Chapter 1: Whitton
My hand flattened on the surface of my new desk. Perhaps it was egotistical to have
always wanted this dream to become a reality so that I could bring a woman up here and fuck her
against the glass panes. Brown hair so dark that it streamed through my fingers like an oil stain. I
curled my hand into a fist, picturing the curve of her neck as I tugged the strands backward. The
pant from her pert red lips as her back arched and ass pressed against me.
I exhaled and released the image.
Eve.
I’d been imagining Eve again. The enigma of a woman still confounded me, wrapping
around my subconscious and burrowing down into my daydreams. I’d gone home for the
summer, and those inscrutable emerald eyes still haunted me.
Now, I was back in dry, dusty Lubbock with a promotion in hand and my dream corner
office. It had the massive mahogany desk, stocked bookshelves against one wall, and floor-to-
ceiling windows overlooking the local university. Who knew all I had to do to land the dream job
was move to middle of nowhere, Texas?
Lubbock had never been on my radar, and somehow, it felt more like home than Seattle
ever had. The only thing that misty, shadowed city had going for it was Mom still lived there.
But after visiting with Harley this summer, I was glad to be back in Lubbock. The promotion
sure didn’t hurt.
The only thing it was missing was the girl bent over the desk.
A throat cleared behind me. “Well, what do you think?”
Jordan leaned against the doorframe. He was dressed impeccably in a black tailored suit,
his hair sleek, and his command, as ever, unparalleled. Sometimes, it still made me falter when I
thought about him being my brother. Half-brother technically, but my siblings and I had dropped
the half part. Our father had had an affair, and we were the result—me, Weston, and Harley.
We’d only found out a few years back that he had another family and two sons—Jordan and
Julian. It was West’s crazy scheme that had gotten us all to move here to get to know them. I’d
gotten a job at Wright Construction, the company of our namesake, and now, here I was, hitting
every milestone I’d set for myself before thirty.
Sometimes, life threw you on a crash course to get you to where you belonged.
“It’s even better than I imagined,” I confessed, straightening and buttoning the top button
of my charcoal suit.
“You earned it.”
“Thank you,” I said with all sincerity. The last job I’d had felt like banging my head
against a wall repeatedly. Every ounce that I put into it was given credit to my superior, and still,
I’d wavered about whether or not to make the jump and work at Wright. Best decision of my life.
“Morgan wants to throw a promotion party,” Jordan said.
I barely managed to hide my cringe. “If that’s what she wants. She’s the CEO.”
Jordan laughed. “Good save. I can nix it.”
I could schmooze with the best of them, but I’d never been one to want to draw attention to
myself. I had a five- and ten-year plan. My upward trajectory was finally moving on the slope I’d
always envisioned. Still, every small achievement felt just that…small. I’d celebrate when I
reached the top.
“Appreciate that.”
Jordan dropped some paperwork on my desk. “I know it’s your first day back, but this is
your new assignment.”
“I never stopped working, Jor,” I said, reaching for the documents. “I was remote while I
was gone.”
“I know. I know. But this one will be more hands on.”
I flipped through the pages with a furrowed brow. “Midland?”
“It’s only two hours south of here.”
“I’ve never been.”
Jordan shrugged. He’d moved here a few years before me from Vancouver. That was how
our dad had been able to have two families. The cities were just close enough to fool everyone.
Jordan had adapted to Texas even easier than I had. It probably helped that he’d gotten married
this spring to his spitfire doctor, Annie.
“Well, read through the assignment so you can fill in the new real estate agent when she
gets here. You’re going to be working closely with her over the next month to get this off the
ground.”
I snapped the paperwork shut. “What? I have a partner?”
“We wanted someone who was familiar with the area. You did just say that you’d never
been there.”
He had me there.
“I see. And when will I meet this agent?”
Jordan checked the Rolex on his wrist and pursed his lips. “Hmm. She’s late. Should have
been here already actually.”
It was my turn to be affronted. “It’s fifteen past. Was she supposed to be here top of the
hour?”
He nodded. “Yes. Let me check in to see if something happened.”
“How unprofessional.”
Jordan shot me an amused look as he pulled his phone out and started typing away.
I returned to the paperwork Jordan had given me, unable to hide my frustration. It was
common knowledge that I took my work seriously. Too seriously. West frequently called me Mr.
Responsibility. Harley had laughed at me all summer when I spent the days in my bedroom,
staring at a computer. But West was a rockstar in the biggest band in the world right now, and
Harley was about to start her sophomore year in college. She might be a genius with a full ride
and every intention of becoming an attorney, but things had always come to her easy. Neither of
them understood my need for control.
A need that encompassed every part of my life. Home, office, and…in the bedroom.
“No luck,” Jordan said. “Let’s give her a few more minutes.”
“I don’t need a partner. I just thumbed through this. It doesn’t look all that different from
what I’ve done in the past. I can do it alone.”
At least then I could guarantee that it was being done correctly.
“This is a big contract. We’re partnering with a local oil family. Do you know Dorset &
King?”
The name sounded familiar. “I’ve heard of them. They’re in Midland?”
Jordan grinned. “Yeah, and you’ll need the help. The Kings are a prestigious family. They
want the best. So, they came to us. We’re giving this to you because we know you’re good
enough. Having a local to partner is a bonus.”
This was my first job after the promotion. I didn’t need someone getting in the way.
I opened my mouth to say that when a woman rushed off of the open elevator and hustled
down the hall toward my office in sky-high patent leather heels.
“Sorry!” she gasped. “So sorry I’m late. I had car trouble.”
Eve Houston stood in my doorway, her chest heaving in the white shirt she had underneath
a black blazer. Her pencil skirt reached her knees with a small slit up the side. Just enough for
my imagination to run wild. Her dark hair was down in waves, and she wore the red lipstick I’d
just visualized on her.
My cock throbbed at the sight of her. The way her ample chest jiggled with the exertion
from racing here. Those mysterious emerald eyes wide as she took in the room and finally landed
on me. Her mouth formed an O, and that did things to me that were utterly inappropriate for the
office.
It took everything in me not to adjust my lengthening cock.
“Eve.” I drew her name out across my tongue like I was reciting a prayer.
I hadn’t seen her in weeks, and somehow, she was even more striking than my filthy
imagination.
“Oh, Whitt,” she said uncertainly. Her eyes shot between me and Jordan, as if she wasn’t
sure who to address.
He wasn’t oblivious to the thick layer of tension in the room. In fact, by the gleam in his
eyes, he might have set this whole thing up.
It was at his wedding that Eve and I had danced the night away after all. The night I
thought we’d moved past our flirtation to something more. It just turned out that we had different
ideas about what more meant.
After her last crash-and-burn relationship, Eve wanted a hookup. And I misread the entire
situation and asked for more. I was a relationship guy, and she wasn’t ready for anything like
that. No matter our attraction—the attraction I still very much felt—it had all crumbled.
“You were saying?” Jordan muttered in my direction.
“Never mind,” I said to him with a shake of my head. “This will do.”
Jordan laughed. “I thought you might say that.” He extended his hand toward Eve.
“Welcome, Eve. It’s good to have you on board.”
She breathed a sigh of relief and put her hand in his. “Thanks, Jordan. I’m glad to be here.”
“Whitton was just saying how excited he was to have a partner for this new project.”
“Was he?” Eve said. She took a step into my office and held her hand out. “That doesn’t
sound like you.”
Only Eve would call my bluff like that. The girl was as fearless as she was brash. For
people she didn’t like, she could come off as abrasive. For her friends, she was as straightforward
and loyal as they came.
“We didn’t know you had car trouble.”
I took her hand in mine, felt the calluses across her palm from weight lifting. A spark
flared to life, and she extracted her hand quickly, as if worried she’d get burned.
“I had to take an Uber.” She turned to Jordan. “Thank you for this opportunity.”
“You earned it. You both did,” Jordan said with a smirk in my direction. “I’ll leave you to
it.”
Then Jordan strode out of my office, leaving me alone with the girl I’d just envisioned
having in this space. I’d been all indignant and prepared to trash whoever showed up late to our
first meeting. Jordan had known it, too. He’d known all of it. And now, she was here, and there
was nothing to do but gesture for her to take a seat.
“Why don’t we get started?”
Eve’s expression was neutral, but I could still see the defiance in her irises. She wouldn’t
be quelled by the fact that she had to work with me.
She took the seat.
Good girl.
Maybe having a partner wouldn’t be so bad after all.
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