Page 11 of Is It Casual Now?
eleven
Siena blew out a puff of air, stirring strands of loose hair that had fallen across her face during the day. Sitting back in her chair, she rolled her neck in slow circles hoping to hear that pop followed by the release of at least one of the multitude of knots the day had given her.
What she really needed was a deep-tissue massage. The lack of popping from her neck confirmed this fact.
The light on her intercom system lit up, and she pressed it automatically.
“Siena, your five o’clock will be here in ten minutes. Did you need anything?”
“Coffee, please.” She let her finger slide from the button and lifted both hands to her head. She rubbed small circles around her temples.
After a moment, she shook out her fingers, sat up and rolled her shoulders back. Clicking into her calendar, her movements stopped as she stared at the name.
“Of course,” she muttered and closed her eyes.
Only one word was written in her five o’clock appointment .
Jamie.
“Your coffee.” Paula handed over the mug of steaming coffee, the scent wafting in Siena’s direction putting her instantly at ease.
“What would I do without you?” Siena asked with a grin.
“Starve and forget to go home.” The small smile that pulled up the corner of Paula’s lips made Siena laugh.
“Most likely.”
With a smile, she left, and the door clicked with a popping sound similar to the one Siena had failed to achieve through her earlier neck roll.
Time ticked down and one minute before five, the intercom chirped this time with clipped words.
“Your five o’clock appointment has arrived.”
“Please let her in,” Siena replied, her finger holding the button down a little too hard, turning the tip of her fingers white.
The door opened, and for a moment, Siena and Jamie simply stared at each other. Siena wanted to muster the same professionalism she had managed to enter their previous meeting with, but the sight of Jamie framed in her open door was a sight not even her late-night imagination could have captured.
Not that she had been having late night imaginations, especially about Jamie. Nope, not at all.
“Good evening.” Jamie finally broke the string that held them both in place and stepped into the office properly. She closed the door behind her, the spell finally broken.
Siena was on her feet and professionalism took over from the arousal that had already warmed up her lower belly.
“Thank you for coming here for this meeting, Jamie.” Siena stepped out from behind her desk and waved a hand over to the small meeting area in her office. She barely refrained from rolling her eyes as she felt like some kind of game show host with the swing of her hand. Really, Jamie Kettlehouse had been nothing but a pain in her ass since her blog posts had been brought to her attention years ago. There was no need for Siena to feel like a schoolgirl.
“Please take a seat. Would you like coffee or something to eat?”
“Ha.” Jamie chuckled as she sauntered over to the low couches. She sat on one as she shook her head. “No, thanks. Your ever so kind receptionist offered as much as well.” The stress Jamie placed on the word kind told Siena all she needed to know about the frosty reception Jamie must have been given.
“Fine. Then let’s get into this.” Siena pulled the pieces of paper from the printer she passed on her way to sit on the couch opposite Jamie.
“Can we find a time for the interview with Bunny and Piper first? My editor is on my ass about nailing it down.”
“Unfortunately, no.” Siena shook her head, the sincerity of her words lacking even to her own ears. “These questions are entirely unacceptable.”
“Excuse me?” The casual air around Jamie sparked as she shuffled forward on the couch, perching on the front, her shoulders squaring as though preparing for a fight.
“These questions have absolutely nothing to do with either of their professional work.”
“So asking about how they first started playing together…” The innuendos dripped from Jamie’s lips, and Siena’s stomach tightened, “…has nothing to do with their careers?”
“Fine, but ninety-percent of these questions are absolutely ridiculous and not at all what either of them will answer.” Siena’s face morphed into something else entirely, and she knew she was putting on a cold, hard front. They both probably needed it there .
“Because they don’t want to, or you don’t want them to?”
“Ms. Kettlehouse,” Siena reminded herself of who she was dealing with, “your reputation of coming to outrageous conclusions continues I see.”
“It’s entertaining how those with secrets always jump to assuming my conclusions are outrageous.” Jamie squared her shoulders, her face hardening at the accusation.
“Because they are. You have no proof, and no credible facts to point anyone in the direction of your theories.”
“If you bothered to look, you would find all of my information there.” Jamie hissed.
Taking a deep breath, Siena rubbed circles once more over her temples. She was going to have a headache by the time this ended, wasn’t she?
She needed to reel this conversation back in to where she could control it. “We’re getting off of the point.”
“And what is the point?” Jamie asked. Siena was certain it was supposed to come out defensive, but there was a quiet sadness in the words.
“You need to come up with different questions—interesting questions. They’ll answer anything about their careers. They won’t answer the trash column questions you’ve sent through.” Siena was going to hold to that. It wasn’t just what she knew Bunny and Piper would actually answer, and it was going to be a pain in the ass to convince them to meet with Jamie to begin with, but that was a problem for future Siena. Right now, she just needed to get Jamie to ask good and reasonable questions.
“They aren’t trash column questions.” Jamie’s voice rose as she leaned farther forward, as if she could reach out and touch Siena and make her point heard all the more.
Siena shuffled herself forward on her own side and put the papers she was still holding on the table between them—well, threw might have been a more accurate description. They stopped at the edge of the table where Jamie immediately snapped them up. She scanned the colored ink that took her one page of questions and turned them into four pages with Siena’s comments and snarky rebuttals. There were also strong hints and downright suggestions about questions that would actually work at different points.
“Are you kidding me?” Jamie looked up, her eyes narrowed, and her top lip quivering into a small scowl.
Despite Siena’s determination to remain professional, she had to bite the inside of her cheeks to stop herself from laughing. Not only did Jamie’s feistiness cause a slight ache between her thighs, but her twitching top lip gave her the image of Elvis in his heyday.
“Take the suggestions, Jamie.”
“They aren’t suggestions. They’re controlling information.”
“They’re appropriate questions, and they’re focusing on what all you trash columnists seem to forget about.”
“For fuck’s sake.” Jamie was now so far forward that her generous ass barely remained on the edge of the couch. She leaned forward, her fingertips whitened as they pressed down hard on the coffee table between her and Siena. “I know how to do my job.”
“Ha.” Siena scooted herself as far forward on her own couch as Jamie was on hers and placed flat hands on the table. “I hardly think so. Considering you doing your job is why you’re in this precarious position in the first place.”
She hadn’t meant to drop her eyes to the delicious cleavage Jamie now had on display in front of her, but as the word precarious slipped from her mouth, her eyes did what they wanted. The tightness in Siena’s lower stomach increased and the throb turned into a wetness on her underwear.
Damn it.
This was the exact fire that had stirred when Jamie had approached her, confident and cocky in her swagger in the middle of the tapas bar .
She couldn’t think about that. Her body was already going too far down that line of reaction.
“Precarious positions are exactly what gets me off, and why I do this job.” Jamie licked her lips and Siena shivered a little as Jamie’s eyes dropped to Siena’s lips, lingered way too long, and moved back up again.
Those beautiful blue eyes had turned from a summer sky into a storm-filled sea before Siena registered exactly what her body had in mind. Her breath was loud, her chest moving more rapidly as she leaned further toward Jamie.
“You do this job to piss people off,” Siena lobbed in her direction, needing to say something, anything to keep Jamie right where she was—or better yet, move her closer.
“No.” Jamie moved closer, and Siena’s breath shuddered out between her slightly opened lips. “I do this job because the truth is worth searching for.”
“The truth isn’t always what it looks like. The truth is even celebrities deserve to have their lives kept private if they wish.”
“Are you saying there’s something that is being kept private?” Jamie’s eyes lit up like she’d hit the jackpot.
“Of course. No one wants their full lives on display. This isn’t The Truman Show .”
“But what secrets are you helping to hide?”
“You never give up do you?” Siena scoffed. For a moment, her self-control tried to kick back in, but then Jamie’s eyes sparkled and one side of her mouth lifted into a smirk.
A small groan rumbled its way up Siena’s throat and escaped her mouth before she could stop it. A responding catch of breath from Jamie thrilled and tightened the last remaining loose muscles in Siena’s body.
The sound of Jamie’s breathing joined Siena’s near panting in the otherwise silent office.
The warm touch of Jamie’s breath caressed her lips. Memories of the soft touch turned hungry and eager flashed through Siena’s mind. Her mouth opened, to say something or to cuss, Siena wasn’t entirely sure. She never got the chance to do anything more when a loud buzz drowned out the sound of their panting.
“Ms. Frazee.” Paula’s voice was almost as effective as a bucket of ice water thrown over the pair.
Siena’s eyes widened as she realized how close she was to Jamie. She could see the fine lines and details of Jamie’s eyes and the dark arousal that sparkled within them.
“Fuck,” she muttered under her breath as she pushed with her wrists against the table and shoved her body back deep into the couch she’d abandoned for the temptation of blonde hair, blue eyes, and the memory of the most addictive taste on her tongue.
“Would you and your guest ”—the sneer at the word gave no doubt as to Paula’s opinion of Jamie. Not that there had been any doubt up until this moment. The tinny sound of the voice continued to fill the room—“like something to drink or eat?”
Jamie chuckled as she sat back down on her own couch. She sat down with a calm that Siena usually prided herself on. Siena pushed the sensation of heat in her cheeks to the back of her mind as she stood back up and paced to her desk.
“No, thank you.” Her voice was a rasp that caused another faint chuckle from behind her. “We’re just finishing up.”
She removed her finger from the intercom button and turned slowly around, her ass pressed as hard into the edge of her desk as possible.
“We are?” Jamie’s eyebrows furrowed as she stood up.
“Yes.” Siena nodded, forcing her legs to take her weight. She pushed her shoulders back and ignored the wet pulsing of her clit. “We’re definitely done.”
“An interview time?” Jamie asked, though little hope showed in her face.
“Take the notes, go through them. And when you come back with questions I can actually present to Bunny and Piper, then we can schedule a time.”
“Do they even know?” Jamie asked, looking at Siena from the tops of her eyes, her chin down and almost touching her chest.
Damn. This woman was going to be the death of her if she didn’t get herself under control.
“My clients know everything they need to that concerns them. Especially in relation to media opportunities.”
“Wow.” Jamie’s laugh bordered on a sneering scoff. “You really can play this diplomatic game better than any agent I’ve ever…come up against.”
The pause in Jamie’s words made another groan rumble its way up Siena’s throat. This time however, she managed to bite back the sound before it escaped.
“I’m good at my job.” Siena gave her own half smile back. “Isn’t that why you came to me?”
Two could play this game. And while Siena had already begun to scold herself for the unprofessional near kiss, she wasn’t above making sure Jamie left as uncomfortably aroused as she was.
“Hmmm.” Jamie’s smile was all flirt and amusement. She snatched up the papers and fluttered them lightly in the air. “Challenge accepted.”
“Fantastic.” Siena barely got the word out.
“Thank you for a very enlightening meeting, Ms. Frazee.” Jamie made a slow walk to the door. She moved with an obvious swing to her hips, and Siena’s eyes followed each movement. She ached to get her hands on that gorgeous ass once more.
“You’ll be hearing from me soon,” Jamie said as she opened the door.
Framed behind Jamie stood Paula, standing tall with her hands planted on her hips. It was once again as sobering as her voice had been when it filled Siena’s office earlier.
“I look forward to seeing what you come up with in response to my feedback.”
With a small laugh, Jamie turned away again. “Make sure you think about what I said, Siena. Just like I’ll think about what’ll happen the next time I come against you.”
That phrasing had to have been intentional. Jamie wasn’t an idiot when it came to words. And they both knew that.
Siena’s eyes were drawn to the woman’s amazing curves until Paula blocked her view by stepping into her line of sight and filling the door frame.
“Is everything all right, Ms. Frazee?”
Siena blinked and her mind whirled. But she was, after all, one of the best in her field. If she had been able to fake her emotions during her divorce, she could damn well keep her professional mask in place despite the throbbing between her legs and the warmth that remained in her cheeks.
“Absolutely.” Siena nodded, her professional mask easily slipping back into place. “Please escort Ms. Kettlehouse out of the office. I’ll be heading home in a moment.”
“So early?” It was a thrill to see that Siena could still shock her rarely rattled receptionist.
“Yes.” Siena needed to leave as soon as possible. “Take some time to enjoy the early night, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Siena returned to her desk. As she sat, biting her lower lip to hold back the groan the movement of sitting had caused, her door had already been closed, without another word or sound. The temptation to take care of her ache right then and there teased at the edge of Siena’s mind. But being caught in such a state had her quickly tidying her desk and shutting down her computer instead.
As she did, her eyes flicked over to the meeting area and the image of laying Jamie out on the coffee table and taking her every way her mind and body could imagine washed over her.
Her movements of tidying up quickened, and she wondered if she would manage to make it home before her fingers found their way to her need and relieved her of the pressure.