[Bianca]
I was easily the most high strung person on the rooftop as I stood in the middle of a crowd of people living their best lives. The music pumping through the air was on point and sweaty strangers were rubbing up against each other without a care in the world.
"Not the most practical place to meet, is it?" I yelled over the music, when Harmon finally appeared. "Especially considering the serious nature of our little problem," I continued, following after him as he glided through the crowd effortlessly.
Battery. Theft. The charges that the slimy reporter from last night could bring up against us were piling up by the second. The only thing that made me feel even a tad better was that we managed to snag his phone. At least I was spared the nightmare of an indecent exposure scandal. My heart couldn't take another one of those. Now what to do to keep the sleazy reporter quiet. I squared my shoulders, lifted my head high and prepared to meet Cole.
Somehow we escaped the throngs of people. I was momentarily left to wonder how, when I heard the sound of a glass door closing behind me. I spun around and called out, "Harmon?"
"Sit, Miss Chase," a voice called out in the dimly lit room.
I followed the sound of his voice to a table, already set for dinner, complete with Cole already settled in one of the chairs. I took my seat across from him, noticing that the table was set for four.
"Expecting additional company?" I asked, my nerves shot as I slid into the chair across from him.
No answer. Instead Cole looked me over, carefully studying me. The music had faded into the background, such that the sound of the ocean's waves crashing into each other found my ears. Suddenly the setting was too intimate for words and I was hyper aware of him.
My eyes fell to his lips, then involuntarily lifted to meet his. Flashes of last night's kiss flooded my mind. I shook my head and presented the phone that I took from him last night.
"I was able to delete the photos and recordings," I began. "As to the matter of legal charges—"
"It's been taken care of," Cole interrupted.
He picked up the phone and dropped it into a glass of water on the table and that was that. The matter seemed to be put to bed.
"Oh," I said, momentarily speechless. "Just like that?"
I came armed with a plan and everything, but now it was simply over. Of course it was. He didn't just exude power, he wielded it. Someone like Ryan Summers wasn't a person he was going to spend sleepless nights over. Having spent all my life fighting for everything I had, it seemed unreal. I found myself in awe. I really was in a different world, wasn't I? His world.
"Who you fuck is nobody's business but your own," he said, nonchalantly pouring wine into my glass.
I watched his every move. His big hands curved around the fragile wine bottle and glass gracefully.
"And yours, evidently," I muttered, reaching out for the glass as he handed it to me.
His other hand covered the top of mine before I could withdraw. He held me in place with his smoldering gaze. The tips of my fingers and toes caught fire, the heat slowly seeping into the rest of me. The breath hitched in my throat.
"What can I say? You make me something no other woman does," he said, interlacing our fingers.
While the table seemed to serve as an acceptable means of distancing him from me and keeping me safe, somehow it was a mirage. A lie and I was already in his lap. Drawing closer to his soft, kissable lips.
"What? Blue balled? Angry?" I asked, with pseudo bravado, as I continued to be entranced by the way he played with my fingers.
"No, well yes," he admitted with a playful snigger. "But also curious." He pulled on my hand and my face drew closer to his as though he were pulling my strings like I was his puppet. "As to how someone like you manages to do that to someone like me."
With my heart in my throat, I rose, desperate to be closer to him. He got up too, sharing my desire.
"I'm afraid your curiosity screwed you this time, Mr. Hunter," I said, letting him lead me over to his side of the table by the hand. "Along with your chance to screw me."
"Agreed," he said, closing the distance between us. "My interest is far too piqued for just a one and done anyway."
With his eyes still glued to mine, he took our still linked hands and laid it down on his hard cock. I stiffened, caught off guard.
"Just business then," he said, breathing the words onto my lips before he kissed the corner of my mouth, moving on to press his lips onto my naked shoulder.
My head fell back, eyes closed and I let go of his hand, my fist closing on his hard dick. He kissed his way up from my collarbone to my neck and then my ear.
"For now," he whispered.
The sound of the door opening, followed by music and laughter intruding on his silent hideaway pulled me away from the fantasy and him.
"Sorry we're late," said a female voice through giggles.
"Olivia and I just stopped to get some drinks and the time got away from us. This place is incredible," said another female voice, one I recognized.
Spinning around in shock, I watched Cole slap a friendly smile on his face, like I wasn't about to drop onto my knees before him mere moments ago.
"That's alright. It was bound to happen with the company you're keeping," Cole said.
He held out his hand to a familiar face. I couldn't keep the surprise off my face as the introductions proceeded.
"Cole Hunter," he said.
"Macy Jones," Macy replied, accepting Cole's hand. "Agent to—"
"The stunning Brianna Chase," said Olivia, making her way over to me.
I stood there, frozen, no doubt with WTF spelled out on my forehead as I made eye contact with Macy. Startling me out of my attempt
to process, Olivia wrapped me up in a tight hug and kissed me on the cheek.