Wicked Heat (8 page)

Zoe waved away her concern. “Minor detail. Now start talking.”

Allegra didn’t have many friends, and she thanked the Lord every day for Zoe. She
could always count on her bubbly, extroverted BFF to make her feel like her life wasn’t
incredibly boring. Usually, Allegra was the one listening in rapt attention to Zoe’s
exploits. It was a rare day indeed when their roles reversed.

“I met someone at LAX.” Allegra popped the top off two mineral waters and handed one
to Zoe. “Nice guy.”

“Nice guys don’t put that kind of look on your face.” Zoe’s eyes narrowed a second
before she squealed. “Oh my God. You hooked up on the plane?”

Allegra couldn’t hide her smirk behind the bottle as she took a swig.

“This is unbe-freaking-lievable!” Zoe bounced up and down on the sofa like she had
ants in her pants. “How hot must this guy be to get you to join the mile-high club?”
Zoe rubbed the icy bottle across her brow. “And when do I get to meet him?”

“You don’t. You’re here to work, remember?”

“So are you, considering the company is down the wazoo, but that hasn’t stopped you.”
Zoe raised the bottle in her direction. “I’m proud of you, sweetie.”

Allegra enjoyed Zoe’s lighthearted teasing, but the moment she’d mentioned the company,
her amusement faded. No way, no how would she lose AW. And that meant scoring a pitch
with Kai Kaluna and nailing it.

“I’ll tell you more later if you bring me up to date with the Kaluna file.”

The twinkle in Zoe’s eyes faded as she set down her mineral water and unzipped the
portfolio bag beside her. “It’s all in here. I’ve compiled a breakdown of each resort’s
strengths and weaknesses, past advertising campaigns, and the direction other similar
resorts are taking.”

“That’s impressive, Zo-Zo, thanks.” Allegra accepted the stack of documentation Zoe
dumped in her arms. “I read through the stuff you e-mailed me, too. Great work.”

“Would be better work if we secured this pitch.” Zoe fired up her iPad, swiped her
finger across the screen, and brought up a few websites. “These are the advertising
firms we’re probably going up against. A compilation of the best of the best that
a tycoon like Kai would go for. Pretty impressive competition.”

“We can beat them,” Allegra said, not surprised to see Jett missing from the list.
From what he’d said, he’d had a buddy pull strings and was pitching solo, not representing
his company—considering it didn’t exist anymore.

Guilt insinuated its way into her conscience again. What this would do to him if AW
won the campaign… She wished there were some way they could both get what they wanted…
The moment the thought popped into her head she wanted to kick herself.

This wasn’t one of her easily fixable scenarios, when she could look after her neighbor’s
cat for a week or buy several boxes of Girl Scout cookies so the kid down the road
could go to camp.

She couldn’t help Jett secure this campaign, and even if she did come up with some
brilliant way to offer assistance beyond changing her pitch, she couldn’t risk sabotaging
her own chance at winning.

No, she couldn’t afford to lose sight of the bigger picture: if she didn’t land the
Kaluna campaign, her business was finished and the faith Zoe had placed in her by
investing in the company from the start would be shattered.

It would irk her, losing her own money, but losing Zoe’s? Uh-uh, she’d do anything
to ensure that didn’t happen, including beating the guy who physically rocked her
world.

“Did you manage to arrange a meeting with Kai?”

Allegra nodded. “We need to get suited up and ready to go in ninety minutes.”

Zoe’s mouth dropped open. “Do you have anything to show him besides our dazzling smiles?”

“I ditched my earlier ideas and came up with a new concept.” She hadn’t been able
to sleep last night, what with having to come up with a new pitch out of necessity,
and with the secret of not telling Jett weighing heavily. She’d almost blurted out
that her company was going up against him several times.

But he’d physically distracted her and the moment had been lost. A good thing, too,
because no way would she have had the night she had if she’d blabbed. Which only served
to increase her guilt. Having sensational sex had temporarily clouded her brain but
once the post-orgasmic haze wore off, she was back to feeling crappy for keeping the
truth from him.

They would be rivals, pitching for their respective livelihoods. Not exactly what
she’d envisioned for a no-holds-barred, weeklong fling. Pillow talk should consist
of sexy banter, not heavy business declarations. If she wanted to maintain a clear
focus and not overly complicate matters, she needed to keep the two separate for the
length of her stay.

“Can I see?”

“Sure.” Allegra pulled a few files up on her iPad and handed it to Zoe. “These resorts
are high-end luxury all the way. Couple-focused. Intimate. So we’re going with the
sexy angle.”

“I like it.” Zoe’s eyes lit up. “They already offer romance packages and cool stuff
like the Kink Kit. This takes it a step further.”

“Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Did you use it?” Zoe’s sly grin turned positively evil. “Is your mystery stud-muffin
into a little bondage? Maybe a spanking or two?”

“We’re more vanilla than whipped cream,” Allegra said, quite liking the idea of tying
Jett up and having him at her mercy. In fact, she had every intention of peeking into
that kit and seeing what she could use to push the boundaries. Being lucky enough
to have a chance to explore her long-suppressed sexuality, she wanted to make it count.

Zoe screwed up her nose. “Bor-ing.”

“Trust me, there’s nothing remotely boring about Jett.”

“Aha. The stud-muffin has a name.”

Damn. Allegra hadn’t meant that to slip out.

“So does Jett live up to his name and fire on all cylinders like a jet engine?”

Allegra groaned. “That’s a woeful pun.”

“Whatever.” Zoe shrugged. “But if you’re not using that kit, once we’ve secured this
campaign, maybe I can put it to good use.”

“What happened to the dildo model? And Jose, the flutist?”

Zoe made a gagging sound. “Jose was obsessed with the flute in his pants but had no
idea how to play it. Same with Dildo Dick.”

Allegra laughed. She could never keep track of Zoe’s guys but enjoyed hearing her
friend’s acerbic take on their shortcomings.

“So you’re single again and loving it?”

“Yep.” Zoe rubbed her hands together. “Ready to find me a real man this time, one
who’s up for some hot island nights.”

Allegra was in favor of a little hot-island-night action, too.

But first, she had a presentation to nail.

…

Two hours later, Allegra and Zoe had traded their power suits for swimsuits and were
lounging at the poolside bar, sipping celebratory mai tais.

Not that Allegra was jumping ahead of herself, but securing an opportunity to pitch
to Kai Kaluna for the resorts’ advertising was a major get.

“Did you see the way he sat forward when we mentioned using the sex angle to sell
the resorts?” Zoe stabbed at a floating strawberry with a cocktail stick. “We had
him eating out of our hands.”

Allegra nodded, more circumspect in her assessment of the situation. “Yeah, but he
wasn’t overly enthusiastic about the prelims.”

“That’s because we haven’t sexed them up enough.” Zoe sipped at her cocktail, her
beguiling mix of innocent pixie—wide brown eyes, spiked caramel-tipped brown hair,
and elfin features—and badass attitude evidenced in her skimpy gold bikini, squared
shoulders, and lush, glossed mouth, drawing interested gazes from groups of guys clustered
around the bar. “Men like sex. Kai Kaluna’s no different.”

Now that Allegra had met the man, she wasn’t so sure. “For a Fortune 500 billionaire
with resorts in the hot spots around the world, he seemed pretty reserved.”

Zoe rolled her eyes. “Trust me. All guys have sex on the brain. If we make Kai’s resorts
look like
the
place to be to indulge in a little afternoon delight, he’ll lap it up and people
will flock.”

“Hope you’re right.” Allegra raised her glass. “We have two days to make the pitch
of our lives.”

“I’ll drink to that.” Zoe clinked glasses with Allegra’s a moment before she felt
the heat of someone standing too close behind her.

“Celebrating?” Jett ducked down to place a kiss on her neck and a shiver of pleasure
rippled through her. Pleasure soon tempered by a frisson of fear with the dawning
realization that she hadn’t warned Zoe not to say anything about their pitch in case
they ran into Jett.

“Something like that,” Allegra said, shooting Zoe a warning glare as her friend held
out her hand.

“You must be Jett.”

He shook Zoe’s hand and nodded. “Pleased to meet you…?”

“Zoe Keaton.” Zoe held Jett’s hand a fraction too long. “And I’m very pleased to meet
you.”

Jett laughed as he extracted his hand. “So you’re the lady I need to thank for that
lingerie?”

Zoe winked. “And don’t forget the Kink Kit.”

Allegra groaned while Jett slid an arm around her waist from behind and chuckled in
her ear. “I like her.”

“Most men do,” Allegra said, her dry response garnering a blown kiss from Zoe.

“My friend here’s jealous because she’s such a control freak wrapped up in her work
she rarely has time for fun. Whereas, me?” Zoe crooked her finger and leaned forward,
like she was about to impart some grand secret. “Fun is my middle name.”

While Allegra couldn’t see Jett’s expression, she could imagine his puzzlement as
he glanced between the two of them, assessing how different they were.

Allegra had always felt like the staid, boring counterpart to Zoe’s outgoing vivaciousness
when they’d socialized in college. She’d watch the guys dote on Zoe while she faded
into the background, maintaining the cool, aloof exterior she’d honed to a fine art
since childhood.

Not that she was deliberately rude or cold; she just never put herself out there like
Zoe did. The few guys who approached would trade small talk and flirt a little, but
she’d been so useless at flirting back they soon left her alone.

Which was how she’d been for most of her life. Alone. Independent. In control. Just
the way she liked it.

The only time she’d remotely felt like losing control was the few times she’d dropped
her guard around the guy currently snuggling into her from behind.

“How do you two know each other?” Jett asked, and Allegra tried not to stiffen.

Before Zoe could blab the sorry truth, Allegra rushed in. “Zoe’s my best friend and
work colleague. She came out here to see if I was doing okay after the wedding fiasco.”

Jett whistled. “Wish I had a mate watching my back. Good for you, Zoe.”

Confusion creased Zoe’s brow and Allegra gave a slight shake of her head, trying to
convey a lot with one direct stare.

Thankfully, Zoe seemed to cotton on to the need for secrecy and nodded in return.
“Yep, that’s me, the numero uno BFF.”

Zoe downed the rest of her cocktail. “Who at this very minute has a date at the day
spa.” She slipped off the barstool. “See you later, kiddos. Behave.”

With a wink and wave, Zoe sauntered away, drawing the appreciative stares of every
guy in the place.

Allegra elbowed Jett in the gut, grinning at his oomph.

He released her to rub at his stomach. “What was that for?”

“For staring at Zoe’s ass.”

He was too smart to refute it. “You already know I’m a red-blooded male. No harm in
looking.”

She stood, turned, and laid a hand on his shoulder. “If you want to look at something,
I’ve got something to show you.”

“Have you now?” His arm slid around her waist and tugged her close. “Because you know
I’m up for checking out whatever you have to show me, but it’ll have to be later.”

It was then that she noticed his chinos and long-sleeved button-down white shirt.
Casual work attire, not island play attire.

“You’ve got a meeting?

“Uh-huh. Kai Kahuna rang me, and wants to get together for a quick chat.”

Allegra’s heart stopped. At least, that’s what it felt like, before it kick-started
with a
ka-thump
and started racing at a million beats a minute.

Surely Kai wouldn’t divulge the competition to Jett. Not possible, considering that’s
not how business worked in the advertising world, but for the agonizing moment she’d
contemplated it, Allegra couldn’t breathe.

This would be so much easier if she could tell him the truth. All of it. How she’d
changed her pitch to not compete directly with his. How she wished they could both
get what they wanted. How for the first time in her life she was enjoying relinquishing
control a little—albeit in the bedroom—and relishing an intimacy she’d never had.

But she couldn’t say any of it so she patted his chest. “No worries. You go work,
and we’ll catch up later.”

“You sure?” A shadow darkened his eyes. “Feels like you’re sitting around at my beck
and call, waiting for whatever scraps I can dish out when I have the time.”

Blown away by his thoughtfulness, Allegra cupped his cheek. “I’m under no illusions
as to what this is. A fling that’s mutually beneficial for us both while it lasts.”
Her palm shifted and she savored the rasp of stubble against it. “So don’t feel guilty
about working. Do what you have to do.”

She stood on tiptoe to brush a kiss across his lips. “And when you’re done, I’ll be
waiting.”

His gaze locked on hers and what she saw snatched her breath: admiration tinged with
something more she dare not identify for fear of reading too much into it.

Jett was transient, a rare moment of unadulterated pleasure in her otherwise ordered
world, but seeing the depth of emotion in that one revealing stare had her questioning
her own belief system in a way that terrified her.

He cleared his throat and stepped back, the intimacy of the moment broken. “Okay,
I’ll see you later.”