Not So Nice by Emma Lyon
Nathan
Something was going on with me tonight, and I wasn’t sure what.
I couldn’t keep my eyes off Ryan, who was at the buffet table talking with Lorde’s husband, Tristan. It was more than simply finding Ryan attractive. Aside from the new clothes, he was still Ryan, my trusty assistant, the one person I could count on above anyone. He hadn’t changed.
Something sure as hell had, because I wanted him more than I’d wanted anyone in a while. Maybe ever.
I was considering that when Lorde approached again. He was the entire reason I was here, and yet I hadn’t been able to keep my head in the game long enough to devise a strategy. Luckily Lorde was far from subtle.
“You want to tell me why you’re so hell-bent on buying my company?”
I swirled my drink and contemplated him. The fact that he was itching to know was a good sign. If he was completely uninterested in my offer, he wouldn’t feel the need to ask.
“How much longer can you compete against the big boys without some backing? You might have had a hit with your last game, but that only means expectations are high. What if you sink everything you have into your next one and it flops?”
Lorde shrugged. “Games flop sometimes.” Though his expression said, not my games. “Besides, I’ve got offers from half a dozen game publishers who actually know the industry. Why should I go with someone who doesn’t know shit about gaming?”
“Do you really want to give up control to a publisher who will only ever see you as a bottom line? Who will pressure you to release before you’re ready, and then punish you for the bad reviews when your game comes out buggy?”
Lorde snorted. “You’ve done your homework, I’ll give you that.”
I had. “Sure, they’ll promise you money and support and security. And maybe you’ll get all of that, but only if you deliver what they want from you. You just have to ask yourself if that’s what you want.”
I was banking on Lorde caring more about control and reputation than money. He thought too much of his work and his company to let it be ruined by someone else’s agenda.
He considered me. He was still here and listening, which was more than I thought I’d get. “How will you be any different? Don’t tell me you have some burning passion for gaming, because I won’t believe it. You’re a businessman who cares about the bottom line, just like them. What are you offering that would make me sell you my company?”
“Freedom,” I said immediately. “To run it the way you want, with your own release schedule, developing the games you want. In return I get to leverage the assets you develop for other purposes. You can’t be blind to the possibilities, but I understand not wanting to divert your attention from your real passion. Let me do that, and we’ll both profit.”
I thought it was rather an effective line on which to close the deal, but Lorde just shifted and looked out over the room at his husband, who was still talking to Ryan. “When I saw your name come up in the registration, I told Tristan you were only here to try to get me to sell. Is that why? Did you decide to drag your boyfriend along to try to make a better impression?”
At least he was buying Ryan as my boyfriend, though his words made me squirm. I was the one who’d brought Ryan into this, but I had an instinctive need to keep him out of Lorde’s radar now. “I brought him with me because I thought he’d enjoy it.”
Lorde shook his head as he turned back to me. “I won’t lie, I still think you’re a slippery snake, Graham. But I’ll think about what you said and get back to you.”
That was probably the best I was going to get from him this weekend. The tension in my shoulders eased. “That’s all I ask.”
Lorde nodded, then glanced over again as Ryan and Tristan approached. “I’m ready to go when you are,” Tristan said to his husband. “Ryan, it was great to meet you. Good luck with, you know.” For some reason he gave me a glance as he said it. I wondered what they’d been talking about.
“It was great meeting you too.”
We said our various goodbyes and they left. It was just Ryan and me. “I was thinking of getting some fresh air. Want to join me?”
“Sure,” Ryan said.
There was a terrace off the dining area where a few tables had been set up, but it was warm and sticky enough outside that they were empty. I leaned against the glass railing. The fresh air felt good, and now that the evening’s work was done, I allowed myself to feel a measure of satisfaction. “Did you enjoy tonight?”
“Yes, actually.” Ryan came up to stand at the railing next to me and looked out over the dark expanse of trees. The view of the campus grounds was similar to the one from our suite. It was a beautiful one, though it wasn’t the view I was looking at.
Had I really never noticed him before now? No, of course I had—I’d known from the first time he walked into my office for his interview, the way my blood rushed through my veins and I’d been suddenly very interested in interviewing Lindsey’s nephew for the job. And then I’d put all those reactions and stray thoughts away when it became clear he might actually stick as my PA.
Men, I could have. Available men were all around me. But someone who’d had a year and a half of working for me to learn who I really was, and was still here? Was I really willing to jeopardize that?
“How did it go with Lorde?”
Ryan’s question broke into my thoughts. “Extremely well.” I let myself feel self-satisfied again. “He seems more open to my offer, anyway. Thanks in no small part to you.”
Ryan shrugged. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You were an excellent pretend boyfriend.” I glanced at him. “You seemed to be getting along with Tristan.” I was still wondering about that parting remark.
“He was interesting.” If Ryan heard the question in my voice, he didn’t let on. “Had some good tips too.”
I could ask, of course. If I was willing to know the answer.
I didn’t know if it was the moonlight, or my success with Lorde, or the way Ryan’s eyes sparkled under the decorative lights of the terrace, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. And while I knew this was a bad idea for all the reasons I’d been telling myself the last eighteen months, right then I didn’t want to hear it.
I leaned in, my gaze falling on his full lips, which parted as if he’d realized what I was going to do right before I kissed him.
For a terrifying second I was afraid he might push me away. Then he tilted his head to bring our mouths together in a blazing kiss.
If I’d wanted him before, it was nothing compared to how I felt actually tasting him. Lost in his mouth, it was all I could do to stay standing. It was a good thing I had the terrace railing at my back keeping me upright, because otherwise the pressure of his tongue tangling with mine would have cut me to my knees.
His mouth wasn’t enough. I wanted to touch him everywhere. I ran my hand down the lean muscles of his back through the soft, fitted cloth of his shirt until I reached the curve of his ass. He made a sound against my lips when I pulled him flush against me. Fuck, he was as hard as I was. I couldn’t resist shifting until our cocks nestled together, kept apart only by the layers of our too-constricting pants.
Then with a gasp he put a hand on my chest and pushed me back. I stared at his red lips, swollen from mine. He stared back at me with a wild look in his eyes.
“You—”
I didn’t know what he was going to say, because he turned before I could stop him, my brain too lust-addled to understand what was happening until his hand was on the sliding glass door handle and he’d disappeared inside.
Fuck.
I put my hand to my jaw as if I’d been punched.
I’d kissed him and then he’d run. Eighteen months of keeping my hands to myself shattered in one moment of moonlight and weakness.
And all I wanted to do was kiss him again.