Unfinished Business (10 page)

“
Ideas
to celebrate the anniversary. The whole Management Group will be invited so you want them to be really great.”

Management Group?
“You mean Tony and Bob?”

Her lip curls in a most unbecoming way and her gaze goes flat. “No, the Management Group from Regional.”

Oh, right. Regional.
I pretend smile back at her.

I’ve only been at North Pointe Farms for about six weeks, so honestly, I have no idea what the hell she’s talking about. And the way she always assumes that I know what she’s talking about really bugs the shit out of me. That’s what I get for being a temp.

She pushes her keyboard away and leans toward me. “You’ll need to make a flyer too.”

Of course. A flyer for the
ideas
.

“But you probably don’t have the best software for that. So draw a mock-up on some scrap sheets of paper then when you have something about ready to go you can use my computer to transfer the
ideas
into something we can print up and pass out to the residents.”

Hmmmmmmmm.

I really wish she’d shut up because I have no clue what she’s talking about. One thing is crystal clear. There’s no point in asking any more questions, because if I do, I’m likely to get assigned yet another task, which I do not understand nor have the software for.

Tony is sitting on my desk when I get back to it. He’s wearing at least three gold chains and they are flashing across his chest like…well, like something, but I don’t know what.

“Mrs. Klonski is looking for you. She’s out by the pool.”

“Somebody trying to snatch Snickers again?”

“She didn’t say.”

Glad to have a reason to get some fresh air, I go out of the side door to hunt down Mrs. Klonski. She isn’t there. Bob is. He’s leaning on the iron fence that runs around the pool. I march over to him.

“What are you doing out of your booth?”

He frowns for a second then realizes I’m teasing him. “Tony said Mrs. Klonski was looking for me.”

“That’s weird. He told me the same thing.”

He shoves his fists into his pockets and spins on his heels. “Don’t see her anywhere around, do you?”

Just for fun, I spin on my heels. “Nope.”

He shrugs and backs toward the driveway. “If you see her, tell her I’m in my booth.”

I watch his square back sway a few times until he stops to add, “Big news about the anniversary celebration.”

Mr. Hastings has been at North Pointe ever since the glorious day when they nailed together his booth so I’m not surprised that he’s excited. “What have you heard about it?”

“Not all that much really. Mr. Neville says it’s going to be like the one they had at East Pointe Farms last year.”

“They?”

“The Management Group.”

“Regional?”

“Yep. Regional was there. I sat right next to the Junior Vice President. He was in charge of publicity. Management Group did all the arrangements for that one but Mr. Neville says we’re going to save a lot of money by having the celebration planned by regular staff.”

Or the temp.

Oh!
Ideas!
From Mr. Hastings?

Sure, why not? He’s got to have something better than my nothing.

All of a sudden I’m overcome by the urge to walk Bob Hastings back to his booth. So I do. He tells me about East Pointe’s giant garage sale and how great it was. Then he tells me about how a bunch of the residents got together and planted a perennial flower garden.

Mr. Hastings slips back into his booth. “It’s still there, Mr. Coleman tends it. He must be eighty-five if he’s a day. Good gardener. Beautiful lilies…”

I wait a minute, wondering if he’s going to say more but he doesn’t. He doesn’t even bother finishing that sentence before saying goodbye. I stroll back to the clubhouse—still no sign of Mrs. Klonski—wander to the kitchenette and start some coffee. Enjoying work is easier when awake.

* * * *

Later on, I’m at my desk, mulling over the stuff Mr. Hastings told me. Caroline has stepped out to check on the painting being done in one of the models and since she’s not asked me to do anything in particular, I start digging through the East Pointe Farms web page, trying to get more
ideas
.

“Are you aware of the fact that Mrs. Klonski is wandering around the pool looking for you?”

Crap! Caroline is a sneaky bitch.

Very smoothly, I lean forward, leading her to believe that she has my full attention. “She’s looking for me?”

“Yes. I told her you were inside. She has that damn dog with her so I made her wait out there. Would you please go see what she wants?” Upon making that gentle request, Caroline plants herself smack in the middle of the room and stares at me.

I smile at her, a bit stupidly, and ask her something I know she does not want to answer. “How’s the painting going?”

“How do you think it’s going? Those painting guys suck. You want to do something helpful? Find us some other painters.” She snarls as she heads to her office. “Take care of Mrs. Klonski, will you please? Before she brings that obnoxious dog into the clubhouse.”

I close the page and go outside to hunt down Mrs. Klonski. I walk around the pool. I even look behind the shrubs. Big surprise. She isn’t there. I step back inside and drop myself behind my desk.

* * * *

Nick is waiting for me when I get home, sitting on the stoop of my apartment building. He sees me coming and rolls to his feet. “Hey,” he says as he moves to stand beside me as I unlock the entrance door.

“Hi. Glad you could come.” It sounds lame but it’s true.

“Yeah. Me too.”

We go in and start up the stairs. There’s an odd tension in the air. Not bad. Intense. Like the snap in the air before a thunderstorm. I look over my shoulder to check if it’s just me who feels it and see that Nick is staring at my ass. I keep going up and he keeps staring, totally unaware that I’m watching him watch me. When we reach the landing he finally looks up and I can tell he knows that I know he’s been studying my ass.

After I smile, for a few seconds I wonder why I did but then I accept the truth. I like the way he was staring at me. He smiles back and my stomach does a little flip.

My hands shake as I slide the key in the lock and open the door.

Inside, I set my bag down, toss my keys to the floor then lock the door behind us. Neither of us says anything but that snap of electricity between us is so intense I can practically hear it humming.

Nick shrugs off his jacket. As it falls to the floor he grabs me. I wrap my arms around him and run my palms across his back.

The kiss isn’t anything like Clifford’s practiced seduction. He isn’t lifting me, bending me, or swinging me upside down like a rag doll. He slides his hands slowly and gently around my waist and holds me. The kiss starts out soft but turns firm pretty quick. It’s like he’s afraid he won’t be able to get enough of my mouth before I realize I’m making out with one of my best friends and pull back. I guess he doesn’t know I don’t want to pull back. About the time my heart is thumping in my chest and I really need a big gulp of air he lifts his mouth from mine and runs his lips down my neck. The warmth of his breath across my skin makes me tremble in the best possible way.

Still holding me, he backs me up to my couch and together we fall across it. He’s on top of me, pinning me down with his weight as he starts kissing me again, moving his mouth across mine as though I belong to him, as though he’s done it many times before. I settle in and give him what he wants and in turn get what I need. About the time my pussy is getting wet, he pushes his knees between my thighs and the hard ridge of his cock presses against my crotch. Even through the layers of clothes it’s fantastic.

I twist to the side, trying to get my arm free. He rolls with me. In a tangle of arms and legs we drop to the floor. After the hard thump, we both start laughing.

I look over at him. “What are we doing?”

He pulls me on top of him so that my thighs are spread across his waist. “Kissing.”

“Oh. Yeah.” I wiggle lower on his body so that I can feel his hard cock beneath me then drop down to start kissing him again. He reaches up to cup my breasts. My nipples tighten and my whole body starts to feel hot and quivery and needy. I rock against him, rubbing my body across that bulge.

And that’s when Nick lowers his hands. “We better stop.”

It takes me a couple of seconds to figure out what he’s saying. I don’t want to quit but I know what he means. He gets to his feet and picks up his jacket. I’m so dizzy from all that kissing and grabbing and rolling around that I let him walk right out of my door.

* * * *

Twenty minutes later, I’m smacking my pillow and wondering if this is some new pattern in my life—me lying in bed, staring at my plugged-in phone and wondering about what I’ve just done with a guy. Or in this case, didn’t do. Well, sort of did. I don’t know.

I flip over and look at the cracks in the ceiling. Comparing Clifford to Nick doesn’t really make sense. Nick is my friend. Friends aren’t supposed to do that sort of thing. Are they? Maybe just once? A one-time casual, no-strings-attached make-out session must’ve been what I needed. It was obviously okay with Nick.

I flip around again and gaze at my phone.

If I do send Nick a text, what would I say?

With a sigh, I squeeze my eyes shut and wait for sleep.

* * * *

Nick’s on his back and I’m straddling him, my bare ass pressing against his hard dick. My nipples, already stiff with lust, peak even tighter when he places his hands over my breasts. He squeezes them gently and I arch my back. His crooked smile is sinful, and seeing that look on his face makes me hotter and wetter but it also makes me want him to know I can be sweetly sinful too.

I wiggle backwards. Once I have myself settled between his thighs, I make a show of licking his cock. Giving him some slow, careful attention, I drag my tongue up his shaft over and over again. Once he gets totally hard, I slide his dick deep into my mouth and reach between his thighs to cup his balls and press my fingers ever so gently into his warm flesh.

He groans as he flexes his thighs to shove his tip further into my mouth. “Damn, you are so sexy.”

But of course I can’t reply because my mouth is full.

He rocks his hips up and down as I glide my mouth over him, making him wetter and to my amazement, even harder.

The first spurts of salty jizz drip onto my tongue and down the back of my throat. I can feel every motion of his body and I know I am the sole source of his attention. A sudden and consuming wave of power overcomes me, bringing my truly wicked side to the surface, and I lift my mouth up and look at his face. His eyes are closed but his mouth is open and he’s moaning softly. Seeing him that way sends an intoxicating thrill of possession racing through me. “Do you want me to finish?” I ask.

He opens one eye and moans louder. “You know I do.”

“Cause you need it?”

“Yeah. I need… I need you.”

When I remain silent and stay still he opens both eyes and looks at me, pleading and needy. “Suck my cock, Hayley, please?”

I grin and turn my attention back to his dick. As I begin sucking, I feel the tension in his body ease then build again, his muscles tensing until his body is completely mine. Then I roll back onto my heels and grin evilly at him. “What if I don’t finish?”

He grunts and lifts his head. “I’ll throw you down on his bed and fuck you until you feel as desperate as I do.”

I lift an eyebrow in question.

The next thing I know, I’m flipping through the air and landing flat on my back. Nick pins my shoulders to the bed and spreads my thighs with quick sweeps of his knees. This isn’t the tender, gentle Nick who kissed my stomach and squeezed my ass. This Nick is dark and demanding and is making me quiver in ways I never knew I could. I’m helpless with lust and need and so ready to have his cock inside me I’m whimpering.

He lowers his hips until the tip of his cock brushes my thigh. “Want me to finish?”

“God yes.”

“But I haven’t even started?”

I shove one of his arms away and grab his leg, pulling him on top of me. He grunts and adjusts his body so his cock begins to enter my wet pussy. He enters me quickly, filling me completely. Slow, easy thrusts give way to quick hard ones. Within seconds I’m grinding against him, clawing at his back and gasping for air.

My body tightens, stiffening as the fierce climax takes hold. He’s pumping faster and faster, working himself, and me, into lusty dizziness. From there, my thoughts disappear as the explosion of pleasure squeezes the last of my control and I let Nick possess me until we are both spent and gasping to catch our breaths.

Chapter Twelve

M&Ms, Pop Rocks, and Other Cool Kid Candies

We’re at Fairlane Fabulous where Scotty is showing Josie a new highlighting process he learned at a hair show in Atlanta. Riana is the guinea pig/client. I’m holding a Diet Coke with one hand and flipping through
InStyle
with the other.

Riana looks so completely crazy that I know her hair is either going to look—

a) Fantastic

Or b) Like hell.

Knowing Scotty, it’ll be fantastic. But at the moment it is a mess of plastic pipes and foil.

“This,” Scotty is saying as he points to the crazy bits of foil crisscrossing the top of Riana’s head, “is the main thing you have to watch out for. The foil pieces must not overlap more than a quarter inch.” He looks at Josie’s face. “Don’t give me any of your ‘I’m math challenged’ bullshit. Even you can tell how much a quarter inch is. See?” He points down with his pinky. “That. That’s a quarter inch. Got it?”