A Million Guilty Pleasures: Million Dollar Duet (18 page)

Mack looked down at the table as he picked up a potato chip and shrugged. “I guess. But if he steps even a millimeter out of line, I’m going to be up his ass like a pogo stick,” he said, and then popped the chip into his mouth.

I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, Dad! I’ll always love you best.”

“Holy torpedo in a Speedo!” Dez gasped as we walked through the front doors of Scarlet Lotus.

“Wow, this is … impressive,” I said, looking around at the ornate fixtures of the lobby. “The man I’m about to marry is doing very well, indeed.”

“I really hate you right now,” Dez said, her eyes narrowed at me in jealousy. “Just remember that what’s yours is mine.”

“This won’t be mine, Dez.” I spotted Polly and she waved us over. “I don’t want anything from Noah other than his love. And maybe—no, definitely—his body.”

“Congratulations!” Polly squealed when we reached her, and then she threw her arms around me for one heck of a bear hug. She sure was strong for such a tiny little thing. I guess it was true what they said about ants being able to carry fifty times their own weight.

I thought Dez was going to pull a knife on Polly when she did the same to her, but luckily Polly was too quick. When she pulled back, she got that excited look in her eyes. “Come on. Let’s get you upstairs to your fiancé.”

She led us to an elevator and we stepped inside while she punched the button for the floor with Noah’s office. The entire ride up, she kept asking about the wedding; who was going to plan it, who was going to cater, the date, and the list went on and on. I could see the aggravation on her face when my answer to every question was, “I don’t know.”

“Polly, he just asked me to marry him a few hours ago. When did I have time to plan a wedding?”

“Pfft,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Honey, I had my wedding planned since I was, like, three.”

Somehow I didn’t doubt that.

The elevator dinged, signaling our arrival to our destination, and the doors pulled back so we could step off. We followed Polly down a hallway, and I noticed that everyone stopped and stared after us like we were on display. I recognized some of the faces from the ball, but it still made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

“Hey, wifey! What are you doing here?” Mason asked in surprise when we walked into his office. And then his eyes nearly bugged out when I stepped out from behind Polly. “Holy shit! What are
you
doing here?”

“Shh,” Polly said, cupping her hand over his mouth. “Is he in?”

Mason only nodded because that was all he could do. “Well? What are you waiting for? Go get him,” Polly directed me with a nod toward Noah’s office.

I walked over and cracked the door open. He was sitting at his desk, his back turned toward the door as he looked out his window like he was a million miles away. His hair was disheveled and his jaw was slightly scruffier than normal. Apparently his little impromptu trip to Hillsboro had left him with no time to shave.

I closed the door behind me. “Having second thoughts?”

Noah swung around in his chair, his brow raised and eyes wide.

“Surprise,” I said, walking toward him.

“Lanie? What are you doing here?”

“I figured two can play the whole surprise-visit game,” I told him as I took a seat in his lap. “Only I’m not leaving. I’m here to stay. My mother swears she’s fine, and my father … well, we have his blessing.”

I felt his whole body relax around me, as if every ounce of tension that our separation had caused him had suddenly melted away with my words. His hold tightened when I leaned in and nuzzled his ear. “Looks like you’re stuck with me,” I whispered.

Noah cupped my face in his hands, his lips brushing against mine when he said, “Welcome home, kitten.” And then he gave me a searing kiss.

I melted against him, into him, as his words permeated my skin and became a part of me. I was back where I belonged, in the arms of the man who’d captured my heart for an eternity. My mother was healing, my father was back to work, and all was right with the world. Nothing could penetrate the happy little bubble I’d found myself in.

“Yo, Crawford!” The door to Noah’s office swung open, disrupting our happily-ever-after moment as a voice I wished I could have forgotten tainted our pure air with obnoxygen.

Noah growled, ire thick in his voice, “What do you want, Stone? And what the fuck are you doing barging into my office unannounced?”

“Oh, wow. Were you two about to get it on in here? Because I’m pretty sure that’s against company policy. We can always ask the board at the meeting on Monday to be sure.”

I turned the full force of my glare on him, and he actually took a step back. “Come in search of your dinner, crumb snatcher?” I asked.

“Delaine!” he said, smiling widely in greeting. “Slumming
it again? When are you gonna drop Crawford and give Big Daddy Dick a go?”

Noah attempted to lunge from his chair, but I managed to hold him in place, barely. As much as I’d have loved to see Noah beat the crap out of the man, David Stone simply wasn’t worth losing Scarlet Lotus over. “Let it go, baby. He’s not worth it. He’s just suffering from penis envy.”

“Ouch, my feelings,” David whined with his hand over his heart and his bottom lip out in a pout.

I ignored him and stood, turning to face Noah. “I’m going to the house to unpack. I’ll see you when you get home.” Intent on making sure David knew who was buttering my bread, I gave Noah a kiss that was so hot it made my own toes curl. “I love you,” I told Noah, and then walked toward the door.

“Move,” I told David.

He was smart enough to step to one side, but not without giving me a sarcastic grin. “I love you, too, sweetums.”

Dez, Polly, and Mason had just walked back into Mason’s office, all three carrying fresh coffee.

Mason sighed when he saw David’s back before he closed the door. “Oh, shit.”

“Hold the phone. Who is that piece of tall, dark, and ooh-la-la?” Dez asked, checking him out.

“He is what we like to refer to as pathetic scum,” Polly answered.

“No, seriously. Who is he?” Dez asked again. “I think I know him.”

“Let’s hope not,” I said. “He’s David Stone. He owns the other half of Scarlet Lotus.”

“Are you sure? Because he looks awfully familiar.”

Mason sat on the corner of his desk and pulled Polly to
stand between his legs. “No offense, Dez, but I hardly think he’d be running in the same circles as you.”

“Well, never mind. It doesn’t matter anyway,” she said, shrugging it off. Then she turned toward me. “You ready to go? I don’t have much time before I have to be at work.”

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I told her, and then bid farewell to Polly and Mason. Of course Polly promised she’d be over first thing the next morning to start wedding preparations. I shuddered at the thought.

Dez and I made it back to the mansion and, with Samuel’s help, got all my things unloaded and stacked in Noah’s bedroom. Shortly afterward, I saw Dez off for her shift at Foreplay, the meat market where Noah and I first met. I had just gone to the kitchen to pour myself a glass of ice water when the doorbell rang. As I walked back toward the foyer, I spotted Dez’s scarf where she had discarded it earlier.

Snatching it up because I knew it was the reason Dez had come back, I opened the door to hand it to her. “Forgot your sc—” My voice caught in my throat when I realized it wasn’t Dez on the other side of the door.

“Honey, I’m home.” David Stone stood there with a slimy smile on his mug.

“Noah’s not in from the office yet.” I attempted to slam the door in his face, but he stuck his arm out and kept it from closing.

“I’m not here to see Noah. I’m here to see you,” he said, forcing me to back up as he pushed his way inside.

“You just don’t take a hint, do you?” I asked, enraged by his relentlessness. “I don’t want anything to do with you, asshole.”

David kept advancing on me until my back was pressed to
the wall and he had cornered me. He caged me in with his body, his grotesque hand pushing a lock of hair out of my face while he smiled down at me.

“What do you want, David?”

“I want you.”

“Well, I don’t want you, so you can leave now.”

“I think you might want to hear my proposal before you openly reject me, Lanie.”

I bristled at his familiarity. “What did you just call me?”

He smirked, but he was clearly confused. “What? I called you Lanie.”

I pushed my shoulders back and straightened to my full height as I took one purposeful step toward him followed by another. “I only allow those I consider my friends to call me by that name. And you, sir,” I said, poking him in the chest as he backed up, “are no friend of mine.”

He gave me a broad smile that was more creepy than friendly. “Babe,” he crooned with his hands up in surrender, “why are we always making war when we could be making love?”

I shook my head. “Boy, you are really dumb, aren’t you?”

“Hear me out,” he said. “We don’t have to be enemies. I know what you women really want, and I’m positive we can work out a deal where we both come out on top.”

I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Okay,” he said with a shrug. “If you prefer to be on top, that’s fine by me.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“Can I finish?”

“I’m really not interested in hearing anything you have to say.” I walked toward the door, but before I could open it to
kick him out, David was there with his shoulder pressed against it. I looked at him like he was crazy because obviously he’d lost his mind, but he just flashed that toothy grin again.

“So here’s the deal. You partner up with me, but stay here with Crawford for the time being as if nothing has changed. Let the sappy bastard fall in love with you, and then once you’ve snagged that magic lasso around your finger, you and I take everything. You help me get Scarlet Lotus, and I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life. You’ll never want for a damn thing again. Including the best cock in all fifty states.”

I couldn’t help myself. I laughed. Loudly. I don’t think David appreciated the humor of the situation quite as much as I did because his face contorted into something that didn’t look altogether human.

“What the fuck are you laughing about?” he asked.

“You,” I said, pointing and still laughing at him. “You said that with such a straight face that it’s almost like you actually believe I’d leave Noah for someone like you. But of course you couldn’t really believe that.”

His expression changed again, the angry furrow of his brow replaced with a knowing smirk on his lips. “Aw, I get it. You want your money up front. That’s how my partner paid you, right?”

There was an abrupt halt to my giggling. I could feel all the blood in my face drain with his words, and I was suddenly paralyzed with fear.

“How much will it take? A thousand? Ten thousand? A hundred grand? Oh no, that’s right. The going price is
two million dollars
, right? Damn, that pussy’s gotta be lined in gold.”

Oh, God. He knew.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, my voice sounding unconvincing even to my own ears.

“No?” Judging by the look on his face, it was safe to say he knew for sure that I knew what he was talking about. “Let’s see if this rings a bell. Noah made a trip to a little club called Foreplay and then slipped in through the back door to attend a secret auction where he bought you for a cool two mill … to be his sex slave. Sound familiar?”

My whole body shook with trepidation.

“How did you know?”

David chuckled. “I might have access to a certain contract.”

He found the contract? But how?

“What do you want?” I asked, ready to hear his demands.

He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me against his body. Then he leaned down and whispered into my ear. “I already told you. I want Scarlet Lotus. And I want to sample the golden pussy for myself.”

“No!” I said, shoving at him, but he was too strong and I couldn’t make him budge.

“Ah, why be so stingy? It’s what you’re paid to do, right? The difference is I’m offering you so much more than the measly amount my partner paid. You can have it all, including me. At least then you’ll get to know what it’s like to be with a real man,” he said, and then he licked the length of my neck from my collarbone to my earlobe. “You do this or Noah’s ship is sunk. I’ll go to the board and the press about your little deal, and he’ll lose everything; his company, his dignity, his standing in the public eye. Plus your folks will know their daughter is nothing but a common whore. So what’s it going to be, Delaine?”

He palmed my breast and began to take liberties, squeezing it like it was a stress ball. I felt so completely vulnerable, and I was scared out of my wits. His hot breath fanned out over my skin, and he started to plant slimy kisses along the length of my neck.

My heart pounded furiously in its cage and I willed my mind to think of a way out of the predicament that I’d found myself in. Noah. I wanted my Noah. He’d be home shortly and then he’d …

And then it hit me. That was exactly what David was counting on. He wanted Noah to walk in and see him fucking me, just like when Noah had walked in and found him fucking Julie. David meant to destroy him completely.