Chapter Three
The next morning, I found myself almost wishing that I’d let the blonde from the night before come home with me. My penthouse felt way too empty as I went about my morning routine. It was the same thing every day. Protein shake at four, workout done by four forty-five, shower and breakfast following that. Then suit up, and get to the office by five thirty. I was always there before anyone else. I preferred it that way. If I came in later, there were always too many people milling around in the hallways, wanting to stop me and talk.
I was friendly to everyone, all my employees, but I didn’t have time for their idle chit chat. Sometimes, I thought my friendliness was my downfall with the whole CEO thing. I figured if I was a colossal asshole, they might not stop and talk to me. I could be some tyrant hiding in an office all day and no one would care.
Like my dad had been.
I shook away the thought, not wanting to remember him that way.
It had been long enough since his death that I wasn’t overly emotional about it anymore. Thinking about him didn’t fill me with flooding sadness. Instead, it seemed that somewhere along the line, anger and resentment had replaced any lingering grief.
Taking over Brighton Enterprises had always been the plan for my life. As my father’s only child, it was an inescapable reality—albeit, one that I’d been hoping to avoid for a few more years as I spent time doing my own thing. I had always figured that when the time came, there would be years of grooming and training to get me ready for it and by the time I stepped into the corner office, I would feel prepared and ready to handle the weight of the job.
But life had thrown a wrench into that plan.
Tragedy had ushered in my new role all too suddenly, and I found myself struggling to keep my head above water most days.
Which is why, I reminded myself as I strode down the empty hallways, I was always the first to arrive and the last to leave the towering office building that housed the multi-corporation organization.
I went directly to my office and made myself a cappuccino. Caffeine had always been a vice, and since taking over as CEO, it was a non-negotiable in my life.
Coffee in hand, I settled into my chair and opened my email. A flood of new messages popped up on the screen and I rubbed my temples as I watched the onslaught.
Fuck, can’t these people figure out anything on their own? I wondered, as I started opening the messages at the top and worked my way down the list, making scribbled notes on my tablet, compiling a to-do list for the day. Once caught up, I drained my coffee, grabbed my tablet, and headed for the conference room down the hall from my corner office.
It was Friday and I knew most people would be phoning it in today, too busy thinking about their weekend plans to really give much effort. But that was a luxury I couldn’t really afford anymore. In another life, I would probably do the exact same thing.
“Good morning, Mr. Brighton,” Kimberly, my assistant, chirped at me as I walked past her desk.
I offered her a cool smile. I knew she wanted to fuck me. She was a pretty girl, but I had a personal policy not to bang my secretary.
Too cliché.
I entered the conference room and addressed the group of people sitting around the long table. Every morning, I had my most trusted employees gather together to go over the issues of the day, and distribute work. I knew managers could be put into place to handle these meetings and delegate tasks, freeing me up to play golf and chase pussy all day, but the little-known reality was that the business was too delicate to hand over right now. There were a total of eight corporations under the Brighton Enterprises umbrella and of those companies—three were very nearly ready to go under.
I knew that no one would blame me if things went belly up, and that I had more money in investments and savings accounts than I would ever be able to spend in this lifetime, but it was bigger than just my reputation or money. This business had been everything to my dad, and while we were very different people, I wanted nothing more than to honor his memory and get things back on track.
Besides, golf had never really been my game. And chasing pussy—well, I managed to do that, as well.
A flicker of the girl from the night before flashed through my mind but I shoved it aside, the group waiting expectantly for me to begin the morning meeting.
Two hours later, all tasks had been distributed and I felt like everything was on track, at least for the day. After the meeting, I went back to my office to comb through some sales data for the cosmetics branch, Plush. It was a high end line of beauty products and fragrances. It had grown in popularity over the past few years and the new fragrance was set to launch later in the month. I was crunching numbers and pitching a silent prayer out that it would be enough to get me the capital I needed to keep the other branches afloat for a few more months.
“Mr. Brighton?”
I looked up to see it was Kimberly at the door.
“Yes?”
She entered the room and closed the door behind her. For the first time, I noticed that she was wearing a button-up shirt and that somewhere along the line, several buttons had been undone. She was displaying an impressive amount of cleavage as she approached my desk.
“Is there anything I can do…for you?” she asked, her voice low and slow. “I noticed you’ve been pretty stressed lately. I’m available if you need some help unwinding.”
Her brazen attempt at seduction would probably work on a lot of guys, but her approach was all wrong for my tastes. I was not attracted to women who threw themselves at me. I had to be the one in pursuit. In control from the very beginning.
I knew it had probably taken a lot of guts for her to come at me in such a bold way, and I didn’t want to humiliate her.
“An iced tea would be refreshing,” I said, keeping my voice monotone, as if I didn’t register what she was trying to do.
Her face fell at my request, but she quickly rebounded and leaned over my desk, her breasts nearly popping out of her blouse. I could see the black lace edge of her bra and felt a ripple of arousal building. She licked her lips. “Are you sure that’s all you need?”
“Yes, thank you.”
Her face shifted and her cheeks turned a brilliant shade of pink.
I turned my gaze away from her, back to my computer. And I heard her leave, shutting the door slightly harder than required as she left.
I winced at the sound.
Kimberly had been with the company for some time, working up from the front desk reception position to being the main assistant to the CEO. She had an impressive work history within Brighton Enterprises and I hoped that she would let today’s embarrassment pass and not let it impact her work.
Because the last thing I wanted to do was carve out the time to hire and train a new assistant.
The rest of the afternoon passed without too many snags. I was about to pack up and go home for the evening when my cell phone rang. It was Jessie. I mentally debated whether or not to answer, but I knew that Jessie was a very persistent person and eventually she would wear me down.
Better to get it over with.
“Hello, this is Cooper,” I answered.
“Cooper, what the fuck?”
Well, that was one hell of a greeting.
“Hello, Jessie,” I said, sinking back into my chair.
“Samantha told me what happened last night. How you fucked her and then gave her the brush-off. That was a really shitty thing to do, Cooper! Especially knowing that she is my cousin!” Jessie railed.
“Jessie, what happened last night was between two consenting adults,” I said. In the back of my mind, I knew she had a point. I probably should have picked a different girl.
“I guess it’s true then, huh?”
“What is?”
“You’re really the douche that people say you are,” she answered. “I know we’re not that close, but I have to say I thought you were better than that. You know, I’ve actually defended you to people before! Boy, don’t I look like an idiot now. Everyone’s probably been laughing at me behind my back. They probably think I’m another one of your blind conquests!”
My heart rate quickened and I struggled to keep my voice even. “Come on, Jessie. Opulence isn’t exactly the type of place you meet your soul mate. It’s an adult playground. I didn’t realize there would be strings attached. What was your cousin expecting? Happily ever after?”
Jessie scoffed. “No, Cooper. Samantha, that’s her name, by the way. She wasn’t picking out wedding dresses or something, but I don’t think she signed up for a get in, get off, and get out kind of thing either.”
“Well, then I apologize that I didn’t make my intentions clearer,” I said. I raked a hand through my hair, trying to figure out how to get out of the conversation as quickly as possible.
“Cooper, she’s a really nice girl. You didn’t even give her a chance,” Jessie said, her voice sharp and disapproving.
“I’m sure she is, Jessie, but that’s not really what I’m looking for right now.”
“Obviously.” She paused, and the silence crackled between us over the phone line. “I would say take care of yourself, but clearly you’re already doing that. Goodbye, Cooper.”
With that, she hung up. I clicked off my side of the call and dropped the phone back into my pocket. Losing Jessie as an acquaintance wasn’t much of a loss, but her words still stung.
I didn’t like her accusations and I really didn’t like her comment about what people were saying about me. I’d known for awhile that I was gathering a particular reputation, but I hadn’t realized it was so hostile.
I grabbed my jacket off the back of my chair and left the office. There was no way I was going to be able to focus on a bunch of jumbled spreadsheets now.