Shut Up and Kiss Me (18 page)

His hand glided up, continuing up my back. And even as my body begged for sleep, I shivered beneath his touch, wanting more of him.

His hand reached my neck and he brushed a lock of my hair to one side. The movement sent sensations running all throughout me, warming me, wetting me, readying me. Groaning, I bit down on my lower lip.

“
Are you awake?” he whispered, placing a kiss behind my ear.

“
No,” I murmured back. “I’m still sleeping.”

I was tired, exhausted, and a whole other heap of words to describe being fucked so well that your legs turned to jelly and your body felt like it hadn’t slept in a hundred years. But I wasn’t complaining, not at all. I was finally happy—deliriously so. I used to roll my eyes at people that were as blissful as me, that’s how happy I was. But still, I really, really needed sleep.

Will’s fingertips were trailing down my back again, torturously slowly, causing my thighs to part of their own free will. Clearly my body was a whore, and wasn’t going to allow me any say in the matter.

“
I need to sleep,” I groaned. “I really, really need to sleep…” I trailed off as he slipped between my thighs, his fingers eager and playful. “Sleep can wait,” I breathed, my eyes fluttering open.

Laughing, Will rolled me over, his mouth latching onto my breast, his hand dipping back between my thighs. I gasped, my eyes rolling back as he continued his assault, pulling and pulling the pleasure from my strung-out body until I was writhing and groaning and stars were dancing behind my eyelids.

Then, when I couldn’t take another second without him inside of me, he was there, positioning himself between my legs and pressing into me.

“
I’ve never felt anything like this,” he mumbled, burying his face in my neck.

“
Me neither,” I panted.

His hips continued to thrust, maddeningly slow, in and out in beautiful circular patterns that caused my eyes to flutter closed and my toes to curl.

“
I want to ask you something,” he whispered, “and you can’t say no.”

I opened my eyes, finding him watching me with a smile on his face. “What is it?” I asked, feeling wary and nervous. Instead of answering me, he jerked his hips, causing me to gasp and curse. Wrapping one of my legs around the back of his, I attempted to keep him still.

“
Clever,” he said, grinning. “But not clever enough.” He pulled out of me, rendering my temporary hold on him useless, and then thrust forward, pushing back inside of me, filling me.

I gasped again, my head lolling to one side as I moaned softly.

“
There’s this thing,” he said, pressing a kiss to my parted lips. “This charity thing. I want you to come with me.”

“
Okay,” I mumbled, confused as to why we were discussing this now, when there were obviously so much more important things at hand. Things that he’d started, and needed to finish.

“
My family will be there,” he continued. “My sister is hosting it.”

I blinked up at him, finally understanding. “You want me to meet your family? But I thought you said they wouldn’t—”

“
They won’t,” he agreed, “but I still want them to meet you, and for you to meet them. I don’t want to hide them from you, or you from them.”

He looked suddenly nervous, as if worried I might say no. And the thought did occur to me. He’d painted this picture of his family that didn’t sound the least bit inviting, yet…

He wanted me to meet his family. How could I say no? Maybe I could win them over. Maybe they would like me and his worries would be for nothing.

“
I’ll come. Of course I’ll come.” I smiled up at him.

“
Yes, yes you will,” Will laughed, his blue eyes ablaze with lust, and once again he was moving inside me, pulling me to that precipice, holding me there while I clung to him, waiting for him to throw me over the edge.

He was a very lucky man.

In the midst of a meeting with a liquor vendor he was only half paying attention to, Will was still thinking of Mila—how beautiful she’d looked earlier, even as exhausted as she’d been, and how lucky he’d been to find her. Even after he’d lied—and worse, made a damning mess of his revelation speech—she’d still forgiven him, and she still wanted to be with him.

Better still, she’d agreed to meet his family, a feat he’d warned her would be, at the least, an unpleasant one.

Yep. He was one very lucky man.

“
Will?”

He glanced up from his cell phone, currently cradled in his palm as he stared at the blank screen, his thoughts adrift. The club manager, the true frontrunner of operations at INFINITY, Leila, was watching him, one perfectly sculpted eyebrow cocked in question.

“
Hmm?” he muttered, setting his phone down. Stretching out his sore legs, he raised his arms behind his head, interlocking his fingers around the back of his neck.

“
Veritas has a new line,” she said, her tone laced with annoyance. “Limited edition top-shelf liquor, selling like hotcakes at all the exclusive clubs.”

“
It’s trending due to the minimalist design,” another voice chimed in. One of the two Veritas Liquor representatives shot him a coy smile, her plump pink lips twisting into a self-assured smirk. Squaring her shoulders, she leaned back in her chair, the movement causing her long black hair to fall away and the silky blazer she was wearing to open wider, giving Will a healthy glimpse of her lacy black bra and the ample breasts beneath. “Less is apparently more at the moment.”

His thoughts were still muddled with images of Mila, naked and squirming beneath him, seated atop him, grinding, moaning…

It took him a moment to come back to the present and realize he was being offered more than just a buyer’s share of exclusive booze.

“
Plain black bottles,” a male voice interjected. “A smooth, sleek design, with nominal wording and basic print.”

Giving the woman a smile he didn’t feel, he released his neck and sat up straight in his chair, not so subtly dismissing the woman and turning to face the man seated several seat to his left.

“
Mark,” he said, his tone all business, giving the familiar face a friendly yet curt nod. “I like the concept of minimalism, but what I don’t like is gouging my customers, having them pay more for the same thing, the only difference the appearance of the bottle.”

Glancing at Leila, he was happy to find her annoyance all but gone, her eyes full of sparkling approval. Leila was all business all the time, but while she might be a powerhouse, she was full of heart as well. Both of those traits were the reason he’d given her the reins to managing the two clubs he owned in New York, a decision he’d never once been given cause to regret.

“
While it might look nice,” Leila said, giving her attentions to Mark, “and give the appearance of minimalism and frugality, it’s not a good business decision. We pride ourselves here on good customer relations, and part of that pride comes from not making underhanded purchases for no other reason than to fatten our wallets by tricking our consumers. Now if you want to lower your price, I think we could work something out, possibly even a promotional night here at Infinity—Veritas Liquors exclusive, of course.”

“
Now wait,” Mark said, holding up a hand in protest.

“
Think about it,” Leila interrupted, sliding her chair backwards, putting her hands on the glass table, and pushing herself to standing. With both hands up in the air, she mimed the space of the room between her palms. “We strip the club of all unnecessary furnishings and extravagance, not just
telling
the patrons that less is more, but
showing
them. We line the shelves with nothing but Veritas, we dress our wait staff in same sleek black ensembles as the bottles on the shelves…we play music with very little vocals, all bass…all beat.”

Mark, who was now watching Leila with piqued interest, drummed his fingertips along the tabletop while the woman continued to watch Will, her interest in him far more pleasure than business.

“
I like it,” Will said, markedly ignoring the woman in favor of glancing between Mark and Leila. “It’s a damn brilliant marketing plan.”

“
Take some time to mull it over,” Leila continued, “and then give me a figure when you’re ready to discuss it further.”

Mark stood, gesturing for his female partner to do the same, and Will followed suit, watching as the woman across from him purposely pushed herself upright in such a way that her already exposed breasts nearly spilled free from her flimsy top.

“
We’ll be in touch,” Mark said, offering Will his hand. They shook briskly, and then parted as Mark made his way toward Leila.

“
I’m sorry,” Will said, offering the woman his hand. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“
Robyn,” she said, giving him a toothy smile. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Townsend.”

“
Likewise,” he answered as she slid her hand into his. But instead of gripping his hand to shake it, she slid her nails lightly along his palm and up to his wrist, a blatant show of sexual invitation. Annoyed, he took his hand back.

“
Call me anytime,” she said, her tone purposely soft and seductive. A card appeared out of nowhere, with which she stepped forward and then slid it into his dress shirt pocket. Giving his pocket an unnecessary pat, she stepped away and started for the door.

When the two Veritas representatives were gone and Leila was smirking at him from the far end of the small room, Will let out a breath of air and grinned at her.

“
Brilliant plan,” he said. “If they don’t lower their price, then I think we should look elsewhere for a similar brand and work something out with them.”

“
But if we do that, then you won’t have the pleasure of working with
Robyn
,” she said, drawing out Robyn’s name in a mocking tone.

He made a face, something akin to a child who’d just been presented with a plate of lima beans and told to eat every last one of them, the action causing Leila to burst out laughing.

“
You seem happy lately,” she mused, still chuckling as she bent to gather her papers littering the table. “Who is she, Will?”

“
Mila,” he answered, very much liking the sound of her name.

“
And has she met your family yet?” Leila came to stand beside and him.

Again he made the face of a disgruntled child, and again Leila laughed.

“
She’s a waitress,” he muttered, “and from a small town in the South.”

“
A good and honest trade,” Leila responded, pushing open the door and stepping into the hall, “and small towns usually mean small-town values. Another good thing.” Pausing, she glanced over her shoulder, her smile gone, a look of pity amassing her delicate features. “And your awful family is going to eat her alive. Poor girl.”

“
Don’t remind me,” he continued, rushing up to cut her off and pushing the door of her office open before she could reach for the handle.

“
But if she can handle your family,” Leila said, “then she can handle anything. You remember that.”

Leaving Leila to her work, he continued down the hall toward his own office. Shouldering open the door, he let it slam close behind him as he headed to his desk. Sinking down into the buttery soft leather, he lifted his legs, settling his feet atop the desk beside his computer.

His family was most definitely going to attempt eating Mila alive, but the charity gala would be full of people they would be trying to impress, and more importantly an inopportune place to belittle a woman whose only wrongdoing was not living up to their inane standards. It was the perfect setting to introduce Mila to the world he’d come from, after which—and once Mila knew exactly what she’d be dealing with—they could progress to something more intimate, like a dreaded family dinner.

“
Speaking of which,” he muttered aloud. Swinging his legs off his desk, he propelled his chair forward and hit the enter key on his keyboard and his screen brightened.

Settling his fingertips on the keyboard, he began to type the words “Bergdorf” and “Goodman” into his search engine.

His family might not approve of the woman he’d fallen for, but he’d be damned if they wouldn’t approve of her dress. Mila deserved nothing but the finest.