“Lana?” I call her cautiously, and the sound of her fingers on the keyboard stops immediately. She raises her eyes from the computer screen and looks at me, surprise taking over her face. Her cherry lips are slightly parted, and they look like they’ve been designed with only one intent: kissing.
“Uh, that’s me,” she tells me, tucking a lock of hair over her ear. My heart skips a beat at that simple but elegant movement, and I feel my cock twitch inside my pants. Jesus, what the fuck is wrong with me?
“Good, I’ve been looking for you,” I say, trying to act like my usual confident self. Without asking for permission, I steal an empty chair from an adjoining desk and sit across from her.
“Looking for me? Why?” she asks me, and her surprise is genuine. She has absolutely no idea that some powerful people have set their sights on her. Poor girl.
“That's right. What are you working on?” I wave casually at her screen, and her eyes dart to whatever she was writing there.
“Uh, it’s a … it’s a romance novel,” she replies hesitantly. “A dark romance novel,” she then corrects herself, and then offers me one shy smile.
“The Virgin Market, right?” I ask her, and her eyes widen with surprise once more. She wasn’t expecting me to know this much. “That’s right. I know about it, and that’s the reason I’m here.”
“You’re here because of my manuscript?” Her jaws drops slightly, and she leans back against her chair as if she hadn’t heard what I just said. I can tell that she’s struggling to keep her eyes on my face, but that’s something I’m already used to. Women always want to devour me with their eyes; it’s just part of the job. Which, right now, is fair enough… I mean, I’m devouring her with my own eyes as we speak.
“That’s what I said. I’ve heard you’re still looking for a publisher and, you know, I’d like to learn more about it … might be we could collaborate in the future.”
“You’re … Logan Sanders, aren’t you?”
“The one and only,” I smile, reaching across her desk and offering her my hand. She shakes it hesitantly, and my cock twitches inside my pants once more as I feel her fingertips brushing gently against the palm of my hand. Fuck, I’d give a lot of money to feel these fingers wrapped tight around my cock. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice meeting you too,” she smiles, and I can tell that she’s already relaxing a little. There’s that dazed smile on her face, but that’s normal. Women love me, you know?
“I thought you’d be older,” I find myself saying, my brain momentarily shutting down. Usually I’m a quick thinker, but sitting across from a woman like Lana, it seems that my brain is working at a slower pace.
“Older?”
“Yeah, sorry. I just wasn’t expecting you to be this…” Fuck, why the hell am I saying all this shit? I almost told her I didn’t expect her to be this fucking hot and beautiful. Luckily, I still have time to correct myself. “Young. I didn’t expect you to be this young. I’ve heard good things about your book, and I never expected someone so young to be able to write something so… impressive.”
“Thank you,” she replies, a pale crimson color taking over her cheeks. Fuck, the way she blushes is intoxicating.
“I can’t wait to lay my hands on it.”
“On what?” she asks me and, for a moment, I think of everything but her book. Right now, I just want to lay my hands on her face and pull her mouth closer to mine. I want to feel her perky breasts pressed against my chest, and I want to take in her scent as I brush my lips over the smooth skin of her neck…
“Your manuscript,” I tell her, my lips suddenly turning dry. Okay, I got to chill the fuck out or else I’m going to blow this. I’m here to make her sign with Bad Boy Publishing, not to charm her. Right now, I need to be thinking with my brain instead of my cock.
Lucky for me, I can think with both at the same time.
“I’d love to read it,” I continue, lowering my voice and leaning slightly toward her. “What do you say? You could come over to my place and we could talk about it some more.”
Look, I know. This is a fucking risky play I’m doing. But this is how I fucking operate. And, judging the silly grin on her face… this is going to work.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I hear someone say, and I don’t even need to turn around to know who it is. I’d recognize that voice anywhere. Anders fucking Carter, once again raining on my fucking parade.
With a sigh, I turn around in the chair and face him, and there he is, looking at me as if he had just seen Satan himself.
Ah, fuck.
12
Anders
"What are you doing here?" Lana says, looking at me with a surprised expression on her face. Her eyes grow wide. But Logan doesn't give me any time to answer.
Instead, he cuts in. "What the fuck am I trying to do?" Logan scoffs. "I can't believe you even asked me that. I think the better question is, what the fuck are you trying to do? And yeah, Lana's right, why are you even here? Who sent you an invitation?"
I'd like to hit him. I really would. But instead, I take a deep breath because honestly, that would be too easy.