Always Will: A Bad Boy Romance (8 page)

I get home and pull into my garage, remembering my phone dinged with another text before I left Aidan’s. It’s from Ronan.

If your lack of sex tonight leaves you restless, call me. I’ll be happy to provide relief.

I roll my eyes. I’m sure he would.
Our agreement stipulates we don’t sleep together.

His reply comes as I walk in the door.
Consider it a freebie.

That’s very generous of you. /sarcasm

I’m a very generous man.

I set my phone down on the counter. I’d be lying to myself if I say I’m not tempted. But sleeping with Ronan would be an absolute disaster, no matter what he says about it being a “freebie.” There’s no such thing.

Good night, Ronan.

Good night, Selene. See you Monday.

10: Ronan

Scott leaves my office after a meeting with me and Janine, the HR Director. He’s a good kid, but I talked Sarah into coming up here for at least the next six months. She should arrive any time. Janine and I found another position for Scott, so I didn’t have to let him go. I think he was actually relieved—I’m not an easy guy to work for.

I swing my chair around to look at the view through the big windows while I return a few calls. The sky is clear, the sun glinting off the glass windows of the buildings across the street. I feel a familiar twitch: the desire to fly. It’s been too long since I’ve had a good hit of adrenaline. I’m starting to get edgy.

There’s a knock at my door, and I glance over my shoulder. Sarah stands in the doorway, dressed in a dark blue dress with a slim gold belt, a pair of sunglasses on her face. Her blond hair is pulled up and she has a black bag hanging from her shoulder.

“Great,” I say. “Email it to me, and we’ll talk more next week.” I hang up the phone, look at Sarah. “About time.”

She pulls the sunglasses off and makes a show of rolling her eyes at me as she takes a seat on the other side of the desk. “You’re giving me a raise.”

“Am I?”

“Yes,” she says, meeting my eyes. “Or I’m going back to San Francisco.”

I crack a small smile. I already had her raise processed through HR, but I like fucking with her. “Guess you better go back to the airport, because you’re nuts if you think I’m paying you more than I already do.”

She pulls her laptop out of her bag and sets it on my desk. “I’m nuts for working for you.”

“This is the best job you’ve ever had,” I say, leaning back in my seat.

“Right,” she says, with another eye roll. “You’re still giving me that raise.”

I look up at the knock on my half-open door, to find Selene looking in. Her hair is down, which is definitely my favorite look on her. She’s wearing a fitted white shirt with a wide collar and a pair of dark slacks that remind me of how long her legs are. Fuck, she’s spectacular.

“Sorry to bother you,” she says. “Do you have a second?”

“Absolutely,” I say. “Come on in. Sarah, this is Selene Taylor. Selene, Sarah Reynolds. Sarah works for me at Edge, and she’s transferring here.”

Selene smiles and shakes hands with Sarah. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Sarah says.

“Again, sorry for interrupting, but Marketing wants to move the meeting this afternoon to noon instead of three,” Selene says. “I want to be sure you can still make it before I respond.”

I look at Sarah.

“Don’t look at me,” she says. “I just got here and I don’t have your calendar synced yet.”

“Noon is fine,” I say. “Thanks.”

“Great, see you then,” Selene says and walks out the door, closing it behind her.

Sarah looks at me with her eyebrows raised.

“What?” I ask.

“What was that?”

“What was what?” I ask.

Sarah nods toward the door. “That. Is there something going on with her?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Sarah gives me her
I know you’re lying through your teeth
look. She’s worked for me for about four years, but we’ve been friends since college. I can’t get much past her. “I saw the way you looked at her. Please tell me you aren’t sleeping with an employee.”

“Not yet.”

“Ronan,” she says, her voice stern, “you realize that’s a terrible idea, right?”

I rest my hand on my chin. “No, it’s a risk. There’s a difference.”

“Ah,” she says. “I see what’s happening.”

“I don’t think you do.”

“No?” she asks. “Let me guess and you can tell me if I’m right.”

I arch an eyebrow at her. “Fine.”

“She turned you down, probably because she’s as smart as she is gorgeous and she knows sleeping with her boss has the potential to ruin her career,” Sarah says.

Ruin her career.
I do not like hearing that. I shift in my seat, but don’t say anything.

“Now, you see her as a challenge,” she continues. “She’s the next jump spot you need to conquer.”

Ordinarily, Sarah would be right. Most of the women I’ve dated have a similar story. They present a challenge in one way or another, and fuck if I don’t love the chase. It’s a rush.

I need the rush.

It would be easy to agree with Sarah, to say that I’m attracted to Selene because she’s hard to get and I want to be the man who gets past her defenses again. It wouldn’t be a lie. But it wouldn’t be the whole truth either, and I don’t think I want to try explaining it to Sarah.

I can’t explain it to myself.

“Not quite,” I say.

“What does that mean?” she asks.

“It means you don’t quite have it right,” I say.

She narrows her eyes at me. “What’s going on with you?”

“We’re done talking about this,” I say, and the casualness is gone from my tone. I’m not kidding. I pick up my phone to glance at the time. “We have some time before the marketing meeting. Your desk is right out there, if you want to get settled first, but I have some things I need to go over with you.”

“All right, back to business,” Sarah says. “I have some things to review from Edge, but there’s nothing that can’t wait. Where are we with the contract?”

“I’m close to setting up a meeting,” I say. “But I need to get the team here on board first.”

“You haven’t told them?” Sarah asks.

“Not yet,” I say. “Everyone here is still reeling from the sale. That jackass Brad didn’t give them any warning, so they had no idea it was coming. I need to gain their trust before I spring this on them. It represents a pretty big change in direction.”

“It does, but at the end of the day, we all need to do our jobs,” she says.

“True,” I say. “But I could also lose half the dev team and then we’d be fucked.”

“You need an ally,” Sarah says. “Someone who holds a lot of sway here who can champion this for you.”

My mouth turns up in a smile. “I know the perfect person.”

Sarah crosses her arms. “Let me guess? The smoking hot brunette you were thinking about shagging on this desk?”

“How do you know I was thinking about shagging her on my desk?”

“Because I know you,” she says. “Are you sure she’s the right choice, or are you just looking for an excuse to spend time with her?”

“Both.”

“At least you’re honest,” Sarah says. “Just make sure you’re thinking with your head, and not your dick.”

“Classy.”

“It’s why you love working with me.”

“This is still strictly confidential,” I say. “I want to have a few more things solidified before I bring anyone else in on this, even Selene.”

“That’s fine,” she says and starts gathering up her things. “Just keep me posted. If we’re done here, I have a desk to set up and an apartment to find. I don’t want to live in a hotel forever.”

“Fair enough. Marketing meeting is in the conference room at noon.”

She stands and shoulders her bag. “Sounds good.” She pauses at the door and looks back at me over her shoulder. “Put my raise through, or I swear to God, I’ll quit.”

“Don’t threaten me,” I say. “And your raise already went through.”

She gives me a satisfied smile and closes the door behind her.

11: Selene

I get into the office early and set my coffee down on my desk. I like the quiet before everyone else starts to arrive. Things are starting to settle down since the disruption that is Ronan. Despite the fact that he’s a more active owner than Brad was, I still have a never-ending list of things to do. I boot up my laptop and answer a few emails while I sip my coffee.

There’s a report from the sales team, and as I scan the numbers I realize there are a few discrepancies. I should go over this with Ronan. I glance at the time. It’s not quite eight, but he’s usually in the office early. I decide to pop in and see if he’s here.

Sarah isn’t at her desk yet, so I go straight to his office. His door is open a crack, and I push it open wider.

“Ronan?”

He’s standing next to his desk, his hair wet, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. He puts his phone down and smiles at me.

“Oh, shit,” I say. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” he says. “Come on in.”

“I can come back later.” I try to stop myself from staring. Holy hell, he’s gorgeous. His broad chest is still a little wet, and his rippling abs glisten. Why does his body have to be so perfect? He turns toward me, and I almost choke. I don’t remember that tattoo on his chest, but fuck it’s hot.

One corner of his mouth turns up. “Sorry, I went for a run and decided to shower here.”

“Really, I’ll come back.” Why aren’t my legs moving? My hand feels like it’s glued to the doorknob and I can’t turn around.

“Should I get dressed, or close the blinds?” he asks.

I should not be thinking about the fact that we’re probably alone, because the office is essentially empty, and if he did close the blinds… That’s a very good reason for me to turn my ass around and come back when I’m sure he’s dressed.

But god, he looks good.

“Clothes,” I manage to say. I need to get myself together so he doesn’t see how flustered I am.

Though it’s probably too late for that.

His dimple puckers with his smile. “I’ll be right back.”

He goes into the bathroom, but leaves the door open a crack. Of course he doesn’t shut the door all the way. As if I’d be tempted to peek while he’s getting his clothes on.

Fine, I’m tempted.

To keep my eyes away from the bathroom door, I look at the photos on the wall. There are several of him skydiving, taken from various angles—some in the air, and one just as he’s landing. Another shows him rock climbing. He’s clinging to a smooth face of red rock, shirtless, his muscles taut.

Looking at his pictures isn’t really helping.

He comes out of the bathroom, mostly dressed. He’s wearing dark gray slacks, but his shirt is open and his hair is still damp. Why does he have to be so fucking sexy? I want to grab him by the waist of those slacks and run my tongue down his abs.

“Is this better?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.

I blink, making sure to focus on his face. “Mostly.”

He smiles. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s such a showoff, but god, he does it so well. This should not be working for me, but I’m getting hotter by the second.

“Do you need something, or did you just miss me?” he asks as he starts buttoning his shirt.

“No, I was wondering if you saw the email with the sales reports.” I resist the urge to fan myself. I’m a little warm. “It looks like there are some discrepancies and I thought we should go over the numbers.”

“How about over dinner?”

“Ronan.”

“It’s well within the rules,” Ronan says.

“Colleagues sharing a meal?”

“Precisely.”

“How about now?” I ask.

“Actually, I have a phone conference in about ten minutes,” he says. “And I have meetings all day. I don’t think I’m free until at least five thirty. We can order in, or go out. Up to you.”

I sigh, but he just gives me one of his infuriating smiles.

“Just order in.”

“Great,” he says. “I’ll see you tonight. Unless you’d like to stay and help me with the rest of these buttons?”

“Goodbye, Ronan.” I spin around and head out the door before I lose all reason and take him up on that offer.

***

Kylie texts me shortly after my dinner meeting with Ronan, asking if I want to meet her and Brax at Brody’s for drinks. I have just enough time to go home and change. I throw on a light gray t-shirt with a cute little martini glass on it, and a pair of jeans. Brody’s is walking distance from my house, and it’s a mild night, so I grab a light jacket and head out.

I find them at a table near the back.

“Hey, you guys, sorry I’m late,” I say as I slide into the booth across from them. “Work has been crazy.”

Kylie pushes a full shot glass toward me. “You need to catch up.”

I laugh. “How many have you guys had?”

“Two for me, three for Brax,” she says.

“Just two?” I say.

“I’m half his size,” Kylie says.

I toss back the shot. It burns something fierce and I can’t help but wince. “What the fuck was that?”

Braxton laughs. “It’s called
kick in the balls
. Lives up to its name, doesn’t it?”

“I’ll say.” I take a sip of ice water to wash it down.

“So what’s up with you?” Kylie asks.

“Work is busy,” I say. “My attempt at dating a so-called nice guy was a spectacular failure. So, yeah, basically the usual.”

Kylie makes a face. “I sort of feel responsible for that.”

“Don’t,” I say. “You couldn’t have known how weird he was. I should have trusted my instincts earlier.”

“So, speaking of dates…” Kylie says.

A waitress comes by with a basket of homemade potato chips. I pop one in my mouth.

“What?”

“Don’t say no until you hear me out,” she says. “I had a meeting with one of my design clients, and he is seriously the nicest guy.”

“No,” I say.

“You haven’t heard me out,” Kylie says. “He’s tall, good-looking, and he’s one of the owners. I’ve met with him a few times, and he’s so chill. I think you’d really like him. Look, I found his Facebook profile.”