Authors: Elle Saint James
As Claudia finally wound down, Stella managed to jot down a handful of banks that looked like they were eager to hand out wads of money to those deserving of a loan. She hoped she was as deserving as she felt.
“Are you listening to me?” Stella heard over the line.
No, but I’ll start if you’ve finished whining
, she wanted to reply.
“Yes, of course.”
“You’re lucky I was able to use the storm as a reasonable excuse to save your ass. You’re to be down there first thing tomorrow morning when they open at eight, and they will backdate the filing. You’re welcome,” she finished sarcastically.
Stella had to hold in her verbal ire, but she rolled her eyes in silent rebellion.
“Fine. I’ll take care of it.”
“See that you do. And then come directly to work after that. There are several things needing attention.”
What the fuck
, Stella thought bitterly. She’d only technically missed a half a day of work. Today was Sunday and traditionally a day off.
“I’ll be in as soon as I can. But with the roads as they are, it will likely take me twice as long.”
“I don’t need to hear your excuses. You’re lucky I don’t put a derogative evaluation in your personnel file.”
Claudia threatened put detrimental things in her file all the time. If she wasn’t so lazy or if she’d been able to force Stella to write her own demerit paperwork, her personnel file would be a thousand-page tome. However, Claudia was completely lazy, so it would never happen. Stella had never signed so much as a letter of reprimand given for minor infractions. Her record was, in point of fact, spotless.
As it was already mid-afternoon, Stella checked her apartment and cleaned up a bit. She was grateful that the power hadn’t gone off since she’d been gone. She set her alarm for early to make it to the assessor’s office promptly this time.
She called her insurance to begin the process of claiming her vehicle, and made arrangements to have a rental delivered to her house first thing in the morning. She was happily surprised that her request for a four-wheel drive SUV was granted.
Stella wouldn’t stop on her way to the assessor’s office, of course, but contemplated that she’d have to pass by the DRMC ranch on her way to file the paperwork south of town.
She didn’t have time to stop at the DRMC property on her way to work, either, but went to bed early with memories of Dominick and Tyler. She allowed free rein of her fantasies to stop by for more sexual calisthenics before embarking on her way back to reality and Claudia the bane of her existence.
* * * *
“You have a visitor,” said a voice through the intercom in her office from the reception desk at her workplace. Stella frowned. She glanced at her desk calendar. She didn’t have any appointments today. Sometimes she greeted potential clients and assessed their general issues before consulting the busy lawyers in the firm.
Claudia refused to talk to anyone unless they had a minimum six-figure bank account, so many of the everyday new clients fell in to Stella’s purview. Of course, Claudia regularly scheduled clients without informing her during her drunken lunch hours, so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
Would the rental place send someone early? She hoped that no one was out in the lobby ready to take away her spiffy new rental vehicle. She wanted to keep it long enough to have her old car fixed, if it even could be salvaged.
“Who is it? I’m not expecting anyone.”
There was a two-second pause before she came back with, “It is a Mr. Hunter.”
Mr. Hunter?
Stella’s heart thumped hard in her chest. Dominick’s last name was Hunter. Why would he be here? He
was
taking care of her vehicle for her, but she didn’t expect to hear anything for at least another week. There were tons of damaged vehicles from the storm, and body shops were overrun, according to the news. He must have clout to already have information on her battered car after only four days.
“Oh. Okay. Please send him up.” No need for anyone to know how she knew him, or that he’d brought her to heights of pleasure heretofore unknown in her vanilla little life. Although the blushing, awe-filled expression on her face might be a dead giveaway.
It would be a miracle if she could speak at all in his presence without becoming tongue-tied. Not a minute had gone by in the last four days that she hadn’t thought about either Dominick, Tyler, or the both of them together. Flashes of her time with them in and out of bed dropped into her mind frequently each day. Truthfully, she missed them both.
They had hinted more than once that they wouldn’t mind seeing her again after the snow had melted away, but she’d been the one to insist that the fantasy few days remain just that. A fantasy. At the time, she’d been afraid that her peers and friends would find out what decadent activities she’d been participating in. She didn’t think anyone cared enough about her to follow her after hours, but she’d always felt it was better to be safe than sorry.
It would only take one mere mention of their club’s initials in the right ear and
everyone
would know where she’d spent her time tucked away to weather out the storm of the century. As unlikely as it was anyone in her realm of acquaintances would recognize the DRMC, Stella didn’t want someone like Claudia to find out. Only because she’d find a way to use it against her.
As time passed, the unlikelihood of anyone discovering her secret became more and more remote. Soon her adventure in the snowstorm might be forgotten altogether by those she worked with day to day. But she would
never
forget.
After missing them for the past several days, her attitude has shifted somewhat regarding a future with two of the hottest cowboys to ever walk on earth. At least that was her personal opinion of Dominick and Tyler. Others might disagree. Maybe one day she’d sneak back again.
The moment Dominick stepped into her small office, Stella was taken off guard even after expecting him. Her breathing increased. Beneath her dress, between her legs, moisture accumulated as the first wisps of his spicy cologne filled the room. Good God, he looked even sexier and more handsome than she remembered. His rugged good looks and stylish clothes formed a total perfect man candy package of alluring sexuality. Did he realize how devastatingly attractive he was? Probably not.
He grinned, and she got a little faint.
“I didn’t expect you.”
“Sorry. I just got back from talking to my mechanic friend. I wanted to let you know the estimate and recommendations for the damages to your car.”
“Wow. That was fast. I’ve been hearing horror stories of people having to wait weeks. Is it bad news?”
He shrugged. “The cost to repair is about the same as the value of your car. I wouldn’t do it myself, but that’s up to you.”
“I’ll have to see what my insurance company says.”
“Isn’t your company going to pay for the damages?”
Stella startled. Them? Pay for it? Unlikely. She shook her head.
“Weren’t you on company business when you had the accident?”
“Well, yes, actually I was.”
“Then they are responsible for sending you out into the bad weather. They’re lucky you weren’t hurt.”
“I don’t know that they’d care, but thank you again.”
He reached into his shirt pocket and handed her a folded paper. “This is the ‘official’ estimate. The phone number is listed there. If you decide to get it fixed or total it, whichever way you go, my friend Boyd Caldwell is expecting your call anytime today.”
She nodded and took the paper, careful not to brush his hand with her fingertips. She didn’t think she’d be able to control herself if she touched him. But she really wanted to steal a kiss. Or two kisses. Or ten kisses might be enough. Or better yet shove all the file folders and papers off the surface of her work area, pull his clothes off, and have sex with him right here in her tiny little office right on her crappy little desk.
Stella took an involuntary step closer, as if pulled by a magnetic force she couldn’t control. One little kiss wouldn’t hurt anything, right?
* * * *
Dominick took one look at her the moment he stepped in to her office and wondered if he shouldn’t have called instead of coming in person. She looked delicious enough to eat whole. She wanted to be friends with them. She told them she didn’t want to continue a permanent relationship. He’d respect her wishes. Or he’d try to, at least.
“So, this is where you work.” A statement, not a question. And pretty boring. He was so effing suave, he could hardly contain himself. Not. She probably regretted letting him come up to her office. But he couldn’t seem to resist the temptation of seeing her again. Or the desire to touch her again.
She’d stepped closer with a predatory glint in her eyes after he gave her the estimate. The moment he spoke she seemed to come out of a trance. He should have let her continue.
“Yes. For better or for worse, this is it.” Her lively smile sent a surge of lust to his groin so fast he had to take a deep breath in order to give himself time to tame the beast in his pants, or she’d suspect he wasn’t here just to report on her car.
He winked. “Well, which is it, better or worse?”
Her expression brightened. “Today, it’s better. Usually it’s worse. Thanks for stopping by to let me know about my forlorn car.” She’d moved close enough that he caught a whiff of her sexy floral perfume. He resisted the urge to sniff the air around her for a deeper scent of her unique fragrance.
“My pleasure.” He cleared his throat and got serious. There was another reason he was here with her in person, and it wasn’t only because he’d wanted to see her one more time. “I have a question for you.” He’d wanted to see her expression when he asked about her car.
“Okay. What’s up?”
“Did you have an accident in the past month or so that might have damaged the undercarriage of your car?”
Her cheeks blossomed with color. “How did you know that?” Her gaze left his eyes to rest on the floor between them.
“I used to be an insurance investigator. I saw damage to your brake line. I wanted to make sure no one was out to get you for your sizable life insurance policy or something equally nefarious. Sort of a leftover force of habit from my old profession”
“Oh.” A look of relief crossed her lovely features. “I don’t have life insurance, and I’m pretty sure no one is trying to kill me. A couple of weeks ago, on yet another icy road, I slid into a ditch and ran down a reflector on a short metal pole. When I backed over it on my way out of the ditch, it must have damaged my brake line. Was
that
incident earlier what caused my running into
your
ditch? Did I cut my own brake line?”
“No. I don’t think so. The line wasn’t compromised, just beat up a bit. I just wanted to make sure you were safe.”
The look of relief on her face changed subtly to one of interest. She moved even closer. They were practically touching. He leaned forward. “Thank you, Dominick.”
“I miss you so much,” he murmured. “And Tyler is practically inconsolable.”
She took another half-step forward and the lapel of her jacket brushed his coat. “Is that so?”
A flash of memory danced across his brain of her beautiful, naked body arched in sudden climax. It was all he could do not to clear her desk off with one swipe and reenact that memorable sex on the surface before he left. The scent of her curled around his head and made him almost dizzy with lust.
“I know you said you weren’t interested in continuing a relationship—”
She shook her head slightly. “I’ve come to believe I was too hasty in my initial decision about having time for a ménage relationship permanently in my life. I didn’t count on how much I would miss the two of you.” She glanced to one side suddenly, at her still open office door, as if to assure herself they were completely alone before discussing personal sexual matters. “I mean it’s only been four days. I shouldn’t be so needy, but I can’t stop thinking about you and Tyler.”