Page 27 of Worth the Risk

“Sure, yeah, sorry. I’ll meet you up there,” he finally says before slowly turning and walking back out of the office. Austin is on his heels, walking toward the door. I expect him to follow him out, ride the elevator with him so they can discuss whatever it is Adam came to talk to him about, but he stops when his hand reaches the door handle. Instead, he closes the door, turning back toward me with a look of determination in his eyes.

“I wasn’t done yet.” He grabs my waist with one hand, sliding me back into place in front of him, my desk behind me. This time he pushes me back onto the desk so I’m fully sitting, stepping back between my thighs and pulling me hard against him.

“Ohh,” I gasp when I feel his hard length pressing against my panties, his hand grabbing a handful of my ass as the other is back to pulling me toward him.

This time, the kiss is frenzied. His fingers of one hand tangle in my hair, the others digging into my flesh through my skirt while his tongue laps at mine. My body surrenders to his touch, as if I could deny him.

He slows his movements, sucking my tongue into his mouth before nipping one of my lips. It sends a shock of electricity straight between my thighs, the throbbing only intensifying. It’sonly when he finally pulls back that I realize my nails are digging into his ribs like I’m hanging on for dear life.

I’ve never been kissed like this. I don’t think I even realized I could be kissed like this. So deeply, so thoroughly that my toes literally curl inside my shoes and my nipples are seconds away from tearing through my silk blouse.

“That should do it,” he practically moans into my mouth, leaning in to plant one more deliciously sloppy kiss before running his thumb lazily over my lips. “Mmm.” He drags his top teeth over his bottom lip slowly before a lazy, content smile slides into place.

Then he turns and walks slowly out of my office, whistling an upbeat tune like he didn’t just tongue-fuck the shit of my mouth, leaving me breathless and on the edge.

My breaths come out in pants, my knees wobbly and unsteady. When I finally regain my composure and slide off my desk, I almost fall to the floor, stumbling forward to grab the edge of my bookshelf.

That’s when I look up and see it, my reflection in my phone. In the heat of the moment, completely lost in the wicked things Austin’s tongue was doing to me, I forgot that he was recording it.

I forgot that it was all for show.

I grab my phone, exiting out of the camera and walking over to sink down into my chair. I close my eyes, letting the memory replay over and over in my head before my rational brain takes over.

And while I know that both of us will agree in a few days that this was just a stupid mistake, it doesn’t change the fact that now I know the chemistry Austin and I had… the chemistry we felt five years ago… hasn’t gone away.

CHAPTER 10

Austin

I’ve thought of nothing but the taste of her lips for the last twenty-four hours. To be fair, thoughts of Taylor’s lips circle my brain at least once a day anyway but this… this changes everything.

No longer can I convince myself that our chemistry was one-sided or left in the past. Not with the way she gripped my body, the way she surrendered against me, needing more.

I walk to the private bathroom in my office, lifting my shirt to look at the red marks her nails left on my skin. My cock stirs when I run my fingers over the indentions, her gasp playing over and over again in my head when I pressed myself against her.

I’m seized by a momentary flash of guilt, remembering the way I handled myself last night to thoughts of Taylor. The animalistic growl that tore through me when I spilled my release onto the shower floor echoed so loudly I was sure the entire building heard it. But the relief afterward felt otherworldly, washing away any trace of regret.

I tuck my shirt back in, turning my attention back to work and returning to my desk before my next meeting walks in.

“I was about your age when I had my son,” Willy Farber, Chicago’s most well-known car salesman, smiles broadly at me across my desk. He started out on the west side of Chicago almost fifty years ago with three used cars and seventeen dollars to his name. It’s a story I’ve heard at least half a dozen times in the years since I’ve been managing his money.

“That was back when I only had the flagship dealership and one other out in the suburbs.”

“And now here you are.” I offer back my most genuine smile. “More locations than you can count and even more money.”

“That’s why I like you.” He points his thick finger at me, wagging it as his heavy smoker’s laugh fills the room. “You’re a man who knows what’s important.” Even with his decades of success, Willy never did change his appearance to match his wealth. Apart from the addition of a ruby ring and a heavy gold bracelet, he’s every bit the same loud, brash used car salesman he was when he started out, according to those who know him.

“That’s why you hired me, Willy. You’re the man who knows cars and I’m the man who knows how to make you rich.” I hand him over his portfolio’s earnings reports for the quarter. “Now, you mentioned on the phone that you wanted to discuss moving some assets around?”

“Yeah.” His expression grows somber. “That’s why I mentioned my son a moment ago. I think it’s time to move some things over into his name.”

“You mean the trust in his name?”

He shakes his head. “Look, son, I’ll just shoot it straight.” He sits up, his hands nervously trying to find a place to rest. “I don’t have much time left. The doctors said I’d be lucky to see Halloween.”

“Oh shit, Willy.”

“No, no, no.” He waves his hands. “I don’t want to hear any of that pity talk. We’re both men, we know how life works. I just want to make sure my family is taken care of when I’m gone.”

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