Tori Carrington - Private Sessions

Multi-award-winning, bestselling authors Lori Schlachter Karayianni and Tony Karayianni are the power behind the pen name Tori Carrington. Their over forty-five titles include numerous Blaze® mini-series, as well as the ongoing Sofie Metropolis comedic mystery series with another publisher. Visit www.toricarrington.net and www.sofiemetro.com for more information on the duo and their titles.

Private Sessions

Tori Carrington

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dear Reader,

There’s just something about a strong, bad-boy hero who can rock a business suit, isn’t there? He may try to conceal his true character, but once you get this guy between the sheets … oh, my!

Private Sessions is the first in our three-book PRIVATE SCANDALS series and focuses on hot businessman Caleb Payne, who embodies all of what bad boys are made of. He knows exactly what it takes to get what he wants; especially when it comes to sexy Bryna Metaxas, who not only provides an opportunity to glean a bit of enjoyment out of the disaster that is Caleb’s current business life, but to wreak a bit of revenge. But there are some sins that are unforgivable. Has he finally gone too far?

We hope you enjoy every sizzling, heart-stopping moment of Caleb and Bryna’s journey toward happily-ever-after. We’d love to hear what you think. Contact us at PO Box 12271, Toledo, OH 43612, USA (we’ll respond with a signed bookplate, newsletter and bookmark), or visit us on the web at www.toricarrington.net.

Here’s wishing you love, romance and HOT reading,

Lori & Tony Karayianni aka Tori Carrington

We dedicate this book to bad-boy-loving women

everywhere …

And to Julie Chivers and editor extraordinaire

Brenda Chin: you guys rock!

Table of Contents

Cover

About the Author About the Author Multi-award-winning, bestselling authors Lori Schlachter Karayianni and Tony Karayianni are the power behind the pen name Tori Carrington . Their over forty-five titles include numerous Blaze® mini-series, as well as the ongoing Sofie Metropolis comedic mystery series with another publisher. Visit www.toricarrington.net and www.sofiemetro.com for more information on the duo and their titles.

Title Page Private Sessions Tori Carrington www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedication We dedicate this book to bad-boy-loving women everywhere … And to Julie Chivers and editor extraordinaire Brenda Chin: you guys rock!

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Epilogue

Copyright

“GREAT SEX IS NOT ENOUGH for me, Caleb. Not anymore.”

Damn. There it was …

Caleb Payne stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of his penthouse apartment, his attention not on the reflection of the beautiful woman who had uttered the words, but on the sight beyond the glass. Seattle’s skyline twinkled against the inky late-night backdrop. His fingers tightened around the crystal tumbler that held an inch of the best whiskey the civilized world had to offer. He downed the smooth liquid in one swallow and then slowly dragged the back of his hand against his mouth, finally considering Cissy’s image in the window.

How was it possible such an attractive woman suddenly emerged unappealing? Despite the low-cut, curve-hugging long red dress she wore, her white-blond hair floating around her smooth shoulders, he wanted to look everywhere but at her.

His gaze fell to her full breasts. Correction: he wanted to look everywhere but into her pleading, hopeful face.

She instinctively crossed her arms, impeding his view.

“Sex is all I have to give you.” Caleb slowly turned, considering her reaction from beneath his brows. “I told you that from the beginning.”

He’d seen this coming since earlier that evening, when his limo had stopped at her downtown apartment to pick her up for the charity ball they’d attended.

Actually, if he were honest, he’d seen this coming since the day they’d first met.

It gave him no pleasure to know that he’d been spot-on when it came to the timeline he’d imagined when he’d met the pretty socialite six months ago. Around about month three, she’d started talking exclusivity. Which hadn’t been a problem, considering it was in his cautious nature to stick to one sexual partner at a time. Month four brought talk of combining households, a conversation he’d artfully avoided.

And tonight, a week before the end of month six, she had launched her plan for even more.

“I’ve never lied to you, Cissy,” he told her now. “You knew the score from the beginning.”

“But things change. People change.”

He shook his head. “Not me. Never me.”

Pain crumpled her face, an emotion that left him unmoved.

He wondered if she’d say the words countless others had said before her and call him a heartless bastard.

If she did, she’d be right. He’d been raised by a single mother, never knowing his father although the man had always been nearby, present without being a presence. While Caleb had never wanted for anything materially … well, one therapist he’d dated had suggested he’d been stunted emotionally by his upbringing.

He’d been a bastard child within a socio-economic class that still frowned heavily on such things. And his peers had never let him forget it.

That’s where the heartless part entered in.

Oh, Cissy might want more now, but in a week, maybe two, she’d be thankful she hadn’t been successful in her efforts. Out there somewhere was a man who would improve her standing; not detract from it.

He walked to the bar and poured another finger into his glass, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Is marriage anywhere in the cards for us?” Cissy asked quietly.

He inwardly winced.

Once, just once, he’d like to be proven wrong. He’d like to date a woman who was unpredictable. Someone who would surprise him. Someone who’d enjoy whatever moments they could spend together without planning, scheming, plotting for something more.

Someone who wouldn’t want something he was incapable of giving.

He shook his head. “No.”

He heard her moving around. Imagined her picking up her wrap. Checking inside her purse. Perhaps getting a tissue with which to wipe her nose. Then stalking toward the front door.

“Well, then, I guess this is goodbye.” Her voice was half accusatory, half hopeful.

He nodded again without turning. “Goodbye, Cissy.”

Silence. Long moments later the door closed behind her. Caleb downed the whiskey, tapping his fingers against the expensive crystal. Shame. He’d liked Cissy. She’d been nice to have around. Nice to have in his bed.

He sighed and then headed for his home office and the only thing that never asked him for anything more, that never complained or questioned or demanded, or failed to hold his fascination: work.

THE MORE THINGS CHANGED, the more they stayed the same.

Bryna Metaxas weighed the old axiom, feeling exasperated by her job, by the current stagnancy of her love life—or, rather, the lack of one at all—and frustrated by everything in general.

She sat in her small office at the old lumber mill where Metaxas Limited was located in Earnest, Washington, blind to the view of the lush, pine-covered hills visible through the window behind her. She was too busy trying not to think about the weekly Tuesday meeting she’d attended that morning where she’d been marginalized yet again. She couldn’t help wondering why her older cousin Troy included her if he wasn’t going to have her do anything more substantial than take notes and follow up on minor details. She was half-surprised that he hadn’t asked her to serve coffee to the dozen attendees while they brainstormed ideas on where to go now that the deal they’d been working on with Greek billionaire Manolis Philippidis had fallen through.