Lip Service [Private Relations 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 8

  “Jealous. I wrote a paper, did my laundry, went to the grocery store, then got grilled by my brother,” she said.

  “Grilled about what?” Chris asked, “Did he want details or something?”

  Laughing, she said, “God I hope not. I’m pretty sure they’d make him blush. He basically just warned me to be gentle with you.”

  He was silent for a minute and then said, “What!”

  Laughing harder now, she said, “You’re his best friend. He cares about you. He knows I’m a wicked seductress that pulls unsuspecting prey into her web all the time, so…”

  She could hear his smile when he said, “I’m just the next in a long line of victims, then?”

  Playing along, she said, “Yeah. Basically. What can I say? It’s what I do.”

  “Well, that was nice of him, I guess, if not misguided.”

  “Pretty much. He gets an A for effort,” she agreed.

  “How are your shoulders holding up?” he asked.

  “They’re not. They fell off. I think I may have to quit CrossFit. I’m in so much pain today.” Pausing for a moment, she added, “Although I feel that some of my achy muscles may be from another activity altogether.”

  “Aww. Poor baby. You could come over and take a swim in my tub if you want,” he said, a hint of lasciviousness in his tone now.

  Chloe laughed, then asked, “Is this how you lure women back to your den? Promises of whirlpool bath tub swimming?”

  All traces of humor gone, he said, “Nope. You’re actually the first woman that’s been in my tub. It was a night of firsts, I guess.”

  She was quiet for a moment, taking that in, and then she asked, “Really?”

  “Yeah,” he said, honestly. “I don’t normally do the whole what did you call it? Slumber party thing? The tub is mostly for my knee. Last night was the first time I’d used it like a recreational device.”

  Hearing the smirk in his voice now, she relaxed a little.

  “So, no sleepovers, huh? Is that some sort of personal rule?” she asked, curious.

  “Obviously not a very steadfast one,” he said. “But, I’ve known you so long that it’s kind of different between us. We’re comfortable around each other. When we met each other, we were probably both at our worst. Knowing all of the shit that we do about each other, it seems silly for me to treat you like some random chick I just met.”

  “You clearly put some thought into that,” Chloe said. “I agree. We did probably meet when I was at my worst. When my mom left, that really fucked me up. You probably know the worst things about me and still want to take my pants off. There’s something kind of comforting about that thought.”

  “Hell yeah, I do,” he said.

  Laughing now, she said, “I am gonna go take a hot shower, then try to put some of that muscle stuff on my shoulders again.”

  “All right, then. Hope it helps. Talk to you soon.”

  “Night.”

  “Night.”

  Chloe was impressed with her own restraint. Rather than asking him the million questions that had been running through her mind, she’d just followed the natural lead of the conversation. He’d divulged more about his feelings than she’d ever expected him to.

  He’d admitted that he was treating this situation with her differently than he did with other women. Maybe she’d take a leaf out of his book and not ask him all the questions that were flooding her mind. If he was willing to change his patterns, then maybe she should, too. God knows the whole “nag them to death” approach hadn’t been working out for her thus far.

  Chapter 10

  By lunch time on Monday, Chris was done with most of the prep work for Innova needed for the following day. He had reworked the proposal slightly based on the suggestions from Jim last week. He was about to meet with Jim and Deacon both. Between the three of them, they’d be able to find anything he might have missed.

  He was really looking forward to sitting down with the group from Innova. They were a fun bunch, and they really seemed to know what they wanted. There was nothing worse than a client who had no idea what they wanted.

  They were meeting all day tomorrow and part of Wednesday. He really hoped to have some signatures before they left. It was looking promising, based on their last meeting.

  When Chris had printed out the final copies of the proposal, he grabbed all three and headed to Jim’s office. Sticking his head in the door, he saw that both of them were there, waiting.

  “Hey, guys. Here’s the most recent copy. I added some additional commercial time on NBC during major sporting events. I managed to talk them into a deal, provided that we throw an exclusive interview their way this year. They weren’t particularly concerned about with whom,” Chris said.

  Jim nodded and said, “I’m sure we can work something out there. Surprised they even entertained the idea. The last guy I spoke to there acted like I had the plague.”

  Shrugging, Chris said, “He was a fan of my college career. He was impressed I could string a sentence together. I fucking hate that kind of shit.”

  Wincing, Deacon said, “It sucks that it comes back to that for you, but as long as you’re using it to your advantage, then that’s something. Right?”

  Nodding, he said, “I’ll take every competitive advantage I can come up with. Not everyone can be a numbers wizard,” he said, looking at Deacon. Glancing at Jim, he added, “Or a genius golden boy who could sell anything to anyone.”

  Deacon rolled his eyes and Jim snorted at him.

  “Right, Chris,” Jim said, a smile stretching across his face. “Like I don’t have my own struggles. Thankfully most people that are ignorant enough to care that I’m a black man are usually also too scared of me to say so because I’m six three and built.”

  Smirking, Chris said, “Just imagine if you were poor Deacon’s size. The ridicule and harassment would never stop.”

  “Suck it, Chris,” Deacon said mildly, flipping him off.

  Snorting, Chris blew him a kiss.

  Passing out the booklets, they went through the first few pages. When neither of them had any corrections or suggestions, he was feeling a lot better. He always hated this process.

  When Heather, the receptionist, knocked on Jim’s door with the food delivery they broke for a few minutes to eat.

  Chewing the bite of food he had in his mouth, Jim said, “So I got two free tickets for the Panthers versus. Tarpons game on Wednesday. Box seats. I’ll let you fight it out to decide who gets to go with me.”

  Chris said, “I’ve got a date. I’m going to pass. No battle to the death needed.”

  “Score. I’ll go,” Deacon said.

  “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone, Chris. When did that happen?” Jim asked.

  “Pretty recent, actually.”

  He glanced over at Deacon who was eyeing him intently.

  “You didn’t meet this one at a bar, did you?”

  “No. I didn’t. You’re thinking of that one chick who ended up having a boyfriend. That was a while ago. I learned my lesson,” Chris said, scowling.

  Jim asked, “So, how am I supposed to live vicariously through your dating life if you won’t tell me anything?”

  Deacon snorted loudly, and Chris shot him a dirty look.

  “I’d rather you didn’t vicariously live through this one with me, Jim. I’m seeing Chloe, Deacon’s sister,” he said blandly.

  Jim stared at him blankly and then his mouth dropped open. Laughing, he said, “And yet you still live!”

  Jim looked at Deacon and said, “Man. Really? You taught her better than that.”

  Deacon shook his head mournfully, then said, “You think you raise them right, then they go and do something like this.”

  “Fuck you both, guys. Really,” Chris said with a smirk, then took another bite of his sandwich.

  “I’m just playing, man. I didn’t realize you had a thing for her. I’m sure that Deacon has threatened you to within an inch of your life, so I’ll just
say that you better not hurt her, or we’ll have a problem,” Jim said.

  Chris said, “You guys ambiguously threatened me in the exact same way. Isn’t that swell?”

  “I’ll say again,” Chris continued. “Even though it’s none of your business at all, that I’ve never intentionally hurt any woman. Why would I start with someone I considered a friend first that’s related to one of my best friends? A little credit, please.”

  Jim held up his hands and said, “You’re right. Sorry. She’s like family to me.”

  “I get that, and I like that she has so many people in her corner. But dude, I’m not a monster.”

  Nodding now, Jim said, “Point made. Do we need to hug it out now?”

  Shaking his head, Chris cringed at him and said, “Please don’t make me.”

  Deacon cleared his throat and loudly said, “So, on page seven…”

  Laughing, Chris said, “Yes. Page seven.”

  Refocusing on work, they went through the proposal and made a few small corrections, but it was in good shape overall.

  Around 1:15 p.m., Deacon looked at his watch and said, “Sara said she’d be downstairs to check in the food orders. Gonna stop down and see her for a second. Did you guys wanna discuss anything else?”

  “Nah,” Jim said. “Tell her I said hi.”

  “Ask her if she can make those awesome nachos on Sunday,” Chris said.

  Nodding, he said, “Later, guys,” and walked out the door.

  Chris said, “All right. I’ve got a one thirty teleconference to prepare for. I’ll catch you later?”

  Nodding, Jim said, “Hey. I really didn’t mean to offend you earlier. I know you’re not a bad guy.”

  “Not your fault. It’s a strange situation that I’m not entirely comfortable with. I probably overreacted,” Chris admitted.

  “It’s strange to think of her grown up.”

  “Yeah. I’ll admit that it caught me off guard at first too. She came into the office a couple years back to visit Deacon, I guess. I happened to see her out of the corner of my eye and checked her out. Then she turned around and I realized who it was. I felt like a dirty old man. Hell, I still kinda do,” Chris said, shaking his head.

  Shaking his head now, too, Jim said, “Don’t be dumb. She’s a grown woman. It’s fine. Clearly she likes you for some reason. Just go with it.”

  Chris said, “I need to leave now. Before we start hugging and crying like a bunch of chicks.”

  Jim grinned and extended his arms, and Chris laughed, saying, “Yep. I’m out.”

  Grabbing his corrected proposal and drink, he went back to his office.

  Making the necessary corrections, he spent the rest of the day on long and relatively pointless conference calls.

  He was glad when the day was finally over. He was cranky and just wanted to go home. Stopping at the gym on the way home from work, he saw he had a missed text from Chloe. “Hope your day went well!”

  Texting her back, he said, “At the gym. Can I call you later tonight or are you still working?”

  His phone buzzed immediately with her reply. “Done and home by 8:30, any time after is good.”

  He quickly typed back, “Talk to you then.”

  Sliding his phone into his gym bag, he grabbed it and headed for the locker room.

  An hour and fifteen minutes later, he was walking in his front door. He immediately changed out of his suit, and then headed for the kitchen. He scoped the contents of his refrigerator to see what was for dinner. After a little debate, he settled on a turkey sandwich and a salad.

  Grabbing a beer to go with it, he sat down in front of the television to catch up on the DVR’d episodes of Crime Scene. It was a true-life crime show where the detailed crime scenes and walked through how the police had solved the crime. It was fascinating and kind of addictive.

  Two hours later, he felt himself begin to doze off. Looking at the clock, it was eight forty-five, so he figured it was probably safe to call Chloe now.

  Picking up his cell, he scrolled through his contacts for her number and dialed.

  She picked up on the third ring, saying, “Hey, you.”

  He could hear the smile in her voice.

  “Hey, Chloe. How was your day? Good?”

  “Yeah. I wrapped up the big project I was working on, so that was good. How about you? Did you finish the proposal you were working on for the video game place?”

  “Yeah. We fine-tuned it, but it was mostly good as is. They’re coming in tomorrow to meet with us, and for part of the day Wednesday,” he said.

  “I hope that works out for you guys. This deal would really help you expand into other markets, right?”

  “Absolutely. We’re definitely looking to broaden our client base.”

  “Makes sense,” she said, then mentioned, “Oh! So this morning I woke up and my shoulders were still ridiculously achy. I decided I give up on CrossFit. I told Kelli today that I’d do Zumba or something with her, but I couldn’t do the boot camp stuff anymore.”

  “Good. If your muscles hurt like that, then you’re probably doing too much. Besides,” he said, “You’re in great shape as is.”

  He could imagine the smirk on her face now.

  “Why, thank you. It’s so nice of you to notice.”

  Laughing, he said, “Of course I noticed. I explored pretty much every inch of your body on Saturday.”

  “And I enjoyed every second of it,” she said.

  “Ya know, we never really talked about it afterward, but how did the whole being tied up thing work for you?” he asked, curious now.

  Quiet for a minute, she finally said, “It totally worked for me. It added something to the experience, and I’d definitely want to continue experimenting with that kind of stuff. I liked everything about the way we were together Saturday.”

  A smile pulling at his lips now, he said, “Me too.”

  Then he added, “By the way, Jim found out we were seeing each other today. He invited me out Wednesday for a baseball game and I mentioned I was busy. He seemed very amused, especially with Deacon right there. He’s also protective of you. Between the two of them, I’m in trouble if I hurt you.”

  Sighing, Chloe said, “It’s a nice sentiment, but I’m an adult. Besides, it’s not like you would hurt me intentionally, anyway. You’re not that kind of person.”

  “Thanks for noticing,” he said softly.

  He heard her yawn, and said, “You should go to sleep, baby. You sound exhausted.”

  A smile in her voice, she said, “I am. I’ve been up since five. Talk to you tomorrow?”

  “Yeah,” he said, “Call me when you’re done with your paper if it’s not too late?”

  “‘Kay, night.”

  “Night. Sleep well.”

  Chapter 11

  Chloe got up from her couch when she heard the knock on her apartment door. Adjusting her glasses, she checked the peephole and opened the door when she saw Chris.

  He had a bag of food in one hand. Moving to let him inside, she said, “Hey.”

  Smiling, he moved to the counter to set the bag down, then walked over to wrap his arms around her.

  Dipping his mouth down to hers, he gave her a quick kiss then said, “Hey. You’re in glasses tonight. That’s different.”

  Grimacing, she said, “Yeah. My contacts were hurting my eyes, so I had to take them out.”

  “They’re cute,” he said, gesturing at the frames. “I like them. They make you look like a naughty librarian.”

  Looking at him over the rims of her frames, she asked, “Do they now?”

  Nodding solemnly, he said, “Yeah. It’s totally hot.”

  Glancing at the bag, she asked, “What did you bring for dinner?”

  “Chinese. Sweet-and-sour pork, white rice, and egg rolls. Plus an order of pot stickers to split.”

  “Awesome,” she said. “I’m starved.”

  “Me too.”

  Walking into the kitchen, she grabbed two bow
ls and two forks. Setting them on the bar, she moved to get drinks for them.

  “What did you want to drink? I’ve got water, tea, soda, beer?” she asked.

  “Beer? You don’t drink beer,” he said.

  Shooting him a look, she said, “You do though. So I picked some up.”

  “That was nice of you. Thank you. I’ll have one then,” he said.

  She set the drinks on the bar, along with the dishes and bowls, then walked around to the other side of the counter. Sliding out one of the stools, she gestured to the other one. Opening the white rice, she dumped a little into her bowl, then passed it over to him.

  Repeating the gesture with the pork, they ate mostly in silence until Chloe remembered his meeting and said, “So, how did the meeting go?”

  Smiling, he said, “We got signatures this morning, so it went really well.”

  “Awesome! I’m glad that worked out for you guys. This was kind of your baby, though, wasn’t it?”

  Nodding, he said, “Yeah. Pretty much.”

  “Kick ass!”

  During the remainder of the meal, Chris recounted the highlights, and told her that they’d given him an advanced copy of their NCAA Smash Mouth Football game. She was quick to demand a rematch after her narrow loss on Saturday.

  After dinner, they moved to the couch and continued to talk. Turning the television on for background noise for than anything, they proceeded to talk for the next hour and a half. The topics ranged from work related to general likes and dislikes. The more that she learned about him, the more she realized they had in common. It was a really foreign concept, getting to know someone you already knew.

  Chris finally said, “I didn’t realize we had so much in common. It’s a little scary, actually.”

  Sighing mournfully, she said, “If only you didn’t despise mayonnaise. It may be the thing that drives us apart.”

  He cringed and said, “Sorry. Can’t be helped. That stuff is vile.”

  Using her forefinger, she slid her glasses up her nose for what felt like the millionth time tonight. That was the reason she hated wearing them. They slid down constantly.

  Looking up, she saw him gazing at her, and she said, “What?”