Authors: Beverly Havlir
The enclosed space suddenly seemed smaller. Pulling in a
deep breath, Taylor unconsciously braced herself. Cooper stared at her, his
face expressionless, unreadable.
The bell dinged as the elevator began to move.
It’s nerves, that’s all.
Talking to Cooper Hathaway,
requesting an interview with him was nerve-wracking as hell. Those gray eyes
bored into her like lasers, enigmatic and brooding. His arms were crossed, the
custom-made suit molding to the muscular shoulders. The man looked sinfully
delicious, eminently sexy. Just plain yummy. Too bad he was as cold as ice. If
his very active dating life wasn’t always plastered in magazines and society
pages, she’d be more apt to believe that his attitude scared women away. But
then again, it had been proven time and time again that women tended to
gravitate to enigmatic, brooding, elusive men. Cooper was definitely one of
those.
Taylor flicked a glance at the flashing numbers. Why the
hell was the elevator moving super slow? Bracing her hands on the railing
behind her, she quietly pulled in a breath and sought to relax. It was hard not
to fidget under his gaze. The man unnerved her, plain and simple. He made her
uncomfortable, self-conscious and hyper-aware of him. Of the way he looked, the
way his gaze met hers directly, the way he stared at her. Again she felt that
quick spurt of excitement that sizzled through her whenever she was within ten
feet of him. The same physical reaction she had when she’d seen him for the
first time in person that fateful day last year. She’d felt it even during the
“tirade” she launched into in his office after he had taken over Hathaway
Publishing and she’d thought he was going to shut down
The Girl Next Door
.
She gave him a persuasive smile. “I’m afraid I’m not
interested in the press packet the PR department brings out every time you’re
asked for an interview.”
“Surely you have better things to write about than me.”
She almost rolled her eyes. Cooper Hathaway was notorious
for shunning the press, famously refusing to grant any interviews.
“Oh I don’t know about that. You were recently named
businessman of the year, and most eligible bachelor by a popular magazine. I
think our female readers will find you very interesting.”
Again she felt that sharp tug of attraction pull at her
senses. Taylor sucked in a deep breath, seeking that elusive scent that teased
her nostrils when she’d stood a couple of feet away from him. Even the way he
smelled drew her, hitting her dead center. It was the clean scent of soap and
man, not the cloying smell of cologne.
Okay, this is not good.
Cooper’s effect on her was
disturbing. She knew she was playing with fire asking him for an interview, but
she just couldn’t pass this up. With Emily busy with her upcoming wedding, they
had both agreed that Taylor would do the article. Now she wasn’t sure that it
was a good idea. Of course Emily had no idea that Cooper was the star of
Taylor’s fantasies. In the dark of night, alone in her bedroom, it was Cooper
she thought of as she pleasured herself—a secret that was all her own.
It’s just physical
, she assured herself silently. The
man was sexy without trying. Even the air of brooding quality that surrounded
him didn’t detract from his attractiveness.
The elevator came to a smooth halt and the doors opened
soundlessly. He waited for her to precede him. Telling herself to calm down,
Taylor took a moment before she stepped off the elevator. This man had the
power to fluster her, to muddle her thoughts, to make her come across as
brainless. The walk down the hallway to his office was mercifully short. Cooper
murmured a greeting to his secretary before he opened the double doors and
motioned for her to precede him.
She stepped into his office. Taylor had never been inside
his domain, not since he moved the publishing company to Boston. It was huge,
with a breathtaking view of the city through a bank of panoramic windows. She
was a bit surprised to see a traditional, dark mahogany desk. She’d pegged him
to be more of a contemporary type, with a glass-topped desk and chrome
furniture. His office had dark paneling, with deep leather chairs and plush
carpeting. It was a man’s office. No frills. Just function.
She smiled and murmured her thanks when he indicated one of
the chairs. “I think it would be a real coup for the e-zine to do a feature on
you,” she said as she sat down.
To her surprise, instead of going behind the desk he propped
a hip on the corner of his desk and crossed his ankles. Way too close for her
peace of mind. “I’m very private by nature.”
She refused to be cowed by his proximity or by the curt
answer, issued in a you-better-drop-this tone. To hide her nervousness, she
took a moment to cross her legs. “That’s hardly a secret.”
He flicked a glance at her leg briefly. “I don’t do
interviews,” he repeated.
“It will be tasteful. I respect your privacy. The public
would love to read about you, and we won’t delve into anything too personal.”
He remained silent.
Taylor bit back a sigh. The man was like an immovable rock,
revealing nothing of his thoughts behind the enigmatic expression. She met his
gaze head on. Again she wondered what it was about him that drew her so
strongly? Cooper wasn’t handsome in the conventional sense of the word. His
face was all hard, rugged angles. There was nothing soft about him. But the
features put together were striking, and his unapproachable air just magnified
his attractiveness. She was on fire for this man. Like she’d sniffed his
pheromones and had the strongest urge to mate with him and only him. He was why
her dating life was a joke.
She mustered her most persuasive grin. “Our readers would
totally love it.”
Cooper gave a slight grimace. “That most eligible bachelor
crap is irritating as hell.”
Privately Taylor thought he didn’t need any more help in the
adoring women department. She’d seen enough pictures in magazines and even
tabloids to know that he’d had more than his fair share of beautiful, glamorous
girlfriends. None of them seemed to last long, which gave her a measure of
satisfaction. He was unattached.
Forcibly pushing her wayward thoughts to the side, she
inclined her head. “All the more reason to let me do a feature. Let’s give the
public a glimpse of the real you.”
He trained those amazing gray eyes on her face. Her cheeks
heated up, and she was quite sure she was turning red as a cherry. A sudden,
sharp tingle of awareness shot straight to her pussy. Under her bra, her
nipples tingled with delicious anticipation.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. Her lips warmed, and she had
the strongest urge to lick them. It couldn’t have been more than a couple of
seconds, but it was enough to send her senses into overdrive.
His eyes finally came up to meet hers once more. “What do
you want to know about me?”
A hot flush crept up her neck. The way he said it made it
seem intimate. Like she alone wanted to get to know him. Their eyes met, and
for a moment, Taylor thought she spotted desire in the gray depths. But it was
gone quickly.
“People are curious about you. Refusing to give any interviews
only stokes their curiosity, you know.” It was a miracle that her voice came
out even and not breathless,
“I abhor publicity of any kind. I’ve had enough of that
lately.”
He was, of course, referring to the blockbuster legal
wrangling currently in process with his father’s second wife, Bettina Hathaway,
who was challenging Cooper’s takeover of Hathaway Publishing. It was brewing to
be a protracted and particularly nasty fight, with Bettina all over the press
while Cooper preferred to let his legal team handle the matter.
“An information piece about you can’t hurt,” she stated.
“Right now the public is only hearing one side and—”
“I don’t need to court public opinion.” His voice was soft
but underlined with steel.
Taylor realized she’d just gotten a glimpse of the
determined, ruthless side of Cooper. He’d fought long and hard to get his
mother’s company back, an ugly family saga that had unfolded when his father
died.
“Of course not. I wasn’t suggesting that.”
“I read your piece about pole dancing.”
As change of topics went, this one rendered her speechless.
She gulped. “You did?”
His lips quirked with amusement. “It was…very interesting.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “Emily was supposed to do that,
but bowed out at the last minute and I had to take over.” Lifting her chin, she
decided she had nothing to be embarrassed about. “It was a very popular
article. We received a ton of positive feedback about it.”
“I would imagine so. You wrote it very well, a balanced
article.” He paused. “You actually went to a strip club?”
Taylor detected only curiosity in his voice, not
disapproval. “Yes. The experience was enlightening in more ways than one.”
She’d met women who danced at the club, heard their stories and even made some
friends. She was already planning a future article about them.
“Actually danced once in front of an audience? Was that
safe?”
“Perfectly. The club had its own security, plus Emily’s
brother came along too.”
He stared at her for an endless moment, his expression
unreadable. The air thickened and became heavy.
Compelled to defend herself, she said, “There was nothing
vulgar or indecent about it. I was wearing a costume and didn’t have any
contact with the customers.”
He said nothing, his eyes shuttered. Taylor had the
strangest feeling that he was imagining her dancing. She swallowed. Between her
legs, a heavy pulsing began. Panicked, she stood up. She needed to put distance
between her and this man pronto. For her sanity.
“So you’ll do the interview?” she asked, breathless.
He straightened to his full height. The perfect cut of the
suit accented his body, from the broad shoulders to the trim waist and the
muscular legs. It was just so unfair that this man possessed more than his fair
share of sexual magnetism.
Taylor took an involuntary step back when he came too close
for comfort.
“I’ll think about it and let you know.”
She mustered a smile. “Fair enough. Thanks for taking the
time to talk to me today.” She beat a hasty retreat and hurried to the door. It
was only when she was in the safety of the elevator that she released a breath.
She leaned against the cold stainless steel wall and closed her eyes. Cooper
Hathaway was way too dangerous. But scoring an interview with him was a coup,
and she couldn’t pass up the opportunity. She was just going to have to control
her desire for him. He belonged in her dreams where she could kiss him and lick
him to her heart’s content. Yes. Fantasies were much safer and there he was
going to stay.
Cooper watched as Taylor hurried out the door. He admired
her long legs and the curve of her ass as it swayed with every step she took in
those ridiculously sexy high-heels she wore. Damn. The skirt was by no means
short, nor did it expose too much, but it still hit him in the gut with a big
punch because it only fired up his imagination more. The top she wore wasn’t
tight but faithfully clung to the full curve of her breasts. He’d nearly
swallowed his tongue when she’d crossed her legs and swung her foot, drawing
his gaze to those fuck-me shoes, stirring up images of her still wearing them
while her legs were wrapped around his waist and he pumped inside her and…
“Whoa.” He released a breath and pulled at his collar. It
never failed. Every time he saw Taylor, or caught even a glimpse of her, his
cock stirred—no, jumped—to instant readiness.
And to imagine her dancing at the club, gyrating against a
stripper pole, was enough to almost undo him.
What he would have given to have been in the audience that
night. To watch her swing her hips and raise her legs as she performed the
dance moves she’d written about in the article. She said she’d worn a costume,
but how bare did she go? Did she dance in a two-piece get-up that exposed her
breasts? Or wear a costume that showed off her ass? Just the thought made his
mouth water.
He shook his head. What was it about her that affected him
so much? He’d met women who were more classically beautiful, but all it took
was for Taylor to be anywhere in the vicinity and he was ready to blow like a
fucking volcano. He’d never been partial to redheads or brunettes. Taylor was
somewhere in between, her hair a shade of red with gold. Damn if it wasn’t
sexy. On the occasions that he’d caught sight of her, she’d always had her hair
styled differently. Today it was loose and slightly tousled, giving her the
appearance of just getting out of bed.
Shit. This is bad.
He adjusted himself, grimacing at
the tightness of his trousers. Agreeing to the interview meant he would be
thrown in close proximity to Taylor.
How could he do it and resist temptation?
Then again, how could he not?
The stadium was packed to the gills and a huge banner hung
in front, announcing Cooper Hathaway as the main speaker.
Graduate students and business majors jostled each other and
jockeyed for a place. Taylor couldn’t find an empty seat anywhere so she walked
down the aisle near the front and stood off to the side of the podium. The size
of the crowd was testimony to how eager people were to hear Cooper talk. When
Taylor had found out this morning that Cooper was speaking here today she’d
driven over as quickly as she could. This was a good opportunity to observe him
beyond the confines of his office. Even though she’d spent the past two days
cooling her heels, she was still keeping her fingers crossed that he would eventually
agree to the interview.
She’d googled him, trying to glean as much information as
she could. It wasn’t hard to find articles about the divorce of his parents,
how his father, Mason, had cheated on Cooper’s mother with his then secretary.
Taylor had winced as she’d read the articles. It was such juicy gossip that
even the society pages couldn’t resist chronicling the battle between the
couple who’d built their publishing business from the ground up, with the
husband eventually leaving his wife for a much younger woman. It was all so
sordid. There were few pictures of a young Cooper and only a mention that his
mother had won full custody.
With a sigh, she shifted and leaned against the wall. Mason
Hathaway had divorced his wife and taken their family’s publishing company.
After the divorce, there weren’t as many articles about Cooper and his mother.
The only thing she could find about him after that was when he started becoming
successful in business, mentored by John Callas, who’d owned Aegis, Inc. Cooper
had worked for him until he eventually took over the company when Callas
retired.
She’d seen more pictures of Cooper with John Callas than he
had with his own father. Clearly Cooper had been very close to his mentor.
More than his business accomplishments, an internet search
showed a number of references about the nasty battle he was waging with Bettina
Hathaway. The vitriolic comments that Bettina continued to make in the gossip
rags were all meant to put Cooper in bad light.
Bettina was bitter, that was for sure. Cooper’s takeover of
Hathaway Publishing had left her nearly bankrupt and unable to support her
lavish lifestyle. Bettina’s son from her first marriage, Rich Lange, was also
prominently featured in some articles, his comments further fueling the
inflammatory articles meant to discredit Cooper in the public’s eye.
In all that, Taylor had never once read an article where
Cooper retaliated. He or his lawyer never commented on anything personal and
steadfastly ignored Bettina’s increasingly desperate public pronouncements. It
was the right thing to do, of course. But Bettina was not one to back down. She
was now in the process of suing Cooper’s company for taking over Hathaway,
alleging irregularities in the way Aegis, Inc. acquired the business that she’d
all but run to ground.
Taylor sighed. Nasty stuff. It brought back memories of when
her father and mother, both prominent surgeons, had waged a public battle
during their divorce. They’d fought over everything, down to the last piece of
china they owned. Worst of all, they’d fought over her, their only child, using
her as a pawn. It had all come to a head when her mother had whisked her out of
state in an attempt to take her away from her father, which had resulted in
kidnapping charges that were later dropped. Their family was the topic du jour
for weeks, even months. It was an awful time in her young life. One she’d
rather forget.
Her parents had since developed a fragile civility with each
other, made easier by living on opposite coasts. Her father had remarried,
while her mother had preferred to stay single, scarred by the events that
marked the end of her marriage. As for Taylor, she’d developed a very close
relationship with Emily and her family, who had embraced her like she was one
of their own.
Pushing those ugly memories aside, Taylor glanced around the
auditorium. It was definitely standing room only. Taylor took out her pen and a
small notebook, ready to take notes. From the snippets of conversations she
heard, people were very excited to listen to Cooper speak. There were plenty of
women as well, which really didn’t come as a surprise.
The crowd fell silent when a man strode to the podium and
made the introductions. Thunderous applause broke the silence as Cooper made
his way to the center of the stage.
“Thank you,” Cooper spoke into the microphone and motioned
for everybody to sit down. As he launched into his speech, Taylor stared at him
unabashedly, secure in the knowledge that he couldn’t possibly make her out in
the sea of faces before him. Today he was without a tie, the dress shirt
unbuttoned at the throat. He looked casual and approachable, and infinitely
sexier. The lights glinted off his dark hair, and his smile disarmed the
audience.
He rattled off a couple of funny anecdotes, and the
receptive crowd laughed. Taylor couldn’t help but smile as well. This was a
different side of Cooper, certainly one she hadn’t seen. He was charming and
captivating, and plainly intelligent. She wrote on her little notebook,
scribbled “gorgeous” next to his name and found herself underlining the word
over and over. She made notes on the way he interacted with the audience, noted
his facial expressions, and how he had a small dimple on his right cheek when
he grinned. The talk was financial, which really should have been a snoozer,
but he spoke plainly, much of his speech in layman’s terms so that even she
could understand what prevailing markets were, and what stimulating the economy
and ways to grow the job market meant.
At the end of his speech, he announced that he would take
some questions. There were some predictable ones, like what would he do to
kick-start the slumbering economy and some such thing, but when a buxom young
woman took the microphone and asked if he was single and available, Taylor had to
roll her eyes. The blonde tossed her hair and thrust her chest out, drawing
attention to her rather large breasts. With a sigh, Taylor straightened and
slipped her notebook into her purse. When she looked up, she froze as she found
Cooper’s gaze locked on her. Really? He couldn’t be looking at her. How could
he pick her out in the midst of the standing room only crowd?
“I’m afraid that’s all the time we have today,” Cooper said
and after thanking the audience, left the stage without answering the woman’s
question.
There was an audible “oh” of disappointment that rippled
through the crowd, especially the females. Taylor made her way out, exiting
through one of the main doors just ahead of the pack.
She slipped on her sunglasses as she emerged into the sunshine.
It was refreshing to see another side of Cooper. It really wasn’t such a
surprise to see him effortlessly charm the crowd. He wouldn’t have been so
successful if he didn’t have the smarts and charisma. It just wasn’t fair,
really. Those qualities only made him more attractive and infinitely more
appealing. Damn near irresistible.
His gray eyes were like lasers that honed in on her as she
stood in a crowd. As soon as their eyes had met, a delicious ripple of
awareness had surged through her body. Her nipples had actually tightened. Her
belly dipped and an electric zing pulsed in her pussy. Wow. No man had ever
elicited that kind of instantaneous reaction from her. Cooper was dangerous to
her equilibrium. Very dangerous.
Her heels clicked on the cobblestone as she walked to the
parking structure where she’d been lucky to find an empty spot. She picked up
the pace, wanting to get away as soon as possible. He’d seen her. He knew she
was there. The need to escape was foremost.
“Off so soon?”
Taylor froze in her tracks. Her pulse jumped at the sound of
his voice. She pulled in a breath before turning around.
“Hello.” Jeez, was that her voice? Why did she sound so
husky? She cleared her throat. “Great speech back there.” How lame.
“Thanks. What’s the rush?”
She gripped the handle of her purse a little more tightly.
“I, ah, I have to go back to the office.” Tugging self-consciously at the
jacket of her pantsuit, she made an effort to stay still.
She jumped when he casually reached out and pulled off her
sunglasses. He raised an eyebrow. “I make you nervous.”
“Not at all.”
“I don’t bite,” he said with a grin.
She blinked.
Ohmygod
Cooper Hathaway was flirting
with her. Heat suffused her, nearly blowing her fragile control to hell. “I
certainly hope not.”
He stepped closer, crowding her in. She fought the urge to
move. Her gaze dropped to his mouth, firm and full at the bottom, with a
sensual curve that was hard to miss.
“I just needed some background material for my article.” A
heavy, syrupy feeling invaded her lower body.
Danger!
“I mean, in case
you agree to let me interview you, that’s all. Well, I have to go and—”
“Do I scare you?”
“W-What?” Her thoughts were muddled. Really, the man was
invading her personal space, sucking the oxygen from the air and leaving her short
of breath.
He smiled, the corners of his mouth lifting with sexy
amusement. “Do I scare you?” he repeated, slower this time. He was now a
hairsbreadth away, their bodies nearly touching.
She drew in a fortifying breath. “No.”
“Good.”
Trying to ignore the crazy fluttering of her pulse, she
eased away, subtly putting more room between them. “Let me know what you decide
about the interview.” Pasting a smile on her face, she gripped her purse and
forced herself to walk away—at a normal pace—when all her instincts screamed
“run!”
“Taylor?”
She stopped and turned around slowly. “Y-yes?”
He held out her sunglasses.
Walking back a couple of steps, she took them from him and
managed a strangled, “Thanks,” before heading to the parking structure.
She dared not look back, but Taylor could feel the power of
his gaze follow her. Damn, the man sure packed a wallop. How on earth was she
going to survive interviewing him? Being in close proximity to Cooper Hathaway
surely would drive her insane. Not to mention make it painfully obvious that
she was attracted as hell to him. What was she going to do?
* * * * *
“I’ve decided that when it comes to sex, I need to think
like a man.”
Taylor stirred her coffee in the tiny office kitchen and
glanced at the young woman from marketing. Sabrina was pretty and outgoing, and
every time they chatted, she had plenty of boyfriend drama to talk about.
“Oh? Why is that?”
“My cheating ex-boyfriend had the nerve to tell me that sex
with his neighbor didn’t mean anything and that it was one of ‘those things’.”
Sabrina snorted. “Yeah, like he tripped and that woman just happened to be
there with her legs open?”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
She shrugged. “Good riddance. That’s when I realized that
men and women are wired differently,” Sabrina continued. “Men can take the sex
and walk away. No entanglements. No emotional consequence. It’s all about
physical satisfaction.”
“Hmm, true,” Taylor agreed.
“And since I have absolutely no desire to start dating again
so soon, I thought of the perfect solution,” she lowered her voice confidingly.
“Friends with benefits.”
“Friends with benefits?” Taylor echoed with a frown.
“Exactly. Sex without commitment. No strings. Scratch an
itch without all the emotional ups and downs.”
“Just sex?”
Sabrina nodded enthusiastically. “With someone you’re
already familiar with, a friend, if you will. That way, there will be no
morning-after regrets. And it’s not a one-night stand. Call each other when you
feel the need.”
“But what about love? Emotion?” Taylor couldn’t help but
ask.
“If I’m destined to meet the right man, it will happen. But
until then, I don’t want to waste my time going out on dates only to go home
disappointed. No thanks. I’ve gone through enough first dates to last me a
lifetime.”
Maybe her dating situation was more common than she
believed. Like Sabrina, she was exhausted from going on “first dates”. Just the
thought of spending one more hour trying to figure out if a man was
relationship material was enough to make her shudder.
“Nights can get lonely while I’m waiting to find that
special someone, you know?”
Taylor nodded. She understood perfectly. How many had she
spent fantasizing about Cooper? So far, no one had managed to dislodge his
starring role in her dreams. She wasn’t averse to using a battery-operated toy
to satisfy her urges, but didn’t want to rely on it on a regular basis. She
still needed a real man’s touch.
Taylor mulled it over. “You know, that might just work.”
“It will,” Sabrina stated confidently. “It’s the solution to
the crazy merry-go-round of endless dating.”
All the way back to her office, Taylor thought about
Sabrina’s friends-with-benefits idea. It was certainly unorthodox, but just
might work for her on two fronts—ease her dating doldrums and take her mind off
Cooper.
So far, she hadn’t been able to find a keeper among the men
she dated, one with whom she could be in a stable relationship. No man could
get past the five-date rule. No man could stand up to being compared against
Cooper Hathaway. So why not try the friends-with-benefits idea and maybe write
an article about it? The more she thought about it, the more it appealed to
her. She’d run the idea past Emily first.
She picked up her step, buoyed by the idea. It was
Wednesday, and from conversations she overheard as she walked, everybody was
looking forward to the long weekend. Saturday was the big barbecue at the
Sinclair house, an annual Memorial Day celebration Taylor never missed. The
Sinclairs were her second family, no, her only family, since she was never
particularly close to her parents.