Indulgent Pleasures (8 page)

“I guess not.” She finished the bread with gusto, her appetite not waning even after nibbling off the antipasto plate, the salad and two pieces of garlic bread.

Powerful orgasms with a gorgeous man really worked up an appetite in a woman.

The waiter suddenly appeared with two steaming plates in his hands and he set their dinners in front of them with a flourish. Stephanie breathed deep, the heavenly scent of oregano combined with other spices and baked cheese making her belly give a tiny rumble. She’d never felt this hungry before. Her stomach was like a bottomless pit. “It looks wonderful.”

“Try it. It’s even better than it looks.”

She glanced up, caught sight of his knowing gaze and her cheeks warmed. She attacked her baked lasagna even though it was hot and it burned the inside of her mouth. Seeing his sexy look and knowing he wanted her just as bad as she wanted him made her want to quickly finish dinner.

So they could get right to dessert.

Chapter Eight

And so there I was on my knees in front of him, ready to take him in my mouth. Some would say I was the vulnerable one in this situation, in a submissive position and doing exactly what he wanted me to do.

But they’re wrong. I’m the one with the power, he’s the vulnerable one. That he trusts me enough to take him in such a way, to give him so much pleasure is a heady feeling.

One I savor over and over again throughout the rest of the night.

“Wow, Steph, hot stuff.” Zoe slapped the stapled pages of Stephanie’s latest article down upon her desk. “Who is this guy? Same dude from the first article?”

Stephanie nodded, grabbing the papers from her desk and checking for red slashes and circles.

Less of them this week, thank God.

“Well the way you write him, he’s sexy as hell. The response has been good from your first article with both negative and positive fan mail coming through. But you’re getting mail and that’s what’s important.” Zoe added a small pile of envelopes onto Stephanie’s desk. “There it is.”

Stephanie wrinkled her nose and picked up the already-opened letters. “Negative mail?”

“Oh yeah, we reviewed the letters just to make sure there were no threats or anything. It’s company policy. There’s nothing threatening or anything like that in the letters but you did have sex with a guy you didn’t know and wrote about it. The moralists are taking the high road and shoving you down onto the low one.”

“Wow, really.” Stephanie opened the first letter off the pile, wincing at the choice string of words in the first paragraph.
Slut, giving it away and what kind of example are you?
Hurtful words she didn’t want to read anymore.

She didn’t realize people would think less of her because of her choices.

“Don’t let it bother you, Steph. You should see the reaction Caleb is getting for his article.” Zoe rolled her eyes though her smile was huge. “Did you read it?”

Yes, of course she did though she’d hated every second of it. The woman hating Caleb had gone on a diatribe about how women were put on this earth to basically please men. “I did.”

“Pretty bloody awful, right? I knew it would garner a huge reaction and boy was I right. I bet sales went through the roof for that issue. We’ll know tomorrow in the morning meeting.”

Stephanie felt sick to her stomach. Here she was pouring her heart and soul into these articles and Caleb was writing merely to provoke. And Zoe was eating it up with a spoon.

“You two are still in stiff competition for the column, you know. Keep up the good work.” Zoe turned and walked away, her skinny butt sashaying in the form fitting black dress she wore and Stephanie wanted to aim a sharp pencil right for it.

Maybe she should find another subject. Not actually experience the sex but interview people instead. That way it wouldn’t be a first person account of her sex life but a fact-filled, informative article about the various fantasies people had.

Yeah hello, boring. Zoe would give the column to Caleb in a heartbeat if she went in that direction.

She needed to figure out a new angle. A hotter angle. Yes, the oral sex article was sexier than the first one but she needed to top even that.

Nibbling on her fingernail she stared blindly at the monitor, her mind flooded with memories of Justin. It had been three days since they spent the night at that horrible little hotel and her body still ached from the extreme workout he’d given her.

They’d gone at it all night long until she’d essentially begged him to take her back to her apartment. He’d seemed reluctant, waiting, as if he’d wanted her to ask him inside when he dropped her off but she had her roommate to deal with.

No way did she want that shrew Sia to find out she was having wild crazy monkey sex with Justin Hawkins. Plus she really didn’t want him to see how pitiful her apartment was.

And he was the one who lived in the big fancy house. Not that she knew that for sure but come on. He was wealthy and he had to live in some sort of outrageous mansion.

She was dying of curiosity to check it out but she didn’t push. She didn’t believe their relationship was that deep for her to demand something like that.

Ha. She wanted to snort. Couldn’t even consider what they had as an actual relationship and she definitely wouldn’t call it deep. It was fun, it was hot, and it was passionate. Combustible. All consuming.

And that was why she was glad for the break from him. He’d traveled with the Miners to an out of town game and when he’d told her his plans she hadn’t asked any questions. She wondered if he had difficulty letting go of his team.

He’d been with them since the start of his professional career, a career that had lasted over ten years. She could understand his reluctance to stop traveling with them.

She wished she felt comfortable enough to ask him those questions.

“Yo, Shaw, is that your fan mail?” Caleb stood at his desk, staring at her over the waist high partition that separated their cubicles.

Stephanie glanced at her stack of mail and withheld the urge to roll her eyes. The guy was thirty going on twelve. “What do you care? Go read your own mail.”

“Yeah well, that’s a problem since there’s so much of it.” He picked up a stack three times the size of hers and let it all fall on top of his desk. The envelopes scattered everywhere, sliding off the desk and onto the floor and he laughed. “You should see my inbox. The emails are out of control.”

“All of it hate mail no doubt,” she muttered, turning her chair so she wouldn’t have to look at him.

God, she couldn’t stand him. And his constant smugness and overall arrogance only made this column contest that much worse.

She sighed. That’s exactly what Zoe had turned this in to. A freaking contest and though Stephanie loved a challenge, she hated that she was neck and neck with Caleb the jerk off.

“Oh, I have a few fans. Guys who are glad I’m finally speaking the truth via a public forum.” Caleb gathered up all of his mail and stacked it back on top of his desk. “Your fluff is good, I’ll give you that Shaw, but you need to ratchet it up a couple of notches.”

“I’m great. How are you? How’s Colorado?” She glanced up and caught Caleb watching her blatantly, listening to her phone conversation no doubt. She turned so her back faced him, rolling her chair closer to her desk so she was even farther away from Caleb.

Last thing she needed was for him to figure out the identity of her secret lover.

“It’s going good. We won last night so we ended the trip with a bang.” He paused and she waited, curiosity filling her.

She could act as blasé as she wanted but secretly she couldn’t deny it was thrilling to have him calling. As if he wanted to see her more. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been pursued by a man. Yes, she dated, she’d had a few relationships in her life but nothing as exhilarating as what was happening between her and Justin.

“Okay.” Excitement bubbled up within her. Just moments ago she’d thought herself happy with the break from him and now she couldn’t wait to see him again.

“Are you at work? Do you realize you’ve never told me what you do?” He sounded a little incredulous and she nibbled on her lower lip, wondering how exactly she could tell him.

“Yes, I am at work actually. I, um, I’m a writer.”

“Really?” His voice took a sharper turn and she swallowed hard, made a quick decision.

“Yes, for a small home and lifestyle magazine. I write articles about designing the interior of your house on a budget, stuff like that.”

“No kidding? I should have you check out my house. It’s practically empty and now that I’m home more often, I want to do something with it.” He paused again, the silence expectant, full of tension. “So maybe do you want to come over to my house tomorrow? After you get off work?”

“Thanks Stephanie.” His voice caught, as if he wanted to say something else but then he cleared his throat. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye.” She pushed end on her phone and slipped it back into her purse, spinning her chair around to find Caleb still standing there, sorting through his letters.

“Was that lover boy?”

Irritation flashed through her along with a healthy dose of panic. Had she said Justin’s name anytime during the conversation? Had she dropped any leading clues that would make Caleb suspicious?

Damn his hide for spying on her conversation. Damn herself for not walking away when she’d taken the call.

“None of your business,” she said as haughtily as she could muster, tipping her nose in the air. She’d learned from the best after observing Zoe in action for so long and she hoped like hell she looked like a snobby bitch.

“Ha, well that’s a dead giveaway. Does he know you’re exposing all of your exploits in the magazine?”

“Of course,” she lied. “Do you tell your conquests what you’re doing?”

“Hell, no. First of all, there’s too many of them and they’d all start claiming they were the one I was writing about. Half the time I don’t even give them my real name.”

“You’re disgusting.” He was a total slime ball and even worse, he was proud of it.

“Yeah keep telling yourself that. You know you wouldn’t mind a piece of the action.” He paused and she wondered if a light bulb went on over his head. “Wouldn’t that make a kick ass article? Each of our perspectives on our one night together? I bet Zoe would love it.”

“Never going to happen, Caleb. I’m not interested.” No, not after she’d sampled Justin. She was afraid he’d ruined her for any other man.

“Please. Just a couple of weeks ago I caught you giving me the eye.”

Had she? She doubted it but once upon a time, she had found Caleb attractive. That would’ve been before the great column contest and the exposing of his true colors.

“I have never given you the eye. Must’ve been your overactive imagination.” She shook her head.

“Yeah, whatever. I’m still approaching Zoe with the idea. I bet I’ll eventually convince you to play along.” He smiled, a flash of blinding white teeth set against overly tanned skin. She’d bet money he went to the tanning salon and bleached his teeth on a regular basis. “I bet we could have a great time together.”

“Hell no, I wouldn’t be permanent. I don’t do permanent. With anyone.” He grabbed his jacket which hung off the back of his chair and shrugged it on. “Think about it. Let’s talk it over with Zoe. I think it’s a great idea.”

Her jaw dropped open and she watched as Caleb walked away. The man just propositioned her for sex all in the name of their job, all for that stupid column.

No way would she sleep with him. She could barely stand talking to him and though she had been fast and easy with Justin that was the exception in her normal behavior, not the rule.

But now that she’d written those articles, did everyone think she was fast and easy? And yes, she’d wanted that column more than anything else for the last six months. Now she found herself unable to tell anyone, too embarrassed to confess to her friends and family she was the one writing it.

The sexual exploits of Sally Smith were being written, not Stephanie Shaw.

Life had just taken a turn for the weird.

Chapter Nine

Justin sat at the bar, glancing toward the front door what felt like every ten seconds. He checked his watch yet again, saw it was almost six and Stephanie was late. Like thirty minutes late.