For His Eyes Only Page 5

  “I want her,” his father said.

  Don’t we all, Alex thought, yet a shock wave of jealousy put his senses on alert. He didn’t appreciate the sight of his dad leering at a woman half his age—a woman Alex felt belonged to him.

  “You’ve got her, Dad. She’s one of the thirty and I’m sure she’ll make it to the top ten.”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “No, what? You don’t think she’ll make it? Have you seen her full-length—”

  “No, I mean the top ten isn’t good enough. I want her to win.” He stood up and whistled softly, still staring at Jacey’s image. “This girl is a beauty. Customers will flock to our stores wanting to look like her. Yes, I’d be thrilled to see her get that contract.”

  Alex narrowed his eyes. He hated that devious tone in his father’s voice. Dear old Dad was always looking for a backdoor way to increase his revenue—another reason Alex needed that promotion, and he needed it soon.

  His father’s business knowledge and dedication had made Insomnia into a huge success, and for that, Alex admired him. But that success had gone to his head, and now he treated the company like a resource for his own benefit. Alex couldn’t wait to change the place back into a welcoming outlet for women’s fantasies, the sensual experience his parents had originally intended it to be.

  “So would I, personally,” he said. “But that’s up to the voters.”

  William looked up from the photo and pinned him with a domineering stare. “Not anymore it isn’t. It’s up to you.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. I’m much more qualified than the public to judge what’s best for this company. She’s our Sleepless Siren. Make it happen.”

  He dropped the picture into Alex’s hands and turned his back. Alex studied Jacey’s features and almost forgot that his father had just suggested they threaten the integrity of the competition.

  Almost.

  He shook his head and followed his dad to the opposite side of the office. “Wait a minute. Are you asking me to fix the contest?”

  His father spun, anger deepening the creases on his forehead. “I’m not asking you anything. I’m telling you.” He snatched the photo back and held it up. “She wins, and this office will be yours by the end of the year. If she doesn’t win, then neither do you. Is that clear?”

  Alex clenched his fists, tempted to stick one in his mouth to keep the names he wanted to call his father from being spoken aloud. His head hurt again, which wasn’t surprising since the reality of the ultimatum had struck him like an eighteen-wheeler. His competition, the project he had designed to inject life into the dictatorship that Insomnia had become, would be nothing more than another one of his dad’s single-minded decisions. A farce.

  And Jacey, who had emphasized the importance of winning the contest on her own merit—what would she think of this asinine plan? If I win, then I win fair and square because people voted for me. Not because I gave the VP a blowjob.

  He winced at the memory of her impassioned words. She would hate him, no doubt. But unless he wanted to throw away his shot at being named CEO, there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to change his father’s mind. He had to think about his mother and the future of Insomnia. He had to win back the company, whatever the cost.

  “As a bell,” he growled.

  He stalked out of the room and headed for the elevator. Thankfully, it was lunchtime. He was tempted to take the rest of the day off—either that or buy stock in Tylenol.

  But first, he had to take care of one more thing. He and Kim had contacted twenty-nine of the contestants over the weekend, to the tune of ear-splitting shrieks and profuse butt-kissing. But his attempts to call Jacey’s cell number had only produced recorded messages saying the number had been disconnected. If she had changed it to avoid him, she’d forgotten that would leave him no way to get in touch with her about the details of the contest.

  Not that he minded making the drive to her place. They had business to discuss that had nothing to do with the competition—namely, why she’d insisted they go their separate ways even while dripping wet in his lap. She was a complex puzzle, one he didn’t intend to give up on until he solved.

  He didn’t have her address with him, but he remembered most of the streets they’d driven the morning after the party, and he used familiar landmarks to guide him the rest of the way. He drove several miles into the east end of town, still cursing his father.

  No one wanted Jacey to win that contest as much as Alex did. Her powerful marketing appeal was one thing he and William did agree on. But whatever her reasons for entering, her reaction to his original offer had told him just how much she wanted to earn the job herself. She would kill him if he manipulated the results in her favor.

  Maybe he could explain it to her someday, after they knew each other well enough to deal with the complexities of their respective families.

  First, he had to get her to open her door.

  He spotted her old Toyota and parked next to it, noticing for the first time how run-down her apartment building was. Most of the exterior paint had peeled away in the heat, and many of the residents’ windows were cracked or completely missing. He locked his car, not at all comfortable that Jacey lived there alone. She didn’t make a lot of money, but he hadn’t expected her situation to be this bad.

  He climbed the stairs to search for the apartment number he had seen on her entry form, and thoughts of the audition brightened his mood. Oh, how he had wanted to finish what they’d started behind that curtain. She had kissed him, had reminded him of their roll in the hot tub last weekend…and when he’d reached to unzip his pants and bury himself inside her right there in that chair, he had heard Kim’s voice on the other side of the door preparing to send in another model.

  Jacey had quickly dressed and gone home, and his balls had turned a dark shade of blue for the remainder of that evening.

  He found her door and knocked. When he’d questioned earlier if she would open it, he’d been referring to her statement that she couldn’t see him anymore. But now he wondered if she’d feel safe enough to come out. He had an urge to stand guard right there in the corridor and ward off unsavory characters.

  She must have been used to the place. She answered after only a moment, and the sight of her pretty face and beautiful curls warmed his entire body. She had her hair pulled back and wore minimal makeup along with jeans and a plain green T-shirt, but the way his blood burned every time he looked at her, she might as well be dressed to walk the red carpet.

  Her mouth fell open when she saw him. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m here to inform you that you made it into the Sleepless Siren competition,” he announced with a flourish. Then he held up his phone. “I couldn’t get you on your cell.”

  She blushed. “Oh…yeah. It’s not working right now. I’m having some issues with the service provider.”

  Issues that involved the bill and her failure to pay it, he imagined.

  “Anyway, you didn’t have to drive all the way over here to tell me that.” She leaned against the doorjamb and changed her expression from alarmed to completely cool. “I figured I would make it.”

  She flashed him a cocky grin, but it didn’t hide the unease in her eyes. At times he suspected she covered up insecurity with overconfidence, and this was one of them. The way she refused to acknowledge her financial situation—which, judging from the condition of her apartment, was probably worse than she’d ever admit—concerned him.

  “Well, I needed to make it official and give you some information. Can I come in?”

  “Oh. Sure.” She hesitated, her smile gone. Then she stepped back and allowed him inside.

  It was obvious she had never intended him to come within a mile of her place. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze when he entered her living room. She shrugged in return and briskly walked away to straighten the pillows on her bed, clearly embarrassed to let him witness her modest lifestyle.


  It was then that he noticed her apartment consisted of only one room. The bed she was making stood a few feet from the living room, and if he took two steps to his left, he would be in the kitchen. Clothes and books were strewn across the small efficiency, a place as chaotic and unkempt as her life seemed to be.

  His dread about rigging the contest began to dissolve. Jacey needed that money. If he could ensure she received it without letting her in on his secret, she would have no reason to get angry with him—or refuse the prize, which seemed like something an independent woman like her would do.

  He cleared his throat in an attempt to break the silence and ease the stilted air between them. He missed the provocative, easygoing woman he’d known at the parties. Did she think he would treat her differently because he made more money than she did?

  He reached for a folded piece of paper inside his jacket. Damn, he was still wearing his suit. That definitely wouldn’t bridge the gap between them.

  “So, the first round of competition takes place on Saturday.” He slipped off the coat and draped it over his arm. “You need to be at the auditorium by five o’clock, and this information sheet will tell you everything else you need to know. And of course, you can always call me.”

  She approached him long enough to take the paper. “Right. With my dead phone.”

  Ignoring the foot in his mouth, Alex pulled out his wallet and handed her a business card. “In any case, here’s the address of the corporate office. I’m on the sixteenth floor. Stop by any time.”

  She nodded, tossed both things on top of a small TV, and began arranging knick-knacks on a bookshelf.

  He scanned her apartment for something to talk about, anything he could say to make her feel better. He noticed scraps of white paper scattered at his feet and bent to pick one up. A chunk of the University of Miami’s logo was printed on one of the fragments. Another said admission, and though he couldn’t tell if the news was good or bad, he guessed it was bad considering the fate of the letter.

  Jacey wanted to be an academic? Wow. She intrigued him more every day, and talking to her more than once a year had made his life more interesting than it had been in…ever.

  “Snoop much?”

  Her voice yanked him back to reality. He dropped the jagged scrap of paper and found her standing in front of him, her arms crossed like a disapproving parent.

  “Uh, sorry. I was just—”

  “Uh-huh.” She plucked the bits of paper off the carpet and tossed them into a plastic wastebasket.

  “I had no idea you were trying to go to college. What do you want to do?”

  She beamed at the question. “Media planning. I’m good at math and my years of retail experience have taught me a ton about marketing. I was thinking maybe I’d major in that. I got accepted, in case you’re wondering.”

  So she had been accepted. Pride and relief coursed through him. Maybe now she could get her life on track—and move. He couldn’t stand the thought of her going to sleep, alone, in the middle of such a dangerous part of town.

  “That’s wonderful,” he said. “Congratulations.”

  Her face fell as fast as it had brightened. “No, it’s not. They accepted me a long time ago, but they won’t award me a scholarship. And that means I don’t go.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because my grades aren’t enough. The scholarship application requires an essay, and I don’t write well. I told you, I’m a numbers person.”

  “I meant, why can’t you go without the scholarship?”

  She glared at him with outstretched arms. “Does this look like a high-priced condo to you? I can’t afford college. I can barely afford to put gas in my car.”

  She stared out the window at his shiny silver sedan that only made her vehicle look worse. What would she think of his high-priced condo? It had impressed the hell out of women he used to bring home for drinks and sex, but without a doubt, it would probably disgust Jacey. She wasn’t the materialistic type.

  “What about financial aid?” he asked.

  “No way. Forget about it.”

  “Why not? Tons of students do that.”

  “I told you, I don’t want help. I’m not living my life the way my mom—”

  She fell silent, then shook her head and walked away. Alex hurt for her, a feeling he wasn’t used to at all. He’d been surrounded by wealth and publicity since childhood. What circumstances had forced such a beautiful, smart and spunky woman into near-poverty and isolation, even from her own family? He didn’t want to be someone else that faded from her life, so he took the one approach that got them on equal ground.

  He left his coat by the door and followed her to the kitchen. She picked up a plate and scrubbed it with more vigor than necessary.

  “Jacey, what are you doing?”

  “Cleaning. I wasn’t expecting company.”

  “Don’t you think that can wait? We can probably find a better way to spend what little time we have together.”

  She ignored him and tossed the plate to the other side of the sink, then started washing a coffee mug. Her whole body shook with the effort, and her eyes never left the dish.

  He caught her arm and pried the mug from her fingers. “Stop.”

  “What are you—?”

  He brought his mouth down, nudged her lips open and entangled his tongue with hers. She smelled of coffee and cinnamon and he tasted his fill, aching to remind her of the desire that had always burned between them. Her body slackened in his arms, and she sounded breathless when he let her go.

  “Wow. Is there more where that came from?”

  He didn’t play along with her attempt to lighten the mood. “I don’t care what your place looks like. Do you think I check the economic status of every woman I talk to? You don’t have to impress me.”

  “Who says I want to?”

  “You do. You’ve been acting strange and pushing me away ever since the day after the party, when I found out where you live.”

  The pain in her eyes lessened the effect of her scowl. She didn’t answer him. He wanted to talk to her, find out more about her life and convince her she didn’t have to keep her distance because they hailed from opposite ends of town. But his immediate concern, for the sake of his promotion and her financial stability, was the competition. If she couldn’t summon her usual confidence within the next couple of days, she wouldn’t be able to deliver a performance hot enough to give her the win without raising suspicions.

  The party…that gave him an idea. Something about the parties must have made her feel good. During the four times they’d met up there, she’d never given any indication that her life was as tough as what he saw now. She had been a picture of glamour and sophistication. She’d been on fire, and fire would win the contest.

  That was it, then. He would do everything in his power to rekindle her memories of their private after-parties. He had to make her feel sexy like never before, or it would be both of their futures down the drain.

  Gently, he squeezed her arm, the pressure of his fingers a promise of more pleasurable contact to come. “You’re the sexiest woman in this town, Jacey. I can’t wait to see you on stage, showing all of Miami what I already know. I want to watch you tease everyone with your beautiful body, and then I want to take you home so you can tease me.”

  Her blue eyes focused on him. For a moment, she looked confused that he’d dropped the subject, but his desire to please her seemed to make her happy. She chewed on her lower lip, a smile threatening. Her fingertips trailed down the side of his torso. A shiver raced through him.

  “You want to be teased, do you?”

  Her gaze was pure innocence, but the playful tone of her voice suggested otherwise. Not to mention the way her fingers tugged at the waist of his pants.

  He released a ragged breath. “Very much so.”

  In a matter of seconds, she’d lowered his zipper and reached into his boxers. His hands flanked the counter on either side of her while she massaged his swe
lling cock. When she let him go, he grabbed her waist and hoisted her onto the counter. She made a whimpering noise and curled her legs around him, and he saw the familiar heat return to her eyes before he kissed her again.

  Oh, yes. The eager movements of her tongue, her feminine sighs of pleasure…this was the woman he remembered. Her long hair moved between his fingers, slipping away when she pulled her shirt over her head and revealed that she wasn’t wearing a bra.

  “Dear God, Jacey.”

  He tried to slow down, but he couldn’t keep his eyes or his hands away from those hard, pink nipples. Her continuous moaning wasn’t helping his restraint, either.

  “Suck on them,” she cried. “Put your mouth on me.”

  Her flesh quivered at the brush of his lips. He raked his tongue over the tip of her breast and sucked with as much pressure as he could without causing her pain. She clawed at his head and soon their mouths collided again, his unchecked erection jutting into the denim that blocked him from the warmth of her body.

  “You’re going to have to get those jeans off.”

  She squirmed and lifted herself a couple of inches off the counter. “Get rid of them.”

  He pulled the button open, nearly ripping it off, and caught a glimpse of sleek white material he couldn’t wait to get his hands on.

  “From Insomnia?” he asked while he fumbled with her zipper.

  “No. A gift.”

  “Oh, really?”

  She swatted at him. “Not that kind of gift. Just a friend who likes to buy me nice things she shouldn’t.”

  Thankfully, he succeeded in tugging her jeans down in time to erase the discomfort that had crept back onto her face. What was up with her and other people’s money, he might never know. But there was one thing she would accept from him, and he vowed to make it the best thing she’d ever receive, every time they were together.