Carlson
Why the hell is Gemma beaming at me like a proud mama?
And why is Suzette so red she’s stopping traffic a block away? To top it off, she’s still avoiding eye-contact with me.
“Carlson.” Gemma’s face is pulled so far back in a grin I’m thinking she just got laid again. Fucking Hawkes can’t keep his hands to himself for five minutes with his girl. She holds up a waiting fist. “Come on. Give it here.”
I bump knuckles with her. “What’s up with you?” I ask suspiciously.
That’s when Suzette covers her blazing face with her hands.
“Oh, nothing. I’ll leave you two to it.” Gemma waggles her brows. “Let me know if you need me.” She mocks cracking her puny knuckles. “I’ll kick any ass you want me to.”
I roll my eyes. “Bye, Gem.”
She laughs but sobers when she tells Suzette, “I’ll catch up with you.”
At the sound of the door clicking shut, I lower Suzette’s hand-mask. “What was that about?”
“I told her,” she blurts out. “About us.”
At least she’s looking at me when she reveals that tidbit. I don’t like others all up in my business, but it’s not the end of the world. It’s only Gemma. “I’m sure she won’t blab, if that’s what got you worrying.”
“It’s kind of embarrassing.”
We’re not supposed to be touching, but she’s not pulling away from me. My thumbs smooth over the insides of her wrists, and I’m rewarded with a delicate shudder.
“Being with me is embarrassing?”
“I’m not with you.”
I feign looking around. “I’m the only one here. You’re here. Looks like you are.”
It was meant to be lighthearted, but her face drops. “Then let’s hope no one walks in, or that would really fuel the rumor mill.” Her slow exhale flutters my shirt. “Sorry you got dragged in on this mess.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter,” she refutes. “I hope you know what they’re saying isn’t true.”
“So you don’t have the hots for me?”
This time she manages a half laugh. “You’re making light of it.”
“Don’t let it get to you. Small minds will buy into anything. If it’s not about us, it’ll be about someone else. The people that matter know it’s not true. That’s the important part.”
“I didn’t… sleep with you because you were going to be COO.”
“Suzette. If I thought that would be the case, I would’ve jumped at the position. Hell, you stopped sleeping with me when I became COO,” I mutter. “I know a way to say fuck you to the lot of them. Show them we don’t give a shit what they say.”
Cute dark brows draw above her nose. “How?”
Inch by gradual inch, I reel her in until her palms are flat on my chest. Her pretty eyes dominate her face as the air trembles out of her lips.
“We rub it in their faces.”
“In their faces?” A nervous chuckle trickles out. “Like make out in front of everyone?”
I hadn’t thought of that. “Not hide it. Being open. Let the chips fall where they may.”
Gaze on my mouth, she gulps visibly. It’s either from trepidation at the prospect of picking up where we left off and going public, or she wants to swallow me whole. I’m hoping it’s the latter.
“Not hide what, exactly?”
With the same leisure, I lower my head, giving her plenty of time to turn away or slap me.
She doesn’t, but she doesn’t eagerly close the distance between our mouths either.
I’m a breath from her glossy red lips. A strong draft would fuse us. “Suzette.”
“Carlson.” My name is a murmured caress from her mouth to mine.
“Kiss me.”
Individual beats in my chest strains with the ticking of each unheard second.
Then her lips are fitting perfectly with mine, softly, tentatively at first. I let her nibble on me, taste me as though I’m a new flavor she’s not sure about.
I’ve always been an acquired taste.
She pulls away much too soon and leaving me nowhere near sated.
Only I’m not done.
She’s easing back and I’m dipping in, chasing that coveted sip I’ve been missing. Has it been days? Weeks? Years?
There’s a sound. A moan or sweet sigh. From her or me? Both?
“All right, all right.” An annoying male voice intrudes. “Enough of that shit.”
Fucking Hawkes. When did he come in?
Slipping back, I mentally give myself a male pat on the back for the healthy flush tinting Suzette’s cheeks.
“Need I remind you this is an office?” Hawkes continues sardonically when we don’t pay him any attention. “This explains the scandal.”
“The only scandal is your hideous manners. We won’t even go into your face.”
“Aw, good to know your dick returned the blood to your wit. Suzy.” The hideous manners in question cool considerably at her name. “I hope you had a nice lunch.”
To my puzzlement, Suzette’s expression drops at Hawkes’s stiff remark. “Yes,” she murmurs, her head lowering in consternation. “Thank you.”
Something is not being said. Hawkes is clearly trying to make Suzette uncomfortable - and succeeding. I don’t like it. “What do you want?”
“A word with my COO.” The head of the company edict. “Alone.”
“I should get back to work anyway,” Suzette comments before I can protest. Her troubled gaze darts my way as though she’s trying to communicate something, but she only bites her lip before shuffling out of the conference room.
“What is wrong with you?” I start instantly. “Whatever it is can’t wait a few minutes? Suzette and I weren’t done talking.”
“Are her ears in her throat? She’s bunking with some pierced jerkwad. Gemma and I caught her with him during lunch.”
I scoff. “Don’t be an ass.”
“Name’s Tyson. He flat out said they were living together. Couldn’t keep his hands off her while he was eye-fucking Gemma,” he sneers with outrage and disgust. “Maybe that’s their thing. They carry around a get-out-of-fucking-free card.
“What the hell are you talking about?” My overloaded brain is refusing to process. It’s not Suzette. She wouldn’t lie to me. She wouldn’t kiss me like she did and run home to someone else. “It’s probably her brother or something.”
“Wouldn’t she have introduced him as her brother? That was no relative. Believe me, she acted like someone who knew she was busted.”
Fiery lava is starting to gurgle in my veins. I turn away to the windows, away from Hawkes’s speculating and condemning glare. “There must be an explanation. Suzette would have told me. Hell, Gemma would have said something.”
“I don’t think Gemma knew. She was just as surprised as I was when we ran into them.”
I’m shaking my head. “It doesn’t make sense, man. Suzette’s a nice girl. She wouldn’t pull that shit. Hell, I knew I overreacted during your party when that jerkoff stripper started talking to her.”
Hawkes frowns. “There was a stripper at my party?”
I wave that off. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not Suzette’s style.”
“How much do you really know her?”
I swivel back to snatch his gaze head on. “I know she wouldn’t fuck around on me.”
“Really?” Arms folded on his chest, he lasers me with a derisive snort. “How do you know what they’re saying isn’t true? This mysterious letter. It could’ve been a confession or a boast to someone.”
That almost makes me laugh. Almost. “It was not a confession. It sure as hell wasn’t a letter to anyone.”
“How do you know?” he insists adamantly.
“Because I have the fucking note.” Air deflates out of my lungs. “It wasn’t really a note, either. It was just… doodling on a notepad.”
“Doodling?” Hawkes looks dumbfounded. “Doodling brought about all this? Like a lovesick kid? How old is she?”
I slant him a look. “Oh, like you didn’t do heedless things when you were fixated on Gemma? I seem to recall you running out to get a puny mongrel because Gemma always wanted a beagle. And that was long before she knew you were alive.”
He straightens to his full height, needlessly flicking imaginary lint off his sleeve. “That was different.”
“How?”
“I’ve always loved Gemmy. You and Suzy hardly know each other.”
That’s bullshit. I’ve been quietly observing, studying her since the day I met her, but I’m not going to share that with Hawkes when I just gave him a hard time about being unreasonably hooked on Gemma. “I know enough. She doesn’t give a shit about my being COO. She refused me after the fucking company announcement. Me being a HC employee is a strife for her. We’re just waiting for that to be over.”
“How’s that shit going to work if you own half the company?”
I rub at the stiffness at the back of my neck. “She doesn’t know about that.”
“That shit isn’t going to fly when she finds out, man.” He shoots me a forceful stare. “Regardless, I need this resolved. The gossips,” he elucidates.
I scowl. “What do you care about office gossips? Don’t you have better things to do?”
“It bothers Gemmy, which means it needs to stop. You’re the man who gets things done, so get it done.”
I’ll get it done, and I’m not going to waste any time.
Fight fire with fire.
Determined, I march straight ahead, not looking back, sideways, up, or down. That hooch at the front desk is back after that wild errand I sent her on a half an hour ago. She tried to play up her assets with me, but I didn’t want to deal with her tired ass and sent her off. She shoots me the evil eye from under her exaggerated lashes. Like I give a shit.
On Suzette’s floor, the usual office hustle and bustle trails to a halt as I stride by. Suddenly alerted heads slowly swivel at my dogged advancement. Their hungry anticipation is as palpable as the scent of lingering microwaved popcorn. Even the air seems to be stilling. Shoulders back, legs unwavering, gaze unbreakable, that’s how I take on office bullshit. I dare them, dare anyone to make even an offhanded comment to me. Sighting Suzette at her desk with her gaze glued to her monitor, I don’t stop until I’m right up in her space.
Suzette’s head jerks up.
“Don’t forget about dinner tonight,” I announce, not bothering to lower my voice. “I’ll pick you up.”
I’m one hundred percent certain every ear on the floor is tuned in avidly. In a few minutes, my words will echo on each level of HC.
Big tawny eyes stare up at me, unblinking. “Dinner?” Wary flicker. “Tonight?”
Was that a pin dropping? “That place you like.” Half turning, I add, “Oh, and Ma says brunch is at eleven. Casual.”
At that, I strut back into the thick of the gaping silence
Go big or go home.
Yeah, I might be swaggering a little.
Sam Fraser is hovering at his office doorway, obviously having heard the brief exchange if his jaw hanging nearly to his belt is a clue.
I nod in silent greeting.
No words are needed.
He knows who’s the man.