Read Online Beneath the Surface by Gracie C. McKeever - Free Book Online

Secret’s hottest paragons. It held her in good stead with Eric, obviously.
    Tabitha looked at them standing close and thought how perfect they looked together. She almost laughed out loud at the cliché, but didn’t want to be rude, so instead cleared her throat to catch Eric and Ms. Secret’s attention.
    “EJ, why didn’t you tell me you had company?”
    Eric turned to her then, smile as boyish and innocent as if he hadn’t just had his fingers in her snatch five minutes ago.
    “It’s not a problem. I was just leaving.”
    “You were?” Eric arched a brow.
    Tabitha nodded as she approached the coat rack to retrieve her trench. She draped it over her folded arms rather than put it on, sure her temperature wouldn’t be dropping any time soon, not even once she got outside into the early fall air. “I got what I needed for now. I’ll call you to get more details before I start shopping for any items.” She swallowed, looked at the way Ms. Secret stood next to Eric, her posture plainly indicating ancient history, current intimacy. Possessiveness.

    35
    Gracie C. McKeever
    Jesus, why doesn’t she just raise up a leg and piss on him!
    Tabitha didn’t know why she was so upset. So what, Ms. Secret was obviously one of the aforementioned notches, and from the looks of it, held a special place in Eric Vega’s bedpost notches’ Hall of Fame. She’d been proven right about him, just hadn’t expected to be smacked upside the head with the evidence of his Casanova ways so soon.
    She turned to Ms. Secret, politely smiled and proffered a hand.
    “Oh, you’re right. Pardon my bad manners,” Eric said. “Tabitha Lyons, this is Jade Aliberti, a friendly rival from my Mad Ave days. Jade, Tabitha’s the personal shopper I was telling you about.”
    Telling her about? He’d spoken with Ms. Secret about her?
    Jade put her hand into Tabitha’s, nipping in the bud Tabitha’s paranoid moment as she gave it a bone-crunching squeeze.
    A warning, or just plain, old-boy-network assertiveness?
    Tabitha squeezed back. “Nice to meet you,” she said and watched Jade bare her teeth in a Hollywood-perfect facsimile of a smile.
    “Same here,” Jade said.
    Tabitha turned and headed for the door, stopped with her hand on the knob when Eric called her name and sauntered behind her.
    “You’ll call when you’re ready to do this?”
    She frowned, silent for so long Eric chuckled at her obvious confusion.
    “The shopping. You know, credit card and all that jazz.”
    “Oh, of course. I couldn’t start anything without you.”
    “I’m glad you said that, because I think I’d like to accompany you, on that first spree at least, see if our tastes mesh.”
    “I’m sure they don’t.”
    “Well we’ll just have to find that out now, won’t we?”
    Tabitha turned the knob, opened the door and stepped out into the corridor. “I’ll call you, and we’ll set something up.”

    * * * *
“So, that was your personal shopper, huh?”
    “One in the same.”
    “She seems like a nice person.”
    EJ grinned, thought about how nice Tabitha’s pussy felt in his hands, how tight and wet she’d been. “Nice” was not the best word to describe Ms. Lyons. Naughty.
    Succulent. Ready. He’d take his pick. “She is,” he agreed rather than go into any more detail.

    36
    Beneath the Surface
    “Well, as long as she gets the job done.”
    EJ expected her to do nothing less, knew a workaholic when he met one and couldn’t wait to change her all-work-and-no-play ways. “I’ll know soon enough.”
    “Speaking of getting the job done, I know a publicist who would be perfect for you.”
    “Jade, we already talked about this.”
    “I know, and I still think you’re making a big mistake by handling the publicity yourself.”
    EJ frowned. “I’m not that long out of the business. I know how to work the system.”
    “But why should you waste your energies doing that when you can leave the legwork to a professional? No