Pressing Adalyn Read online

  “That’s not the point, Stacy. Yeah, I really don’t want some drunk guy rubbing up against me, but I especially don’t want extremely hot and successful ones doing it, either. I’m celibate right now. I don’t want or need the temptation.”

  She actually had no idea just how long it had been since I’d had ‘intimate relations’ with a man. Let’s just say it had been a really long time. Embarrassingly long.

  “I wish you would just let loose tonight, Addy. I won’t drink. I’ll watch you and be the responsible one for once. You can dance and have a good time and I’ll scare off any men that approach you.” Stacy’s pleading eyes made me feel horribly guilty because I knew she only wanted what was best for me, but I knew letting go would be a mistake.

  “Stacy, I know you would do that for me and you are the only one I would trust to make sure I didn’t do something incredibly stupid, but I really have no desire to drink or do anything outside of just hanging out. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

  I could see the disappointment in her face and for a brief moment I almost contemplated her offer. That thought quickly vanished as reality set in and reminded me of how incredibly stupid it would be. I wished we were going somewhere smaller or more relaxed. A comedy club, a karaoke bar, hell even a strip club would be better. Those environments were much more controlled and the chances of the men attending said places actually being hot enough to tempt me were pretty low.

  Maybe it wasn’t too late. Maybe I could still find a way out of going. Stacy had other friends that would be there so it wasn’t like me not being there would ruin anything. I was wracking my brain, trying to come up with a way to back out without pissing her off. Maybe there was some old sushi I could dig out of a trash can and eat so I could give myself food poisoning. Sadly, that alternative was much more appealing than going dancing.

  Right on cue, as if reading my thoughts, Stacy started in. “No matter what you’re feeling right now, you HAVE to go. If I don’t get laid soon, my vagina will shrivel up and die. I can’t neglect her any longer.”

  “Stacy, it’s only been a week since you had sex. Quit being such a slut. If your vagina needs some attention, then let Gerard take care of her.” Gerard is what Stacy had affectionately named her giant dildo. Giant is really an understatement. More like terrifying. I mean, how did she even get it in there? You know what. Never mind. So not an image I needed to picture.

  “Gerard just hasn’t been cutting it lately. I don’t know if it’s him or Jay-Jay, but they just aren’t jiving and I can tell the little lady is starting to grow some serious animosity towards me and when she gets cranky, I get cranky. Besides…I just had her groomed and she wants to show off her new hair-do.”

  “Seriously Stacy, quit talking about your vagina like she’s an actual person. It’s freaking weird. Sometimes I seriously wonder if you should be medicated.”

  “Pfffft. You know you love my crazy.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I mumbled as I headed to my closet to pick out something casual to wear for our errands today. It was rainy and tonight was going to be exhausting, so I was planning on going completely casual and comfortable. Slipping on a pair of skinny jeans, pink ballerina flats and a pink long sleeved tee, I threw my hair up in a messy bun and headed towards the bathroom.

  I was not one of those girls who looked pretty without make up. Splotchy skin, and circles under my eyes. Without eyeliner and mascara, I looked half asleep. I’d spent a lot of time in my life wishing to be one of those naturally beautiful women. I had tried every beauty product known to man, but was never able to achieve an effortless beauty. So up until five years ago, there was never a time where I would even entertain the possibility of leaving my bedroom without a stitch of makeup on. Going outside nude would be less embarrassing. Okay, maybe not less, but you get it.

  Now things were different though. Don’t get me wrong, I cared about how I looked. And it’s not like I had a hairy mole or a goiter or any serious flaws. Even without makeup I could pass for “pretty”, I just wasn’t naturally stunning. The difference now was that I had enough self esteem to not constantly worry about what other people were thinking about me. If someone didn’t like what they saw, then look away. I stopped living my life for others a long time ago.

  My hair laid several inches past my shoulders, it’s natural color of a dark brown. Depending on the clothes I wore, I could usually keep a low profile. I was no supermodel by any means, but I knew I looked good naked. I just didn’t want to go around flaunting my body at all times. While I loved being the center of attention, it had to be on my terms and when I felt in the mood for it. Dressing modestly and not dolling myself up allowed me to stay hidden for the most part until I wanted to be seen. Dressing up and looking nice was something I only did for myself, not for someone else.

  I brushed my teeth and splashed some water on my face, deciding to forgo the make up. My how times have changed. It was painful to think about my life before, in more ways than one. Sometimes I didn’t even recognize the person looking back at me. So I shoved those memories back down where I kept them. Deep down in the seedy underbelly that is my past.

  Pulling myself out of my trance and forcing a smile on my face I walked up to Stacy. “Alright, dickwad. Let’s get this day over with.”

  Chapter 3

  Adalyn

  “Why the hell did I move out here? I hate this city. It’s too loud and there are too many people. Why is everyone here so rude!? Would it kill someone to say ‘excuse me’ once in a while? Seriously! And now, it’s freaking raining. No, correction, pissing all over us like it’s intentionally navigating away from our umbrella just to smack me in the face.”

  “Would you stop your freaking bitching and just relax for once in your life and quit acting like a prissy twat. If I didn’t love your face so much I’d fucking punch it right now,” Stacy snapped at me.

  I deserved it. We’d been out running errands for only an hour and I hadn’t stopped complaining since the moment we walked out the door. It’s not that I hated the rain, I didn’t care about getting wet, it was having to walk around the city in soaking wet jeans and water filled shoes just to be dragged into high end boutiques where they stared at you like you were a homeless person who wandered in off the street that really bothered me. Freaking judgmental bitches.

  Since I rarely went out anymore and Stacy deemed our girls’ night at the club a “special occasion” she had insisted I find something nice to wear. Based on the dresses she made me try, it became obvious that the dress code was “slutty.” I wasn’t self conscious about my body, but I didn’t want to be drawing attention to myself, either. The goal for tonight was to try to have fun while remaining inconspicuous, not flash my lady bits to every man within a ten-foot radius.

  “I need a break, Stacy. I’m hungry and tired and I need to dry off. Get some caffeine in me and I’ll be in a better mood. Not a good mood, but a better one,” I pleaded, clasping my hands together as if in prayer and giving her my best pouty face. I was not above begging when it came to caffeine.

  “Fine. I need to stop by Carrie’s work first to drop something off to her and then we can head to the sandwich shop and take a break. But then I swear to all things holy, if you do not perk up and cooperate after that, I will seriously cunt punch you.”

  She meant it. She had done it before. I cringed at the memory.

  Grumbling under my breath, I followed her to Carrie’s work. Freaking Carrie. I shouldn’t hold such animosity towards her since I’ve never even really had a full conversation with her. She just rubbed me the wrong way, I couldn’t help it. Okay, I could help it if I really tried but I didn’t want to try.

  Next thing I knew, we were walking up the steps to some huge, fancy ass building. The entire front side of the tall building was made up of windows. They were slightly tinted so you couldn’t see inside very well, but I imagined at night you could see almost everything.

  When we opened the doors and walked in I immediately felt uncomfo
rtable. Everything looked so…clean. Sharp edges, shiny surfaces, ridiculous art sculptures that looked like heaps of metal that had been rescued from the dump. I hated it. I lived my life in color. Warm, bright and creative environments are what I felt most comfortable in. I couldn’t wait to get out of this corporate prison. It’s no wonder Carrie worked here, seeing as how her personality was as cold and rigid as the building.

  Stacy started to walk up to a woman sitting behind a large desk, but when she began to speak, a tall man appearing out of nowhere interrupted her. I turned slightly, pulling my eyes off of the hideous art, only to be faced with the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. Yes, creature, because there was no way the man standing in front of me was an actual human being. Maybe a mirage? I was really hungry. Maybe my blood sugar had dropped so low that I was hallucinating sex gods.

  As I neared where Stacy and the sex god were standing, I realized I wasn’t unconscious and only dreaming about the delicious man candy in front of me. Nope, he was real. I could reach out and touch him if I wanted to. And I really wanted to. But I didn’t. I don’t know how I managed to keep my hands to myself, but I did. Go me!

  He had to be at least 6’3”, maybe taller. Dark hair, a little longer on the top, perfect for running your fingers through. Dark eyes that could weaken the knees of all womankind and intimidate even the most powerful men. Chiseled, sharp features defined a face that, if he were scowling, would make him extremely terrifying, but he was smiling. A small dimple on his left cheek made his gorgeous face look more than adorable.

  I’m pretty sure I died for a couple of minutes. Someone should have checked my pulse, or given me CPR. I’m confident that I stopped breathing. I’d never seen someone so perfect in real life. I literally wiped drool from my chin. Yep. I was drooling. Luckily no one was paying attention to me. How could they? The example of magical, manly perfection that was standing before me had pulled everyone’s attention right to him, and I was pretty sure I wasn’t the only one drooling.

  And yes, you heard me right. Magical. The only way a man could be this stunningly perfect would be from the assistance of some kind of fairy god mother or a higher being.

  Oh shit, I’d been standing there staring for God knows how long. Being caught staring was enough to make me feel embarrassed and vulnerable, especially when I noticed the smirk on his face. I only felt like an idiot for about two seconds though. Any time I felt any sort of ‘weak’ emotion I quickly replaced it with anger and bitchiness, a defense mechanism I had perfected over the years that ended up biting me in the ass every single time, but I was too stubborn to change.

  I forced myself to tear my eyes away from his body, mostly because if I didn’t then I wouldn’t be able to stop trying to picture him naked. His eyes seemed like a safer option. So I looked up at him, right into his soul searching, will power devouring, panty dropping eyes. I was strong, I could resist him. Or at the very least, I was good at pretending.

  That’s right, buddy. I’m immune to your tricks. I know I don’t know him, but I know guys like him. They know exactly how sexy they are and they think they can melt the panties right off of any woman they deem worthy of their charm. And let’s be real, if I wasn’t so messed up, my panties wouldn’t have melted, they would have gone up in flames. Unfortunately for him, my panties were fireproof when it came to his kind. No matter how devastatingly handsome they were.

  Go ahead, slick, give it your best shot. Flash me those pearly whites.

  Right on cue, he flashed me a grin that probably would have most women creaming their pants on the spot, as he held his hand out, expecting me to grab on for a friendly shake. I’m sure he thought that as soon as we touched I would swoon. Probably expected me to sigh dreamily and flutter my eyelashes at him. So despite my raising body temperature, shaky legs and quivering sex, I did what I do best.

  I made everything awkward.

  Chapter 4

  Ian

  “Yeah, I’m not touching that.” It took a second for me to realize the gorgeous woman who had just walked up behind Stacy was actually talking to me. Touch what? Oh, my hand. I lowered my arm back to my side and tilted my head, studying her face and trying to get a read on whether or not she was joking. She wasn’t smiling and her stance was pretty rigid, so if she wasn’t being serious then she had one hell of a poker face. She turned away from me to look at Stacy. “Are we done here yet, Stace?” she asked Stacy impatiently.

  Well… that’s certainly a new reaction. Not every woman I flashed my smile at fainted at my feet, begging to have my babies, but certainly none of them have ever looked at me like I’m insane. Or refused to shake my hand as if they might catch some kind of disease from touching me.

  Her clothes were wet from being out in the spontaneous rain storm we’d just had. Her thin shirt clung to her body, defining the lacy bra she was wearing and giving me a good visual of her hard nipples. Her flat stomach tapered into low rise, tight fitting jeans that hugged her in all the right places. Her long, dark hair was pulled up into a ponytail, showing off her slender neck and her beautiful face. Her hair was still dry, probably the only part of her protected by the umbrella, and it looked amazingly soft. I wondered what it would feel like between my fingers, wrapped around my fist as we kissed.

  “Excuse me,” I spoke up, shaking the naughty fantasy that was progressing in my thoughts before I did something to embarrass myself, like get a hard on in front of the woman standing before me who was, hands down, the most beautiful woman I’d ever met. She whipped her head back towards me and narrowed her eyes.

  “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll wait for you outside, Stacy.” She gave me a once over, but not in an appreciative way. In fact, she was looking at me like she found me to be repulsive.

  What. The. Fuck. Did I slip into some alternate universe where women suddenly hated a man in an expensive tailor made suit and a two-hundred-dollar haircut? Those things didn’t really matter to me, it was just part of my persona, a part I was playing when I had to be in business owner mode. But in my experience, those things were important to women. Well, except for this one apparently.

  “No, I apologize, I wasn’t implying you were interrupting. I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Ian Drake, and you are?” I asked as nicely as I could while being stared down by the she-devil herself.

  She snorted then rolled her eyes again. Had Stacy been talking shit about me or something? Were there rumors circulating about me that I was unaware of? How could someone I’d never met have so much disdain for me.

  “Eh hem.” Stacy cleared her throat and took a step closer to me, making herself somewhat of a physical barrier between me and her friend. “Anyway, Ian this is Adalyn Montgomery. She’s the one I told you about that might be good for that position that’s open at your office. Although, if the past few minutes are any indication, I’m thinking you two are better off staying far away from each other.”

  “Adalyn! She has a name. It’s nice to meet you, Adalyn.” I smiled sweetly at her and held out my hand again. She still didn’t take it. Instead she turned to face Stacy again, her face turning red and her knuckles white from clenching her hands into a hard fist.

  “What the hell, Stacy,” Adalyn growled between clenched teeth. “You didn’t tell me anything about recommending me for a job, and besides, why would you think I’d want to work at a place like this?” She gestured around the room with her hand.

  “It’s a good job, Addy. You should at least hear him out.”

  “No, no way. I’m not working at this...this...this...place. I just won’t do it,” she huffed.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt this private conversation you two are having in public, but what kind of place do you think this is, Adalyn? I may be a little biased seeing as how I own this company, but I can assure you it’s a great place to work. I would love for you to come in one-day next week to discuss the position we are looking to fill. Stacy has assured me you would be a great fit.”

 
; “Screw you,” she spat back at me. I just stood there, blinking at her, jaw dropped, gaping like an idiot. I must have misheard her. Considering how incredibly rude she had been in the five minutes I’d known her, the fact that I was still willing to consider her for the position was pretty generous, I thought. So surely I had heard her wrong.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. Screw you. I’m not desperate enough for a job to work for a cocky, egomaniacal asshole like you. From the past few minutes alone I can already tell that you are arrogant and boring.”

  “Boring?” I didn’t mean to smirk. It was just such an odd accusation. I really didn’t think I was any of those things, but boring was an especially interesting choice of insult in that moment. I wasn’t some cut throat business mogul, working my employees to the bone and treating them like crap. It was actually a really fun, laid back place to work.

  “If your building is any indication, yes. Everything in here is cold and hard. Devoid of any personality what-so-ever. Which I take to mean you expect your employees to fall in line and march to your orders, and that will NEVER be me. I can assure you of that. So why don’t we cut the bull shit and I’ll just lay it out for you. I don’t want the job and I’m not going to buy your act so you’re wasting your time.”

  Feigning injury and covering my heart with my hand, I stumbled backward, pretending as if I’d just taken a hit. “You wound me, Adalyn. And here, I thought we had a connection. I may have to cancel tonight Stacy since I’ll be too busy licking my wounds. Unless, of course, you’d like to lick them for me,” I said to Adalyn with a wink. That earned me an eye roll.

  “No, you’re going to spend all night partying your ass off with me. You had better be there tonight, Ian, or I will personally kick your ass. And you know me, that is not an empty threat,” Stacy chimed in as she smacked me on the arm.