THAT MAN Special Holiday Box Set (Books 1-5) Read online

  I lifted my hand. My finger was swollen and quivering, the cuticle torn. He gently took my hand in his. I felt chilled and still sick to my stomach from the excruciating pain. His touch warmed and comforted me.

  He examined my finger. “Jesus. You really did a number, tiger.”

  He called me tiger? I twitched a little smile as my stomach twisted. A new throbbing sensation—between my legs—gripped me.

  “Do you want me to kiss the boo-boo?”

  Oh, God! Why was the word “yes” on the tip of my tongue? I slowly sat up.

  “I don’t think so,” I murmured.

  His lips curled into a devilish smile. Holy shit. It was the cutest, sexiest smile I’d ever seen on a man, his adorable dimples bracketing his lush lips like two little hearts.

  My chill gave way to a feverish sensation. I felt my body heat and my face flush. Why was he affecting me this way? “I’ve got to go. I have a dinner date with my fiancé.”

  At the word “fiancé,” his dense, dark brows furrowed. Subtly but enough for me to notice. I pulled my hand away from his and rose to my feet. A wave of dizziness swept over me. I didn’t know if it was from the intense pain emanating from my finger or the feverish effect this man was having on me, or a combination of both. My body swayed, and blackness clouded my vision. Shit. I was about to pass out again. As the world spun around me, he caught me in his arms and lowered me back onto his couch. He brushed away a wisp of my hair that had fallen onto my forehead. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach.

  “Ms. McCoy, you’re in no condition to go anywhere. Stay put. I’ll be right back with some ice for your finger.”

  “Okay,” I squeaked. Boss’s orders.

  My eyes stayed fixed on him as he jogged out of his office in his charcoal gray suit. The color of the suit perfectly complemented his almost ebony hair, and its tapered shape was tailor-made for him. I soaked in his broad shoulders, tight ass, and long muscular legs Wow! What a body, I thought as I glanced down at my throbbing finger. I grimaced. The torn cuticle had begun to bleed.

  He was back in no time, with what looked to be a cotton napkin filled up with ice.

  “How’s my patient doing?” he asked, lowering himself next to me onto the couch. His hard thighs brushed against mine. The closeness of him disseminated warmth through my system, and his manly scent—a blend of sweetness and spice—assaulted my senses. I felt delirious.

  “Fine,” I muttered as he took hold of my hand again and gently pressed the ice pack on my finger. I noticed he’d wrapped up the ice cubes in his personal, monogrammed hankie. BB. Blake Burns. Just saying his name silently to myself sent a barrage of sparks to my core.

  “The ice should help take away the pain and reduce the swelling.”

  My finger already felt better. In fact, all of me felt better. Except my brain with the initials BB branded on it was still mush.

  I turned to face him and managed one word. “Thanks.”

  His gaze met mine, those beautiful orbs of blue burning a hole right through me. That dazzling smile spread across his face. “You should be more careful, Ms. McCoy. I value my employees.”

  I shrugged sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I’m very accident-prone. My roommate even calls me ‘Calamity Jen.’”

  He broke into a sexy rasp of laughter. “That wasn’t on your resume.”

  His laughter was catching. “I was born an accident.”

  “What do you mean?” A bemused expression washed over his handsome face.

  “My parents were told they could never have children. So, they didn’t bother using protection. Lo and behold, at the age of forty, my mom got pregnant. And voilà, here I am.”

  He smiled. “Some accidents are meant to happen.”

  His words sent a jolt of heat through me. “Well, I’d better go. I don’t want to be late for my fiancé.”

  The word “fiancé” made him frown again. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  I nodded. Removing the ice pack from my finger, I handed it back to him. “Thanks. My finger feels a lot better.” I glanced down at it. It glowed red from the ice, but was definitely less puffy. Plus, the bleeding had subsided, and it was no longer trembling.

  He examined it with me. “It still looks pretty bad. You should keep it covered.”

  I watched as he emptied the ice cubes inside his hankie into a ceramic bowl on his coffee table. Folding the damp hankie into a triangle, he gingerly wrapped it around my injured finger and formed a makeshift bandage.

  I laughed at the silly bandage. “My fiancé’s going to get mad at me. He thinks I’m careless and don’t think before I act.”

  “Tell him a big bad wolf tried to bite off your finger.”

  I laughed again. “That’s a good one. I’ll bring back your hankie tomorrow.”

  “Don’t bother. Keep it for future accidents.”

  “Very funny.” Gathering my purse and briefcase, I stood up and headed toward the door to his office. As I was about to leave, Blake called out to me. I pivoted around to face him. He was slouched seductively on the couch, his long legs splayed.

  “Hey, Calamity, stay out of trouble.” His mouth twisted into that sexy fiendish grin, and he winked at me.

  The wink made me tingle all over. “Right.” I flung the word at him and scurried off before my knees buckled beneath me once again.

  Chapter 5

  Blake

  Immediately after work, I met my best bud, Jaime Zander, at my sports club, Equinox, for a game of racquetball. Jay-Z, as I affectionately called him, was a creative genius. He ran a very successful advertising agency—ZAP!—and had created the award-winning advertising campaign that’d launched SIN-TV. “Television so hot, your screen will sizzle.” In the process, we’d become friends, having discovered that we shared many of the same interests, including kinky sex. He had a few years on me, but that didn’t impact our friendship. The big difference was that he was now married and the new father to a set of twins. And I was still single. A player like he’d once been before meeting his gorgeous wife Gloria, the founder and CEO of Gloria’s Secret, the world’s largest retailer of lingerie.

  Usually, I squashed him. But tonight I was distracted, off my game. I missed several easy-to-get shots and ended up losing to him big time in our series of rallies.

  Removing my goggles, I wiped sweat off my brows with my wristband. My breathing was shallow. I was beat and defeated.

  “You’re buying tonight, Blakester.” An enormous shit-eating grin crossed Jaime’s heated face. Tradition had it the loser always bought a round of drinks at the bar that was part of the upscale sports complex.

  Over two overflowing mugs of Guinness, Jaime and I caught up on business. His agency was handling the video presentation for the upfront—the highly anticipated May event at which we presented our slate of new programming to advertisers.

  “Why won’t Gloria buy time on the network?” I asked. I so wanted Gloria’s Secret to be one of our advertisers. I’d given Jaime my business; it was only fair Gloria gave me hers.

  “You know Gloria. It has to be a good fit.”

  Like my cock? I mused. I dared not say this, knowing how fiercely possessive Jaime was of Gloria. He couldn’t even take a joke.

  Jaime took a swig of his beer. “She’s only interested in the female 18-49 demographic.”

  Anchoring an elbow on the table, I ran my hand though my hair in defeat. It wasn’t happening. Hardly any women watched SIN-TV. After another gulp of the foamy beer, I abruptly changed the subject—kind of. It was still about Gloria.

  “How did you know that Gloria was different from the other babes you’d been with?”

  Jaime shot me a perplexed what-the-fuck look. “I just knew. When I met her, I swear my heart got a hard-on.”

  “Was she your type?”

  “Hardly. I usually went for petite brunettes.”

  Gloria was a blond Amazon. A towering, golden goddess.

  “What made her different?”

 
“The challenge. She was hard to get.”

  Newly engaged Jennifer was impossible to get. “Doesn’t being married cramp your lifestyle?”

  “Being married is my lifestyle. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I look forward to going to sleep with Gloria and waking up to her. I love every minute I spend with her and the twins. They’re the loves of my life.”

  A smile lit up Jaime’s face. It always did when it came to Gloria and the twins.

  “Doesn’t the sex get old?”

  “Not with Gloria. It only gets better.”

  “How did you know you loved her?” Kill me now. I was beginning to sound girly.

  “On a plane ride. Extreme turbulence. I knew if we went down, I wanted to go down with her. I couldn’t live without her.”

  Jaime had almost twice lost Gloria. Nine months ago, she nearly died giving birth to their beautiful twins. Before that, they’d both almost lost their lives when this crazy Russian creep threatened them at gunpoint at a gala. I happened to have been there last year. It was total life and death insanity.

  Jaime furrowed his brows. “Blake, why are you asking me all these questions?”

  I took another gulp of my beer. “Just curious.”

  “Bullshit. You’ve met someone.”

  I felt my cheeks heat and guzzled the rest of the beer.

  “Come on, man. Out with it. Who is she?”

  “Just some girl I met last night.” With a shrug, I tried to sound nonchalant while Jennifer’s face filled every crevice of my brain. My cock tensed just thinking about her. Her lips on my mine. Those fiery green eyes. That cute little ass, pert breasts, and those long legs that seemed to stem from her rib cage. I had bopped by her office a dozen times today under the pretense of seeing how she was doing. The truth: I just wanted to see her. She must have thought I didn’t trust her or was a micro-managing stalker. I wasn’t about to tell Jaime that she was my new hire. That I was her boss.

  “What’s she like?”

  “She seems nice.” Shit. Nice wasn’t part of my vocabulary. I didn’t do nice. I didn’t like nice.

  “Nice?” Jaime burst into a fit of laughter and almost choked on his beer. “That’s so not like you.”

  Jaime was well aware of my reputation for hooking-up with starlets and models. They were a dime a dozen in Los Angeles. Kirstens, Kristies, Krystals, Kieras. I couldn’t keep them straight. Most of them, looking to make it in the business, didn’t mind my modus operandi:

  Find.

  Feel.

  Fuck.

  And forget.

  Especially about a relationship. But I couldn’t forget Jennifer. She wouldn’t let me. I was going to see that pretty face every day for as long as she worked for me.

  “Did you at least get her number?” asked Jaime, catapulting me out my mental ramblings.

  Yeah, I have her number.” I twisted my lips. “There’s one little problem. She’s engaged.”

  “Does she have a ring?”

  “Not yet.”

  Jaime polished off his beer. “Then she’s fair game. And since you’re buying, we’re having another round.”

  “What’s my next step?” I asked as the playful waitress took our order.

  “It’s no different than business or a game of racquetball.” Jaime slid his index finger across his neck like a knife. “Eliminate the competition.”

  Chapter 6

  Jennifer

  “You’re late.” Bradley’s voice was gruff. A punctual person, he had a no tolerance policy for tardiness.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, scrambling into the chair across from him. “There was a lot of traffic on the freeway.” I didn’t tell him about my finger-jamming incident.

  The restaurant Bradley had chosen was a Thai one located in Toluca Lake close to his Burbank office. There had been no fast or easy way to get there from my new Culver City office, especially during rush hour. All throughout the stressful bumper-to-bumper drive, my finger throbbed, and I regretted I hadn’t canceled our date. The only thing good about my achy finger was that it made me think of my new boss, Blake. He had been surprisingly sweet and caring. So different from the arrogant asshole he came off as during my job interview. Maybe working for him wouldn’t be as bad as I thought. But it was definitely going to be a challenge because he was so demanding. And so damn handsome. Okay, devastating.

  While Bradley studied the menu, I took in my surroundings. The restaurant was small, uncrowded, and dimly lit. It reeked of garlic. Bradley liked eating here because it was vegan. He’d recently become one, convinced this lifestyle would prevent deadly heart disease and gingivitis. As long as I’d known him, he’d been a hypochondriac, and being a dentist, he was very germ-phobic. The latter was the main reason he abstained from oral sex and always wore a condom.

  “How was your day?” I began after ordering an iced green tea from the Asian waitress who stopped by our table. Still stressed out, I really craved something alcoholic (thank goodness, vegan wine existed), but the restaurant didn’t have a liquor license. It was just as well since I wanted to be clearheaded for my first work assignment. Bradley ordered his usual—a high protein soy milk shake with wheatgrass. He was not a drinker.

  Without wasting a second, Bradley launched into his day. An endless minute to minute monologue about his patients and their problems—from the elderly man who accidentally threw his dentures into the garbage disposal to the woman who cracked her front tooth on her boyfriend’s penis ring.

  I half-heartedly listened, nodding and intermittently responding with one-word comments, like “wow,” “interesting,” and “eew.” My mind was preoccupied with my work assignment and pleasing my new boss, Blake. The image of his face filled my head. God, he was good-looking with his crooked dimpled smile, smoldering eyes, strong stubbled jaw, and that head full of dark, almost black hair. So different from Bradley, who was clean-shaven with an average build, collegiate style, neatly groomed brownish hair (on the receding side) and a wide, toothy smile. He had the biggest, whitest, straightest teeth I’d ever seen. They seriously belonged in a tooth museum.

  The return of the waitress interrupted our one-way conversation. Bradley ordered curried tofu and a side of garlic eggplant. Still a little nauseated from my finger-jamming incident, I wasn’t very hungry and ordered a small organic vegetable salad. The Serenity Salad. I felt anything but serene.

  “So how was your first day at work?” Finally, he had asked something about me.

  “It was fine. I have a big project, so I can’t stay out too late.” Bradley had no clue that I’d accepted a job with SIN-TV after Conquest Broadcasting’s children’s channel was sold. I was afraid to tell him. Afraid he would judge me. And think I was some kind of slut. Afraid he would leave me.

  “How’s your boss?”

  “He’s nice enough.” And sexy as hell.

  The waitress returned with our orders. Bradley dug into his curried tofu while I picked at my salad. It was difficult to hold my fork. My finger, now uncovered, still throbbed, making it impossible to get Blake out of my thoughts.

  “And how was your celebration dinner last night?” he asked after shoving a forkful of the saucy bean curd into his mouth.

  “It was great,” I mumbled, that kiss jumping into my brain and wreaking havoc on my body. “Wish you’d been there.”

  Unfortunately, Bradley had been unable to attend due to a last minute emergency with one of his patients. One thing about my fiancé… he was committed and passionate about his work.

  “Sorry I missed it. And sorry I couldn’t have given you this in front of all your friends.” He slipped his hand into the breast pocket of his navy blazer and held out a small silver box in his palm. It was labeled Zales. My heartbeat sped up.

  He snapped open the lid, and my eyes widened. Inside was a diamond ring. My engagement ring.

  “Do you like it?”

  “It’s beautiful,” I stuttered, utterly disappointed. The square diamond was small and dull. Bradley
came from money, not billionaires, but nonetheless money. I’d shown him pictures of rings I liked, none of them extravagant, but not one was like this one. The prospect of being engaged to him and becoming Mrs. Bradley Wick was suddenly more real than it had ever been. He took my shaky left hand in his and slipped the ring onto my ring finger. It fit perfectly.

  “Thank you.” Thank you? Wasn’t I supposed to gasp? Or get goosebumps? Maybe even swoon?

  “It’s official now.” He smiled broadly, revealing that perfect set of pearly white teeth and then leaned across the table to plant a kiss on my lips that I was neither prepared for nor wanted. My eyes stayed open. As his lips pressed against mine, the kiss of another man dominated my thoughts and my senses. I’d kissed another last night. A mysterious stranger. And I’d more than liked it. As Bradley’s tight-lipped kiss infused me with the taste of curry and garlic, I longed for those other lips. Those hot, hungry champagne-laced lips and that velvety tongue that had tangoed with mine. Bradley smelled of antiseptic; that man had smelled of sex. My breath hitched in my throat. What was wrong with me? I was engaged to the man who I’d known throughout college, but I longed for another. A man I didn’t know. A faceless man whose lips I craved.

  With guilt stabbing at my heart, I pulled away from Bradley. He went back to his tofu dish, scraping his plate clean, while I barely made a dent in my salad. I just didn’t have an appetite.

  The waitress came by one more time to clear our plates. I told her I’d take the rest of my salad home. Bradley hated waste. When she asked if we wanted dessert, I quickly passed before my fiancé could say a word.

  “I should get going. I’ve got a lot of work to do. And I want to make a favorable impression on my boss.”

  Bradley nodded in approval. “Totally understand.” Yes, a good work ethic was important to Bradley. That’s one of the things about me that had attracted him to me in the first place. I was a conscientious student who always completed my assignments on time and went beyond the necessary to get an outstanding grade. We were both anal like that, although Bradley’s anal qualities went beyond mine, almost to an extreme. He was a creature of habit and precision—which manifested itself when the check came.