Читать книгу The Elliotts: Mixing Business with Pleasure: Billionaire's Proposition / Taking Care of Business / Cause for Scandal - Brenda Jackson - Страница 10

You owe me.

Erika’s heart stuttered and she felt her mouth go bone-dry. “Uh, owe you?”

“Yep,” he said with a sexy grin playing around the edges of his mouth. “Payback’s hell. I want you to play volleyball on Saturday afternoon.”

The lascivious thought racing through Erika’s mind came to a dead stop. “Volleyball? Excuse me?”

He shrugged. “I know you have athletic ability and you’re tall. The family holds a friendly little game where employees from the magazines play each other. We need another woman on the Pulse team. We’re only allowed one nonfamily stand-in and I have a hard time finding a female with the right height.”

Erika didn’t know whether to be amused, insulted or peeved. “Is this why you took Tia and me for hot chocolate and promised her that story? That was pretty low.”

“Two minutes ago it was brilliant and generous.”

“That was before I found out you wanted payment.”

“It’s not that bad a payment. Think about it. What’s the worst that can happen? You sit on a bench for the afternoon.”

“Why would I be sitting on a bench?”

“Well, you’d be an alternate, of course,” he said.

“Excuse me? I played volleyball in college.”

“That’s why I chose you.”

“To sit on the bench?”

“The guys get a little bloodthirsty,” he explained. “It’s all in fun, but I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

She shook her head. “So I’m supposed to be the token nonplaying female? If the rest of the female members of your family knew this, they would fry you,” Erika said. “Can you imagine what Finola and Bridget would say?”

“Bridget’s on Finola’s team, so I can’t ask her. It puts me in a bad spot. Besides it’s Snap against Pulse this time.” He sighed. “Do you remember Athena Wain-right?”

Erika vaguely remembered the extremely tall, middle-aged copy editor for Pulse. “Yes, why?”

“She moved to Idaho. I need a backup player and I’m surrounded by pygmies.”

She studied him, seeing the exasperation mar his handsome face. “I don’t remember your being this competitive with your family.”

His green gaze turned dark with an edge of sensuality. “When you and I were involved, I didn’t want to waste time talking about volleyball games with my family.”

Erika felt a quick rush of heat and resisted the urge to lower her window for a cold breeze. “One condition,” she told him.

“What is it?”

“You let me play during the first fifteen minutes. If I don’t pass muster, then you can put me on the bench.”

He paused, then nodded. “Deal,” he said.

“Any news on your attorney’s return from his honeymoon?”

“Still out of town,” he said. “I’ll let you know when he gets back.” The driver pulled in front of Erika’s brownstone. “Let me walk you to your door.”

“Absolutely not,” she said, grabbing her purse and unlocking her door.

“You don’t trust me?” he asked.

Erika didn’t answer because the truth was she didn’t know who she mistrusted more in a situation that put her in close quarters with Gannon—him or herself.

Gannon put Erika in for all three games. His uncle Daniel and cousin Cullen were clearly out for blood.

Erika spiked the ball just over the net, squeezing out another point for Pulse.

Gannon’s brother Tag caught his breath. “Good thing you got Erika. It looks like Daniel and Cullen brought in a relative of the Jolly Green Giant,” he said of Margo, the six-foot-four-inch woman playing on the opposite team. “What did they say her position at Snap is?”

“Temp,” Gannon retorted, wiping the perspiration from his face. “If she worked there over a week, I’d be surprised.”

“I repeat—good thing you got Erika since Charlie hurt his ankle.”

“Yes, it is. My serve,” he said, catching the ball as Cullen tossed it to him. The only downside of having Erika on his team was that his gaze and attention frequently dropped to the movement of her tight rear end. It had been tough to keep his eye on the ball when she offered such a tempting view. He knew what she looked like naked. What she felt like. The knowledge brought out primal instincts that didn’t have anything to do with volleyball.

Cullen shook the edge of his T-shirt against his chest. “Seems to me Erika isn’t officially working for Pulse yet, Gannon. I could have sworn I saw her headed for the fifteenth floor instead of the twentieth floor.”

“You’re just scared,” Gannon said, tossing the ball above his head and hitting it hard and fast over the net.

His uncle Daniel smacked it back, directly in Erika’s direction. Another woman would have ducked, but not Erika. She hit the ball with her head. Tag rushed forward and sent it across the net.

Cullen spiked the return, but Erika set it up again, this time with her fists. Gannon spiked it just inside the boundary.

Daniel groaned, then chuckled. “Gannon, you act like we’re competing for the position of CEO.”

“We’re not?” Gannon said to his uncle and sent another hard serve over the net. Five minutes later Erika won the last point.

“All right!” Tag gave Gannon a high five and turned to Erika. “You saved our butts.”

“That’s an exaggeration,” she said with a breathless smile. “But you’re welcome. I’m glad I played one-on-one last week with the teenager I’ve been mentoring or I might have faded after the second game.”

“Not you,” Gannon said, lifting his hand to hers for a high five, then closing his hand around hers for just a moment. Erika’s cheeks were pink and her face glowed from exertion. Her curly hair strained to be loosened from the elastic band that kept it from her face. The way she looked now reminded him of how she’d looked when he’d taken her to bed that first time. “How do you manage to look good even when you’re sweaty?” he asked in a low voice.

The color of her cheeks deepened and she pulled her hand from his. “Nice try, but you owe me now,” she told him quietly.

Gannon wondered what she meant and made a mental note to ask her later.

“Gotta run,” Margo said. “Sorry about the loss, Mr. Elliott,” she said to Daniel.

“Not your fault. I hate to admit it, but I think they wanted it more. Thanks for coming. Hey, Erika,” Daniel called. “I’m sure we could find a place for a woman with your talents at Snap.”

Gannon felt a quick kick of irritation. “Butt out,” he said, stepping in front of Erika.

“Whoa,” Cullen returned with a wide grin. “Territorial? You think she can get your father into the CEO office?”

“Who’s eating Pulse’s dust right now?” Gannon asked, playfully egging on his cousin.

“This was volleyball, wasn’t it?” Erika asked. “You are family, aren’t you?”

“Yes to both,” Daniel said. “But we like to win.”

“At everything,” Gannon added, extending his hand as his uncle ducked under the net.

“The important battles won’t be finished until next year,” Daniel reminded him.

“Eleven months and two and a half weeks,” he corrected. “But who’s counting?”

Daniel and Cullen chuckled. “Can’t join you for a beer,” Cullen said. “I have plans.”

“Me, too,” Tag said.

“That gives me an excuse to hit the hot tub and pretend my knees aren’t killing me,” Daniel said. “See you later. Nice meeting you, Erika.”

Gannon grabbed a towel from the sidelines and scrubbed his face. “How about a shower and I take you to dinner as a thank-you for your participation?”

“Is that your way of saying I saved your butt?” Erika asked, resting her hands on her hips.

Gannon shook his head and snapped the towel at her, intentionally missing. “Never. But I’ll still take you to dinner.”

She held his gaze for a long moment, then sighed. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

A ripple of surprise slid through him. “Why?”

She shrugged. “History repeating itself and all that,” she said.

“I wasn’t asking you to go to bed. Besides, you want to have my baby—”

She lifted her hand. “Wait a minute. I want to have my baby. I just want your genes.”

His ego took a hit, but he recovered. “If you want my genes, then you must like something about me.”

She sighed. “Unfortunately,” she muttered and turned away. “I need to go.”

He grabbed her arm. “Wait. You said I owed you.”

“Right. One more reason you need to give me your genes. I’ll see you Monday.”

Watching her walk away, he felt the drag of irritation and something else in his gut. He frowned when he figured out the feeling. He still wanted Erika in his bed. She would be disgusted to know that she brought out in him the sexual urge to conquer and occupy.

She tempted the hell out of him, but he needed to keep a lid on his impulses. Since he hadn’t been in day-to-day contact with her, he’d thought the chemistry between them had waned, but being around her reminded him of how hot it had been between them. Being around her left him with a nagging feeling of sexual deprivation.

He swore under his breath. Erika made a good point about history repeating itself. His grandfather had hammered it into his head that he needed to set an example for his generation of Elliotts. It wasn’t as if he was a randy eighteen-year-old. He’d been able to shelve his attraction for Erika before. No reason he shouldn’t be able to do it again. He just needed to dive into work as he always did.

Erika accepted a last-minute dinner invitation from Jessica and Paula. The three women met at a seafood restaurant. Paula mentioned Erika’s position at EPH and the host seated them immediately and their cocktails were served in record time.

“That was low,” Erika said, taking a sip of her martini and promising to limit herself to one tonight. “He probably thinks this will earn him a review in one of our magazines.”

“You never know. You may mention this place to the right person and ta-da,” Paula said, glancing at the menu. “Saturday night and none of us has a date. How sad is that?”

“Speak for yourself,” Jessica said. “My boyfriend is working.”

“Ah, the foot doctor,” Paula said. “How is our boy Bill?”

Jessica smiled. “Podiatrist. Wonderful. But more importantly, I have a prospective sperm donor for Erika.”

Erika choked. “You what?”

“I found a TDH who’s smart and has a sense of humor,” she said in a singsong voice.

Paula smiled at Jessica’s code word for a man who was tall, dark and handsome. “You can tell us all about him after we order,” she said as the waiter approached. “I’m starving.”

“Me, too. I think I burned a thousand calories playing volleyball today.” Erika wondered if she should tell her friends she might have found her own tall, dark and handsome candidate.

Paula made a face. “Sounds sweaty. Why?”

“It was a company thing. Sort of,” Erika said, thinking that turning down Gannon’s invitation to dinner had been tougher than she’d liked. She’d put herself in an odd situation by asking the most attractive man in the world to donate sperm for her child yet swearing off sex or emotional involvement with him. “Sometimes I wish I were more like a man,” she muttered.

“What?” Jessica asked.

“Nothing. I’ll take the shrimp special,” Erika said to the waiter and closed the menu. The other women placed their orders.

Jessica turned to Erika. “You wish you were more like a man?”

“Just able to detach myself emotionally,” Erika explained.

“Like me,” Paula said.

“Exactly.” Erika smiled.

“Well, you may not need to detach yourself with the guy I’ve found for you. He’s tall, dark, handsome, smart and he’s got a sense of humor.”

“How did you find him?”

“He’s a friend of Bill’s,” Jessica said. “So we can double after you get to know him.”

“Another foot doctor?” Paula said. “Bet he’s got a fetish.”

“That’s not nice,” Jessica said. “Bill doesn’t have a foot fetish.” She turned back to Erika. “This guy, Gerald, is very good-looking, and I’ve already told him about you.”

Erika felt a shot of alarm. “What exactly did you tell him?”

“That you’re gorgeous and smart and he should call you.”

“You gave him my number? Did you tell him I want his sperm?”

“No, because I think you could want Ger more than his sperm.”

Erika’s first inclination was to politely decline. This would just complicate her plans with Gannon. He was going to father her child. He’d agreed. They just needed to get the contract signed.

She thought about how much he still affected her and took another sip of her martini. Her problem was that she still let Gannon overwhelm her. What if another man had the potential to make her forget him? Or at least help her get over him? What if Jessica’s TDH could do the job? She shouldn’t turn down the possibility without checking him out.

“Hey, if all else fails,” Paula said, “you might get a decent pedicure out of the guy.”

Erika skipped lunch and moved into her new Pulse office on Monday afternoon. She struggled with mixed feelings about leaving the HomeStyle offices, where comfort and cozy were key.

Pulse was more of a man’s world, so if she took the books she’d read on climbing the corporate ladder seriously, she would need to hide her jar of M&M’s in her desk drawer along with her hot chocolate mix with mini marshmallows.

She refused, however, to give up her frog clock or her small Tiffany lamp. She deliberately left her lamp turned on while she left to meet one of the couples she was interviewing for her baby article.

By the time she returned to the office, she was starving, but she wanted to type notes from the interview. Submerged in work, she had to force herself to answer the knock at her door.

“Sorry, I’m busy,” she called. It didn’t matter who it was. She needed to get down these last thoughts.

“Free gourmet food,” Gannon called through the door.

Her stomach growled loudly. “Give me two minutes,” she said and hurriedly typed some key words and phrases to help jog her memory when she returned to writing the article. She could keep the two-foot rule and eat at the same time. Besides her plans for later in the evening should help keep her from giving in to temptation.

She glanced at her clock, surprised at the time. Seven o’clock. She pulled on her boots and stood, stretching.

“Two minutes are up,” Gannon said, opening the door and catching her midstretch. He carried two large boxes and a small box. His dark hair was slightly mussed, his tie discarded and the top of his shirt unbuttoned, giving her a glimpse of his muscular chest. His shirtsleeves were unfastened and pushed up his forearms. She didn’t know which was more tempting, the man or the food. “Looks like you and I are the only ones left in the office.”

“Really?” she asked, surprised. “What do you have and how did you get it?”

“The food editor received these this afternoon. She told me she’s on Atkins and asked me to give them to someone else. It’s packed in dry ice and perishable, so we either eat it or toss it.”

“I hope it’s already cooked,” she said.

“I think it’s a lot of fresh fruit,” he said, opening one of the large cartons. “Help yourself.”

“Nice of you to share. I didn’t get to eat.” She pulled out several containers. “Raw oysters, avocados, chocolate-covered bananas,” she said, reading the labels. “What is this?” she asked, pulling out a split of champagne and two glasses.

“Aphrodisiac foods.”

Erika pulled her hand away from the box as if it had burned her. She looked at Gannon suspiciously. “Why did the food editor give this to you?” And why was he sharing it with her?

“The food editor is Geraldine Kanode. She’s sixty-three and was embarrassed as hell but didn’t want to throw it away.” His lips twitched. “She also said she didn’t want to take this stuff home and give her husband any ideas. I can toss it …” He waved the container of chocolate-covered bananas.

Erika’s stomach growled again. Hunger won over suspicion. “No, no, no. Wouldn’t want it to go to waste.” She motioned him over to her desk. “What are you still doing here?”

“An editor’s work is never done,” he said. “You know that.”

She nodded and smiled, happy to put the desk between her and Gannon. “Can’t disagree. I’m not big on raw oysters. They’re all yours.”

“Working on my sperm count?” He shot her a half grin that made her heart clench.

“That wasn’t my first thought, but it’s not a bad idea, is it?” She pulled out two plastic spoons and some napkins.

Gannon pulled a leather chair closer to her desk and sat down. “Avocado with basil vinaigrette?” he said, offering the small tub to her.

“Sounds good,” she said and took a bite of one of the halves. “Delicious. I wonder what this has to do with aphro—”

“Symbolizes the male testicles,” he said and ate an oyster.

Erika swallowed a second bite along with a wave of self-consciousness. “Never thought of that,” she said and looked at the avocado. She finished her half and shrugged. “Who would have known?”

“Champagne?” he asked, opening the split of bubbly. At her nod he poured the liquid into each glass and read the attached note. “Says we’re supposed to drop a vanilla bean in here.”

“Why?”

“Something about a Mexican fertility goddess,” he said and took a swallow. “Not bad, but it can’t compete with Irish whiskey.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” She inhaled the aroma of the vanilla and took a sip of the champagne. “Delicious. What’s in the little box marked perishable?”

Gannon opened it and looked inside. “Fresh fig.”

“Fresh?” Fresh figs were rare.

“Yep, and it’s mine,” he said, picking up the fruit and gently prying it open. “You know how a fig relates to the theme, don’t you?” he asked, nibbling at the pink inner flesh of the fruit.

Feeling a rush of heat, she cleared her throat. Watching him savor the swollen, ripe layers, she couldn’t help but visualize … “I can imagine.”

“A fig resembles the female—”

“I see,” she interrupted before he could finish.

“Genitals,” he said and licked his lips.

The expression in his eyes was frankly sexual, making her burn from the inside out. She felt her blood rush to tender places and pool. Her nipples felt achy against her bra. She fought the urge to wiggle in her chair. Why was he taunting her? What was he trying to prove?

She should stop this right now and tell him to take his sex food away. The lure of one food was too great. The fruit of revenge. “I’ll take a chocolate-covered banana.”

“Phallic symbol,” he said, and she felt his gaze linger on her as she took a large, indelicate bite.

“Very good chocolate and the banana is just right. Not too mushy,” she said and took another bite. Encouraged by the expression of fascination in his green gaze, she drew her tongue along the length of the chocolate-covered banana.

Gannon’s swift intake of breath was music to her ears. Closing her eyes, she took the banana in her mouth. “Mmm. This chocolate is delicious.” She opened her eyes. “Wanna bite?”

He audibly swallowed and looked into the box. “I think I’ll take the berries,” he said. “Strawberry and raspberry.” He met her gaze. “Nipple fruit.” He lifted a raspberry to his lips and sucked it into his mouth.

A searing memory of his mouth tugging at her nipples while he pumped inside her burned through her mind, stealing her breath. She felt the restlessness between her legs grow. She bit her lip, thinking she was out of her league with Gannon. She always had been.

She needed to back down from the game of sexual chicken. After one more bite, she thought and took the last bite of chocolate-covered banana. She licked her finger and caught him watching her again.

A tempting shot of triumph sizzled through her. At least he was as turned on as she was. He held up two sticks of licorice.

She blinked in surprise. “Licorice. I always thought of it as a kid food,” she said and took a bite.

“Chinese use the licorice root for medicine,” he said, glancing at the label. “It’s supposed to cause love and lust. Especially effective for women.”

The bite stuck in her throat. Gannon didn’t need all these foods. He was a powerful stimulant all by himself. She swallowed hard and smiled despite the arousal that raged through her like a hungry beast. “Well, I’ll have to see if it works.” She pointed at her watch. “I’m meeting a TDH for drinks in a half hour.”

He frowned. “TDH?”

“Oh, sorry,” she said, grabbing her coat and standing. She tossed the remains of their aphrodisiac feast into the box. “TDH is code for tall, dark and handsome.”

He stood, staring at her. “You’re meeting a man for drinks?”

She nodded. “I am.”

His frown deepened. “I thought you wanted me to—” he narrowed his eyes “—give you my sperm.”

“I do, but that doesn’t mean I have to stop looking for Mr. Right. Thanks again for the snack,” she said. “You’re a lifesaver.”