Lip Service [Private Relations 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read online

  She got into her car and drove away after giving him one last wave.

  By the time she made it home, she was ready for a shower and a nap. Her brain was already working overtime, though. Even in light of today’s success, she was still a little bit apprehensive about potentially destroying friendships.

  Her whole apartment was spotless by midday Sunday. Some people ate when they were stressed. Chloe cleaned. After she had thoroughly scrubbed her bathroom and rearranged the kitchen cabinets, she decided enough was enough. Obsessively worrying about things wouldn’t change them. All she could do now was just wait and see what happened. Hell, she could be making a big deal about nothing.

  Finally, with nothing left to do, she fiddled around with her camera and uploaded the pictures to Facebook from Saturday’s outing. Tagging Chris in the album, she logged off and ate the last of the fresh fruit.

  Realizing she had gotten rid of a lot of her food in the fridge during her OCD freak out, she made a run to the grocery store. As she was getting ready to check out, her phone buzzed.

  Checking her texts, she saw one from Sara. “You guys looked pretty cozy. Fair warning, though. Deacon saw that picture.”

  Wincing, Chloe quickly texted back, “Shit I didn’t even think about that.”

  Sara responded quickly saying, “He called me over and asked if I knew when that started being a thing. I played dumb. He didn’t seem pissed off. More confused than anything.”

  Chloe sighed, a little relieved to hear that and replied back. “Damage is done now, I guess. Should I warn Chris? He gave me approval to post the pics.”

  A moment later, Sara texted back, saying, “I wouldn’t say anything. It’s done now. Gotta go. Keep me posted!”

  Chloe moved toward the checkout now, cart filled with purchases. While she waited in line, she impulsively pulled up her Facebook app. She was surprised to see a few notifications. Four people liked her album, including Deacon, Chris had commented on one of the photos, and Peter had commented.

  Shutting her phone down, she paid for her purchases and went home. After putting everything away, she moved to her laptop and opened Facebook. She saw that Peter had made a snide comment about being replaced quickly. She deleted it, and blocked him.

  Chris had commented on the sea lion picture, saying, “Good thing they’re cute because they really stink.”

  Responding back, she said, “Agreed. They’re much less adorable when you’re down wind.”

  Flipping through the rest of her album, she noticed that Chris had liked the picture she’d taken of them at the steering wheel.

  She smiled, and closed her laptop.

  She really hoped that Deacon wasn’t going to be pissed at Chris.

  Chapter 6

  Chris was glad that he didn’t have to be out of town this week. He was starting to get sick of all of the travel. He was looking forward to being able to sleep in his own bed all week, and not being in an airport. He made it to the office a few minutes early, stopping for some coffee and a bagel at the downstairs commissary.

  It was just after 8:30 when he stepped into his office. He had just booted up his computer when Deacon stuck his head in the door.

  “Hey. Got a minute?”

  “Yeah. Sure. What’s up?” Chris asked.

  Deacon stepped inside and closed the door. He looked at Chris intently for a moment.

  He must have had a slightly confused look on his face, because Deacon finally said, “So, I saw a picture of you and my sister on Facebook. You were looking pretty cozy. I hate to be that guy, but I have to ask. What’s going on?”

  “Honestly, I have no idea.”

  Deacon continued to stare at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

  Realizing that Deacon wasn’t at all satisfied with his answer, he said, “I’ve liked her for a little while, but always considered her off-limits. What you saw in that picture was a recent development. I’m not even sure what it was, really.”

  Deacon rubbed his hand over his face as he took in Chris’s response, then nodded, saying, “I’m not going to insult you by making a big deal out of this. You’re both adults and you can do what you want.”

  “I appreciate that,” Chris said, feeling a profound sense of relief.

  Pausing for a moment, Deacon continued. “But I am going to tell you, if you hurt her, then we’re going to have a problem.”

  Chris said, “I don’t want to intentionally hurt anyone. Ever. Least of all your sister. Before any of this stuff, she was my friend. I’ll be careful.”

  Nodding as if he was satisfied by that answer, Deacon said, “Then everything is cool. Gonna go do work stuff now.”

  He opened the door and left, his familiar smirk now back in place.

  Chris exhaled deeply. That was probably as close to a green light as he was likely to get. Deacon didn’t seem angry.

  Settling in to the work, he opened on the proposal for Innova. Last week’s meetings had gone really well. He had a firm understanding of what they were looking for, now. He was meeting with Jim a little bit later in the week to fine-tune things for next week’s meeting.

  This time they were coming down to the JDC offices to discuss dollar amounts, specifics, and hopefully sign on the dotted line. They’d get them commercial time on TSN, GamerChannel, and also some well-placed ads in sports magazines. They could reach some of the younger audiences too, by buying up some commercial time on children’s networks and cartoon channels. All of which JDC had open access to.

  The next few days flew by in a flurry of activity. Chris had gone over his proposal with Jim. He and Deacon had ended up going out one night to Greeley’s without any strangeness between them. The week was shaping up pretty well.

  When he got home Wednesday evening, it was almost eight o’clock. He’d gone to the gym after work, and was utterly wiped out. After making himself a sandwich, he grabbed his laptop and lay in bed. Seeing he’d missed a bunch of notifications on Facebook, he was surprised to see a message waiting for him from Peter Tennison, Chloe’s ex.

  Making a face, he wondered what Peter could possibly want from him. Clicking, he immediately raised his eyebrows. Peter accused Chloe of cheating on him with Chris when they were together, called her a whore and then told wrapped it all up by telling Chris to enjoy his sloppy seconds.

  Chris shook his head in disgust. Blocking him, he deleted the message from his inbox and lamented the fact that Peter hadn’t been dumb enough to say any of that in his presence. He really would have enjoyed kicking his ass.

  After going through the rest of his notifications, he saw Chloe was online so he shot her a quick message to ask how her week had been so far.

  A few seconds later, she responded. “Hey you! It was good. Busy so far, though. Can’t wait for the weekend. What about you? Having a good week so far?”

  Smirking, he replied, “Having a strange week. The picture of us on the boat sparked a couple of conversations. Can I call you?”

  After a moment, she said, “Sure.”

  He didn’t really feel like this was a conversation for instant message. Optimally, he would have liked to have had the conversation in person, but he’d take what he could get.

  Picking up his phone, he scrolled through his contacts until he located her. He dialed, then waited for her to pick up.

  Without any preamble whatsoever, she immediately asked, “What kind of conversations?”

  Holding back a laugh at her abrupt greeting, he answered, “Well. For one, your dick-bag ex Peter messaged me on Facebook He’s a real piece of work, Chlo.”

  He heard her groan from what he assumed was embarrassment, and then say, “Shit. I am so sorry about that. What did he say?”

  “Don’t worry about it. He’s an idiot. It was nothing at all worth repeating, though.”

  “Yeah,” she admitted. “He commented on the picture of us the night I posted it. I didn’t think he’d actually make contact with you though. I don’t know what possessed him.”

&
nbsp; “I imagine it was the fact we looked pretty cozy in the picture. Even your brother thought so.”

  Silence stretched on for a moment and then she said, “Oh. Shit. Was he pissed?”

  “Thanks for the concern,” he said, smiling now. “No. Everything is fine. He and I are all good.”

  Chloe sighed in relief and said, “Even so. I’m sorry you had to deal with all of that because of a dumb picture. I didn’t even think about Deacon’s reaction when I posted it.”

  “I told you to post the pictures. It’s fine, Chloe,” he said, then added, “It’s a great picture.”

  “It is.”

  Changing gears quickly, Chloe said, “So it sounds like you’re having an eventful week so far.”

  Chris laughed and said, “Yeah. You could say that. You mentioned you were looking forward to the weekend. Big plans?”

  “Nope. The opposite. I have CrossFit in the morning and then it’s a lazy Saturday for me. Maybe I’ll hit the beach.”

  “You do CrossFit? That stuff is hardcore.”

  “It’s only my third class. Don’t be impressed with me just yet. The last one I took, yesterday, almost killed me. I am so sore.”

  “Why don’t you do something less strenuous?”

  “Kelli talked me into it. You met her. The blonde?”

  Cringing, Chris said, “The one that whinnies when she laughs?”

  Laughing, Chloe said, “That’s mean. But yes. She’s usually too out of breath during class to laugh though.”

  “You seemed to like her, I thought. The whinny killed it for you?” Chloe asked.

  “She was all right, but the whinny was too much. The only reason I stayed was because I wanted to hang out with you.”

  “Speaking of that,” he segued, “wanna come over and hang out on Saturday? We could grill. I could let you try and kick my ass at Gridiron.”

  Chloe was silent for a minute and then she said, “Try? It’s going to be really embarrassing when I utterly destroy you in your own home.”

  “Big words, there.”

  “I’m confident. That’s all. What time were you thinking?” Chloe asked.

  “I dunno, maybe three? I can crush you, then we could eat. Maybe watch a movie after?” Chris suggested, feeling ridiculously nervous for some reason.

  Chloe paused for a minute and said, “Sounds good. Can I bring anything? Wine? Dessert?”

  “Wine would be good. I’m thinking steaks, if that helps the wine selection process for you,” Chris said.

  “It does. I’m going to let you go now. I think I’m gonna have to run to the store for some muscle cream. My lower back is throbbing.”

  “Poor girl. Take it easy. Try a hot bath, too.”

  Snorting, Chloe said, “My apartment only has a stall shower.”

  “Hot shower then,” he said. “It’ll help.”

  “I’ll try it. Thanks.”

  “Night, Chloe.”

  “Night, Chris.”

  Chapter 7

  Even though she had known him for over a decade, she was still incredibly nervous as she pulled into the driveway. Things had been slowly shifting between them for the last few weeks. It hadn’t been explicitly discussed, but she was pretty sure this was a date. For some reason, despite the fact that this was precisely what she’d been angling for, she felt a little unsure of herself.

  After checking her hair once more in the visor mirror, she got out of the car. With her purse and the promised bottle of wine, she made her way to the front door. Lifting her hand, she knocked and waited for Chris to answer the door.

  When he opened the door, he was barefoot, wearing a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a navy polo shirt. She was glad she’d dressed casually, too.

  “Hey. Come on in,” he said, smiling.

  He reached out and took her free hand, pulling her inside.

  Smiling, she said, “Hey.”

  Moving inside, further, she glanced around and said, “Where should I set the wine?”

  “Here. I’ll take it.” Turning the label he said, “Malbec?”

  “It’s Argentinian. Good stuff. It has less of the after taste than a normal red.”

  “Interesting. Never tried it,” he said.

  He moved across the room, into the kitchen to set the wine down.

  Peering into the living room area, Chloe said, “You redecorated. This sofa is new. Tables, too, right?”

  The brown leather sofa had been replaced. There was an overstuffed gray sofa with a chaise in its place. It had a few throw pillows in varying shades of black and gray on it.

  “Yeah. I got these about a year ago, I think. Has it really been that long since you’ve been here?” he asked, his face clearly showing surprise.

  Snickering, Chloe said, “The last time I was here I kicked your ass so badly at that racing game that I feared you’d never invite me back…” her voice trailing off sadly at the end.

  Narrowing his eyes, he said, “God. I am so going to enjoy wiping that smirk off your face, Chloe. Ready to get your ass kicked?”

  “Bring it.”

  The battle was long and intense but after three hours, they decided to call it a draw. They had been pretty evenly matched even though Chris had just barely edged her out for the overall win.

  Setting down her controller, she rolled her shoulders and said, “Commence gloating. You earned the right.”

  Laughing he said, “I did win, didn’t I?”

  He waited a beat and then said, “Well. It really is a man’s game.”

  Chloe smacked him in the arm and said, “What the hell!”

  Rubbing his arm he laughed and said, “Kidding. Kidding! Your face was priceless though.”

  His smile softened a bit and he asked, “Hungry yet?”

  “A bit, yeah. I didn’t want to stop playing but now that my downfall is complete,” she said, smiling wryly.

  They got up from the couch and headed to the kitchen. As they walked through the entrance, she asked, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Shaking his head, he said, “Nah. I’ve got in under control. Keep me company?”

  Nodding, she headed over to the other side of the island and she stood there and watched him work for a moment, then asked, “You’re sure?”

  “Just relax and have a seat. Let me make you dinner,” he said, then paused before adding, “By the way. How was CrossFit? Did it break you again?”

  “My muscles are a little stiff from sitting for so long,” she said, gesturing to the living room. “But not like the other night. We did lots of shoulder work today.”

  “You’re tough, Chlo. I don’t think I could handle that stuff. Especially with my knee. Swimming and weights are about all I’m good for.”

  Surveying him a moment, she said, “Well, clearly that’s working out just fine for you.”

  “Glad you noticed,” he said, smirking.

  “Hard to miss,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

  She continued to watch him in fascination as he moved to the refrigerator and took out the steaks. They were on a plate, and looked like they’d been seasoned already. Setting it aside, he grabbed two potatoes out and what looked like the beginnings of a salad.

  As he was preheating the oven, he looked back at her and saw that she was watching him intently.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cook anything that didn’t involve a microwave before. Frankly, I didn’t know if you knew how. I’m impressed.”

  Smirking, he said, “A man’s gotta eat. Besides, this is mostly just grilling. My genetics demand that I be able to cook over open flame.”

  “Easy,” she said, laughing and holding up her hands in surrender. “Nobody’s doubting your manhood. I just realized there’s a lot that I don’t know about you even though we’ve been friends for years.”

  “I know what you mean,” he said. “It’s strange to think that we’re still getting to know each other after all this time.”

&n
bsp; Chloe rolled her shoulders again, and stretched her neck.

  Glancing up at her again, he shook his head. He set the potatoes on the counter, and slid the steaks back in the fridge. Moving to the sink, he washed his hands and dried them on the dish towel.

  She watched him curiously, not exactly sure what was going on until he walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Gently, he began to massage her knotted muscles.

  Groaning, she said, “You really don’t have to do that.”

  After a brief pause, she added, “But don’t expect me to fight you on it. That’s great.”

  “You’ve been rolling your shoulders since you walked in the door. Besides, I’ve wanted to get my hands on you since you got here, anyway. This is convenient for both of us.”

  Smirking, she said, “Carry on then.”

  He continued to rub her shoulders in silence for a few minutes until she stopped him, saying, “Thank you. They feel so much better now.”

  Moving her hair over one shoulder, he started to press his thumbs into her tense neck and said, “You’re so knotted up.”

  “I stare at a computer screen all day. Besides, I carry all of my stress in my neck and shoulders anyway.”

  A few moments later, she felt his hands stop moving. He placed his hands on either side of her on the counter. She felt the heat radiating off of his body in waves. Taking a half step back, she leaned against his chest for a moment, and said, “That was amazing. Thank you.”

  Dipping his head down, he placed a feather-light kiss on the side of her neck. Chloe let her eyelids drift closed as she concentrated on the sensation of his lips on her skin. Tilting her head to the side, she gave him better access.

  He brushed his lips a few more times against her skin, until she sighed.

  Moving his mouth next to her ear now, he softly asked, “You’re sure you want to do this? It’s going to change everything.”

  Chloe stood there, completely still in his arms for a moment, then turned around so she was facing him.

  “You’re right. It will,” she said, staring at him intently. Then she asked, “Are you sure you want to do this?”