Page 34 of The CEO I Hate (The Lockhart Brothers #1)

LIAM

A roar of laughter ripped through the living room, and I took my eyes off Mia long enough to glance at Jake. He was parked next to the couch, a group of burly off-duty firefighters seated around him. He took a playful swipe at one of them, catching a shoulder with his knuckles.

“Dude, that’s not even true,” he cried, his face creased with more amusement than I’d seen in a while. He shook his head, wearing a massive smile, and my chest clenched.

“You were too drunk to remember!” one of his buddies shot back, snickering into his beer. “You definitely went crying about it to the captain.”

“Lies,” Jake laughed. “You’re all liars.”

Ash barked once, like he was weighing in.

The guys cracked up even harder. One of them leaned over to rub his ears while another tried to balance a pretzel on his nose.

“See?” Jake said, pointing. “Even the dog knows you’re full of shit. ”

I hadn’t expected Ash to be a hit at a party full of rowdy firemen, but apparently the mutt had range. Mia had suggested we bring him, and that had turned out to be a good idea.

It had been a long, long time since I’d seen Jake sound that carefree, without any bitterness.

When we’d talked about planning a little birthday party for him—Gabrielle, Mia, and I—we weren’t sure how he’d react.

But as I released a pent-up breath, I knew we’d made the right call.

The only thing that could possibly make the evening better would be if Mia, over here, was tucked into my arms rather than being frustratingly out of reach.

But that was one shock I wasn’t prepared to dump on Jake tonight.

He clinked his beer bottle with his buddy’s before rolling off to chat with some other guests. Gabrielle made her way over to him, wrapping her arms around him from behind, and Jake turned his head to catch her cheek in a kiss.

The “Birthday Boy” badge on his chest, the one Gabrielle insisted he wear, reflected the lights. She’d even bought him a cone-shaped party hat, but Jake had drawn the line there. Thank God, because if he’d given in, she would have made the rest of us wear them too.

I wandered into the kitchen and found that Mia had taken position next to the pretzel bowl, doling out drinks. I stayed at the back of the crowd so that by the time it was my turn, there was no one else near us.

“Top up?” she asked, eyeing the drink in my hand.

I shook my head, using the excuse of snagging a pretzel from the bowl to lean in closer to her. “Has anyone told you that you make quite a sexy little bartender?” I murmured low under my breath.

Mia’s cheeks flushed slightly, her lips twisted in amusement. She kept her face forward as she replied, “My boyfriend wouldn’t like that.”

“Oh, who’s your boyfriend? ”

She smirked at me briefly. “Big guy,” she teased. “You don’t know him.”

“But maybe you’d like to know me ?” I growled playfully.

Mia’s breath caught, and her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth.

God, I wanted her. It had taken all I had to keep from staring from the minute I saw her in that dress.

It clung to her, the soft, stretchy material hugging each curve, caressing them as she moved.

I wanted to know exactly how soft that material was—how it would feel under my hands when I slid it up to get to even more softness beneath.

Thoughts like that were not going to help me keep our relationship under wraps, but even when I tried to keep my distance, I found that my body gravitated toward hers anyway.

My hands were desperate to hold her, to curl around her.

Not to mention let everyone else who kept staring at her know she was mine .

But this was Jake’s day, and I wouldn’t ruin it like that.

Someone wandered over for snacks, and I cleared my throat. “I think the party’s going well.”

Mia nodded, back to being all business. “Inviting some of his old crew was the right move. Did you give him your gift yet?”

“I was about to,” I said, passing behind her, lowering my voice again. “Just wanted to see what kinds of snacks were available.”

She snorted, but judging by the flush in her cheeks, she was feeling the draw between us just as strongly as I was. With that delightful thought in mind, I crossed the living room, intercepting Jake and Gabrielle.

“Hey, Birthday Boy!”

He rolled his eyes at me. “I’m gonna throw this button at your head. ”

Gabrielle feathered her hand through his hair. “Babe, you look cute. Why shouldn’t you wear something special? Everyone needs to know to celebrate you.”

Jake smirked and tugged her close to peck her on the cheek. “I’d like to know how you’re gonna celebrate me…” he murmured.

“Keep it clean, kids,” I said, quickly pulling an envelope from my back pocket. I handed it to him. “Happy birthday, man.”

“What’s this?” Jake asked, tearing into it. The cruise tickets fell into his lap. “Is this?—”

“A four-day cruise for you and Gabrielle,” I said. With the anniversary of his injury falling right in the middle of the time he’d be away, he’d be plenty distracted, and hopefully the day would pass unnoticed.

“And don’t worry, I’ve already thoroughly checked it out. This cruise line is known for being super accessible. You won’t have any issues getting around.”

“Aww, man,” Jake said, pleased but shocked. “That’s…that’s really great. Thank you .”

Gabrielle took the tickets from him, frowning as she scanned over the information. Finally, she looked up at me, her smile tight as she said, “Yeah, thanks, Liam. This is really nice…but with the date right around the corner, I’d have appreciated if you’d let me know earlier.”

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” I said with a shrug, not getting why it was a big deal. Her smile got even tighter.

“Yeah, well, my boss will be real surprised when I ask for vacation days with next to no notice.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but she’d already turned away from me, moving Jake on to another present, dropping a package into his lap to unwrap. Everyone had converged with their gifts, and I stepped out of the crowd, deliberately putting myself beside Mia .

“Well, Gabrielle’s pissed,” I commented, mentally running through options of how I might be able to fix that. What mattered most was that Jake liked the gift, but Gabrielle was supposed to go with him, so they could work on their relationship. I needed her to be excited about the cruise.

“She has a point, you know.” Mia sipped her drink.

“What do you mean?”

“Not everyone is a CEO. Some people have hardass bosses who don’t like it when you ask for time off at the last minute.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I’m on it.

” Gabrielle worked as a receptionist at the corporate office of an electronics firm, so it wasn’t like lives would be on the line if she wasn’t at her desk for a few days.

Still, I remembered some bosses of my own—back when I was in high school and juggling three part-time jobs—who looked for any excuse to jump all over me.

I didn’t want to set Gabrielle up to have to deal with trouble at work.

“I’ll call her boss, explain the situation, tell him I’ll pay for him to hire a temp while she’s gone. It’ll be fine.”

I thought this settled the matter, but instead of smiling at me, Mia frowned.

“What?” I demanded.

“Maybe talk to Gabrielle first?” she suggested. “Before calling her boss?”

That didn’t make any sense. “What for? Why not just go straight to fixing the problem?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed…” she said, soft but serious. “You sort of like to charge in and make all the decisions yourself. You assume you know what’s best for everyone. ”

Of course I did. “It’s my job to know what people want and to give it to them.” Nothing would ever get done otherwise. I’d come to the conclusion that people were naturally indecisive, and I had things to accomplish. Problems to solve.

“And it never occurs to you that you might be wrong?” she asked.

“Why would it when I know I’m right?” I replied.

She rolled her eyes at me, but I could see the smile she was trying to suppress.

“What, are you telling me I don’t know what you’re searching for, Gretel?” I teased, stepping closer. “What you want to hear, what you want to feel…how you want to be touched?”

Mia set her drink aside, crossing her arms against her chest in that way that drove me wild.

Which she damn well knew. “You think you know what I want?” she asked.

Her words were sultry as she looked at me, her gaze deliberately traveling down my body.

The look sent my blood rushing south. “Prove it.”

She walked away, shooting a pointed look over her shoulder before disappearing in the direction of the bathroom.

Oh, fuck yes. Right now.

I gave it a minute to make sure Jake was otherwise engaged—a minute of extreme torture—before following.

“Can I help you?” Mia said lightly, adjusting her hair in the bathroom mirror as I slipped through the door, closing it behind me. I twisted the lock.

“I’m here to give you something.”

“I sure fucking hope so,” Mia said, launching into my arms with a wicked grin. I caught her face between my hands, pressing a hard kiss to her lips. A soft, desperate sound escaped her, and I swallowed it down.

“We have to be quiet.”

Mia ground her hips against my leg. “I don’t want to be quiet. I want you inside me, and I want the whole world to know how good it feels.”

Something snapped in me, and I dug my fingers into her ass, picking her up and depositing her on the counter.

She looked at me, shock and desire written into her features.

“ You have to be quiet,” I ordered, shoving her dress up.

The material was nowhere near as soft as her thighs.

I let my fingers lightly caress her through her underwear. Her hips jumped. “Can you be quiet?”

“Yes,” she whispered, but it was more of a gasp as my fingers explored, not quite touching her clit but hovering in a way that had Mia squirming. “You’re already wet,” I said, dragging her forward for another kiss. “You’re soaked for me.”

I shoved her underwear aside and pressed my thumb against her. Mia bit her lip as I rubbed circles against her. She started to moan.

“Quiet,” I reminded her, and she snapped her mouth closed.

I slid my fingers through her wetness and her legs separated further, giving me space, giving me permission.

“Good girl,” I said, sinking two fingers into her.

I braced one arm around her shoulders as Mia moved against my fingers.

I caught her lips again to swallow her raspy pants. “That’s it. Take what you need.”

God, I loved her like this. Desperate and wanton while I was knuckle-deep. My cock twitched in my pants. I wanted to get her home and spread her out on?—

Crash !

“What the hell was that?” Mia said, startling so hard she would have fallen off the counter if I’d not been there.

A groan. It sounded like Jake. Desire disappeared, replaced by adrenaline as I helped Mia off the counter, leaving her to straighten herself out as I twisted the lock again.

Checking to make sure she was presentable, I opened the door and charged out into the living room, Mia hot on my heels.

“Jake!” she cried. Jake’s wheelchair was on its side. He was on the floor. Mia threw herself down next to him, and I surged after her. “Are you okay?”

“M’fine,” Jake grumbled, rolling over. He winced. “Just give me a sec to get my bearings.”

“He’s not fine!” Gabrielle said. “Help me get him into his chair.”

I leaped into action, and with the help of one of his firefighting buddies, we got him seated back in his chair.

“What happened?” Mia asked. Her face was flushed, her hair messed from where I’d sunk my fingers into it. But with the chaos, no one else seemed to notice.

Ash stood a few feet away, tail tucked, ears down, watching Jake with anxious eyes. He let out a low, worried whine and pace a small circle, like he wanted to help but didn’t know how.

“It was just…stupid,” Jake said, clenching his teeth. “I saw someone’s elbow knock a glass off the edge of the kitchen counter, and without thinking, I went to get up to catch it before it could fall.”

Christ, he’d tried to stand? No wonder he’d ended up on the ground. I looked down at the wine that had soaked into the carpet. For once, that shitty carpet had come in handy. If Jake’s floor had been hardwood, the wine glass would have shattered, and he would have fallen into the shards.

“Does anything hurt?” Mia asked .

“I’m fine,” Jake said, brushing her off. People murmured around us, and I knew he was embarrassed. “Let’s get back to the party.”

“You’re not fine,” Gabrielle insisted again.

“I think I know my own body,” Jake muttered through his teeth. I couldn’t tell if he was in pain or just pissed at Gabrielle for making a scene.

“Seriously, Jake,” Mia said more directly. “Does anything hurt?”

Jake sighed. “My right leg got jarred when I fell. But I’m sure I didn’t do any real damage.”

Mia glanced up at me. I could tell she wanted me to say something. “Maybe just get it checked out?” I suggested. “No harm in that.”

“I’m not leaving my birthday party to go to the hospital,” Jake said immediately. “I spend enough time there.”

“You have to go,” Gabrielle said. “What if there’s actually something wrong?”

“C’mon, man,” I said. “We’ll get you checked quickly and be back here in no time.”

Jake glowered at me, silently challenging me on the lie. We both knew the party was officially over.

“You’re going,” Mia said, her tone making it clear the matter was final. “We’re wasting time debating it. Liam’s right. Get checked out. Have peace of mind.”

“I’ll drive him,” Gabrielle said. “Help me get him into the car?”

Jake huffed, rolling himself toward the door while Mia and Gabrielle thanked people for coming, clearing out the guests. I turned off the music, effectively shutting the party down .

“Give you a lift to the hospital?” I said to Mia as the four of us headed downstairs.

She nodded. “Sure, thanks.”

Jake didn’t even bat an eyelash at my offer, and I let out a tight breath. No doubt he had other things on his mind—like what a shitty day this had turned into.