TWO LIV
TWO
LIV
My skin prickles with desire as Mason’s last two sentences explode into a full-envisioned fantasy.
Before he has a chance to walk out of my office, I imagine his strong, taut forearm muscles flexing as he lifts me up and slides my skirt over my ass.
I desperately grab his zipper and free what is sure to be a rock-hard cock before he moves my panties to the side and slips inside me.
It’d be easy…just his mere presence turns me on.
I’d tightly grab onto his dark black hair that’s just long enough to slide my fingers through and clutch for purchase.
The day-old stubble would scrape the softness of my skin as he kisses down my neck and fucks me against the barely tinted windows for the entire city to see.
His long-sleeve button-up shirt would be easy to pop open, so I could bite onto his shoulder to keep me from screaming so loud the whole damn office would hear.
He’d look into me, through me, with his sinister chocolate eyes while his hips slammed into mine over and over and over and…
I shake my head, trying to rid myself of the thought.
As hot as Mason Finn is and as tantalizing and seductive as he is, I can’t ever cross that line.
There are many times I’ve wanted to, but I’ve worked too hard to get this job, and screwing my boss’s son is career suicide.
I’d be labeled as the woman who tried to sleep her way to partner.
No, Mason is off limits, and even if it were an option, he is too much of a loose cannon.
I’d have to tape his mouth shut. However, that doesn’t keep the butterflies from fluttering every time I see him.
It wasn’t long ago that I realized it wasn’t just a physical attraction I have for Mason.
It was like I hated him one minute, and the next, it hit me how great a guy he is when he thinks I don’t notice.
Settling at my desk, I pick up the day’s schedule, finally scrolling through it, and roll my eyes when I see “Evelyn Marx” written down under ten o’clock.
Why my sister feels like she needs to make an appointment to see me by taking up a spot that potential clients could fill, I don’t have a clue.
I slam the paper down and walk with purpose outside my office.
I halt in my steps when I see Mia Vale, another partner’s daughter, leaning over my assistant’s desk.
What I can only describe as jealousy instantly consumes me.
She and Mason are laughing, neither one of them noticing that I’m standing there.
I clear my throat, causing the blonde to jump back and stand at attention. Her eyes widen as she looks between Mason and me. He doesn’t turn around, but I can hear him chuckle.
“Is the Siren behind me?” he asks Mia, causing her eyes to widen even further.
The Siren. Yeah, I know they call me that. I take it as a compliment. A siren to me is someone who is beautiful and takes charge. I’m sure they have other reasons for it, but I don’t care. That nickname gives me an arrogance of respect from them.
I step to the side of Mason’s desk. His eyes scan the side of my body from my peep-toe pumps, up my legs, landing on my breasts.
I feel my nipples harden under his perusal.
When his eyes finally find mine, I’m so turned on that I forget why I came out here in the first place.
How he can do that to me, I have yet to figure out.
Mia shifts, breaking the spell, and I look at her.
“Mia,” I call her name, but I have to clear my now parched throat. “Mason has work to do.”
She nods, turning on her heels. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Awe,” Mason says in his deep, menacing voice. “You scared her away.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “She shouldn’t be over here. Talk to her on your own time.”
He smirks. He fucking smirks before leaning in and asking, “Are you jealous?”
“No!” I sneer. “Why would I be jealous?”
Mason stands up. He’s tall. Over six feet and very intrusive over my five feet six. I have to lean my head back to look at him when he says, “Because she seems like competition to you.”
“Pssh.” I wave a hand at him, trying to even my voice. “There is no competition.”
“You’re right,” he whispers, his minty breath blowing across my ear. “I’d take you the minute you grant me access.”
I think he does it to get to me. Not once have I ever taken Mason seriously.
He’s worked for me for about a year, and at the beginning, things were cordial.
He was broody over the fact that his father didn’t just outright give him a job.
There were days when he would barely speak to me, and then all of a sudden, there was a shift.
I had come into the office on the weekend to grab some plans I needed to work on before Monday, and he was here, helping his dad move some furniture around.
I was wearing cut-off shorts and a tight tank top.
He stared at me so intensely that I thought my clothes were going to disintegrate right there on the spot.
It didn’t help that my mouth watered at the sight of him that day.
He looked casual. Fun. Carefree. I think that Saturday was when everything changed between the two of us.
It was after that that he started making inappropriate comments, and I started fantasizing about him making good on them.
“Back up, Mason.” I weakly demanded.
He complies – barely – giving me just a few more inches of space. “Did you need something?”
I had to search my brain, wondering why the hell I came out here in the first place and interrupted their flirting session. He makes me lose all my concentration. I jut out my hip, placing a hand on it. “My sister. Why did she make an appointment? Why didn’t you patch her through when she called?”
He finally sits back in his leather chair, pushing the mouse around to wake up his computer. “Because you always tell her you are busy. She wanted thirty minutes with you, uninterrupted.” He smiles, turning to face me. His eyes take in my popped-out hip, and he winks. “As would I.”
“Mason!” I scold. It’s like he can’t help himself.
“Anyway, you’ll just need to suck it up.” He raises a brow.
I emit a growl. “Fine, but after today, she is not allowed to make an appointment unless she has bought a plot of land and now wants to place a building on it, got it?”
“Yes, sir!” He salutes me, earning him an eye roll.
I’ve successfully avoided Mason for the better part of the morning, burying my nose into the new dental office designs I’m working on. It’s not the most creative project I’ve worked on, but I can’t always get the best clients, and it’s been nice putting a spin on an otherwise mundane building.
At precisely ten o’clock on the dot, my phone rings from Mason’s desk. “Oh, Livvy.” He draws my name out. “Your sister is here. Can I send her in?”
I push the button to respond. “Yes, please, and stop calling me that.”
A boisterous laugh comes from behind my door. I’m glad he thinks it’s funny. That cute little nickname started about a month ago, and I fucking hate it.
My sister walks in, looking more beautiful than I have ever seen her before.
She is younger than me, but most think we are twins.
Looking at us now, you wouldn’t see it, but any given weekend or holiday when I’m not dressed up for work, you wouldn’t be able to tell us apart.
Her long dark mess of curls cascades down her back, the left side is pinned back by a beautiful clip.
Unlike mine, her eyes are adorned with eyeliner and eyeshadow that make the green of her irises pop.
While I’m wearing an uptight skirt suit, her body’s curves are being accentuated with a flowered sundress that hits just above her knees.
Her French manicured toes are on display between her strappy tan sandals.
She looks carefree, and her smile shows me she has something to tell me.
I stand up from my desk, embracing my little sister in a hug. A squeal comes from her mouth as she pulls back and takes me in. “Liv! I’ve missed you.”
Laughing, I shake my head and sit down in one of the two seats in front of my desk. “You just saw me last week, Ev. It’s not my fault you missed family dinner this weekend because your boyfriend whisked you away to the Poconos.”
Her right leg crosses over her left as she takes a seat in the chair beside mine. “I know, but it seems like forever, and I just have the best news.”
“Is that why you called Mason for an appointment?” I ask, raising a brow. “You know you didn’t have to do that?”
She crooks her head to the side. “Really? Then why didn’t you return my call yesterday? I needed to make sure I had your full attention.”
I smile. She’s right. I did send her to voicemail yesterday. “Well, you have it. Tell me your news.”
Her cheeks rise, teeth coming out on full display before she whips her left hand out and screams. “TREY AND I ARE GETTING MARRIED!”
My breath hitches, and I almost go blind at the sight of the rock that adorns her delicate finger. I muster up as much enthusiasm as I can and grab her hand. “That’s amazing, Ev! What a gorgeous ring!”
And it is, but that ring could have been mine.
Not that I’d want to walk around with something that huge and looking overpriced, but Trey was my boyfriend until three years ago.
Until he wanted a housewife and not an architect wife.
And until he told me we were done because of “creative differences.” Then two years later, he found someone who was willing to stay home, bear his children, and cook for him after a long day at work – my sister.