Steal: A Bad Boy Romance (4 page)

“As
you wish.” I stood and offered her my hand. “Shall we?”

It
was no accident that my remarkable bulge was at her eye height when standing.
She couldn’t have possibly missed it and the long pause before she took my hand
was telling.

CHAPTER
5

~ K
AT
~

The date had gone so much better
than I’d expected. The gliding, the talking… the making out! It was enough to
make a sexually frustrated and stressed-out career woman smile all morning.

Dreams
the night before had comprised long periods of weightlessness and soaring in
James’ arms. Once awake, it seemed so stupid, but while caught in their web it
had been the most comforting sensation in the world. Even if it made me feel
like a desperate spinster.

They’re just stupid dreams. They
mean nothing.

The
initial warnings I’d felt about James hadn’t been justified yet, but they were
still there, nagging at the back of my mind that something didn’t feel quite
right. Sure, he could be crass, but there was no sign he would turn into the
controlling, cheating, entitled asshole that so many of my exes had morphed
into.

Maybe he’s safe to date. Maybe.

Part
of me yearned for what he offered. And what he
had
offered, yesterday. All it would have taken was a little
three-letter word and I could have been wined and shown whether James could
back up all the confident, sexual swagger he exuded. Based on what I felt when
grinding up on him and saw afterward, size wouldn’t be an issue.

Involuntary
visions overcame me of lying back and feeling his strong body above mine,
filling me, driving me crazy with lust and passion. He would be dominant and
overwhelming in bed—there was no doubt in my mind. Fantasies about what
he might do floated through my mind like scenes on a projector. Just the
thought of finally getting action flooded my panties with need.

I
shook my head. Daydreaming about it wouldn’t turn things around in my work
life, and that demanded my focus and attention. Otherwise I’d find myself out
of a job with a black mark on my reference sheet. It was a good thing I’d
turned him down—I couldn’t afford to waste too much time chasing a
relationship that would undoubtedly end in heartbreak.

As
a high-level manager within the
startup
, I was one of
only five employees with an actual office that had full walls and a door. The
rest sat in a large open-concept working space to promote teamwork and
cohesiveness according to the latest office design paradigm. It did nothing to
help endear me to my colleagues.

My
desk phone rang with the interoffice chime, and I didn’t need to look to see
who it was. There was only one person in the small office who used the phone to
call instead of simply walking to the intended recipient’s desk.

“Yes,
Nick?”

“Katherine.
I hope you’ve had a productive morning. Could you please come and see me when
you get a chance?”

Hard-won
experience had taught me that “when I got a chance” always meant
immediately
. Nothing was more important
than answering Nick’s questions and concerns.

“Sure,
I’ll be right there.”

I
sighed and gathered myself for another encounter with my boss, the CEO of
ARCANE. Even short meetings were exhausting with the man who insisted on
micromanaging every detail of the company and radiated an extraordinary level
of sleaze.

Gathering
my notebook and pen, I locked the computer and left my office. Nick’s was in
the corner, only three offices away and twenty steps total.

I
knocked once on the door before I cracked it open. “You wanted to see me?”

“Yes,
Katherine, come in. And shut the door behind you.”

The
door settled into place with a quiet click, and the general office noise
outside faded away. I’d noticed how well soundproofed Nick’s office was the
first time I’d entered it. There was something odd about it. His windows always
had the curtains drawn.

“Take
a seat,” Nick said. He gestured to the round meeting table in the corner of the
office and stood up from his desk to join me there.

There
wasn’t anything off about Nick’s appearance, but there were several subtle
behavioral
things that made me uncomfortable. It took a
while to notice—I had noticed none of it the first time I’d met him and
he offered me the job.

He
had an unpleasant sneer when someone said something he didn’t like. It wasn’t
obvious, and it only appeared for a split second. It was easy to blink and miss
it.

Then
there was the way he held himself. It was clear he thought he was above
everyone else—his employees, his customers, even his investors. He always
wore a haughty expression, and every time someone else spoke in his presence he
could barely wait for them to finish before pointing out the ways they were
wrong.

“The
quarterly results have been compiled,” Nick said.

Bile
rose at the back of my throat. I’d dreaded the numbers—they couldn’t be
good. Not with the metrics I had access to.

“It’s
safe to say you’ve had a disastrous start here at ARCANE. Would you mind
telling me what the fuck you think you’re doing?”

“Uh…”
I struggled to frame the explanations I’d spent half the week preparing for
when this inevitable moment came. “To be fair, Nick, I only just got here three
weeks ago. And it’s taken a lot of time to get a feel for the company, the
systems, the team. I don’t think the numbers accurately reflect what I can do
for ARCANE. The marketing team suffered under no clear direction for two months
before I arrived; it’s impossible to turn things around immediately.”

They
were important points. Salient, even. That didn’t mean Nick had to be
reasonable about it. The micromanaging prick.

“I
don’t fucking care if the position was empty for a day or a year before you got
here,” he said. He leaned forward as if he had to be even more threatening than
he already was. “This is your mess, and you are responsible for what happens
under your watch. Is that understood?”

I
swallowed my tongue. “Yes, Nick.”

His
expression softened, something I’d never seen before and didn’t know how to
read. “All that matters is that everything comes out okay in the end. Do you
know what I mean?”

“Of
course. I’ll do everything I can to turn things around. I’m going to make sure
that this is the best quarter ever.”

I
wasn’t sure if I could keep that promise, but I would say anything to get out
of the office with my job intact.

“Either
the numbers turn around, or you do.” His eyes bored into mine.

“Excuse
me?”

“Come
on, Katherine. Why do you think I hired you? You have no experience, but you
have a great ass and maybe the best dick-sucking lips I’ve seen since college.”
Nick leaned forward and grabbed my hand to put it on his thigh. “So long as you
keep me happy one way or the other, we don’t have a problem here.”

I
stood up and backed away, almost knocking over the chair. The taste of bile was
back, but this time for a different reason.

He wants me to fuck him to keep
my job!

“I’m
not that kind of woman,” I said. “I don’t sleep with men to get ahead in my
career.”

Nick’s
jaw jutted out. “Is that right? Maybe you should start, Katherine. You’re on
thin ice, and this is the easiest path to success you’ll find.”

I
shuddered at the thought. It wasn’t worth it, especially with Nick. The
repulsion I’d felt for him before doubled now that this side of his character
had revealed itself.

“I
can’t do that. I won’t do that. It’s degrading.”

I
wanted to slap him, but he had a dangerous look in his eye that told me I
didn’t want to find out what his response would be.

“If
you won't get on your knees like the office slut I hired you to be, then you
better hope you have one fucking hell of an amazing quarter,” he said. “If it’s
anything less than the best quarter ARCANE’s ever had, you’re gone and I’ll
find someone for the position who’s more… flexible.”

It
sounded enough like a dismissal that I took the excuse to flee, almost
forgetting to grab my notebook. I scooped it up on my way out of the office.

A
barrage of sound greeted me as I opened the door.

Now I know why that creep has
his office soundproofed.

I
couldn’t help but wonder what went on behind that door when closed with
the curtains drawn. Had any of the women at the office fallen into his trap
and submitted to him to keep their jobs? It was a disgusting thought.

On
shaky legs, I retreated to my office and closed the door. Unlike in Nick’s, I
could still hear the buzz of the active office. The embrace of the cushy
leather desk chair was the only thing that offered any comfort.

I have to increase our numbers
from the worst quarter ARCANE’s ever recorded to the best. That’s a tall order.

If
only I had questionable ethics. It was times like this that forced women to
compromise their morals in the office. Men never had to worry that one day
their job would depend on whether they were willing to take a load from their
boss. The disparity was stupid, archaic, but all too real.

Fuck.

CHAPTER
6

~ J
AMES
~

Major in business with a focus on marketing from Berkeley.

Kat
had followed her plan to become a business major. We’d talked about the future
a lot as kids, and some of those convictions had obviously stuck.

And some hadn’t.

Several
of her public Facebook photos showed her with beer in hand, face flushed from
the alcohol, surrounded by many people at what appeared to be a massive college
party. So much for the pledge to never take up drinking we’d made at twelve
years old, when I’d struggled to support her through her mother’s alcoholism.

Not that I kept my half of that
pledge, either.

After
knowing Kat so intimately for the first sixteen years of her life, it was
strange watching the time since like a voyeur, an outsider to hundreds of
stories she may not even recall the details to anymore.

Kat’s
Instagram
curated her
favorite
moments from the past four years. Beaches were a constant theme, along with the
occasional gym
selfie
. There were a slew of pictures
of a sail boat trip somewhere with stunning blue waters and clear skies.

I’d
avoided the urge to look her up for so long—breaching that dam flooded
parched earth in my soul. Hours passed as I flicked through every piece of
online presence she had.

“You’re
fucked.”

I
jumped at the voice behind me. Addison leaned against the doorframe, arms
crossed over her chest and luxurious, dark red tresses curling around her elfin
face.

“I
am not. How long have you been standing there?”

“Long
enough to see you unable to do anything but stare at her.” Addison pointed her
chin at the computer screen. Kat held a tiny monkey no bigger than her fist in
her palm, a wide grin splitting her face as she gave a thumbs-up to the camera.

I
slammed the lid of the laptop closed. “I’m just researching her. Finding out
what makes her tick these days.”

“Bullshit.
You’re satisfying a teenage fantasy you’ve held onto for over a decade.”

I
let all expression fade away and cocked my head—the benefit of long
practice at hiding my feelings. I could present whatever face was most
beneficial to my goal at the moment.

“That
comes later. The plan hasn’t changed, Addison. Kat means nothing to
me—she hasn’t for a very long time. She hasn’t even recognized me yet,
and she won’t.”

Addison
pursed her lips. “I still don’t like it. You don’t have to fuck her, you know.
We can pull the con without that.”

The
suggestion almost made me lose my composure. Part of the reason for doing this
job was the opportunity to finally fuck Kat and prove I was more than man
enough for her. And then get the satisfaction of humiliating her the way she’d
humiliated me.

“It’s
central to the plan. If I don’t have that piece, then I won’t have the access
we need to ARCANE.”

Addison
rolled her eyes. “You’d find a way. Hell, you could talk a snake into
befriending a mongoose. You could talk to Nick directly and persuade him to
hand you the keys to his kingdom.”

I
nodded to acknowledge the compliment, but it didn’t change my mind. “This is
how it’s happening, Addison. Everything is laid out how it needs to
go, we just have to follow the strategy and the jackpot is ours.”

She
shrugged. “Fine. Have it your way. It’s your job. I’m just here for my cut. If
you want to fuck the girl, then fuck the girl. Just don’t let it fuck up the
plan.”

Addison
turned on her heel and left the room. I couldn’t resist watching her go. We’d
met through mutual acquaintances a few years ago, and what started as a torrid
affair turned into a platonic working relationship. We were each the best at
what we did and made a natural duo.

I need to call Kat.

The
timing was just about right—she should still be riding off the endorphin
rush from the date the night before, and the associated brain chemicals would
make her susceptible to influence.

Manipulating
people was an art, and I was Michelangelo.

The
phone rang twice before she answered.

“Hello?”

“Hey,
Kat.” I let my voice rumble more than the norm, a little deeper to help
stimulate her memories of the date and the way she’d felt grinding on me. “I’ve
been thinking about you.”

“Oh,
James. It’s good to hear from you.” Her voice was shaky, as though she’d just
learned her dog died.

I
winced and changed my strategy. “Are you all right, Kat? You sound like you
haven’t had the best day.”

She
laughed—a short and
humorless
acknowledgement
of the truth. “That’s a mild way of putting it.”

I
burned to know, but asking her about it wouldn’t serve my purposes. I didn’t
want her to think of me as a confidant. She had to view me as the antidote.
Given the things she’d told me already, it was almost guaranteed to be
work-related.

“Why
don’t you let me take you out on the town tonight and get your mind off it? I
have a few friends that could set us up with excellent reservations at a new
wine bar. A classy evening for you to unwind.”

“That…
that actually sounds nice,” Kat admitted. “I feel bad using you as a
distraction from my regular life.”

Trust me, I’m using you far more
than you’re using me.

I
injected heat into my voice. “You can use me however you wish. Don’t be
surprised if I use you in return.”

Her
lip bite was almost audible, and I could picture it clearly as I waited for her
response.

“Damn.
Okay, you win. Want me to meet you somewhere?”

“No
need,” I said. “I’ll pick you up around seven.”

“That
sounds great. I’m looking forward to it, James.”

It
sounded like a promise.

I
hung up the phone and leaned back in the chair, eyes on the ceiling.

Damnit
.

Her
shaken voice had gotten to me—I wanted to hold her until the pain went
away. That was bad—very bad.