Bought And Paid For (Part Two) Read online

  I’ve got this one!

  “Grayson is going to save the world,” I say, beaming at the doctor as if I’ve just aced it.

  Dr. Vangelis gives Grayson a pointed look. “And what is her big goal in life?”

  “Saving the world with me.” Grayson nonchalantly crosses his ankle over his knee. “Which is what I could be doing right now if I weren’t here wasting my time with this shit.”

  “Grayson,” Dr. Vangelis says. “Are you aware yet of how much of a disaster this is? You’ve got one more shot to even remotely impress me.”

  I see $50,000 circling the drain, so I sit on the edge of my seat like a game show contestant. I can save this. I will.

  Dr. Vangelis looks at Grayson, then at me. “When can we expect you to get married, and how about children?”

  As I side-eye Grayson, he just sits there like a marble chess piece that refuses to be moved.

  “Okay.” Dr. Vangelis sounds like he wants to throttle us both right now. “One more chance, and God help you if you have no clue about this either... How did Harlow get her name? It’s a distinct name, so surely you have talked about that!”

  I try to be smooth when I whisper to Grayson cheater-style. “My mom is a fan of old Jean Harlow movies.”

  Dr. Vangelis ain’t no fool, and he stands out of his seat. “Have you talked to each other at all?”

  Grayson stands too, and he looks so unconcerned about this unfolding catastrophe that I wonder if he’s missed the fact that Dr. Vangelis is about to blow up. “Jayne can inform Harlow about my less obvious personal details before we meet Jake Foreman.”

  Dr. Vangelis lifts a finger and wags it at him. “You will get your ass handed to you if you don’t put a little more effort into this.” He starts walking out of the room. “You need to sort this out right away, because you’re not even close to ready for prime time. Jake Foreman will eat you two for breakfast!”

  And then he’s out the door.

  The air seems to crackle as I’m left alone with the jerk. I can almost hear him growling low in his throat because he’s so pissed off at me. But you know what? I’m pissed off at him too. He can’t exactly blame me for this, because he’s the one who wants nothing to do with me. I’ve done everything I can within my power to succeed.

  Even so, he turns a heated gaze on me. “Well. I would certainly call that a fail.”

  Grayson

  It is as if Harlow is just daring me to kick her out of here, like I said I would if things didn’t come together tonight.

  She narrows her long-lashed eyes at me and shakes her head. “You are not going to blame me for this fiasco, Grayson.”

  “And why shouldn’t I?”

  “Well, for one thing, you refuse to learn about my life. For another, you won’t let me know anything about you. And you never want to spend time together. We can’t act like a couple if we’re barely more than strangers!”

  She has a point, but the other option is to spend actual time with her.

  Nope.

  What I need to do now is cut my losses with Harlow, so I walk away, intending to get Rick on the phone to talk about some reasonable damage control now that our first attempt is clearly a bust. He already bought one mail-order bride from that website, and I am certain there are a hundred other women out there who are ready to sell themselves to someone who needs a wife as badly as I now do.

  The replacement can take this one’s place with a whole hell of lot less trouble.

  As I walk out of the study, I don’t look back. It is not only because I don’t care if Harlow is standing there gazing after me like she wants to kill me. It is mostly because I fear what I will do if I do look at her again. She has tempted me one too many times.

  I decide to put off my call to Rick and go straight to my gym in the east wing instead. I grab clean workout clothes from the locker area and go to the rock-climbing wall. For the next hour, I use the grips to scale the wall, and then I hit the treadmill and weights, working off my frustration while brainstorming ways to approach this dilemma.

  Hell, at least Harlow has been good for my exercise routine.

  By the time I finish, I am drenched with sweat. I intend to go right up to my room and shower off, not only because of my damp skin, but because I also need to wash Harlow off and out of my life.

  I am just leaving the gym when I encounter Jayne in the hallway. My employee gives me one of her no-bullshit looks from beneath her glasses and folds her hands in front of her Dolce and Gabbana suit.

  “Before I head home, Mr. Royal, I need to inform you that Harlow is rather put out with you.”

  “Is she?”

  Jayne lowers her gaze even more, just like a bull about to charge. “May I suggest something?”

  “I’ve got this covered, Jayne.”

  I start heading toward the east-wing elevator bank, where the car will take me directly up to my suite, which covers the entirety of the third-floor.

  Jayne calls after me. “You’ll find that I persuaded Harlow to wait for you near your elevator. From my own experience, I know that going to sleep angry is no way to go to sleep.”

  “It’s how I go to sleep all the time, Jayne.”

  I whip the shirt off my body and start drying myself off with it, then walk away from Jayne without another word. She is wise enough not to chase me down.

  Hell, I should have told her that I have already decided to get someone else to take Harlow’s place and fool Jake Foreman. And, this time, I will be the one to choose my poison.

  As I approach my elevator, Harlow is indeed waiting. She is wearing one of her thin, simple spring dresses with her hair down, just as if she was never in Chanel and diamonds at dinner tonight. It’s almost too bad I have to get rid of her, because she looks the part of a sweet girlfriend, even though she is anything but.

  She glances at me, and I realize I have no shirt on. I’m pumped up and breathing heavy, and as she brushes her gaze over my body, I see something in her eyes flicker.

  Lust. I recognize it from last night.

  Goddammit, now I have no air in my lungs. Yes, I had a heavy workout, but that’s no excuse. Just looking at Harlow gets my adrenaline going and makes me feel as if I’ve sprinted ten miles.

  I occupy myself by wiping my shirt over my chest. “Are you trying to make one last bid for the money you would’ve earned for posing as my girlfriend? Because if you’re here to negotiate, you have no leverage after what happened tonight. You’re easily replaced.”

  She takes a step toward me. “But I do have leverage.”

  I frown.

  “Grayson,” she says, “there’s no one else who can get this job done but me.”

  I clench the shirt in my hand.

  “I have no issues creating a new Harlow Turner out of thin air.”

  “Which will be more effort than it’s worth.” She takes another step closer. “As angry as I am with you, I don’t quit. We can pull this off, Grayson. If you let me go, you’re going to be even more screwed than you were before.”

  During my silence, she runs another tentative yet hot gaze over my skin, getting me hotter. She licks her lips. Then, as if realizing what she just did, she averts her gaze.

  She’s switched something on in me once again, and my mind clouds up with memories of what it was like to kiss her, what it was like to lose my mind as I went down on her.

  My body is waking up, wanting, needing, craving the feel of her skin and the taste of her.

  Goddammit, I don’t want to let her go, and that’s exactly why I should get her the fuck out of my sight. She drives me insane, but what the hell else can I do at this point? Losing her would likely be the end of me at Colossus, but the more I look at her, the more my cock swells with all the blood thundering to it.

  But maybe...

  Maybe there is a way to really get her out of my system while carrying through with this charade. Maybe I’ve been going about this the wrong way, and all I need to do is give in to my lust and fr
ustration before I get her out.

  Harlow glances at me as if she’s still gauging my reaction, but I notice that her gaze keeps slipping down to my bare chest.

  She wants to give in too.

  It feels as if there’s gravel in my throat as I say, “You do make some good points.”

  “Thank you.” She seems a little bit surprised that I’m agreeing. “So am I staying?”

  “Yes, you’re staying.”

  She smiles, winding me up once again.

  “Truly, Grayson — I’ll do whatever needs to be done to win Jake Foreman over, but you have to promise me that you’re going to be serious about this too. I know we’ve been butting heads since we met, but we can do this.”

  We’ve done a lot more than just butt heads, and the thought of doing it again gets me stiff.

  I take a slow step toward her this time, and her chest rises with a sharp inhale. Desire speeds through me at a breakneck pace, drilling straight into my gut as I drink her in — her golden curls spilling over her shoulders, her blue eyes wide with the awareness of my sweaty, bare skin. I remember how soft her hair was, and now I can imagine it trailing over my body as she kisses her way down me — my chest, my stomach, my belly...my aching cock.

  “So we have to pretend to be a couple. I guess that means we should start catching up on our act now.”

  “Okay. I’ll wait for you to put something on, and then maybe we can meet in the study or...”

  I take another step closer, and her words fade away.

  “That wasn’t what I meant by catching up, Harlow.”

  I see the excitement in her eyes, and that excites me even more in return. It sends a shock of heat into my groin, and suddenly I’m right back to where I was the night before — needing her so badly that I can’t form a coherent thought.

  As she takes a step away from me, I reach for her, wrapping an arm around her waist and drawing her in. When her gaze goes dizzy, I know I have her. And when I pull her up to me and crush my lips against hers, she sinks into my demanding kiss just as easily as she did last night.

  I ravish her as she presses her hands against my chest, tightening her fingers, imprinting me with heat. Then I tease her by sucking off of her bottom lip.

  “I can’t stop thinking about your lips on my cock, baby,” I whisper against her mouth hoarsely. ‘Ever since last night, I haven’t thought about anything but that.”

  I feel her gasp against me just before I kiss her again, drinking her in, thirsty for this woman who tempts me beyond anything I’ve felt before.

  Harlow

  Grayson’s kisses are potent — an intoxicating brew that’s been shot straight into my veins to make me swoon in his arms. I can’t breathe, can’t think, and after he ends the kiss, he keeps his mouth against mine, heating my lips and making me shiver.

  His naughty talk still rings in my ears, echoing through me with erotic reverberations.

  I can’t stop thinking about your lips on my cock, baby.

  The raw sensuality of that image sends lust pummeling through me, straight down to my belly. I knot up in sexual coils, heat trickling to my pussy, where my clit starts beating in a tight rhythm. But it’s not only his whispered words that enthrall me — it’s the way he looks right now as he holds me against him. His dark hair is disheveled from his workout, his dark gaze wild. His bare skin feels hot and slick with sweat under my palms, and that skin covers muscles so hard that they feel like granite. His thick arm is wrapped around me, and his scent is masculine and primal.

  I can’t resist him, even though I was ready to run out the door only an hour ago.

  His breathing is heavy, and when he languidly slips his tongue between my lips, parting them for an even deeper kiss, I open for him with a soft groan. The kiss is tangled, slow, full of carnal promise, but there’s also urgency there as he walks me backward. I’m barely aware that he’s brought me into his elevator until the door slides shut with a thud.

  He presses me against one of the mirrored walls and then leaves me so he can access a button on the elevator panel that pauses the car. As he stalks back toward me, I hold my breath. The only sounds are our quick breathing and my crazy heartbeat, and when he leans toward me and braces his hands on the wall behind me, my pulse goes even crazier.

  All around us, we’re reflected a million times over in those mirrors — me, Harlow Turner, in the clutches of this rock-hard giant. He makes me look tiny as he cages me with those huge arms, his muscles flexing. I feel all that flexing inside me too, my pussy clenching, my tummy twisting up with even more knots.

  I look away from the mirror and back up into his dark, burning gaze.

  “I can’t stop thinking about a lot of things when it comes to you,” he roughly whispers. “My mouth sucking on your tits, my fingers teasing your pussy...”

  A flush roars all over my skin, and I bite my lip.

  His mouth tilts in a ruthless smile. “You’ve been thinking about those things too, haven’t you?”

  I can’t lie. “Yes.”

  He keeps one hand braced against the mirrored wall while he uses the other to negligently undo the buttons of my dress. His arrogance astounds me — and it makes me so hot that I start to wither from the steam.

  “Have you been thinking about how hard you made my cock when I saw your beautiful tits last night?” he asks.

  The only answer I can manage is a tiny moan. My heart is jittering so fast that I think it might explode, and when Grayson has my dress undone, he confidently unhooks the front clasp of my plain white bra too. He sure knows what he’s doing, and I try to steady my sharp breathing. He spreads open my dress and bra, exposing my breasts. His gaze darkens as if I’m torturing him, even though I’m here for the taking — so willing, so ready to fall at his feet.

  I still can’t believe I have this kind of power over anyone, much less an infamous billionaire player, but then he looks into my eyes and slips his finger under my chin. He turns my head so I’m looking in the mirror.

  “God,” he murmurs. “Just look at how fucking hot you are.”

  I obey his heated demand, my gaze taking in my rising and falling chest, my stimulated pink nipples that tip my swollen breasts. I never thought I was sexy — not until I see the way Grayson is also looking in the mirror at me.

  Our gazes connect in the reflection, and I burn up even more inside.

  He reaches down to one of my breasts and glides his knuckles under it, lifting it. Then he starts fondling the other one, and I can only watch him seduce me in the mirror. It’s almost surreal. I can’t quite believe I’m the woman who’s in an elevator with such a ridiculously hot man — and all I can do is bite my lip and blush in agitated anticipation.

  As he caresses me, his low, rich voice fills the car. “Do you know what I want to do to you, baby?”

  I can barely shake my head as he keeps rubbing my nipple. Bolts of ragged electricity are shooting everywhere inside of me, leaving a damp, dangerous buzz in my pussy.

  “I want to get your cunt wet again,” he whispers. “Then, after you come for me like you did last night, I want you to run those luscious lips up and down my cock. I want you to take me into that gorgeous mouth until I come just as hard as you’ll do for me.”

  With every dirty word, I melt a little more. I’m getting so wet that I can feel my juices coat my inner thighs, and when he uses one hand to very capably work my dress and bra down until the material is gathered at my hips, I’m all his.

  This is no girlfriend act — at least on my part.

  The thought of that scares me to death, because I don’t even know this man. I don’t even know how to do the things he’s been so naughtily describing to me...

  He braces his entire arm against the wall, hovering over me, watching my face as he traces his fingers over my tummy. When he slips them into the front of my panties, I buck away from the wall, rising up on my toes.

  He eases through my slippery folds, rubbing me, arousing me. “So wet, just
like last night,” he whispers. “Damn, you don’t know what you do to me...”

  But I have a good idea, because as I move my hips with his every stroke, I look in the mirror again. I see myself gyrating in slow ecstasy, but I can also see his cock straining against his gym shorts, and my mouth waters. I lean my head back against the wall and look up into his turbulent gaze.

  As he pushes the tip of his finger into my pussy, I gasp sharply, because no one has ever done this to me before. He swirls his finger, making me turn my face away and raise my arm over my head in growing rapture.

  He pushes his finger higher, and I let out a restless mewl.

  “So wet,” he whispers. “So hot...”

  He takes up an erotic rhythm, finger fucking me, adding his thumb to mix, circling my clit with every thrust. As I gyrate, I can hear how turned on I am, sloppy with my juices. That only adds to the pressure building up in my belly. It’s like there’s a raging ball of fire there, pulsing, starting to expand with relentless rays of heat.

  When he catches my mouth with his in another punishing kiss, I moan against him. He growls against me, sending tremors through me, and when he pushes another finger into me, I cry against him.

  “That’s my dirty baby,” he whispers against me. “Look at yourself in that mirror again. Look at what a bad girl you are.”

  Through my hazy gaze, I see the reflection of a flushed bad girl writhing with every bang of her bad boy’s fingers. The sight of him, half naked with all those muscles bunching and flexing, is almost too much, and when he crooks his fingers inside of me and hits a spot so pleasurable and naughty that I can’t believe it even exists, I explode, coming hard and fast in a string of blazing, wet bursts that make me so weak that I can’t even stand up. With a delirious cry, I slide down the wall, coming to my knees in front of Grayson, where I wrap my arms around his leg and lean my head against him.

  I can’t breathe. I’m about to die a pulse-battering death, but I’m happier than I’ve ever been.