Project Daddy (25 page)

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Authors: Kate Perry

BOOK: Project Daddy
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“What’s going on here?” He saw Lydia holding my arm and he scowled. “Let go of Katherine.”
She sneered. “Oh please, Drake. You can stop pretending that you care about her. We all know you don’t have a caring bone in your body.”
He grabbed my other arm and tugged. “You’re a fine one to talk.”
“At least I know the value of faithfulness.” Instead of letting go of me, she held tighter.
“Hey, guys—” I tried to disengage myself from them to no avail.
“That’s a laugh. This from the woman who betrayed me.”
“Uh, guys—”
Lydia barked a laugh. “Right. As if you didn’t betray me first.”
“Um, if you guys let go, I—”
They glared at me and pulled at me from both sides.
Okay, maybe it was best if I just shut up.
Drake pointed a finger at Lydia. “I don’t know what bullshit you’ve made yourself believe, but you’re the one who sold me out to your boss for that promotion.”
I winced. Sounded kind of familiar.
Lydia stepped closer, getting in Drake’s face. “The only bullshit being shoveled around here is your innocent act. I don’t buy it for a second.”
As I was caught in the middle, it meant I was squashed between their chests. I’m sure a lot of men would have envied my spot against Lydia’s breasts, but I just wanted out. Now.
I tried to pry myself out but they yanked me back. So I sighed and decided to hold out for the duration.
“There’s nothing to buy,” Drake roared. “I don’t see how you can label me the guilty party in this farce when I was only ever culpable of loving you.”
Oooh. Points to Drake.
And at least the conversation was getting interesting. I looked up at Lydia to see what she was going to come back with.
“Ha!”
I nodded. Not very articulate, but certainly uttered with power.
“You never loved me.” Her eyes had gone squinty. “You loved the information I blithely told you about my employer.”
“I loved everything you told me!”
“I know,” she yelled. “Because it made stealing business from us that much easier.”
Drake got a disgusted look on his face. “I never once used the information you told me in confidence. You’re confusing me with yourself.”
“Liar.” She spat the word like it was venom. “I found out what you were doing—my boss told me. Did you really think you were so clever I’d never realize you were just using me? Just like you’re using her.” She pointed at me.
I batted my eyes and hoped I looked innocent.
“Leave Katherine out of this.” His words were halfhearted this time, as if he was working out complex equations. “What did your boss say about me?”
“Save the act, Viggo. You’ve gotten what you wanted. You know you’ve won.” She tipped her chin up. “You may be a hair from taking over Ashworth Communications, but you haven’t broken me.”
“I know,” he said softly. He let go of me and grabbed Lydia’s arm.
Whew. I flexed it to get the circulation going again.
“Lydia, tell me what your boss said.”
“Let go of me.”
He held her closer. “I never used anything you said to me, Lydia. He must have lied to you.” He gave her a wry grin tinged with sadness. “He wanted me out of business.”
She snorted (I know—I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t been there). “He had proof.”
“What kind of proof?” Drake asked gently.
Lydia opened her mouth, but she must have had a sudden realization because her eyes became so big I thought they were going to fall out of her head.
Drake nodded. “I thought so.”
She dropped my arm.
Yes! Freedom. I stepped away before they could grab me again. But I didn’t leave because I wanted to find out what happened. (Shrug. I can’t help it—I’m curious by nature.)
Lydia moaned. “I’m such a fool.”
(See—I would have missed that sterling admission if I’d left.)
“I can’t believe I let him convince me so easily.” Her eyes were stripped of their usual coldness, and for the first time I felt like she was an actual woman instead of a deity.
Drake ran a finger down the side of her face and then smoothed her hair back. “I’m still angry at you for believing I’d do that to you, but I understand why you did it. You were hurt.” He kissed her forehead. “Though I can’t believe how you’d think that of me. I loved you.”
She lowered her head.
Oh my God—was that a tear streaking down her cheek?
I clapped a hand over my mouth to keep from gasping out loud. But I was bursting at the seams. I could finally see the appeal of watching soap operas.
Drake lifted her chin. “The thing is, Lydia, I still love you. I came to destroy you as you destroyed me”—he smiled—“but I couldn’t do it. It’s you I want.”
Be still my heart. I sighed. This was so romantic.
Lydia’s brow wrinkled. “I thought you and Katherine—”
“It’s you I want,” he repeated. He pulled her to him and laid a big, wet one on her.
Disgusting. I wrinkled my nose. It was like watching your parents make out. Maybe worse. I snatched my purse and turned to leave.
Drake lifted his head and winked at me.
I closed the door behind me, trying not to think of what they might do on my desk, when I realized one thing. I looked back at the door as if I could see through it. Drake had blue eyes, a goatee, and an excellent job. Hell—he even had a dimple.
He
was the perfect sperm donor for Lydia.
I grinned. I had a feeling that was a project they’d take up as a joint venture.
Chapter Seventeen
Another thing that I realized, having witnessed Lydia and Drake’s reconciliation, was how easy it was to waste time. I mean, how many years had they wasted being lonely over a misunderstanding?
Not that I could be critical. Look at me: I’d wasted almost as much time. Stupid. I prided myself on my intellect—how could I be so dense?
And now it might be too late to make things right between Luc and me. What were the chances he’d take me back as a friend (anything more was too much to hope for after the way I’d treated him)? Slim to nonexistent, but I had to try.
I caught a cab and gave the driver an extra twenty to rush me to Luc’s loft. I felt a twinge of guilt—I shouldn’t have spent the money that way seeing as how I was about to become unemployed, but this was an emergency.
It was the most terrifying ride of my life. I told myself it was the way the cabby was weaving in and out of traffic, but I think it might have been my nerves.
We got there in record time. I ran the entire way from the cab to Luc’s home, almost slipping on the slick concrete in the hallway. But I arrived intact, if a little harried, and banged on his door.
Ow. I had to remember to stop doing that.
No answer.
Maybe he didn’t hear me.
“Luc!” I pounded with my foot this time, paying no heed to the damage to my shoe. A few scuffs on the leather were the least of my problems.
Still no answer.
I looked at my watch. Luc never scheduled appointments this early, so he wouldn’t be in his studio. That meant he wasn’t home. Or he was avoiding me.
I pursed my lips. Desperation made me reach into my purse and rifle for my spare key.
Found it. I was sticking it into the lock when the door was yanked open. Losing balance, I stumbled right into Luc’s damp, bare torso.
I gasped, putting my hands out to catch myself. Of course, the only place I had to hold on to was Luc’s chest.
Wow, it was firm. I couldn’t resist a few squeezes before looking up.
I lifted my gaze.
Mistake. Big mistake.
First, his attire—or lack of it—registered on my mind. The only thing he had on was a towel wrapped precariously low on his hips. He must not have heard me at the door because he was in the shower.
Gulp. If I looked that good in a towel, that’s all I’d ever wear.
Then I noticed his eyes and how they gazed at me coolly. Dispassionately. Not an ounce of caring in them.
Panic hit me.
The words
too late
resonated in my mind.
Involuntarily, my grip on him tightened. “I thought you weren’t home. I’m so glad you are.” I tried to smile.
He lifted a brow and untangled himself from me.
I waited for him to pull me in, to say something—anything. His silence was unnerving—he wasn’t quiet by nature.
But I finally realized he wasn’t going to venture anything. It was all up to me. Trying not to frown, I asked, “Can I come in?”
He shrugged and moved aside to let me in. I ignored the delicious, clean scent of him—and all that bare skin—and strode for the living room with purpose. I dropped my purse on the floor and began to pace.
How do I start this?
I guess he’d held his tongue long enough because he said, “I’m surprised to see you here. I would have thought you’d be—busy—this morning.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Work’s under control.”
“I didn’t mean work.”
“Oh.”
Busy
. I blushed at the thought of being busy with Drake. “Oh—um, no. I haven’t been
busy
in years.”
His glare called me a liar.
Well, he did see me getting out of bed with Drake, after all. But still, if he had any sense at all, he would have seen that for what it was—a diabolical plan for Drake to get Lydia back. And how could he think I’d sleep with Drake and still kiss him the way I did?
I put my hands on my hips. “You’re such an idiot.”
Oops. That wasn’t what I meant to say.
I cleared my throat. “I mean, I’m the idiot, and you were right.”
“Was I?” he asked coldly, folding his arms.
For once, I looked—really looked—at him and saw not someone who was being combative or stubborn but someone who was protecting himself.
I’d hurt him.
That insight was like a stab in my heart.
I dropped to the couch, my head in my hands. “I’m such a bitch.”
“No argument from me.”
I could tell he didn’t mean it, so I let it pass. I looked up. “I’m so sorry I didn’t see before.”
He didn’t say a word.
Gulp. There was no other course for me but to continue. “You know how I worked so much because I wanted to buy a house?”
He frowned. “Yeah?”
“Well, you know I did it because I never had a home growing up, right?”
He rolled his eyes. “I may not have taken psychology but I’m hardly brainless.”
I nodded and stood up. “I just didn’t understand one thing.”
He raised one brow.
“Home isn’t a place.” I stepped closer to him.
His gaze was still shuttered, but his arms relaxed a tiny bit.
I decided to take that as a sign, and I took another step closer so I was standing right in front of him. “Home is you.”
Then I socked him on the arm.
“Hey!” He scowled at me and rubbed the spot I’d hit. “What the hell?”
“That’s for letting me slave at work all those years and not telling me I was going about realizing my dream the wrong way.” I stood up on my toes and pointed a finger in his face. “Why didn’t you clue me in about this?”
“Would you have listened?” he asked softly.
“Probably not, but I never knew—” I shook my head. “I never knew how much I loved you.”
He just stared at me.
“You know.” I swallowed. “Not just in a platonic way, but
love
love.”
He didn’t say anything.
That’s when it struck me. My heart cried out and my eyes filled with tears I stubbornly held back. I hadn’t
really
believed it until this moment, but now it was impossible to deny. “It’s too late.”
Crying was futile. Besides, what did I expect? I’d pimped him out without regard for his feelings or realizing that he was doing it because he loved me. I deserved this.
“Okay.” I nodded and tried to smile. “I feel great now that I got that off my chest. Um, maybe—”
I wanted to say maybe he could call me sometime, but that was stupid. Head lowered, I stepped around him to get to the door. I needed out before I started to sob, because once I started I doubted I’d be able to stop anytime this century.
But Luc grabbed my arm.
Startled, I glanced up. His dear face was so close to mine that I blinked in surprise and adjusted my glasses to see him better.
“Do you mean it?” His voice was low and hoarse with emotion.
I wasn’t sure which part he was talking about, but since I meant every word of everything I’d said I nodded. “Yes.”
“What made you realize?”
I had the feeling he meant that I loved him. “When everything started going down the tubes and all I could think about was that I’d never hear you call me ‘squirt’ ever again.”
A slow grin bloomed on his face. “That’s love all right,” he said, and then he kissed me.
It was exploratory and hesitant, as if we were both afraid to disrupt the fragile bond reestablished between us. But then something changed and we were all over each other. Luc kissed me voraciously, and I returned it just as hungrily.
Panting, I broke away. “Did you know the tongue is the strongest muscle in the body?”
“Shut up, Kat.”
Before I could actually do as he so succinctly asked, he speared his fingers through my hair and took my mouth.
I’d never had my mouth taken before. It was a revelation—carnal, wet, and all encompassing. It was as if he was trying to imprint himself on me. A tattoo on my butt wouldn’t have been more effective.
Even with my attention focused on his lips and the way he was biting mine, I was aware that he’d pulled the pins from my hair and massaged my scalp with both hands. Heaven. I didn’t know whether to purr or tell him to get on with it.
Why wait for him to get on with it? I was a modern woman. So I placed my hands, which had been mostly flailing till this point, on his shoulders and groped my way down his arms, his chest, his abdomen, and back up.
His skin was soft underneath his chest hair. I brushed his nipples accidentally the first time, but the way they perked up and he gasped told me I’d discovered something important here.
I did it again, just with the tips of my fingers, to make sure.
Sure enough, Luc’s hands tightened in my hair. He broke away, breathing heavy. “Kat.”
I grinned and rolled my new discovery between my fingers. “This is neat.”
“This is torture. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting?” Before I could venture a guess, he picked me up and carried me upstairs to his bedroom, nibbling on my neck the whole time. No one had ever nibbled on my neck before, so I was quite distracted by the tingly sensations that shot up and down my spine.
He placed me on his bed and stood at the foot, hands on his hips like a conquering warrior. I did a slow perusal of his body.
Yikes. An excited conquering warrior. The towel around his hips had fallen somewhere along the way and he was completely naked. And tumescent. Very tumescent.
When Kevin and I had had sex, I’d never really gotten a decent look at his goods. We didn’t even completely undress. But there was no way Kevin was
that
big.
And the more I stared at Luc’s, the bigger it seemed to grow.
Sweat broke out on my forehead. My eyes glued to his equipment, I asked, “Did you know the average depth of a vagina is three to six inches?”
Grinning, he climbed on the bed, grabbed my shoes, and tossed them aside. “Don’t worry, Kat. We’ll fit.”
I frowned at him. “It doesn’t look like it.”
“I promise.” He reached under me and expertly had my skirt unzipped and down to my knees before I could blink.
I grabbed his hands. Suddenly I wasn’t so sure this was a good idea. I mean, I didn’t know what I was doing. What if he found me lacking? What if sex turned out to be as disappointing now as it had been with Kevin?
I cleared my throat. “Did you know that the modern psychiatric definition of a nymphomaniac is a woman who can’t experience sexual pleasure regardless of the number of partners she has?”
He smiled and dropped a kiss onto my lips. “That’s not something you’re going to have to worry about.”
Easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one who hadn’t had sex in years.
His hands tugged my skirt.
“Luc!” I held tight.
His eyes shined with lust and love and what looked like humor. “Yes, Katherine?”
Wow. I’d never heard anyone say my name quite like that. It made me melt on the inside.
Which gave him the opportunity to divest me of not only the skirt but my nylons and underwear, leaving me buck naked from the waist down.
Using both hands, I quickly covered myself from his hot gaze. “Um, Luc?”
His eyes traveled down my legs and back up to ground zero. I tried not to fidget but it was hard, especially since it felt so weird to still have on my suit coat and everything under it.
He didn’t seem to mind the clothes I had on. His gaze bypassed them and went straight to mine. “Kat, I heard somewhere that the tongue was the strongest muscle in the body.” And then he bent down, pushed my hands aside, and proved how strong his was.
“Oh. My.
God
.” I clutched the comforter on either side of me and hung on for dear life.
His tongue lapped slowly like he was trying to become familiar with the new terrain. Each exploratory lick had me gripping the bed even harder. In less time than I would have thought, I was close. Close, but not close enough.
I wiggled, trying to get his mouth in the right place. “Did you know the word ‘orgasm’ is Greek for ‘to be excited or lustful’?”
“Are you lustful, Kat?” he asked with a long swipe of his tongue.
“Um. Yeah.” I squirmed. Damn it, he missed again. Was he deliberately taunting me? “A little. I could be more.”
He did it again. “Are you telling me to get on with it?”
That’s one of the reasons I loved him so much—he understood me. I nodded politely—well, desperately, really. “Please.”

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