The problem was even when she’d been pressed up against Liam, she’d been thinking of Clay. Her very good friend who also happened to be the man she’d been madly in love with for ten years. Clay, the gorgeous, sexy, smart entertainment lawyer, and best friend of her brother.
Oh, but there was one teeny, tiny little problem with that overflow of feelings she had for Clay. He didn’t love her, and hadn’t even known how she felt about him. To add insult to injury, he was happily in love with another woman. A month ago, he’d gone and married that woman in Vegas.
Yep, Michelle Milo, one of Manhattan’s most sought-after shrinks, a true specialist in intimacy and well known for helping to heal heartache, was the poster child for unrequited love. Might as well slap a big L on her forehead. God, she was an idiot, and the definition of an oxymoron—she spent her days advising others, and her nights longing for someone she couldn’t have.
She was doing her best to move on and push Clay far out of her heart. Like, ideally, into another galaxy. She’d been taking her medicine for the last few months, blasting loud anti-love songs in her apartment from her favorite musician Jane Black, trying out bowling with some of her colleagues, dabbling in Spanish lessons, and finally training for a 10K marathon she finished last month. She’d never been a fan of running, but it was growing on her solely because the relentless pound of her feet against concrete was starting to numb her feelings for her good friend.
The best method for moving on, though, was work, and she loved her job more than anything in the world. Burying herself in other people’s woes was her deepest passion; the chance to help someone else change and become healthier her greatest joy. She headed off to the conference, eager to dive into work for the rest of the night as she shared some of her findings at the meeting.
The Pierson was only a few blocks away so she arrived ten minutes later at the swank hotel, one of those upscale establishments that doubled as a den for both sin and business with its lobby bar boasting blue neon lighting, its drinks in toweringly tall and thin glasses, and hip music playing in the background.
As she waited for the elevator she couldn’t help but notice a smoking-hot man in the hotel bar, chatting animatedly with others at his table. She catalogued his features quickly—broad chest, dark hair with the slightest wave, crystal-blue eyes like the ocean, and a smile that was quite simply . . . beguiling.
Perhaps she lingered too long, or perhaps she lingered just the right amount of time, because he glanced across the open lobby bar, past the other tables, and his gaze seemed to land on her.
At least, she wanted to believe it had as she stepped inside the elevator and the doors closed. She’d try to remember his face for later. It could never hurt to put a face to a fantasy when one was alone in bed with her toys.
CHAPTER TWO
Favorite Parts
They hadn’t asked to see The Mona, but there’d been no need to see it.
Henry’s partner in business and love, Marquita, had proudly boasted about the windows that had nearly shattered in her apartment building when she’d used The Mona last week. Jack simply smiled and said, “I’m pleased that you were pleased.”
“So pleased,” she’d reiterated, then planted a kiss on Henry’s cheek, one that suggested there’d be much more than kissing going on between them later tonight. That was one of the perks, so to speak, about working in this line of business. Not watching business associates lock lips, but rather, that the people he dealt with didn’t have too many sexual hang-ups. Of course, he ran into plenty of over-sharers too. Some folks assumed if you peddled sex toys, it meant you wanted to hear about every single thing someone did with one, and Jack most decidedly did not want to be told about every escapade. But hey, it came with the territory. Besides, he was used to it with these two—they’d been business partners and friends since Jack and Casey had started Joy Delivered. They were like family.
“I’m glad you’re feeling better, Marquita,” Jack said, because she’d battled a serious illness most of last year.
“And The Mona helps,” Marquita said with a bright smile.
“And now there’s something else we need to talk about,” Henry began, steepling his fingers together, his tone shifting to serious as he motioned for someone to join them at the bar—a suited man with black hair, and a blue-and-red striped tie. Only politicians wore such ties. Jack tensed; politics was not his favorite playground.
“Jack, I want to introduce you to Marquita’s brother, Paul Denkler. He’s running for city councilman in our neck of the woods and he’s been focused on safe streets, schools and a balanced budget. But somehow that message has been subverted by his opponent, who’s decided to fight below the belt and attack our business. If Paul doesn’t win, it could be very bad for business,” Henry said, and Jack’s ears pricked at the words bad for business. He didn’t like those words. Not one bit. He preferred good for business, so if this fellow played on the good side, then he’d hear him out.
“Lay it on me,” Jack said, and a meeting about selling The Mona quickly became something else entirely.
* * *
The deal had been signed. The new product would have both prominent in-store and online placement, and Jack had promised an extra shipment for Marquita and Henry’s personal stash. The undecided part? How he felt about Denkler. How he felt about getting involved in politics. He didn’t have a thorny past with a politician; he didn’t have a senator dad he detested. He simply followed the news, and knew that politics was a slimy, dirty battlefield. Jack had served his country for six years and that was about the extent of his interest in matters of state. This thing with Denkler, though—it wasn’t a matter of state, so much as a matter of business, and a matter of personal business. Jack cared deeply about Henry; the man was a business partner, and had been through hell and back during the past year as his wife battled and beat breast cancer.