SoloPlay (7 page)

“Hey, Beth?” Alisa swiveled to face her desk mate’s chair. “Do you know any nice guys?”

Beth muttered something incomprehensible. She appeared to be on the search for an elusive title, and unless someone dropped a bomb on her keyboard, she wouldn’t give up the hunt any time soon.

Alisa kicked her chair. “I need a date.”

No response.

She sighed.

The first set of automatic doors swung open in the foyer and Alisa glanced up at the security gate to see who was coming in. Sunlight bounced off the second set of glass doors into her eyes, momentarily blinding her. When the spots cleared, she saw a man. And not one of the old guys who liked to read the free newspapers in the armchairs by the windows, either. This was a tall, blond iceberg of a man wearing a dark suit with a white shirt. His tie was pulled away from his neck, as if he had loosened the knot as soon as he’d pushed away from his desk. His hard features looked carved from cold stone. Alisa shuddered, her breath rushing out of her body.

His pale blue eyes zeroed in on the reference desk, and Beth finally glanced up from her screen. “Check him out,” she said under her breath. “Hot date, twelve o’clock.”

“I thought you weren’t paying attention,” Alisa accused.

“Well, I am now.”

Alisa felt frozen to her wooden chair as the man’s eyes dropped to her nameplate. He began to walk toward them with measured strides.

“May I help you?” Beth asked, flipping her shiny red hair over her shoulders and giving him a smile that showcased every one of her perfect, white teeth.

“I’m looking for Ms. Mane.” His slight smile barely thawed his features.

Alisa eyed him cautiously. “How can I help you?”

“I hope you can help me find Sologirl.”

Her eyes widened, then shot over to Beth.

“I’ve never heard of Sologirl,” Beth chirped. “Is it fiction or nonfiction?”

“I’ve got this one.” Alisa jumped up from her chair and raced around the desk, ignoring Beth’s surprised look. She took the stranger’s arm and pulled him firmly toward the stacks. “I think I’ve seen it in the graphic novels.”

When they reached the cover of the tall shelves, Alisa dropped his arm. “Who are you?”

“Mark Winters,” he said, holding out his hand. “SoloPlay Enterprises.”

“Holy shit,” she whispered.

His laugh was loud in the quiet room, but not as loud as her thudding heart.

Alisa shushed him. “Nobody knows about SoloPlay here, and I want to keep it that way.” Her whisper was sharp. “You shouldn’t have come here.”

“Well, you shouldn’t have said no,” he replied, taking her hand.

Mark watched the creep of red on her pale skin. His blood was rising in his veins too. Crystal’s cryptic comments and Sologirl’s sexy e-mails notwithstanding, he hadn’t expected Sologirl to be so hot. Alisa Mane looked like a delicate china doll, all pink and white and blue-eyed, her long, dark lashes blinking furiously against her rosy cheeks as she tugged her warm hand out of his grasp.

“Is it a question of money?” he asked.

“No! Don’t talk about that here! This is a library—” He watched her lips move as she searched for the right words and imagined them parted, showing even, white teeth as she pleasured herself with a SoloPlay toy.

“That’s such a stereotype.” Mark ignored her fierce glare. “I’ve definitely seen a few movies where the staid librarian whips off her glasses, takes down her hair—”

“Shut up!”

“What’s the matter, Sologirl, can’t take the heat?” he challenged.

Mark knew what kind of a woman was hiding out under the hands-off librarian outfit. The low heels, modest neckline and the skirt cut precisely at the knee did not fool him. Alisa whirled and beckoned him deeper into the stacks. As she turned, he saw a quick flash of bare flesh above her knee and maybe the hint of a garter. His cock jumped. Nope, not perfectly prim and proper at all. He thought of the money he would have to shell out to multiple DoublePlay testers until his cock finally cooperated and he could follow her without embarrassing himself.

When they reached the back wall of the library, Sologirl stopped and whirled to face him. “You aren’t supposed to know who I am! What about SoloPlay’s privacy policy? Identity protection? How dare you come here! If anyone overhears us—” she hissed.

“What are you afraid of?” he asked. “No one will guess what we’re talking about.”

“I’m afraid one of my very perceptive colleagues will figure it out! Librarians are information specialists, and the library world is not exactly a hotbed of liberal sexual politics, either. One keyword search on the Internet and I can kiss my job goodbye. If I hear you say the words,” she lowered her voice, “Sologirl or SoloPlay again, this conversation is over.”

“Fine. Can I say DoublePlay?”

“No.”

“That makes my pitch a little difficult.”

“You chose to come here, buddy.” She crossed her arms.

“It was the only address I had.”

Sologirl’s gaze pinned him to the stacks. “How did you get it?”

He hesitated. “Crystal said to tell you she sent me.”

He watched emotions play across her features. Shock. Then anger. The idea that if Crystal knew what sort of lube Sologirl preferred then they might have been lovers raced through his mind. Just as swiftly, he rejected it and repressed the stab of accompanying jealousy. Mark would stake his life, his health and the success of the DoublePlay line on the fact that Sologirl liked men.

“You liked BodyVibe,” he began.

Alisa’s blue eyes flashed, darkened. He continued before he could determine if her reaction was due to remembered pleasure or his temerity at bringing it up. He kept his voice just below a library whisper, not quite loud enough for her to easily hear. She edged closer, and he caught a whiff of flowery shampoo and the scent of sunshine and clean grass rising from her skin. He inhaled another deep breath of her sweet scent before he continued.

“I also know you tested it here, in the library. In fact, your report opened up a whole new approach to the marketing department. They think it belongs in the…new product line. Since you’re already comfortable with BodyVibe, why don’t you try it out over dinner with your partner? Give up the remote control, let someone else take charge this time.”

Sologirl’s eyebrows lifted. Her mouth opened the slightest bit and the tip of her tongue darted out to moisten her full, pink lips. Mark pressed his advantage. “Do you know how erotic it is to give someone else complete control over your pleasure?” he asked quietly.

He began to spin the fantasy for her. “Imagine what it would feel like to be sitting at a table in a nice restaurant. You’re wearing BodyVibe and your partner has the remote in his jacket pocket. You are completely under his control. You won’t know when your nipples will begin to buzz, or when he will allow you to feel a short burst of pleasure in your pussy. You might be surprised by a tiny, tingling vibration on your clit or a throbbing rhythm in your ass. You will wonder when he will begin to pleasure you and how many times you will come before the end of the meal. I bet you’ll be aroused before he even touches the remote.” She was standing so close now that he had to look straight down to meet her eyes, so close that he could feel the heat of her summer-warmed skin.

Sologirl’s pupils were wide. Her breath was quick and soft. He bent, and his lips grazed a wisp of hair near her ear. “I bet you’re wet already, just thinking about it,” he whispered.

He could sympathize—his cock was so hard that he was having flash fantasies of ripping her skirt up to her waist and taking her against the bookshelf. Maybe she wasn’t wearing underwear. The thought paralyzed him.

She cleared her throat with a sharp cough that breezed his chin before she stepped away from him. “You’re joking, right? You want me to help you, so you rushed to my workplace to talk dirty to me? Does this approach usually work for you?” Her blue eyes flashed as she slowly shook her head from side to side.

“Actually, yes.”

“I find that hard to believe,” she said, but the way she was looking at him gave lie to her words. Her eyes played over his body as if she were trying to make a decision. He didn’t care what criteria she used, but she had to say yes.

“Please, I’m begging you. DoublePlay needs you. You are the best product evaluator I’ve got, and without your help, I’m seriously screwed. In fact, I doubt the line will even make it into production without you. I’m running out of time and capital. Tell me what you want. I’ll do anything to get you to say yes.”

She cocked her head to the side doubtfully. Her small, white teeth dented her lower lip and her eyes narrowed.

He held his breath, waiting for her decision.

After what felt like an eternity, she nodded, and he slowly let air back into his lungs.

Her low laugh sounded nervous. “We’ll have to lay some ground rules. I do have a few conditions.”

“Anything.” Mark was elated, lightheaded with relief and oxygen deprivation. She was going to do it. His mind spun with all the next steps he needed to take. He couldn’t wait to receive Sologirl’s report of her dinner date. Damn, he was almost jealous of her boyfriend. He was so caught up in his plans that he didn’t hear her words the first time.

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” he asked.

“I said I hope you have an understanding wife.”

“I don’t have a wife,” he said, confused.

“Good. Then she won’t object to you taking me out to dinner.” Sologirl’s blue eyes were wide and innocent, but her pink lips curved in an impish grin. “It was your idea, buddy.”

She’d tricked him.

His willing body jumped to attention.

He couldn’t be Sologirl’s play partner, but he had to admit the temptation was brutal. Oh, the things he could do to her. He had read her surveys for every product she had tested for SoloPlay. Her responses had been run through complicated data compilation programs, cross-referenced with percentages, ranked in order of preference. He knew what she liked.

Even better than she did.

But that was too fucking bad. He had already broken his own code of ethics and quite possibly a few laws by coming to find her. The last thing he needed was a sexual harassment suit the size of the state of New York. As the owner of the company, he could not bang his employees and pay them for it. His lawyers had been very explicit about that point.

“Alisa—” Her name felt strange on his lips. “It would be unprofessional.” And unethical, immoral and a number of other bad and litigious words.

“Unprofessional? You want to go there with me?” Her delicate jaw dropped. “You tossed professionalism out the window when you came to find me, buddy. I don’t want to know how many people at SoloPlay know my identity, but if any more of you come looking for me, I’m going to sue SoloPlay for every penny it’s ever made.”

Mark’s blood chilled. “Whoa—hold on. Relax. No one is coming after you, but I can’t test DoublePlay products with you. I own the company.”

She shrugged. “Then the boss won’t get upset.”

“Unless you sue him for sexual harassment.”

She put her hands on her hips. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not going to sue you. I just propositioned you.”

“Don’t you have a boyfriend who can—”

The slow smile that spread across Alisa’s face made him feel a little desperate. “Nope. No boyfriend. No girlfriend at the moment either, and I have to say that I don’t know whether to be amused or hurt that Crystal sent you to find me.”

The silence swelled between them.

“Just take me out to dinner.” Her blue eyes challenged him to deny her again. “I’ll only help you with DoublePlay if you are willing to work for it.” Her eyes dropped to his crotch. “I’d say you’re up for the job.”

Mark blinked at her. Once. Twice. Shit. “Seven o’clock. E-mail your address.”

He jerked his head in a terse goodbye then escaped the stacks, hoping like hell no one else noticed the bulge in his pants. Taking her out to dinner would give him a second chance to persuade her to test DoublePlay toys with another partner. He wouldn’t actually use the remote on her in the restaurant, he told himself, not believing it for a minute.

When Mark Winters left the library, Alisa locked herself in the ladies room and thrust her hand under her skirt. She opened her mouth wide to muffle the sound of her quick breaths as she rubbed her clit with two hard, merciless fingers. She watched her eyes glaze over in the wide mirror over the sink as she came, one hand braced on the counter, the other buried between her thighs.

Not a cold fish, not even close. Tall, hard, solidly muscled, Mark Winters resembled the new James Bond, but bigger. His pale blue eyes burned with icy heat. His gaze was hot, but remote, as if he was so sure of his effect on women that he didn’t even have to try to look inviting anymore, as if he had the skill to bring a girl to blithering orgasm while, say, checking the stock quotes or sorting through his mail.

She had intended to send him packing with an ass full of verbal buckshot, but all of the blood in her body had descended to her clit when he began whispering in her ear. Oh man, that dinner scenario was hot. Could it actually happen that way? He made it sound simple, so easy. She almost believed he could make it happen for her, and she wasn’t going to get a better opportunity to find out. He was perfect.

As the last wave of her orgasm receded, doubt quickly set in. She swallowed, forcing saliva down her dry throat, and washed her hands.

Oh God. Could she really do it? It had seemed like a brilliant idea ten minutes ago, when her body had been begging for release. Now that she was in a more sane state, she was having second thoughts.

Mark Winters did not look harmless. He was big. The body under that dark suit looked hard and strong. Clearly, he was a little twisted. What if she had just made a dinner date with a psycho killer?

She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She tugged her skirt straight. Crystal had sent Mark Winters to her at the exact moment she had been looking for a date, and she didn’t believe in coincidence. Not so long ago, Crystal had promised to find her a Prince Charming. At the time, Alisa had thought she was just trying to let her down easy. Now, here he came, waltzing in the door of the library, talking dirty and making it sound like poetry. If he came with Crystal’s seal of approval, then he wasn’t a psycho killer. Crystal would
know
. Plus, she
had
known Mark for months, albeit only through e-mail.