We pull into the underground lot and I lead my wide-eyed companion through the lobby and over to the elevator. “That was…” She trails off, her breath catching high in her throat. “Oh my god. Keith. Holy taco Tuesday. Was that freaking Gabriel Rose? Like, the Gabriel Rose from Blind Tears?”
“Yup.”
“But you waved to him. You know him?” she whisper-shrieks. I shrug indifferently, which only seems to fuel her on. “Keith!” She slaps my arm. “You know him?!”
“Yes.” I grin as we step onto the elevator and I press the button for the studio floor. “He is Lyric Rose’s father and Lyric is not only the CEO of Turn Records, but she’s also our main producer.”
“Shut the motherfuck up.”
Now I can’t fight my laugh. Her awestruck, wide-eyed thing is impossible to resist. “Again, you weren’t like this when you met me.”
“You’re kinda okay and all, but that was Gabriel Rose.”
“Kinda okay?”
She shrugs, twisting to face the elevator doors, effectively dismissing me. “I think I might like Henry better. He’s charming in all the ways you’re abrasive. And Jasper’s lyrics are exquisite poetry I can’t resist. Oh, and Gus’s—”
I swat her ass before I can stop it. It makes a nice loud smack in the quiet din of the elevator. She spins to me, her mouth popped open and her brown eyes incredulous as they lock onto mine.
Shit, I just spanked her.
My new assistant.
In an elevator as we go to work. After I told her we were to be friends and respectful.
I just undid everything I spent the last ten days fighting.
The car starts to slow but neither of us has moved or even uttered a sound. We just continue to stare, both of us shocked with no idea what to do about what I just did. I should say something. I should tell her I’m sorry. That I was unprofessional. That it wasn’t intentional and it just kind of happened. But again, no sound comes out.
My palm stings from how hard I hit her so I know her ass must too. That shouldn’t turn me on as much as it does, but let’s be real here, her ass… if she wasn’t standing before me, I’d be biting my knuckles to muzzle my groan. That’s how unbelievable her ass is.
I don’t move. She doesn’t either. She’s silent. I can’t manage a sound. It’s a fucking standoff that has me nervous and far more excited than I have any right to be.
Just before the elevator stops, she steps into me, her hand diving into my hair cupping the back of my head and dragging my face to hers. Her lips press boldly against mine, a startled gasp fleeing her lips, like she’s as shocked by her move as I am. That gasp just as quickly turns into a moan and I think that just became my favorite sound ever.
I stand here, dazed for a half-beat, only to close my eyes and kiss her back.
Her lips are warm and soft and so full. Like pillows I want to sink into and get lost in. Her fingers toy with the strands of my hair as she moves her mouth against mine. Slow, light kisses that she intersperses with deeper plunges and slips of her tongue.
Kisses that leave me dizzy and breathless and aching.
My hands grasp her face, holding her against me, tilting her head and deepening the connection because I just can’t fucking get enough. My tongue goes in for the kill, tasting her, toying with her. Taking no motherfucking prisoners as I consume her mouth like the greedy bastard she makes me. My cock strains against my jeans and I push into her without conscious thought. Hell, conscious thought fled my mind the second her lips touched mine.
I’m dying for her to feel me. Feel me! Feel how hard you make me, Maia. Feel how desperate I am for you.
I want this woman.
I want this woman so bad.
And now she knows exactly how much. Her second gasp as I grind against her sweet body tells me there is no mistaking it. No playing it off. It’s all for you, I want to say but I’m too busy tasting every inch of her mouth to speak.
All too soon the car glides to a stop and the elevator dings and the doors part and she draws back, a thin trail of saliva going with her and clinging to her bottom lip when it breaks.
Fuck, that’s so hot.
Dilated pupils darken her eyes. Her cheeks are the most devastating shade of pink. She smirks, licks her lips taking in that tiny pool of my spit, and says, “I’d say the kiss made us even for the smack on my ass, but I think it’s pretty obvious I enjoyed both a little too much for that to have been a punishment for either of us. Oh well, I’ll just have to try harder next time.”
She saunters out of the elevator, and I quickly press the button to keep the door open, so I don’t get shuffled off to the next floor.
I blow out a breath. Then another. Then a discombobulated laugh.
Ho-lee-shit. What the hell was that?
I’m panting and smiling and all I want to do is grab her, haul her ass back in here and do it all over again. Her kiss is like candy. Like a drug. Sweet and addictive and damn.
“Come on, Keith. We’re gonna be late.”
I grin wider. Even though I shouldn’t. Even though I promised both her, myself, the guys, and I think even her pal Jesus once or twice that I wouldn’t touch her.
I guess that’s kind of fucked now. You know, since I ground my cock against her.
Damn. I probably shouldn’t have done that.
“Keith!”
Right. Recording.
“I’m officially mad at you, Maia.”
She laughs. I don’t. How many life rules did I just break with that one kiss? And how many more will I end up breaking before this is over?
14
Maia
* * *
I kissed him. I shouldn’t have kissed him. What in the name of Buddy the Elf was I thinking?
Actually, I know exactly what I was thinking.
I was thinking the man smacked me on the ass. That’s what I was thinking.
I was thinking that after the smack on the ass, and the strange heat that subsequently flowed through me, that I wanted to kiss him to see if I was the only one feeling it.
Spoiler alert: I wasn’t.
Call it experimental. Call it an irresistible temptation. Call it pure freaking insanity.
Whatever the hell it was, it was a one and done thing. Just like how he is with all his women. Because the second he stepped off the elevator, he said just that. “Now that we got that out of our systems, we can’t do it again. Not if this is going to work.”
Right. He’s right. I know he’s right. Ugh! So Keith. Strong and in control without even the slightest hint that what happened in the elevator thirty seconds prior was even a factor in his head. I tried not to let it sting, but let’s be real here, we all know it did.
The studio setup is pretty nuts. In a very cool way.
I’ve been sitting in a reclining and massaging leather lounger for the last few hours, listening to the guys work through this new song Jasper decided had to be added at the last minute. Lyric Rose, the Lyric Rose, is here too since she’s their producer. She’s been patiently and expertly walking them through it.
Well… sort of.
“Gus why do you keep changing that chord up?” she asks, speaking into a microphone since the guys are in the booth, all with instruments, all playing together, which she told me is not standard for when they’re laying down a track. Then each artist typically plays separately.