Chapter 9 Shannen #2
“I’ll have you know I’ve done my research,” I tell him with a smile, just as my phone buzzes in my purse beside me.
“Oh, I don’t doubt that. But there’s a different kind of energy here at night. Have you ever stayed in one of our hotels? Because once you’ve rebranded us, I’m gutting every single one.”
“Wow. No pressure.” I laugh as my phone vibrates again. “Excuse me a moment.” I pull it out—rude as hell—but I already have a feeling I’m not going to want to ignore this.
PHOENIX: Now I know you’re not stupid enough to be sitting across from the guy I warned you about.
I open the second message, and I can practically feel the rage radiating through the screen.
PHOENIX: Unless you’re trying to piss me off? And this isn’t jealousy, Shannen. The guy’s a fucking predator.
“Sorry, it’s just my friend, but I need to reply.”
“Take your time,” James says, lifting his champagne glass with a faint smile and a flash of perfectly straight teeth.
He’s been fine with me. No red flags. Unlike you. Maybe you’re not as good at your job as you think you are.
“Sorry,” I say again, slipping the phone into my lap. “Where were we?”
“I was trying to get you to agree to dinner, but you’re not making it easy.”
My phone vibrates again, and I look down into my lap.
PHOENIX: Don’t. Even. Think about it. And considering I’ve known your every fucking move for the last decade, I’d say I’m pretty damn good at my job. If I say he’s a problem, he’s a problem.
Smug bastard… Where the hell is he?
I look around and find him in three seconds, sitting at the bar with a glass of what I'm guessing is water in front of him.
His dark hair falls over his eyes, and his tattooed hands are clenched around the glass like he's fighting not to break it.
A crisp white shirt is stretched tight across his shoulders and back, tucked into storm-gray pants that fit him so perfectly I want to sink my teeth into something.
Jesus Christ… Virgin or not, that body was made for sex.
As if sensing my stare, his head turns slightly, and I snap my gaze back to James.
The feral part of me wants to shove this overpriced table aside, storm across the room, and rip that shirt off him.
I want to feel his skin beneath my palms, trace every line of ink with my fingers, and hear his breath hitch when my nails drag down his spine.
And now I’m pissed because I have to sit here and pretend my body isn’t already betraying me just because he’s in the fucking room.
“Are you okay?” James asks, his brow lifted in concern.
If by “okay” you mean practically foaming at the mouth over the only man in this building who makes my thighs clench without even trying, then yeah. I’m fucking thriving.
“Yeah,” I say quickly, blinking back the heat crawling up my neck. “Fine. Um, dinner… I mean, you don’t need to go to the trouble of all that. I feel ready to start the work.”
“It’s no trouble spending an evening with a beautiful woman like yourself.” He laughs, clearly deluded enough to think he’s being charming, but the line is so dry it could literally sandpaper a clit off.
Oh fuck me, he just winked.
My vagina folds its arms right then because she’s out.
I’ve got the ick hard, and there’s no recovering.
“Listen, I think we’re going to work well together, and I like to get to know the people I work with on a deeper level.”
My phone vibrates in my lap once again.
PHOENIX: If you wanted my attention, baby, you’ve got it. Now shut it the fuck down. This is your last warning.
I glance up from my lap and force a smile at James.
“Dinner sounds great.”
Because what the hell else am I supposed to say? No? I want this contract, but more than anything, I want control of this situation—even if it means biting my tongue and pretending James doesn’t make my skin crawl a little.
I hear the scrape of a chair behind me and catch Phoenix in my periphery, rising from the bar like a storm unfurling, moving with that coiled violence that sets every alarm in my body ringing.
I shouldn’t feel guilty for being here. I shouldn’t.
I’m not his, but some warped, ruined part of me still feels like I am.
But I want this deal, and sometimes getting what I want means putting on a pretty smile and keeping the client happy.
Seconds later, James’s phone starts ringing. He pulls it from his jacket pocket, glances at the screen, and his expression shifts.
“I apologize, but I have to take this.”
“No problem.”
“Don’t go anywhere,” he calls over his shoulder as he strides off, completely oblivious to the shadow heading toward me from across the room.
Phoenix plants himself beside me, one hand braced on the table, the other gripping the back of the seat, his chest rising like he’s seconds from snapping. Every inch of him burns with anger, his whole body turned toward me in this cramped booth we’re trapped in.
Silence stretches between us as gunmetal eyes pin me in place, dragging heat down my spine. His scent invades my senses. I have no idea what it is. It's just him. Raw, masculine, and dangerous.
“I’m guessing you don’t have long to make whatever point you need to make, so could we just get on with it before you leave again?
” I say, taking a sip of champagne. On the outside, I’m unbothered, but inside, I’m a fucking mess.
“Unless you have no idea what the hell you’re doing, which wouldn’t surprise me since hiding from me is the only thing you’ve ever been good at. ”
I feel him go rigid beside me, and for a moment, I want to shove the words back into my mouth.
“I hid for you.”
His words are simple, but the sacrifice behind them isn't.
He built a prison and locked himself inside it, but Phoenix was never meant to be caged.
I push away from the booth, ready to slide out, but he moves faster. His hand wraps around my waist and yanks me back so his chest is pressed against my spine, his palm flattening across my stomach.
“Get off me,” I grind out through clenched teeth.
“I asked you to use your fucking brain, and if you can’t do that, then at least trust your instincts. He’s no good for you. You know that.”
“Would anyone be good for me?” I bite back just as his hand slides lower—past the hem of my skirt—until his fingers press against the thin silk of my panties.
“You already know the answer to that.”
“Don’t say it.” The plea slips out quieter than I mean it to, but I still don’t move.
“Me,” he whispers, dragging his teeth along the shell of my ear. “It’s always been me, baby. I’d be so fucking good for you.”
“You don’t know how to be good,” I choke out, trying to care that we’re still in public, that anyone could walk by, but I can already feel two fingers moving in slow, teasing circles against my clit, and I’m completely fucking useless.
“I do bad things for the right reasons, and I’m not sorry. I’ll keep doing bad things if it means taking care of you.”
“I don’t need to be taken care of.”
But my body has a mind of its own, pressing back into him, desperate for his fingers to move just a little faster.
“Liar, you’ve just convinced yourself no one ever will. It’s why you’ve made yourself financially independent. It’s why you’re not married…”
“Pretty sure at this point, you’re the reason I’m not married, considering you’ve scared off every guy who’s gotten close.”
“It’s not my fault you’ve always had a thing for assholes.”
“It started with you. You were my first asshole.”
My voice doesn’t even feel like mine anymore. My body’s winding tight, and some distant part of my brain knows I shouldn’t be doing this here. James is definitely coming back… I’m definitely getting caught, and still, I don’t care.
“And I’ll be your last. The sooner you get your beautiful head around that, the sooner you can stop pretending you don’t want us.” He leans in, pressing a kiss to the back of my head, then inhales before removing his hand from between my legs.
My entire body screams in protest. I’m trembling from the edge he shoved me to and then abandoned me on. Rage and want crash into each other so hard that I can’t untangle one from the other, and I hate him for it.
“Now, I warned you to shut that prick down, and you didn’t, so if I have to step in, you’ve only got yourself to blame.” He delivers it coldly, like he didn’t just have his hand up my skirt in a public restaurant.
He slides back, giving me space I don’t know what to do with, and my hands grip the edge of the table so hard my knuckles go white. I turn to him, my eyes locked on his as if I could burn him alive if I tried hard enough.
“Don’t look at me like that, baby. You can’t pick and choose when you want something from me.
” He tilts his head, his lips hovering just inches from mine, close enough that I can feel the heat of him again.
“And you can’t poke a fucking monster with a stick and then act shocked when it wakes up hungry. ”
Phoenix moves fast, disappearing so quickly it’s like he was never there at all, except my body is still thrumming with the ghost of him.
James returns seconds later, strolling toward our table and sliding into his seat, completely oblivious.
“Now, where were we? Oh—right. Dinner.” He laughs lightly, like he’s flirting with a woman who isn’t seconds away from melting into the carpet.
“I had a better idea. We’ve got a big gala coming up soon.
Board members, their families, and all the higher-ups will be there.
Why don’t you come? You’d be saving me from a night of conversations I really don’t want to have. ”
“I couldn’t…”
And I mean that. I couldn’t think of anything worse.
“You can bring a plus-one if you’d like. It might be a little less daunting.”
“Yeah, okay, sure. Why not? Sounds great.”
It sounds like I’d rather bash my skull into the table.