The Sunday Arrangement (11 page)

Chastising myself for
hoping he would stay the night, I stood from the sofa and removed the last
article of clothing I still had on—my bra. I walked to the bathroom to have a
long, hot shower. I would surely be sore in the morning.

It was Tuesday, and I
sat in the conference room of the Melia Hotel where the meeting with potential
investors would be held. Pierce had been talking about different points to cover
in the proposal—our new location, budget, projection dates, design plans—but I
hadn’t been paying attention. I fidgeted in my high leather chair, fiddling
with the blue ink pen in my hand. Focus was a distant stranger, concentration an
unwelcome distracter. I hardly recognized myself anymore. It seemed almost
foolish to believe I could carry on as usual, like nothing had ever happened
between us. Hell, I had enough trouble focusing before we had ever been
together. And now . . .

Staring at the strong
lines of Pierce’s jaw as he spoke, I bit my tongue. We hadn’t spoken of Sunday.
Yet here we were, business as usual. I hated myself for it, but I wanted some
small acknowledgment that we had fucked—because that’s what it was. A mind-blowing,
fantastic fuck. Didn’t that deserve some sort of recognition? Maybe it was
nerves. Maybe it was my feminine wiles. Maybe I was just self-conscious. But I
needed him to stop waxing eloquent about the schematics for Toby’s potential
design and the crotchety investors and the extensive casino plans that he
wanted so badly to build.

It was entirely unlike
me, the corporate guru. The business loner. The no-life Nelly I had turned into
the last few years. But my world had wonderfully shifted Sunday evening, and I
was still getting used to the adjustment. After all, weren’t we going to do
this again? How was I supposed to wait five whole days to feel the warmth of
his touch once more? And what fantasy were we going to play out? The suspense made
me nauseous; I didn’t enjoy the unexpected. I needed a plan. And unfortunately,
there was no way to plan and prepare for spontaneity.

I wondered if he even
had anything in mind. He told me he was going to take the first turn, but I had
absolutely no reference, no way of knowing what we’d be doing. I hoped he’d
ease me into his fantasy world gently, though there wasn’t anything gentle
about our elevator rendezvous. I smiled to myself, recalling the strength of
his arms as he pressed me against the wall.

“Lauren, did you hear
a thing I just said?”

I’d been staring at
the wall for a while now without realizing it. Pierce sat across from me,
typing up the draft for the proposal. “I . . .” I wasn’t sure what to say. I
shook my head as if that would release my sexual distraction from my mind. “I’m
sorry. I guess I just got a little distracted by . . . something.”

He grinned, and I saw
the recognition in his beautiful eyes. He knew exactly what had me distracted
and unfocused this morning and what I had been thinking about. I was as easy to
read as he was to stare at. Where had my business poker face, my corporate cold
shoulder gone? Inwardly, I shrugged. His recognition only meant that he was
thinking about the same thing—a thought that I thoroughly enjoyed.

“Can’t you just tell
me what exactly we’ll be doing?” I asked him before I could stop myself. I
cringed as the words left my mouth. The question made me sound like a small
child eager to learn what her Christmas present was going to be, not a grown
woman talking to her lover.

“Now where would all
the suspense be if I told you today? It’s only Tuesday,” he said coyly. “You’ll
just have to be patient and find out Sunday morning. Until then you have to
wait like a good girl.”

My eyes narrowed. The
condescending bastard was thoroughly enjoying this.

“You’ll figure it out
soon enough,” he added.

Curiosity won out
over my pride and I had to ask, “Why Sunday morning? I thought we were meeting
at night?”

“Oh, we are. You just
get to find out what the fantasy is on Sunday morning.”

Somehow, I found this
reassuring. It was time to get back to business. “Fine then. Now tell me more about
Mr. Levins and how you plan to get him interested in backing this casino.”

~*~*~*~

“You did what?” Kat
shouted over the phone.

“I know. I know,” I
whispered. “Please don’t judge me.” I covered the phone and walked farther down
the hall of the hotel. We were on a break from the day-long meeting with a
couple of the investors, and I had taken the opportunity to escape.

“This was Sunday and
you’re just now calling me?”

I licked my lips. I
knew she was going to be a little upset over my neglect. “I didn’t want to tell
you. I’m sorry. This wasn’t exactly according to the plan. . . .”

She let out a low
whistle. “Boy, I’ll say, Lo. I mean, last we talked, a mere three days ago, you
weren’t thinking three months in Vegas with this guy would be any fun. What
gives?”

“I don’t know. I
can’t even explain it. I still think he’s a bit arrogant, but he’s definitely
growing on me,” I said with more confidence than I felt.

“I’ll say he is. So
you’re just in a habit of sleeping with men you’re not sure you even like? Got
it.”

I rolled my eyes,
thankful she couldn’t see my reaction. “No, listen. He’s still not my favorite
person. God, you should see some of the things he wants to pull with this
project, Kat.”

“But . . .”

I quickly looked down
the heinous floral-carpeted hallway to make sure no one was coming up behind
me. “He’s arrogant and cocky, but aren’t I a little bit? Our families
absolutely loathe each other, but I don’t know, Kat. He just does something to
me. It’s like I can’t say ‘no’ and what’s worse, I don’t want to.”

“Moth to his flame,
huh?”

“Exactly.”

Kat sighed. “So what
does this mean, Lo? Even I’m at a loss for words here.”

“I think it just
means that I’m horny, and it’s been a while. I think I may even be discovering
my inner sexual animal,” I said playfully.

“Well, it’s about
time, my friend. What’s it been—five or six years since the professor?”

“Almost seven.”

 “No wonder you’re
horny.”

I laughed. “It’s not
like I haven’t been with anyone since then. You know that.”

“Yeah, but those were
always some random guys at bars. Or that one guy you met online and dated for a
few weeks before he asked you for a lock of your hair. God, that was creepy.”

“Don’t remind me.” I
leaned up against the wall, relaxing. Kat had a calming effect on me. Even when
I was confessing my latest exploits, she had a way of understanding and
consoling me.

“But this is
different, Lo. This is so unlike you, mixing business and pleasure.”

I had to admit she
was right. “Maybe that’s why I like it so much. It’s so wrong that it somehow feels
right.” I paused before adding, “I know that probably doesn’t make any sense.”

“Yeah, I get it. He’s
the bad boy, and your dad would have a complete conniption if he knew about
your sudden interest in Pierce’s . . . endowments.”

“Not exactly new
material, huh?”

“You’re a classic
Juliet, my friend,” Kat said. “This story has practically written itself.”

“God, I hope not,” I
sneered. “She was like fourteen, and she . . . well, she died.”

“Yeah, please don’t
kill yourself over money bags.”

“Duly noted.”

There was a brief
silence. Part of me wanted to just hang up. I loved Kat, but she was making me
feel like a hormonal, stereotypical teenager, not a grown woman taking the
reins of her sex life.

“Just remember to
guard your heart, Lo,” she said.

“Okay, thanks for the
parental scolding,” I chuckled. “What’s next? Want me to go up to my room and
be grounded for a month?”

“Ah, shit. Did I pull
a classic mother-daughter tirade? Listen, all I’m saying is that guy obviously
just wants to get in your pants and—”

“And all I want is to
get in his.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you
do. And that’s great. It’s about time you dusted off the ol’ cobwebs down
there, if you catch my drift. I’m just saying, protect yourself and be careful.
Just some friendly advice from a concerned friend, okay?”

I folded my arms
across my chest. I knew Kat was right, no matter how much I hated to admit it.
“Okay, okay. I’ll be careful. Happy?”

“Be careful, but have
fun. . . . Just how good was he anyway?”

I sighed, unsure how
to properly describe the magnitude of the night without sounding like a love-struck
bimbo. Which I wasn’t. I was just a woman in awe of one man’s dick and what he was
able to do with it. “Well . . .”

“A speechless Lauren?
Now there’s something I haven’t heard in a while.”

“It was really,
really fantastic, Kat. Unlike anything I’ve ever had before.”

Kat giggled. “Glad
he’s worth it, friend. Keep me in the loop with you and the Mav man. I’m living
vicariously through you now, ya know.”

I glanced at the face
of my gray watch. “Hey Kat, I’ve got to get back in there. Are you coming down
soon?”

“I got scheduled this
weekend at the brewery, but I’m thinking maybe next weekend?”

“Okay, sounds good.
Love ya.”

“You too, babe.”

I hung up and hurried
down the hallway in my nude heels with a few minutes to spare before the
meeting.

“Lauren, where have
you been? We’ve got to get this slideshow going before the guys get back in
here,” Pierce said. His tone was harsh. I doubted he wanted to hear the details
about how I had just confessed our Sunday arrangement to my best friend in
between our important investor meetings.

“Sorry, I’m here now.
It’ll just take a second . . .” I still needed to set up the PowerPoint
presentation on my computer so that I could make the presentation to our future
investors. If all went well, we’d be looking at twenty new investors and nearly
forty million for this new casino.

“It better!” he
snapped. “They’ll be here any moment.”

I cringed. He was
acting as though he had completely forgotten about our time together. I knew
better, but it disgusted me a little that he treated me so poorly under
pressure. And it repulsed me more that I cared so much.
Get a grip on your
ovaries, Lauren. Stop being such a pansy.
“Uh, sorry. Hang on,” I mumbled
while clicking on my laptop.

“Just make sure you
get it on the screen in the next minute. We’re so close to nailing this thing,
Lauren!” He came up behind me and squeezed my shoulder.

As quickly as it had
surfaced, his anger vanished. A switch flipped. I appreciated his efforts to be
kind, as confusing as it was. Hot. Cold. Off. On. It seemed impossible to keep
up.

But he was right. We
were so close to closing a multi-million-dollar deal with these investors. Usually
at this point I started to get “deal arousal”—my made-up business term for the
conquest of another project’s near success. Today, however, the only thing
arousing me was the thought of next Sunday and the sexual adventure Pierce had
in store for us, even if he was just an arrogant ass trying to prove himself.

The next day Toby arrived
around two in the afternoon, just as he’d promised. Thankful for both the interruption
from the drone of the afternoon and the free moments away from that dashingly
handsome, but ever-distracting Maverick, I picked up my brother in a Hummer
stretch limo.

“Snazzy!” he said,
entering the vehicle. “You didn’t have to bust out your best guns for me, sis.”

“Good to see you,
Tobe. And of course I did. Nothing but the best for you.” I pointed to the
small black cooler in the middle of the leather console. “Champagne is in
there, if you’re interested.”

He shook his head. “I
think I’m good. I had a few drinks on the plane.”

“So how’s it going?”
I asked after I told the driver to take us back to my condo.

He scooted down the
leather seat next to me. “Could be worse, could be better. Hope you plan on
getting me pretty drunk tonight.”

I raised my eyebrow.
“That bad already? You just got here!”

“Oh, it’s nothing
new, sister,” he said with a forced laugh. “Just the same ol’ stress. Being an
adult can be pretty shitty sometimes.”

“Well, I should
probably tell you now that your stress level may not be alleviated while you’re
here. You have the Mavericks to thank for that. How much did Dad have to bribe
you to ditch one of your projects for this job anyway?”

Toby dramatically
rolled his brown eyes and let out a long breath. “Not much more than he usually
does. I needed this one though, Lauren. Freelancing has been a little unstable
the last two months.” He combed his fingers through his thick black hair.
“Besides, Dad seems a little weird about this whole project. Just the fact that
he invited the Mavericks in on this venture was enough to pique my interest.”