Authors: Audrey Carlan
“What type of
cookie
is this?” I asked Jane. She smiled, knowing I was making the effort to use her term.
“Very good.” She smiled sweetly. “These are shortbread Girl Scout cookies. I figured they’d go well with the tea.”
I took a bite and smiled, letting the dark tones of the Earl Gray flutter over my taste buds. “It does. Very well, thank you. Might I chat privately with you about a personal matter, Jane?”
She sat down abruptly. Her pristine gray suit was a bit big on her lengthy frame, but she’s not the type to worry about looking attractive over smart. Jane is by far one of my most trusted employees at Stone, Walker, & Associates. She’s been with me the entire five years since we opened in the states. If you looked up the word smart in the dictionary, it would have a picture of Jane.
“You recall that dinner you set up?”
“For you and Ms. Kelley? That would be London Kelley, sister to client Aspen Bright-Reynolds of Air Bright Enterprises.”
“Bloody hell. That’s fantastic! How did you know all that?”
Her pink lips tipped into a soft smile. Jane’s face was plain but not unattractive. She’d be quite a fine bird if she smiled more often. The sweep of thick hair was pulled back in an ever present bun. I don’t think during her entire sojourn here I’ve ever seen her hair down. There has to be a lot of it. Made me wonder what she looked like in a casual setting.
“Mr. Stone.”
I rolled my eyes. I’d asked her to call me Collier for five years and to this day, she still refused.
“When my boss suddenly asks me to make reservations for a date, something he has never asked me to do, I make a point to glean as much information as possible. Would you like to know more?”
More about London Kelley? Hell yes! I wanted to scream. Instead I played it cool. “By all means, share.”
“London Abigail Bright-Reynolds was born on February fourteenth and will turn twenty-seven next year.”
“Wow. And her birthday is Valentine’s Day? Fits the woman.” Completely afraid of love. How ironic.
Jane smiles and continues. “She married James Kelley at the ripe age of eighteen and was married for four years before being widowed.”
Jane knew her stuff.
“Ms. Kelley lives with one Tripp Devereaux but the only information I could find about him was that he’s worked in modeling for AIR Bright Enterprises and has spent the last few years working in restaurants. He currently works in that overly priced French restaurant next to Armani on Fifth called Magnifique’.”
She’s about to continue when I cut her off. “That’s all. I prefer to find out the rest the old-fashioned way. But London is the reason I wanted to chat with you. Was hoping you could help me again. I want to take Ms. Kelley on another date. Something a bit more casual. What do Yanks find entertaining?”
“You act like we’re the foreigners. We’re not that different from you British folks. Have you considered something like dinner and a movie?”
I jumped up and pulled on Jane’s hands. Her eyes widened with concern as I yanked her into a full-bodied hug. “Smashing, Jane! You’re brilliant!” I hugged her tight but she kept her arms at her sides, clearly uncomfortable. I didn’t care. My most beloved personal assistant was the bees’ knees and I wanted to show it. Quickly before she could escape, I kissed one side of her face, then the other and let her go. A beautiful pink blush rose on her cheeks as she smiled shyly.
“I’m glad I could be of service. A bit more tea, Mr. Stone?”
“Another would be lovely. Thank you.”
As Jane left I pulled up Google to find out what shows were playing on the big screen. As I searched, my phone pinged. Finally!
To: Collier Stone
From: London Kelley
Fighting with a boutique on a piece of furniture they are trying to overcharge me for. What are you doing?
To: London Kelley
From: Collier Stone
Planning our date.
To: Collier Stone
From: London Kelley
Really. Give me a hint?
To: London Kelley
From: Collier Stone
Nope. Mums the word. May I be so forward as to suggest you pack a bag for the evening?
Nerves scuttled up my spine and a fine sheen of sweat broke across my forehead as I waited her reply. Suddenly it was very hot in here. Stifling really. I undid the noose they call a tie and a couple of the buttons on my dress shirt. Would she find me too bold? Was asking her to stay the night inappropriate? Shite. I’d have to get rid of Emma.
I pressed the button for Emma’s desk. She answered on the first ring. “Hello, brother mine.”
“Hey Em, can you plan to stay at Nathaniel’s this weekend?”
“Hmmm depends…“ she responded coyly.
“On what?” Fury laced my tone.
“Who’s coming over? Is it the hot woman you manhandled at Nate’s party?”
“Yes. I mean. I didn’t manhandle her.” I sighed. “Can you please stay with him? I want some time alone with London.”
After a beat, she replied. “You really like her.”
I took a deep breath and laid it out there. “I do, Em. More than I want to.”
“I’ll make myself scarce this weekend. Love you. Bye.”
My phone pinged again.
To: Collier Stone
From: London Kelley
I like forward. Bag will be packed. Where are you taking me?
To: London Kelley
From: Collier Stone
Nowhere you’d expect. And we will be staying at my place. My sister will be at Nathaniel’s.
To: Collier Stone
From: London Kelley
Hmmm I’ll bet I can get it out of you. That’s nice of your sister to give you space. I’d jump you with your sister there or not.
Chriminy! Talk about forward. London takes the term to a whole new place--one that quickly worked its magic down south. My willy was hard as steel at the thought of shagging her while my sister slept in the other room. Almost sounded indecent even though we were grown adults.
To: London Kelley
From: Collier Stone
Christ woman. Keep that up and I’ll be taking you in the car when I pick you up.
There. Now I’ve played her game, settling the score. Too quickly my cell phone pinged again. The woman was wicked fast with her texts.
To: Collier Stone
From: London Kelley
Promises, promises.
That was it. She was the perfect woman. No one in the world could take me from zero to a hundred on the lust-o-meter in the middle of the blessed day while at work. My cock was painfully hard just thinking about taking her in the car. And the bed.
Somehow I had to make good on this date. London was quickly becoming an obsession. Thoughts of her filled every recess of my mind at work, at home, in the shower, eating dinner, sitting in front of the TV, poring over legal documents. If I didn’t get her to commit to being mine for whatever length of time this was between us, I’d never be rid of the righteous need to have her constantly. As it stood, I was on the sheer edge of jumping in my Porsche, finding her and taking her on the steps of wherever she was. Public be damned.
Just focus on this weekend. A few more days and she’d be by my side, all around me. I couldn’t wait. I decided one last text was in order.
To: London Kelley
From: Collier Stone
I always keep my promises, Beauty. Always. Friday night. 6:00 p.m.
Chapter - 12
Tonight was the night. I’d spent all week staying exceptionally busy. It had been easy. Tripp was clingy and Dylan was barely speaking to me. Even though I’d made it clear to my client that our personal relationship wasn’t happening under the sheets anymore, he had taken offense.
We had the discussion last week about not having a physical relationship and he didn’t understand. He felt as if he’d done something wrong. I could have told him that I’d met someone else and that someone else didn’t take too kindly to sharing, but frankly it wasn’t his business.
And telling him would kill all the progress Dylan had made in learning to let loose, and be freer with his feelings. I’d simply told him I was no longer interested in a physical relationship and would not have sex with him. He spent a full week ignoring me, making it incredibly uncomfortable to share a living space. Several times, I thought about just staying home. Unfortunately Tripp’s clingy behavior put a kibosh on that. He needed time to work through his own issues about my…whatever this was…with Collier.
“Check this out!” I laid a flyer for a new club opening up in front of Dylan.
“Looks fun. Do you want to go?” Dylan eyes shone with a new happiness. I hadn’t seen it in the better part of two weeks.
I shook my head. “Nope. This is the part about changing your life. You need to call some buddies, take these tickets--” I laid four VIP passes next to the flyer. “--dress up. I’ll pick what you wear. And go to this club. Your next task is to troll for women…alone. Without me. I’ll be leaving for the weekend. When I come back, I want to see at least a handful of phone numbers of the women you picked up.”
“London, I don’t know. I feel a little better about hitting on a woman, but several? I’m not sure I can.” He shrugged and wiped a hand over his face.
Rolling my eyes, I plopped into the kitchen chair next to him and placed my hand over his. “Dylan, you are a good-looking guy. You’re nice. You’re secure financially. And you respect women. There’s no reason you can’t go to a club and pick up several women. Start building your own list of hotties, if you will. The goal is to change your life, not just your home. You can do this. I believe in you.”
Dylan picked up the tickets and spread them out like a wad of cash. “You think so, eh?”
“I do. It’s what you need. What friends can you invite?”
“My brother and maybe one other guy would be interested. I’ve spent the better part of the last few years building my career and working my ass off, not keeping in touch with old friends or making new ones.” He seemed a bit sad to admit his lack of friends. That needed to change.
“That’s why it’s time for a change. You need to enjoy everything you’ve put into your life so far. Part of that is being young. Partying a little, hanging out with other guys, having hot no-strings sex with several women. Maybe along the line you’ll find one you want to spend more time on. Let go a little. This is your last weekend before the renovation. Have you booked your hotel?”
“Nah. I’ll stay with my brother and his girlfriend. He thinks we need more time to get to know each other as adults.”
I smacked his bicep. “Exactly! He’s right. But don’t let him bring his girlfriend out. She’ll deter other women. He can be your wing man.” Then a great idea hit me hard. It was perfect. A win-win if I did say so myself. I would help my client and my best friend. “Hold up, I need to make a call.”
Dylan handed me the house phone and I dialed home. Tripp answered after a couple rings.
“Hey Bridge. What’s cookin’, hot stuff?”
God, I loved him. “I need a favor.”
“Anything for you.”
My smile must have been infectious. Dylan watched me intently, a big smile of his own plastered across his scruffy face. “This Friday, I need you to meet up with my client Dylan and check out that new club, Roxy’s.”
“Roxy’s?” Tripp paused. “That’s right. You did the redesign of that for Roxanne Thibodaux when she took over that building.”
“Yup, and it’s incredible inside. But what I need is help from you with Dylan. He needs to learn the art of picking up women…lots of women. Can you do that?” I grinned and winked at Dylan.
His face had turned red and he scratched the back of his neck nervously.
“Does Oprah have more money than God?” Tripp snorted into the line.
“Excellent. I’ll owe you one. Hey, we’re meeting up for lunch with Pen and Oliver right?”
“Yeah, Oliver texted that we’re set for one at The Place. We need to go over some wedding shit. We leave in two weeks, which means you’re going to have to do the renovation in a little over a week, then have the reveal on Friday. We fly out Saturday with your family.”
“Okay, yeah. We’ll talk later. See you at lunch.”
My shoulders slumped. Being pulled in so many directions was exhausting. Aspen’s wedding was less than three weeks away. I needed Dylan out of his funk and back on schedule, which Tripp would help with, thankfully.
Tripp was a ladies’ man. Yes, he batted for both teams, but the ladies literally fell at the man’s feet. He had an air of confidence that attracted both sexes. If anyone could help Dylan with the art of picking up a lady, it was Tripp. It would also help him get past his own insecurities over Collier.
The next issue was the reveal. Usually I didn’t plan with such a tight window of time, but the wedding deadline had me pushing the limits with my contractors.
Actually that gave me an idea. I wondered if Hank’s company could spare a couple men for the project? That would help ensure my deadlines.
I pulled Hank’s company’s number on my cell phone.
“Jensen Construction, Cami speaking,” a small sweet voice spoke through the receiver.
Cami? Who the hell was that? “I’m sorry. I was expecting Rosie?”
“Yes, Rosie’s still here. She’s the office administrator. I’m the new receptionist. Just started today actually,” the woman’s voice held a twinge of nervousness.
“This is London Kelley. I need to speak with Hank. Can you put him on?”
“Actually, he’s busy at the moment. Is there something I can help you with?”
I wanted to come back with a smart retort that there was
not
anything she could help me with, but something in what she didn’t say gave me pause.
“I’m his soon to be sister-in-law. Whatever he’s doing, he’ll take my call.”
“I’m sorry Ms. Kelley. Hank is in his office with his fiancée and said not to bother him no matter what.” She was clearly concerned that I was about to be angry. I was for a moment. If Aspen is there, I know exactly what they’re doing. Those two can’t keep their hands off one another.