by Vi Keeland
He looked down at the substantial bulge in his pants and back up to me. “We’re not done here.”
“Is that so?” I walked toward the door. Opening it, I looked back over my shoulder. “I hope you feel every bit as screwed over as I did today. Sweet dreams, Weston.”
Chapter 5
* * *
Weston
“So what’s going on with you? I’m glad you didn’t cancel our session again this week.” Dr. Halpern crossed her legs and set her notepad on the table next to her.
It might’ve been the first time I didn’t have to hide my ogling of her shapely calves. And that wasn’t because she’d decided to wear pants for a change. She had the same long stems on display as she normally did.
I lay down on the proverbial patient couch like I always did, even though she’d told me it wasn’t necessary and most patients sat up. Apparently, the shrink sitting in a chair across from the nutjob while he spilled his guts was more for the movies than real life. Though, if I had to come here, I figured I might as well get some rest out of it.
“Did I ever tell you about the time I had the croup?” I asked her. “I was probably four, and Caroline was six or so.”
“I don’t think you’ve mentioned it, no.”
“My mother had given me the last of the ice cream, and my sister wasn’t happy about it. Mom had set up a vaporizer in my room. So while I was enjoying my ice cream, Caroline went and peed in the vaporizer. When my mother went to put me back in bed, my room was a cloud of urine mist.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dr. Halpern pick up her notepad and jot something down.
“You’re taking notes about this? Is that because you’re thinking of trying the gag on someone, or have you just found the root of all of my problems?”
Dr. Halpern set down her pad and pen. “I wrote down that you voluntarily spoke about your sister. Is there a reason you were thinking of Caroline today?”
I usually gave no real thought to anything the good doc asked, but today I did, for some reason. “Not that I’m aware of.”
“Tell me about the last forty-eight hours. Even if parts of your day were mundane, I’d like to hear about them.”
I shook my head. “You sure about that?”
Dr. Halpern folded her hands on her lap. “I am.”
“Okay… Well…”
For the next twenty minutes or so, I walked her through my last two days, though I skipped over the encounters in private with Sophia, figuring those details weren’t relevant to anything she needed to dissect. Yet she seemed to zone in on that part of my story anyway.
“So you and Sophia have some sort of history together.”
“Our families do.”
“When was the last time you saw Sophia before a few days ago?”
I smiled. “Prom night.”
“She was your prom date?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“But you saw her at prom?”
I thought back to twelve years ago. I could still see Sophia in her dress. It was red and clung to every curve. While most of the girls had looked nice, they’d also looked like they were going to prom. But not Soph. She’d looked elegant and stood out in a way that made me unable to take my eyes off her all night—even with my date telling me all the things she couldn’t wait to do with me after the prom was over.
“Yeah. She didn’t have such a great night.”
“Why is that?”
“Her boyfriend was sleeping with her cousin. She found out when she overheard them having sex in the ladies’ room stall.”
“Oh my. That must’ve put a damper on her evening.”
“Yeah, especially when I punched the dick in the nose.” Remembering the face Dr. Halpern usually made when I cursed, I added, “Sorry. When I punched the loser in the face.”
Dr. Halpern smiled. “Thank you. So you and Sophia were good friends, then?”
I smiled. “No, we hated each other.”
“But you defended her honor.”
I shrugged. “It was more that I didn’t like her boyfriend.”
“Why is that?”
I started to answer and then stopped. Why the hell were we talking about twelve years ago and whether or not I liked this guy? Turning to look at Dr. Halpern, I said, “Is there a point to all these questions? I think we’ve gone off track.”
“What do you see as on track for today? Is there something specific you feel like talking about?”
I dragged a hand through my hair. “No offense, but if it were my choice, I wouldn’t be here talking to you at all. So, no… There’s nothing specific I want to discuss today.”
She was quiet for a long time. “Let’s continue. Were Sophia and Caroline friends?”
“Caroline didn’t have a lot of friends. She was out of school so much and couldn’t do most of the things normal kids did.”
“Okay. So let’s go back to Sophia and prom for a moment. For whatever reason, you felt the need to intervene in her relationship and got into an altercation with her boyfriend. Was Sophia upset about that?”
I shrugged. “As far as I know, she wasn’t even aware it happened. She ran out right after she caught them messing around in the bathroom.”
“And that was the last time you saw her?”
I smiled. “No. I was in a shit mood. All of my friends were getting drunk and acting like idiots, and I couldn’t drink, so I left prom early. I ran into Sophia in the parking lot.”
“Why couldn’t you drink like your friends?”
“I had a procedure scheduled for the next morning. Caroline was sick again.”
Dr. Halpern frowned. “Okay. So you ran into Sophia in the parking lot, and how was that?”
I smiled. “We argued. As usual. She thought I was there to gloat about what a jerk her boyfriend was. He didn’t even chase after her. We’d both taken a limo to prom and gotten dropped off. I called my driver and had him come pick us up.”
“Okay…”
I wasn’t about to share that while Sophia was in the middle of bawling me out, I’d pressed my lips to hers, and the two of us wound up taking out our frustrations in a much more productive manner that night. “We…hung out for a while. I fell asleep at her house around the time the sun came up, and I woke up a half hour after I was supposed to be at the hospital. I got a cab and showed up in my wrinkled tux from the night before.” I shook my head. “My mother made them do a blood alcohol test on me because she thought I’d put having fun over Caroline. She didn’t believe me when I told her I didn’t have a drop to drink.”
Dr. Halpern picked up her pad and wrote for a full minute that time.
“Perhaps seeing Sophia reminded you of that time in your life—a time when you were helping your sister.”
I guess that made sense. Though my sister had been the furthest thing from my mind last night, that was for damn sure. I shrugged. “Maybe.”
We moved on from our trip down memory lane. When Dr. Halpern asked me how things were going at The Countess, I almost told her how I’d royally fucked up by sleeping with the enemy. But then I figured she might try to keep me here all afternoon to dissect the real reasons I’d done what I did.
Because no shrink accepts that sometimes you just can’t handle how the cream buttons on a royal blue silk blouse make you insane. Or how the color of those buttons exactly matches the skin on her neck, and since you can’t bite that neck like you really want to, you have to settle for listening to the little cream pearls ping against the tile floor.
Yeah, Dr. Halpern would definitely not understand that. Let’s face it, if she did, she’d be out of business. Because in order for her to maintain this fancy midtown real estate, she needs to psychoanalyze the shit out of everything we do.
But the truth of the matter is, sometimes we just act on instinct like an animal. And Sophia damn Sterling has the uncanny ability to bring out the savage in me.
Chapter 6
* * *
Sophia
Scarlett had sent me an email asking to book a second room for her upcoming trip. So I’d picked up the phone to respond since I was wide awake anyway.
“I’m not sure yet. But if you could book the room under Thomason, that would be brilliant.”
“No problem.”
“Isn’t it the middle of the night there? It’s just seven in the morning here, so it’s, what…two in New York?”
I sighed. “Yeah. I couldn’t fall asleep, so I figured I’d catch up on my emails.”
“Jet lag?”
“Not really.”
“Don’t tell me you’re losing sleep over that sloth, Liam.”
“No, that’s not it.”
“So what’s keeping you from getting the proper amount of beauty rest, then?”
I hadn’t called my friend to unload my troubles. Well, maybe that wasn’t so true, and unconsciously I’d hoped we’d get to chat. It had been four hours since I scurried out of Weston’s room, yet my head was still spinning from what had happened.
“I…have a little problem.”
“You cannot wear black pants with brown shoes, even if I’m no longer there to save you from yourself.”
I laughed. “I wish it were that easy.”
“Hang on a second.” Scarlett covered the phone, but I heard her muzzled conversation.
“What is this?” she said curtly.
A man’s voice answered. He sounded nervous. “Umm… It’s…your coffee. From the new Cinnabon place you asked me to fetch it from.”
“But what’s inside? It weighs half a stone.”
“Your cinnamon bun is inside.”
“What?”
“You ordered a coffee with a cinnamon bun on top.”
“I ordered a coffee with cinnamon on top. Who in their right mind thinks someone would want a cinnamon bun inside of a coffee?”
“Uh… Sorry. I’ll go back.”
“Yes, do that.”
Scarlett came back on the phone. “Did you say you have a problem? Whatever it is, it can’t be worse than the new assistant the temp agency sent over.”
“I overheard. Sometimes I think you’re too hard on people. But I promise you, that’s not the case today.”
She sighed. “So what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into, love?”
“Well…you remember the family I told you about. The one that owns the competing hotel chains and now jointly owns The Countess with my family?”
“Sure. The Locks or something like that?”
“Right. The Lockwoods. Well, I don’t think I ever mentioned that I’d accidentally slept with one of them—Weston. He and I are the same age.”
“You accidentally slept with someone? Did you fall on his cock and it impaled you?”
I laughed. “No. I guess accidentally might not be the right word. It was more like I had a temporary lapse in sanity and slept with him. Anyway, it was a long time ago—the night of my high school prom, actually. I went with another guy and came home with Weston.”
“You dirty dog. I didn’t think you had it in you.”
I smiled. “It’s a long story. But I was acting out. My mother had died earlier in the year. I found out during the prom that my boyfriend was sleeping with someone; ironically, it was one of my cousins. That seems to be a thing with me. My father didn’t show up for the gratuitous pre-prom pictures because it was also my half-brother Spencer’s junior prom, and his was infinitely more important than my senior one. Anyway, I wound up leaving prom with Weston. He ditched his date, and it was a one-time thing. We hated each other, but the sex… Let’s just say we were only eighteen, but it was mind-blowing.”
“Ah. Hate sex. It’s one of my favorites.”
“Yeah, well, that’s apparently my problem. It’s one of mine, too.”
“I’m not following.”
“Weston, the guy from my prom, he’s at The Countess. His family sent him, just like my family sent me. We’re both here to manage things and figure out a valuation of the hotel so one of us can try to buy out the minority shareholder and take control of the property.”
“And you’re attracted to him, but you still don’t get along?”
“Yes.” I turned onto my side and sighed. “But I also accidentally slept with him again.”
Scarlett screeched so loud I had to pull the phone from my ear. “That’s fabulous.”
“No, it’s definitely not.”
“Why not?”
“God, for so many reasons. Number one, I don’t like him at all. He’s arrogant and cocky and grates on my nerves by calling me this stupid name that he’s called me since we were kids. And second, he’s the enemy! Our families hate each other, and both of us are trying to outbid the other, just so we can get controlling interest and push the other family out.”
“But yet you accidentally fell on his cock again?”
I smiled. “Yeah.”
“It sounds…illicit. Maybe this is what you need after the doldrums of Liam Albertson the last year and a half.”
“What I need is to keep away from Weston. I don’t know what happens to me, but every time we have a fight, we end up clawing at each other.”
“That sounds positively divine.”
She wasn’t entirely wrong. In the heat of the moment, it was positively divine. But the short, cheap thrill didn’t last when the clouds of lust started to clear. And then I felt worse than ever. Plus, I was here to do a job, not fraternize with the enemy.
“Do they still sell chastity belts? I think I might need one.”
“I think what you need is what you just got—to get laid by someone more exciting than Liam.”
“Have you ever been attracted to someone you know is no good for you?”
“Do you not remember me telling you I slept with my forty-year-old psych professor my first year of college? He was divorced three times already, and his last wife had been a former student. It was the dumbest thing I ever did. But man, it was the best sex I ever had. The guy was like catnip. Every day I’d walk into class and say I wasn’t going to do it again. Then he’d say, ‘Miss Everson, could I see you after class a moment?’ He’d say it in this tone like he’d caught me cheating, and he was going to scold me. And that was it. My ass went home with black dry erase marker all over it because he liked to pin me to the whiteboard.”
“How did you eventually end it?”
“The semester ended, and I didn’t sign up for Psych Two on purpose. As long as I didn’t see him, I was fine.”
I sighed. “Well, that’s not going to work in my situation. We’re both stuck here for the next month or so, at least.”
“Well, fighting is what gets you hot and bothered about this guy, right?”
I felt disappointed in myself, but that was the truth. “Yeah. It’s like I want to take my anger out on him physically.”
“Okay, then. Just stop fighting with him.”
I started to say that wouldn’t work, but… Huh. It was a simple suggestion. Could it be that easy?
“I’m not sure the two of us can get along. We’ve never done anything but argue.”
“Welp. Sounds like it’s either make nice or you’ll have another accident.”
I guess it couldn’t hurt to try. “Maybe I’ll do that.”
“Good. Then it’s settled. You’re going to get some shuteye for the next few hours, and I’m going to make the new temp cry by the end of the day.”
I laughed. “That sounds about right.”
“Off to sleep you go. Call me the next time you fall off the wagon and shag this Weston guy again.”
“Hopefully, that won’t be happening. I’ll see you end of next week.”
“Bye, love!”
Swiping my phone off, I plugged it into the charger on the nightstand before pulling up the covers.
Scarlett was right. It was
simple, really. All I needed to do was be nice to Weston. That couldn’t be too hard.
Or could it?
Chapter 7
* * *
Sophia
“Good morning, Weston.” I flashed my most dazzling smile.
Apparently dazzle wasn’t something Weston was used to seeing on me. His brows pulled down, and he studied me with suspicion. “Good morning?”
He was seated behind the desk in what had been Ms. Copeland’s office. I’m sure he expected a fight over who got to use the big, corner office with the view of the park. But instead, I walked directly over to the round meeting table and kept my smile firmly in place.
“So, I’d like to fill you in on the other issues the general manager told me about yesterday. Maybe we could split up the list I’ve made and each be the point person for different things?”
“Uhh… Yeah, that makes sense.”
Weston was definitely waiting for the other shoe to drop. Though I didn’t have one. I’d given a lot of thought to the conversation Scarlett and I had early this morning and determined maybe she was on to something. Until the last few days, I’d considered myself pretty vanilla, but apparently some deep, dark part of me got off on arguing with this man. If Weston and I got along, I might have a better chance of not ending up with my panties around my ankles.
Weston got up from the desk and walked over to where I sat. This morning, I’d typed up a long list of the issues Louis and I had discussed. I slid three stapled pages over to the opposite side of the table and looked up at Weston.
“This is a list of things we should discuss. I prioritized them, but we should go over them all. I’m going to run downstairs and get some more coffee. Maybe you could read through what I’ve typed, and we can discuss it when I get back?” I stood from my chair.
The look on Weston’s face was pretty comical. He was waiting for me to be difficult. Not going to happen today, buddy. I headed toward the door and then stopped and turned back. “Would you like me to pick you up some coffee? Maybe some fruit or a muffin, too?”