Caught on Camera (29 page)

“Let me love you, darling. Let me have you.”

Her body trembled. “One last time?”

His fingers flexed involuntarily. “I want it all, Vega.”

“Yes.” She was breathless. “Yes, all.” She leaned forward and pressed her palms to the glass, and her rounded backside toward him. “Now.”

With a growl, he yanked down the hot yellow panties that barely covered half her ass, and freed himself. His body sprang forward, perfectly aware where it was headed, and he gripped the sides of her hips. He entered her in one hard push. Both of them stilled, letting the sensations roll over them, before a rush of air burst simultaneously from their lungs.

Reaching around her, he found her breasts and made sure they swung free with her movements. “God, I love these.”

He watched her reflection in the window as he thrust, burying himself to the hilt. Her mouth gaped, her tongue poked out to touch her lips. Her nipples beaded.

“Incredible,” he groaned. He slid in and out of her wetness, digging his fingers into her hips as he moved closer to his climax.

She pushed back into him, her fingers splayed wide on the glass giving her the perfect anchor to circle and grind against him. His knees weakened.

“Fuck, you’re hot. I can’t wait much longer, baby.” He dipped one hand to her crotch and the other to her breasts, his palm sliding over the bare skin of her stomach as he searched. He plucked at a nipple and her rear lifted farther in the air.

“Faster,” Vega panted, and he lost his mind. Thrusting for all he was worth, her body gripped him so tight he was certain there was no way he could wait for her.

He brushed his fingertips over her clit and she moaned a long, low, animal cry. He pressed harder, pinching and swirling his fingers until she began to tremble in his arms.

“Now, JP. Now.”

With an animal sound ripping from his throat, he crushed against her, holding her as she shook in his arms, and pumped himself dry. He buried his face in her neck, wondering how he’d let this become so much more than physical, but the fact was, he couldn’t imagine a life without her in it.

Within moments, their breathing slowed and he couldn’t keep from smiling wide. He might have just found the woman for him. She was gorgeous, opinionated, and the hottest damn thing he’d ever seen. And he flat-out couldn’t get enough of her. He pressed one last kiss to her neck and lifted his face to catch her watching him in the reflection of the glass. “That was—”

“The dirtiest thing anyone has ever done to me.” Vega’s sharp whisper shocked him. She pulled away, leaving him standing there as if lost.

“W
HAT?
” W
HAT HAD
happened? JP stepped back as Vega scurried away. She’d been as heavily into that as he was. He gingerly tucked himself back into his pants while she fastened her bra. “What’s the matter?”

“What’s the matter?” she shrieked, her hands flapping in the air as she spoke. Cold eyes faced him. “I’ll tell you
what’s the matter
. It’s bad enough you put me in a position where Beverly or anyone else could have walked in on us, but you just used me, that’s what.”

“Of course I didn’t use you. We were both involved in what just happened.”

“Is that so?” She yanked the yellow lace up with jerky motions. “I’m here to work, JP, not to have a quickie against your office window.”

“You weren’t complaining two seconds ago.” He raised his voice.

“But I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

He lowered his voice and pulled a deep breath in through his nostrils in an attempt to control his rising anger. “It just shows we can’t control this thing between us.”

“No.” She shook her head, and what little hair had still been up fell. “You were just showing that you can bend me to your will. You walked in here, all alpha dog, and you took what you wanted.”

“I did not force you.” His anger once again matched hers. He’d never forced himself on any woman. “You wanted it as much as I did.”

She took long strides to the connecting bathroom, but didn’t close the door. He could see her messing with her hair as she continued to berate him. “Of course I did. I never said we didn’t have chemistry.” She stepped from the bathroom, her outer appearance semi-normal, but the emotion radiating from her screaming that she was anything but calmed down. “You entered this room with the intention of having sex with me this morning, didn’t you? There wasn’t one single uncontrolled action on your part.”

“Of course not.” But he had, and he knew it. He hadn’t intended to take her if she’d said no, just like last night. He would have stopped. But she had to understand that what they had wasn’t ordinary.

“Don’t you dare lie to me.” Stomping up to him, she thrust a shaking finger in his face, and that’s when he saw she wasn’t just angry. Her eyes swam with unshed tears. She was hurt. “I do not tolerate lies and people using me, JP. That happened once. I won’t stand for it again.”

“I didn’t…” He captured her hand, but she yanked it out of his. And then he realized something he’d not been prepared to accept last night. He still wasn’t prepared. But he also couldn’t hide from it. They might be over. He might have actually pushed hard enough that he’d lost her.

His heart thudded against his ribs, squeezing with fear. What was it about her that made him do the stupidest things? He mentally kicked himself. “I’m sorry.”

“Right. That’s convenient.” She whirled around and headed to her equipment. “How about we just get back to…” She froze; not a single muscle on her body moved. When she spoke, her voice was cold and controlled. “Did you reset the view to capture us on camera?”

Honestly, the thought had entered his mind. “Of course not.”

Dead brown eyes were once again in his face. No words, just Vega staring him down as if he were more disgusting than a chunk of rotten Brie left out in an Atlanta summer. “Then why were you messing with it?”

“Babe.” He reached out a hand, but she jerked away before his fingertips could even graze her. Okay, he was tired of the drama. It wasn’t like he’d done anything without her consent. He may have come in conceited and demanding, yes. But he hadn’t done one single thing she hadn’t also wanted. “I was watching you, that’s all. I wanted you to be able to look at it later and see how perfect you are on-screen. I don’t think you realize that. And of course I wouldn’t record us without your knowledge.”

He paused before saying the next words, knowing it would prove he’d gone to the window with an agenda. “I turned the camera off.”

Wide eyes watched him for ten long seconds before they blinked and something resembling normalcy came back into play. Without another word she crossed the room and stepped behind the camera. “We’ll record a few more minutes of you going through your normal morning routine, then I’ll disappear until your first appointment.”

He stood in the middle of the room wondering what the hell had just happened. Not a thing about the last few minutes made any sense to him. They both wanted each other. They both enjoyed each other.

But they could no longer be together.

So she said.

Fuck it, he didn’t need this trouble. He moved behind his desk and tried to pretend she didn’t exist. Only there was something very important he couldn’t push from his mind.

“You might want to do something with your hair,” she snipped. “It looks like some fool has been running her fingers through it.”

JP stared at the woman he’d just realized he was in love with, and wondered what he could do to fix this mess. He hadn’t thought of his plans to seduce her this morning as using her, but that’s exactly what he’d done. He’d arrived with a purpose. To show her it wasn’t over. Probably no better than whatever the jerk had done to her.

He straightened his hair and clothes, then sat at his desk. “I know I messed up just now, and I’ll say it again. I’m sorry. Honestly. There’s no need for you to run off until my meeting.”

Vega didn’t say anything, but he could see her watching him from behind her camera.

“I don’t know what he did to you,” he started, unsure how to apologize in a way to make it right. “But remember, I’m not him. I’m just a man, and I make mistakes like most of us do. That’s all I did this morning.”

She nodded. “And that was too much.”

The intercom on his desk buzzed before he could reply, and he had to stop himself from shoving the offending item to the floor. Why did Beverly continue to disturb him?

“Yes?” he snapped into the speaker.

“Mr. Davenport, Ms. Doguard is here and has asked to see you. She says it’ll only take a few moments of your time. This morning is the only time we can work her in.”

Reality slammed back into him. The mother of his father’s secret child was waiting to see him, and he had a nosy journalist with a video camera watching his every move.

“Is she alone?”

“Yes, sir.”

At least she hadn’t done something stupid like bring the kid up here. With a parting glance to Vega, he replied to Beverly. “Ms. Zaragoza was just about to step out until the nine o’clock meeting. I’ll see Lexi after she leaves.”

He stood and nodded at the door, ignoring the scathing look Vega shot his way. No doubt he’d just pissed her off even more by dismissing her, but it couldn’t be helped. He had no idea why Lexi was here, but he couldn’t afford to ignore her.

They stepped to the door, and he wrapped his hand around the knob but didn’t open it. “You are coming back, right?”

She gaped at him. “You think that just because you used our chemistry against me I’ll run out of here and forget my job? No way. You promised me an interview. After that stunt you just pulled, I dare you to try to get out of it now.”

“I’m not saying I want out of it,” he ground out, the seemingly permanent state of his clenched teeth making his head throb.

“You sure about that? Clearly you only want me around for sex.”

“I don—”

“And you definitely won’t be getting any more of that.”

He closed his eyes and rubbed his thumb against his pounding temple. How in the world had everything gotten so out of hand? “Fine. I get it. I screwed up.”

“Exactly. You screwed up. And I don’t give second chances.”

“Just…” He paused as he tried to find the right words to let her know she was so much more to him than she thought. He’d never had a woman get so in his face when he crossed the line. Call him out and make him own his mistakes. One who so easily got him to live in the moment and forget the life he was supposed to be living. And whose smile made the whole world feel right. “Maybe we could—”

“Huh-uh,” she said. “
We
can’t do anything anymore. I’m here for a job. That’s all I’m doing.” She shoved his hand off the doorknob and opened it herself, but looked back at him one last time and whispered, “Make sure you don’t forget that again.”

She stormed from the room, taking a quick glance at Lexi as she passed.

After the door to his outer office swished closed behind her, Beverly turned a pinched face to him, disapproval clear in each line. “Not quite the outcome you’d hoped for, sir?” Her tone made it clear she was wise to exactly what he’d been doing behind closed doors.

He snapped.
Damn
. Why did everyone suddenly think they could stick their noses in his business? And he certainly didn’t need Beverly rubbing it in his face that he’d been an ass and had royally screwed up. “Nothing for you to worry about, Ms. Brubaker.”

Her eyebrows arched with the formal use of her name, but he didn’t stick around long enough to allow her to make him feel like an even bigger jerk. He took in the woman waiting to talk to him, her eyes as wide as saucers, and hoped like hell she didn’t put two and two together as well. He didn’t need to give her another excuse to try to blackmail him.

“Lexi. Come on in.”

She hurried to scoot past him and had a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. He narrowed his eyes on her. Something was different.

And then he got it. She seemed more “normal” than last time. Her perfume wasn’t as overpowering, her clothes—though still nice—were not over-the-top, and she wore an air more of what-can-you-do-for-me instead of let-me-show-you-how-I-can-screw-you.

She was definitely different than the last time he’d seen her.

He closed the door and rounded his desk. Once he sat, he steepled his hands and tried to keep his voice from showing his full frustration. “What can I do for you, Lexi?”

Lexi licked her lips, then dug some papers out of her bag. “I got the information from the school. Daniel has been admitted already. He starts Thursday.”

JP’s favor had paid off. Daniel would be going to the Montessori school. It was the best place for him. “Great. I was informed all would be set up this week.” At her continued look of uncertainty, he asked, “Is there a problem? I assure you this is a terrific school for him.”

“I guess I’m just nervous.” She picked at her manicure. “I was wondering if you could go to the school with us.”

“Excuse me?”

A blush stained her cheeks. “I just mean…I know he’s not anything to you, but you know these people and…”

Fantastic. Now the blasted woman wanted him to take care of her with more than just money. “Lexi,” he spoke gently. He shook his head to make his point. “I can’t go to the school with you, or someone will wonder if we have some kind of relationship.”