Misbehaved Read online

  “Fuck me, Penny. Slow down, slow down,” I grunted, putting a hand on her thigh.

  I was losing all self-control. I had tried to let her set the pace, tried to be hands-off, but the woman’s body was pure ecstasy. I didn’t want to cum, not yet. I wanted to enjoy her body a little longer. I wanted to languish in the feel of her holding me inside her tight, warm sheath.

  “No. I can’t,” she gasped, bouncing and grinding. All I could do was hold on to her to keep her from falling off me and my cock.

  “Penny,” I groaned out, my fingertips digging into her flesh, trying to slow her down.

  “Don’t. Don’t stop me,” she gasped, slapping at my hands.

  “I can’t hold back much longer,” I rasped.

  She leaned forward, her breasts practically slapping me in the face. I lashed out with my tongue, catching a nipple and pulling it between my teeth. She cried out, her fingers digging into my shoulders, sliding her chest against my face. I opened my mouth wide, sucking a large portion of her breast into my mouth, letting my teeth scrape over flesh. Her back arched, shoving the breast deeper into my mouth.

  “Yes!” she screamed, her body bouncing, jerking my head back and forth.

  I suckled her breast, my hands holding her hips and yanking her hard against me, sending my cock deeper inside her. It was all too much. Too many violent, delicious sensations were slamming into my brain. It felt so good. It was as if I had been dying of thirst for years, and now that I’d found her, my oasis in the desert, I couldn’t stop drinking. I couldn’t get enough. It was too good to let go. I wanted to take her back to my place and fuck her every which way all day and all night. I would never get enough.

  The orgasm slammed into me, stealing away my breath. I jerked, going stiff as my body gave in to the pleasure, letting it sweep me away with her tight little body wrapped around me. Her whimpers and moans and the flood of heat over my cock heightened my orgasm as she found her second release. Sex with her was incredible. It almost felt illegal. How could anything feel so good and be okay?

  Her body collapsed against me, her face turned away from me as she rested her head on my shoulder. Both of us were breathing hard. I could feel her heart pounding against my chest and smiled. I reached up to run my hand over her back. Her flesh rippled, her body jerking as my hand scraped up her spine. I was about to propose a round two as soon as I recovered when she jumped off me as if I had burned her body with mine.

  “Shit. Dammit. Shit,” she mumbled under her breath. “Dammit.”

  My brows shot up. I couldn’t remember ever hearing her curse. I looked down at my naked self and realized I had screwed up again. Technically, she’d been the one to initiate the sex. I sure as hell didn’t try and stop it, but I felt slightly innocent in the situation. I had kissed her, but it was a friendly kiss. I hadn’t expected sex. I was glad it happened but was not expecting it. She was pulling on her clothes with lightning speed, doing everything she could to keep from looking at me.

  I got up from the couch, taking my time in getting dressed. Penny had her back to me as she ran her hands through her thick mane that had been tousled. I was tempted to reach out and comb my fingers through it but refrained.

  “Penny,” I said.

  She wouldn’t look at me. “What?”

  “Penny,” I said again, making her look at me.

  She slowly turned around. The regret on her face stung. “What?” she said on a sigh.

  “What happened? One second we’re all good and the next you can’t look at me? Did I do something?”

  “No. I mean, yes, but just now, no,” she said, looking at the ground.

  I was more confused than ever. “Can you tell me what it is I didn’t do but did?”

  “This can’t keep happening. This is wrong. We have to keep things professional. You’re my boss. I’m your employee,” she rambled. “We can’t keep having sex in your office. It’s so bad.”

  “I didn’t think it was bad, and judging by the fact you had two orgasms, I don’t think you found it bad either,” I said with a grin.

  “Stop. That is so unprofessional. We need to practice more professionalism. I have a job to do, and sleeping with you is not part of that job.”

  “Fuck professionalism. This keeps happening because there is something between us. And I hope to hell fucking me isn’t a job. There’s a name for that kind of a job,” I shot back.

  She made a choking sound. “I’m not a whore!”

  “I never said you were. I just want to make it very clear that what just happened here was not part of your job. This was me and you and us having a good time,” I clarified.

  She shook her head, holding up her hand as if to ward me off. “It can’t happen anymore. This isn’t right. I feel horrible.”

  “Why? Why isn’t it right? We’re drawn to each other. There’s nothing to feel horrible about. Hell, I felt anything but horrible. Why not explore that? Why fight it?” I asked.

  Her mouth dropped open. “Seriously? You have to ask why?” she exclaimed. “You are not that stupid.”

  “I don’t think I’m stupid. I just don’t get why we can’t have some fun and see where this goes. What happened in the past is in the past. We’re attracted to each other, and you can’t deny that what just happened wasn’t amazing,” I pointed out.

  “Gee, why shouldn’t we be together? I don’t know, maybe because you have a girlfriend?” she sneered, a hand going to her hip and her foot turning out.

  “A girlfriend. I don’t have a girlfriend,” I argued.

  Her eyes narrowed. “What about that interview?”

  I shook my head. I felt like we were having two different conversations. “What interview?”

  “The interview where you talked about Lydia and being engaged. Everyone knows the two of you are together. I saw the two of you together, remember? I will not be the other woman. I won’t do that to her, and I won’t disrespect myself. I mean, I know I have, but I won’t keep doing it. I swear, this was the last time,” she said firmly. “I feel so dirty.” She shuddered.

  I stepped forward and put my hands on her shoulders to try and calm her down. She didn’t shirk away from me, which I took as a good sign. I looked directly into her eyes and told her the truth. “Lydia is not my girlfriend. She’s a friend—a really good friend. There has never been anything between us. We let the tabloids print the rumor because it was easier. We didn’t have to make up excuses for why we didn’t want to go out with someone. It was the classic excuse, and it worked. I can call her right now and you can talk to her yourself. She will tell you the same thing.”

  There was a hint of sadness in her eyes. “I believe you, but you know we can’t be together.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because we hate each other,” she said softly.

  “I don’t hate you. I’ve never hated you,” I assured her.

  Her look of surprise was unexpected. “What?” she whispered, her eyes searching mine.

  “I don’t hate you,” I repeated.

  “But all those things you said. You told all your friends I was a terrible lay. Why would you do something so awful if you didn’t hate me?”

  I dropped my hands from her shoulders, looking away from her. “I had my reasons,” I mumbled.

  “I’m listening.”

  I couldn’t tell her. I wasn’t ready to talk about them. “I shouldn’t have said those things,” I confessed.

  “Okay, then you have to hate me for breaking your nose.”

  I chuckled. “I should probably thank you for breaking my nose. You gave me that unique thing that made me famous. In a sea of sameness, you gave me the one thing that set me apart from the rest. Without you, I wouldn’t have this company. I wouldn’t been nearly as successful as I was. I owe you.”

  She let out an exasperated breath. “You’re crazy and you’re not making any sense. I’m going home. Chance is there and he’s been annoying the heck out of me since your guy’s little run-in yester
day. I’d rather deal with his cranky butt than listen to your nonsense.”

  She walked out of the office without looking back. I watched her go, wondering what in the hell I was going to do. She had me upside down and inside out. I had thought I had put my feelings for her to rest. Seeing her, talking to her, and being with her brought all those old feelings to the surface. They were as strong now as they had been then. Hell, maybe stronger.

  If I wanted to try the exploration of a relationship with her, I was absolutely going to have to come clean about the past. I wasn’t sure I was up for that conversation. There was no way we could ever move forward if I wasn’t honest. Penny had been carrying around a lot of hurt and anger. That wasn’t something that was just going to go away without some healing. The only way there could be healing was with the truth.

  “Fuck,” I groaned, running a hand through my hair.

  That was about the last thing I wanted to do. It was risky. I could tell her the truth and end up pushing her away for good. I wanted to make up for the past. I knew I could be charming and persuasive. I could woo her, treat her right, and show her I was a good man. Once she fell for me and I knew she wouldn’t run in the opposite direction, I would tell her the truth. She’d be willing to forgive me and accept me because she loved me. That was my only option. I wasn’t ready to let Penny walk out of my life without a proper fight.

  16

  Penny

  It was weird to be in Jax’s office, alone with him, the door closed. The tension was there, but I was pretending I didn’t notice. The first few times I had to meet him in his office after the weekend episode had most definitely been awkward, but unlike his usual self, he hadn’t mentioned the incident. That’s what I was referring to the sex as—the incident. He was acting like the perfect gentleman, making no innuendos or mentioning the incident. It had been a brief lapse in my good judgment, and I wasn’t planning on letting it happen again. I wanted to pretend it never happened. Easier said than done. At night when I was alone in bed, the memory of me riding him on the couch was very vivid.

  As good as the sex had been, I couldn’t let myself do it again. Not with him. Even if he didn’t have a girlfriend, there were plenty of other reasons why it could never happen. We could never be a thing. It just wouldn’t work. Chance would absolutely lose his mind. He would pull that big-brother card and forbid me from seeing him. I owed Chance too much to defy him. I couldn’t hurt him again. When he’d found out what had happened that first time, I had seen the disappointment on his face when he had asked me what happened.

  “I need you to pack a bag,” Jax said when we wrapped up the changes to the last ad.

  “Excuse me?” I asked, wondering if that was his way of saying pack my stuff and leave the building. If it was, he was going to get an earful.

  “We’re going on a scouting mission this weekend. I need you there. You’re the creative brains behind the marketing. Plan on three nights,” he said as if it was completely normal for the two of us to go away together.

  I wrinkled my nose. “Me? You want me to go?”

  “Yes. You’re the one with the vision. I have a place in mind. Carolina did some research and presented me with several options. This is the one that I think is the best. It’s rustic and natural, and I think it will fit perfectly with some of those ads you proposed. I want your opinion, but I don’t want you to see it in pictures. I want to see the real thing.”

  “Like a park? The forest?” I questioned.

  “It’s an old hotel in the middle of nowhere. There is nothing but trees around. It is way off the beaten path and has a limited number of rooms, so you get ultimate privacy. There are only a couple pictures of the place online. It’s very exclusive, which is perfect. I want to go where no one has gone before.”

  It didn’t sound that bad, and it did sound very much like the perfect place for our campaign shoot. I hadn’t even seen a brochure, but the way he described it, it sounded like just the spot I had envisioned in my mind. I had been thinking outdoorsy and rugged. Jax had that tough, jagged, edgy look.

  “This weekend?” I asked, stalling for time while I mulled over whether I would go.

  “Yes. This weekend. Do you have plans?”

  I shook my head. “No. When will we leave?”

  “Tomorrow morning.”

  I sighed, shaking my head. “Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, we’re either fighting or making out. We have to work together, but a road trip might not be the best thing for us. I think Dakota or Carolina would be a better option. We’re like fire and gasoline and highly combustible. Being in close quarters for several days is not smart.”

  “No. I want my head of marketing. And for the record, we’ve never made out. We’ve had sex. It’s cute that you can’t say it,” he said with a grin. “You’re a grown woman, Penny. You had sex. You got laid. You can say it.”

  “Stop,” I hissed, not wanting anyone to overhear.

  He leaned over the desk. I instinctually leaned forward as well, expecting him to tell me a big secret. “I’m not going to apologize for wanting you, for wanting to fuck you at every opportunity. I can say it. I like saying it. I like thinking about it. Hell, it’s almost all I think about. Fucking you. That dominates my thoughts.”

  I felt my face grow hot and knew I had turned red. “Stop,” I said, flushing.

  He only grinned. I could feel heat and moisture between my legs. My stomach felt fluttery. I had to fight to keep my eyes on his. I was thinking about his mouth, hot and wet against my skin, the feel of his teeth scraping over my breast.

  “I can’t,” he replied.

  “We’re coworkers. Boss and employee, remember? This is not okay. We can’t do what you said. It isn’t right, and besides, we don’t like each other.”

  His cocky grin was not making the heat between my legs go away. It was making it worse.

  “Guess what? I don’t like rules. It’s why I own my own company. I’ve never been very good at following the rules,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

  I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair. He was never going to listen to me. It was pointless to try and argue with him. “I’m going back to my fishbowl.”

  “Your what?”

  “My fishbowl. The place where my office is. It’s like a giant fishbowl,” I mumbled.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow at ten,” he called out. “Pack something for being outside. And don’t forget the lacy lingerie. I like red.”

  My blush deepened as I rushed down the hall, hoping no one heard him. Deep down, I felt a fissure of excitement at the thought of spending a weekend alone with him. I wondered if he got us separate rooms. He’d better have, or I was going to make him sleep in the car. I was not about to fall for that trick.

  * * *

  I was up early, packing for the trip. I was actually excited for the little getaway. I just wished it was with someone other than Jax. I checked the time and realized I only had a few minutes before Jax showed up. I hoped I wasn’t making a huge mistake. It felt wrong. I knew I was playing with fire. My phone beeped. I picked up and saw a message from Jax announcing he was there. I was glad he didn’t come up to my apartment. I needed to keep that little bit separate.

  I grabbed my suitcase and lugged it down the hall, letting it bounce down the stairs behind me. Jax was leaning against his shiny black Porsche, his arms crossed as he looked up and down the street. When he saw me, he sprang forward and took my suitcase, loading it in the back of the car. I got in without saying a word.

  “Ready?” he asked, getting behind the wheel.

  “I am,” I answered nervously. Being alone with him was difficult.

  “Do you want to stop for coffee?”

  “Sure, please,” I replied.

  We whipped through a McDonald’s drive-thru, getting a couple of coffees and some fries before heading out. We headed north. The scenery was beautiful. Lots of crystal-blue lakes and thick forests. I could feel myself relaxing the farther n
orth we drove.

  “This reminds me of Germany,” he said after we’d been traveling in silence for a while.

  “Germany?” I asked, having no reference considering I’d never left the country.

  “I rode the train from Paris to Berlin one year when I was doing a series of fashion shows in Europe. It was a surprise to find how much the scenery there looked like the Midwest. It reminded me of home.”

  I nodded. “I see. Well, no, I don’t see. I’ve never been to Europe or Hawaii or anywhere.”

  “That’s too bad. If you stay on board with the company, you’ll see the world. Once this line launches, we’ll have to have a tour, promoting the brand and putting on shows. You would be a part of that,” he said.

  I couldn’t hide my excitement. It was a dream. I never imagined being able to travel the world. I had thought about it, but never thought it would happen, at least not before I was retired.

  “We’ll have to see,” I said, not committing to anything.

  “See? See about what?”

  “You know what. I’m not sure it’s a great idea for us to travel together,” I told him bluntly.

  He scoffed. “You’re traveling with me now.”

  “Not like that, going through airports and stuff like that. I know about your reputation.”

  He scowled at me. “My reputation?”

  “Your reputation for being rebellious and a bit of a troublemaker. Are you even allowed to go to some of those countries? Aren’t you banned?” I asked him.

  He chuckled “No.”

  “I saw an article that said you were arrested for jumping into a fountain while you were totally smashed.”

  He nodded his head. “I did that.”

  “And what about mooning the crowds from the balcony of your hotel room in Italy?” I asked, almost hoping it was just a fabricated story.

  His laugh was all the answer I needed. “Yep, did that.”

  I groaned. “What about the fights in the bars?” I asked hesitantly.