“Your job would be to help create this,” Theo whispered beside me.
I focused on the girl. She was off. She wasn’t feeling the music right.
“Stop.” The choreographer groaned. He rubbed the pads of his fingers against his temple before looking at the girl again. “Violet, are you tired?”
“No, sorry. I’ll get it,” she said.
“Let’s take a ten-minute break,” he decided anyway.
“Tori,” Theo said. “Play the whole thing. I want her to hear it.”
By the time she pressed play again, I had already stepped out of my flats and was off. It had been so long since I’d been able to dance like this, and everything within me screamed for me to continue. To do this again.
Theo
I had only looked away for one second to speak to Tori when she leaped into the center of the hall. Leaped like Violet—one of the best ballet dancers in the country, who had only signed with us two months ago—should have done.
“Holy hell,” Tori whispered as she stood up and watched Felicity spinning perfectly on the balls of her feet over and over again, then leaping high, her legs perfectly spread and landing just as gracefully. She performed Walter’s choreography with ease, like she had seen it a million times, practiced every night of her life. Walter was so amazed he forgot himself and joined her. They were perfectly in sync.
Even when the music changed completely, he just took her hand, and they made it up as they went. Stepping right and left, jumping on the same beat and landing together. She had never heard the song in this form, yet when there was a dramatic pause, they both froze on the balls of their feet, one leg up like cranes facing each other before the music continued, and they were dancing again.
“Where did you find this girl?” Tori asked, not the least bit fazed by the woman who was dancing with her husband, my younger brother.
“You’d never believe me,” I replied because even I didn’t believe it.
Felicity Harper was an enigma. I couldn’t understand her even a little. I had made a living out of understanding people, being able to read what they wanted or needed, how to make them better, where their faults were, but with Felicity I was at a loss. Worse, the more I tried to figure her out, the more I wanted her.
Watching her like this, the way her body moved, the smile that spread her lips, I wanted her. I had already had her only hours ago, yet I still wanted more.
“Bravo!” Walter clapped, along with the rest of the dancers and Tori, when the music ended. She stood in the center of the room, taking deep breaths.
“It was nice. Who’s your instructor?” Violet stepped forward, her arms wrapped around herself.
Felicity glanced at her. “I don’t have one.”
“What?” Walter had the same expression I’d had when she told me she had composed the music by herself. “You don’t train with anyone?”
She shook her head then nodded thanks to the person who handed her a bottle of water.
“I was in dance school when I was younger, but I just dance around in my apartment every once in a while. Right now it feels like my bones are on fire,” she joked, but it seemed like she was in pain. I was already walking toward her.
“Walter, the gala is in four weeks. I really hope this will all appear much better next time I come to watch.” I glimpsed at Felicity. “Let’s go. We still need to talk about whether you will join us.”
“You’re joining the dance department?” Walter asked excitedly.
“Music,” I said to him.
“Neither.” Felicity stood up straighter. “Thanks for letting me join in, but this was a one-time thing. Please enjoy your session.”
She didn’t wait before she walked off, grabbing her shoes as she went.
The one thing I knew for sure about Felicity Harper was that she was a runner. I had never thought of myself as a follower, but here I was, always one step behind her.
She’d made it only a couple of feet before having to rest against the wall. She breathed in through her nose, her chest rising in front of me, her hazel eyes staring into me. No words were spoken between us. I placed my hand on her check.
“Why do you keep running, Felicity?” I brushed my thumb across her pink lips.
She reached up and grasped my hand. “The real question is, why aren’t you, Theo? If I pick up that red file, I’ll hurt you.”
“We’ll hurt each other and be better for it,” I said before doing what I’d wanted the moment I’d seen her again this afternoon.
When she wrapped her hands around my neck, I knew right away: she was mine.
CHAPTER FIVE
Two Days Is Enough
Felicity
10:21 p.m.
Rolling over, eyes still closed, I patted around the bed for my cool pillow. Instead, all I felt were satin sheets.
My eyes opened, I glanced around the familiar gray-and-navy bedroom. Sitting up, I noticed I was naked and my clothes were folded on the dresser across from the bed, my shoes perfectly placed beside it. Out of the bed, I went to get my clothes, but halfway there I paused, trying to remember what had happened. All I could recall was kissing Theo and having a late lunch.
“Funny.” I smiled when I saw the red file on top of my shirt. Had I chosen, or had he? I wasn’t sure. It kind of felt like we’d both chosen together.
In the two days I had known him, I had both played and danced because of him. If he hadn’t had that piano in his house, I may never have touched ivory keys again. If he hadn’t taken me to his studio, I wouldn’t have felt the urge to dance. I was walking down a path I thought I had all but forgotten. I missed it. I missed doing all of it. But I’d stopped for a reason.
Not bothering to get dressed, grasping on to the bed sheets, I opened the door to the living room. Downstairs, he was sprawled on the couch, still dressed in the dark gray trousers and black shirt he had worn that morning. He was reading from a tablet in his hand.
“Hi,” I said, and he glanced up, focusing on the sheet around me before looking me in the eyes.
“You look well rested,” he said without moving. “But then again, you’ve been asleep for about nine hours.”
“Sorry. What happened?”
“You mean you don’t remember falling asleep while I was taking to you in the restaurant?” He chuckled like he couldn’t believe it.
Giggling, I shook my head. “I don’t even remember getting in the car.”
“Come here.” He sat up and stretched out his hand.
Each time he did that, I found myself taking it, and this time he pulled the sheets out of my hands. I didn’t fight him when he hauled me onto his lap. I shivered when his finger ran up and down my side.
“When I carried you up to my room, you crawled into my bed like you owned it and threw off all your clothes before covering yourself. It was both gratifying to watch and a little bit disappointing.”
“Why disappointing?”
“I didn’t get to look at you long enough.”
I shifted slightly on top of him, trying to ignore the pleasure I got out of hearing him talk to me. “This is a very dangerous game you’re playing, Theo,” I said as I unbuttoned his shirt one button after the other. “Me as your lover here, and your employee at the office. That was your offer, right? I thought you weren’t supposed to mix business and pleasure?”
“For some people, yes. I get pleasure out of my business. Having you there will only heighten that.”
“What if I mess up?” I asked, my hands on his chest. “You can’t yell at me or—”
“Why not?” He glanced up at me, confused. “If you mess up, I’ll let you know right then and there, and then I’ll let you know again, either in my office or here while you’re on your knees.”
I licked my lip at the thought of him taking me in his office while everyone else went about their normal day. Him thrusting….
Focus, Felicity.
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“No
t true,” he said, placing a hand on my hip. “I know your name, your age, that you worked three different jobs, speak French, know your wine, can play the piano, and dance. You like to sleep naked, and you enjoy fucking me as much as I enjoy fucking you. For only knowing you two days, I think that’s pretty damn good.”
“And what happens if you get tired of me? I’ll be out of my jobs and stuck working for the man who fucked me all over his penthouse.”
“Why do I have a feeling you’re going to be the one to walk away from me first?”
I leaned down and kissed his lips. “Because I am.”
“Then we won’t have anything to worry about. You set the terms, and when you’re ready to walk away, fine. Until then….” He flipped me on my back on the couch and hovered over me. “You belong to me.”
I placed a finger on his lips. “I will be your lover under the following conditions. First, don’t call me or need me for anything on Sundays.”
“You can have the entire weekend off if you want.”
“Second, I don’t share.”
“Isn’t that my line?”
I nodded. “It was so good, I recycled it.”
He kissed me. “Anything else?”
“Yes. Third, I don’t work for you.”
He frowned, and his eyebrows came together in confusion. “You just want to be my lover?”
“I don’t want to be on the payroll or anything. If you need my help or input, I will do my best to assist you. I could use a break from work. I’ll just say I’m on vacation.”
“What about the rights to any music you compose?”
I shrugged. “I doubt I’ll be making any more music. As for the rights to the song I came up with before, you can have them.”
“I get more and more confused every time I see you.”
“And that’s not all.” I didn’t want to make this into a thing, but it needed to be said. “Don’t ask me about my past. It’s not something I talk about, and if you try to force me, I’ll walk out.”
“Anything else?” He stared at me like he was trying to read between the lines.
“No, what about you? Any rules for you?”
He nodded. “Whenever possible, I want you here, preferably naked. I also want you to come to the office. There, clothing is still optional. I think I’ve found a muse in you.”
I grabbed his belt, undid it, and kissed up his chin. “I’d rather have you in me.”
Reaching into his pocket, I pulled out a condom and held it between my fingers. It didn’t stay there long. Kissing my neck, he gripped my thighs tightly. Spreading them, I held the couch with one hand and his shoulder with the other as he thrust hard into me. My back lifted off the couch, and my legs wrapped around his waist, holding on to him for dear life.
He bit my bottom lip and I grinned, matching his pace. I forced him to look at me, our lips hovering over each other, allowing us to breathe each other in.
Looking into his eyes, I said, “Faster.”
His nostrils flared, and he grabbed my wrists and held them over my head as he rammed himself deeper…harder…faster, over and over again.
“Yes! Like that!” I cried as my whole body shook, as he filled me. I curled my toes on his ass.
God, I could go on like this forever.
Fortunately for me, this was only the start.
Theo
Stepping out of the bathroom with a towel around my waist, I dried my hair. I’d expected to see her in my bed, but she was gone. Her clothes were still on the dresser, though. Stepping out into the living room, I saw her from a distance, sitting outside next to my pool, dressed in nothing but my black shirt. Without realizing it, I was walking downstairs and outside toward her. There was something about her I just gravitated to. Everything about her was beautiful, from her long, honey-brown hair to the curve of her hips and breasts, which filled my hands perfectly. But I had met hundreds of women, all of them beautiful, whether it was natural or manmade. I was still stunned by her.
My cell rang. Pulled out of a trance, I grabbed it off the coffee table and sat on the same couch we’d just fucked on. The sheet she’d worn when she first came out was still on the floor. I had a perfect view of the city from this couch, yet I watched her instead.
“Theo. Theo?”
“What?” I snapped.
“What happened? We were supposed to go over set design for the gala with everyone,” Walter said on the phone. I heard a quick “hi” in the background from Tori before he went on. “This is it. We’ve gone through four designs already. If you don’t like this one, I swear—”
I took the phone off my ear and scrolled through my email to see it. “It’s fine, Walt.”
He coughed. “What?”
“I said it’s fine. Did you need anything else?”
“Yeah, can I talk to my brother, please? Whoever this easygoing guy is, he’s an alien to me.”
“I’m hanging up.”
“Wait!” he yelled, and I flinched.
“What?”
“The chick you were with—”
“She’s a woman, not a baby chicken.”
“Yep, you’re back,” he muttered. “Fine, the woman you were with today? Who is she? Seriously. She was… she was amazing.”
“In more ways than one,” I said, more to myself than him, as I watched her lie on the ground and kick one leg over the other.
It really was the best view in the city.
“You don’t mean…. Bullshit, you aren’t dating her.”
“I doubt the verb for what we are doing is dating.” Fucking, screwing, losing ourselves in each other, yes. But dating, no. I didn’t date.
“As long as you’ve gotten over—”
“Walter.” I cut him off before he could go there. “If there isn’t anything else—”
“Just wanted to remind you Mom is hosting a dinner at the end of the week. She wants all of us there. I think she found out what Arty did.”
Just thinking about him pissed me off.
Then again... I glanced to Felicity again. If Arty hadn’t thrown that party at my house, I would’ve never met her.
“You know, he’s had a rough couple of months. You’ve got to forgive, Theo. He’s family.”
“Give me more two days.” I hung up.
I meant to go out to her, but she came inside and leaned against the glass frame of the door. I couldn’t help but stare up her smooth legs to where the hem of my shirt hung, and for the first time in my life, I wished I were shorter so it wouldn’t be so big on her.
“You still haven’t had enough?” She smiled at me when I finally looked at her face.
“Have you?”
Shaking her head, she held up a fossil masquerading as a cell phone. “Can I borrow yours? Mine died, and I didn’t bring a charger.”
I stared. “Who in this day and age still has a flip phone?” I asked, handing mine to her.
“I know, right?” She laughed. She was so close to me I smelled her perfume… lilies. “But I have a sentimental attachment to this antique.”
“From….” I stopped myself, and she glanced to me, knowing I was about to ask her something of her past.
“Cleo, it’s me,” she said into the phone as she went toward the window. “Oh no, you don’t care. I’ve been gone all day, and neither of you bothered to call, write, or even send a carrier pigeon?”
I grinned then stopped the moment I realized what I was doing, rising from the ground.
“Theo,” she called, and when I turned to her, she handed me the phone. “I just needed it for a quick second to check in. My roommates are out anyway. I’ll get going.”
She rushed past me up the stairs. I glanced at the phone and clicked the call log. Just like I figured, she’d deleted the number.
She really doesn’t want anyone to know her.
What was she so scared I would find out?
Checking to make sure she was in my room, I dialed as I stepped away from the stairs.
> “Sir.” My assistant answered.
“I need you to do a background check on someone. The name is Felicity Harper. I’ll send you more in the morning.” Not waiting to hear confirmation, I hung up.
When I turned around, she was standing in the middle of the staircase, looking out at the view, but I was sure she’d heard me.
Fuck.
“You couldn’t even make it a few hours.” She closed her eyes and shook her head angrily, then put on her shoes and marched toward the door.
“Felicity, you really expected me, being the person I am, to not know who is in my bed? I’ve never met a woman who only wanted sex from someone who could possibly give her anything she wants at any moment of the day. It’s usually an act. This is Los Angeles, not some backwater town in the middle of nowhere. Everyone wants something from someone, especially someone like me.”
“You know what, Mr. Darcy?” She flipped me off on her away out, adding, “Go screw yourself.”
I was tempted to throw the phone against the wall. Instead, I dialed the one human being who’d had almost as much bad luck with women as I did.
“Arty—”
“Calling to guilt trip me again?”
“Where are you?” I was in my room, grabbing a pair of jeans, white shirt, and leather jacket.
“I’m actually on the way to your place. Mom’s been bugging me to apologize. Jesus fucking Christ, you would think I—”
“Shut up, and let’s go for a ride,” I said as I clutched my wallet and the keys to my motorcycle.
Felicity
12:14 p.m.
“What happened?” Cleo came out of the kitchen with a bowl of kettle corn and a glass of wine. She was still wearing the dark red dress she’d gone out in.
“He’s an ass.” I sighed and threw myself on the couch after kicking off my shoes. “But I knew that when I went to his place. He arranged to do a background check on me. I told him my past was my past and to not to bring it up.”