Private Pleasures Read online

  Maybe she was feeling as though he didn't appreciate her. The thought made him frown.

  "Okay, Mark, I've reevaluated the relationship and I want to keep it." He couldn't believe he was actually soliciting Mark's opinion and advice. "What do I do now?"

  "Romance her. Women love that kind of stuff."

  Grey cringed at the sound of that. He'd never had to woo a woman in his entire life. He didn't even know how. "I don't know-"

  "Trust me, Nichols," Mark drawled. "It's not any different than trying to sway a potential client."

  Grey was lost by the analogy. "Care to elaborate on that?"

  "It's simple. Invest some money into her-wining, dining, flowers. Jewelry is a nice touch, too. A few romantic gestures, and she'll come around."

  Grey's head began to pound. He was awkward with this whole romance angle, but maybe that's what Mariah needed. A little spice and sizzle. He'd tried begging and groveling and that hadn't worked.

  He had nothing left to lose.

  "The flowers have got to stop." Jade walked into Mariah's office carrying another gorgeous arrangement-this one bright pink tulips. Moving over a bouquet of peach-hued lilies sitting on Mariah's credenza, Jade set the elegant, cut-crystal vase in the cleared spot. "The place is starting to look like a funeral home. But then I guess it matches the mood around here for the past week." She lowered her voice. "You'd think someone died."

  Only Jade would say something so morbid. Making a face her sister couldn't see, Mariah set aside a pending invoice for wooden shutters and whirled her chair around to Jade. Surrounding them were at least twenty different bouquets and floral arrangements of all shapes and variety. In her entire lifetime she'd never received so many flowers.

  "How am I supposed to make him stop?" she asked, absently fingering the satiny soft petal of a nearby rose. "Besides, I like having them around. I feel like I've lost my best friend. Grey was my best friend."

  Jade rolled her eyes. "Grey's merely a man, Mariah. Dogs make better best friends than men do. Dogs are more reliable, trustworthy and they know how to form a real bond." Her bangle bracelets jingled as she fluffed the fat bow around the stemmed tulips.

  Mariah sighed, not sure whether she should be flattered or annoyed by Grey's romantic gesture. "I've tried stopping the deliveries, but the florist doesn't want to turn away the business, and the delivery boy informed me of the astronomical amount he's being paid to make sure the flowers reach my office."

  Jade raised an inquisitive brow. "Have you tried calling Grey to put a stop to the deliveries?"

  Mariah inhaled the floral fragrance floating in the room. The scent was dizzying, and deliciously intoxicating. "Yes, but he hasn't been in his office, and Jeanie doesn't know anything about the flowers."

  "I'm impressed," Jade said generously. "At least Grey's not making Jeanie order the arrangements, like most bosses make their secretaries do for their wives and girlfriends."

  Mariah agreed, secretly pleased that he was taking time from his busy schedule to contact the florist personally. "I told Jeanie to leave him a note to please stop with the flowers. I guess he hasn't gotten the message yet."

  "Or he's ignoring it, which is probably the case." Jade winked an emerald green eye at her, which matched her bright and splashy summer outfit. "Men don't like to be turned down or dumped."

  "I didn't dump him." She hated the way that sounded. "I just thought it best if we go our separate ways."

  "It's the same thing, Riah." Jade plucked the little white envelope nestled within the tulips. "Let's see what lover boy has to say this time."

  Mariah snatched the envelope from her sister's grasp. With every arrangement that had been delivered Grey had attached a note. The written contents ranged from sweet and romantic, to steamy and erotic, to silly and humorous. Each envelope was a special treat because she didn't know what to expect.

  The anticipation of wondering what this envelope contained made her feel giddy. "In case you didn't notice, that's my name on the envelope." Giving Jade a tight smile, she tore open the flap and withdrew a florist card with a border of fancy hearts and flowers and Grey's bold writing in the center.

  Jade leaned over her chair and read the inscription out loud. "Tu-lips are better than one. Always yours, Grey." She chuckled and shook her head. "The man has a way with words."

  Always yours, not love, she thought with a heart-wrenching pang. Tucking the card back in its envelope, she put it in her desk drawer with the other cards Grey had sent.

  Jade moved to the front of Mariah's desk. "I have to admit, all this is kinda romantic."

  "Flowers don't change the way I feel about our relationship."

  "No, but it's flattering to know someone wants you bad enough to go to this extreme." Jade dipped her nose into an arrangement of cream-colored roses and inhaled deeply. "I have to tell you, sis, I didn't think Grey had it in him to be so romantic."

  Mariah caught herself when she would have defended Grey. In his own way he'd been romantic, but never mushy or sappy in his pursuit. His approach was always straightforward, earthy and sensual, cutting through any frivolous preliminaries to get what he wanted. Truthfully, that had excited her more than any flowery words or token gifts ever would have.

  "Is Richard romantic?" Jade asked, pulling Mariah from her thoughts.

  Mariah glanced at Jade, who stood next to her chair, and tried to find an apt but polite description for the man she was dating. "Richard is…nice."

  "Nice?" Jade looked at her as if she'd fallen off her rocker. "Tropical fish are nice, Riah. Cupcakes are nice. Richard is a gorgeous male specimen."

  And Mariah had begun to notice that he acted like he knew it, too.

  Jade perched herself on Mariah's desk and crossed her legs. "Is he a good kisser?"

  "He's okay." Richard kissed like he was in a hurry to move on, leaving her little time to catch her breath or protest his groping hands.

  Jade leaned closer, eyes sparkling mischievously. "Have you guys, well, you know?"

  The thought of doing you-know-what with Richard left her unmoved, although he seemed intent on reaching that goal. She didn't know how long she could hold him off without coming outright and bruising that ego of his. "No."

  "No?" Her sister sounded disappointed and a little worried. "He's not gay, is he?"

  "He's perfectly straight, and he's got more hands at the end of a date than an octopus has tentacles." She sighed and rubbed her temple. "I'm not ready for an intimate relationship with someone new yet, and I don't think it's going to work with Richard."

  "Well, could you wait until the end of next week to tell him that?" She clasped her hands together and gave Mariah a look of sheer desperation. "Please?"

  Her sister didn't beg often. "Why?"

  "Because by then we'll be paid in full for the interior work on his offices."

  Mariah understood, though she didn't like playing Richard that way. "Fine. We're going to Dad's birthday party together, but I'm ending things after that. I don't want to string him along."

  A voice cleared in the direction of Mariah's office door, and both women swiveled their heads in that direction. A young, petite woman with auburn hair dressed in an elegant silk pantsuit stood in the threshold holding a small, femininely wrapped box with a lace bow tied around it.

  "Excuse me," she said, stepping more fully into the room. "Is there a Mariah Stevens here?"

  Mariah sat up straighter. "Uh, that's me."

  "This is for you." The other woman's smile was dazzling as she handed Mariah the gift from across her desk. "We don't normally deliver our merchandise, but your boyfriend wanted this to be a surprise, and he wanted to be sure you received it."

  "Not to mention he probably paid you five times what it would have cost to pay for a courier," Jade mumbled under her breath.

  Mariah discreetly pinched her sister's calf. Jade yelped and scooted out of reach. Luckily the other woman hadn't heard Jade's comment.

  "Thank you very much fo
r bringing it by," Mariah said graciously.

  "It was my pleasure." The woman's eyes sparkled. "Enjoy your gift. Your boyfriend selected it himself."

  "Where's it from?" Jade asked once the woman left the office.

  Mariah read the gold foil sticker on the corner of the package. "P.J.'s Lingerie and Things."

  "Sounds interesting. Hurry up and open it," Jade said anxiously.

  Mariah hesitated, not sure if this gift was something she wanted to share with Jade. But her sister didn't look as though she was going to budge until she saw what was in the box.

  Before she lost the nerve she untied the lacy bow and ripped off the paper. She pulled off the lid and separated the paisley print tissue surrounding the contents.

  Mariah stared, stunned.

  "Oh my God!" Jade gasped, a huge grin spreading across her face. "The man certainly knows his stuff!"

  The "stuff" Grey had selected consisted of a black satin and lace garter belt, three pairs of black, sexy, sheer-as-a-sigh panties and three sets of sheer black, thigh-high silk stockings with a delicate band of lace encircling the tops. One pair had a black seam running down the center back, another pair had a smoky hue and the last pair had a delicate butterfly embroidered into the stocking on the outside left ankle. Two tiny rhinestones winked at the ends of its antennae.

  Swallowing the thick knot in her throat, Mariah retrieved the full-size envelope nestled within the folds of satin, silk and lace. While her sister oohed and ahhed over the lingerie and complimented Grey's taste, Mariah leaned back in her chair, slid open the envelope and read Grey's message inside the enclosed floral embossed card.

  You seem to have taken a liking to pretty lingerie. Let me tell you a fantasy of mine, of you wearing black garters and stockings and a wispy pair of panties beneath a sexy, short dress. It's night, and although there are people around, no one can see us in our private corner as I caress the smooth skin of your thighs where the stockings end, and touch you where you're soft, warm and sensitive.

  Remember the fantasy…

  Always yours, Grey

  Mariah groaned, her face heating as Grey's provocative words stimulated her feminine senses, leaving her in a frustrated state of desire. He knew how to get her where she was weakest. He had no mercy.

  "That good, huh?" Jade asked, a half grin on her face.

  Mariah nodded, pressing her thighs together to ease the ache between.

  Jade tried to peek at the card, but Mariah quickly stuffed it back in its envelope. Jade pouted. "You're not gonna share, are you?"

  Mariah shook her head, still unable to speak. She cleared her throat and reclaimed her box of lingerie, trying her best to put Grey's erotic fantasy from her mind. "What am I going to do with this stuff and all these flowers?" she asked for a lack of something better to say.

  "Enjoy it while it lasts," Jade said, sliding off the desk and sashaying toward the door, "because it never lasts for long."

  Grey recognized the hungry gleam in Mariah's date's eyes, a predatory look that told the male population around him that he was going to get lucky tonight with the woman on his arm. If they hadn't already slept together-and Grey didn't think they had by the stiff way Mariah stood next to the tall blonde-then Mr. GQ planned on it happening that evening.

  Not if I can prevent it, Grey thought, tamping the savage urge to plant his fist into the lawyer's face. Jim Stevens's fancy black-tie birthday bash was hardly the place to stake his claim on Mariah.

  Tugging on the black bow tie around his neck, he watched the pair from across the crowded ballroom at the Hilton. They stood in the reception line to greet Mariah's father, and her mother, Donna. Laughter and conversation, along with dinner music, filtered throughout the room. White-jacketed waiters served appetizers and champagne from sterling silver trays. Men stood in groups talking, while the women in all their finery and glittering jewels moved about the room, some greeting friends and some blatantly checking out the male species.

  He should be mingling, saying hello to acquaintances and colleagues and using the gathering to mix business and pleasure. He always managed to drum up potential clients for his security company at parties.

  Unfortunately, socializing required ignoring Mariah and the blonde hovering beside her, and he found he couldn't take his eyes off her, or more specifically, her exquisite dress. Body-skimming black lace, lined for opacity but giving the first impression that the dress was see-through, hugged her curves from breast to midthigh. Short sleeves fell off the shoulder, enhancing the swell of her breasts and the scalloped hem of the dress gave way to long legs encased in sheer black stockings and four-inch heels. Grey stared hard at those stockings, but at this distance he couldn't tell if they were one of the pair he'd bought her. He planned to find out. Soon.

  Mr. GQ bent his head next to Mariah and said something that made her tilt her head back and smile. Her silky hair swirled around her shoulders and settled like a soft cloud around her face. Mr. GQ pressed his hand to Mariah's spine and guided her three steps ahead in her father's reception line.

  Grey's gut clenched at that intimate touch, and he thrust his fisted hands into his pants pockets.

  "She does look stunning, don't you think?"

  Grey glanced at the woman standing beside him, wearing a black velvet sheath that displayed her ample charms. He met cobalt blue eyes brimming with amusement, and scowled. "You're corrupting her, Jade."

  Jade laughed, the sound throaty enough to draw the attention of a few nearby males. "And it's so much fun. My straitlaced sister has hatched from her cocoon."

  He grunted a reply. Translated, it would have burned her ears.

  She stopped a passing waiter and retrieved a glass of champagne. Taking a sip, she regarded him speculatively over the crystal rim. "You mean to tell me, honestly, that you don't like her new look?"

  Admittedly, Mariah's new look was starting to grow on him. And just thinking of the possibility of her wearing the lingerie he'd sent her beneath that dress was enough to stiffen certain parts of his anatomy. "I liked her fine the way she was, before you decided to play fairy godmother."

  Jade grinned as if he'd complimented her. "She needed a change, especially if she expects to catch herself a husband."

  Grey looked around for a waiter. He needed a drink. "I'm surprised you don't have a list of bachelors lined up for her," he commented dryly.

  She waved her near-empty champagne glass toward her sister. "I thought Richard was a decent catch, but Mariah's being difficult."

  His jaw dropped, though he told himself he shouldn't have been surprised. "You set her up?"

  She shrugged and drank the last of her champagne.

  "Jade, I'm gonna strangle you."

  "Naw," she said, batting her lashes at him. "You like me too much."

  Despite Jade's brash ways and smart mouth, he did like her. What she needed, he decided, was a man to soften her up a bit.

  Jade placed a hand on his jacketed arm, her expression suddenly sincere. "Grey, Mariah's crazy about you, I won't lie about that, but if you aren't going to marry her, you need to let her go."

  He couldn't, even though he knew Jade was right. The thought of never seeing Mariah again was tantamount to carving his heart out of his chest.

  "I think I'll go meet her new beau." Flashing Jade a smile, Grey strode confidently toward Mariah.

  "Men," Grey heard Jade mutter behind him.

  Mariah turned, and her gaze fell on him as he approached. She looked startled, torn and a little wary.

  The reception line had ended, and the guests around Jim and Donna were breaking up to find their seats for dinner. He'd almost reached Mariah when Jim saw him. Grey couldn't very well ignore the guest of honor.

  Grey shook the older man's hand while watching out of the corner of his eye as Mr. GQ led Mariah in the opposite direction. Something at her ankle sparkled, rhinestones, and Grey knew a moment of supreme satisfaction.

  He'd catch up to her later.

  Dinn
er was announced, and Grey found himself seated next to a young woman with short black hair wearing a dress cut lower than legally should have been deemed decent. She had come on to him the moment he'd sat down, making it very clear she was single, available and very interested in him, despite his subtle hints that he was not. Her foot was continually getting tangled around his, and at one point she'd even pressed her hand high on his thigh and squeezed meaningfully, causing him to choke on his chicken.

  As soon as the dessert plates were cleared, Grey politely excused himself, ignoring the woman's disappointed pout. It was time to find Mariah before she left the party with Mr. GQ.

  He strolled around for about ten minutes, searching the mingling crowd for a blonde in an eye-catching dress and thigh-high stockings he'd bought specifically for her. That she'd worn them gave him hope.

  Dining music was replaced with something more lively and upbeat for dancing. The parquet dance floor filled up fast, and the chandeliers were dimmed in lieu of flashing strobes. Finally, he spotted Mariah and her date standing in a darkened area of the ballroom. A large potted palm with twinkling lights gave them a modicum of privacy, and Mr. GQ was taking advantage of it. The other man was stroking her cheek with his fingers and subtly easing her deeper into the shadows, his head dipping toward hers.

  He strode toward them determinedly, his skin heating with jealousy. Cool it, Nichols. As much as you'd like to tighten that bow around Mr. GQ's neck, Mariah wouldn't appreciate the scene.

  "Mariah?" Grey said as he neared, causing her date to stiffen and pull away when he would have planted one on Mariah's lips. "I thought that was you!"

  Mariah looked at first startled, then relieved by his interruption. She moved out of the shadows and into the open.

  The blond man turned and narrowed his gaze on Grey, obviously irritated by his timely intrusion.

  Grey ignored him and gave Mariah a wide grin. "It's great to see you, Mariah. It seems like forever, doesn't it? I see P.J.'s delivery made it to you just fine," he added casually, noting that the private exchange was lost on Mr. GQ.