Chapter 13
EVE
Ever since I submitted the online form for the James Corp Hunter Valley Small Business Advancement Program, I’d been antsy and eager for the interview.
Bridge reached out and said after reviewing my application it was a done deal, especially the way Mav loved my coffee, but the papers weren’t signed. The money wasn’t in my bank account. Which meant Cheney and his threats still loomed over me.
I hadn’t heard from him since he left the shop that day. I wasn’t sure if it was because he was still in the bathroom or if he was expecting me to crawl back to him and my parents.
Either way, I didn’t care. I just wanted him out of my life for good. While he was executor, I didn’t have to deal with him if I didn’t want money from the trust. I’d get it in a few years. I could leave it untouched until then.
I walked into the building that held the James Corp Hunter Valley office jittery and nervous as if I’d had a Devil’s Brew triple espresso. I detoured to the ladies’ restroom beside the elevator and stood in front of the mirror.
“You can do this. You can do this. It’s this or Cheney,” I whispered, looking myself in the eye. I dressed fairly conservatively, considered what a banker might wear and dressed accordingly. I wasn’t wearing a Steaming Hotties pink tee to a loan meeting. “Fuck Cheney.”
With that, I spun around and made my way across the hall.
A woman at the reception desk greeted me warmly.
“You must be Evelyn,” she said.
I smiled back. “Eve.”
“I love your coffee,” she said. “I’m Jemma. They’re waiting for you. Just head in there.” She swiveled in her chair and pointed to an open conference room door.
“Thanks, Jemma.”
When I crossed the office, I overheard Bridge through the open door. “No, mashed potatoes can’t have lumps. It’s against the law.”
“Against the law?”
I stepped into the doorway, listening to the weird conversation my friend was having with someone. A man.
When I leaned in, afraid to interrupt, even though the topic definitely wasn’t about work, I saw it wasn’t just any man.
It was Silas.
Mr. Big Dick.
“Eve! Hey!” Bridget stood from the huge conference table and came around to me.
I ignored her and kept staring at Silas. In his suit. And tie.
He stared at me right back.
“It’s you,” he murmured, with complete surprise on his face. His gorgeous, bearded face. The smile that slowly spread meant he was happy to see me.
“Oh shit. What are you doing here?” I asked, then winced. Not the best first line for an interview, but THIS WAS SILAS. MR. BIG DICK. Dressed, thank God.
I tried to process why he’d be in this meeting, and it wasn’t computing. Not fast enough, at least.
Bridget gave me a hug, albeit an awkward one since I didn’t really hug her back. I could only ogle Silas because he was more handsome than I remembered.
“You two know each other?” Bridget asked, stepping back and looking between us. She pushed her glasses up her nose as if seeing better would make her understand what was between us. Which, a few weeks ago, had only been a condom.
“Yeah,” Silas said, scratching the back of his neck. Was that a blush that crept up his cheeks? It was hard to tell with his close-cut beard. Why? I’d been the one bent over a desk being fucked. “We met the last time I was in town.”
“Oh. Well, that’s handy. Silas is helping me with the interviews today since Mav is out of town.”
Why was he helping? “Silas…”
“James,” he finished.
“Silas James?” I asked, stunned. He was Mav’s and Theo’s brother? Holy shit.
He looked nothing like either of them. Mav was dark. Silas was fair. He was also a few inches shorter and less stocky, which wasn’t that hard to do since Mav was built like a Viking.
“Evelyn Hunter,” Silas clarified, his gaze raking over me. “You own Steaming Hotties.”
“You read the applications on the plane, didn’t you?” Bridget asked him, worried he hadn’t prepared.
“Yes, but it wasn’t completed by Eve. I definitely would have remembered.”
“Only a few people call me by my legal name,” I explained. “I prefer Eve.”
“This is just a formality, really, since Mav approved your application for the business loan,” Bridget said, going around the table. “Sit, please.”
Silas pulled out a chair for me. Silas, the guy I’d had sex with. The guy I watched walking around his house naked. The guy I hadn’t known was Mav’s brother. Or a James. Or one of the men who’d be responsible for my business loan.
Shit. Shit. Shit!
“Wait,” I said, holding up my hand. They froze. “I… I can’t take the money.”
Bridget dropped into her seat as if she weighed a ton. “What? Why not? Do you no longer need it?”
I looked to Silas. “I can’t take money from a guy I’ve–that we’ve…”
Shit. I had to explain myself, my reasoning for turning down a legitimate, small business-favorable loan.
Except I didn’t want to tell Bridge that I’d had sex with her possible future brother-in-law.
That I had been thinking about more with him and that seeing him in person again only made the need to be with him that much more urgent.
But I didn’t kiss and tell, and I didn’t want to have to do it now.
Silas shut the conference room door, then leaned against it. It reminded me of him pressing me into the one at the bar.
“That you’ve…” Bridget said, letting it hang.
Silas gave me a piercing glance and somehow decided since I brought it up, he’d be okay to share. “Bridge, Eve and I met the last time I was in town.”
“That’s what you said. I don’t see why that’s a problem bec– Oh.”
She looked at us differently now, not with confusion, but with… mirth? Amusement.
“Yes, oh,” I replied, trying to stay professional when a part of me wanted to go over and sniff Silas’s neck, then run my hands over him. Maybe grip his dick and feel how big he was.
Focus. Focus!
“And um… because we… oh’d, I can’t take the money.”
“Why the hell not? You need the money. You should take it. Problem solved,” Silas said, pushing off the door and standing before me.
Close. Too close. I breathed in his clean scent.
Soap or aftershave or something yummy. “What we did has nothing to do with this.” He waved his hand around the conference room.
“It has everything to do with it,” I countered, tapping my foot on the carpeted floor.
“How?”
I stepped right in front of him, tipped my chin back so I could look him in the eye and whispered, “We had sex. I won’t have a former lover lording money over me.”
“Former?” he whispered back. “Who said anything about former? I had to travel for work. I assure you my dick is more than ready to get back inside you. And now that I know who you are, besides just Eve, we can–”
“That’s what you got from what I said?” I hissed. “Former?”
He grinned, those pale eyes roving over my face as if re-memorizing me. As if he found me fascinating. Intriguing. He was studying me the same way he had that night. Before we had a few shots of tequila. And after.
“Former is a very specific word. That indicates the past,” he added. “If that’s what you want, only the one time where I made you come again and again while I bent you over a–”
“I’m still in the room,” Bridget interrupted. “While you’re both whispering, I can hear you. And please never mention your dick in front of me again.”
I closed my eyes and wanted a sinkhole to open up.
I spun away from Silas’s gorgeousness and his delicious smell and all the things about him that made my panties wet and faced Bridget, still seated at the table.
“A… relationship, past or present, doesn’t disqualify you for the loan. It’s a legal and binding contract with James Corp, not Silas specifically. Please explain why you have to turn down the loan,” she repeated. “Did Silas do something wrong? Did he–”
I held up my hand. “No. Silas was a perfect gentleman.”
He huffed from behind me. “I wasn’t a gentleman at all, and you liked it that way.”
Bridget rolled her eyes. “Okay, I’m going to step out and let you two work this out.” She gave a little finger wave and left, shutting the conference room door behind her.
That left me with Silas… and another desk.
I swallowed hard, trying to stay on task.
Silas smelled good. Looked good. And I remembered how good he felt.
Deep inside. My pussy clenched in anticipation of a repeat.
It was one thing to have sex where a random bar patron–or owner since we’d been in his office–may have interrupted us, but it was another to do it now with Bridget outside the door.
“I applied for the loan because my other source of investment money has been cut off.” I wasn’t going to waste their time explaining how dysfunctional my family was.
“Fuck, Eve. We didn’t get a chance to share contact info before you left the bar.
You pretty much blew my mind. Please say you want to do it again,” he said, his intense gaze raking down my body, just like it had that night in the bar.
My nipples hardened and I was sure he could see them through my top.
“Because while I’ve been away, I’ve thought about it. ”
I blinked. “You want more?” I didn’t know why I was so surprised.
Well, maybe I did. We’d had a lot to drink.
While I hadn’t been drunk, the tequila had definitely lowered my inhibitions.
I held no expectation that a quickie over a desk in the back of a bar was more than just that. Sex with an almost-stranger.
Except he clearly wanted more and now he definitely wasn’t a stranger. He was Silas James. The CEO of James Corp, but also Bridget’s boyfriend’s brother. The way she and Mav were hot and heavy… and seriously together, he was probably her future brother-in-law.
So he wasn’t a rando. He was definitely vetted by my friend.
He had a job. He had a stable income. I mentally laughed that stable income meant he was a billionaire.
He had three brothers I knew and liked. He also had been gentle and commanding and very, very filthy when it came to sex.
Actually, not that gentle at all. That had been us with only the most important parts of our bodies bare for fucking.
No bed. Nothing. I could only imagine what he’d be like if we had time… and privacy.
He stared at me in return, as if it was impossible I wasn’t considering a repeat. “Feel my dick and you tell me how much I want more. Don’t you?”
I licked my lips since they were suddenly dry as I glanced down and saw how hard he was.
It was impossible to miss that steel beam in his pants.
My pussy was getting wet, getting ready to take that big thing again.
“Well, yeah, but that proves my point all the more. I can’t have sex with you again–”
“Not just one more time. Many times.” He leaned down, pretty much growled. “I don’t think I’ll get enough of you anytime soon. I mean, we were… explosive.”
Explosive. Absolutely.
I whimpered, swallowed hard. “See, this.”
“What?” He reached out, stroked my hair and I closed my eyes. Reveled in the slightest bit of contact. My nipples hardened. My body was a flipping traitor!
“I can’t have lots of sex with you and take a loan. It’ll feel like… like payment.”
“This isn’t a payment for personal interactions, it’s a business loan. You have to pay it back, with interest, although the terms are very favorable.”
I laughed the way he sounded like a banker or a CEO trying to close a deal and tossed my hands up.
“It’s still not happening,” I replied, resolved. Resigned. Aroused. “The loan. The sex, sure. Definitely. Tell Bridget sorry, but I’ll find the money I need to stay afloat elsewhere.”
“Wait. If I hadn’t been here, if Mav had instead, then you’d have taken the loan,” Silas said. He was in jeans, leather boots, and a pale blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Why was a man’s forearm so hot? It was like catnip to my pussy. One look and it was ready to go crazy.
I nodded. “Yes, but once I found out you two were related, that you’re also a James, and not just any James, but the CEO of James Corp who is giving out the loans, then I’d have paid it all back immediately.”
“So if you’d have slept with Dex or Theo it wouldn’t be an issue since they don’t work for James Corp.”
I shrugged, not sure what I would have done. Both men were hot. Heck, all four James brothers were rugged and gorgeous. But I wasn’t hot for Dex or Theo. I wanted Silas.
“Doesn’t matter. Hypothetical,” I reminded.
“You can’t be serious. Really? You won’t take the loan?”
I set my hands on my hips. I thought my words had been very clear.
“We had sex, Silas. You want more sex. And you would give me money. I can’t do both. I won’t accept the loan. Sorry.”
The clock was ticking. My bank account was shrinking, and rent was coming due. Bills were going to start to build and within a week or two I couldn’t cover all of them. I might have more amazing sex with Mr. Big Dick, but what was I going to do about my bills?
I turned to leave, but he hooked my arm.
“Fine,” he said, although he didn’t look too happy agreeing. “No loan. Then sex.”
My mouth opened, but I didn’t know what to say. “I… I…”
“Was that one time in the bar enough for you?” He switched topics so fast I had whiplash.
I sputtered. “Um… well–”
“It wasn’t for me. All the time I was away I thought about it. Us. You.” He pulled me close, and his hands began to roam. One went up my back, the other down to cup my butt. Oh my. “I still remember what you taste like. What you feel like around me when you come. How perfect this ass is.”
“Oh,” I said, staring at the soft whiskers on his chin.
“Eve,” he murmured, forcing my gaze up to meet his. “Ready for more?”
His nearness and his scent were messing with me. With my hands on his chest, I felt his heart beating. When he pulled me closer still, I felt him hard and thick against my hip. My pussy clenched in eagerness. Except… “The loan–”
He lowered his head, ran his nose along my neck, licked the curve of my ear.
“No loan. Just… more. Do you want more, Eve?”
The way he said the word more made me melt. My panties, too. That one word could mean so much.
“Yes,” I whispered, because I wanted all the possibilities of more.
One of Silas’s hands left me and yanked open the door. “Bridge, take Jemma out for lunch.”
“What?” she replied. “Why? Oh…here? Are you going to–”
“Yes.” He slammed the door on the rest of Bridget’s words.
Then kissed me.