Page 63 of Total Abandon

Chloe:He’s adamant it’s tomorrow.

Zeke:In his head, everything that isn’t today is tomorrow.

Chloe:Right. Are you mad at me?

Zeke:No.

Chloe:That sounds like you’re mad at me.

Zeke: I’m not mad.

Chloe:I’ll pretend to believe you. Back to the gift, any ideas?

Zeke:Not a dog collar.

Chloe:Damn, better cancel that order from Paws, Tails, and Beyond.

CHLOE

“Say something.” I’m sitting in a downtown bistro, clenching my fingers around my glass of frozen margarita so hard they’ve gone numb. It’s lunchtime, so I’m limited to two drinks. But right now, I want to jump behind the bar and guzzle this stuff directly from the slushy machine.

“I’m just…that’s a lot to process.” Casey huffs, her hazel eyes wide.

“Yup.” I nod, sucking in enough tequila and lime slush through my straw to be dicing with brain freeze.

“So let me get this straight, you’re fake engaged to our boss for money. Your ex is the CEO of one of our biggest competitors. Yousleptwith aforementioned boss, and he’s told you he wants it to happen again.”

I tip my head from side to side as I mentally bounce through the order of those statements. “Yes, that is correct.”

She gapes at me for a second before turning her full attention to her glass of wine and downing it in one go with a wince, signaling to the waitress for a refill. “And you like him,” she rasps when she turns her attention back to me. I do my best impression of a goldfish for a few moments. She raises her golden brows at me, waiting for me to regain my motor function. I can admit to myself in private that I like Zeke more than I should. But to say it out loud? That makes it feel all the more real. “Yes,” I hiss, snapping my jaw together with a click.

“Oh boy.”

“I’m screwed, right?” I groan, burying my head in my hand briefly. The cool band of my engagement ring burns against my cheek, taunting me.

“Was it good?” Her brown eyes sparkle and she grins as she swipes up the fresh glass of Chardonnay that has been plunked down on the table by the returning waitress.

Heat floods my cheeks as I remember every wicked moment of burning pleasure at his hands, his tongue, his—nope, not appropriate thoughts for such a public setting. Squirming in my chair slightly, I let out a deep gust of air. “So good that I think he may have ruined sex for me with any other man.”

“Wow. Go Guerra.” She snickers, taking a measured sip of her drink. “You know, I always wondered what he would be like in bed. When I thought you were actually engaged, it wasn’t appropriate to ask. But now I know you’re not, I want all the sordid details.”

I snort, using my straw to push the sad piece of mint around the top of my iced drink as she grins. “I’ll give them to you if you can find me a solution to the predicament I’m in,” I promise glumly.

She scoffs and then places her hand over mine, halting my anxious fiddling. “I don’t mean to sound insensitive, Chloe. But you’ve got a hot, eligible, rich man who sounds like he’s pretty awesome in bed, wanting to give you screaming orgasms. There are worse problems to have.”

I roll my lips into my mouth and nod reluctantly. She’s right of course. But… “I don’t know how to be with him in that way without getting emotionally involved. He isn’t the settling down type.”

Casey makes a contemplative noise, smacking her lips as she sweeps her long, honey blonde hair over her shoulder. “So, you need to set some boundaries, none of the mushy crap. But trust me honey, as a single mom who hasn’t had sex in over a year—take the orgasms while they’re there.”

***

My fingers whizz over the keyboard at lightning speed. I’m tucked away in a spare meeting room so that I can concentrate on coding a particularly tricky recall function in our latest software rollout for an overseas client. A new email pings into my inbox and I pause to check it. It’s a message from one of the off-site implementation consultants that we work alongside, urgently asking me to call them. Frowning, I slip my phone from my pocket and punch in the number. It rings out after a few seconds, but the email warned me they were in a patchy signal area, so I resolve to try again shortly. Sighing, I turn back to my coding system and begin to type again.

“What are you doing right now?” My eyes bounce up to the open doorway at the familiar deep, husky voice. Zeke is standing there, looking edible in a sharp, charcoal designer suit. His tanned skin contrasts marvelously with the crisp white collar of his shirt.

I force my eyes back down to my screen. “Just adding ‘taking your bareback virginity’ to my resume,” I throw back without pausing my tapping fingers.

When he doesn’t reply, I stop, looking up at him. His brows are raised, and a small smirk plays on his decadent mouth. Clear irises swirl with heat as his gaze tumbles to the front of my mint green blouse. It’s modest enough, with a sweetheart neckline, but it feels like he sees right through it. My nipples harden traitorously.