Conflict of Interest (Employee Relations Book 1) (51 page)

A couple of weeks ago Lucas sabotaged my date and guilted me into helping him over the weekend. He knew I didn’t think he was ready and he was hell bent on proving me wrong.
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. He sure as shit got that and how convenient that I was present. He didn’t care about getting me more acclimated to the business by having me attend customer meetings. This was a ploy to get close to me so I’d support his promotion.

Must have been really important to him if he was willing to sleep with me to seal the deal. What a relief that must have been for him when he realized it wasn’t necessary.

A lump formed in my throat.

Now it all makes sense. The timing of our partnership, his reaction to us getting close…everything. He never wanted to work together and he never wanted me. It was a means to an end.
I
was a means to an end.

I collapse on the bed and press the heels of my hands into my eyes. Holy shit I’m so blind. He didn’t respect me professionally and he was never attracted to me. He used me to get my vote and bailed when it was no longer needed. Worst of all he probably thinks I agreed to his promotion because of what happened between us last night.

Humiliation doesn’t begin to cover the depth of what I’m experiencing. He must be laughing his ass off, walking the city knowing he outsmarted me. And now I’m going to have to face him every single day knowing he’s spent time between my legs. How do I recover from that?

You don’t.

This is exactly why you don’t get involved with a co-worker. Everyone has an agenda and I now I know his
—
getting to the top no matter what the stakes. Any respect I thought he had for me? Gone if it ever existed. Hopes for getting past this? Slim to none.

This is a blow to my professional pride, sure, but nothing compares at the moment to piercing pain in my chest. Weeks…I’ve spent weeks telling myself the way I felt was a silly crush despite knowing deep down it was more. Regardless of him being an ass most of the time I thought I’d seen the real him and I can’t deny that I’ve developed feelings for him. Last night I was so sure he felt something for me too.

Boy was I wrong.

Was I so wrapped up in him that I invented the entire thing or is he really that good of an actor?

Tears prick my eyes.

All that bullshit about wanting me and not being able to think of anything else when I was around was exactly that. Bullshit. I don’t have time for this. I need to get out of here.

Drying my eyes, I try to calm down long enough to get the hell out of dodge. I pull up available flights on my phone and sag in relief when I find an available seat, but I’ll have to hurry if I’m going to make it since it leaves in a few hours.

Scurrying around the room, I get my things together and shove them in my suitcase. I call the front desk and request a cab. Luckily the concierge notifies me that one is on standby when I’m ready. I do one last check of the room and pause by the open adjoining door.

One more thing to do.

I dig through my laptop bag and search for my pink sticky notes and write two messages when I find them and strategically place them in Lucas’s room. I shut the door behind me and power down my phone, determined to hang onto my anger long enough to get me to airport. If he calls I’m in no shape to talk to him, and if he doesn’t I’ll be devastated.

Without a second thought I leave for the airport, putting Lucas and what happened far behind me.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

My eyes snap open at the persistent pounding. I rub the sleep from my eyes and glance at the clock. 9:38PM.
What the hell?
Summer’s note said she was staying with Brad. It’s probably Kyra.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

“I’m coming,” I yell.

I drag myself out of bed and down the hall to the front door. I flip the lock and remove the chain as another round of pounding ensues. “For the love of God, Kyra,” I snap when I open the door.

It’s not Kyra.

Fuck.

I’m momentarily frozen, yet suddenly very awake, my heart racing a million miles a minute. I shake off the surprise of having an uninvited visitor and move to slam the door in his face.

He’s too quick. And from the looks of it, seething mad.

Lucas shoulders his way into my apartment, dragging his suitcase with him. I back into the wall and watch the door shut. He paces back and forth in the foyer in front of me for a long minute before coming to a stop. He drags his hand through his disheveled hair, keeping his focus on the floor between us.

“What are you doing here?” I finally ask.

“Twelve hours, Gabriella.” His eyes meet mine. “I’ve spent the last twelve hours trying to come up with what to say to you.”

“Perhaps you should have waited until you figured it out instead of pounding on my door in the middle of the night.”

“I had no idea where you were or if you were okay. Christ, I ended up bribing the concierge to tell me if you’d checked out and where you went.”

“How fitting,” I mutter.

Ignoring me, his hand dips into his pocket and pulls out folded pieces of pink paper.

“Like it never happened,” he says, reading the first note I’d left on his pile of shirts. He then reads the second one that was placed on the condoms. “Lucky for both of us you didn’t need to follow through, but good to know you’re willing to
rise
to any challenge.”

He steps forward with purpose and holds the notes directly in front of my face. “For fuck’s sake, Gabriella. Tell me you don’t honestly think I’d sleep with you to get ahead in my career.”

I don’t reply because that’s exactly what I think.

He drops his hand and looks back at the pieces of paper, then he takes a few steps back from me. “What kind of man do you think I am?”

“One who’d do anything to climb the corporate ladder.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“Evidence would suggest otherwise,” I hiss.

“Right. The box of condoms. You’re a regular Sherlock Holmes.”

I laugh sharply without humor. “It was painfully obvious.”

“Painful? Was that how it seemed to you? Because when I left your room you looked thoroughly pleased. You want to talk about pain, consider the physical state I’ve been in since I left your room. Better yet since the day we met.”

I step forward, invading his space, and poke a finger in his chest. “You hated me for months. Refused to work with me. Suddenly, you decide to give me a chance. I tell you I don’t think you’re ready to be promoted and the next thing I know you’re attached to my hip, wanting my opinion and taking my advice. I let me guard down and foolishly let you in,” I shove him. “I bought into your so-called attraction for me when really you just wanted to take advantage of mine to get ahead. Well congratulations. You got your promotion early and it didn’t require you to sacrifice your dick.”

Lucas looks down at me, eyes blazing. “I never hated you,” his words are deliberate and sincere. “I couldn’t get you out of my goddamn head long enough to think straight…being around you was the only thing that made sense because avoiding you was too fucking hard.” I take a step backwards and he follows. “I gave you a chance
because you’re smart.” Another step. “I’m the one who let my guard down.” And another. “And there is nothing fake about my attraction to you.”

My back flattens against the wall with a thud.

“I don’t believe you,” I reply looking up at him.

“Then why fuck am I here? Huh? Why did I change my flight and fly halfway across the world if I didn’t need to follow through?”

I push up on my tiptoes to emphasize my point. “Because I haven’t processed the paperwork yet.”

Lightning fast his expression darkens. Nose to nose he tells me, “Let’s get one thing straight. I don’t take handouts. I earned that promotion through hard work, not from getting you on your back.”

He pauses as his eyes drop to my chest and scans the length of my body. It’s then that I remember I was sleeping which is why I’m fighting with Lucas in the hallway wearing nothing but a tank top and white panties with pink polka dots.

“As much as I enjoyed burying my face between your thighs, I’d never solicit sexual favors in exchange for advancement.”

I want to believe him but I can’t wrap my head around any of it.

“Go back to ignoring me, Lucas. Forget what happened in London. It was a mistake.”

Of all the words we’ve exchanged,
this
sets him off. His eyes darken with such intensity I will the wall to swallow me up.

“A mistake?” he growls through clenched teeth. “The only mistake was not finishing what I started.”

In one fluid movement he scoops my legs and brings them around his back. Looking for stability, I wrap my arms around his neck as he slams me against the wall and uses it as leverage.

“Believe that?” he whispers in my ear. I close my eyes as he rocks his erection against me. “You do that to me. All the goddamn time.”

I open my mouth to protest but all that comes out is a moan when Lucas’s mouth closes over mine. I should stop this now. He’s given me no explanation for what he did
but as his hands grip backside and he grinds against me rational thoughts are nowhere to be found.

Lucas moans my name against my lips and carries me down the hall, pausing only to confirm which room is mine. Safe to say he guessed right when I land on my pink comforter with all of his weight between my legs.

Shifting, Lucas desperately peels off what little clothes I have on. Storm clouds brew in his eyes, taking in every exposed inch of me as he sits back on his heels and pulls his own shirt over his head and then rids himself of his pants.

Hovering over me he cups my breast and leans forward and takes the other in his mouth, circling his tongue around my hardened nipples and sucks. Pleasure shoots through me, sending my hips off the bed. My nails plant themselves in his back, silently begging him to finish what we started.

He rips open a condom I didn’t know he had and I watch as he rolls it over his gloriously perfect length.

“Lucas,” I beg.

“Tell me,” he says hoarsely, teasing me with his tip. “Tell me you believe me.”

His words are demanding yet there’s a vulnerability to his expression that I don’t fully understand. The only certainty I have is that we both crave the closeness of each other’s bodies and need release to get our sanity back.

“I believe you,” I tell him honestly as he slightly eases in and out.

The moment the words leave my mouth he slams the rest of the way in, filling me to the hilt. I cry out from combined pleasure and pain and Lucas tenses inside me, allowing me a moment to adjust to his size, and then picks up to a punishing pace that I not only accept but return. It’s rougher, needier than the sex I’ve experienced before, but so are the emotions behind it.

We move together as if we’ve done this a hundred times before, but with the desperation of knowing it might never happen again. Wrapping my legs around his hips I refuse to think about that. I’m so consumed by him that the aftermath of our actions seem as if they’re a million years away and until I have to face the truth I’ll gladly stay in denial.

His finger slides between our bodies and he begins rubbing circles on my clit. “Get there, Gabriella. I can’t wait much longer.”

I frantically grind against his hand seeking more friction. I’m so close it doesn’t take much before I feel that tightening low in my belly and cry out Lucas’s name as I fall over the edge.

Lucas follows close behind and collapses on top of me as I try to catch my breath.

We stay like this for several minutes, exhausted and a maybe a little scared of what comes next. Eventually, Lucas presses up on his forearms and searches my eyes.

“Did I hurt you?” he asks with genuine concern.

“No,” I pant. “Just the opposite.”

A shy smile tugs at his lips. He leans forward and kisses my forehead as he pulls out. “Be right back.”

Lucas rolls off me and tosses the condom in the trashcan just inside my bathroom and returns to the bed.

As he slides under the sheets I climb off my side of the bed.

“Where are you going?”

“I need a minute.”

Closing the bathroom door behind me, I freshen up and glance at myself in the mirror. What happens now? Will he stay or go? Do I want him to stay? Yes. More than anything I want him to stay but I brace myself for the possibility of being let down.

I grab my robe from the back of the door and head back into my room where I find Lucas sitting with his back against the headboard and the sheets pooled around his waist.

Unsure of what comes next I slowly make my way toward him stand awkwardly at the foot of the bed.

Lucas holds out his hand. “Come here.”

When I’m standing beside him he lifts me and places me so that I’m straddling him, and unties the belt of my robe.

“I told you not to hide from me,” he says and slips the fabric off my shoulders.

He watches as his hands trace the contours of my body, exploring my breasts and stomach before coming to rest on my hips.