Please (Please #1) (14 page)

“We were just bringing her down,” Bert said before pushing the other button to open the building door.

“I’m coming up,” we heard.

“Wants to check up on me, huh?” Pat said, and sipped her drink. She didn’t look worried in the least.

My heart stopped when the door opened, giving me a glance at the man behind it. Hunter wore a tux perfectly molded to his outstanding body. His wide shoulders and strong arms reduced down into a trim waist. Gold cufflinks adorned his sleeves and black shoes shone beneath his tailored pants. He’d shaved and his hair was done in a messy style so popular among celebrities. Those eyes, always hooded, as if he were in the throes of ecstasy, looked me over.

His gaze met mine. He walked forward slowly, fire burning in his eyes. “You are stunning.”

I smiled from my toes, falling into that entrancing stare. I stepped forward to meet him, standing close enough to feel his heat. “Thank you,” I said in a breathy voice as I looked up into his handsome face.

“You’re fifteen minutes early.” Pat interrupted our moment in a blasé voice. “We had to make her gulp her champagne.”

As if emerging from a fog, Hunter blinked, his eyebrows lowering slowly. He took a step away from me as his gaze turned to Pat. “I wanted to make sure she had everything. This is her first event.”

“I think we’re ready, sir,” Bert said as he gathered up the items he’d brought and replaced the mess on the table.

“I trust you have extra hair products?” Hunter asked, circling me to look at the dress. I caught his gaze shoot past me into my bedroom, and then snag on the contract strewn over the bed. To anyone else it was just some paper haphazardly thrown around, but when his brow furrowed and his jaw tightened, it was clear he knew exactly what it was, and he knew I was doing my homework.

When he was standing in front of me again, his look was assessing.

“I have everything she needs, and another two girls to assist should the worst happen, including a bursting dress, though I don’t think we’ll have a problem. She could’ve gone a size smaller.”

“She’s perfect.” Hunter moved toward the door. “Shall we?”

I walked out the door, Bert and Pat following me. At the stairs, Hunter said, “Wait.”

I stopped as he moved around me, passing within inches of my body. His smell wafted up and tickled my nose, so divine I had to close my eyes and savor it just to make sure I remembered it perfectly. When I opened my eyes again, he was looking at me with his hand held out. “You aren’t steady in heels. If you fall, I want to catch you.”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Pat look over at Bert with wide eyes. I didn’t have time to analyze it, though. When I took Hunter’s hand, electricity surged through my body, making me gasp.

Trembling, trying to keep it together, I let him help me down the stairs. At the bottom, the progression filed out of the building. Hunter, still holding my hand, led me to a black stretch limo waiting in the street.

He handed me in, waiting until I was settled before moving around the car and getting in the other side. Once seated, he raised the divider between the driver and us.

“Sure we have enough space?” I asked nervously as Hunter poured a glass of champagne and handed it to me. He poured himself two fingers of a dark liquid from a crystal decanter.

“Space, privacy, and comfort, yes.” Hunter turned to me, his eyes closing the two feet of distance between our bodies. “You are so beautiful, Olivia. I almost want to call this off. I don’t want to share you.”

I sipped my champagne to hide my delighted smile, but it didn’t help the surge of butterflies in my stomach. He could be so sweet when he let himself. He said all the right things, and in such a deep, heartfelt way that I knew he was genuine. It was a shame he felt the need to keep up his defenses all the time. Everyone else missed out on the exceptional man beneath the armor.

“Did you have any questions about the contract?” he asked in a low voice that dripped with intimacy.

“Can I negotiate things like saying no?” I asked seriously, trying to keep my wits about me as his fingers trailed up my arm.

“Would you say no?” he whispered, placing his palm on my shoulder and trailing a thumb up my neck.

I broke out in goosebumps. “I want the option.”

“As I said, I need that role to fulfill certain needs. If there comes a point where you no longer want physical intimacy, I need just cause to discuss it with you. The contract provides that.”

“You don’t need a contract to discuss that with me, Hunter, and you know that.”

He leaned forward, pulling me to him. His lips glanced across my shoulder and up the base of my neck. “I want you now.”

“And now I would have to say no,” I whispered with my eyes closed, feeling his other hand crawl up the inside of my thigh. I widened my legs so he could gain more access. “Because you will mess up hours of preparation.”

“That ‘no’ wouldn’t count toward the five.”

“But that’s the thing.” I moaned as his fingers dipped into my panties and slid across my sudden wetness. “You’re making the rules.”

“I’m not as rigid as you think.” His fingers started up a fast pace, boiling my blood as pleasure pulsed in waves. “I want you as mine, Olivia. I want your signature as a promise of that.”

“What about me initiating? I have needs, too, and I don’t have time to go out and try to find a guy. I’m always at work.”

“I don’t want you finding someone else,” he growled, his fingers working faster. I moaned, clutching his shoulder.

“I have needs,” I whispered.

“I’ll meet your needs. I can amend that in the contract, as long as we set strict rules regarding when.”

“I’m not worried about you saying no—you don’t seem to have any problem with that.” My breathing sped up.

“I am.”

The limo pulled to a stop. Hunter swore under his breath. “Are you close?”

His thumb rubbed the top of my slit as his fingers worked inside, trying to get me to climax before we had to get out. Pleasure was rising. The heat was taking over. But no, I wasn’t close. Not with all the distraction of knowing that someone was about to open the door.

“No,” I panted, pushing his hand away. Barely a second after Hunter pulled away, the door opened, allowing a gust of chilled air to flash-freeze the sweat on my face. Hunter rolled out the other side, issuing a command that had the driver backing away from the car.

I checked myself over, adjusted the necklace, and let the fervor recede, before climbing out of the car. My sex pounded, on the rise pleasure-wise, and now I wondered what had gone wrong that I couldn’t finish. I took a deep breath outside the limo, willing the tightness in my body to relax.

“I apologize about that,” Hunter said into my ear as I glanced at our surroundings. “I wasn’t thinking.”

I gasped as I looked up at a plane that didn’t say Primmer & Locke as I’d expected. It only had one name scrawled along the side. Carlisle.

“You have your own jet?” I asked incredulously as Hunter ushered me toward the door.

“Doesn’t everyone?” Pat asked from behind us. I hadn’t even noticed her walking up. Bert’s vehicle was parked beside the limo. He was helping out two girls from the back.

“I don’t like using the company transportation. It’s usually less than adequate, and the approval system is arduous.”

The inside of the jet was white leather adorned with stylistic ornaments. On each headrest lay a red strip of fabric with an emblem embroidered into it.

“What is this?” I asked, running my fingers on the gold crest.

“It’s my family crest.”

“Is this your family jet?” I sank into a plush leather seat in the middle of the jet.

Hunter sat in the chair across from me with a small table between us.

“No. What funds my father intended to give me have already been imparted,” Hunter said with a harsh voice. He looked out the window. “We have no more ties other than blood. No more shared holdings or mutual interests.”

If I didn’t know any better, I would swear pain was working through his words. His eyes, too, had a tightness around them that hinted at anger, but also hurt. He was struggling with something. I was no stranger to feeling hostility toward a parent, but this was more than that. His father must’ve caused him a great deal of hurt for Hunter to not only shut down, but to express his emotion plainly before he did.

Fascinated, I stared, wanting to ask more about it. Wanting to see if I could open him up and get him to trust me with whatever burden he carried. People were gathered around us, though, and the plane gave a soft shudder as it began to roll forward. Now wasn’t the time.

W
hen we arrived
, we stalled beside the limo. Pat touched up my hair and makeup as Hunter checked in with Brenda in the office. Eventually he turned to me with his arm out. “Ready?”

“Ready for battle, huh?” I asked quietly as we made our way through the parking lot toward a grassy area. The afternoon was old, throwing long shadows across the ground.

“Always. And remember, you’ll be under fire. Some of the women will try to get information out of you, though of what sort, I’m not sure. I don’t pretend to know what goes on in the minds of women.”

“Understatement.”

Hunter steered me to a path that cut through the grass. “Some of the men, though, might see if you can be swayed to work for them. People will assume you are exceptional for me to have chosen you. I advise you to politely decline and walk away. Some of them are great salesmen.”

“And don’t have personal contracts.”

Hunter’s jaw tightened but he didn’t respond.

A large tent stood in the middle of the grassy area. From within, voices floated out on the breeze, a soft murmur punctuated by occasional laughter. Round tables dotted a wood floor, with flowers and candles acting as centerpieces. At the front of the tent was a bare area where a microphone stood. Behind it several men and women in suits and dresses played string instruments.

Heads turned as we entered. The noise level got distinctly lower.

“Mr. Carlisle, glad you could make it!” A man in his fifties stepped forward with a hand outstretched.

“Mr. Smith.” Hunter shook the man’s hand with a straight face. “This is Olivia Jonston.”

“Hello, Miss Jonston,” the man said, putting out his hand for me. “Lovely to have you.”

“Thank you,” I said, shaking his hand.

“Let me show you to your table.” The man walked forward, leading the way with a hand outstretched. “I trust the journey wasn’t too long?”

“It was fine,” Hunter answered.

“Great, great. And will you be staying in the city, or…”

“We’ll be heading back tonight.”

“Yes, of course.” The man stopped in front of a table near the microphone. “Please, let me know if you need anything at all.”

Hunter ignored him as he took the wrap from my shoulders and draped it across one of the chairs. “Do you want to leave your clutch here?” he asked. “It’ll be safe.”

“With a makeup team standing by, I hardly need it for my lip gloss.” I put my clutch on the seat. When I straightened, I felt Hunter’s hand slide across my lower back until it curved around my side.

“Afraid I’ll get stolen?” I asked in a murmur as a man and woman approached.

“It wouldn’t be the first time, and it wouldn’t be for business. It would be the first time I cared, though.”

“Hunter!” A man in his late forties stopped in front of us with a smile. “Good to see you. You remember Betty, my wife.”

“Yes, of course. And this is Olivia. Olivia, this is Pascal, one of the big players in the marketing industry.” Hunter glanced around, his face perfectly straight.

“I just
love
your dress!” Betty raved.

“Oh, thank you.” I smoothed my hands down my front as a man with trays of champagne drifted by.

“Champagne?” Hunter asked me.

“Yes, please.”

Hunter grabbed one of the glasses before saying to the waiter, “I’d like a scotch, neat.”

“Of course, sir.” The man hastened away.

“So where did you two find each other?” Betty asked.

“Why don’t you girls go chat while I talk to Hunter about a few things. Once you girls start to talk, we’re suddenly all in one big sewing circle.”

I stared at him, incredulous. That was an extremely demeaning and dickish thing to say. And the laughter he followed it up with grated.

I felt Hunter’s arm tighten, pulling me closer to his body. Apparently he thought so, too.

“C’mon, Olivia,” Betty said, seemingly unconcerned by her husband’s comment.

“Don’t be long,” Hunter said in my ear softly as he took his hand from around me.

“So how did you land the most eligible bachelor in the universe?” Betty asked as she walked us away.

Immediately, a woman joined us, dressed to the nines, hair teased and tousled to within an inch of its life, and sporting that heavy makeup Pat had initially wanted to put on me. “Betty, who is this?”

“Olivia,” I said, sticking out my hand.

The woman barely touched her palm to mine before looking over my shoulder. Her eyes sparkled with desire. I knew exactly who she was looking at.

“This is Yasmine,” Betty said.

“How did you get hooked up with Hunter Carlisle?” Yasmine asked in a sultry purr. The sparkle turned to condensation as she looked down my body, her gaze lingering for a long time on my necklace.

“I work for him, actually,” I said. “I’m fairly new, but he generally brings his admins to events.”

“Yes, he does. I’ve never even seen him and Blaire in public together,” Betty said in a tone that implied scandal.

“No, he never brings her out. She goes to a lot of events, but she always says he’s working. And now we know with whom.” Yasmine pursed her lips as she eyed me again.

“I’ve really only just started.” I needed to get out of this conversation. One of the women was fishing for information, and the other was trying to put me on the carving block. I didn’t like the motives of either. “Do you know where the restroom is?”

“Trying to get away so soon?” Yasmine smirked and glanced at Betty. “I saw Mary come in not long ago. I’m going to go say hi. Nice to meet you, Olivia.”

Yasmine wandered away with a slow saunter. Betty smiled at me. “Don’t mind her. She’s been after Hunter Carlisle for years. Had to settle for a rich investment banker who doesn’t give her the time of day. It appears daddy wasn’t as well off as he pretended.” Betty’s brow rose with wide eyes, an expression that said she was giving me juicy gossip. Or maybe she was implying I should pity Yasmine? I actually wasn’t sure.

“Ah. Mhm.” I bobbed my head. “Sorry, the restroom?”

“Oh sure. Here, I’ll walk you. There’s someone that way I want to talk to anyway.”

We crossed the open area with the microphone. Betty nodded and said hi to a few people as we passed. I noticed more than a few stares following my progress. The men’s eyes usually gleamed, dipping to my chest and no doubt lower as I passed. The women’s looks were either suspicious or curious. I paid attention to those that didn’t glance my way at all. Those were probably the people I wanted to talk to.

Betty dropped me off near the restroom with entreaties to track her down again so we could continue chatting. I smiled and nodded politely, almost bowling someone over in my haste to get away. I was starting to have second thoughts over the part in the contract about being the plus one.

As I walked back to my table, a woman sidled up and stopped in my way. Tall, slim, and drop-dead gorgeous, she wore a super-tight blue dress that molded to her body and popped out her breasts. Golden hair fell around her model-worthy face in loose curls, and light blue eyes assessed me with a pretty scowl. “So, you’re the new admin, huh?”

My brows crawled into my hairline. “I work for Hunter Carlisle, yes…”

“
This
is what he’s going for, huh? Bambi-eyed and curvy…” She huffed. “He doesn’t much care for brains anymore, I guess. You probably walked in and dropped down to suck his cock right away, huh? Those of us who actually have two brain cells to rub together got overlooked by a pretty face.”

“I just interviewed like everyone else…” I said with sweaty palms, blindsided by the venomous hatred and jealousy she was throwing my way.

“Yeah, I’ll bet. Well, watch yourself. I’ve met his fiancée, and she’d feel much more comfortable with me handling his affairs than someone like
you
.”

I stepped away, her cold blue eyes following me. I didn’t think that conversation warranted a closing statement. She’d said plenty.

Although I kind of wanted to tell her that I looked like crap when I interviewed. There was no way he’d hired me for my looks or taste in clothes, and since I hadn’t given in to his advances, it wasn’t for that, either.

In other words, all I’d had was brains.
So thank you very much for the compliment on my appearance tonight.

Happiness shedding from me like glitter, I found Hunter near the table standing with two men. He was looking at me with a faint scowl. When I got close, he stepped toward me and once again put his arm around my back. “Are you okay?”

“Just had an interesting conversation with one of your other applicants…”

“I’ve never known one of my admins to…have a good time.”

I giggled, smiling up at him. With his handsome face, and showering me in affection, he could’ve been a prince in one of the storybooks. “She basically said I got the job for my face and my suction ability.”

Hunter led me away from the table, not bothering to excuse himself from the conversation. We exited the tent into the cool night air. His brow had crumpled into a frown. “And this is amusing you?”

“Yes. Or don’t you remember what I looked like when I interviewed?”

He stopped near a large tree, turning to face me. “I do, yes.”

“So she delivered a compliment. I’ve met jerks before—I can easily ignore that part of the…discussion.”

His eyes filled with longing as he looked at me. He laid his hand on my neck before stroking my jaw lightly with his thumb.

“Don’t people find it strange that you’re always with an employee, rather than your fiancée?” I asked in a whisper, feeling the thrill from his contact.

His eyes roamed my face. “I don’t care what they find strange.”

“Do your admins care?”

“They’ve never mentioned it if they have. Do you care?”

“I mean…” I shifted, feeling the light breeze. “I’ve been with you, Hunter. And you’re engaged. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but it’s not right. And always touching me, with your arm around me—that’s got to reflect poorly on her. How does she feel?”

Hunter gave a sardonic smile. He let his fingers trail across my shoulders. “She is the most promiscuous woman I’ve ever met. Her life bores her, so she reaches for sex to cure her of idle time. To continue to find a thrill, she now has to reach for the outlandish. I first learned of her tastes when stumbling upon a three-way in my living room. That was tame compared to what she engages in now. I’m more concerned with her habits reflecting poorly on me.”

I grimaced. “Then why are you with her?”

He shook his head in small jerks. “We signed a contract benefiting our fathers, and indirectly, benefiting us so as to be rid of them.”

“How long have you been with her?”

He brushed a strand of hair from my face. “Three years. And before you ask, I haven’t broken it off with her because I didn’t intend to. The contract is complicated and extensive, and it’s allowed me to sever ties with my father. Marrying her would fulfill my duty, and after, I would be free to terminate the obligation at any time.”

“What about kids? A life? Hunter, that seems pretty dismal.”

He lightly traced the bottom of my lip with his thumb. “I’ll never have kids, Olivia, and the life I live is fine. There is security in dismal. I know what to expect.”

“It’s lonely.”

“I’m okay with lonely,” he whispered.

“Are you sure?”

Uncertainty crossed his face before I saw a deep and profound hurt steal his expression. His eyes almost dripped with it, a pain so acute it pinched my heart with its potency. Before he could answer, someone said, “Well, well, I’d heard a rumor Hunter Carlisle would be here.”

Hunter stiffened. His eyes, a moment ago so open and expressive, turned hard. His hand gripped my shoulder in something that seemed both possessive and like a reflex.

A man of about Hunter’s height sauntered up with a beautiful girl that looked about my age on his arm. She had fake boobs, a strangely narrow nose, and lips much too big for her face. If I had to guess, this girl had been through a lot of plastic surgery.

It was the man who gave me pause, though. Tall, broad shoulders, and an unmistakable handsomeness that age hadn’t withered. He looked strangely familiar.

“Father.” Hunter shifted away from me and dropped his hand to his side.

My eyes widened as the man looked me over. “And who is your pretty guest?”

“This is Olivia. She works for me.” The distance Hunter put in those words surprised me. I glanced at him, only to see a wary, guarded look I’d never seen before.

“Olivia…” Hunter’s father let the name curl into the air like smoke. “Beautiful name to go with an absolutely beautiful girl. I’m Rodge, since I doubt Hunter has spoken of me.” He stepped forward with an outstretched hand. I clasped it and was surprised when he glanced his lips off my knuckles. His eyes dripped lust and possession. His lips lingered past what was polite.

“Hi.” I ripped my hand away, uncomfortable.

“Aren’t you going to introduce your date?” Hunter asked with scorn.

“Of course.” Rodge turned to the woman and laid a hand across her shoulder. “This is Cami. She agreed to accompany me tonight.”

“What about your wife?”

“She and I don’t exactly see eye to eye on Cami.” Rodge smiled and threw me a wink as he explained, “She and I haven’t seen eye to eye on much lately. Divorces will do that.”

I gave the expected smile, since saying “yuck” would be frowned upon, and angled my body toward Hunter. I really wanted to walk away.

“I know why you’re here, son,” Rodge said in a taunting voice. “And I know how you work. I think charm and experience might win over the prodigy boy sitting on top of his corporate throne, especially since I trained you to be what you are.”

Hunter’s body went rigid. He stared at his father for a moment with his jaw clenched. Without a word, he turned and started walking.

I hastened to catch up, following him into the tent and to our seats. He didn’t say a word until he pulled out my chair. “Sit.”

Taken aback by the curt demand, I did, waiting for him to sit a moment later. Around the tent, others were laughing and chatting, finding their way to their seats. Dinner would be up shortly.