3. Atlas
I lean backinto the black leather limo seat and try to relax despite my pounding heart. My knee moves up and down in a restless rhythm.
I brought along a green backpack, telling my dad I wanted to have my laptop with me. But it’s not just my machine that’s in there. It’s also all the things I’ll need to transform into Miss Karma.
After helping my friend hack the active machine, I spent the rest of my day looking up flirting tutorials.
I figured it couldn’t be that hard, but I quickly realized I’m more comfortable looking for network vulnerabilities than I am trying to turn on a guy. Especially one as sexy as Eric.
“Is this your first black tie event?” Katie, my dad’s personal assistant, asks. She’s only a couple of years older than me.
She always seems so confident, cool, and collected while I’m over here trying to remember if I put on deodorant before I left the house.
I nod, preferring her to think my nerves have more to do with the large gathering of influential businesspeople than the truth that I’m about to seduce my father’s best friend.
Dad looks up from his phone that he’s been texting on ever since I got into the vehicle. “Your instincts were correct. It was a shell game they were playing with the acquisitions team.”
“Perhaps we could take a moment to be present,” Katie suggests, giving his phone a pointed glance.
Dad pockets his device, and the three of us drift into an awkward silence.
“There was something you were going to tell her,” she prompts.
I don’t like the feeling that I’m being left out of the loop. “Tell me what?”
He pulls an imaginary piece of lint from his suit while refusing to make eye contact. “I had three of the men attending bring their sons for you to meet.”
“Dad! What happened to letting me find someone on my own?” I can’t believe he’s doing this to me. Instead of flirting with Eric all night, I’ll be dodging spoiled frat guys.
“They’re all nice, single boys around your age. I had Eric do some background checks and look at their social media. He approved of them.” He nods decisively as if Eric’s seal of approval should be the only thing I need.
I scoff. “Oh, well, there you go. If Eric says it, that should be enough for me. Do you and Eric get to pick the honeymoon destination too? Or am I allowed to make some decisions on my own?”
He sends Katie a look as if pleading for help.
She crosses her arms over ample chest and shakes her head. Her posture makes it clear she wasn’t on board with this idea. I feel better to realize she’s in my corner.
“You don’t have to marry them. Just make small talk. Put yourself out there for once instead of being wrapped up in your laptop.”
It feels surreal to be hearing those words from my dad whose picture would be in the dictionary if I searched for workaholic. “When was the last time you went on a date?”
“That’s different.” He glances out the window.
For a second, I feel like a total bitch. Even if the wound was unintentional, I still pressed on a part of my father’s heart that aches. “I didn’t mean—”
He holds up a hand. “Do as you wish tonight.”
The limo pulls to a stop and I take a deep breath. Mom said to make Dad happy and really, talking to a couple of guys for a few minutes can’t be all bad. Once I do that, I’ll find a place to transform into Miss Karma and get focused on my mission.
* * *
Eric
Sitting at the bar,I scan the crowd of people. I’m looking for my boss. Hell, it’s not him I really want to see.
It damn near killed me today when I saw Atlas in those cute little panties, ass cheeks winking at me. I wanted to sink my teeth into that juicy flesh, then spin her around and drag my tongue across that little triangle between her creamy thighs.
Movement catches my eye, interrupting my wicked thoughts.
Michael enters the hotel ballroom with Katie on one arm, and Atlas on the other. She’s dressed in a pink flowing gown that makes me wonder if she’s still wearing the same panties from earlier. Is she wearing panties at all?
I shift on the barstool, reminding myself that a business event is not the place to be getting a hard-on for the boss’s daughter.
She brushes her long, blonde curls away from her face, a gesture I’ve seen her do a thousand times. There’s a small freckle on the side of her hand. Seeing it always makes me wonder where else she has freckles.
Meanwhile, Michael is beaming at everyone. He greets dozens of people without missing a single name.
When the Abernathy family approaches him, I take a long swallow of my scotch and try to ignore the burning in my gut.
As I suspected, the oldest boy likes what he sees when he looks at Atlas. Too bad she’ll be bored to tears within five minutes of meeting him. Dear old Charlie might be perfect on paper but he’s about as interesting as a rock with dung on it.
He leans close to her, whispering something in her ear and she laughs. She fuckin’ laughs at his joke. He can’t be that funny.
He gestures toward the dance floor in the middle of the room and she follows him onto it. When he slides his hand around the soft skin of her back, I have an overwhelming urge to stalk across the room and rip his arm from his socket.
By the time they’re done swaying together, my jaw aches from the pressure of my molars against each other and I’m one second from punching the stupid kid out.
Pushing off the barstool, I move toward the smiling couple. I’m prepared to tell Charles the Third where he can shove his charming little smile when Michael claps a hand on my shoulder.
He gives me a nod of approval. “You were right. Charlie was a solid pick. How’d you know?”
“Just one of those things,” I answer, scanning for Atlas. Damn, she’s gone already, and I can’t see Charlie, which means he’s probably with her.
“Listen, there’s someone I want you to meet. He’s a potential client who has questions that are outside of my scope.” He gestures for me to follow him.
I glance around for Atlas and Charlie one more time. Thinking about the things they could be doing in some dark corner of the hotel has my blood pressure skyrocketing. “Let’s make it brief.”
Michael chuckles. “Got a skirt to chase?”
Yeah, your daughter’s. “Something like that.”
* * *
Atlas
Charlie isthe world’s biggest bore. When he’s not talking about the price of his father’s yacht or his own collection of Aston-Martin cars, he’s making lame jokes and covering for what appears to be seriously low self-esteem.
None of it is a turn-on.
Still when he invites me outside for a walk, I accept. The sooner I can get out of here and ditch Charlie, the sooner I can transform into Miss Karma.
After a few minutes of awkward small talk in the courtyard, Charlie leans in and kisses me. It’s sloppy and gross, nothing like Eric’s sensual kiss.
I step away from Charlie, fighting the urge to grimace. Instead, I say, “Did that feel…?”
“Zero chemistry. Probably because I’m a ten and you’re only a three.” He chucks me under the chin. “Don’t let it get you down. There are lots of guys here tonight and your father is loaded.”
He turns and leaves while I’m still staring after him, completely speechless.
“A three?” I mouth when I can finally speak. I remember the heated look in Eric’s eyes in the kitchen this morning. Something tells me he wouldn’t agree with Charlie.
There’s the sound of a twig snapping, and I whirl around to find myself face-to-chest with Eric.
I swallow hard and take a step away from him. My back bumps into the scratchy bark of the oak tree draped in Spanish moss and twinkling Christmas light. I have to crane my neck to look into his eyes.
“Charlie is a really good kisser.” I wait to see what Eric’s reaction will be, needing him to confirm he hated seeing me with another guy.
The lines of Eric’s face are harsh tonight. “Is he now? Did he make your panties wet, princess? Are your pretty thighs aching now?”
“So, what if they are? You’re the one who picked him.” Despite the fact that I started this argument, I’m filled with indignation. He threw me to the wolves, so he doesn’t have the right to complain if I smell of dog.
“The entire time you were dancing with him, you were wishing you were back in that hallway in Mexico, grinding your sweet little pussy against my cock.” He puts his arms on the trunk of the tree, caging me just like he did back then.
I never feel safer than when he does this, like he’s the barrier between me and the big, scary world. That feeling of safety ticks me off almost as much as his words.
“No, I was wondering why you’re a liar. You say you’re not attracted to me, but you’ll stare at my ass. You’ll send me on dates with other guys only to whisper filthy things in my ear later. Just admit you want me, Eric.”
“I don’t want you.” He drops his head and presses a kiss to the racing pulse in my neck. “I want sex. You’d know that if you were grown.”
My palm is connecting with his face before I even register that I’ve moved my hand. The sting of flesh smacking together echoes in the night air.
Eric doesn’t flinch. “You only get to do that once, sweetheart. Next time, I’ll tan your hide.”
The words create a mental picture that I’m all too eager for, to be possessed and known by Eric. To be only his.
I push at him, determined to be the one that breaks him down. “You’ll tan my hide as long as my dad’s not around, right? Maybe you should focus on scurrying back to him, make sure to lick his boots clean tonight.”
In the moonlight, I see the anger fade from his face. He drops his arms and steps back, leaving me suddenly cold without his body heat. “Have fun on your other dates.”