A laugh was ripped right out of my stomach. She had this effect on me when very few people could really make me laugh. “I’m tempted to say yes. Probably. He’s the blond guy, right? Or no. Boy band? Something about a direction?”She rolled her eyes. Hard. Harder than those teenage girls she was talking about. Melodic laughter flowed out of her. “Are you trying to betray your age by telling me you think Justin Bieber is part of One Direction?”I frowned. “Isn’t he?”“They don’t even exist anymore,” she informed me, still laughing.“I’ll take that as a no,” I said, honing back in on her comment about my age. “You seem to have a lot of preconceived notions about my age. Stamina. Pop culture. I’m only four years older than you. I can assure you there’s nothing lacking about my stamina, and as for music, I’ve never been a fan of pop.”Green eyes twinkling, she smiled sweetly. “I’m sure there’s nothing for you to get so touchy about when talking about your stamina.”This time, I groaned out

EmberAny other man might have only been in that position when he proposed, but what Kaden did was so much better. He gripped my thighs and spread them, grinning up at me before he hooked his thumbs into my panties and rolled them off.The scent of my arousal was in the air, and again, I should have been embarrassed. The wave of self-consciousness should have returned, but it didn’t. All because of Kaden.He groaned at the sight of my glistening pussy, bare except for a thin strip of hair on my mound.“You...” He trailed off. “You’re… just… fuck.”In the back of my mind, it occurred to me that I could give him such shit about stuttering in this moment, but the fact that he was doing it because of how much he was affected by me set my veins on fire. My entire being wanted him with a need I didn’t know I could feel.Leaning forward, he licked through my slit. I gasped and moaned, feeling sparks of pleasure traveling from my core to every extremity I had.Encouraged by the sound, Kaden d

KadenI could see from his reaction he hadn’t seen my email yet, which meant he’d headed over here with the intent of complaining to Daddy and without even waiting to see what I had for him. It was clear he’d already made a fuss to my dad. Asshole.Dad gave him an almost imperceptible nod and turned his hard eyes on me. “Mr. Morrison has raised some legitimate concerns to me this morning. It seems his last few acquisitions have failed, and the merger negotiations on the last two deals have tanked. What’s going on here, Kaden? Why is one of our most valued client’s portfolio looking the way it is?”I nearly rolled my eyes at his choice of wording. I doubted he even knew who Morrison was when he arrived this morning. I was willing to bet he only knew the man’s name because he would have had to give it to get into Dad’s office. One of his most important clients, my ass.Sitting back, I cooled my heels and matched Dad’s detached, calm tone. I hated when he tried to assert his dominance in

EmberAn enthusiastic waitress took our orders for cocktails and brick-roasted free-range chicken before hurrying away. Seated on one of the terraces, Gracie and I had the perfect spot for people watching.I loved it, but there was a sadness in Gracie’s expression I didn’t like. “What’s wrong?”She sighed, her eyes lingering on the sidewalk and the orange glow of the sun setting on the river before slowly venturing back to mine. “Do you feel like New York is swallowing you up?”My head jerked back as my brow furrowed. “No, not at all. Do you?”Tilting her head on another small sigh, she nodded. “It’s all just so big and overwhelming, you know? We’re only two among literally millions of people on this island.”“But we’re two awesome people,” I quipped, changing tack when I noticed the sadness was intensifying instead of lessening. “New York won’t swallow us whole. We’re going to dominate this city one day. We’ll be like our generation of the Sex in the City girls.”“There are only two

We flagged down a cab and made our way to the hole in the wall burger joint that had been there for twenty-five years. It smelled of grease, onions, and grill in the small, packed dining space.Ryan and I got a table as a couple of other guys left, and we ordered a beer on tap and their daily special burger. After getting caught up on work, I shifted the conversation to Ember.“So, you know your sister’s working for us now, right?” I started, sipping on my lager.Ryan nodded, a smile on his lips. “Yeah. She told me. I’m glad she’s there. I didn’t know she was starting with you, or I would have given you a heads-up about it.”“No worries.” I shrugged like it didn’t mean a thing to me that she was there. “She’s doing really well, Ryan. You should be proud of her.”Surprise flashed in his eyes. “She is? I was wondering if she was going to cut it there. Don’t get me wrong. She’s smart as hell, but I didn’t know if she had it in her to make it at a firm like yours in a town like this.”His