Just Three Words (Soho Loft Romances) (30 page)

“Yeah?” Not the most articulate response, but it was all Hunter could really manage. Her brain was otherwise engaged with the beautiful woman in front of her and the magic she worked with her hands.

The water was close to cold, prompting them to to dry off, each still very aware of the other. “We have time left,” Hunter pointed out, walking backward toward her bedroom.

Samantha grabbed her watch next to the sink and looked at Hunter sorrowfully. “We really don’t. It’s twenty to eight.”

“Plenty of time.”

Samantha smiled and looked skyward, blowing out a breath in defeat. “It’s not like I can say no to you after that.” She inclined her head in the direction of the shower.

“We should do that every morning.” Hunter punctuated the comment with a raised eyebrow, walking backward to Samantha’s bedroom.

“In there this time?” Sam asked.

Hunter shrugged. “I like to keep you guessing.”

Samantha loved that about Hunter. She did keep her guessing, and life when you were with her was anything but predictable. Two months ago, she never would have guessed she was capable of rolling with those punches. These days, she found it thrilling.

Five minutes later, with Hunter inside her, Sam found those soft brown eyes and held on as she coaxed and teased and drove her into blissful oblivion. She lay there rocked, having come harder than she could ever remember. Their time in the shower had her primed and ready, and the payoff had been exponential. Foreplay was so underrated.

“Maybe we could just stay here all day,” Hunter whispered into her ear as she brought her back down again. Samantha moved on top of Hunter and pushed a strand of wet hair behind her ear.

“And I thought Brooklyn was the idea girl. God, you feel good underneath me,” Sam whispered.

Hunter grinned. “Don’t get too comfortable there.”

Samantha laughed quietly. “Such a top, always so stubborn. You’re gonna have to learn to relinquish a little of that control, you know?” She rocked her hips slowly against Hunter, whose eyes closed and lips parted in response. Hunter swore quietly. “What?” Sam whispered sweetly. “That’s good?” Sam pressed deeper, grinding against Hunter more firmly, enjoying the ride. She groaned softly herself at the feel of Hunter against her, so ready.

Hunter grasped the headboard. “I take it back. You can do this any time you want.”

“I thought you might say that.”

It wouldn’t take much. Samantha could already tell, and that made her heart beat faster in response. She eased Hunter’s thighs apart for better access and moved steadily against her, over and over again. Watching Hunter try to control herself was a huge turn on in itself. Finally, she reached between them, and with her hand, pressed firmly on the spot that would finish what she’d started. With a quiet cry, the climax washed over Hunter in a gorgeous display. She shimmered, Sam realized, looking on. Hunter actually shimmered, and she felt her heart clench at the visual. She crawled into the space next to Hunter, amazed at what they’d turned an otherwise mundane morning into. Given, they’d be a few minutes late to work, but that was one of the perks of owning your own business, right? New life lesson: Morning sex trumped punctuality. She should write that down. Maybe a refrigerator magnet.

She stared at Hunter on the pillow next to her, feelings circulating that she still couldn’t quite pin down. Hunter, who was so many things to her, wrapped in one. “You’re kind of amazing, you know that?”

Hunter kissed her neck. “Amazing enough to skip work altogether? Because that’s what I vote for.”

“Tempting, hot stuff. But on the plus side, you come to work with me. So there’s that.”

Hunter smiled lazily and pushed herself up onto her elbow. “Did you just call me hot stuff?”

Samantha felt the blush hit her cheeks. It did sound ridiculous now that she played it back. “Pshhh. No. I would never have done that.”

“You did, too. You called me hot stuff, and now it’s my name forever.”

“It is not.”

“I think you mean ‘it is not, hot stuff.’ I feel very 1970s and I’m keeping it.”

Samantha shook her head. “You’re crazy.”

Hunter laughed. “Maybe. But if this is crazy, I want to always be crazy.”

Sam ran a finger across Hunter’s collarbone as the butterflies in her stomach fluttered furiously. “I feel a little crazy, too, when I’m with you. I like it. It’s kind of surreal. I’m at home with you, and comfortable, and constantly turned on, and laughing all the time. It’s…a lot.”

“Yeah?” Hunter asked, her eyes dancing. God, Sam loved it when those eyes danced. Little was more appealing.

“Yeah. And I have to tell you, it’s the best feeling. Being with you like this.”

Hunter good and kissed Sam one last time before walking confidently back to her room to prep for work. Sam lingered in bed a few moments longer, reveling in the eventful morning, because it was quite possibly the best one she’d ever had.

*

“Hey, Sammie,” Brooklyn said, perched on the corner of her desk. “Mal just texted that she’s on her way back from a consultation and wants to have a meeting. Do you have time?”

Samantha glanced at the clock. “Uh, yeah. I have a ton of little loose ends in the air, but I could sacrifice a half hour. Speaking of time, did you turn in the hours you spent on the Dawson umbrella thing? I need to bill them this week.”

“I did.” She surveyed Sam’s desk and located a sheet of paper in her stacking trays. “Right here. See? You look a little tired.”

She grinned.
Uh-huh. That’s right I do
. And then sobered for Brooklyn’s sake. “Just not a lot of sleep last night. Tossing and turning. So much of that.” Not a lie. There had been some tossing. And definitely some turning. Mmm-hmm, the turning had been world class, in fact.

“Maybe you should knock off early today. You’ve been staying late quite a bit.”

Samantha blew out a breath. “I wish I could, Brooks. It’s all the administrative stuff lately with the new accounts. It generally always falls to me, in addition to the books and the invoices and the benefits red tape. There’s just been a lot to juggle.”

“What can we do to help?” Hunter asked, sitting on the arm of that hard couch. Sam turned to Hunter. As her eyes settled, she felt a rush of happiness so swift that she took a minute to answer the question.

“Um…just back me up when I say I need it. And run Mallory interference when she starts asking for projections before I’ve even had a chance to get started on them. She’s been extra eager lately. I think she’s feeling the pressure, too. We now have too much business, which is good and bad.”

Brooklyn turned to Hunter. “We need a plan. I’ll stage some sort of screaming distraction and you tackle Mal from the side.”

Hunter nodded. “Tackle Mallory. Got it.”

Sam swiveled in her chair and held up one finger. “Tackling could make her mad.”

“Mad Mallory is not my favorite Mallory,” Brooklyn said.

“I agree,” Hunter added. “She gets very quiet and freakishly smart when she’s mad, and it scares me.”

Brooklyn pointed at Hunter in mystification. “Whoa. She’s funny today.”

“She is,” Sam agreed, catching Hunter’s eye in a private exchange.

Brooklyn turned to Hunter. “Why are you funny? Did you have a good night last night? And the insinuation that you’re picking up on is there on purpose, so don’t sidestep it.”

Hunter smiled shyly, and it was adorable. Hunter Blair was actually shy. “I did. I had an amazing night last night. Off the charts.”

“Alert! Usually you just shrug and say it was cool. I’ll need details.”

Hunter’s eyes brushed Sam’s again and widened briefly. “I cannot supply them. I don’t kiss and tell.” With that, she took off into the kitchen.

“Since when?” Brooklyn said, following after her.

Hunter refilled her coffee cup. “Since I don’t know. Maybe I’m super mature now and want to give my after-hours activities the respect they deserve.”

The loft door slid open and Mallory appeared, attaché in hand. “What after-hours activities? What have I missed?”

Sam looked on, not knowing quite what to do here. While it was kind of fun sharing this secret with Hunter for a little while, it also felt wrong to blatantly withhold information from their two best friends, the people they simply didn’t keep things from.

“Hunter’s sexy-time activities,” Brooklyn told Mallory. “She had some kind of torrid night last night and won’t dish a single detail, which is breaking some sort of sexy-detail code. There should be at least one sexy detail. I might have to picket the office in detail strike.”

Mallory’s gaze swiveled to Samantha in alarmed assumption. And she was pretty sure her own deer-in-headlights facial expression answered Mallory’s question in spades.
Damn it.
For the love of Jean Chatzky!
Okay, there were too many dynamics to keep straight here, and Sam wanted to hide under her desk like a dog in a thunderstorm.

Mallory saved the day and turned to Brooklyn. “As much as I want to help you in your Hunter shakedown, because let’s face it, those are fun, I was hoping for everyone’s input on a couple of things.”

Samantha didn’t hesitate to run in this new direction. Diversion was her friend. She was clinging to it with all she had. “Happy day! Kitchen meeting? I love kitchen meetings. Let’s do snacks. More truffles came in the mail.”

“Kitchen snacks it is,” Mal echoed.

Coffee was poured, laptops retrieved, and Samantha set out a tin of MollyDollys, her favorite truffles in the entire world. The Savvy girls assembled around the rectangular kitchen table. Samantha returned to her customary spot, as there was no need to draw any more attention, and waited patiently for what Mallory had to say.

“First of all, ever since the Foster projects have returned, we’ve had a lot on our plate. The new accounts that were meant to replace the business need just as much attention, small or not.”

“Agreed,” Brooklyn said.

“But the workload is a bit unrealistic and I think we could benefit from a little extra help.”

Sam sighed. “I get where you’re coming from, but the last time we brought in a temp, it was disastrous. He stared at Brooklyn’s boobs all day, and I swear to you he systematically stuffed half of our office supplies down his pants by the end of the first week.”

“Sticky Eddie. No one’s objectified me that way since,” Brooklyn said with false nostalgia.

Mallory raised a finger. “Agreed that Eddie was sent from Satan, but he did fill in a gap and gave Samantha a break on some of the administrative stuff, which let her devote her time to what she’s really good at. Managing our money.”

Hunter nodded and snagged a truffle. “So what are you proposing?”

“What if we took on an intern?” Mallory asked. “Some enterprising young person who’s trustworthy, smart, and looking to gain some experience?”

Well, that was an idea. Samantha turned it over in her head. “I’d be all for it. It’d require a little training, but I like the idea of taking on someone who could not only help us, but would be excited to be here. I could check with the local high schools and colleges.”

Brooklyn sat forward as an idea seemed to take root. It was what made her awesome. “Hear me out. What would you guys think about offering the position to Ashton?” Jessica and Brooklyn’s next-door neighbor, Ashton, had been through a rough time recently when her mother was admitted to rehab. In fact, she’d moved in with Jessica until her mom was deemed fit. But through it all, she’d shown herself to be a remarkably great kid.

“Do you think she’d be into it?” Sam asked.

“She’s looking for a part-time job now that she’s sixteen. What’s great about it is that she doesn’t need the money. Her mom’s loaded, and Ashton has a sizable allowance, but she wants to get out there and work, gain some experience in the world for her college applications. She’s enrolled in the co-op program this next year at her high school, so she’d receive course credit for the hours she pulls. She just needs a place that will sponsor her study.”

Mallory smiled. “Personally, I think that sounds like a really great fit. You’ve said she’s smart, right?”

“An A student.”

“All in favor?” Mallory asked. Four hands shot into the air. “Perfect.” She turned to Brooklyn. “Have a talk with her and see if she’s interested.”

“Will do.”

“Next up, I’d like to experiment with using a newswire to reach more of the specific trade publications for Serenity. I took a conference call with Emory Owen, who owns Global News Wire, and she’s put together some agency prices for us.” She passed the breakdown of the agreement to Samantha. “If you all are in agreement, I’d like to run a press release with them on a local circuit and see what kind of attention we get.”

Sam studied the numbers. “This seems doable. It’s the kind of account that could get picked up for some feature stories.”

“Especially if we frame it like the ad,” Brooklyn added. “A day-in-the-life kind of thing. The New York woman and trends associated with her is a popular angle. That shoot is Thursday, by the way. So I’ll be on location all day.”

Mallory scribbled the information into her day planner, totally old school. “Got it down. So, is the newswire a go?”

“I think it’s a great strategy for them,” Brooklyn said.

“And the budget can withstand it, so I say go for it. Hunter?” Sam turned to her, in all-business mode, forcing back down again the little surge of energy she got when she looked at Hunter.

“Yeah, it’s a go for me.” Her eyes trailed over Sam briefly before shifting focus to Mallory. “I’ll shoot you a photo to go with it.”

“Which was going to be my next question,” Mallory said in amusement.

Hunter shrugged. “I’m simply too good at my job. Some might even say I’m hot stuff.”

Samantha bit the inside of her cheek to hold back the laughter.

Mallory closed her notebook. “And on that very strange note, I think we’re finished, unless anyone else has something to discuss.”

Brooklyn’s gaze landed on Hunter. “Maybe we could close the meeting with a sexy story from last night.” And just like that, Samantha and Mallory hightailed it from the table like the thing had just caught fire.