Chasing Perfection Vol. 2 (15 page)

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said as I headed for the elevator. I pushed down the panic that had been skirting the edge of my mind since I’d opened my eyes. I couldn’t freak out. Not here, and not in a cab. When I got back to my place, I could let it all out, examine it, figure out what it all meant, but for right now, everything had to stay bottled up.

I couldn’t, however, keep away the thought that kept pounding in my head. The thought that this wasn’t over because I didn’t just think DeVon was hot and I didn’t just want to fuck him. I actually liked him, and that scared the shit out of me.

KRISSY

Work was just as uncomfortable as I’d feared. Physically, not socially. The skin on my ass was so sensitive that even the soft cotton panties I was wearing were almost too rough. I had multiple bruises on my hips from his fingers and my nipples were chafing from the weekend’s activities. Worse was the constant throbbing between my legs. I hadn’t realized how hard he’d fucked me both nights until this morning. It wasn’t a bad kind of sore, but the kind that reminded me at all times of what had gotten me there. Not that I was likely to forget what had happened anytime soon.

“Meet me out front in five minutes.”

My head shot up in time to catch DeVon already starting to turn away.

“We’re going out to lunch. I’ll explain on the way.”

I wasn’t sure which startled me more, the fact that DeVon had just basically ordered me to lunch without so much as a greeting, or the twinge inside me that said a small part of me had been expecting him to be different around me. DeVon was the hardest person to read I’d ever met. I hadn’t seen him this morning when I’d first come in, but that wasn’t unusual. I wasn’t sure if the lunch invitation was out of the ordinary for him, but Tracy didn’t seem to look surprised when I walked past her desk, so I took that as a good sign. I didn’t want things to be awkward at work. He probably wasn’t going to say anything at work about our recent activities.

One of the company cars was waiting and DeVon opened the passenger’s side door for me. After shutting it, he went around to the driver’s side. I thanked him, but didn’t say anything else. I was going to let him make the first move. After a minute or so, I began to worry that he wasn’t going to talk at all, which I didn’t think was a good thing. Shouldn’t we at least acknowledge what had happened? If not with a word, then with a look. Something, anything, to say that it had happened?

“Do you know who Carter Bilson is?”

The question caught me off guard. The first words out of his mouth today that hadn’t been an instruction and that was it? I scrambled to focus on what he’d asked. “He’s a director, right?” I recognized the name but couldn’t put a face to it.

DeVon nodded. “He’s meeting us at Spago’s to discuss a project I want one of our clients to read for.”

I found myself matching his business-like tone. “Which client?” Maybe this was the way we were going to maintain a working relationship, by not discussing what had happened. It was done and over with. That was that.

“Here.” He handed me three files without looking at me. “The problem is, Carter’s a real pain in my ass. He doesn’t like me for some reason.”

I could think of a couple.

His eyes darted towards me, so quick I almost missed it. “He has a soft spot for brunettes, so it’d go a long way to getting him to go our way if you’d...charm him like you did with Jake Morris.”

I clenched my jaw. Was he kidding me? We spent these two amazing nights together and he just acted like it was business as usual, asking me to flirt with this guy to help negotiations? Sure, I’d flirted with Jake Morris, and I’d told myself going into last night that all I wanted was another fuck, but the least he could do was acknowledge it.

“Sure.” I didn’t let my anger bleed into my voice. If he wanted me to flirt, I’d flirt.

But he sure as hell wasn’t going to like it.

I’d worn probably my most boring and professional outfit today, so before we went inside, I unbuttoned the top two buttons on my blouse, sneaking a glance at DeVon to see if he was eyeing my cleavage. He was already out of the car and walking around to my door. I allowed myself a brief scowl, and then was all smiles as we headed inside.

Carter Bilson was actually much better-looking than I’d thought he’d be. Not like DeVon hot, but definitely not unattractive. I slid my chair closer to him as I sat down, making sure my modest-length skirt rode up enough to almost flash the tops of my stockings. Carter gave me the appreciative look that DeVon hadn’t.

“I’m starting to think you want to get in my pants, Ricci. Buying me lunch after I told you all my audition slots are full.” He winked at me. “I don’t swing that way, big guy.”

Carter was also a bit of a jerk. Again, not like DeVon, but enough of one that I would’ve normally put him in his place rather than laughing at what he’d said. Instead, I tossed my hair over my shoulder and used my best girlish laugh. I got a nod of approval from DeVon.

Fuck that. I didn’t want him to approve. I wanted him pissed and jealous.

Instead of my usual soup and salad for lunch, I ordered a fruit plate. I wanted juicy, delicious fruit that I could eat with my fingers and make sure Carter never took his eyes off of my mouth. If DeVon wanted me to play, I’d play. And I’d make him sorry.

“So, Mr. Bilson, my boss here won’t tell me anything about your project.” I lightly touched his arm.

“Carter, please.” He smiled at me. “And DeVon probably won’t talk about it because he’s pissed I won’t let his clients audition for it.”

“I’d still love to hear about it.” I angled the way I was sitting so that my knee bumped against his. I resisted the urge to look over at DeVon. I wanted Carter to think he had my complete attention.

I listened as he told me about the movie he was working on, though my interest was purely business. I did have an obligation to Mirage Talent to make sure I knew what our clients were auditioning for, no matter what DeVon wanted me to do. When he finished, however, I made it out to be bigger than it was, something men always loved to hear – pun completely intended.

“That sounds amazing.” I laid it on thick. “And I’m sorry that you don’t want any of our clients to read for it. I’m sure it would be a
huge
opportunity for them.”

I picked up a cherry from my fruit plate and put it in my mouth, taking my time pulling it from the stem. Carter’s eyes zoomed in on my lips and I knew I had him. I snuck a glance at DeVon to see if he’d liked what I’d done.

His expression was blank, completely unemotional.

I fought a frown and instead reached for a peach as Carter cut himself a piece of prime rib. I bit down on the slice and let the juice coat my lips. I made a sound of pure pleasure, a sound that was more befitting a bedroom than a public dining room. The fruit was amazingly good, but I was purposefully pushing just to see how far I could go.

Still no reaction from DeVon, but Carter completely missed his mouth when he tried to take a bite of his food. I pretended I didn’t notice and moved on to a strawberry. I dipped it in some sugar, which I of course then had to slowly lick off of my lips.

Even while eating, I continued to ask Carter about the movies he’d made, oohing and ahhing in all the right places until his ego was good and stroked. I also made sure I touched him every few minutes, even if it only appeared to be an accident, and I was nearly one hundred percent certain that by the time we were halfway through the meal, his ego wasn’t the only thing thinking about getting stroked. As we finished, Carter had started returning the touches, keeping them all innocent, but making no attempt to hide what he was doing. I kept laughing and peering at him through my lashes, not showing him that I didn’t feel anything when his fingers brushed against my arm. No tingle, no desire, even though he was attractive. Back in New York, I would’ve already been halfway home with someone like him. All I kept thinking about, however, was that DeVon didn’t seem to care at all.

Before the waiter came to take our plates, I brushed up against Carter, ready to close the deal and take one last stab at making DeVon wish he hadn’t asked me to flirt with the director. “So, Mr. Bilson–”

“Carter, remember,” he said, leaning close and not-so-subtly looking down the front of my shirt.

“Carter, of course.” I giggled, inwardly cringing at the sound. “I was just wondering if it was at all possible that I could convince you to at least let a couple of our clients read for you? There are so many who’d just love to be in one of your films. And I can’t blame them.” I gave him my best seductive smile, the one I’d given DeVon that first night. “Anyone would be lucky to get to work with you.”

Carter’s mouth twisted into a smile that said he knew exactly what I was doing. “DeVon, I have to admit, you’ve got quite a find here in Ms. Jensen.”

“Oh, please, call me Krissy.” I glanced at DeVon.

Nothing.

“I’ll tell you what, Krissy,” Carter said, running his fingers over my wrist. “How about you come to my house a little later today and you and I can discuss which of your clients would best fit my movie?” The look in his eyes made it clear that a discussion wasn’t all he had in mind. “I’m sure we’ll be able to get at least a few of them parts to read for.”

I half-turned towards DeVon, expecting him to answer. He’d keep it polite, of course, but he’d make sure Carter knew flirting was as far as it went. Instead, he nodded, his eyes hard as they finally met mine. Everything inside me went cold. The professional part of me took over as I turned back towards Carter with a fake smile plastered on my face.

“That would be great.” I pushed the words past numb lips, hardly hearing myself say them.

I didn’t say anything else as DeVon paid the bill and we all got up to leave. Carter held onto my hand longer than necessary as we said our good-byes, but I didn’t pull away and DeVon still didn’t say anything. I fought to work past the shock as we drove back to the office, the silence between us thick.

A single question kept circling in my head. What the hell had just happened?

KRISSY

It was all I could do not to slam my office door. The cold inside me had started melting away by the time we reached Mirage. Now it was gone completely, replaced by simmering anger. I kept my back to the glass wall so Tracy wouldn’t see, composing my face into an impassive mask. I sat at my desk, inwardly seething as I stared at the computer screen.

I couldn’t believe DeVon had done that! It was bad enough he’d used my sexuality to persuade Carter to go along with what he wanted, but then he’d basically pimped me out. He’d told me how the game was played, but I’d really thought we’d had some sort of connection.

My mask broke enough for me to utter a bitter laugh. Who was I trying to fool? This was exactly the kind of thing I should’ve expected from DeVon. I’d let myself get carried away with how good he was in bed and how nice he’d pretended to be while we were out. I’d let myself forget what an asshole he really was. Any man who expected an employee to fuck a director to get him to go along with casting suggestions was beyond a bastard. Granted, it had ultimately been my choice and he couldn’t have exactly fired me if I’d refused, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think he couldn’t have found a way to do it. The thing was, if none of this had happened between me and DeVon, I couldn’t say for sure that I’d be averse to sleeping with Carter to get him to do what I wanted. It was the fact that DeVon acted like it was just another business transaction, like what we’d done the past two nights meant absolutely nothing to him.