It Started With a Lie Read online

  “Why not, Mr. Fox?” she asks, her voice suddenly sultry when it really wasn’t before.

  Because you remind me of my mother. I can’t say that, obviously, so I lie. “I’m seeing someone.”

  “Oh, that’s a real shame. We could’ve had a lot of fun.” She doesn’t remove her foot from my crotch despite my lie.

  “I wouldn’t doubt it, Ms. Howard.” I shift again, and she finally moves.

  Thankfully the waiter appears with some bread, so I focus on the bread rather than on eye contact with her. “Would you like me to continue discussing your reports?”

  She shifts in her chair, too, and crosses her legs. “Sure,” she says, and we resume the business portion of our business lunch.

  When the bill comes, I grab it first and put it on the black card Mark gave me without even looking at the total. It’s a business lunch and a write-off, but it’s more than that. It’s me being a gentleman, not making the woman pay for the meal even though she’s the one who wanted to meet for lunch.

  The waiter picks up the check with my card, and he returns a minute later. He looks nervous as he hands me the booklet.

  I open it.

  Denied.

  “What the fuck?” I mutter.

  “Sir, do you have another method of payment?” the waiter asks.

  Right in front of Ellen.

  “Can you run it again?” I ask.

  “I ran it twice, sir. Same result both times.”

  I pull another card out of my wallet as I silently fume at the waiter. I make a mental note to let Mark know his card was denied. “I’m sorry about this,” I say to Ellen. “It’s really strange.”

  She simply raises an eyebrow just like my mother might, and I’m certain I made the right decision in telling her no.

  The waiter comes back, and when I check the total, I wish I hadn’t offered to pay for lunch, and especially not on my personal credit card.

  It’s over a hundred bucks for two people, and my mental note to let Mark know his card was denied has shifted from letting him know to getting ready for a fight.

  * * *

  I storm past Lauren and slam my office door shut when I return from lunch. I dial my brother, and as soon as he answers, I start in on him. “My card was denied at a client lunch. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was?”

  Mark sighs. “I told you yesterday, Brian. I’m not sinking more money into FDB. You need to get your shit together and you need to do that on your own dime.”

  “So you’re cutting off my card?” I spit. I feel the heat of anger crawling up my neck.

  “I put a temporary hold on spending until I get a chance to review where the hell the rest of my money has gone.”

  I draw in what’s meant to be a calming breath because I realize he’s in the power position here, but it doesn’t actually calm me at all. “I have a client dinner tonight and he’s expecting the same treatment he’s always gotten.”

  “What treatment is that?” he asks, more than a hint of exasperation in his tone.

  “VIP. I take him out, we talk and shake hands over a fine whiskey, that sort of thing,” I say. Just for good measure, I add, “Don’t act like you’ve never done that with your Ashmark clients.”

  “Ashmark is a recording label, not an analytics corporation. Rock stars get the rock star treatment, and I don’t need to defend my business decisions to you.” He says it in a way that clearly implies I do need to defend my business decisions to him.

  “What the hell am I supposed to do tonight, then?” I ask.

  “You’re a smart guy. You’ll figure it out. I have to go.” He ends the call and I throw my phone down on my desk in anger. I pound a fist beside it for good measure.

  Looks like my credit card will be getting another workout tonight. I double check all my balances and figure out which one has the best chance of getting approved, and then I work my ass off on acquiring some new clients to bring in more money to get me the hell out of this mess.

  chapter five

  Andy and I are sitting at our usual table as a woman wearing a little less than a bikini delivers our bottle of Macallan. Her tits spill out of the thin material, and I think back to the last time I was here with him. My secretary at the time, Kelsey, came along, and after we finished entertaining Andy, we ended up in one of the private rooms in back. We watched a dancer work the pole in front of us while Kelsey stuck her hand down my pants, and then I fucked her right there in front of the stripper.

  Looking back, I don’t suppose it was my finest moment. It makes me sound like a total douchebag, actually, but it’s hard not to look like a douche when you’re entertaining clients at a strip club.

  We watch the action for a bit, discuss some business, and even dig into some appetizers—bar food I wouldn’t necessarily pair with the whiskey, but it’s our only option. Besides, everything tastes better with a little Macallan on my tongue.

  I savor the taste. It may be a while before I get to enjoy it again if I need to start watching my pennies a little more closely.

  In fact, I decide to treat tonight like it’s my last night out for the rest of my life. We split the bottle, we tuck twenties into G-strings, and we act like our pockets are deep even if they aren’t anymore. Mark’s right: I’m a smart guy. I’ll figure it out.

  * * *

  I sit next to a brunette at the bar the following Monday. She’s wearing the shit out of a dress and she’s exactly my type. “I’m Brian.”

  Admittedly it’s not my best pick-up line, but I’ve had just enough whiskey this afternoon that I don’t care. I shrug, and she sticks a delicate hand out to shake mine. “Shandi.”

  “Shandi?” I ask.

  “It’s a family name.”

  “It’s beautiful, and so are you.”

  “Now that was cheesy.” She nods to the bartender to refill her glass of white wine.

  White wine? Perfect. White wine drinkers are the perfect love ‘em and leave ‘em bait. If she’d have had a glass of red in front of her, forget it. They’re only looking for relationships. They’re serious. Studious. That’s not what I want right now. I pull out my personal credit card when Wes hands me the bill.

  She shakes her head. “That’s not necessary.”

  “I know.” I raise a brow and give her the smile that always works on women.

  I chat up Shandi, who I discover is in public relations—another check in the yes column since I’m always looking to mix business with pleasure. That’s how the saying goes, right?

  By the time her glass is empty, I know her well enough to feel comfortable inviting her back to the FDB offices. “I’ve got a proposal for you,” I say, pretending I have business in mind when my mind’s not on business at all.

  “Oh?” she asks, long lashes fluttering as her pupils dilate.

  “We’re looking for a new PR firm to handle one of our biggest clients. You interested in hearing more?”

  She nods. Of course she is. “I can’t come now, though. I’m meeting someone.”

  “Is that why you’re here day drinking?” I ask. I glance at my Rolex. “What time’s your meeting?”

  “Noon.”

  I glace at my watch. It’s twelve-fifteen. “Business or pleasure?”

  “Pleasure. A blind lunch date.” She lets out a heavy sigh, and I’ve got her exactly where I want her. She was just stood up by some dick and here I am to save her and offer her the nice afternoon she was expecting. Plus a little more. “Where’s your office?” she asks.

  “We’re the twelfth floor.” I motion with my head upwards since we’re currently on the first floor of the building. We even pay to have our name on the outside of the building, so most people in the building have heard of us.

  “You’re from FDB?”

  I nod. “I’m the F. Brian Fox.”

  “So who are the D and the B?”

  “My two best friends, Jason Davis and Ryan Becker.”

  She laughs. “Shouldn’t you be working up
on twelve instead of chatting me up?”

  Yes, I should. Definitely. But I’m in a strange place right now as I recover from handing my company over to my brother. It’s been a week, but it still doesn’t sit right with me. He already owned more of it than I did, but now he has total control, and I don’t like it. On top of that, it’s a Monday. Payroll is cleared and I’ve got a little extra of Mark’s money lining my pockets. Numbing felt like the right answer, so here we are. I can’t say any of that to Shandi, obviously, so I go with something simpler. “I am. You’re in PR, I’m looking for PR. Sounds like work to me.”

  She narrows her eyes at me.

  “Let’s grab lunch and bring it up,” I suggest.

  “I shouldn’t...” she says, and then she takes a minute to think about it. Her eyes drift over my shoulder. “And that’s him. I’m sorry. Another time, maybe?”

  I nod and order my lunch after she slides off the stool to meet her late date. I’m sitting alone, checking my email for a new contract from a client I’ve been waiting on, when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I glance up as someone slides into the empty stool beside me.

  “Tess,” I say, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d surprise you with a visit.”

  I glance around. “Me? What if Jason sees us?”

  She shakes her head. “He won’t. I did some investigating and discovered he’s out with a client until late afternoon.”

  “You did some investigating?”

  She nods and grins. “Don’t worry about it, okay? I just wanted to see you again.”

  This seems clingy. It seems like the exact opposite of what we agreed to. But my decision-making skills are less than stellar at the moment.

  “Have you eaten lunch?”

  She shakes her head.

  “Come on up to my office,” I say. At least it’s not a public restaurant where anyone can spot us and report us back to my best friend and business partner.

  I get Wes’s attention and tell him to send my food up along with something for Tess, and he nods.

  We walk through the doors to FDB, and I glance around the space we created. We settled on a modern, clean look in gray, black, and white a few years ago when we launched. I lead Tess back to my private corner office overlooking part of the famed Las Vegas Strip, one of the many reasons we chose Vegas as the epicenter of our business. I’d spent plenty of time playing out here when I lived in Chicago, so it felt right to move here.

  I step behind my desk for a minute to check my email, but it’s also a power move. I’m in my element back here, and I want her to see that. I feel her eyes on me.

  “Take a seat,” I say, nodding toward a small round table set up in the corner of my office meant specifically for entertaining clients. I sit down for a minute to respond to a couple emails needing my attention. My movements are a little slow from the whiskey, so everything’s taking a little longer than it should. I glance up when the burn of her eyes on me becomes overwhelming. She stands just on the other side of my desk from me, leaning forward and giving me a great shot down the front of her dress. Her eyes are filled with lust.

  “Can we talk about why I’m here?” she asks.

  “Why are you here?” I ask, purposely acting like I don’t know what she’s talking about.

  “Why don’t you bend me over your desk and find out?”

  Oh my.

  My phone rings and my eyes flick down to where it rests on my desk. It’s my brother, and he can wait. Tess, however, doesn’t want to, and so she won’t.

  chapter six

  “Mmm, I’m coming, I’m coming,” Tess moans. I hammer away at her while she comes, ready for my own release. I don’t even feel a little bit close to the finish line, but then her body starts to pulse under me, proving her words true, so I reach around her dress to grip both her breasts over the material since she didn’t bother to take it off.

  Big tits fill my palms, and I hammer into her as I get closer to the end.

  “Oh my God! I’m so sorry!”

  A voice interrupts me just when I’m getting to the good part.

  I glance up to see a flurry of dark locks set atop what looks like a killer body followed by the slam of my office door.

  I can’t help it. The exhibitionist in me lets go. Knowing someone just on the other side of the door knows what’s happening in here is exactly what I need. I start to come, grunting like an animal as I unload into Tess. She lurches back against my hips as I come, and as soon as it’s over, I pull out.

  I excuse myself to the restroom connected to my office to clean up, and she uses it next. I draw in a deep breath as I compose myself, ready to scold whoever the fuck it was who interrupted us.

  I open the door, and a gorgeous woman stands just on the other side with her arms crossed over her chest and a look of disgust on her face. She’d be much more attractive if it didn’t look like she was sucking on a lemon as she glares at me.

  Despite the fact that I just had sex with another woman who is still cleaning up in my private office bathroom, I can’t help my immediate attraction to this woman. She’s different from my usual type—maybe because she looks professional, like she’s here to work, not like she came up to my office for a fuck.

  On first glance, she’s serious and purposeful, which is basically the opposite of the looks-like-a-good-time girl in my office.

  I walk past her to Lauren, my secretary. “Did my food arrive?”

  She nods and hands me a bag with a smile.

  “Thank you.” I walk back toward my office and give the glaring woman still standing there my most charming smile as I pretend like she didn’t just walk in on me fucking Tess in my office. “Can I help you?”

  She clears her throat. “I need to talk to you.”

  “And you thought just barging into my office uninvited was the way to do that?”

  “I didn’t just barge in.” Her eyes narrow at me. “Someone said ‘come in’ after I knocked.”

  My brows furrow. “I didn’t hear a knock.” I think about what was going on when she opened my door. Tess may have been moaning about coming. I guess I’m coming, I’m coming sounds the same as come in when it’s muffled through a door. “It doesn’t matter. My secretary handles my calendar.” I nod over toward Lauren. “You can make an appointment with her.” I turn to walk back into my office, but she interrupts me.

  “That’s not necessary.”

  I set the bag of food on the small conference table, and the woman looks at the table and nods once.

  “This’ll do,” she says, and she sets her purse down on the table next to the food.

  “Who the fuck are you?” I ask.

  “Vivian Davenport.” She folds her arms and looks me dead in the eye when she speaks her next words. “Your new boss.”

  I laugh at the absolute absurdity of her statement. “My new what?”

  “You heard me.”

  I glance at the bathroom door where Tess is still putting herself back together. I can’t have her overhearing this conversation, and I need to get to the bottom of what this lady is doing here.

  “Is this some kind of prank?” I ask, my brows furrowed. She shakes her head.

  The bathroom door opens and Tess smooths her dress back into place. “Your tacos are in the bag,” I say to her, nodding toward the food on the table.

  I stalk out of my office and over to Becker’s so Tess doesn’t overhear and gossip about whatever this delusional woman has to say to me. She follows me.

  “I’ve been hired as a consultant,” she says once the door shuts behind us, “and as much as I’m sure you won’t like it, you’ll be answering to me now. I’ve been instructed to set up shop in your office so we can work closely together.” She nods back toward my office. “I assume you’re not using business funds to entertain your guest?”

  “I don’t have to explain myself to you,” I say coolly. I refuse to get defensive until I understand what’
s happening, but again, the whiskey is slowing my response time. “Now if you’ll get the fuck out of here, my lunch is getting cold.” It’s probably already cold since Tess and I chose sex over food, but I fail to mention that to this woman.

  “Actually, Mr. Fox, you do have to explain yourself to me.”

  I scoff. “I’m the boss here and I answer to my partners. No one else.”

  “Well, one of your partners hired me to oversee what’s going on. Didn’t Mark touch base with you?”

  My mind flashes back to the call I ignored from my brother approximately twenty minutes ago.

  God, I really fucking hate my brother. And so far, this woman isn’t exactly on my like list. I heave out a sigh. “Mark hired you?” I close my eyes and rub my forehead with my fingertips. Anger is boiling my blood and I feel depleted after my romp over my desk. I really need some food to recharge. A nap wouldn’t hurt, either, but I don’t have time for shit like naps.

  She nods. “I’m under contract with your brother.”

  I walk over and open Becker’s door. I go to my office as my new boss trails behind me. “Tess, I have some work to do. You can see yourself out when you’re done eating.” I pick up the bag of food and glare at the vile woman who follows me around like a puppy dog. I nod toward some chairs just outside my office door. “You stay here. I have a call to make.” I take my bag of food with me back to Becker’s office, drawing in gulps of air as I try to process what the fuck is going on.

  chapter seven

  “You thought twenty minutes was sufficient?” I take a huge bite out of my burger. The food’s already helping my mood, but I have a feeling this conversation isn’t going to make anything better.

  My brother sighs. “You’re fairly predictable, Brian. What would you have done if I’d have given you more lead time?”

  “I’d have figured out a way to stop you.” I talk around the burger in my mouth as I try to think of a way to stop it even after the fact.

  “Exactly. I don’t want this stopped. I own the majority of FDB now, something you handed over to me when you wanted my money. I’m just making sure it’s being allocated correctly. Call it protecting my investments.”