City of Sin (9 page)

Mason

I watched her ass sway back and forth. Being chivalrous was
not going to be easy. I quickly caught up to her. She didn't look at me until
we both got onto the elevator. She leaned against the side of the elevator and
crossed her arms over her chest. It pressed her tits together. I had to force
myself to look up at her face. She was pouting slightly, her lips full and
sultry. All I wanted to do was fuck her pretty little face again.

"Just so we're both clear, this is not a date. I'm going
to dinner with you to hear you out. That's it."

"It seems like a date to me. I sent you flowers. And
picked you up at work. And you're already calling me baby. It's all moving a
little fast, but I think I'm okay with that."

Bee laughed. "You didn't pick me up. You just walked
over here from Blue Media."

"Hmm." The doors opened and I held my hand out,
motioning for her to go first. I saw it, but only for a second. She looked
surprised that I was letting her exit the elevator first. I wasn't even trying
to be chivalrous. That's just what men did. Clearly her ex hadn't been a man.
Vargas was still working on getting me his name. But I had already found out a
lot about Bee. I opened up the door to her office building for her.

"Thanks," she said, and walked through.

"You're quite welcome." I put my arm around her
shoulders as we walked down the sidewalk.

She immediately dropped her shoulder. "Please don't
touch me, Mason." Her face was flushed.

She still wants me.
She was stubborn. And I liked the
fight in her. Everything about her was refreshing.

"You just looked cold."

"Yeah, well, I'm fine, thank you," she said and
pulled her coat tighter around her slim frame.

"I don't know what you think you know, but I promise
that it isn't everything you need to know about me," I said.

"It is." She had a cute scowl on her face. I wanted
to rip all her clothes off right in the middle of the sidewalk. And I bet she'd
let me. But I didn't want to just fuck her. I wanted her to beg me for it.

"It's not. How about you tell me exactly why you're so
upset?"

"I know what kind of perks your father's business
has."

"Perks?" I raised my eyebrow. It was the same thing
her friend had said to me. Apparently her ex was just at good at spinning a web
of lies as I was. Handing out perks didn't pay the bills.

"Yes, perks. Don't act so innocent. I know all about
you, Mason Caldwell. And I don't want to know anything else."

"Like I told your friend, I don't work for my father.
Finance is not my forte. I work at Blue Media with Carter. You know that."

She looked flustered. "That's not what Patrick
said."

I couldn't help but laugh. Patrick was an ass. A complete
suck up. "Patrick? Patrick is you ex-fiancé?"

 "Why are you laughing?"

"I'm sorry. He just doesn't seem like your type."

"Yeah, well he's not
now
. You taught him how to
cheat on me. And how to not care. You turned him into a monster."

"I just unleashed what was already there. Patrick is a
dick."

"He didn't used to be. Not before we moved here. Not
before he met you."

"Honey..."

"Don't call me that!" she yelled.

I smiled at her. "You're welcome, by the way."

"What are you talking about?" She looked so mad. I
wish all that passion was being used in a better way.

"If he couldn't make you orgasm, then you shouldn't have
been with him anyway."

"Seriously? You think I should be thanking you?"

"Yes. And I can think of one way you can thank me right
now."

Her eyes shone with lust for a second. She shook her head
back and forth. "What, so your dad asks you to show all his new hires the
city? So instead of showing them normal things like the Chrysler Building, you
show them all the underground clubs where they can fuck whoever they want? And
set them up with prostitutes? You tell them there's no consequences? Well there
are. He hurt me."

I could see that hurt in her eyes. She was broken. I wanted
to be the one that fixed her. I was pretty sure I was exactly what she needed.
And right now, she was exactly what I needed. "I show people that are new
to the city how to have a good time. It's not like I forced him to do the
things he did."

"So you admit it?"

"Admit what?"

"That you're...that you..." She bit her lip. She
didn't have the guts to say what was on her mind. It was that unspeakable and
wrong. And she loved it. She loved what I was. "Did you even care that he
was seeing someone?"

"Bee, he never mentioned you." I never asked
questions. Some of the men even had wedding rings, but it was none of my
business. None of them ever mentioned if they were with someone. I had assumed
it, but I never knew it. Bee didn't need to know that. Finance jobs were as
rough as advertising. Every man in a high level gig in this city needed to let
off steam. Women had a hard time understanding that.

I'd tell her whatever she wanted to hear, though. I needed my
cock deep inside of her. I was done messing around. She didn't need to know
anything about my second business. I'd fuck her and be done with her, just like
all the rest of them.

She looked down at her feet. I let my eyes wander down her
curves.

Bee

"So you didn't know he was cheating on someone?"
Maybe I was overreacting. Patrick was a cheater. Which meant he was also a
liar. He had made it seem like no one was faithful. Like his new friend Mason
had told him that women were expendable. He made it seem like Mason was basically
a pimp. Which was ridiculous. Mason had a job as an ad executive. He was
sophisticated and well off. He wasn't a pimp.

"No, I didn't."

I took a deep breath. "Why do you even know where places
like that are?"

"Places like what?"

"I don't know what they're called. Sex bars?"

Mason laughed. "I told you what my hobby was."

I gulped. "I thought you were joking."

"We need to cross here." He lightly touched my
elbow.

This time I didn't flinch. I still wasn't sure what kind of
man he was. But I did know that I wanted him. I wanted him in a way that I had
never wanted anyone else. I wasn't sure what it was about him. But I just
wanted to kiss his beautiful face.

He leaned toward me as we crossed the street. "I don't
joke when it comes to sex."

"No?" I could hear how breathless my voice was. I
hated how it sounded.

"No." He leaned down and nipped my earlobe.

Holy shit.

"And I promised you the best night of your life. I still
need to deliver."

I gulped. Friday night had been one of the best nights of my
life. What we had done should have been embarrassing. But it wasn't. Mason made
me feel so sexy. No one had ever wanted me like this before. He made me feel
desired.

"Here we are," he said.

I stopped in my tracks. We were standing outside La Masseria
dei Vini. "This is my favorite restaurant." I smiled up at him. What
a weird coincidence. Maybe we had more in common than I thought.

"Is it? I love it here too. They have the best gnocchi
in the whole city."

"I know. That's what I always order here."

He smiled and opened up the door for me.

I was completely torn. Tonight he was acting like such a
gentleman. On Friday he had acted like a sex god. And from what Patrick had
said, he was a complete douche bag. How was I supposed to know which one he
really was? I bit my lip and walked into the restaurant.

Mason walked up to the hostess stand. "We have a
reservation under Mason Caldwell."

The hostess looked up at him. I noticed her face blush. No
matter what kind of guy Mason was, he definitely had a reputation.

"Of course. Right this way, Mr. Caldwell."

Mason put his hand on the small of my back and led me to our
table. He pulled my chair out for me. Patrick had never done that. I quickly
sat down.

"So tell me," he said as he looked at his menu.
"Why do you want your boss to think that we're together?"

"I don't."

He lowered his eyebrows slightly. "I know when a girl is
flirting with me. You were pretending to. Tell me why."

He didn't really ask it as a question. More as a command. It
sent a chill down my spine. I was relieved when the waiter walked over.

"Good evening, and welcome to La Masseria dei Vini. I'm
Franco and I'll be your waiter tonight. Can I start you off with something to
drink? We have a featured..."

"We'll have a bottle of Chateau Bordeaux. And we'd both
like Gnocchi Verdi for our entrees. Thank you, Franco." Mason kept his
eyes on me. Everything he did was so unnerving.

"Yes, sir. I'll put your order in right away."
Franco left the table.

"You should have let him finish," I said.
"It's kind of rude to cut the waiter off when..."

"Tell me why, Bee."

I sighed. He clearly didn't mind cutting people off. "My
boss hits on me sometimes. He's inappropriate. I thought maybe he'd stop if he
thought we were together. I don't know why I did it. He flirted with me when I
was wearing an engagement ring too. It's not going to stop him."

"You shouldn't let your boss walk all over you."

"You don't know me."

"I'd like to."

I swallowed hard.

"Why are you working for a guy like that anyway?"

"I can take care of him. I just thought him seeing us
together might help for a few days."

"That doesn't answer my question. I'm sure there are
other secretary jobs around."

"Because I don't want to be a secretary. I'm trying to
get my first job in advertising. This is my way in."

"You want to be in advertising?"

"Yes. And don't even say it. I know you think I'm soft.
And you probably think I'm not cut out for advertising because I don't have
thick skin. I wasn't born in the city and therefore don't belong here. Yadda
yadda. That's not going to stop me. You'll see."

He just stared at me for a second. "All I was going to
say is that women who work at ad agencies don't usually start out as
secretaries for dicks."

"Well I can't just get any job I want because my father
has connections all over the city. I have to work my way up."

"You don't know me either, Bee."

Mason

She thought she had me all figured out. But she didn't know
me. And she didn't really want to. Because I wasn't a good guy. I certainly
wasn't any different than her ex. All I wanted was for my cock to be deep
inside of her. Maybe then I could stop thinking about her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to suggest..."

"Yes you did," I said.

Her face flushed slightly. I liked embarrassing her. When her
cheeks were red it reminded me of how she looked after she came. I shifted in
my seat. Screw chivalry. I was taking her back to my apartment tonight.

"Then tell me about yourself," she said. "Tell
me what I'm missing."

"What do you want to know?"

"Where did you go to school?"

"Harvard."

"Harvard?"

"That's what I said, baby."

She frowned. "So if you didn't work as a secretary at
Blue Media, how'd you get a job there?"

"I have my own connections. I don't need my father's.
And I'm very good at networking. I can be incredibly persuasive."

"I know."

I smiled at her. She barely even seemed upset that I had
introduced her fiancé to a bunch of sluts. I bet she was thinking about my cock
right now. She wanted this just as badly as me. If I had to answer a few stupid
questions first, then fine. Game on.

Our waiter came over and poured us each a glass of wine.

"To an adventurous evening," I said and lifted up
my glass.

She raised her glass. "I guess we'll see." She
clinked it against mine.

That's a yes.

"So how did you pay for Harvard? That's a very prestigious
school."

"You mean expensive?"

"Well, yes." She put her elbows on the table and
leaned forward slightly.

"My parents paid for it."

"You're very fortunate. I went to the University of New
Castle, with instate tuition, and I'm still paying off student loans. I
probably will be forever."

"The University of New Castle? One of my friends used to
work there."

"Really? What did he do?"

"He was a professor. He didn't teach there for very long
though."

"What was his name? Maybe I had him."

"James Hunter."

"Oh, Professor Hunter?"

"So you did have him?"

"No, I never had a class with him. I definitely heard
about him, though. Didn't he get fired for sleeping with a student?"

"Yeah, her name's Penny. And James didn't technically
get fired, he resigned. They're actually living in the city now."

"That's really sweet."

"I guess."

"That's a pretty crazy coincidence. Two sexy, rich,
bachelors dating young women from the University of New Castle? Not that we're
dating. Obviously." Her face blushed.

"Mhm." I took a sip of wine.
She really doesn't
know anything about me.
She thought I had everything in my life handed to
me. In a lot of ways I did. But not anymore. I didn't want to talk about my
family. I didn't want to talk at all. I just wanted to fuck her. I leaned forward
slightly. Maybe what she wanted to hear was that we were dating? Security would
get her to come back to my place. "I mean, technically this is our second
date in less than a week. So we're kind of dating."

"We're not dating, Mason." Her face was turning
even more red. "I said I'd split the bill with you."

"That's not happening. I really like you, Bee."

She locked eyes with me. "You don't like me. You don't
even know me."

"I know quite a bit about you, really. First of all,
you're exquisite. And you're kinky as hell but you're embarrassed about it.
You're a secretary for a dick. This is your favorite restaurant. I assume
you're indifferent to roses since you didn't thank me. You like being bossed
around because you're indecisive."

"I'm not..."

"You're definitely indecisive, because you seemed to
have written me off, yet here we are. You grew up in Delaware and followed your
asshole of an ex here even though you never pictured yourself in New York. And
you're wondering why you're still here if the only reason you came was to be
with him. You're torn about what to do because you're stuck in a job you hate
in a city you don't fit in."