He had also failed to cancel his dinner date with Ashley. She had texted him earlier to let him know that she was picking up the ingredients for spaghetti and would be cooking for him at the penthouse tonight. She knew that was one of his favorite meals and after all of her trouble, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to cancel on her. After all, they were friends first and foremost. He had alternated between feeling like he was cheating on Mia for having dinner with Ashley and feeling pissed at himself. They had had sex once. There was no relationship. Sure, he was going to see her again tomorrow night, but there was nothing exclusive between them. Maybe he needed to see Ashley to drive that point home. This thing with Mia was messing with his head and he was tired of it. He didn’t want to feel anything for her other than lust. Sex was something he understood, and the sooner things were back on that track, the better. Maybe Ashley’s visit couldn’t have come at a better time.
Chapter Eleven
Mia slathered lotion all over her body. Her workday had ended just an hour ago and she had rushed home as soon as she had finished her final task. She had phoned Hank to let him know that the job at the Oceanix was complete. Seth had been out of the office when she left so it had been easy enough to leave without him knowing. Nick Merimon would officially contact him tomorrow to let him know that the work was complete. If Mia had her way, Nick would only reach Seth’s voicemail.
She opted for a short skirt with a slinky halter top. She thought he would appreciate being able to live out his fantasy of bending her over and pulling up her skirt. Truth be told, that had been on her mind every day while she was working. She couldn’t remember ever being in such an almost constant state of arousal as she had for the last few weeks. As much as she loved her job with Danvers, she had been tempted to ignore Hank’s warning and throw caution to the wind. Her nipples throbbed against the lace of her demi bra as she imagined his hands on her body again. Even her thong rubbing against her clit was almost enough to send her over the edge.
She had no idea what Seth’s schedule was this evening. The private elevator to the penthouse of the Oceanix Resort opened into the foyer with a view of the living room. The elevator code had remained the same during their three weeks of work there. She was slightly nervous about dropping in on him unexpectedly, but she hoped that it would be a surprise he would love. Everything about their relationship so far had been spontaneous and she wanted to keep it that way. She stepped into a pair of black heels and took one more look in the mirror before turning to grab her purse and keys. This was it, the wait was finally over.
Seth was in over his head and he wasn’t sure what to do about it. Had Ashley always been this aggressive and he just hadn’t noticed? Despite his obvious lack of encouragement, her tongue had been in his mouth once and her hands had wandered over his cock at least three times. Fuck, now her foot was running up his leg from across the table. If he thought not sitting right beside her would deter her, he was sadly mistaken. And if he didn’t know better, he would swear she had at least four pairs of feet and hands. He had known he was in trouble when she announced that she was finished with acting and planning to move back east. It seemed obvious that she was now looking for more than friends with occasional benefits.
He wasn’t sure how he was going to deal with her when he no longer had the semi-protection of the dinner table between them. They had been friends for a long time and he hated to hurt her feelings, but he wasn’t sure how else to handle it. He wouldn’t have been interested in a relationship with her even if Mia weren’t in the picture. Dating her in school had been enough to show him that they didn’t have much common ground outside of good sex. He had always enjoyed her company, but tonight, he didn’t even feel like he knew the Ashley who had shown up at his door. This one seemed to have an agenda and he had a bad feeling he was it. His brothers had dealt with their share of women wanting them for the Jackson family money, but that was something he had never come across. Ashley was from a well-off family, so surely this wasn’t prompted by that. Biological clock ticking? She was barking up the wrong tree either way.
When dinner was over, he made a show of yawning. He gave her a sheepish look saying, “Sorry, it’s been a long day and I’m wiped out.” When she settled down close beside him on the couch, he knew that the not-too-subtle hint had rolled right over her head. Her hand was once again back on his thigh. His cock didn’t seem to be able to tell when his head was into it or not. Ashley had her hand close enough to feel the sudden interest of the traitor in his pants. The situation was becoming awkward in a hurry. He grabbed her wrist as it connected with his zipper, halting her at least temporarily. He used his other hand to pick up the television remote and the sounds of ESPN soon filled the room. He gave her a bright smile saying, “You don’t mind if I catch the scores, do you?”
Ashley puckered her lips into a pout. Before he knew what was happening, she had hooked a leg over his hips and was straddling his lap. In seconds, the short dress that she was wearing was over her head and lying in the floor. Holy shit! There was no bra in sight. Her perfectly erect nipples were now even with his mouth, and his cock was going crazy beneath her firm bottom. She rubbed seductively against him as she lowered her head to whisper in his ear, “Forget the scores, the bases are loaded. It’s your swing.”
Seth knew he lost control for a few seconds before he managed to get it together. As a guy, having the sensory overload of a naked female in your lap pushing every button that you have was something damn hard to regroup from. Her hands on his cock finally jolted him enough to pull back and at what he saw when he did, ice ran straight through his veins. Mia stood in the entryway of the living room looking at him in horror. His mind was frantically buzzing, trying to piece together how she could be here to witness what was no doubt a damning scene. He pushed Ashley’s hands roughly away from him, sitting her none too gently on the couch beside him. Possibly that hadn’t been a great move since Mia couldn’t miss Ashley’s exposed breasts now. She was still staring at him, but her feet were carrying her backward as if she couldn’t look away from the train wreck long enough to turn around and flee. He got to his feet, ignoring Ashley’s questions as he made his way toward Mia.
He was afraid she would run before he reached her, but she had stopped, waiting for him. The confident woman that he was used to looked more like a confused child, causing something inside of him to clench in remorse. “Mia, honey, what are you doing here?” Yeah, shit, that didn’t sound guilty at all.
“I . . . we finished early. I wanted to surprise you tonight. I . . . did, didn’t I?”
He took her arm, gently saying, “This isn’t what it looks like. She . . . um . . . caught me off guard. It wasn’t going any further.” Ashley’s roar of outrage rang off the walls of his apartment and seemed to snap Mia out of her trance.
She jerked her arm out of his and gave him a look of such contempt that he flinched. “Do me a favor and don’t lie to me. I’m sure you fully planned to sleep with her tonight and with me tomorrow night.” She laughed a laugh devoid of humor. “You know, I had actually started to believe the last few weeks that you were someone of substance. I pushed myself and the entire team to finish early because I thought there was something . . . more between us. Thanks for the wake-up call.”
Seth felt her words flaying him. Despite the anger now radiating off her in waves, he could see tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. “Mia . . .”