Rose (Corked and Tapped Book 6) Read online

  Rose

  Corked and Tapped, Book Six

  Becca Jameson

  Copyright © 2019 by Becca Jameson

  Cover Artist: Julio Desir, Jr.

  Editor: Christa Soule

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. And resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  About the Book

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Author’s Note

  Also by Becca Jameson

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  I have to thank my amazing, wonderful, fabulous beta reader most extraordinaire, Susan Whitney, for all her help reading these fun novellas and helping me every step of the way!

  I also want to thank my editor, Christa, for plotting with me on every one! She rocks!

  And my daughter, Rebecca, who read each one over her summer break!

  About the Book

  “Please let me kiss you right this second. I’ll explain later.” Those were the first words he spoke to her, and then he made good on them and melted her heart. But she wasn’t the sort of girl who did one-night stands, and he would surely break her heart in the morning. On the flip side, nothing like this ever happened to her…

  Corked and Tapped: Because the best stories never start with someone eating a salad.

  Prologue

  Rose stared at herself in the mirror and winced for the millionth time.

  “You look amazing. Stop overthinking this. We’re going to have a fantastic night.” Ivy beamed from next to her.

  “That’s easy for you to say. You’re dressed as Cleopatra. I look like I’m about to kill someone.”

  Ivy giggled. “Or suck them dry.”

  Rose groaned. “Seriously. A vampire? A sexy one at that. What was Maddie thinking when she assigned this to me?”

  “Maddie was thinking you would look hot, and she was right.” Ivy reached over and grabbed the sides of Rose’s red and black bustier and gave it a slight tug up and to the right. “There. Perfect. The girls are covered.”

  “Covered,” Rose yelled. “You call this covered? The only things not showing are my nipples.”

  Ivy rolled her eyes. “No one can see your nipples. And the slit up the side of that skirt is going to make men drool.”

  “It ought to; it reaches so high, people are going to see my thong. I don’t even wear thongs. I can’t believe you convinced me to buy this thing.”

  “Everyone needs to own at least one black thong. Sometimes you need it so no one can see your panty lines.”

  “Does everyone need that thong to be black and lacy?” Rose grumbled.

  Ignoring her complaints, Ivy rounded behind her and continued arranging her thick black hair in long curls that gathered at the top and hung down her back. “I’m sure Maddie was thinking about your fucking awesome hair when she assigned you to the vampire costume.”

  “And who do you suppose she assigned to match me up with?” She shuddered. She’d been worried about this for weeks. Not that there would be any pressure on her to hook up with someone just because they had on matching costumes, but still… The object of the party was for everyone in at Jacoby Advertising to mingle and get to know one another better.

  It was a brilliant idea really, except Rose wasn’t the most outgoing person, so the thought of making small talk with a stranger in a matching vampire costume had her hands sweating. Plus, since drinking wasn’t really her thing, the fact that the party was at a local bar called Corked and Tapped didn’t make her all warm and fuzzy either.

  Worse than bars and drinking was chatting with drunk people in bars.

  She sighed.

  Ivy ignored her. “There. Hair is done. You look smoking hot. Stop worrying. Maybe Maddie didn’t even hook you up with a guy. Maybe she had three random women dress as vampires to get to know one another and make friends.”

  “As long as she didn’t hook me up with my company stalker.” Rose shuddered.

  “Not a chance. Maddie would never do that.”

  “Maddie can’t possibly know who’s been leaving me flowers.”

  “Yeah, but she’s a good judge of character. Whoever it is, maybe you can throw him off his game by hitting on the man you’re matched with.”

  Rose shot her a look. “You just said yourself it might not be a man.”

  Ivy shrugged. “Then hit on the woman. Who cares? And, for the record, I hardly consider receiving a rose every few days stalking. I think it’s kinda cute that you have a secret admirer. Maybe he’s a romantic. I wish I had someone leaving me flowers once in a while. I wouldn’t even care if he never introduced himself. The mystery itself is intriguing. Every man I go out with spends the evening staring at my chest. It’s so annoying, I’m about to give up. At least the roses are a nice gesture.”

  Rose blew out a long breath. Ivy was right. To a certain extent, it did feel good every time the florist delivered her a rose. Red. Just one. No message. It surely wasn’t a coincidence that her name was Rose. But who the hell was sending them? Maybe Rose was worrying too much. Maybe he was a secret admirer. Or maybe he was some guy who wanted to grab her in the parking lot and bury her in a hole. She shook the thought away. Tonight was for forcing herself to have fun, not worrying about her secret admirer.

  She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, shrugged off her fears, and, instead, pictured the man she saw every morning in the lobby. She had no idea what department he worked in or even if he worked for Jacoby Advertising at all, but he was gorgeous and way out of her league. She liked to pretend he sent her the roses. Ridiculous, of course, but she still did it.

  She didn’t even know his name. She only knew he dressed fantastically, was about six feet tall, had amazing dark hair, tanned skin, and was built. She’d never once got close enough to meet his gaze, so she could only imagine his eye color.

  Oh, and the guy obviously had a girlfriend too because he was always waiting for someone. Sometimes she even noticed his face light up out of her peripheral vision, so she assumed his girlfriend had arrived, but Rose never let herself stare or look around. She preferred to pretend he was waiting for her. What a laugh.

  “Let’s go,” Ivy said, pulling Rose out of her fantasy as she grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the front door.

  She was grateful to Ivy for coming over to her apartment to get ready together. At least it kept her mind occupied. If Ivy hadn’t been there, Rose probably would have chickened out and stayed home.

  Chapter 1

  Jacoby Advertising had rented out the entire back room of Corked and Tapped for the party, a fact that calmed Rose’s nerves somewhat. At least everyone in the room worked for the same company, even though she didn’t know very many of them. The advertising firm was large and occupied several floors in the same building.

  Ivy had found her Julius Caesar about half an hour ago. Rose had yet to see anyone in a vampire costume, man or woman. So, she stood at one of the high-top tables, elbows propped on the surface, hoping to God the person who kept sending her roses didn’t approach before Mr. or Mrs. Vampire arrived.

  Even though she’d promised herself she’d try to have
fun, she couldn’t help ruminating about the mysterious roses. She’d even called the florist, trying to figure out who ordered them, but they insisted they couldn’t give out that information.

  So, she’d been stuck with no information and a growing collection of roses. For some ridiculous reason, she hadn’t thrown any of them away yet.

  Shaking thoughts of her silent secret admirer out of her head yet again, she focused on her costume. It was keeping her nerves on edge. Besides worrying about her boobs popping out and her exposed thigh every time she took a step, the high collar standing up along her neck was itchy.

  Secretly, however, she had to admit she did look hot. Long, thin, black, lace sleeves covered her arms. She had on an obnoxious black swirly necklace with matching dangling earrings. Her skin was naturally pale, so she fit in nicely as a vampire. And the sexiest part of all was the four-inch bloodred heels that matched both the red in the bodice and her lipstick.

  Whether or not she ended up meeting someone new tonight, she felt pretty good about herself. She had stepped out of her comfort zone and was in a public location dressed to kill.

  Suddenly, she saw a vampire coming toward her, and she gasped. Oh my God. It was him. The hot guy from the lobby. His face lit up and he smiled broadly as he approached with purpose. She held her breath as her gaze trailed up his body. He was wearing black loafers, black pants, and a black velvet jacket with red highlights at the cuffs and the high collar. The buttoned shirt he had on under the jacket was starched white. His thick hair was slicked back and drips of blood were painted on his chin as if they dripped from his mouth.

  She swallowed. He looked stunning. Surely all eyes in the room turned toward him, but she couldn’t confirm that because she didn’t take her gaze off of his. And he most definitely had his eyes pinned on hers.

  The second he was in her space, he slid his hand up her back and cupped her neck, pulling her close. His lips landed on her ear, his other hand possessively on her waist just beneath her breast. “I need to beg a favor, gorgeous. Please let me kiss you right this second. I’ll explain later,” he whispered so close to her ear, she shivered.

  She hadn’t taken a breath since she first spotted him, and all she could do was nod.

  He slid his lips around to hers, angled her face with his large hand, and kissed her deeply. He didn’t mess around either. He slipped his tongue between hers and devoured her as if she were the most important person in his world and he had missed her dearly for however long it had been since they had last seen each other.

  No man had ever kissed her like that. Her body came fully alive in a way she’d never experienced. She leaned into him, curling her fingers into his waist, totally lost in the kiss of a lifetime.

  By the time he finally broke free, she was gasping for air, her face devoid of blood, her lips swollen. Hell, her breasts and private parts were also swollen.

  “Jesus,” he murmured against her lips, his forehead touching hers. “I might not have actually lied to the girl from the mail room when I told her I had a girlfriend, because after that kiss, I’m thinking it was only a premature fib.”

  She could do nothing but stare at him, blinking, as he took her hand and pressed it against his chest. His own fingers seemed to be trembling a bit.

  “All I need is your name, and it will be official.”

  She still couldn’t come up with verbs and nouns. Her name? She had no idea what it was.

  He gave her a stunning smile, still leaving not a breath of space between them. “I’m Dylan. I work on the fifth floor in accounting.” His eyes. They were the only thing she hadn’t seen before, and now she fell into their brown depths.

  Dylan. Awesome name. Hot guy. Kissed like a prince. Was she daydreaming and really she was still standing at that bar table waiting for him to arrive?

  “You want me to start guessing?” he teased. “Barb? Stacey? Janet?”

  She finally shook free of her stupor. “Rose.”

  That winning smile that surely ruined women made her weak in the knees again. “I love that name.”

  She tried to focus. “So, a woman from the mail room is here tonight, and you needed her to believe you had a girlfriend?”

  “Exactly. I would have warned you ahead of time, but I didn’t know who you would be.”

  “Of course.” Made sense. Her heart was pounding, though, and she wished she really were his girlfriend. She wished they weren’t pretending. She’d spent months pretending this man really was her boyfriend. “I assume she’s watching.”

  “Don’t know. Don’t care.” His gaze never left hers, nor did his hold on her body, though she watched him swallow a few times as if he weren’t quite as confident as he appeared. “But just to be sure, do you mind if I keep holding you close?”

  She nodded slowly. Words escaped her. For the last several months, she’d noticed this guy in the lobby, assuming he had a girlfriend. Apparently, she’d been mistaken. Surely he wouldn’t be holding her like this if he was involved with someone else.

  It suddenly sank in that she didn’t know this man at all. He might do this to every woman he met. Maybe it was a pick-up line. It probably worked too if he always kissed like that. “What’s wrong with the girl from the mail room, by the way?”

  “Nothing, except she’s about eighteen. I don’t know how else to dissuade her.”

  “Oh. Yikes.”

  His mouth slid down to kiss her neck, and then he whispered in her ear again. “You smell amazing. This is seriously crazy. How have I never met you? Please tell me you’re single.”

  She decided to shoot back with as many statements and questions as he had. “I work on the third floor in production. I can’t imagine why we’ve never met before. Yes, I’m single. How many times have you picked up a woman in a bar by kissing her first?”

  His warm breath made her shiver. “Never. This is a first.” How long was he going to hold her like this? His hand slid down to her lower back and pressed her against him. He was doing such a good job convincing anyone watching that they were a couple, Rose practically believed it herself. “This costume is amazing, by the way.” Granted, he didn’t have to sweet talk her. Whoever was watching wouldn’t be able to hear him.

  “Thank you,” she managed. “It’s a little sexist that half the women in the room are dressed in costumes that show off too much skin while the men are fully covered.”

  He finally leaned his head back a few inches. His gaze went to her cleavage. “I’m sure you’re right, but I’m not going to complain at the moment.” He reached for the top button on his white shirt and slid it through the hole. He did that to two more buttons while she watched his chest get revealed to her view. “There. Now we’re even.”

  She giggled. “We are so not even. Unless you plan to cut a slit up the side of your pants to your hip, I’m still winning. There is no contest.”

  He jerked back another few inches, still keeping her torso plastered to his with his hand on the small of her back. His gaze traveled lower to her thigh. “May I?” he asked as he lowered his hand toward the silky material of her skirt.

  She swallowed and managed to whisper, “Yes.” She was so entranced; she’d let him touch her anywhere he wanted.

  The second he found the slit and let his fingers graze over the skin along her outer thigh, she gasped. His touch sent all kinds of butterflies to her belly and made her sex come fully alive. “Fuck me. You’re right. Hands down. You win. And now I’m not going to be able to think straight for the rest of the night. Could you maybe stand here very still and not move so that neither I nor anyone else can see your sexy leg?” he teased.

  She couldn’t keep from laughing again. “How do you know it’s sexy?” It didn’t really matter if this Dylan guy was a player or not. He was making her feel like the most desirable woman on the planet. If he wanted to keep sweet-talking her for the next two hours, she would at least go home feeling better about herself than she ever had.

  More of his hand slid und
er the slit, flattening on her thigh. “A blind man would find this sexy, Rose. There aren’t really other options.”

  She clenched her sex, wetness gathering at the entrance. She squeezed her legs together. “I have a confession to make.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You saved me from someone too. At least I hope you did.”

  His brows drew together. “Some young kid from the mail room won’t take no for an answer from you either?” he teased.

  She chuckled. “I don’t know if they work in the mail room or not, but someone sends me a rose every few days with no name and no note. I’ve been trying to tell myself it’s cool that I have a secret admirer, but my brain works overtime worrying about it.”

  His face drew in tight again. “You don’t even know if it’s a man or a woman?”

  “Nope.”

  “’Kay, you win that round too. Two points in your court. A secret admirer who leaves roses with no cards is weirder than the girl from the mail room. At least she has the guts to hit on me directly. Whoever is sending the roses seriously need to grow some balls.”

  Rose couldn’t agree more.

  Suddenly, Rose was aware of someone stepping into their space, and she lifted her gaze to find Maddie glancing from one of them to the other. She looked smug, but her eyes were also dancing. “I just came over to make sure you two were okay. I know there was some costume trading, so I wasn’t sure.” She glanced down at how close they were standing and then glanced back up. “I didn’t realize you already knew each other.”

  “We didn’t,” they responded in unison.

  Maddie’s eyes widened. “Okay, then. I’m glad the switch doesn’t seem to be a problem. When I said I wanted the staff to mingle and meet new people, I had no idea how seriously everyone would take it.” Her eyes were now filled with mirth. “Here.” She held out an envelope and placed it on the table. “I made a list of helpful icebreaker questions. Doubt you’ll need them since you’ve already exchanged saliva and all, but just in case.”