The Nerds and the CEO (The Nerd Love Equation, #5) Read online

  She trailed along the Chinese dragon, where it wrapped up his bicep, then finished near his collarbone. “It’s gorgeous.”

  Her feather-light touch sped over his body, fueled by Justin’s attentive gaze. Justin knotted his fingers in her hair. “He gets that a lot.” He tugged her head back and lowered his mouth to her neck. She gasped and gripped Antonio’s arm. The sharp sting tugged at his nerves, lighting his senses on fire.

  While Justin made her squirm, Antonio glided his hands up her sides, pushing her clothes out of the way. Every time she adjusted in his lap, she ground against his erection, obliterating his thoughts. “As for what you were saying...” He pulled her shirt over her head, then kissed along the top of her breasts. “I believe you accused us of lacking imagination.”

  “Not quite my words.” Despite the clench of her hands on his biceps, her bra fell away.

  “But it was your meaning.” Antonio slid the straps down her arms, exposing her breasts. Her skin was pale and smooth like porcelain, free of freckles below the neckline. He might have misplaced dreams of happily-ever-after with Justin, but Antonio’s attraction to Emily was distinct and unique; she was temptation airbrushed with lust. He lowered his head to a swollen pink nipple, and drew it into his mouth, to suck and nibble.

  From the corner of his eye, he saw Justin kissing her neck.

  “I take it all back.” She spoke between gasps. “And whatever else I need to say, for you to keep going.” Her grinding against him shifted to a steady rocking, as she rode him. The heat of her mound seared him, despite the clothing in the way, and his cock begged to be let loose. To slide inside her. Her moans became more punctuated, as her pace increased.

  He dropped his hands back to her hips and held hard, to keep her from moving. “Not yet, passerotta.” He clenched his jaw when the endearment slipped out, but he didn’t want to take it back.

  Justin eased up as well, and Emily met Antonio’s gaze. Her flush covered her cheeks and neck, and her chest heaved from exertion. Intoxicating.

  Justin reached over her shoulder to grasp her hand and prompted her to stand. The sudden loss of warmth and weight should have been a relief, but pressure still strained against Antonio’s zipper.

  “God, I like watching you.” Justin undid the button on Emily’s jeans.

  She slapped his hands away. “No. You don’t get to stay dressed this time, while everyone else strips down.”

  “That was once,” Justin said.

  “Fifty percent. Not great odds.” Emily nodded at his chest. “Shirt off.”

  Antonio should be jealous of the playful, intimate exchange. Instead, it added to his arousal. Justin obeyed Emily’s command, and Antonio bit the inside of his cheek, to keep a groan from escaping. He’d seen his friend shirtless on numerous occasions, but the mood changed the experience. He felt like he was taking in Justin’s toned upper body, wrapped with an eclectic assortment of ink, for the first time.

  Antonio was barely aware of undoing his jeans and working himself free. The release sent shudders over him, followed by a second wave when he wrapped his hand loosely around his shaft.

  “Better?” Justin asked.

  Emily nodded.

  “Good.” Justin pushed off the rest of her clothes.

  Christ, that view from behind... The curve of her back where it met her ass was a delicious sight.

  Justin reached for her, and she stepped back, out of reach. She whirled to face Antonio, giving him a perfect view of what he’d craved to see when he walked in on them. Reality was much better than fantasy.

  A playful smile dancing on her lips, she glanced at his crotch, then knelt on the couch next to him. “I want to help.” She kissed a lazy zig-zag pattern down his chest, then over his wrist, before moving his hand out of the way. She flicked her tongue over his bulbous head, and pleasure surged through him, tingling as far down as his toes.

  When she slid her mouth down his length, he twisted his fingers in her red locks. He wanted to tilt his head back and fall into the sensation of her soft lips against his dick and her tongue circling his length. He was intensely aware they had company, though. When he forced himself to look at Justin, he was surprised to see him watching the scene, enraptured.

  A hungry smile spread across Justin’s face when he caught Antonio’s gaze.

  Justin shed the rest of his clothing. When his cock sprang free, standing at attention, Antonio’s thoughts short-circuited. He couldn’t look away. Justin rolled on a condom and stepped up behind Emily. He glided a hand down her ass and, and the sound she made carried through Antonio’s shaft, humming and teasing.

  When Justin entered Emily, she whimpered and increased her attentions on Antonio. The combination of sights, sounds, and sensations tightened in his balls, and he almost came. He didn’t want this to be over yet. He bit back climax, in favor of diving into the experience. Working one hand down Emily’s chest, he moved the fingers of his other hand between her legs. Fuck. She was slippery. Which was the perfect excuse to slide from teasing her clit to caressing Justin’s sac.

  Her breathing grew shallow again, and Antonio focused more attention on her sex, stroking and coaxing the swollen button. She slowed her sucking but didn’t pull back when she came, her cries muffled.

  Antonio risked another glance at Justin, whose eyes were closed and his face screwed up. Justin pounded harder against Emily, his grunts coming in staccato bursts. When Emily resumed her fevered attentions on Antonio’s cock, the intensity caused him to hiss between clenched teeth. Part of him slid into his own mind, drowning in the stimulation, but he was also wondering what it would feel like to be in her place, bent over, with Justin thrusting inside him from behind.

  Fantasy and reality melted into a vivid haze. Justin’s thrusting and growls said he was close. He shuddered when he climaxed.

  “Passerotta, please.” Antonio tried to pull Emily away. Instead, she gripped the base of his shaft, and stroked in time to the bob of her head. It was all too much. Antonio couldn’t hold back. He came hard, hitting the back of her throat and filling her mouth. Her touch became dizzying, and then bordered on painful, but he didn’t want to pull away. Finally, ecstasy wracked his body, and he slumped back against the cushions, spent.

  She sat up. The only word he could think of, for the look her face, was impish.

  “Fuck. You get hotter each time. I don’t know how that’s possible.” Justin grasped her hand and tugged her to her feet.

  She wobbled for a moment, but he helped steady her. He kissed her hard, their bodies pressed together. Antonio couldn’t hold back the guttural noise that tore from his chest at the sight of Justin tasting him on Emily’s lips. Want mingled with the sharp tang of envy, though he wasn’t sure anymore who it was directed at or which role he’d rather fill. He cleared his throat when the kiss lasted for several seconds. “Someone else is in the room.” His throat was dry, and his words cracked.

  Emily pulled from Justin’s grip and turned to face Antonio. “No one gets left out.” She rested her hands on the back of the couch, on either side of him, and dipped her head in to press her mouth to his. He nipped at her lips, and their tongues danced a twisty two-step.

  She squealed and broke away when Justin grabbed her by the waist, dropped onto the couch next to Antonio, and pulled her down with him. She settled, resting against Justin and placing her feet in Antonio’s lap. A pleasant silence settled over the room, interrupted only by the hum of electronics.

  “So”—Justin’s voice was a sharp crack in the still—“does this mean we’re having another one of those talks where everyone promises this is only physical and it doesn’t impact work?”

  Antonio was sick of those conversations. He metered his response. “I think we’re all on the same page.” He had a feeling they weren’t. Not even close.

  If Justin caught the lie, he didn’t say anything.

  Antonio had enjoyed everything about the interlude. There were no regrets. But in that short span, he’d
gone from denying anything could happen with Justin, to getting enough of a taste that he wanted more. Something told him more wasn’t an option, but neither was putting the genie back in the bottle. It was official—Antonio was seriously fucked.

  EMILY DRIFTED ON THE edge of consciousness, when her world shifted. She forced herself awake enough to see Antonio untangle himself from the pile the three of them made. She couldn’t drag her attention from his back and the ripple of muscle when he stretched. Without a glance behind, he padded from the room. She tried to be careful getting up, to not disturb Justin, but it didn’t seem to matter. Once he was out, he stayed that way until he was ready to wake up, and unlike Antonio, he didn’t strike her as a morning person.

  She plucked her clothes from the ground, tugged on her jeans and T-shirt, and followed Antonio.

  She found him in the kitchen, moving around as if he’d always been there, filling the coffee maker with water and then grounds, and setting it to brew.

  As water hissed and heated, he turned to face her. “I thought you were kidding at lunch. When you were talking about how to feel the situation out.” His voice was quiet in the early morning still.

  Did he think she’d set him up? The notion he saw her as deceptive gnawed at her. “I didn’t plan that.”

  “You were inspired.”

  “Are you upset?” Kinky sex and games was one thing, but she didn’t want to push him away. Even though technically, they only worked together, she cared what he thought.

  He smiled and shook his head. “Not even close. Thank you. I’m a bit fucked, but that’s on me. Besides, you were incredible.”

  The compliment brought back images of last night, complete with whispers of touch, sound, and smell. Heat flooded her face. “You too. That is... everything you said—me too. Or rather...” Hell. She was awkward. “I should get home. Change. Shower.”

  “You got quiet after. Are you okay still? We’re good?” he asked.

  “I promise.” Ignoring the fact that she wanted to close the distance between them. Trail her fingers over his bare chest. Steal a good morning kiss. He wasn’t hers, though.

  He seemed to relax. “We’re taking the day off. We got a lot more done yesterday than we planned, thanks to your help. You should go home and enjoy what little weekend you have left.”

  “Yeah. Definitely.” She’d enjoy it here fine, but it felt like ages since she saw Cynthia. “See you tomorrow.” She really wanted a goodbye kiss, but that way lay trouble. Instead, she walked to the front door with him, grabbed her keys and purse, and was on her way.

  She was lucky for lighter-than-normal traffic on the drive home. It was an excuse for her mind to wander and replay the highlights of the night before. Being pressed between two men, stuck in the middle of intensity and adoration—that was the kind of thing she could sell for hundreds an ounce if it could be bottled.

  It was barely seven when she arrived home. She let herself in quietly, not wanting to wake up Cynthia. It didn’t matter; her roommate sat at the bar in the kitchen, a mug in front of her and a scowl on her face.

  Concern filled Emily. “Are you all right?”

  “Are you?” Cynthia’s voice held an edge.

  Because she was out all night again. “I’m fine. Sorry if I worried you.”

  “We were supposed to go out and celebrate your new job last night. Paul said the two of you talked about it, but Saturday night rolled around and bam, no Emily.”

  Emily cringed. “I’m sorry.” The apology felt flat. “We never set a time, and then...” She sighed. “It slipped my mind. I didn’t mean to stand you up.”

  “I guess I get that.” Some of the irritation seemed to fade from Cynthia’s voice. “You know, it’s funny. A week ago, you balked at the idea you’d ever do something like pick up a guy in a bar, and now you’ve been out three of the last seven nights. You meet someone new?”

  “Well...” Emily wasn’t in the mood to share details or even hints. It felt too intimate to lay out bare.

  “Justin again?”

  “Maybe.”

  Cynthia pushed her mug aside and leaned in. “You know that’s the most supremely bad idea in the history of bad ideas.”

  “I do. It’s just that...” What? Emily fumbled for the words to finish her sentence.

  “As long as you know what you’re doing.”

  Emily wasn’t so sure. “I never thought I’d say this, but I guarantee there’s nothing more to it than sex.” The reality of the assurance sank in her gut like a stone. It was obvious Justin adored Antonio as much as Antonio did him. She was a prop. Not that she minded the fun. Now was a good time to cement in her head that was all it was.

  “It’s my ghost date.” Paul’s chipper tone cut through the quiet mood. He strolled into the kitchen and draped an arm around Emily’s shoulders.

  The gesture crawled over her skin like a million pinpricks. She swallowed the response. No reason to overreact. She gave him a quick squeeze, then ducked from under his arm. “Any coffee left?”

  “Help yourself.” Cynthia nodded at the pot. “Paul can tell you his amazing news.”

  “Okay?” Emily poured herself a drink, added cream and sugar, and stayed on the opposite end of the kitchen.

  He grinned. “I got a job. I’m being brought on as a retainer at the same investment firm as you.”

  “Which means the asshole will only be underfoot for a few more weeks, until he gets his first check.” Cynthia’s tone was light and playful.

  “That’s awesome.” A strange uneasiness climbed through Emily, but she couldn’t name its cause. She shoved it aside and focused on her happiness. “It’s a great place to be. Congratulations.”

  He beamed brightly. “Thank you. Do I get a congratulatory hug?”

  The request struck her as odd. “Sure.” She set her mug down and held her arms open as he embraced her. He held on a little longer than he needed to. Or she was imagining it. Maybe she was letting this thing with Justin and Antonio become more personal than she wanted to admit. Time to get over that.

  Still, acid churned in her gut when she squeezed Paul back, then had to nudge him to back away.

  Chapter Sixteen

  JUSTIN DIDN’T EXPECT to get into the evening as much as he had. The first night he was with Emily, when they shared the fantasy of Antonio joining them, Justin told himself a big part of the turn on was hearing her talk dirty and glimpsing that flash of her kink not obvious on the surface.

  Last night he told himself it was about Emily. She wanted to play and seized the chance when she saw it. As he was drawn deeper into the scene, watching her with Antonio and being a part of the moment, her comment about the intimacy clicked. It was Monday morning now, and feathers of being with both of them lingered in his mind.

  Everything else aside, he was grateful things weren’t awkward with Antonio. A heat-of-the-moment fling wasn’t worth losing his best friend over. Then again, if they didn’t meet this deadline, Justin would lose him anyway, when Antonio went back to Italy to take over the family business.

  Which meant he needed to pull his head out of the clouds and get back to work. Starting with ensuring their contractor wasn’t freaked out or intimidated by the weekend. He could place a phone call to either Antonio or Emily, but he needed to look her in the eye and make sure she was okay with everything too.

  Antonio wasn’t in his office when Justin approached, but the murmur of voices drifted toward him. He rounded the corner to Emily’s cubicle and paused, curious. She sat in front of her computer. Antonio stood behind her, hand on the back of her chair, side of his palm against her back and head bent low so they could talk without their voices carrying. Neither of them looked up at Justin’s arrival, but he was close enough to hear the conversation.

  “Call the tracking API from your ETL using the CLR. They’re labeled according to function.” Antonio pointed at her screen.

  Emily shook her head. “It won’t compile on my local server. I don’t think it’s
my configuration; I’ve mirrored the sandbox.”

  Justin raised his brows. Despite appearances, they were talking shop. Not that the casual passerby would know that. “Do you have a minute?” he asked.

  Emily jumped in her seat, then whirled.

  Antonio spun as well. “Sure.” He strode into his office, and Justin followed and kicked the door shut behind them.

  “That wasn’t exactly keeping a low profile.” Justin winced at the sharpness of his own voice.

  “We’re discussing work.”

  Justin’s concerns were purely in the company’s best interest. “But that wasn’t what it looked like.”

  “I’ll be more careful in the future.”

  Was Justin overreacting? No. This was the worst possible time to question himself. Everything had to go smoothly now, and that included any and all outward appearances looking exactly as they should.

  The rest of the week passed without major incidents. Everyone was too busy keeping their heads down and working, for much else to happen. When the weekend rolled around, they were a few days behind, but they’d made up a lot of lost time.

  EMILY JOINED THEM AT Justin’s house on Saturday, and they dove back into PP work. They didn’t accomplish as much as when he’d had multiple developers on the project, but it was headway, and as long as he saw forward momentum, he could accept it taking longer than he hoped.

  The three worked late into the night. Status quo for him and Antonio, but he worried Emily hadn’t realized what she was signing on for.

  “Are you ready to let us start paying you?” Justin asked. It was nearly three in the morning, and it took the last of his focus to speak without slurring.

  Emily shook her head, then stopped and pressed her palm to her forehead, blinking. “Nope. I meant what I said.” Her words were chipper and flowed out in a jumble.

  “You both need sleep.” Antonio’s eyelids drooped, and he didn’t look like he fared much better in the exhaustion department. He stood and reached for Emily’s hand. “Come on. I’ll show you where the guest bedroom is.”