Risky Business: (Taboo Romance Series) (Forbidden Fruit Book 3) Page 2

  "I was." He sighed as I ordered a beer.

  "Was?" I chuckled, unable to help myself. He was such a bleeding heart over his loss of freedom. This invisible girlfriend was cramping his style from the looks of things.

  "Yeah. My girl is getting a little pushy about us moving into something more serious."

  "Really?" I took the bread basket from the center of the table and fished out a piece of bread. "And you're wanting to take another step with her?"

  "Yeah, if it means I keep getting to bury various parts of my body deep inside of her anytime I want." He growled. "She's so fucking hot, Caden. Even after three years of seeing her off and on. The thought of how well she can work her sexy little body drives me absolutely insane."

  "Yeah, let's talk about something else. I'm not going over the ins and outs of you ass-fucking this girl again. I'm not interested."

  "Because you're jealous. Plain and simple. She's a whore for me."

  "Awesome. Keep that shit to yourself." I buttered my bread and tried to keep my pulse steady. I hadn't slept with someone I cared about in too many years to count. A few drunk one-night stands, and I was good to go for a little while longer. Relationships were messy, complicated and hurt like a bitch when they ended.

  "You need to stop wallowing in your tears and get a woman. You're being a fucking tit about it." He snagged a roll and tore into it like it was beef jerky.

  I chuckled, unable to help myself. "Fuck off. I'll figure out my love life when I'm not married to my job anymore."

  "I could ask my girl if she's willing to have us both one night."

  "What?" My eyes moved up to his shit-eating grin. "Shut the fuck up. I'm not fucking some poor girl with you. You're sick."

  "Sick with lust. God dude-"

  "Awesome. Stop. Seriously." I gave him a stern look, wondering why in the hell he was like he was. Our father was nothing like him. Must have come from his mother seeing that he got most of his looks from her too. I was almost grateful that my mother was softer, more empathetic. The fact that we weren't from the exact same gene pool gave me great relief.

  "All right. Shit." He lifted his hands. "Can I at least tell you my good news?"

  "Yeah, and then we're talking about why we're not having the anniversary party for the firm at Kadia. Shit."

  "No we're not. It's booked, and the guys at the firm deserve all that crazy fucking place has to offer. It's perfect."

  "What's the news, Luke?" I was almost surprised by how worn down I was just being around him lately. A few years back when we started the firm, I couldn't seem to get enough time with him, but he'd grown cynical, nasty and vulgar.

  "My girl's coming tomorrow night." He wagged his eyebrows. "I mean, she's coming tonight, but you don't get to see that, now do you."

  I thanked the server for my beer and glanced back over at him. "I think that's great that she's coming to the party. It's about fucking time that I get to meet her."

  "I need you to treat the evening like an interview, okay?"

  "What? No. I'm not screening this chick for you. You've already painted her as a two-bit whore that likes it in the ass." I pressed my beer to my lips and pulled my thoughts from depravity as my cock twitched in my slacks. I needed to get laid, to feel the warmth of someone beneath me and soon.

  "Not for me, you dickwad. For the company. She's coming to join us. I've almost talked her into it."

  I spit my beer halfway across the table. "Have you lost your fucking mind?"

  "Nope. She's brilliant, Caden. More than you, more than Perry, hell, more than me."

  "No way. That isn't happening. I don't care what she is. We're not bringing her into the firm. That's a disaster waiting to happen."

  "You're going to love her." He laughed and tossed a napkin at my face as I wiped up my mess. "Just remember when you see her to keep your eyes above her shoulders. She's likely the most beautiful woman in all of New York."

  "Doubtful, and my answer is still no. She's not working for us. Period."

  Chapter 3

  Olivia

  "I still can't believe you cut your hair." I reached out and tugged at the short strands of Dana's dark hair. "It was almost down to your butt at Christmas.”

  "I know. I just got tired of having to deal with it all the time." She shrugged and sunk back into the softness of my over-sized couch. "Let's not mention how sick I am of being called Pocahontas. Now, if a certain John Smith were to-"

  I laughed and pushed at her leg with my foot as I reclined against the far side of the couch. It was beyond good to see her, and as always, I dreaded her leaving before she even really settled in. Having been my friend since we were able to talk back, Dana was like the sister I never had.

  "You don't need John Smith, just that hottie professor you keep going on about." I tried to hide the smile that tugged at the side of my mouth. We all had fantasies about a college professor bending us over a desk... or at least I did. A hot one, anyway.

  "Oh man." She pressed her hands to her face and leaned back. "He's so fucking beautiful, Olivia. Like the perfect man for me, but he's a stickler for the rules."

  "So get him off campus." I pulled my legs back and turned to stand. "I have to get ready for dinner with Luke. I wanted to reschedule, but he made me promise not to. Something about a big surprise."

  "Seriously?" She jerked her hands down and sat up straight. "Do you think it's a ring?"

  "What? No." I walked toward the bedroom to fix my make-up from the war my long day had waged against it. "No. God, I hope not."

  "What?" She followed me into the bedroom and jumped up onto the bed. "I thought you were in love with this guy."

  "I'm in love with his power, his money, his dick." I glanced over my shoulder as she squealed.

  "You hooker."

  "Yep. Not much has changed." I was being cheeky for sure. I'd been a prude back in high school, or so Dana and our other friends said. Being a cheerleader had an odd stigma, but I'd kept to my beliefs that sex belonged in marriage until my senior year. Then the drive to lock Caden Taylor to my side forever drove me to do something I promised myself I'd never do. And it had blown up in my face. He wasn't at all the guy I thought him to be.

  Seven years of dating down the tube over one night. One mistake.

  "Not much has changed?" She laughed loudly as I leaned over and reapplied my eyeshadow. "That's rich. You were a good girl. You might not be now, but you were then. The candle by which the rest of us made it through the dark."

  "All right. All right. Don't make me a saint." I stuck my head out of the bathroom and wagged my eyebrows at her. "Those days are long gone. Life's a bitch and Luke has enough of the things I want in a man to settle."

  "Are you saying you'll accept his proposal if he gives one?" She sat up and tilted her head to the side.

  I laughed and moved back toward the mirror. "Of course I am. He's not a prince charming by any stretch of the imagination, but he's as good as it's going to get, I'm afraid."

  "What a shitty attitude on love." She walked into the bathroom behind me, closed the toilet seat and sat down. "What happened to the girl that believed in a happy ever after? Did college here in New York really stain you that much?"

  "No, but being realistic just seems like a better option. I'm tired of dreaming that I'll find him." I shrugged and tried to ignore the burn of desire rising in my chest. It wasn't sexy or lusty, but a longing to find someone like Caden again. It'd been six years since high school and yet I still looked everywhere for him. It was sickening. Embarrassing. I needed to grow the hell up, but I couldn't figure out how.

  "Him? As in Caden?" She crossed her arms over her chest and slipped in a few more words before I could speak. "You know he's here in New York."

  My heart almost stopped in my chest. I'd made myself a promise at our high school graduation when he wouldn't even look at me after seven years of being together. I'd never look back after that day. I'd never go find him or look him up or pray in time that he would b
e mine. Never.

  "Is he now? Good for him." I spread my pink lipstick over my lips and pursed them a few times as my chest contracted and pain laced my insides.

  "Awww... come on. It's me right here. I was there for all of it, remember?" She leaned toward the counter where I stood. "Stop acting like you don't still think about him."

  "I don't." I ignored the warmth in her chestnut eyes. "There's no need to. He was the perfect lie, and he got what he was after. One shitty night of horrible sex, me crying like a child and the fear that we'd get caught. It was awesome, oh but wait, no it wasn't. Not at all. It sucked, just like him."

  She laughed and followed me out of the bathroom. "I think you're full of shit. I don't think this Luke guy is the guy for you at all."

  "You think I should turn down this big diamond tonight and go in search of Caden? Confess my dying love for him and hope that he's not married with three kids already?"

  "He's not. I checked." She shrugged and gave me a cocky grin as I glanced over my shoulder.

  "You sure you're good here? I feel like shit for leaving you on your first night in town." I grabbed my purse and keys.

  "I'm great. I'm going to clean out your fridge and leave the imprint of my ass on your big fancy couch." She smiled and walked to stand in front of me. "You don't need to settle. That's all I'm saying."

  "I don't know, Dana. Love isn't what you think it is. It hurts more often than not, and it always disappoints."

  "It was six years ago. It's time to get over it and see if something still exists between you guys." She reached out and ran her hand down my arm. "Don't make a mistake tonight."

  I nodded, but didn't respond. If Luke proposed, I was going to accept. Caden Taylor hadn't been in my life in six years, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to invite him to fuck it up again.

  Once was plenty.

  *

  "Wow. Don't you look good enough to eat?" Luke stood up from the table he was sitting at and reached for me.

  "Oh yeah? You hungry?" I moved into his arms and lifted onto my toes to meet him in a long kiss. Where I didn't love him, I liked him - a lot. He was perfect for my life and fit beautifully in the future I had plotted out. Love wasn't part of the charted course, but it was for the better. Love was a weakness that I didn't want to entertain anymore.

  "For you? Fuck yes." He nipped at my lips as his eyes darkened. He wasn't the most beautiful man I'd ever seen, but still intensely handsome. His light brown hair was cut close to his head, his brown eyes filled with mystery and his cocky smile fitting him well.

  "Good. Let's have dinner and then maybe we can slip in dessert in the back of your car." I kissed him once more before moving across to the other side of the table.

  He growled and sat down. "You're giving me a boner in the middle of a fancy restaurant. You should be spanked."

  "I should. Agreed." I dragged my napkin down into my lap and picked up the wine menu.

  "I already got us a bottle of your favorite." His eyes moved across my face and down as I glanced up.

  "What’s the big news tonight? Don't make me wait. You know how much I hate surprises." I leaned back and dropped my hands into my lap.

  "So bossy." He licked at his lips and smiled. "You know I love you, right?"

  Love. Such a strong word.

  "I do know that." I turned as the waitress stopped by and offered him a quick sip of the wine before pouring us both a class. I took a quick sip of mine and tried not to show just how nervous I was. He was going to ask me to marry him. I had no doubt. I'd yet to be able to tell him that I loved him, because I didn't, but it didn't matter. Much like an arranged marriage, we just fit together in the business world and the bedroom. That was enough for him, and more than enough for me.

  The desire for a three-bedroom house in the country with a white picket fence and three kids died a long time ago. Without someone to build my dreams with, they'd begun to wilt. I could barely remember all the desires from my teenage years. It seemed like a million years ago as I sat across from one of the most powerful investment partners in New York.

  "I've spoken with my brother and our other partner at Taylor, Taylor and Barden. They're on board for meeting you tomorrow night if you're still up to coming to our company party." He lifted his glass to his lips, but paused. "You are still coming, right?"

  "Of course. My best friend, Dana, is in town, so she'll be with me." I took a drink and set my glass down. "Stop pussy-footing around. What's the deal tonight? Tell me."

  He laughed and set his glass down. "You're right. I'm just nervous."

  "Don't be. I'm going to say yes." I extended my hand across the table and squeezed his fingers as he reached for me.

  "Good. I want you to come work for me. I don't want to talk about it anymore. Start as a senior investor and then we'll talk about partnership."

  "Done." I squeezed his hand and sat back again. "Anything else?"

  "Come home with me and let me eat you out on the kitchen table." He lifted his eyebrow and sucked his thick bottom lip into his mouth.

  "Not tonight, but maybe tomorrow. You already made me miss the first night of Dana being here. Such a greedy ass." I glanced down at the menu before me as a mixture of relief and disappointment swirled deep inside of me.

  Did I really want to marry him?

  Was there any better option? Doubtful.

  Chapter 4

  Caden

  I'd made the mistake of stopping by the bar down the street the night before. The pretty blonde reminded me just enough of Olivia to take her home with me. The sex had been sub-par at best, but it was still sex. She was a practiced moaner if nothing else.

  "Hey, pretty girl. I need to get going. You wanna get up and grab your stuff?" I rubbed my hand down her back, trying as hard as I could to be polite. Something inside of me wanted to snap at the dissatisfaction I had with life in general, but she didn't deserve my angst. No one did.

  "Hmmm?" She rolled over and gave me a sleepy smile. She was pretty, but nothing to gawk at.

  "I gotta go. Come on. Grab your stuff and I'll walk you out." I forced a smile.

  "I'll let myself out. Go ahead and go. I'm not going to take anything." She rolled back over.

  "Lyndsay, I need to get to work, sweetheart. Come on and get up." I tugged the covers off, enjoying the view as the woman definitely took care of herself. Why I couldn't be more like my brother and take pleasure in the carnality of sex regardless if love was involved was beyond me. I had to believe with the right woman I would find myself again. The last six years had been one relational fuck up after the next.

  "Okay. Okay. Jeez." She swatted my hand away.

  "You want a cup of coffee to go?" I turned and walked to the kitchen to give her some privacy.

  "No, I'm good. I'm just not a morning person. If I'd known we were getting up at ass-dark-thirty, I would have gone home with someone else."

  I chuckled under my breath and ran my hand down the front of my face. Home with someone else? Maybe she wasn't the whore. Maybe I was.

  After fixing myself a mug of coffee, I jingled my keys. "Let's go, lady."

  "All right. I'm coming." She walked toward the door, not looking at me. "Thanks for last night. It'll be six hundred dollars."

  I almost spit out the coffee in my mouth. "What? Is that a joke?"

  "Yeah. Was it funny?" She opened the door and gave me a cheeky grin. "Later handsome."

  The door closed and I growled loudly before walking back to the bedroom to change my shirt. I had several important meetings scheduled throughout the day. The last thing I needed was coffee splattered across my damn shirt.

  The smell of our sex slapped me in the face as I walked into the bedroom, and my stomach constricted. Some part of me wanted to give up hope on finding her. Whoever she was.

  Olivia.

  "No, not her. Never her." I tugged my shirt from my slacks and ripped it over my head. My high school girlfriend was a powerful woman from my vantage point. The bitch s
till had my thoughts, my desires and my heart. Why was she so hard to shake?

  "Love. It was love." I stopped in front of the mirror and ran my hand over my chest. I needed to get back to the gym and take my brokenness out on a heavy set of weights instead of settling for a shitty sex life and moving through life like a well-contained zombie.

  I pushed the thoughts of Olivia out of my mind as they moved from warm fuzzy memories to the last night we were together. She had thrown away seven years because she was scared of us sleeping together and whatever the results of that could be, as if I'd forced her. It was her damn idea. I was fine waiting.

  "Are we really having this fucking conversation again?" I grabbed another shirt and jerked it over my arms as anger burned through me. I needed to see a counselor. I had to be the only moron in New York that walked around thinking about a relationship that ended six years ago when I was nothing more than a lovesick boy. I wasn't him anymore, but some part of that guy still lingered, and no matter how many random women I took to my bed or bottles of liquor I drank... nothing would shut him up.

  The fact that she was somewhere in the city was even worse. For the last year, I'd been living with my eyes wide open, looking for a ghost. For an eighteen-year-old girl from my past with beautiful blonde hair and big blue eyes filled with love - for me.

  *

  Traffic was horrible getting into the office, and I'd almost made it to my block when it came to a dead stop. Some poor guy had broken down and was trying to push his car over to the side of the road without much success. I waited a second to see if anyone would help me, but no one got out.

  I grumbled and pulled out of the traffic to park on the side of the city street before getting out and jogging over to him.