Chapter 6
My nerves jangle as I ride up to the executive offices. Echoes of Marc”s “nice girl” advice war with images of Maddie”s hazel eyes glowing amber in the firelight. I shake away the memories. This is strictly business.
I burst back onto the twenty-fifth floor, snapping at my assistant, Jessica. “Get me Maddie Emerson from PR.”
Once in my office, I pace behind the mahogany desk, rehearsing different variations from casually professional to icy intimidation. Somehow neither extreme seems likely to convince her that this arrangement would be a win-win.
A soft rap at the door stalls my spinning thoughts, and Jessica peeks in. “I’ve got Maddie here.”
She steps aside, and Maddie slips in hesitantly, discomfort radiating from her stiff posture. Can”t say I blame her after the verbal lashing I handed out this morning.
I smooth my features into polite interest, tamping down memories of her creamy skin glowing in the flickering firelight. “Ms. Emerson, please sit. Settling in alright on your first day?”
Her brows lift slightly in surprise. “Oh. Yes, sir, well enough, I suppose.”
Hearing her call me sirsnaps a cord in me, sending a wave of heat to my skin. If this room was any cooler, I’d probably be radiating dampness.
“Good, good,” I plow forward before losing the nerve. “And you have ideas to increase our social media traction with our key demographic?”
Maddie clears her throat, straightening in the plush guest seat across from me. “So, I just have a few clarification questions if you have a moment.” She halts, then looks at me inquisitively and adds, “Sir.”
Again, that word. My groin is starting to pulse painfully.
It’s obvious that she noticed its effect on me, a trace of a smirk playing in the corners of her mouth.
The same mouth I would like to put to a different use right now.
“Ask away,” I manage to grind.
“I was impressed touring the VR department today and seeing some of their simulation technology. I’m wondering about its application, who it is meant for. Then I’ll be able to tailor the campaigns more effectively.”
She continues on while I stare at her soft lips, mesmerized. I remember how they felt marking my skin with their wet heat. “I”d love to understand more about that initiative as well as some other of your more established product lines. That way I can better inform social strategy to amplify what makes Whitmore Tech unique.”
“I”ll have the innovation group send you background materials for a full context.”
Maddie nods slowly, a tight, polite smile on her lips. “Of course, that will be helpful to inform my proposal. I told Amanda earlier that I plan to do a full audit of the existing social media footprint right away.”
Maddie continues detailing thoughts on branded hashtag campaigns and influencer partnerships. But despite my businesslike facade, I notice tension creeping in, her shoulders slightly raised. Once she wraps up the notes I can scarcely focus on, I give a cursory nod. “Well, this sounds like a solid start.” Not that I could tell what approach exactly I have just given the green light to.
“Right. Was there anything else you needed . . . sir?” The emphasis she puts on the honorific pierces me again, sounding oddly appealing in her nervous lilt. But at the expectant look on her face, all carefully prepared arguments fly right out of my fool brain.
As I remain silent, cursing myself for my physical reaction to her, Maddie stands to leave, and I blurt out “Actually, there is one other thing . . . Little Bird.”
At my words, she freezes, then turns back slowly.
“So, you do remember me? Could have fooled me there for a minute.”
I fold my hands on the desk, willing myself to press on.
Just propose it to her logically. It’s a win-win.
“I have a position to fill. It’s a unique role, rather time sensitive. But it comes with great benefits and pay.”
Maddie”s eyes narrow, but she sinks slowly back into her chair. I take that as my cue to press on.
“It’s a long story. It has to do with a patriarchal order, so I’m sure you will disapprove. But I need a fiancé. It’s a temporary arrangement, six months to a year.” I rush through the words, ignoring her dropped jaw. “Compensation will include a million dollars upon completion of the contract.”
“You . . . you want me to MARRY you? After you refused to . . . to . . .” Maddie sputters.
“To fuck you?” I supply, unable to stop myself, heat spreading through my body. I imagine that if I had given in, I wouldn’t be this hung up on her. Maybe if I’d had her, she wouldn’t be living in my head rent free.
“Is this some kind of a twisted joke? You said you don’t do relationships,” she spits, her tone dripping with unmistakable indignation.
“Not marriage,” I correct her coolly. “Engagement. A fake one. You will publicly play the doting fiancé, especially when my father is around. Or any other people, really. But we would retain separate private lives.”
As she gapes wordlessly, I push forward.
“You”d live with me in my townhouse in Greenwich Village, of course. My father must see that we share living quarters. Where do you live now?”
“On East Seventy-seventh Street, with my sisters,” she almost whispers.
I stand up, moving closer. Her surprise shifts to something else as I grab her arm and pull her to stand in front of me. In these dastardly heels, she almost reaches my nose. I can’t say I dislike it. I would only have to lean in slightly to brush her soft lips with mine.
“We’ve shared some . . . uh . . . intimacy already,” I begin delicately, mincing words. “It would make the acting all the more convincing. But it would all be just for show.” Unable to resist, I reach out and graze her arm. Her breath catches. Our gazes light on one another, the air suddenly molten.
“What do you say?” I trail my fingers down to brush her wrist, feeling her pulse”s frantic hum echoing my own raging heartbeat.
“So, we’d be sort of like . . . roommates?” She lifts her head to me, a strand of her hair brushing my arm, sending me into a near catatonic state.
I haven’t considered all the details of this arrangement for too long. For example, I haven’t taken into account how I would manage to live in the same house with a girl whose beauty and sweetness make me lose all sense of myself. Even if it is in a large brownstone.
“Something like that, yeah,” I force out, my body breaking into a sweat. “Just with a bit more room than you’d have in college.”
Her lips tremble. I want to taste them and stop the soft quaking with my own mouth. As a hot tear escapes down her cheek, I can’t help but reach out and wipe it away with my finger, cursing myself for making her cry.
“And you think that’s what I would want?” she asks quietly, batting away more tears.
I reach for her chin and lift her face to me. “I still remember every detail, Little Bird, if that’s what you’re wondering.” She gasps, her eyes lifting to mine, glistening. “But I warned you. I don’t want you to get attached to me. It’s better this way, trust me.”
She shudders out a breath as my thumb grazes her lower lip. It would be so easy to give in, damn all caution to hell.
I watch her steady resolve start crumbling, but then she straightens her shoulders defiantly. “Would this arrangement involve sex?”
“No.” My voice is firm, snapping me out of my daze. But my dick has turned to steel, pulsing painfully. Who am I kidding? It’s another thing I haven’t taken into account. Would I be able to have Maddie live in my house and keep my hands to myself?
“You deserve to be with someone who will love you back, Little Bird,” I manage to say.
“Don’t call me that.” She angrily steps away from me and takes in a sharp breath. “So, I assume I would be allowed to fuck someone else, then? I just want to understand the complete terms of this arrangement. Sir.”
At the image of her with someone else, any ounce of self-control I had left disappears. Her calling me sir doesn’t help matters, either. Every inch of me short circuits. I grab her arms and pull her in, causing her to gasp in surprise. I twirl us around and lean her against my desk, my hand grabbing her thigh and pulling her leg up. Her other leg curls itself around my waist, pressing her hot core to me.
“Say that again,” I growl, and I notice her shivering at my order.
“Sir?” She smirks. “You like that?”
I’m hard as a stone. I push her skirt up and grab her ass, pulling her in, enjoying the softness. When I reach to touch her, she’s wet against my hand.
“Is this what you need to behave, Little Bird?” I growl into her ear, trailing my hot breath down her neck and pushing her soaked panties aside. Her clit is a swollen bead, slippery under my fingers. Lifting her ass up, I slide her silky excuse for underwear down, kneel in front of her, and bury my face between her legs. The smell of her is dizzying, and my breath hitches. Savoring her, I lick her opening slowly while I continue playing with her clit.
“Oh yes, sir, please, I will behave,” she moans and presses her hips to me, seeking more friction. “I know you want me. Just please, please show me. Show me, Jack.”
I gently press a finger into her opening, careful not to hurt her, feeling tension building around my finger and tongue. As I continue sucking on her clit, her walls contract around my tongue, her pussy convulsing around my finger. I can feel her getting close to her peak. With one more twirl around her sensitive button, I push her over the edge. She explodes on me, grabbing onto my head, pulling me closer, and grinding against my face.
As her orgasm slowly subsides, I stand up and take her in my arms, carrying her to the sofa. She is limp and light as a feather. I remember holding her against me when she collapsed from fear after the encounter with the bear, then again later that night when I made her come just as violently as now.
Maddie sags limply into the plush leather couch. I sink down beside her, pulling her onto my lap. I unbutton her shirt, kissing her neck, brushing my fingers over her silken skin. I’ve been thinking of doing this the whole damn day.
“Just hear me out,” I urge her gently, acutely aware of her lithe frame pressing on my cock. My one hand snakes around her waist, while the other is playing with the pendant that falls seductively between her breasts.
Focus, Whitmore. Logic and incentives. No distractions.
“You mentioned you needed additional income. Want to tell me what you need the money for?”
She tenses, her eyes brimming with tears. She hesitates, but then her shoulders straighten.
“For my little sister, Aria. Me and my other sister need to support her through high school and college.”
“And your parents?”
A hot tear rolls down her cheek. “They passed away recently in a car accident,” she whispers with a stiff lip, avoiding my gaze.
I brush her hair, sighing. “I’m sorry, Little Bird. That’s rough. But this would help you. It will be like a guaranteed full ride scholarship for your sister.”
As she bites her lower lip nervously, my traitorous gaze keeps snagging on it. I force my eyes upward only to catch the fluttering pulse at her neck that conjures ideas, like my tongue tracing her delicate skin.
Get a hold of yourself, man!
I shift my belt, my groin pulsing painfully.
“My only rule,” I sweep away a damp tendril of her hair, tilting her chin up, “is you cannot fall for me.”
She huffs incredulously.
“Strictly a business arrangement. You just need to fake adoring gazes, enough for the old man to believe it. We don’t need unnecessary entanglements.”
“So, what was this then, soldier?” Confusion wars with temptation across her striking features. My thumb brushes her plush lower lip, and her eyes flash with that irresistible fire.
I force nonchalance to mask my quickening pulse. “We both know I’m no good for you, Little Bird.”
Maddie”s laughter slices the tension between us. She uncurls herself from my lap, catching me off guard and leaving me cold and empty. There”s a new glint in her eyes that spells trouble.
“So, let me clarify.” She looks around for her panties, then bends down to pick them up and slide them back on.
I watch her, enthralled.
She then puts her shoes back on and begins pacing my office as she buttons her blouse back up. “If I agree to this insane arrangement, I”d still be working on modernizing Whitmore”s social media strategy?”
I straighten my tie, blindsided by her shift in attitude. Gone is the vulnerable virgin. “Well, if you want to, yes. Your proposals have merit. And I am looking for new partnerships for the VR software line. It’s an avenue worth exploring. I’m certainly more than intrigued.”
“I see.” She taps her lip pensively, and despite my better judgment, my eyes are again helplessly trapped there.
“So, no fucking anyone else, no falling for you, yes to fake adoring gazes, yes to getting Whitmore Tech the clicks. Makes sense now.” She straightens, lifting up her chin. “I accept your proposal, sir.” Her steely tone brokers no further discussion, her choice of words sending me into a frenzy of lust. “My family”s security matters more than my pride.”
Maddie extends her hand to seal our bargain but pauses, eyes glinting dangerously.
“However, your spurious ”no falling” rule goes both ways. No catching feelings for your fake fiancé either. That’s rule number two.”
I bark out a surprised laugh as all the oxygen evaporates from the room. But I rise to shake her hand.
“Don’t get your hopes up, Little Bird. Many have tried and failed.” I wink roguishly, ignoring the warning bells sounding distantly in my mind. “You won”t break me so easily.”
“Game fucking on, Jack,” she tells me defiantly and turns to leave.
“Wait one more second,” I call after her.
She stops in her tracks and looks at me expectantly.
“I”ll have legal draft up an agreement for us to formally sign,” I redirect, steering us to safer logistics. “In the meantime, I need you to accompany me to the Tech for Troops charity gala this Friday. And over the weekend, I will come help you pack your things and move you downtown.”
Maddie blinks. “Oh. Right, of course . . .”
I grab my wallet and pull out my credit card, placing it firmly in her palm. “Here. Go crazy. There’s a stylist we work with at Bergdorf’s. I’ll ask Jessica to set up an appointment for you tomorrow morning, and I’ll let Amanda know you’ll be running late. Jessica will arrange for the other services as well.”
Confusion is plastered all over her expression now. “Other services?” My thumb skims her wrist bone before reluctantly releasing her hand.
“Hair, makeup, all that jazz. I can’t say that I know all the details. If you”re going to dazzle for our public debut, might as well do it right, Little Bird.” I shrug, aiming for a casual tone.
“Are you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into?” She smirks and walks out, leaving me with her signature lavender scent in my nostrils and a raging hard-on in my pants.