For Keeps (2 page)

“
Well, let’s find
out. I’m going out on the yacht tomorrow, and I would love for
you to join me and keep me company.”

She stopped walking and turned to
face him, a doubtful scowl on her face. “Look, Mr. Princeton…”

“
Tyler,” he
corrected.

The lines on her forehead grew
deeper, her expression more disturbed. “Tyler. I don’t
know what you’re trying to do here, but whatever it is, I don’t
appreciate being made a fool.”

He shook his head, smiling. “It’s
really hard to believe that someone as beautiful as you isn’t
used to being asked out.” He felt a stab of satisfaction as she
blushed. “Look, Valerie, I’m not going to lie to you. I
find you incredibly attractive. Is it so wrong of me to be up front?”

Her blush darkened and spread
down her throat. “I guess not.”

He stepped closer so they were
almost touching, leaning down so his lips hovered only slightly above
hers. She trembled visibly as his breath tickled across her face.
“So, is that a yes?”

With a shuddering sigh, she said,
“I guess so, yes.”

Triumphant, he placed a gentle
hand on her shoulder, his face only inches away from hers.

“
Perfect. Now, let’s
hope the Blues Brothers stay in their office all day. It’ll
mean a very light work day for you, and less pretending to be busy
for me.” He laughed at her suspicious look. “I’m
only here to pacify my father, Valerie. Of course, I don’t
regret coming now that I’ve met you, but I’ll be damned
if I’m going to conform to dear Dad’s idea of success.”

* * *

As it turned out, Sean and Aaron
came out of the office about twenty minutes before lunch, one of them
sending Valerie a disinterested wave over his shoulder as they headed
for the elevator. And a mere twenty-five minutes later, the lift
dinged, and a bike courier delivered lunch for Tyler, who popped out
of his office and handed over what looked to Valerie like an
exorbitant amount of money for a tip.

When the carrier left, he began
opening bags and arranging contents on her desk.

“
Tyler, I’m sorry,
but I have some work to do, and your lunch is in my way.”

He raised an eyebrow at her.
“Aren’t you hungry? I ordered with the intention of
feeding two. I can’t eat all this myself.”

Valerie couldn’t believe
this. The food smelled incredible, and as he opened it to reveal
Indian cuisine, she couldn’t help but be grateful as her
stomach growled at the delicious smells. He’d even ordered her
favorite chicken masala, and she waved him away from it as she
grabbed the dish.

“
That’s it, the rest
is yours. This? Is all mine.”

He laughed, and the sound was
deep and enticing. “I see I’ve hit a soft spot. I’ll
have to remember that.” Surrendering with flourish, he held up
his hands and bowed. “It’s all yours.”

As they ate, Tyler talked to her
about sailing, and she listened intently, genuinely interested. Sean
and Aaron returned as they were cleaning up, and one of them gave her
a smile she was sure was meant to be salacious.

“
Tyler, who is your
friend?”

One look at Tyler proved he had
no sense of humor about this matter. “Don’t you recognize
her? This is the third time you’ve passed her today. She’s
our legal assistant intern. Valerie, meet my cousin, Aaron and his
brother,” he offered, indicating the one standing to the side
with a look like he’s smelled something rotten, “Sean.
Guys, this is Valerie Gordon.”

Aaron took her hand and tried to
raise it to his lips, but Valerie pulled away, and Tyler instantly
put a hand on her shoulder. She wasn’t sure if that was
protective or territorial, but at this moment, she didn’t much
care. Aaron was obviously a leech, and as for Sean, if he was going
to look down on her as if he’d just pulled her out of a bog,
she certainly wanted nothing to do with him.

“
I’m sure she’s
pleased you’ve finally had the manners to acknowledge her
existence. Now, go back to your video games and YouTube and leave her
alone.” He turned back to Valerie, taking the trash from her
desk. “I’m going Gordontairs for a cigarette, if you’d
like to join me.”

She didn’t smoke, but there
was enough tension in the air to crackle like static electricity, and
she was grateful for the exit. “Sure, I’ll go down with
you.”

“
Or maybe go down
on
you,” she heard Aaron mutter under his breath.

In the blink of an eye, Tyler had
crossed the room and had his cousin pinned against the wall. “You
will show respect to our assistant. She is my father’s
employee, just like you, and that makes her your equal, not the butt
of your jokes. If I hear another comment like that from you, I will
have harassment charges filed against you, and you’ll lose this
job, your reputation, a lot of money, and that precious license to
practice in the state of Washington.”

Tyler released him and turned
before he could answer, taking Valerie’s hand and leading her
to the stairwell. He had no patience left to wait for the elevator.
He was fuming. Had he not obligated himself to working here long
enough to reap his trust fund reward, he would have pummeled the
asshole into the ground and not thought twice about it. As it was, he
had about a year to fulfill his obligation, and he didn’t want
to come off as too much of the bad boy he was to the very clean-cut
Valerie.

But apparently he’d already
messed that up. “How many tattoos do you have?” she asked
as he rolled up his sleeves and lit his cigarette. He looked down and
realized that the dragon winding all the way from the top of his
shoulder to the tip of his little finger was very much exposed in all
its bright, colorful glory. He wanted to curse.

Thinking and counting, he sighed
heavily as he replied, “Fifteen and a half.”

Her laughter rang out in the air
like church bells and gave him goosebumps. “What do you mean, a
half?”

He couldn’t help but smile
as he unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt and watched her
swallow hard as she looked at his chest. He pulled the material to
the side, showing her the outline of the Gothic castle and the
reaper-like creature standing guard.

“
I mean, these are drawn
but not shaded with color yet. I’m getting that done this
weekend.”

“
Nice.”

He chuckled softly in disbelief.
“You don’t have any tattoos?”

She shook her head, deflating a
little. “I could never decide what I wanted enough to stick it
on my body permanently.”

“
You should think about it.
You have great skin for it and a gorgeous figure. You should
definitely show it off with a little ink.”

For what had to be the eightieth
time today, Valerie felt herself blushing. He must have some ulterior
motive because men with half his looks had balked at the idea of
dating her. She was by no means beautiful, and she saw it everywhere
in fashion trends like skinny jeans, runway models getting taller and
thinner, a new diet on the bestseller list every week. What on earth
could Prince Alarming really find attractive about her?

She’d give him his date on
the yacht tomorrow, but then she was done with this. There would be
no more playing around with a boss who was obviously just looking for
a temporary distraction.

* * *

“
You planning on showing up
on time tomorrow?”

The door barely shut, Tyler
leaned his head back against it, grinding his teeth at his father’s
disappointed voice as he called in a dry tone from his seat, no
doubt, in front of the television.

“
I was only five minutes
late today, Dad. Maybe you didn’t know this, but I had to fill
out paperwork with human resources in order to start getting a
paycheck.”

His father’s sarcastic
laugh rankled him, and he clenched his fists as the man, who still
for some reason considered himself a southern gentleman and not the
shark he was in the courtroom, appeared at the other end of the long
foyer hallway. “You shouldn’t even be getting paid. I
should treat you like a damn intern and pay you pennies on the
dollar. You have all the money you need. You should learn some work
ethic.”

This coming from a man who
charged companies going through bankruptcy more than their business
had ever been worth. Who had taken poor men to the cleaners to build
his initial fortune when he’d been a criminal attorney.

“
I’m not lazy, Dad.”

“
No, you just waste all
your damn time with useless shit like racing and playing kid games.”

Hockey had never been just a game
to Tyler, but his father couldn’t understand that. He was too
wrapped up in his own world and his love of money to care what his
son wanted in life.

His anger boiling over, he spat
back, “Maybe I feel like what you do is all a game. Arguing
with grown men in a courtroom where another old man bangs a gavel to
calm you down before you start wrestling on the floor and punching
each other’s lights out.”

“
Listen, you selfish little
bastard, all I want for you is success. So don’t embarrass me,
or I will cut you off. Right now.”

Tyler pushed past his father. “I
don’t have the energy for this. I have to be at
work
in the morning. I’m
going to bed.” He stomped to his bedroom and slammed the door,
knowing it was childish and not caring. His father charged between
$600 and $1000 an hour for his services. In 45 minutes tonight, Tyler
had made $3000. But because it wasn’t a ‘respectable’
profession like being a bloodsucking lawyer, racing bikes didn’t
count as a source of income, even if you were good at it.

Just like signing a
multimillion-dollar contract to play professional hockey had been out
of line.

“
Guess what, Dad,” he
muttered to himself as he stripped down to his skivvies. “I’m
pretty sure you won’t approve of my date tomorrow, either.”
But screw it, he liked Valerie. And more than that, he desperately
wanted to feel her in his arms, to run his fingers over those
stunning curves, to taste her sweet nectar. He’d abide by the
requirements of his agreement with his father so he could get his
trust fund, but then he’d quit the damn firm and live his life
the way he wanted, out from under his father’s thumb.

Lying on his bed his thoughts
turned to Valerie. Imagining her naked, riding him while he massaged
her breasts and watched the hunger growing in her eyes. He envisioned
her voluptuous body pushing down on him, accepting every inch of his
cock and before too long the rage he felt towards his father was
gone, replaced by the strongest desire for a woman that he’d
ever felt. And it surprised and scared him.

* * *

Valerie had spent the entire day
at her desk, and she was utterly grateful that none of her charges
had asked her for anything. She didn’t think she would have
been able to concentrate on any assigned task. All she could do was
watch time tick by on the clock and wait impatiently. The tension
rode high, and while she was a bit frightened that this was all just
a joke, a horrible prank, just like in high school, the idea of going
on a date with Tyler truly excited her, in more ways than one.

As her thoughts wandered to what
they might do alone on a yacht in the middle of the water, she had to
go to the restroom several times to clean herself up, the moisture
constant and threatening to seep through her clothes. She’d
never been so attracted to someone that just the thought of that
person made her wet, but something about Tyler was different.
So
very different
. She
couldn’t stop thinking about him, about what he would look like
in nothing more than a fitted pair of shorts, the sun kissing his
bronzed skin, the sparkling water reflecting in those beautiful blue
eyes.

And those thoughts would get her
in trouble, if she couldn’t get them under control. Eventually,
she’d need to focus and if she couldn’t control these
thoughts, she’d never be able to get her job done.

“
You almost ready?”
Tyler murmured from behind her, and she felt her breathe hitch in her
throat. Somehow, an hour had passed without her even noticing, and
she was off in 15 minutes.

Her heart thudded in her chest.
“Yes, just let me power down.”

Tyler eyed her and could sense
her anxiety. He moved up behind her, and she could feel his masculine
presence shadowing closer. Her body went rigid, her knees weak with
desire, and she found herself closing her eyes as she said a silent
prayer asking that he disappear before he saw the effect that he had
on her.

When he first touched her, she
stiffened, but as his fingers gripped her shoulders, lightly at first
and then firmer and more aggressive in his kneading, he felt the knot
of stress leave her, the muscles relaxing beneath his thumbs and
fingers.

“
Relax.”

She nodded.

“
You’re okay riding
on the back of a motorcycle, aren’t you?”

Blinking up at him as he moved
around in front of her, Valerie nodded again. “Yes. I mean, I
haven’t been on one all that much, but I like them.”