Miami Hot: #1 (Miami Heat Series) Read online

  “Is all this really necessary?” Conrad asked.

  “How much do you want this thing with Moira?” Lucas asked him. At Conrad’s expression, Lucas went on, “Okay, that’s what I thought.”

  “Well, I better get going. Let me know when it’s done.” Conrad stood and left the suite. He took the elevator going down and almost bumped into Sam who was trying to get into the one he had just vacated.

  “I would have thought you would have bribed the doctor to extend Moira’s days at home,” Conrad said to him by way of greeting.

  “She told you she was coming back?”

  “Yes, she did. She wanted to make sure I didn’t escort her off the premises.”

  “Yeah, she mentioned you threatened her. And actually I would have tried bribing the doctor if Moira hadn’t wrapped him around her tiny little finger,” Sam sighed. “How was I going to compete with his sweet tooth?”

  They both laughed and another elevator opened again to reveal Lucas. “That seems to be her form of bribe. Since she started making sugar free desserts that taste almost like the real thing, my dad thinks she walks on water.”

  “I saw that when he stopped by on Tuesday,” Sam said.

  Both Conrad and Lucas were shocked. “He did?” they asked in unison.

  “Yes. Spent about half the day with her. They were playing cards and I think I heard him offering to take her gambling so she could improve her poker face.”

  “Yeah, he is a regular at the casinos and racetracks,” Lucas laughed. “The man knows how to move fast.”

  Conrad gave him a look, “Let me see if I can talk some sense into him.”

  “You don’t have to. Moira has been there before. She was just humoring an old man,” Sam said as he laughed at their expressions.

  Lucas laughed and clapped Sam on the back. “Well fuck. Maybe she does have the poker face after all.”

  “I’m not sure I can look my dad in the eye after this. I’ll probably give it away if he mentions it,” Conrad chuckled. His phone rang and when he looked at the caller ID he quickly made his goodbyes and left. “Hi baby.”

  “Hi, are you still at your penthouse?”

  “No, I slept at the hotel.”

  Silence.

  “With Lucas.”

  Silence.

  “Fuck! Not in the same bed. I’m not explaining myself well. How about I start over?”

  “You don’t have to explain anything to me. It’s not like you and me…”

  The valet brought his car around and Conrad got in. He raced out of the parking lot as if the hounds were after him. “Yes, I have to. I fumbled and you misunderstood what I was saying. I will be there in a few, can we talk then?” Oh God, was this what a relationship entailed? He never had to explain his comings and goings before.

  “No need, it’s probably best we stick to business. I’ll come to your office at 8:30am.” Then she clicked the phone off. Moira threw the phone beside her then continued mixing the flour and sugar. Why would a man sleep at a hotel when he had a penthouse that close by? Moira could only come to one conclusion. A woman. Which he had tried to cover up by bringing Lucas into the mix.

  It was barely six and a few people had started arriving. It was nice seeing her co-workers again. Everyone stopped by and said hi before they all went to their own station to start preparing for the breakfast of the day.

  By eight her whole gang was in and everything just fell back to normal. They worked like a well oiled machine until it was time for Moira to go and meet Conrad. She was suddenly nervous wondering if he would turn her away. Maybe he already had a meeting scheduled for the same time. She hadn’t thought of that before. Either way, she would go and if the least she did was see her friend Janet, that would be good enough. She took a few of Janet’s favorite breakfast items and packed them to go.

  When she arrived she was glad to see that at least one person was glad to see her. Janet fussed over her as if she was still sick. Moira almost thought that had there been a bed close by, Janet would have laid her down and fluffed up the pillows. After a couple of minutes she ushered her inside and she found Conrad pacing his office.

  Moira heard the door click and realized he had locked the door. She could never get over the remote locking of doors. She took a deep breath and walked over to the sofa’s, giving him a wide berth as she made her way. “Good Morning sir,” she said before she reached the sitting area.

  Before she could sit down, Conrad was beside her and had pulled her into his arms. And as she made to push him away and tell him off, he slammed his lips against hers. Moira felt his frustration in the kiss and she returned the kiss with all the anger she had inside her. When they both came up for air, they held each other close together, then bumped foreheads.”Why are you so stubborn?”

  “I…”

  “No, that was a rhetorical question,” he said then took her lips once more, this time with all the tenderness that had been lacking in the last kiss. Moira moaned and opened for him. And when her legs gave out, he carried her and placed her in his lap and continued kissing her. She whimpered when he kneaded her breast. The ringing of the phone finally broke them apart. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll just return the call later,” he said as he moved his hand to the other breast.

  “It’s probably best we stop anyway. I can’t stay long,” she told him.

  “Okay, but let me explain about earlier. I know we haven’t talked yet, but I am hoping we will soon. Today or tomorrow. It’s up to you.”

  “I can’t. Sam is watching me like a hawk. He wants me home by 1pm at the latest. Apparently he is still following the docs orders to the letter,” she complained.

  “Can’t fault him for that,” Conrad said as he laughed.

  “But I think he is working this weekend, so I could meet you on Saturday. I’ll have to confirm and let you know,” she said as she tried to get up.

  “Stay in my arms. I just need to hold you for a little while longer.” He brushed his thumb across a nipple and she shivered. “Very responsive,” he said and kissed her forehead. “So about this morning. I slept at the hotel because Lucas and I drank a whole bottle of scotch last night. I was yearning for you and Lucas was just being a helpful friend.”

  Moira snorted.

  Conrad chuckled. “That’s what friends are for. Anyway, he keeps a suite at the hotel in cases such as the one last night. We were both drunk so just made our way to his suite. I have a bedroom there where I keep extra clothes. And I promise, it had nothing to do with some woman, real or imagined. None of us have even brought women to that suite. It’s kind of our hideout, so we made a pact never to bring women there.”

  “Okay.”

  “And just to put your mind at ease, I intend being exclusive with you. And I expect the same from you. That also means no Freddie, unless I am there to supervise.” He took her lips again in a fast and hot kiss. “Understood?”

  “I can’t think,” she complained.

  “Try being me for the past few days,” he chuckled. He straightened and looked down at her. “A simple ‘yes’ is the only possible answer here.”

  “Yes. Now I need to get up. I have a business proposition for you and I can’t do it sitting on your lap.”

  “If you must,” Conrad said and let her go.

  Moira straightened her clothes then went to sit on the other end of the sofa. “So Valentine’s Day is coming up,” Moira started.

  Conrad groaned.

  “You are such a man. Anyway, you have more females at your company than males, so speaking on behalf of all those females, I was thinking of making Valentine themed desserts on that day and serving them to each department. Individually wrapped. And of course King International would need to pick up the tab.”

  Conrad guffawed. “And how much is this going to cost me? Don’t think I haven’t forgotten about the other trick you played me.”

  “Well not you personally, the company. Besides that other issue is so in the past. That was personal. T
his is business.”

  “It’s a nice gesture, except that you are costing me. And you don’ even have a price point to start with. Besides we have never done something like that here. Well, not to my knowledge, anyway,” he replied.

  “So I guess it’s time for a change. Things like this are what boost morale. Can you seriously tell me that dessert tab you picked up didn’t change a few people’s perceptions or change a few things around? To this day people are still commenting about it in the cafeteria, and I am guessing some are even asking you for a repeat performance. True or false?”

  Conrad sighed. “True.”

  Moira smiled, “So I rest my case. So it’s a go them?”

  “I think my brain is fried. Yes, it’s a go. I can’t believe I am agreeing to this crap,” Conrad groaned.

  “Yeah! Since this is the first time we are trying something like this, I am guessing I have an unlimited budget, right?” Moira was jumping up and down like a little kid. She couldn’t believe this was happening.

  “Wrong. My brain may be fried, but there is no way I would give you an unlimited budget. A couple of thousand dollars at the most.”

  “Oh come one. Don’t be a tightwad. You need to think higher. I’ll put a preliminary budget together then let you know later today.” She moved closer to him, gave him a smacking kiss then picked up his remote and opened the door and slipped out.

  “Fuck,” Conrad said and groaned. “How am I going to explain that little budget item. Not that anybody would dare ask. John maybe. Well maybe if she stuck to a couple thousand, it could end up being petty cash.”

  Since his head was still reeling with all things Valentines he left the office to go and meet Lucas’ florist. She had called and said he could stop by anytime. When he got there he was surprised to see the amount of activity going on in the store. Apparently the delivery of flowers was starting as early as Monday. Some people preferred gift baskets and every hand in the flower shop seemed to be putting a different gift basket together. Now he was confused on whether to do flowers or a gift basket. He ended up sticking to the flowers after he realized there were too many options of the gift baskets. By the time he was done in choosing the flowers he wanted, he realized the bouquet would most likely be huge, but he didn’t care. He wrote a personal message, paid then left.

  By the time he got back to his office, he realized Janet had joined the Valentines fever, so he closed his door and requested no interruptions. What a wuss he thought to himself. He was still playing at sequestering himself in his office the next morning when his dad dropped by. He found him behind his desk starring at the live feeds he had been looking at. Fuck he thought to himself.

  “Spying on the employees, Conrad? Or on just the little pastry chef?”

  Busted.

  “Dad, it’s not what you think,” he started.

  “Doesn’t matter what I think. It’s what you are going to do about her that matters,” his dad replied.

  “What do you mean?” he asked puzzled.

  “Son, your mother never cheated on me, which means I don’t doubt your paternity. But it’s times like these that I doubt you are mine. Look at her? She is a beauty. Are you going to wait until some fool gobbles her up? Look at that Myers fellow? I can see he wants into her pants.”

  “Dad, I know. But she claims he is just a friend.”

  “Today, her friend. Tomorrow, her friend with benefits. And the next day, her boyfriend then fiance, then husband. Get my meaning, son?”

  Conrad groaned. “Yes, but how do you know anything about being a friend with benefits?”

  Williams chuckled. “Well a few ladies have propositioned me lately.”

  “Okay. I think that’s too much information even for me. But just so you know, I wouldn’t fault you if you took the offers. Just don’t get anyone pregnant. I am not looking for a brother or sister at my age.”

  His dad laughed. “No, I’ll leave that to you. I need grandkids, then I can go on full time retirement.”

  “Then I guess that won’t be for a long, long time. A very long, long time, dad. Being a bachelor suits me just fine. Marriage or being a father isn’t in the near future.”

  William made his way to the coffeemaker and poured himself a cup of coffee. “I’m glad your mother isn’t here to hear you say that. You know she always wanted to hold your children.”

  “I know dad,” Conrad couldn’t help smiling at his mother’s memories. “It’s just not in the cards, at least for now.”

  “Well back to the original question. What are your intentions with Moira?” his dad hammered him again.

  “It’s tough going for now, but we are almost there. She has been ill, as you very well know. As much as I wanted to press my advantage while she was weak, I didn’t want the drugs to make the decision for her.”

  “Aha.”

  Time to deflect. “I hear you went to visit her. She must have enjoyed your visit.”

  “Trying to change the subject son? Like father like son. When I met your mother, I resisted, just like you are doing. It’s going to be fun to see you fall, son.” He cackled then left.

  Conrad was still puzzling on the last few statements from his dad, when he saw him appear in the cafeteria. He greeted a few people as he beelined for Moira. When she noticed him, her smile was radiant. He saw her put a tray together and they both walked to one of the booths. They seemed to have all the time in the world as they drank their coffees and ate the little items she had artfully displayed in their plates.

  Conrad was no stranger to the way his dad could charm the pants of someone, and Moira was no exception. Except that this time it seemed like a reciprocal relationship. After a while he realized they were having a disagreement. The company had invested in new cameras to monitor common areas, and unfortunately the live feed was just video and no audio. He wished they had added audio like they had done with the conference rooms. Unfortunately the café and hallways had been thought to be a little too much to have audio. Made sense with the number of conversations that would be going on at any given point in time. And besides, people still needed their privacy. The video was for security reasons, yet Conrad was abusing it for his own personal gain.

  When his cell rang, he saw his dad’s name come up on the screen. He wondered what the argument had to do with as he answered.

  He heard Moira in the background…”I’m telling you this as a friend, not as…”

  “I know, Moira. I just happen to be able to do something about it,” he told her. “Conrad. You there?”

  “Yes, dad.”

  “What’s this I hear about you putting restrictions on Moira’s Valentine suggestion?”

  He chuckled when he heard Moira groan in the background.

  “It’s a frivolous idea. She is lucky I even agreed to entertain the idea.”

  “Nonsense, give her what she needs. Valentine is a time for lovers, especially the young ones like you. Maybe you will learn a thing or two about it this year.”

  Conrad heard another groan coming through the call. He chuckled again.

  “Okay dad. Whatever you say.” At least now he could blame his dad for the astronomical bill when it came. Conrad signed off and saw the huge smile that came on her face. Clearly his dad was her hero. She stood and kissed his cheek. Conrad would swear for the next century if he ever lived that long that he saw his dad blush. Yeah, the old man did blush.

  Moira went to the kitchen then came back carrying two cake boxes which she handed over to his dad. He took them and after what looked like a thank you, he left. Conrad watched her the rest of the morning, and when he saw her leave at noon, he switched off the live feed.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Moira was nervous Saturday morning as she prepared to go and see Conrad. He had invited her over for breakfast. At first she had thought a public place would have been ideal, but him being a Miami playboy, they would have been easily noticed and the next thing she would be in the papers. So that was scratched out. Her a
partment would have been ideal except that she feared Sam could pop in anytime. So that left his penthouse apartment. When he had texted her the address she had googled the place and almost dropped out of her chair. It was a place that catered to the rich and famous, the celebrities and the who is who type of people. This didn’t look good except that her friend Sere’s voice kept reminding her that it was reverse snobbing (was that even a word?) to avoid the rich because of what they had, just like some people avoid the poor because of what they don’t have.

  Sere was good at this guilt psychology thing. And so because of her she stuck to her guns and made her way to his place. She left early and drove slowly, admiring some of the hotels and high rise apartments. Although she had lived in Miami all her life, some buildings seemed to be new to her, but then, sometimes others got grazed and new ones popped up. Life in Miami was always changing and interesting.

  She followed her GPS directions and had the valet park her car as Conrad had directed. Apparently he had a few garage spaces, one of which her car was being parked in. Moira got the vibe that her arrival had been expected, and as soon as she got to the concierge desk and gave her name, she was ushered to an express elevator which deposited her on the penthouse floor. She found Conrad waiting for her by the elevator door.

  “You are here,” he said as he stole a kiss from her.

  If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he had been tense. He linked their fingers and pulled her inside his apartment. He closed the door and pulled her against it.

  “You look great,” he said as he leaned into her.

  Moira didn’t finish saying, “Thank you,” before he swooped down and kissed her hungrily. He was like a man about to die. He took, and took and took from her. When Moira moaned, this seemed to just inflame him and he moved even closer until their bodies were flush and there was no mistaking his arousal. He moved deeper into her mouth and his tongue danced with hers. Moira could’t take it anymore, the burning need in her was getting to be too much. She needed him to quench the burning fire.