Game for Anything (9 page)

That
snapped him out of his extremely pleasant fantasy. Though maybe she did have a point. He'd never been all that comfortable in the designer clothes that his stylist picked out for him. He hadn't even wanted a stylist in the first place, but his agent had insisted.

Clearly, having Julie around wasn't all bad. Especially if she could do some dirty work for him.

"My stylist isn't going to be too happy with you."

She handed him several conservative suits. "She's fired."

He held back a grin. Who else did he need to get rid of? The guy who cut his hair was kind of annoying too.

"Bring these out, then grab anything else you need," she said. "I'll be waiting in your living room." He hadn't realized until now how sick he was of everyone doing his bidding without question. It also kind of got his motor running to be bossed around by her. Still, keeping her on her toes was an important part of the dance she probably didn't even realize they were doing.

"I've got some bathing suits that you might fit into if you want to hang out by the pool." The disgusted look on her face was so cute, he nearly grabbed her and kissed it off.

"First of all, I wouldn't wear one of the thong bikinis from one of your 'girlfriends' "—she put the word in quotes—"if everything else I owned went up in flames."

He nodded. "That's cool. I get it. Girls with dirty minds like you always want to skinny-dip." She ignored his dig. "You have fifteen minutes to get your stuff together, then we're out of here."

"Just one problem with that," he said.

She sighed a big, chest-heaving sigh that did magnificent things to her breasts. "Why am I not surprised that there's a problem? What is it this time?"

"Bobby's impromptu meeting cut into my workout, and working out is part of my job description."

"How long will that take?"

"A hundred laps usually takes forty-five minutes. I could sprint some of them if you're in a rush to get somewhere."

"No," she said, "We've got all the time in the world." Wrong. Two weeks wasn't nearly enough time to convince her to give in to what she really wanted. Him.

In her bed.

Julie couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so off-kilter.

So emotional.

So horny.

He wasn't nearly as dumb as she wished he was. She needed to stop freaking out over every little thing, thereby giving him endless ammo to hold over her.

In the past twenty-four hours she'd been angrier, happier, and more satisfied than she'd been in the past ten years combined.

All because of Ty — damn him.

When she'd seen his massive iron bed, she'd been hit by breathtaking images of them rolling around naked on it. It made a demon inside her leap to life, one who wanted to be tied up by Ty, who got hot at the thought of lying naked on his bed, her arms up over her head bound by a silk tie. She'd practically heard herself begging him to take her, harder, faster.

Enough!

From this moment forward, she was going to keep her hormones in check. Even if he made her scream in ecstasy, he'd leave her heart stone cold in the morning.

Julie sat on a chaise lounge and put her feet up on the soft cushions. She pulled a pen and a leatherbound notepad out of her bag, deciding to use Ty's workout time to make some notes on her plans for his transformation rather than worrying and drooling over him.

But just as she put pen to paper, Ty emerged from the house. She'd thought his washboard stomach at eighteen was impressive, but the hard, rippling, muscles mere feet from her now were beyond anything she could have imagined.

She lost her breath somewhere between the deep indents of his abdominal muscles and the line of dark hair running from his navel into his low-slung swim shorts. She tried to look away, but she couldn't help but appreciate the beautiful cut of his triceps, the play of the muscles on his back, and the deep valley between his shoulders. The tip of her pen dug into her palm but she didn't feel it, too busy trying to deal with the lust coursing through her.

She burned to touch him. She yearned to taste him, to run her tongue over the hills and valleys of his incredibly hard abs.

She pulled her gaze up to his eyes, expecting to see victory there. He had to know the kind of power he held over her.

But instead of triumph, something dark and heady simmered in his dark brown eyes. Something that told her he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

A soft voice inside her whispered,
Take what you want. Use him the way he used you.
She scrambled off the chair, nearly turning her ankle on the flagstone patio. She
couldn't
give in to what her body wanted. She had to remember how bad he was for her.

Julie," he said, his voice a caress.

She picked up her bag and held it in front of her like a shield. "Go swim.
Please."

Ty was an eighty-five-degree pool kind of guy, but today he needed a cold mountain lake to cool off. Julie wasn't ready—that was the problem. It was one thing to seduce her in his underground refuge yesterday; he'd wanted to prove to her that she wasn't immune to him, no matter what she professed. But maybe, just maybe, this wasn't a game anymore.

What if he really wanted her to stick around? Then what?

He finished his laps and shook off like a dog before reaching for his towel. He'd had a hard-on that wouldn't quit since he'd first walked into her office. Frankly, it was getting old. Without saying a word to her, he headed into the shower. He couldn't believe he was about to take care of himself when there was a beautiful woman in his house. He hadn't had to do that since he was a teenager.

Hot water blasted over him as he leaned against the tiles, then reached for his cock and pictured her naked in the shower with him, water running over her perfect tits, licking the drops off her nipples. He'd follow the streaming water running over her belly, between her legs with his hand. He'd slip one finger in her, and she'd be tight and wet and he'd drop to his knees and pull her pussy into his mouth, force his tongue into her, hard and fast until she was screaming. Then just as she started to come, he'd pull her down on top of him and she'd take his cock all the way inside, while their bodies slipped wet and hot against each other. Ty roared in the glass and tile confines of his shower as come spilled into his hand. Next time, it wouldn't be a fantasy. He wouldn't be doing this by himself. He'd be inside Julie.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Julie wanted to feel safe again, and the one place she'd always felt totally at ease was at work. Then again, she'd never had a six-foot-two bundle of muscle and sensuality prowling around her office. Even her employees had been reduced to quivering masses of hormones when she'd introduced Ty—and these were smart, savvy women.

She checked email and tried to ignore Ty snooping around her bookshelf, her artwork, her desk. "You built this business all by yourself?" She looked up from her keyboard. "Of course I did."

"No need to get all defensive. It was just a question."

She bit back a protest. He was right; she
was
acting defensive. It was just that everyone always assumed her parents had helped her out. But she never took their friends as clients. Her business success depended entirely on how she and her employees performed. Not because she was Daddy's little girl, or because Mommy took her shopping for clients at society teas.

"I love what I do," she finally said.

He nodded. "Me too. It's a good thing to like your job. Beats the hell out of hating it." An actual conversation that wasn't loaded with double entendres. She wasn't sure she was comfortable with that, actually. At least when they were sniping at each other, everything made sense.
Better keep on your guard,
she told herself yet again.

Her front door opened and her receptionist hissed, "Rachel Noah's here," into her intercom.

"Oh shit," she muttered under her breath. Rachel held the strings to some big new political clients.

"Please be nice to her," she begged Ty. "Say all the right things. Just this once." He raised an eyebrow. "One kiss."

She barely had time to process his request, to understand that a barter was being made.

"Okay. One. Now don't screw this up."

Julie smiled and greeted Rachel just outside her office door. "I'm so glad you're here," she said. Rachel looked like she'd been sucking lemons. "Amy told my boss that she'll be taking over our account for the next month, and he just screamed at me for an hour. You'd better have a good explanation." If ever there was a time for Ty's innate charm and good looks to work their magic, it was now. Ty turned from the window and in an instant, Rachel's demeanor changed. She no longer wanted Julie's ass on a platter. She was obviously envisioning a gorgeous NFL superstar in her bed, instead.

"I'd like to introduce you to Ty Calhoun, my newest client." Julie usually appreciated her own curves. But standing this close to a stick-thin woman who could have been ruling the catwalk in Milan rather than working on political campaigns was more than a little depressing. Ty would naturally want to sleep with Rachel—what man wouldn't?

Though it was ridiculous to even think that way —she had no claim on Ty and she didn't want one. She
didn't.

Ty was all charm as he shook Rachel's hand and steered her over to Julie's leather couch.

"Nice to meet you," he said, and Julie thought the woman was going to climax right then and there.

"Julie's told me so much about you," he lied, and she shot him a huge look of thanks. Rachel was strangely mute. It was comforting to know that all women lost their minds around Ty.

"I'm afraid there's been a huge misunderstanding," he continued. "And I'd hate for anyone to blame Julie or her firm for assigning another consultant to your project." Julie held back a grin as she watched Rachel actively work to pull herself together. No wonder Ty got away with everything; he was irresistible. It was in his DNA.

"I'd be happy to speak with your boss if that will help you out," he offered. Flirtatiously, Rachel put her hand on his arm. "Would you really? I know what a big fan he is of yours. Maybe we could meet him for dinner and then slip away for a private drink."

Julie almost gagged. She couldn't listen to another second of this nonsense. If the two of them wanted to fuck like bunnies, fine, but not in her office.

She grabbed her leather bag off the floor and shoved several files into it. "Well, I'm so glad you two have met, but I'm afraid Ty and I have a lot of work to do, as you might imagine. And his evenings are completely full for the next two weeks."

Ty walked Rachel out of the office and back into the front reception area. Julie trailed behind. "I'll be looking forward to our drink," Rachel called as she floated out of the front door.

"She's off-limits," Julie warned. "If you leave her high and dry she'll blame me and pull her business." They headed into the parking lot. "Don't worry. She's not my type." There he went again. "When will you get it through your thick skull that I'm not interested in you, other than as a client?"

"When you stop acting like you are."

His low, soft voice hit her in all the places she'd been trying to hide from him.

"Don't think I've forgotten, Julie. You owe me a kiss. That was the bargain." Her heart sped up. "Fine. Let's get it over with," she said as if she couldn't have cared less. Just barely, she resisted the urge to purse her lips together and peck him on the cheek like a twoyear-old. Even she knew that wasn't the deal they'd made back in her office when Rachel came barreling in.

"Come here," he said, and she wanted him to kiss her more than she'd ever wanted something before.

"Not here. Not in the parking lot."

"Right here. In the parking lot." His eyes held hers. "Now." She couldn't argue with him. Not when this was his kiss to claim. The thing was, they hadn't really kissed in his underground lair. Yes, he'd made her come, but there had been a challenge behind it, a game of dominance.

This was going to be their first real kiss in ten years. And Julie knew there wasn't a damn thing she could do to prepare herself for the way it was bound to make her feel. She walked slowly over to her car where he was standing. When she was within arm's reach he held out his hand, and she didn't know what else to do but let him pull her close. One hand circled her rib cage, the other softly caressed her nape, gently cupping the back of her head.

"You have a great mouth," he said, and the unexpected compliment surprised her so much that she forgot to keep her guard up when he moved his lips down to hers.

She felt his breath and closed her eyes. And then, oh God, his lips touched hers and all she wanted was to taste him. To have him taste her. His lips were warm and soft and perfect, and before she knew what she was doing, her tongue was in his mouth and her hands were in his hair and she was pulling him closer. She wanted
more
than just one kiss, so much more.

He sucked at the sensitive flesh of her lower lip, making shivers run down her spine. His erection pressed into her belly and she pressed against it, wanting more, so much more. This one simple kiss had turned into a full-blown addiction.

Suddenly, ruthlessly, she dragged her mouth away from his, pushed against his chest, and unsteadily backed up.

What could she say to make him think his kiss hadn't meant as much to her as it obviously had? She had to say something he couldn't argue with. Otherwise, she had a feeling he'd argue her right into bed.

"I have a date tonight," she declared as she unlocked the car. Thankfully, it was true. How embarrassing it would have been if she'd had to make up a phantom date to seem like she wasn't a total loser.

"Great," he said, looking like he kissed women into delirium all day long without a second thought.

"Looking forward to it."

Her keys missed the ignition by a mile.

"Are you crazy? You're not coming on my date!" Then she remembered that she'd told Bobby she wouldn't let Ty out of her sight. "Oh God. Of course you are." He leaned back against the passenger seat. "I'm sure I could find some other way to entertain myself while you're gone."