WRIGHT TOGETHER (Wright Vineyard #6)

2. Eve

2

EVE

Well, f**k.

Whitt was supposed to be gone all summer. I hadn’t seen him in our mutual friend group since he’d left for Seattle, and I refused to show any signs that I was shaken by his appearance.

I couldn’t be shaken by anything. Because unlike Mr. Wright, I needed this job. I needed it more than life itself. This was it. This was my break. After barely treading water, holding my head up as I inhaled the murky water of poverty, I was going to get ahead of this.

So, I couldn’t leave.

Not even with Whitton Wright standing in front of me. My pulse beat a tattoo against my throat just at the sight of him. His voice was the same that it had always been—deep and throaty. Every single word causing my neurons to snap. And it was more than just his voice. It was the scent of him wrapping around me. A mix of citrus and spice that aroused ideas of him stepping straight out of a shower. It was his strong, freshly shaven jawline and too-blue eyes. The lines of his body so sharp that it might as well have been a Renaissance sculpture. His large hands curling around the edge of the desk. His typically short, dark hair had grown out just long enough to fall forward into his eyes as he looked down at me through his dark lashes.

He was exactly as delectable as I’d last seen him. The last time things had gone completely wrong between us.

“So…when did you get back?”

“Yesterday.” He leaned forward on the desk across from me.

The soft leather chair was cold against my ass as I sank into the cushion. I crossed my legs at the knee, my skirt riding up my thigh. His eyes flickered to the bare skin, a trace of the bottom of my dream catcher tattoo visible before I tugged the material over the ink.

He jerked his eyes back to mine. My throat closed at the heat that passed between us. The heat that had never evaporated in all these months.

My palms traced the arms of the chair. “Did you have a good summer?”

“It was…wet,” he said.

I choked on that word out of his mouth. His eyes moved to my lips, and desire shot through those baby-blues. I definitely hadn’t meant to vocalize that reaction.

I cleared my throat, hoping to salvage this conversation. “I thought you missed Seattle.”

He was silent for a moment too long as he visibly collected himself before taking a seat across from me. “I thought I did, too. Turns out, I just missed my mom.”

“Is she going to move down here?”

He chuckled. “No. She’s lived there her entire life, and she loves her work. But she was glad to have me and Harley there.”

“I bet.”

I had no idea what that would be like. My family was…complicated. To say the least. They were the real reason that I couldn’t seem to catch a break. It was hard to get ahead financially when half of every paycheck went home to make sure my little sister had a roof over her head and food in her stomach.

Real estate had seemed like a way to make some easy money. I’d only been doing it for eighteen months at the insistence of my now ex-boyfriend. When our relationship ended, my entire life went up in smoke. He’d fired me from his company, blacklisted my ass, and kicked me out of the apartment he had me in. No wonder I still wasn’t ready for a relationship. I couldn’t afford to lose everything again.

I’d finally managed to find another company that would take me in but building clientele had been a slow and painful slog. Even a year later, I had to take every new client that came my way. Steady work was hard to come by.

I wasn’t about to blow it with the Wrights.

“So, this job,” Whitt said. He rifled through a file on his desk. “I assume Jordan filled you in on it?”

“He hired me. We’re surveying a new build in Midland.”

“Yes. Working with Dorset & King.”

“Ah, the Kings. Midland royalty,” I mused.

“You know them?” His eyes found mine over the top of the file.

“Sure. Everyone knows them. They’re a big presence in the city. Plus, I was in the same year as Nate King.”

I managed to keep my face neutral when I mentioned him. Not that Nate and I had ever been together, but his girlfriends sure thought we had been. Apparently, girls couldn’t be friends with guys. That had been one of my first lessons that I wasn’t like other girls. And they made it blatantly clear that they didn’t want to be friends with me.

I was still adjusting to the fact that the girls in Lubbock weren’t like that. I’d been waiting for the shoe to drop for months with my roommates, Piper and Blaire. Kept expecting my friend Nora to wake up one day and decide I wasn’t worth the trouble. After all, I had only become friends with them after they replaced Nora’s cheating ex. I could be easily replaceable as well. No matter that they’d never given me that inclination, my little-girl s**t circled me like a vulture after carrion.

“Well, excellent. I’ll have you make introductions when we meet with them.”

“Of course.”

The Kings were a little out of my league. But hey, so were the Wrights, and that had never stopped me.

In fact, Mr. Out of My League was sitting directly across from me. I’d never seen him in his office before. Now, all six-plus feet of him dominated the space. He loomed over the desk, a giant in his realm.

My eyes traced the lines of his shoulders. Had he been working out? He seemed even broader than I remembered. I was a taller-than-average woman, and he made me feel dainty. Like a little pixie, like the rest of my friends. As if he could take one of those large hands and circle it around my waist with ease. Or perhaps my throat…

Could I imagine Mr. Tall, Dark, and Controlled releasing enough to choke me while he f****d me?

I dispelled that thought. I shifted my legs together, the heat rubbing up to the apex of my thighs.

Whitt had made it clear that he wanted a relationship. The night of Jordan and Annie’s wedding, I was perfectly positioned to see exactly how good he was in bed. I’d basically thrown myself at him, only for him to reject me. The last thing I wanted was another relationship that could f**k up my entire life if it didn’t work. No matter how broad those shoulders or how it’d feel for him to use his perfect control in the bedroom—

“Eve?”

I cleared my throat. “Hmm?”

“I asked if next weekend worked for our survey trip to Midland?”

“Whenever you’re free. I can move my clients around.”

He nodded and continued to discuss the details of the new build with me. I knew the basic information that Jordan had sent to me already. I was better in person than I was with the details. It was why I’d been great at real estate. Once I met my clients, things took off. It was getting that meeting that sometimes took time.

I let Whitt prattle on about the work, listening with half an ear. My eyes were on his pillowy lips. The way they moved with such assurance as he talked about what was important to him. They snapped up to his big blue eyes. Did they have gold in them? How had I never noticed that before? The irises were really a mix of colors, and blue was just the most prominent. It almost looked like he wore contacts—they were so vivid—and yet contacts could never get the exact color right.

“Unless you want to stay with your family?”

That ripped me right out of my reverie. “What?”

“Do you want to stay with your family while in town?”

Right. Drive to Midland. Where my family was. With Whitton Wright.

I’d been hired because of my knowledge of the area, but I hadn’t really thought through that I’d have to go down there. The dollar signs had blinded me to the reality of what I was doing.

I was going home.

I was bringing Whitt with me.

And under no circumstances could those two worlds collide.

Fuck.

“No,” I said quickly. Maybe too quickly.

His hand splayed open. An invitation to explain.

I layered on my best unbothered bravado. “I mean, no, thank you. We’ll be too busy. Downtown probably makes the most sense.”

“I’ll make the arrangements then.”

I breathed a soft sigh of relief. And then realized the other thing I hadn’t considered. I was going to be staying at a hotel with Whitt.

My mind buzzed with that information. Me and Whitt, alone, in Midland for a weekend.

This beast of a man was stuffed into a charcoal suit. His pants stretched tight across his crotch. My eyes flicked down to where his c**k was hidden by the expensive material. My mouth watered. Maybe not that hidden.

“How are you getting home?”

My eyes snapped back up to his. It was a testament to my temperament that I didn’t blush furiously. Had he caught me staring at his c**k? Christ, I needed to get it together. He was so f*****g hot, and I just…had not prepared myself for him today.

“I’m going to grab an Uber.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I can drive you home. You only live around the block.”

“Oh, no. It’s fine.” I came to my feet, dragging my skirt back down my thighs. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I insist.”

I opened my mouth to object and then closed it. “All right.”

A flash of surprise crossed his face. He clearly hadn’t thought that I’d say yes to that. Honestly, I was surprised myself. On the outside, I was the strong, resilient type who never let anything get to me. I didn’t need anyone to take care of me. Let alone drive me home when I was having car troubles. I was a big girl.

And yet I couldn’t say no to the offer. Not when I wanted him to take me. After all, the offer had come despite my reputation and our history.

I was known as a maneater, and it was generally well-earned.

Men were a vice. Meant to be devoured and discarded.

Whitton Wright was the only one who hadn’t fallen into my Venus flytrap. Who’d refused to be chewed up and spit out. The only one I still wanted to take a bite out of.

He gestured to the door. It felt like he was asking about more than just a car ride.

“Shall we?” He strode to the door and tugged it open. The invitation palpable this time.

“I’m game.”

I strode past him, swishing my hips dramatically as I stepped out into the hallway. My heels clicked noisily on the slate tiles that led to the elevator. Whitt cleared his throat behind me, and I snuck a glance back, only long enough to see him checking out my ass.

A slow smile curled my red-painted lips. “You coming?”

He straightened his suit coat and cleared his throat. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

I smirked at the double meaning in his words. I liked that I managed to fluster him. The next couple of weeks working together were certainly going to be interesting.