Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
BUT WORD ON THE STREET IS HIS NEXT FILM ISN’T THE ONLY NEW THING IN THE NEPO BABY’S LIFE
GREER
“W-what?” I stammered.
Tripp’s gaze remained intense. “You heard me.”
“Why would you have rules for me?”
“Because if you’re here, you’re with me.”
“Like a sponsorship thing?”
When my parents joined their country club, an existing member had to sponsor them. If there were so many hoops to jump through to play boring golf at an overpriced facility, I was betting the ones for Gilded were a lot more extensive.
Not that it mattered. I didn’t have the money to throw away on a membership I doubted I had the nerve to use.
“No,” he said, cutting off my racing thoughts. “With me. You want to explore, you’ll do it with me.”
“Why?” I asked, taken off guard by his demand.
But smart enough not to read too much into it.
Maybe if I hadn’t been fucked over by the two men who’d meant the most to me, I might’ve let myself hope there was more behind his words.
But my first thought was that he was fucking with me and was going to burst out laughing.
He wasn’t a dick, though, so it wasn’t that. My second thought was more accurate.
Tripp was being his usual thoughtful self—albeit in a very different way. “Gilded isn’t the kind of place you dive into with a stranger. It should be someone you trust.” He paused, the silence heavy before he added, “Unless you have someone else in mind.”
I shook my head, too distracted to be self-conscious about my lack of options.
“It wouldn’t matter if you did, but good to know there’s one less obstacle.”
I’d only been with one man, but it wasn’t out of some misplaced sense of morality. I’d just always been too busy to dip into the casual dating pool during my off-again stints with Josh. But that didn’t mean that I thought sex required any prerequisites of emotion.
Tripp was proposing something physical. Scratching an itch. Lending a hand—or tongue or different appendage—to a friend.
A naughty mentorship.
It was a tempting offer, and it took every ounce of willpower in my body to shake my head—and not just because his firm hold made it difficult. “That’s not a good idea.”
“I think it’s the best fucking idea I’ve ever had.”
My body agreed.
Too bad for it, my brain was busy having a crisis.
And then he can see how boring I am? How basic? He’ll know that I’m not leather or lace.
I’m cotton.
Boring, breathable cotton.
Making a fool of myself in front of a stranger would be bad enough, but in front of Tripp? I wouldn’t be able to face him again. I would have to quit, and I didn’t want to do that. I liked my job.
I liked him.
Clearly too much since I was still standing there when I should’ve been walking back to Golden where I belonged.
Somehow, he read the panic that I was usually an expert at hiding. “Tell me what just went through your head.”
“Just that this is a bad idea, like I said.”
Moving his hands to span my waist, his fingers dug in. Not painfully, but also not not painfully. That should’ve increased my panic. Or made me mad. At the very least, I should’ve been trying to extricate myself from his hold and that building.
But I wasn’t.
I stayed in place as he bit out, “Don’t lie to me, Greer. Why do you look ready to run?”
“I don—”
“Why?”
“I’m fi—”
“Why?” he repeated so firmly, I stiffened.
Then, despite the multitude of reasons I had to stay silent, my words tumbled from my mouth.
Exposing myself, my insecurities, and my vulnerabilities in one breathless rush.
“Because I might want to be here, but I don’t belong here.
I’ve never even thought about a place like this.
I’m not this kind of woman, and I don’t mean that in a superior way.
It’s the opposite. I’m not this interesting.
I’m boring. No, I’m whatever is more than boring.
And I don’t want you to see that.” I gave a small laugh, but even I could hear the harsh, humorless edge to it.
“Though, now I’ve told you all that, which isn’t much better.
And it’s also another crazy meltdown for the second night in a row, so I’m going to shut up now. ”
I honest to God expected Tripp to recoil. He would hide it behind one of his forced smiles as he took the out and graciously let me think it was my choice, but we would both know the truth.
I was wrong, though. He didn’t look horrified. He didn’t back away. He didn’t even look surprised by anything I’d said.
“You’re far from fucking boring, siren. And if you think you don’t belong here, then you’re wrong.
” He pushed in closer, backing me against a wall until his body was pressed to mine.
Trapping me there. Letting me feel the long stretch of his hardness against my stomach.
As if I hadn’t unloaded a bucket of crazy.
“But that just means I’m the lucky bastard who gets to show that to you. ”
He’s turned on.
I mean, of course he’s turned on.
We’re surrounded by sex.
But he’s really, really turned on.
And really, really, really massively huge.
All that cocky charm suddenly seems humble compared to what he’s equipped with.
“Show,” I started, but the word came out too airy to hear. I licked my Sahara-dry lips and tried again. Since his hooded gaze was locked on my mouth, my question didn’t come out any steadier. “Show me what?”
“Anything. Everything.” He slowly dragged his eyes up to meet mine. “What you like.” He rocked against me. “What I like.”
Oh hell.
That was already enough to reignite the battle between my body and my common sense, and it made it far too tempting to agree. So much so, in fact, that I was having trouble remembering why I should say no.
Say yes. Be a good employee and say ‘Yes, boss.’
Oh.
Right.
That’s why I need to say no.
“I really like working for you, and mixing business with…” Disappointment sank so low in my belly, I thought it would drag me through the floor. “This isn’t a good idea. Any of it. I should go.”
I said the words, but I made no moves to actually leave. Even if I had, I wasn’t sure Tripp would let me.
“What do you think is going to happen?” he pushed.
I’m going to make an ass of myself and have to quit.
Or you’ll see that I’m right and there are no hidden layers to my basic desires, and you’ll be disappointed in me—and that makes me want to have a panic attack just thinking about it.
I didn’t want to beat him over the head with the insecurities I’d already laid bare.
I went with a third truth. The reason why I’d been hesitant to simply have a friendly dinner with him.
“You already don’t delegate enough work to me. If we blur these lines, you might feel weird telling me what to do.”
With his body still tight to mine, there was no mistaking the twitch of his cock against me. “Trust me, baby, that’ll never be a problem.”
I didn’t have to feel his arousal to know that we weren’t talking about the same thing.
“I mean with work. Not in… that way.”
“I don’t need to tell you what to do because you already do what I need.”
A burst of pride bloomed through my chest.
“You keep bossing me around with your systems and color-coded calendars, and I’ll keep following because you’re good at your job. Outside of that, though?” His eyes darkened, the gray becoming gloomy. The warning of an impending storm that I didn’t want to hide from.
I wanted to get caught up in it.
So badly.
Especially when his low voice demanded, “You’ll do as I say while we explore this.”
Trepidation mixed with the arousal. It was a single drop in a barrel of need, but it was still there. “What if I don’t like something?”
“Then you tell me, and we’ll talk it through.”
That sounded… healthy.
It also sounded like a whole lot of talking because I was sure there would be a lot that I didn’t like.
Probably far too much to make any of it worthwhile.
I couldn’t force the refusal from my mouth, though.
Instead, I did what I did best. Compiled the information into an organized chart in my head.
Well, I tried to. But every time I put an item into my imaginary con category, it floated over to the pro side until only one remained.
I’m going to be so bad at this.
Tripp watched me for a long moment before his hold on my waist tightened. “At least give me tonight. You owe me that much.”
My eyes widened. “I owe you? For what?”
For a panicked moment, I thought he was going to say my salary—cheapening me and the job I did.
I should’ve known better.
His smirk was devastatingly handsome and edged in a sharpness I didn’t expect. “The tracking app you installed.”
A warm flush and a cold sweat went across my flesh at being caught, causing goose bumps to spread. That didn’t stop me from hiding my embarrassment behind indignation. “You can’t use that as a bargaining chip. That’s sexual extortion.”
He gave a shameless shrug. “I use what I have at my disposal.”
I knew that I didn’t actually owe him. Okay, I might’ve owed him an apology for putting the app on his phone without permission and using it to track him when it wasn’t an emergency, but that was it.
But something about his words clicked into a part of my brain I didn’t know was there.
The idea that I didn’t have a choice was enough to send a surge of moisture between my thighs. It made it easy for me to agree.
Or easier, at least.
I swallowed hard. “One night,” I relented haltingly. It was a given that it was strictly physical. In the name of scientific research even. That didn’t stop me from holding up a finger to add another stipulation. “But no actual sex.”
I knew that was taking the coward’s way out, but I didn’t care. It gave me a taste of Gilded so I wouldn’t be left wondering what I’d missed out on. I would learn without a doubt that it wasn’t for me. That it was the carnal unknown that intrigued me and not an actual desire to be there.
And if we kept it light without crossing every last line, I could keep working for him. Especially since he wouldn’t find out for himself how lackluster I actually was.
I thought Tripp would push. Or maybe back out because that wasn’t worth it to him. He didn’t. The immediate fire in his darkened gaze was almost enough to make me rescind that condition.
I bit my lip to stop myself.
“Which room?” he asked.
I didn’t have to think about it. It was an easy decision. “I want to see the one you use most.”
I assumed that would be a good thing, but the way Tripp’s body tensed made it clear it wasn’t.
I could’ve backtracked and picked something else, but I didn’t. I wanted to see what got him off.
No.
I needed to.
More than I needed anything else.
He released me to rub the back of his neck. “I…” He shook his head, and I gathered all my willpower to walk away if I had to.
But I really hoped I didn’t have to.
After a long moment, it was his turn to relent. “Let’s see if it’s available.”
He guided me farther down the hall. I scoped out the rooms we passed, and I suddenly regretted my impulsive insistence. Most of them were filled with instruments and setups I didn’t understand. If he was hesitant, there was a good chance he was into something far, far outside of my depths.
It would be mortifying—and probably insulting—to backpedal once I saw it. He would feel judged, I would feel like a naive wuss, and any chance we had of continuing our working relationship would go up in smoke.
I need to stop now.
Before we get there, that way there are no issues.
I’ll just tell him I changed my mind.
I didn’t. My curiosity drove me forward, battling with the apprehension with each step we took.
When Tripp slowed to a stop, it wasn’t outside of some wild room with a scary theme.
Other than a couple of out of place mirrors on wheels, it didn’t look like anything special. A four-post bed. A long but low table. That was pretty much it.
At first glance, at least.
Because when I looked closer, I saw that it wasn’t a typical table. It was heavily padded.
With leather restraints attached to each leg.
Ones that matched the restraints on the bedposts.
Even with those naughty additions, it wasn’t anything too wild. Sure, it wasn’t quite as plain as the room he said Maddie preferred, but it was far from kinky. Nothing about it explained the guarded wariness radiating from his taut body.
I dragged my focus from the space to see Tripp’s watchful gaze was on me. He must’ve read my confusion because he hooked an arm around me and dragged me into the room before turning us.
Oh.
Ohhhh.
Oh no.