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“M r. Evans? I’m so sorry to interrupt. Is this a terrible time?”
“Please, Rosie, don’t call me Mr. Evans. You know it freaks me out. It makes me think I’ve turned into my father while I wasn’t looking. Just call me Tyler, all right? I would like that a whole hell of a lot better.”
“Of course, whatever you say. But now that you mention your father...”
Tyler Evans, advertising tycoon and playboy extraordinaire, shut his eyes and steepled his fingers in front of him, his elbows resting on the vast desk made entirely of glass and chrome. In his temples, Tyler could feel the beginning of what promised to be one hell of a headache, one of the ones his mom had spent many years of his childhood insisting was a migraine and would require some kind of serious medication to correct. After several years and many, many doctors Tyler hadn’t had any interest in seeing, his mom had been forced to content herself with a different kind of diagnosis. As it turned out, Tyler wasn’t suffering from migraines—wasn’t and never had done. What Tyler Evans suffered from was nothing more and nothing less than tension headaches, and none of the Evans family’s substantial amounts of money could do anything to stop it. They couldn’t buy their way out of those headaches, and because none of them were prepared to face the giant elephant in the room, they couldn’t do anything else to stop them, either. It was just going to be one of those things. One of those fucking things Tyler would have to put up with, like a bad rash that wouldn’t mind its manners and make an exit.
“Mr. Evans?”
“Rosie,” Tyler warned, forcing a smile into his voice despite the rapidly increasing pressure inside of his head and shoulders, “what did I say? We’re not strangers, right? You’ve been my secretary for a couple of years now, and if I can’t get you to call me by my first name, I think things might actually be hopeless.”
“Right.” Rosie laughed, her nerves impossible to ignore even through the scratchiness of the intercom. “Sorry about that. Only, your father—”
“Yes, I’m sorry. Just caught me a little off guard, that’s all. You can patch him through.”
“But that’s just it, Tyler, I can’t patch him through.”
“Any chance you feel like telling me why not, or are we exchanging riddles now and I just never got the memo?”
“No,” Rosie answered softly, sounding almost as miserable as he felt, “no riddles. It’s—he’s here, sir. Your father is here. He hasn’t actually made it to the lobby yet, but one of the security men at the base of the building called up to let me know he’s in the elevator. I don’t know for sure, but my assumption is that he’s coming to see you.”
“Christ.”
“That was sort of my thought, too. What do you want me to do? I can try and tell him you’re in a meeting if you like, although I don’t know that he’ll listen to me.”
“He won’t listen to you, and we both know it. He’ll blow right by you and probably say something shitty to you on his way. No, no need for that. No need to get yourself involved with Daddy-o any more than you absolutely have to. Just tell him to come straight back, and if he doesn’t ask for permission, give him a cheery little nod and be glad you didn’t have to talk to him. Sound all right to you?”
“Yes, Tyler,” Rosie answered with a relief so palpable, Tyler couldn’t help but be jealous of how little interaction Rosie was going to get away with having with the formidable Mr. Charles Evans. “That sounds very good to me.”
She was gone then, so that it was only Tyler in his swanky office, sitting miserably behind his desk and waiting for the inevitable ax to fall. Christ, but his dad was the last person on the planet he wanted to see right now. He loved his father all right, loved him the way a kid was supposed to love his folks, but it was a hell of a lot easier to love him when he wasn’t actually around. And it was so clear he wasn’t stopping by for a social call that it made Tyler’s steadily worsening headache almost funny. It was a tension headache, right? Get it? Good old Pops stops by, and there you go! A tension headache extraordinaire. The cure to Tyler’s headaches was no more visits from his dad, and any chance of that happening was now long gone. Tyler’s dalliance with Camilla had seen to that.
“No need to tell him I’m coming back!” He heard the voice of Charles Evans coming toward him like a speeding bullet. “I’m coming for him one way or another, and unless he’s had a secret tunnel installed since the last time I was here, there’s nowhere for him to run.”
There he is, Tyler thought to himself sourly, the man we’ve all come to know and love. And what do we think the odds are that he’s come to offer his wisdom in my time of need, friends and neighbors? What sort of odds do we think we’d get in Vegas for a thing like that?
“Tyler! Tyler, if you’ve got anything to drink in this shitty office, now would be the time to break it out.”
“Now, huh?” Tyler asked his dad wearily, making a point not to get up by way of respectful greeting despite the fact that all of his fancy prep-school upbringing had told him that getting up out of his chair was the polite and respectful thing to do. “You don’t think eleven o’clock in the morning is a little early for scotch?”
“I would,” his father answered with the kind of disdain only a father could produce for a son, “if it weren’t for the reason that brought me here.”
“Any chance you’re going to tell me what that reason is?”
“You know what the reason is. You and that fucking Colombian wife of yours, soon to be ex -wife. You fucked up, kid, and I aim to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Chapter Two
“Keira! Hey, Keira, are you coming out with us or not?”
“Um, I don’t know, actually. Maybe not.”
"Um, what? What do you mean not? What the hell? I’m pretty sure this whole girls’-night-out thing was your idea, so I think I speak for Annika and me both when I say you better get your butt in the shower and get ready to go. You planned it, you have to come. That’s the rule.”
Keira couldn’t help but smile despite the weird sort of vertigo the email she’d just opened up had given her. Christie was pretty much an awesome roommate, incredibly loud voice or not, and Keira was most definitely grateful to have her around. Annika had been friends with the both of them ever since their freshman year of college, which meant a little over eight years now. They were good friends, the best actually, which was why it was so important to Keira to make sure they kept hanging out whenever they got the chance. This girls’ night out had been her idea, and she had been looking forward to it, too, but the email she had just received changed just about everything.
“Okay, girl, what’s going on? Why are you acting so weird?”
“It looks like I just got a job, Christie, that’s why. And not a bullshit job, either.”
“For real?” she asked excitedly, immediately getting on board with Keira’s own excitement, which was one of the things she totally loved about her. “What is it?”
“It’s for the Evans Corporation. I sent my resume into them, like, six months ago, and never heard anything back.”
“Well, then, they’re idiots,” Christie answered quickly, always ready to jump to her friends’ side at a moment’s notice. “So there you go.”
“Right, except that now the Senior Mr. Evans wants to offer me a job.”
“The senior?”
“Right. From what I know about the company, it was founded by a man named Charles Evans. He had one son, who pretty much runs the company now. Truth be told, I didn’t even know the dad still had a part in it.”
“But he’s the one who messaged you?”
“Looks like. I’m not sure it really makes any sense, but that’s definitely what it looks like.”
“So what’s the job?”
“That’s the weirdest part,” Keira answered with a frown, reading over the shockingly short email for what had to be the fiftieth time in under ten minutes. “It doesn’t really say. I mean, it says I’m hired for something, it just doesn’t say what exactly that something is.”
“Oh snap!” Christie shouted gleefully, starting to do an absurd little dance around Keira’s bedroom that she found more than a little bit annoying, “That sounds like the beginning of a porn or something!”
"Quit it," Keira snapped, laughing but also hoping that her sometimes too-perceptive roommate wouldn’t notice her blushing. “The guy’s, like, in his sixties or something.”
“Sure, the dad is, but what about the son?”
“What about him?”
“What is he like , Keira? Jeez, you need to start focusing here, honey.”
“Come on, Christie! Who cares what he’s like? What does that have to do with anything?”
“Please, don’t even start. Don’t even try to pretend like you aren’t curious. You may be Miss Serious when it comes to your career and everything, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t human. What’s the son’s name?”
“Um, Tyler? I think. I’m not sure.”
Keira was lying, and part of her was absolutely sure that Christie knew it. The two girls had known each other for a long time, long enough for her friend to have a good idea when she was fibbing. She knew exactly what the younger Evans man’s name was, knew for sure that his name was Tyler. She also happened to know that he was one of the most handsome men ever to walk the face of existence, like movie-star good-looking. He had thick black hair, something she could see had a natural curl to it and would probably be totally unruly without the aid of whatever expensive products he used. His eyes were an icy blue, the color of the glaciers she’d seen pictures of on the cover of National Geographic , and had a certain intelligent curiosity that made her think he was a man who knew how to get himself into trouble. And therein lay the problem, she reminded herself, a grim, determined look gracing her otherwise pretty face. She’d seen enough about Tyler Evans on the cover of those stupid tabloid magazines to know that he was a selfish, self-involved man who couldn’t stop himself from getting into trouble even when it was clearly going to hurt him. He was the kind of guy she thought of as a silver-spoon kid, the kind of person who would never realize what truly hard work really was. He was the opposite of the kind of person she was, and extremely good-looking or not, his kind of man was one she just couldn’t make herself respect, which meant she would never be all of the way attracted to him. He was like a piece of art, something good to look at but without the depth Keira found truly appealing in a man. Besides, she scolded herself, her opinion on his looks didn’t mean anything at the end of the day. She wasn’t sure what his father had hired her for, but she was pretty sure it had nothing to do with swooning over his son. Whatever it was, she wasn’t about to let the man’s playboy son get in her way, nor let him slow her down. She had been waiting for the opportunity to work at a place as prestigious as the Evans Corporation since before she had even graduated from college, and there was nothing on God’s green earth that was going to get in her way.
Chapter Three
“He’s coming again, Tyler! Sorry to just break into whatever else it is you’re doing, but he’s coming again! I thought you might want to know!”
“Christ. Thanks, Rosie, I appreciate it. We’ve got to look out for each other while Godzilla is out there on the loose, now don’t we?”
“Tyler!” Rosie laughed, her tone somehow managing to be admonishing, flirtatious, and commiserative all at the same time. “That’s awful! He’s your father, you know.”
“He is, and he’s a terrifying man. Now quick, get off the intercom, and whatever you do, look busy! The last thing I want is for him to decide you aren’t working hard enough and press me to fire you.”
Rosie shut the intercom off without another word. She was definitely good at taking orders, Tyler thought to himself, and nobody could ever accuse her of being otherwise. He remembered his dad telling him when he’d first come on as a part of the family corporation that whatever he did he needed to avoid keeping his dick away from the help, and for once he was glad he had listened to something dear old Dad had to say. Rosie was a good-looking chick, but if he’d nailed her he wouldn’t have her as an ally now, and Lord only knew an ally was definitely called for. If Daddy-o was coming back for a second day in a row, that meant trouble. What it probably meant was that he had come to make good on his threat from the day before, something that seemed incomprehensible to Tyler but could nevertheless be 100 percent true.
“Tyler!” Charles Evans’s voice boomed across, well, everything, making his presence well known before he even opened the door to Tyler’s office, “I must say, son, I’m impressed. Part of me thought you wouldn’t show today. Thought you might decide to hide out at home with your tail between your legs. Glad to see I was wrong. Perhaps we’ll manage to make a man out of you yet, although I have no problem admitting that I have my doubts. But then I suppose it’s no secret I’ve had my doubts about you all along.”
“Thanks, Dad. Good to see you, too.”
“Don’t act so glum, Tyler, it makes you look like a pussy.”
“You really do know how to greet a guy, don’t you?”
“Cut the shit, Tyler. You know you brought this on yourself. And you had fair warning that this was coming, so you don’t have any right to be surprised. I would appreciate it if you acted like a grown man while we get this whole thing sorted out.”
“This whole thing? What are you even talking about, Dad? It would be great if you used something besides pronouns when you speak.”
“Just shut up and try not to make things any worse, all right? Am I using words you can understand?”
Tyler’s initial reaction was to ask his father what the hell he was talking about but then thought better of it instead. He shut his mouth up tight, willing himself not to say something to make things tenser than they already were, and sent mental orders to his dad to just turn around and go back from wherever he came from. Surely there was somebody else for him to go and torment, right? Surely Tyler couldn’t be the only one. He was right on the verge of saying fuck it and mentioning the possibility to see if it might actually set him free when he heard his intercom crackle yet again. Sweet Christ, he thought to himself sourly, what could it be now?
“Um, Tyler?”
“Tyler?” Charles Evans barked, his brow furrowing in his signature “I’m about to chew somebody’s ass out” look. “You don’t think that’s a little bit informal for your boss, sweetheart? He’s Mr. Evans to you, miss.”
“Oh! I’m... I’m sorry, it’s just that—”
“Just that what? You don’t argue with the boss, hon. That’s something you would already know if my son had done the job he was supposed to.”
“It’s what I told her to call me,” Tyler said loudly, bound and determined to outtalk his larger-than-life dad. “So she’s doing exactly what I told her to. Problem solved. What is it, Rosie?”
“Thank you, sir,” Rosie answered, obviously grateful for his intervention but also too rattled to call him by his first name any longer. “I just wanted to let you know that you’ve got another visitor.”
“Well, tell whoever it is to either go away or wait until I’m through. I’m busy and unfortunately can’t say when we’re going to be through in here.”
“No, Rosie,” his dad spoke up, a smug look rising up on his face the looks of which Tyler didn’t care for one bit, “that won’t be necessary. Show her back, please. We’ll wait.”
The intercom clicked off, and Tyler thought he could actually see in his mind’s eye the look of total relief on Rosie’s face over the fact that her part in this uncomfortable interaction would soon be through. Tyler looked to Charles Evans for some kind of explanation. All he got for his efforts was more smugness, noting that something about it was maybe a little cruel as well as just controlling. He wanted to ask him what the hell was going on, what he thought he was doing, but he thought it was the kind of thing that would give his crotchety dad a sense of satisfaction, and there was no way he was going to give him that. Instead, he watched the door, waiting to see who was there to meet with him and why his dad seemed so goddamned happy about it. He didn’t know what he expected, but when he saw who pushed open the double doors to his office, he was most definitely taken aback.
The first thing he noticed about her was her legs. Her tight pencil skirt ended at an acceptably modest distance above her knees, but that didn’t stop Tyler from being able to see that she had the kind of legs rarely seen outside of the models of Sports Illustrated . And he should know, too—he’d been with more than one top model in his day, had certainly been with enough women to know how rare it was to see one with a body like this chick was sporting. And it didn’t stop at the legs, either. They were topped by a perfect pair of hips that tapered off to a small waist and a set off tits he would have loved to bury his face in. When he got to her face, he was both impressed and maybe a little bit embarrassed. Her skin was a creamy white, the kind of color that made her look completely unspoiled by the elements around her. Her eyes were a fiery, watchful green, and her hair, although pinned up in a respectable updo, was a mass of red curls he would have paid money to see cascading around her naked shoulders. Tyler had seen a lot of naked women in his life, had never suffered from a shortage of easy fucks, but rarely had he been as immediately drawn to one as he was to this girl. The embarrassment came when he saw the look in her eyes as she saw all of these thoughts travel through his mind. He had a pretty good idea she could tell everything he was thinking, and from the look of her, she was far from impressed. She actually looked at him like she thought he was distasteful, like he was a bad smell or a foul taste she couldn’t quite manage to get out of her mouth. He’d never even met the woman and she already hated him, and to make matters worse, his dad looked thrilled to see it. He actually let out a chuckle, something Tyler couldn’t remember hearing come out of him before, and stepped forward to shake her hand.
“Miss Banks,” he spoke warmly, something that would have been confusing all on its own but was doubly so because his dad knew the hot girl’s name. “Right on time. I like that in an employee.”
“Employee?” Tyler asked sharply, feeling his first hint of distaste to match that of this Miss Banks character. “She’s your employee?”
“That she is.”
“Fine, great. Then why don’t you take her somewhere else and have a meeting with her? Have your meeting somewhere that isn’t my office.”
“You know, I would, except this is a meeting that pertains to you.”
“Awesome. Care to tell me how?”
“She’s the answer to the little problem you’ve created. The fucking PR nightmare.”
“How do you figure?”
“PR is her thing. Isn’t that right, Miss Banks?”
“That’s correct,” she answered, her eyes flitting uncertainly from Charles to Tyler and then back to Charles again. “But I think I may be a bit confused. You haven’t mentioned yet what it is you’ve hired me for...”
“This. This is what I’ve hired you for. My numbskull of a son has gone and gotten himself plastered all over the covers of every smutty gossip rag there is. Every housewife who waits in line for her groceries gets to read about what an asshole he is. They get to read about his contentious divorce with that nightmare slut of a wife, Camilla. I’m sure you’ve seen it. You have, haven’t you?”
“I suppose so, but I still don’t see—”
“Tyler is your job. He’s your only job. You’re not only to keep him from getting himself into another scandal, but also to help him rehabilitate this squandered reputation of his.”
“Oh! Oh, goodness, I had no idea it was going to be that kind of thing. I’m not sure—”
“That you’re qualified? Bullshit. I called up each of your former professors personally. Each of them said you were the smartest student they had ever had. In terms of how difficult the job is going to be, believe me, I’m aware. Why else would I be paying you more than triple what you would get anywhere else? All I need to know is if you’re up to the job. Go ahead and tell me right now if you aren’t, because I’m not trying to waste my time. If you can’t do it, I’ll go and find somebody else who can.”
“I can do it,” she answered immediately, never once looking at Tyler as she spoke. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’ve never come up against a task I couldn’t master, and this one will be no different.”
It was right then, right at that moment, that Tyler knew he was going to do whatever he could to make sure that wasn’t true. It may have been petty, but hey, he had never claimed to be anything else, and talking over him like he was a child was the best way in the universe to piss him right the hell off.
––––––––
Chapter Four
“A RE YOU SURE THIS IS a good idea? I don’t think this is a good idea. In fact, I’m pretty much positive this isn’t a good idea.”
Keira could tell Tyler wasn’t listening to her—had known he wouldn’t be before the words came out of her mouth—but she couldn’t help speaking them all the same. Being the voice of reason was something she was so used to it was almost like breathing, and that meant it wasn’t a habit easily abandoned. Lord knew that if it were, she would have done it by now. She had been the one exclusively in charge of the shitshow that was Tyler Evans, and his PR for almost a month now, and it had been anything but easy. On the few occasions when Christie had dared to ask her about her new position, Keira had lamented her fate, sure that Tyler was being as intentionally petulant as he could possibly manage. He did the kind of things she would imagine a preteen boy doing when he found out his dad was getting remarried when he wanted the two of them to remain a duo of dudes. He sent her on errands in the office that weren’t actually possible to complete and played pranks on her whatever chance he got. He vacillated between being surly with her and telling stupid jokes that were obviously meant to offend her as much as he possibly could. The only thing she could come up with that was working in her favor was that he hadn’t done anything else silly enough to land him in the news, which was what she was being paid for. It didn’t feel like a whole lot, but given the circumstances, she had been willing to take it—and to actually be grateful for it, too.
All of that had been true, that was, until tonight, and she was rapidly realizing that tonight was the first real test of the abilities she had resolutely promised Charles Evans she had. Because despite all of his shenanigans, in her last month of service Tyler had yet to try and have one of his famous—or rather, infamous depending on who you talked to—nights out on the town. It had surprised her, and initially felt like a trick of some sort, but as the days had turned into weeks, she had actually allowed herself to believe that maybe Tyler cared more about mending his reputation than he’d let on. She had allowed herself to hope that he would help her make that happen, that there might be more to him than the spoiled silver-spoon kid she had pegged him to be. She had let herself hope these things, and she had been wrong. It seemed as if a month was all he was willing to give her by way of reprieve because on this fourth Friday night, he was going out to one of the most popular, difficult to get into clubs in the city, and when she’d insisted that he not go, he’d only laughed. It wasn’t even a mean laugh, nothing she could point at and call him a prick and be done with it. It was the kind of laugh that said hers was a cute attempt, but that it wouldn’t make any difference at all in the end. The two of them had argued about it for what felt like forever when he finally laid it all out on the line for her: either she could come with him so that she could stop worrying so much about it, or she could just go home and have herself a heart attack over the things he might or might not be doing. Option A or option B —those were the only two choices she was going to get. She had chosen option A , but that didn’t mean she had to like it. She didn't. She felt terribly out of place, exactly the same way she’d always felt in high school and to a large extent in college when everyone around her had been partying it up and she’d been too focused on her work to do anything other than study. She felt like a fish out of water, and she knew it was painfully obvious.
“Keira,” Tyler answered her patiently, shouting in order to be heard over the pulsing crowd of the fanciest club Keira had ever seen. “Stop it, okay? It’s a good idea. Everything doesn’t have to be so serious all of the time. It’s Friday night, and we’re out to have a good time, just like almost everyone else our age. It’s a good idea. Now take this, okay?”
“What is it?” she asked doubtfully, fully aware that accepting the impossibly large drink Tyler was handing her was a bad idea but doing it anyway.
“It’s called a drink, Keira. There’s no trick to it. It’s not like I drugged it or anything.”
“I didn’t say you did!” She protested just a little bit too loudly, realizing that she was sounding shrill and out of control, so she took a long, deep sip of the cocktail Tyler had just handed her in order to direct her own attention elsewhere. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“You don’t really have to, do you?”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“What do you think it means, Keira? You act like I’m some asshole toddler you have to put up with day in and day out. If you think you’re being subtle about your hatred for me, I’ve got news for you. You’re not.”
Keira opened her mouth to give some kind of retort and then promptly shut it again. As it turned out, she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say to that. Truth be told, she kind of had treated him like a child, and she’d definitely acted like she couldn’t stand him. She’d really believed that was true, too, except that looking at him now, she couldn’t quite remember why. She took another large sip of her drink, a drink that was quickly going to her head with how infrequently she chose to imbibe, and realized that she had no idea what she thought of Tyler Evans. She’d been sure she understood everything about him a month ago when this strangest of all jobs had begun, but now? Now she didn’t have a clue.
“What’s that look? I say something else you think is awful?”
“No, actually, not this time.”
“Interesting,” he answered, his voice warming up considerably as he turned toward her, moving in close enough that she could smell the woodsy scent of his cologne. “What, then?”
“I was just wondering why you’re always so freaking difficult. You’re being nice to me now like you actually like me some, and I don’t get it. When we’re at work together, you treat me like shit.”
“Me? Are you kidding me? You’re like the fucking ice queen, Keira! I’ve never met somebody as cold and condescending as you are, not a man or a woman. You walked into my office hating me on the very first day. Try and tell me differently.”
“I can’t. You’re right.”
“See? There you go. My dad made sure you thought the things he wanted you to think.”
“It had nothing to do with that, actually.”
“Then what?”
“You, Tyler. Just you. You were enough. Everything I ever read about you, everything I ever saw. You just seemed so... spoiled. You’re a silver-spoon kid, the kind of guy who’s always had everything handed to you. It’s hard to feel sorry for a guy like that.”
“And what are you? Just another stuck-up bitch who thinks she’s smarter than everyone?”
“Jesus, Tyler, you asked me.”
“I know I did. My point is we could both easily assume we know all about the other one. That doesn’t make it true, and it doesn’t make it smart. Have you ever considered the idea of us just getting to know each other without all of the bullshit? Just to get to know each other for real?”
Keira looked at Tyler closely, her head already swimming with the alcohol flowing through her veins. Part of her, the sensible part, was screaming at her not to listen, to not let him charm her the way he charmed everyone else. There was another part of her, though—and this part was large enough that it would undoubtedly have scared her had she not already been pretty well buzzed—that wanted to take him up on the offer. All of the characteristics she’d already decided she didn’t like aside, there was something about Tyler that drew her in, something she wanted more of. She likened it to a person putting her whole hand on an open flame in order to know once and for all if she would get burned. Never in her life had she been the kind of girl to do that and yet, as if it were a person completely separate from the version of herself she knew, she found herself delivering the last answer in the world she would have expected from herself.
“Okay.”
“Okay? Are you kidding me?”
“No,” she answered quickly, looking down at her now-empty drink to avoid looking Tyler in the eyes. “Why, were you hoping I would tell you to shove it or something?”
“No, definitely not. I was hoping for the opposite, very much so. I just didn’t expect it. Perhaps you aren’t as predictable as I’ve pegged you.”
“That may be true, but don’t get too excited, mister. This is just us getting to know each other. Just getting to know each other, and that’s as far as it goes.”
She should have known better. She should have known that the line she’d just spoken basically summed up the last words of every well-meaning, trying to be serious girl the whole world over.
Chapter Five
“This is insane! This is totally insane—you know that, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what it is. I just know that I want it. I want you.”
Tyler’s head was reeling, and it wasn’t only from the alcohol he’d consumed at the club. His head was spinning from how quickly everything had changed, how quickly it was still changing. He’d wanted Keira from the very first moment he’d seen her, wanted to have her in his bed, but a month of working with her had taught him that she wasn’t the kind of girl he could just whisk into his bed and then whisk right back out again. After Camilla, he’d been sure that was the only thing he was interested in. One-night stands had been the wheelhouse he’d been living in, and anyone who would require any more work than that was somebody he had no time for whatsoever. He was so sure of this that when he’d found himself inviting Keira to come out with him earlier in the day, he’d been half-tempted to punch himself in the face and remind himself of who he was dealing with here. It wasn’t another one of the hot chicks he’d distracted himself with ever since he and Camilla had so acrimoniously split—her getting caught by the paparazzi, sharing the bed of some half-rate, wannabe rapper, and him screwing as many people as he could to make the divorce feel final. No, Keira wasn’t like those girls because she didn’t look at him and automatically think he was amazing. This meant that she was work, something he was trying very hard to avoid, and therefore should have been off his radar. So he’d been totally at a loss when he’d told her to come with him while he let off some steam. Looking back, he was pretty sure it had been nothing more than a dare, a dare he was super surprised to have her take him up on. And speaking of surprise, things had only gotten more surprising as the night wore on. Much to his surprise, and he was sure to Keira’s surprise as well, he actually liked her. He liked her, and the more he realized that, the more he wanted her. By the time they had left the club, he had wanted her so badly that he couldn’t not kiss her, couldn’t help kissing her despite being sure she would probably beat the shit out of him for his trouble. When she hadn’t, he’d taken it one step further, asking her if she wanted to join him at his loft for a nightcap. Miraculously she had said yes to that one, too, and after one thing led to another, he now found himself sprawled out on his leather couch, his hands plunged in Keira’s perfect red curls and her sweet taste filling his mouth completely. It was only when Keira pulled back to inform him how insane what they were doing was that he even stopped to consider it. And even then he knew nothing short of a nuclear disaster would stop him from going as far as Keira was willing.
“You want me? But how come? You think I’m so uptight!”
“It’s an opinion I’m considering amending.”
“Your father can’t know about this, Tyler, you know that, right? He can’t have any idea or else I’ll lose my job.”
“Promise. He won’t hear a peep.”
“Of course he won’t. It isn't like this means anything, right? You don’t do that kind of thing. It’s one-night stands or nothing at all, right?"
“Hey, Keira?”
“What?”
“Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?”
Her face flushed a bright red, and Tyler laughed, a giddy feeling he couldn’t quite understand spreading through him. He’d been with plenty of women, enough to be completely appalling to most people, and not with one of them had he felt this kind of electricity running through him. Not even with Camilla, who had been the only woman up to this point that truly excited him. If he’d been a man with even a small amount of caution, that realization might have given him pause. He wasn’t thinking with his head now, though—he was thinking with his dick, and any thoughts of doing anything other than plunging himself inside her were completely overshadowed. He stopped her embarrassment with another kiss, taking her face in both hands and pulling her in toward him so that he could smell the honeysuckle of her hair. The scent enveloped him entirely, everything about her so intoxicating he thought he was going to lose his shit completely. He could feel himself growing hard, so hard that it almost hurt, the way his cock was pushing against the cage of his jeans. And just when he was sure it was the limit, the absolute limit, her tongue slipped into his mouth, and he heard himself groan. He took one of her hands, dimly aware that she might slap the shit out of him for what he was about to do, and placed it lightly on top of where his prick was throbbing—throbbing for her. She hesitated for a moment—he could feel the hesitation—but then she did something he would hardly have allowed himself to hope for. Her hand began to move, slowly at first, uncertainly, but picking up both speed and confidence with the sharp intake of his breath.
“This? Is this what you want?” she asked breathlessly, pulling back from him so that he could see her face flushed with something other than embarrassment for once. “Is this it?”
He spoke no answer, instead letting his hands do the talking. They slid up the silky black dress she wore, snaked across the front of it until they found the full weight of her breasts, his hands tingling with the more he wanted of everything he was allowed of her. Again he waited for her to pull away, to tell him he was going too far, but instead, she sighed, arching her back so that he held her more firmly. The movement was enough to push him all of the way over the edge, and he pulled her toward him, meaning to have her on his lap if it killed him.
“Hold on!” She laughed, a breathless, sexy sound that made his cock jump in his pants. “Take these off first.”
He was so surprised to hear this from her that for a minute he didn’t even know what she was talking about. It wasn’t until she began to fumble with his zipper that he understood what she was after, and then he started to laugh, too, whether because he thought it was funny or because it was either that or lose whatever cool he still had left, he wasn’t totally sure. Either way, seconds later his pants and boxers were thrown across the floor where they would remain forgotten until the next day. After this was done, Tyler clutched at Keira’s waist again, pulling her toward him with a need that was almost scary. She came willingly enough, panting and ready for him, slinging one leg over him so that she straddled him where he sat.
“This?” she breathed, her eyes bright and her skin hot to the touch. “This?”
He nodded, his hand sliding up the soft skin of her inner thigh so that she trembled beneath him. When he found the mound of her sex, she let out a cry, then shuddered as his fingers slid inside the wetness already waiting for him. As he moved in and out of her, slowly at first, then faster as her hips caught his rhythm, he watched her face. Her hair was down and everywhere, just the way he had imagined it the first time he’d seen her, and her eyes were shut tightly. She bit her lower lip in a way that turned him on even more than he was already, and through her mouth, she let out a series of moans that were growing more intense with each flick of his talented fingers.
“God! Oh my God, Tyler, I’m going to come! Oh God, I’m going to come!”
And then her body was clamping down around him, her hands using his shoulders to brace herself so that she didn’t fall over with the force of it. He grinned, his fingers still moving quickly, riding out the waves of her orgasm, until she kissed him deeply and pulled his hand gently away. In one fluid motion, she moved her hand from his to his painfully erect member, holding it steady as she lowered herself onto it. He sucked in his breath, his own eyes shutting then, and took in the sensation of her delicious wetness closing him in. He pulled roughly at her dress, tugging it up so forcefully it was surprising it didn’t rip right up the middle. She pulled it the rest of the way up, and when he opened his eyes again, her perfect tits were right there in his face. He looked up at her face and saw her watching him, taking in his reactions as they came.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, you know that? You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
She smiled at that, and then her hips began to move. They moved slowly at first, driving him more deeply inside of her—and driving him fucking insane. He pulled her in closer to him, taking her nipples into his mouth one by one, running his tongue over them until they were hard enough to cut glass. He cried out, her arms twining around the back of his neck and using his body for leverage to help her speed herself up. The rocking motion of her hips pulled him deeper into her and then further away, made him feel as if he was made to be inside of her, as if he was made to fuck this girl. He could feel a trembling growing inside of himself, and his hands dropped down to her waist, signaling to her to go faster, something she did without having to be told twice. She rode him like a horse, until he felt her stiffen beneath his fingers, and she let out another cry that was basically a scream. The walls of her cunt closed in on him more tightly again, and he knew he couldn’t hold on any longer. He let out a yell and spilled himself inside of her, coming harder than he had ever done in his life. After it was over, she rolled off him and the two of them lay there together until they both fell asleep in the early morning light.
Chapter Six
“You sure you want to do this? You look pretty uncomfortable if you want to know the truth.”
“Truth? I am, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to do this. I do, Keira. I think it’s about time I started acting like a halfway decent human being.”
Keira laughed and took Tyler by the hand, still feeling a little thrill over the fact that she was able to do something like that with the elusive, too handsome to live Tyler Evans. She had fought her attraction to him as best she could, but looking back on that fight, now it was painfully easy to see that it had been a lost cause. It seemed almost as if their first night on the couch together had been inevitable, only a matter of time, and now three weeks later she was more than glad about it. She had spent almost every night with him since that first one, and as far as she knew his dad was still none the wiser. All of this sneaking around—that and sleeping with a man like Tyler, to begin with—was totally unlike her, which was probably part of why it was so terribly enticing. In the end, she supposed it didn’t really matter. There was much more to Tyler than she ever gave him credit for, and she actually felt sort of guilty when she thought back on how nasty she had been in the beginning. Now she knew that Tyler was a lot more than what he allowed the tabloids to see, and she was lucky enough to be one of the few to see it. Not only that but now he was coming with her to the hospital to read to the sick children, something she’d been doing for years and hadn’t really thought he would be willing to do with her. He was nervous, that much was painfully obvious, but as she led him by the hand, she thought she also detected a hint of excitement. He was glad to be doing something for somebody else, she was sure of it.
“Here we are. This room is Delilah’s. She’s one of the girls I always make sure to read to.”
“How old is she?”
“She’s eleven.”
“And she’s been here for a long time?”
“Unfortunately, yes. Certainly longer than any child would want to be in a place like this.”
“And what’s... what’s the matter with her?”
“Cancer. I know it’s awful, and I can see from the look on your face that you think so too, but try not to let her see it. She only wants what most of these kids want.”
“Which is what?”
“To be treated like a normal child. That’s all. Not a major request, right? It can be super difficult, more difficult than you would believe sometimes, but it’s worth it to see them smile.”
“Hey, Keira?”
“Yes?”
Her face burned when he said her name that way, made her think of that first sweaty night on his impossibly expensive leather couch, but she did her best to shrug it off. There would be plenty more time for that kind of thing after the hospital was over, but for now, they were going to do some good. Tyler’s father was beyond thrilled about it, assuming it was about an opportunity to have his son photographed doing something good for once, but for Keira, it wasn’t about that at all. It had ceased to be about the job and had become about him, about wanting him to be the man she knew he had inside of him. She reminded herself of this and then looked levelly at Tyler, waiting to see what it was he wanted to say to her.
“You’re amazing, did you know that? You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”
And so the two of them entered little Delilah’s room and sat beside her bed, reading her whatever stories she asked for but, more importantly, just talking with her. Keira did most of the talking at first, but she gradually became quieter and quieter, giving Tyler the opportunity to understand the man he really was underneath all of the bullshit he’d allowed himself to believe was important. Sitting back and watching was the best part of the whole outing, and it allowed her to see for herself all of the best parts of Tyler Evans coming to the forefront. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she almost didn’t hear when Delilah asked Tyler if he was her favorite reader’s boyfriend. She almost missed the question, but she was pretty sure she couldn’t have missed Tyler’s answer, not in a million years. She couldn’t have forgotten the answer, because it was yes.
Chapter Seven
“Sir? Sorry to interrupt.”
“Rosie, come on! No sir, okay? No more sir!”
“Yes, sorry, sir, but it’s your father. He’s here to see you again.”
Tyler groaned and rolled his eyes, moving his hand away from his intercom without bothering to respond. So that was where the return of the word "sir" had come from. It might as well have the code word for “Dad's here,” seeing as it was the only time Rosie ever felt compelled to use it. It had been almost two months since his dad had come to pay him an unexpected visit at the office, and as far as Tyler was concerned, that time had been blissful. When it came to Charles Evans, no visit was a good visit, and he was sorry to see the streak broken. Yet when his dad came striding into the office, he wore a very different expression than the one he’d worn the last time he’d been there, and before he even spoke he laughed loudly and genially.
“Son! Good to see you. I can’t stay long, hope you don’t mind.”
“Um, no, I don’t mind at all. What brings you here?”
“Why, you do! I was driving by the office and thought it would do well to stop in and congratulate my son, who finally stopped acting like a jackass and got his shit together.”
“How do you figure?”
“That story on the front of Us Magazine ? You with the cancer kids? That was priceless! Keira was worth every penny I paid her, that’s for sure. I may even keep her on indefinitely, so long as you think you can stand it.”
“I’m pretty sure I can manage. Do you want a drink or something? We’re getting close to six o’clock.”
“No, no, I can’t stay. I’m on my way to dinner. Just wanted to tell you that you’re doing a good job. I’m glad to see it, Tyler. Glad to see you got on board with the way of the world.”
Without even giving Tyler the chance to reply, Charles Evans turned and strode right back out of the office. Tyler just sat for a minute, just sat and shook his head at how utterly bizarre the turns of the world would be. He pressed the intercom again when he finally came back to himself, finding that he’d been sitting there for more than an hour. He pressed the intercom once more, grimacing a little when Rosie promptly answered.
“Tyler? Do you need something?”
“No, but you do. Go home, Rosie. I’m sorry I kept you so long. I’ll be on my way out in a couple of minutes, so go home. Make me feel like a little less of an asshole for keeping you so late.”
“All right, Tyler,” Rosie answered with a laugh. “If you say so. But only if you promise me you won’t stay too long after I’m gone.”
“I promise. Go on now.”
Rosie said that she would do just that, and pretty soon Tyler could tell that he was probably the only one left in the whole building. There was a feeling an empty building gave you, a certain feeling that he used to hate but that over the last two months he’d come to sort of like. He poured himself a glass of scotch and watched the clock, killing time until it was time for him to go and pick Keira up. He allowed his thoughts to get caught up in the anticipated feel of Keira’s skin beneath his hands and became so wrapped up in it that he didn’t even hear the sound of his office door opening. He only became aware of another person in the room when he smelled perfume. It was a very familiar perfume, one that he had come to hate and would still recognize anywhere.
“Tyler, my love.”
“Camilla? What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Come now,” she pouted, her thick dyed-blonde hair pulled up into a knot on top of her head and her lip poking out at him like a sulky kid. “Is that any way to greet your wife?”
“Ex. You aren’t my wife anymore, Camilla. You made sure of that when you spent our whole short marriage messing around behind my back.”
“But that’s why I’ve come! It was a mistake, love. I’ve come to beg your forgiveness. I’ve come to get you back.”
Before he had time even to form the words needed to tell her to go fuck herself, Camilla had crossed his office and planted himself firmly on his lap. He tried to push her off, but her arms were tight around his neck, and she pulled herself closer to him despite his protests.
“Come on, Tyler, you know we’re meant to be together.”
“Bullshit, we are.”
“We are, and you know it. Kiss me and tell me you don’t feel it anymore. Kiss me, and if you tell me you don’t feel it I’ll go away—brokenhearted, but I’ll go.”
And she leaned forward and kissed him, shoving her tongue into his mouth and kissing him with an enthusiasm he didn’t think she’d ever used when the two of them had been together. For a minute he was terrified that he would feel something, that despite all of the crap she’d pulled, he would still feel something for this woman. When there was nothing, he could have thrown a parade of celebration. He pulled away from her, ready to tell her to get lost and to do so for good when a broken, strangled voice spoke from the office door. He knew who it was immediately, just as he knew that he was in a whole world of trouble he hadn’t asked for at all.
“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’m happy for the two of you.”
Then, before he could stand up and insist it wasn’t what it looked like, Keira was gone, fleeing his office as if she was fleeing the devil himself.
Chapter Eight
“Keira? There’s someone here to see you.”
“Tell him to go away. Tell him I don’t ever want to see him again.”
Keira spoke from around the pillow she had her face firmly planted in, a pillow that lay on the bed that had pretty much been her home for the last two weeks. Ever since she’d walked into Tyler’s office, intent on surprising him a little early for their date, she’d been sure that she would never want to leave her bed again. What a fool she had been to think that Tyler really cared about her, that he could ever change the kind of person he was. And now he had the nerve to show up at her front door? To act like nothing had ever happened? Well, screw him , she thought bitterly, trying very hard to pretend not to notice the tears that had again begun to flow down her cheeks. Screw him and his stupid promises, his claiming of her as a girlfriend. She’d never fall for somebody like him again, not for as long as she lived. She was never going to leave her room again if she could help it.
“All right, that’s enough of this shit,” Christie said hotly, actually stamping her foot so loudly that Keira could hear it. “It’s time for this to stop. I’m going to read you something, and if you still don’t want him to come in, I’ll tell him to get lost. Deal? Good.”
And so Christie began to read an article from a magazine, which Keira tried to ignore at first, then sat up and listened to it feeling as though she had lost the ability to breathe. It was Tyler—Tyler’s words given in a letter he’d sent to her by way of every magazine and paper that would take it. He said all of the things a woman hoped to hear but mostly never did. He told her how sorry he was, how much less of a man he’d been before her. He told her that his life would never be as good without her in it, that he would never again be so happy. In the end, he told her that he loved her, and it was those words that finally got her to her feet.
“And he’s here? He’s here right now?”
“He is, looking like a puppy that got kicked.”
“Will you ask him to come back?”
Christie didn’t answer, only let out a triumphant crow of delight as she hurried down the hallway to retrieve Keira’s lovesick suitor. Keira scrambled around the room, desperate to make herself look halfway decent despite the two weeks of self-neglect. By the time she heard the knock on her door, she was sure it was useless. He would just have to take her how she was or not at all. She was pretty sure that if his letter were even halfway true, he would be glad to have her at all.
“Yes?” she answered in a slightly wavering voice at the sound of the soft knocking on her door.
“It’s... it’s me. Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
It didn't take a genius to see that he hadn’t been sleeping or eating well, and as Tyler let himself into her bedroom and then shut the door again, it took everything she had not to just go to him right then and there. It was a crazy strong urge, but one she managed to resist. His letter had gone a long way toward mending the pain he had caused her, but she still wanted to see what he had to say for himself. She could still see the image of Camilla in his lap, her face attached to his like a succubus, but she wanted to hear what words he had for her. As if he already knew this, he stepped forward, his hands limp by his sides and his pain so real it was almost a physical presence in the room.
“Keira, I’m so, so sorry. You have to know that. I need you to know that.”
“Okay.”
“I didn’t invite her there. I didn’t want her there, but before I could stop her, she was on my lap and clawing at me. It was right before you got there, I swear. Nothing happened. I... I love you. I know that sounds crazy, I know we’ve only known each other for a couple of months, but I love you. I need you to know that.”
And there it was, all she needed to hear. Maybe it would have been better if she’d been able to hold out a little longer but it wasn’t in her nature to make a person suffer, and she didn’t have enough female cunning in her to make him suffer. She rushed toward him, taking his arms and wrapping them around her as she nuzzled her face into his chest. It took a moment or two for him to register that the fight was really and truly over, but then he held her closer, using all of his strength to make her feel safe and at home. His movement acted like some kind of spell on her, setting her on fire and igniting the greed of her physical need for him. Her hands rose to the collar of his shirt and began to undo the buttons, fumbling with them slightly but determined to make him naked as soon as she could possibly manage. His skin was hot beneath her fingertips, his heart thundering in his chest so quickly she thought she could almost see it. All the while, she kissed along the line of his breastbone, then got up on her tiptoes and kissed his mouth deeply, greedily. It was in a tangle of the clothing they both still had on and the clothing they struggled to get off that they made it to her bed, somehow both naked by the time they got there.
All Keira knew was that she couldn’t get his hard, thick cock inside of her fast enough, and she pulled her knees up to her ears as he plunged himself between them. A quick thrust saw him inside of her, and she let out a cry, not caring if Christie could hear them or not. Her hands found his strong shoulders, using them to steady herself as Tyler plunged himself into her over and over and over again. Her legs wrapped around his hips, her own hips rising to meet his each and every thrust. Nobody in the world aside from the two of them existed at that moment, nobody but the two of them and the rising heat building in her loins. Her hands flew up over her head and grasped for the bars of her brass headboard, and he reared up so that she could see every chiseled muscle of his impressive body. He took her ankles in his hands and threw them over his shoulders, pulling her toward him so that her hips left the bed, supported only by his hands. He plunged into her harder now, something that might have been considered rough if it wasn’t for the love between them. It took only a few more thrusts before she was biting into her own hand to keep herself from actually shouting from the force of her orgasm. Everything in the world around her fell away, all of her senses reduced to just the feeling of him sliding in and out of her as she came harder than she ever had in all of her life.
Dimly, as if from underwater, she heard him utter an expletive and then felt his body shudder both above and inside of her. Then they were both coming, hard and fast and in a way that left them exhausted directly after. When he withdrew from her, she felt a little twinge of sadness, but when she looked at his face she felt that sadness leave her. This was not the end of something, but only the beginning. When she looked at his warm eyes, she could actually see the love there, and as she slipped off into sleep, she knew the two of them would be together for a very long time.
