A Million Guilty Pleasures (Million Dollar Duet 2)

I was not gullible. But then again, neither was David Stone.

Monday morning came quicker than I thought it would. I was nervous, hoping like hell the plan we had concocted would be a success and not somehow backfire in our faces. Either way, by the time the day was through, the fool would definitely be determined.

And to the victor would go the spoils.

Win or lose, the whole masquerade would finally be over, and Lanie and I could live our lives without the fear of someone finding out about the secret we’d been keeping.

When Lanie had arrived home with the original contract in hand, we’d immediately taken it, along with her copy and my shredded version, and burned them in the same trash can she had used to torch the lingerie. Watching the proof of our arrangement disintegrate into ash was like a weight being lifted off our shoulders. Both of our bodies seemed to relax at the same time once the fire burned out, proof of how much stress it had taken on us physically in addition to the mental and emotional turmoil. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We had given ourselves a new beginning and we weren’t going to take it for granted. Of course, there was still the issue of the copy David had sent by fax.

Dez had been only too happy to show me the prized video from their excursion. I hadn’t known Scott was in the drug biz, but I wasn’t surprised by the fact, either. What I was surprised by was David’s involvement in the whole kit and caboodle. I’d never had an inkling, but then again, it was one of our investors who had turned me on to the auction. I supposed it made sense that David had introduced him to it in the first place. Still, David had been successful at keeping me in the dark. I was sure it had been a very lucrative business for him. Too bad he’d gotten sloppy.

And he was going to get sloppier still by attempting to expose to the board what Lanie and I had done. Talk about your double standards. Luckily for him, I was going for the mercy kill before it even got that far. He could thank the ghosts of my mother and father. They wouldn’t want me to embarrass their friend and partner, David’s father, Harrison.

And so there I was on Monday morning, moments away from the board meeting, and Lanie and I were riding my personal elevator up to my office. She had insisted on accompanying me for moral support and all that jazz, and truthfully, I was glad she was there. If, for whatever reason, shit backfired on us, we needed to be able to form a united front—or get the hell out of town in a hurry. I’d heard Alaska was really nice in the spring.

Lanie put her arms around my waist. “Nervous?”

I shrugged nonchalantly. “Nah, just another day at the office as far as I’m concerned. I’m really hoping the board approves of my newest charitable campaign, though.”

Lanie turned me around and looked up at me. “I’m sure they will. You worked really hard on the presentation all weekend. That can’t be all for nothing, right?”

She smiled, and the reassurance I saw in her eyes set my mind at ease. When she looked at me like that, it gave me a renewed confidence that couldn’t be shaken. It was me and her against the world, and by God, I believed we had a damn good fighting chance.

The bell on the elevator dinged and the doors opened to show the hustle and bustle of the office before us. Employees were always on high alert when it came to board meeting days and tried to look even busier than normal. Everyone was decked out in their most professional attire, their expressions all business. A few looked up and gave me and Lanie a small smile in greeting and then went right back to work.

I let out a breath to steel my nerves. Lanie’s left hand came to rest in the crook of my arm and I looked down at it, feeling like an ass because her ring finger was bare even though we were engaged. I’d have to fix that ASAP. She was still sporting the Crawford cuff bracelet I’d given her, but it wasn’t enough. Marking her as my property back when she actually was, at least contractually, was one thing; symbolizing that she belonged to me by her own choice was something else entirely.

We stepped from the elevator and I escorted her to my office, where she would wait. Board meetings were always closed to the public, so she wouldn’t be able to sit in. Plus there was no way I was going to have her anywhere near Stone. She was cool with waiting in the wings because Polly would be there to keep her company. As my assistant, Mason would be in attendance at the meeting, and he would have his phone dialed into Polly’s so that she and Lanie could secretly overhear the entire meeting from my office.

“Everything in place?” I asked Mason when we walked inside.

I sat Lanie in the chair behind my desk, and Polly took the one on the opposite side. Like they were planning some undercover sting operation, Mason called Polly’s phone and ran a check to make sure everything was a go.

“Yep. You ready, man?” Mason asked me.

I nodded and looked down at Lanie. “Here goes nothing. Can I get a kiss for luck?”

She rose to stand on the tips of her toes and tugged at the lapel on my suit jacket to pull me to her. Her lips found mine and she wrapped her arms around my neck. That kiss was chock full of words that didn’t need to be spoken. When she pulled back, she pressed her forehead to mine and looked me in the eye with certainty. “You don’t need luck,” she told me, “but I’ll take any opportunity I can to taste your lips”—as if she didn’t have free access to them anytime she got a hankering.

“We’re meant to be together,” she continued. “So I have no doubt in my mind that everything will fall into place. Besides, you’re Noah P. Crawford, and that name screams success.”

“God, I love you,” I told her, and I fucking meant it.

She smiled, triumphant. “I know, and I love you, too.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Mason lean over and kiss the top of Polly’s head. “Let’s go, man. Don’t want Stone to get suspicious.”

“Knock ’em dead!” Polly said with an encouraging smile. Our own personal cheerleader.

I kissed the tip of Lanie’s nose and turned her loose so I could grab my briefcase. With a wink, I walked out of my office, Mason close behind.

Part of our master plan was to have Mason call Mandy Peters, David’s secretary, to inform her that the meeting had been rescheduled for an hour earlier than originally planned. He’d done that this morning. David would have to rush around like a madman to get ready, but he’d do it, of course, because this was his big chance to bring me down. What he didn’t know, however, was that the earlier meeting wouldn’t include any of the actual Scarlet Lotus board members.