why I’ve got the jitters. I was fucking Steven Smith.
I didn’t get jitters, but I was brimming with anticipation to see that green against her beautiful skin.
I knocked on her door and waited.
“I’m coming,” I heard her call from inside the room.
Seconds later, unspeakable beauty stood face-to-face with me.
I imagined how comical I looked. I forced myself to close my mouth and schooled my features.
There was no hiding the lust and desire in my eyes, and I didn’t want to.
I wanted Tisha McLean to see the effect she had on me and to know eventually we were going to do something about it.
“You look lovely,” I said, the octave of my voice lower than its usual bravado.
“Look, I can’t accept these.” She held out the three boxes of jewelry.
“Indulge me. Just this once. Plus, I can’t take them back,” I explained as she held the door open wider so I could step into the room.
She shook her head but placed the boxes on the table and opened the first one. “Why would you even go to all this trouble?”
I sidled up next to her. Damn, she was beautiful, with her hair hanging over her shoulders and down her back in soft ringlets.
I wanted to wrap the strands around my fist and devour her mouth.
My dick stirred. I wanted Miss McLean tied to my bed and at my mercy.
It would be fun to see the hard veneer shatter in ecstasy.
I took the necklace from her hands. “Here, let me.” Moving her hair out of my way, I grazed her skin. A shiver ran through her body when I placed the necklace around her delicate neck, loving the way her skin felt with the slightest touch of my fingers.
Interesting.
Miss McLean was as affected by me as I was by her. I was going to take full advantage of the information. I leaned forward next to her ear. “And to answer your question,” I whispered, “because I can.”
I softly kissed the area behind her ear, then gently nibbled.
The moan she released went straight to my already stiffened shaft as I stepped away from her.
If I wanted, I could take her right on this table, but I didn’t want things to be that easy with Miss McLean.
It was easy with every woman I’d ever been with, but she was different. I could wait.
The alert rang out I had a message. I retrieved my phone from my pocket to see it was a message from Josh letting me know Derrick Collins would be at the charity ball tonight.
She cleared her throat when she realized I was no longer playing my game and put the rest of the jewelry on as I waited.
“I’m ready,” she said, adjusting her thigh holster. I couldn’t help but smirk, because although I was treating this as an actual date, true to her form, she was on duty. This was her job, and she was taking it seriously.