Recipe for Attraction (7 page)

He pushed her against it, caging her there with his hips. He placed his palms on the rough bark on either side of her and kissed her, hard, devouring her mouth with all the pent up anger and frustration he’d been holding in.

Her hands slipped between them and she grabbed on to his length, rubbing him over his jeans.

He pulled back and thrust his hips out to keep her against the tree then lowered his fly.

“Condom.”

He handed it over and she ripped it open while he pulled his erection out of his pants.

He let her slip it over his engorged flesh and when it was in place, he grabbed her ass one more time and lifted. Her hand gripped around him and she stroked once, then twice, guiding him to her opening.

His cock nudged her and with one smooth thrust he was seated to the hilt.

Carson let her head fall back and her hands roamed over her body, grabbing her breasts and squeezing through her shirt.

This position couldn’t be comfortable for her, but Carson moaned with every stroke. She was so tight and smooth.

Her hands slid up to his shoulders and she gripped his face pulling him in for a kiss.

“Faster,” she whispered. “Do it.”

Neil granted her wish and thrust with greater force.

“Yes. That’s…” She whimpered and the next thing he knew she was shaking in his arms. She had come again. And now it was his turn.

He leaned back and thrust, exhaling hard with every up-stroke. He pounded her harder and faster into the tree and finally he came with a hard groan.

After, he enveloped her in his arms and pulled her away from the tree. He carried her back to the bike and settled her on the seat.

Their eyes met and Neil smiled. What was it about this woman that touched every nerve, good and bad?

But he knew just as well as she did that they were no good together. Sex wasn’t the only thing that kept a relationship going. And he was the last person in the world that wanted to be tied down.

He would treat this as it was—a mutually agreed upon arrangement where they both had the opportunity to let off some steam.

After straightening their clothes, they returned to the gym and picked up Neil’s bike. She left him with a smile and a quiet “see you tomorrow.”

It had been a great day. The best day he’d had in a long time.

But as soon as the sound of her engine fell away into the distance, everything went silent and his demons came back with a vengeance.

He only hoped he could survive the night without Carson to keep him in check.

Chapter Five

Carson fiddled with the pencil she had stuck behind her ear. Her stomach churned with nervousness. She did her best not to stare at Martin, who sat at the bar, his face immersed in some sort of magazine. Must be nice to be able to read a magazine for pleasure. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done anything for pleasure. With the exception of last night when she let Neil feel her up on her bike. Or when she’d sucked him off in the walk-in fridge. And the night before when they’d fucked on a table.

Right, besides all those times, she hadn’t had any fun in way too long.

But last night Neil tried to dig deeper into her past. Questioning her about her involvement in racing. That was something he didn’t need to know. That part of her life was over but the shame still haunted her. It still made an appearance every time her father questioned her designs, her work ethic, her lifestyle.

She remembered that night, when she came clean about her extracurricular activities. Mike had just died, her life had been ripped apart again, and she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t stand the heartache. The disappointed look on her father’s face broke her heart and she would be damned if she would give Neil the opportunity to look at her with that same disappointment.

The building inspector toured the facility jotting down his last minute recommendations. She had completely forgotten about the inspector’s appearance this morning, her mind on other, sexier things. And of course Martin had shown up at the exact same time as the inspector.

And where the fuck was Neil Harrison?

In the year that she had been dealing with the man he never missed a meeting. He never missed a phone call. Because of this track record, she was starting to think that something might be terribly wrong.

She pulled out her BlackBerry and checked her messages one more time. Still nothing.

“Quite rude of Mr. Harrison to miss a meeting.” Martin sidled up to her in the front foyer of the restaurant. “Is there something going on that I should know about?”

“Maybe there was some kind of emergency. He would be here otherwise.”

He inched closer, a little too close for her liking. “I would say that maybe you didn’t tell him about the meeting except…” His hand reached up and brushed a stray piece of hair away from her neck. The light touch of his skin to hers made her nauseous.

With his flawless blond hair and average frame, Martin was the complete opposite of Neil’s commanding physique.

Even the fact that she once contemplated allowing him to touch her in a more intimate manner almost made her violently ill. To this day, Martin still had the wool pulled over her father’s eyes and, despite her repeated brush-offs, still imagined that one day he’d be a legitimate member of the family. “Dad did tell him I’d be here.”

Dad? She hated when he called her father Dad. Didn’t he have his own blood-sucking, slave-driving, know-it-all asshole parent who didn’t respect him? She stepped away and whirled around to face him.

“How dare you accuse me of sabotaging a meeting. You know Martin, I—”

“Ms. Kelly.” The inspector approached them from behind. “Everything looks great. Once again your inspection is spotless.”

She heard Martin scoff under his breath.

“Thank you Mr. Banks. It was a pleasure seeing you again. And I apologize on behalf of Mr. Harrison. There was an emergency and he wasn’t able to make it this time.”

“That’s all right. I will send over the finalized documents and the certificate of occupancy. This place is ready to open for business.”

She always had good luck when it came to Carl Banks. There were a few inspectors on the city payroll that liked to stir up trouble just because they could. But not Carl. He came in, did his job and walked out. She appreciated that.

“Mr. Harrison will be happy to hear the good news.”

Carl walked away leaving Carson to deal with an even bigger problem—her father’s spy.

“Your father will be very disappointed to hear that Mr. Harrison ditched this meeting. He was hoping to get some insider information on the job you’ve been doing.”

“All he has to do is ask. And you can tell him that I don’t appreciate his lack of confidence. This job has been done right, and done well.”

Martin gave her an amused look. “All this tension and competition. You know it doesn’t have to be like that.” He meant they could get married and he could steal her family’s money. “We can work together.”

She laughed. “You mean you can steal the company out from under me.”

“We’d make a good team you and I.” He sidled closer. “In the boardroom and the bedroom.”

She had resisted his advances far too long to fall for his niceties now.

“Look around. This restaurant is the best work I’ve ever done. It’s modern, it’s functional and most importantly, it’s exactly what the client wanted.”

Martin had no retaliation. No quick comeback.

“And when this place grabs the media attention like I know it will, Kelly Designs will be named in every prominent architecture magazine and blog on the continent. So he can thank me later for knocking this one out of the park.”

One point to Carson. Where were those words when she was talking to her father? Where was the confidence and determination to prove her point when Carson Kelly II was shoving his opinions down her throat?

“And just how close did you have to get to Mr. Harrison in order to…” He coughed. “Give him exactly what he wanted?”

She hoped her face didn’t give her away because inside she cringed. There was no concrete evidence that Carson and Neil had hooked up. He was fishing for anything he could use against her. But he wasn’t going to get it.

“Yes, I have gotten to know Mr. Harrison on a personal level over the last year but—”

“Does he know you’re a murderer?”

Carson recoiled at Martin’s accusation. How dare he throw this in her face simply because he’d lost their argument. “I am not…” She lowered her voice, “a murderer.”

“So someone didn’t die while you were in charge of their safety?” She wanted to jab that smug look right off his face. She knew she could take him. She would give anything to challenge him in the ring.

“It was an accident.” And she wasn’t in charge of their safety technically. Everyone knew when they made the decision to race they were putting their lives on the line. It’s not like she threw a stick in his wheel and caused him to wreck. She had no choice but to watch—as if in slow motion—her friend crash and burn in front of her eyes. “And that part of my life is off limits, and none of his—or your—business.”

“So, he doesn’t know.” Martin circled around her, tapping his finger against his chin. “I wonder what he would think of his precious architect if he knew you were a criminal?”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

She was never charged. She wasn’t a criminal or a street thug—despite her guilt over Mike’s death making her feel like one. She was an architect. Her past was nobody’s damn business and for the sake of her career, this wasn’t something she wanted broadcast to the world.

“I already know all about your past, Carson. I accept you for who you are.”

Like hell he did. He knew nothing about her. Absolutely nothing and never would. All he knew were her fathers’ perceptions, and those were so inherently incorrect that it scared her just how many people knew only her fathers’ side of the story.

Martin picked up his briefcase from the chair at the bar. “Think about my offer. We’d be unstoppable. Business partners during the day. Lovers at night.” His lip curved up in a disgusting smirk. “It’s the best you’re going to get given your history.” He walked away, a little too confident for her liking.

“It’s never going to happen,” she yelled out. But he didn’t even turn around.

She had gotten in a few zingers, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the fact that Martin had just destroyed her. He knew her secret. And that meant he held all the power.

But if spending time with Neil had taught her anything, it was to go for what you wanted without second-guessing.

And if he ever showed up she’d thank him for teaching her a lesson despite not even being aware. He had a lot of kissing up to do once he surfaced.
And just exactly what kind of kissing would you like him to do? And where?

Maybe he was ignoring her for a reason. Maybe he had gotten everything he wanted from her and he was bored. Moving on to the next female stupid enough to agree to be his sex slave.

Not that she was a slave, but pretty close to it. She’d given it to him when he wanted, how he wanted, and where he wanted. And it had been fantastic. Each time better than the time before. But she knew the need to race still lingered in his mind. She could see it every time she looked in his eyes. It frightened her. Not only because she worried for the time when she wouldn’t be around to keep Neil off his bike and safe from harm, but it she couldn’t let her own life get out of control. She had worked too hard, sacrificed too much. Lost too many people. And suddenly that bad feeling she’d had earlier turned into something ominous. Neil was missing in action, and there could only be one reason for his disappearance.

She checked her phone again. Still no messages.

She called him first, but it went directly to voice mail. Scrolling through her directory, she found Cole’s number. Again, she got voicemail. She called Finn and Jack, all four numbers giving her nothing but the option to leave a message.

There was only one thing left to do. She grabbed her keys from the table and raced out the front door of the restaurant. She hopped in her pick-up and drove.

She knew where he spent the other half of his work life. He couldn’t escape her if she showed up at his brother Cole’s restaurant, Bistro. And there would be no chance to ignore her.

…

The clang of the metal doors made Neil’s skin crawl. The grey concrete, the smell of urine, and the sweat from the two other men in his cell weighed heavy on his stomach. The stale stench of alcohol that seeped out of their pores wafted to Neil’s corner.

He’d never been arrested before. But he’d done it now, gotten himself thrown in jail.

He’d been speeding. Well above the limit. So far above the limit that he had his license suspended on the spot, his bike impounded and for good measure, his lippy mouth had gotten him thrown in jail for the night. So, for the next seven days he was in need of a chauffeur.

He sat on a steel bench, his elbows resting on his knees, his head between his legs. He had no idea how he got here. Had his life spun so out of control? He hadn’t felt this alone—this lost—since he was fifteen and stared at the beige walls of his single room in an independent living complex. He had been placed there when his caseworker finally realized he just wasn’t going to mesh with any type of foster family. And he didn’t want to. Until three months later when he met Vivian.

Despite being skeptical, something told him she was genuine. And so she rescued him from that single room and welcomed him into her home.

The funniest part of this brush with the law was the fact that twenty minutes before he had been pulled over, he was happy, at peace. And it was all because of Carson. She had managed to take him away from the anxiousness that took up so much of his time. Then as soon as she left he’d decided he was going to have a little fun. He’d refrained from visiting Diaz. He had promised her, and he was a man of his word. That’s when he decided that a little race with himself wouldn’t harm anyone.

He was so wrong.

The guy in the holding cell next to him coughed, nowhere near considered a dry cough, and the sound of someone else peeing behind make him want to hurl.

“Harrison?” The tall, lanky officer slid the cell door open. “You’re free to go.”

Thank Christ. He’d called Jack as soon as he could. As soon as the officer had allowed him his one phone call. What felt like an eternity later, Jack had come to rescue him. He knew he could count on his brother. And he knew, out of all three of his brothers, Jack would have the least amount of questions.

Neil rushed the opening, not looking back, practically running toward his freedom. He picked up his belongings and was ushered out into a large foyer.

“King!”

Neil tensed. He hated that nickname. As the first to be given real responsibility with the Madewood empire, he might have flexed his muscles a little too hard trying to impress. So for the last ten years, courtesy of his smartass brother Jack, he was stuck with the name and it always made him feel like such a dick.

Unfortunately, this time, it wasn’t Jack’s voice who yelled it. He hadn’t come alone.

Jack stood off to the right, a slight smile on his smug face. On either side of him, his brothers Cole and Finn stood, equally as self-satisfied.

Neil grumbled at Jack. “I thought you would keep this discreet?”

“Hell no.” Jack stepped forward, pushing up the sleeves of his button-up shirt, exposing his inked forearms. “I think the three of us deserve to see you at your worst at least once in our lives.”

Cole crossed his arms low against his stomach. His brown hair was still wet from his shower that morning and stuck to his forehead. “I always thought we’d be bailing Jack out of jail.”

“I would have to agree.” Finn sidled closer and wrapped his arm around Neil’s shoulder. “Oh…” He breathed deeply, his blond hair scratching against his neck. “You smell like—”

“Hypocrisy.” Jack grinned. “Don’t you smell that?”

He needed a shower. He needed clean clothes. What he didn’t need was the mocking tone of his little brother.

“Do we have to make a production out of this?”

“Oh, yes, I think we do.” Cole lifted his phone. “Smile pretty, boys.” Jack and Finn leaned closer before Neil had a chance to react, the flash of the camera was blinding.