The Bare Facts (9 page)

She turned over, digging deeper into her pillow. The alarm screamed in her ears as she groaned and frantically searched for the snooze button. But even though she depressed it several times, it continued to scream. Finally, she yanked the cord from the wall.

But the buzzing sound didn't stop and she realized it was coming from her purse. She leaned over the edge of the bed, certain that her head was going to roll right off her shoulders. Then she'd have a hell of a time finding it. She giggled when she grabbed her purse. What was that niggling sensation at the back
of her mind, telling her she'd done something last night that she would regret?

She opened her purse and dug around for the cell phone that just continued to chirp. She grabbed the offensive instrument and put it to her ear.

“What?” Haley was surprised that her voice came out as if she had rust in her throat.

“Haley?”

“Margo. Ohmigod. What time is it?” She looked at the poor clock on the floor. It mocked her. Shouldn't have pulled me out of the wall, huh?

“It's nine-thirty. I've been calling you for an hour and a half. I was beginning to get worried. Are you okay?”

Haley ran her hands through what she was sure was a fright wig and moaned. “I just drank too much last night. Is Kate asking about me?”

“No. She's in her office. I was worried.”

She loosened her death grip on the cell phone. “I'm sorry I worried you. Can you cover for me for another hour while I take a quick shower and get dressed?”

“Sure, Haley. Are you positive you're all right?”

“I am, but I'll have to figure out when I can get this fantasy done, maybe tonight…” That niggling memory burst full-blown in her brain.

“Ohmigod.”

“What?”

“I agreed to go to dinner with him tonight.” She slapped herself in the forehead. “And I agreed to go
shopping and have lunch with my mother after I offended her with sex talk.”

“Haley, get in the shower, get your butt here and explain to me what you're talking about,” Margo pleaded.

 

T
HE RESTAURANT
Dylan asked her to meet him at was beautiful, with a very romantic atmosphere. So why did she have this feeling that doom was descending? Maybe it was because she was making a grave mistake. This was a mistake, mistake, mistake.

Margo told her so when Haley relayed everything to her nosy co-worker when she'd finally arrived at work. But Margo had covered for her and Kate was none the wiser. Haley knew what she was in for when she'd proposed this scheme to Dylan. She had no right to whine about it now. She would have to take her lumps like a big girl.

The headache that had receded and then started up again was beginning to ease to a dull throb when Dylan appeared at the front door to the posh restaurant. A flutter started in her stomach and worked its way up into her throat. It had been raining outside and she could see that raindrops glinted in his hair like diamonds. He stopped at the coat check, and as he shrugged out of his raincoat, she sighed at the expanse of chest and shoulder revealed.

He was wearing a dark green suit the color of a dense, dark forest that only brought out the intensity of his mint-green eyes.

He moved with the audacious stride of a man who
knew where he was going. He had sin and danger written all over him and his grin was enough to stop every heart from Manhattan to Los Angeles. That delicious grin was directed at her.

When he reached the table, he leaned over and gave her a soft hello kiss on the lips. Haley smiled at him as he sat.

“You look a little peaked,” he said.

“Headache.”

“I'm sorry,” he said softly, leaning over and brushing her temple with his thumb.

“Thanks. This is a nice place.”

“One of the senior partners recommended it. Were you able to smooth things with your mother?”

“I think so. Didn't think it was prudent to tell my mom I'd propositioned you. Good thing my sister's still in the dark. She'd be a little more persistent.”

“I know all about persistent, pushy sisters.” It was the way he was looking at her, his intense eyes watching every move she made that forced her to say the words.

“Besides. It's not like you'll be around for Christmas.” She could have kicked herself. Her voice had not come out as casual as she hoped and not nearly as light as she wanted to sound.

“You going to use me and throw me away, you heartbreaker?”

Even his attempt to keep it light failed. It made her uneasy. She didn't need him bolting on her. Without him there would be no fantasy, and that would mean no column. She'd better be smart and remind him she
didn't expect any commitment. “We're having a mutual good time. And a few weeks will bring us to the end of the deal, right?”

“Right.” He smiled, but the look in his eyes only got more intense. It seemed that her words had had the opposite effect on him. Maybe she should just shut up.

She picked up her menu and looked at the choices as he followed suit. She wanted those dark disturbing eyes off her for one moment. She was a coward to hide behind her menu, but she couldn't help it. She was doing what her father told her often enough, keeping her eye on the ball. Why did it hurt so much?

“Malone. See you took my advice and decided to dine here.” The booming voice made Haley jump. She lowered her menu as Dylan rose.

“Mr. and Mrs. Westin. Nice to see you. And Marie.”

The tall, graying man looked over at Haley. “And who is this lovely young woman?”

Haley smiled.

“Your girlfriend?” Mrs. Westin asked with a false smile on her face.

“No! I mean…it's…Haley Lawton, a friend. Haley, this is Mr. Donald Westin, president of Westin, Mayer and Martin, and his wife, Sylvia, along with Marie McLain, president of the NAPTA.”

Marie reached out and shook Haley's hand. “Your name sounds very familiar. Are you on the radio?”

“No. I'm not. I'm a journalist.”

The woman frowned. “I know I've heard your name before, but I can't remember where.”

“Are you one of the Westchester Lawtons?”

“No. I'm one of the Hillcrest Lawtons.”

“Hillcrest,” Donald Westin said, looking as if he'd gotten a whiff of a bad odor. “Isn't that in New Jersey?”

Anger tightened in her chest, constricting her throat. “Yeah. My dad's a mailman, retired.”

It was obvious as Donald Westin gave Dylan a disapproving look that he thought Haley was quite an unsuitable companion to be dining with in this posh restaurant.

It was embarrassing to note that when she reached out to shake their hands, only Marie obliged. Experiencing a funny little cramp in her throat, she settled herself back into her chair.

“We were just about to order….” Dylan left the words hanging and pointedly took up his menu, and the Westins and their guest left.

Dylan put his hand over hers where it rested on the table. “I'm so sorry.”

“Talk about a lack of social graces.” She squeezed his hand. It wasn't his fault that Donald Westin was a snob. “I hope that Marie didn't recognize my name from the column.”

“Do you think she did?” Dylan asked.

“If you'd like to pull out now, I'll understand. I don't want to jeopardize your job.”

“No, Haley. I said I would do this, and I will.”

The meal progressed but Haley's heart wasn't in it.

“Haley, why don't you come back to my loft for a little while,” Dylan suggested.

“No, Dylan. I think I'll head home.”

“I'd really like to show you something. It won't take long,” he said as he handed the waiter a credit card to pay the bill.

“I bet you would like to show me something, but not tonight. I'm not feeling well.”

“Haley, it doesn't have anything to do with sex.” The waiter came back over with Dylan's receipt.

Dylan assisted her with her chair and settled his hand in the middle of her back as he escorted her to the coat check. There he retrieved his raincoat and hers. The proprietary touch to her back afterward made her melt a little inside.

He cupped her face in his hands and tilted it up to his. “Come on.”

Why did she have to have a soft spot for a man like him? He doesn't consider you the kind of person his class of people would approve of. She should feel better about the whole situation, since she could see the way Mrs. Westin had eyed her off-the-shoulder purple beaded dress. Now she'd confirm to her foolish, wayward heart that Dylan couldn't want her in his life on a permanent basis. Besides, he was a skirt chaser anyway. That should make it even easier. So why didn't it?

The cab Dylan hailed shortly afterward got them to his loft in record time. As they walked into the building, again Dylan put his hand at the small of her back.
She tried to make the feelings of being cherished go away, but they wouldn't.

He opened his door and ushered her in.

“What did you want me to see?” He removed his trench coat and helped her off with her own. The wind had blown some thick dark strands of his hair free and they were lying on his temple. Haley had the almost uncontrollable urge to push them back just to feel his hot skin beneath the sensitive pads of her fingertips. Feeling as if she were hanging on by a mere thread, she clenched her fist and tried to fortify her reserve.

“Would you like a glass of wine?” he offered, hanging the coats in the hall closet. The very one he'd shoved her into while his
girlfriend
was using the bathroom. That helped her to keep her distance.

“An aspirin, if you have it and some water would be fine.”

He disappeared into the bathroom as she walked into the living room and sat on the couch.

When he came out of the bathroom, he handed her the medication and the water.

“What did you want me to see?” she repeated.

Dylan walked away into the dim dining room and picked something up off the table. He came back and presented it to her. “This,” he said as he put the storyboard in her lap.

Of course she'd seen the board on his table, but now there was color so vibrant that the people stood out in stark beauty, eliciting emotion as she saw their
life unfold in pictures. “It's wonderful. Your client should be very happy. Is it for a commercial?”

“No. I made it for my parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary. I only hope I can find a woman who will share my life for that length of time.”

Haley felt tears prick the back of her eyes. He'd also showed Mandy the storyboard and probably that lovely woman, Laurel. “Someday, I'm sure you'll find the perfect woman who fits the image you have in your head. Look, Dylan, I have to go. Could you call me a cab?”

“Why is it you're always trying to run off? Relax,” he said softly, bending down and removing her shoes.

“Please don't do that.”

He picked up her foot and began to massage the instep. “Have I done something to upset you?”

She closed her eyes against the feel of his warm hands on her stocking foot. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that image was more important and, yes, it did bother her that both he and his boss found her unsuitable. But again, she couldn't afford to fight with him and it really didn't matter anyway. She needed him for the fantasies, nothing else could figure into the equation. “Not you, Dylan. I just don't feel well.”

He continued to rub her instep and Haley sighed, slipping into a sensual haze. The man had wonderful hands. His hand traveled up her calf and kneaded her taut muscle. The feel of his fingers sent an electrifying reaction through her, a rising thickening pleasure.

Haley got up abruptly, twisting her foot back into her shoe. “It's not that I wouldn't like to, Dylan. But I think it will ruin the mood of the fantasies. I'd like to keep our intimate contact confined to them.”

“Haley, I told you that I wasn't interested in sex.”

“Excuse me.”

“I didn't lure you over here so that we could have sex. You looked so uptight and uncomfortable I wanted to make you feel better.”

Heat suffused her face. Here she thought he was coming on to her and he was only trying to make her feel better. “Oh. I guess I jumped to conclusions. I just thought…well, never mind. I have to get going.”

He walked up to her. “I can't apologize enough.”

She forced herself to smile. She touched his face because she wanted the feel of his skin against her palm. “It wasn't you who had bad manners. Don't worry about it.”

“Haley, please stay. I swear that I didn't bring you here for sex.”

“That I would have understood. I told you from the beginning, this was just sex. You agreed to my terms.”

He sighed. “I agreed.”

“I don't want us to fight or have bad feelings between us.” She forced a smile and pinched his cheek. “Let's keep it light and sexy. That's what I need from you.”

“How about hot and heavy?”

Haley smiled for real now. The man was incorrigible. “Now you're getting the picture.”

Ten minutes later, she looked up at his loft as the cab drove away. This incident forced her to realize that her feelings for Dylan were getting too strong. She should thank Donald Westin for reeling her back. Losing her heart to a rich playboy would be sheer madness. Westin had set her back on the right track and she could now once again think about her goal.

She wouldn't admit how much it had hurt to be treated like a lowlife just because she was from Hillcrest.

She receded into the dimness of the cab and closed her eyes against the longing, feeling as if her insides were disintegrating.

H
ALEY SAT
in the ladies' room stall waiting until she was sure the building would be empty. She shouldn't have waited so long to finish out this fantasy. Her column was due tomorrow and she only had one night to write it. When she'd called him and found out he had to work late, she realized that this would be a good time for round two of the striptease fantasy.

She'd come in moments before the building had closed and ducked into the ladies' room with her large purse. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to bring her boots, but that was okay. She decided to keep the second version of the fantasy more work-related. In that case, she'd be required to wear a suit. Underneath her suit, though, was a very different story, a bra that left her nipples bare and crotchless panties that she thought would drive Dylan wild.

She looked at her watch and determined it was now or never. Having discovered from his assistant where his office was before she'd entered the ladies' room, she knew exactly where she was headed. She made her way there quickly in case there was a guard walking the floor.

Dylan's door was ajar; she could see him at his
desk. His head was bent over the work he was doing. His tie was askew, his suit coat hung from the back of his chair.

She pushed the door open with the flat of her hand.

He didn't look up, but spoke. “Donna, I thought you went home hours ago? Are you looking for a lecture?”

“No. I'm looking for a bad boy.”

Dylan's head snapped up and he took in Haley in one big gulp. Her skin began to tingle.

She pushed the door closed with her hip and locked it.

“Haley, you can't be serious.”

“As a heart attack.”

With deliberate movements of her hips and torso, she took off her suit jacket and draped it over the chair. “Don't you know that all work and no play makes Dylan a dull boy?” Haley leaned across the desk.

“And you're here looking for a bad boy.” He leaned forward and very gently took her bottom lip into his mouth. She gasped. She couldn't help it.

“Well, sweetheart, you found one.”

She quivered and her eyes closed. A sudden flood of pleasure rushed through her like the raging torrent of a savage river. She had expected to endure this striptease and not fall into the seductive power of Dylan, nothing more, instead she found that she was lured into opening her mouth to his probing tongue. In a flash, she saw that she had vastly underestimated his seductive power over her. His mouth tasted clean
and tangy; his lips firm but gentle in the way they moved over hers. He teased her with light, gentle kisses that were slow and enticingly hot. He tantalized her with a hint of passion that she could only glimpse before he controlled it, and then beguiled her with his animal warmth and hard strength.

He was dangerous, she thought. Her response to him was overpowering. She'd just gone too far. He tried to grab her and pull her across the desk, but she eluded his hands and scooted away.

“You are a bad boy,” she scolded, smiling softly.

She unbuttoned her blouse only enough so that he could see her cleavage. She swiveled her hips as she unzipped her skirt and let it fall. “Oops.”

Dylan smiled as she sidled around the desk. She brushed against him, but whirled away when he tried to touch her. The heat in his eyes turned her on even more.

She removed her blouse slow button by slow button until she revealed her exposed nipples. Dylan moaned softly, fueling Haley's movements. The cool air of the office caressed her heated breasts, puckering her nipples.

Dylan came around his desk and his momentum carried Haley against the wall. His mouth fused with hers in a heartbeat.

He slipped his thigh between her legs and lifted. The feel of the rough material of his slacks against Haley's core made her take a quick breath and brought desire pulsing into her bloodstream. She felt irresistible, and so feminine.

“Mmm, you taste so good. I could get lost in you for hours, days…” His tongue came out and revered her mouth with a slow, wet seduction.

Haley closed her eyes against the encompassing need in her. She'd come here for more than a deadline. She'd come here for him. For this. She needed him. She wanted him. Something seemed to ease inside her at that confession. “Dylan.”

His head raised and his eyes sought hers. His were so dilated with pleasure they were almost black.

She raised her hands and unknotted his tie, flinging the silk material to the floor. Next went his shirt. Her hands touched his chest as he watched her face, enjoying her pleasure in the feel of him.

She went to unhook the bra. “Leave it on,” he said huskily as his head dipped and he took one of her nipples into his mouth. Her back arched at the erotic feel of his teeth nipping at the swollen nub. He sucked then, drawing her throbbing nipple into his hot mouth.

He moved to the other one, sucking and licking until Haley thought she would die from pleasure.

He moaned softly as his mouth took hers in a searing kiss that left Haley gasping for breath. She thought she could never get enough air into her lungs to breathe again. He was sleek muscles and warm skin. Flesh and blood. Tentatively she reached up and slipped her hand into his hair. Once more he moaned against her soft lips. “I need you. I've needed you holding on to me like this. Calling my name. Touching me. I've needed it so much.” He reached down and fumbled with his zipper, using one hand because
his other one was too busy exploring her sweet curves. She was panting now with need, slipping her tongue into his mouth. She wiggled her hips against him and he moaned around her smooth flesh. Sucking hard on her tongue, his hands moved down to the silk panties. He caressed the length of her legs and wrapped his hands around her calves. She tried to jerk him back up, moaned aloud in her need. He pushed her legs apart and kissed her inner thighs, pushing his face against her delicate skin, trailing to the damp curls tantalizingly above him.

He moaned softly, “Damn, Haley. You are full of surprises.”

Haley jerked in pure sensual reaction to his lips on her secret flesh, her back connected solidly with the wall. He nudged her leg with his shoulder until she placed it there, so he could achieve the perfect angle to plunder her tender cleft.

She moaned his name. Her heart beat so fast that she thought it would burst out of her chest. Her whole body was aflame with a soul-wrenching desire that was almost frightening. His magic tongue and mouth sent her into the longest, strongest orgasm she'd ever experienced. She cried out loud, and her voice echoed around the large airy room.

Her body throbbed with a powerful encompassing need that she had never experienced before. His mouth moved up her body and she clutched at his shoulders. When he reached full height, he slipped his hands under her arms and lifted her high enough
so that her curls brushed against his erection. He closed his eyes, twisting his head up and to the side.

She gasped when he opened his eyes. They were a deep dark green, almost black, and there was fire and an intense hot longing in them that made her shiver and her breathing ragged.

“Protection,” he gasped.

“My suit jacket pocket,” she panted as he quickly bent down, retrieved the foil packet and protected himself.

“Wrap your legs around me. Let me come inside.”

“Dylan,” was all she could manage as she curled her legs around him.

“Yes. This is what you wanted. This is what you came for.” His eyes bore into hers.

“Yes, this…” she agreed. He pushed into her and her words ended on a deep moan. He pumped into her, drawing out of her in slow motion. She wrapped her arms around his neck, putting her lips against his throat.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Please.”

He pushed her against the wall, increasing his tempo, driving into her. With a hoarse cry, she jerked against him, her eyes flying open in stunned amazement. She had never thought it could be any better than before. But her release surged through her like lightning, charged lightning, searing her down to her soul.

Dylan could barely contain the release his body begged for. He bit her jaw gently, bringing his mouth close to her ear. “I've wanted you since I first saw
your tight little butt and those innocent eyes. You're beautiful, so tight, so responsive.”

He was quickly losing his thread of thought as he began to move inside her again feeling the slick, sweet flesh clench around him, and that was all he could handle as he convulsed, and let out a hoarse shout of release.

He stood there supporting them both against the wall. His knees were weak and he was afraid to move lest he drop her from the sudden buckling of his knees.

Her hand caressed his cheek softly and the gentle touch soothed him like a salve to his heart. He closed his eyes and pushed his face into her hand.

When she spoke, her voice caught. “You are so sexy. You feel so good inside me.”

With her words, he hardened inside her and she gasped. His eyes opened and he grinned at her lazily. “Haley, I can't get enough of you. You make me crazy until I can barely draw breath.”

She leaned her head back against the wall. “I'm finding it a bit hard to breathe about now, too. You know how to make love to a woman.”

“I only want to make love to you, Haley,” he said hoarsely, his mouth fastened on her neck right at her pulse point. He could feel how fast her heart was beating. It mirrored his own.

“Oh no,” she murmured as he grew harder inside her.

“What's the matter? Can't keep up with me?”

The tone of his voice and the words struck and
made her eyes sparkle with amusement. She smiled and the playful sweetness wrapped around him as solidly as her tautly muscled thighs had.

“On your best day.”

“Sure?” He smiled, his mouth moving closer to hers.

“Cocksure.”

“No pun intended, I bet.” He laughed.

She joined him until he began thrusting into her and Haley's smile faded, her lips hungrily devouring his as he invaded hers.

Dylan shuddered, his arms coming up around her. Roughly grasping the back of her head, he angled her face and took her mouth in another wild, plundering kiss. Cupping her buttocks he twisted his pelvis against her. He lifted her hips to seek relief from the heavy ache inside her, and began thrusting against her, his mouth hungry and wild. Haley clutched at his broad shoulders.

“Drop your legs,” he whispered in her ear.

When she did, he grabbed her around the waist, turned her around and brought her back against his chest and rock-hard thighs. His hand splayed against her flat stomach, he leaned into her, seeking her feminine core.

She placed her hands against the wall. She couldn't stand the swelling, throbbing heaviness in her. She couldn't stand the almost unbearable pleasure of the feel of his hot skin against hers. She couldn't stand the torment of waiting anymore. “Dylan,” she sobbed desperately. “Please.”

He thrust into her, grabbing on to her hips. It was over quickly, and when her legs buckled, Dylan was there to catch her and cradle her against him.

 

A
FTER A SHORT WHILE
in each other's arms, Haley couldn't help but ask, “How much longer do you have to work?”

“It really doesn't matter how much longer I work. I don't think I'd get much done.”

“Why not?”

“I find myself distracted,” he growled as he pulled her onto his lap.

A splash of color caught her attention. “Scoot the chair over.”

Dylan complied.

Haley picked up the thick board. “What's this?”

“It's another storyboard similar to the one I made for my parents. It's what we use to sell a television commercial to a client.”

“I thought that.” She looked back down at the first storyboard. The advertisements were on top and she was astounded at the sheer simplistic beauty of them.

“This is a nice play on words. Is this for the NAPTA?”

“Yes. But this is not the ad that's driving me crazy.”

“Oh, yeah. These are already done.” She studied the pictures. “Going for the shock effect. Show the teenagers what could happen to them if they don't abstain.”

“It's effective. At least, that's what market research says.”

“Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder. Nice slogan. So you're going to use the ‘Don't' theme.”

“Right. It isn't ‘Don't look before you leap—it's don't leap.'”

“Those are good.” She scanned the other storyboards on his desk. “So, what's stumping you?”

“Green Dog Beer.”

“What is Green Dog Beer?”

“It's a British import and the Brits want us to let Americans know that it's the beer of the masses.”

“So this is an international client and you want to make a big splash because you're breaking into the worldwide market.”

Dylan smiled, “As smart as she is beautiful.”

“Dylan, you won a Clio.”

“We have a saying in advertising. You're only as good as your next ad. We have a presentation next week and our team has nada. For the first time I'm going to have to ask for an extension.”

“Your whole team hasn't come up with anything?”

“We haven't come up with anything fresh and original.” Dylan looked at his watch. “Let's get out of here. I'll make you dinner at my place.”

Haley's heart kicked into overdrive as she stiffened and got off his lap. She didn't want to spend time with him. It was apparent from the way she moved quickly to the front of the desk and picked up her shoes.

Haley was either mad at him for the way he'd acted in the restaurant last night or she truly didn't want to have anything to do with him outside of the fantasies.

He found himself hoping she was mad.

He was worried about what Mrs. Westin had said in the restaurant. He knew they wouldn't approve of Haley, and his quick response had been to spare her their sneering looks. Besides, he didn't want Haley to be spooked by the word
girlfriend.
He didn't want her to disappear out of his life as quickly as she had reappeared. He just wasn't ready to let her go.