Excerpt from My Dear Mr. Corporate

 

 

CHAPTER 1

Bryan

 

 

I’m right back at square one. The thought popped into my mind as the automatic gates glided apart, exposing the long driveway leading to Tate’s estate. I sucked in a deep breath and for the life of me could not let it out just then. Not even Keith’s condo could be compared to the magnificence of Tate’s home. I stared, my mind blank until reality confronted me with brutality— Tate wasn’t just an average bloke. He was a Rosenbaum. He was wealthy.

He had told me who he was back at his cabin. I had known the significance of his name, but nothing could have prepared me for the grandeur of his home. Even when he had told me his name, back in the woods we had simply been Tate and Bryan. Our natural environment away from people had allowed us to just be. Staring at his home that loomed before us I realized how ridiculous I had been to think everything would be the same.

Driving along the streets of Rancho Santa Fe, the area was residence to the more affluent, so I had some expectations. Just nothing of this magnitude. I would have never guessed by observing Tate and seeing how comfortable he was in nature, that this would be his home. The house that loomed before us was nothing like his cabin. In comparison to other cabins, his was bigger and had better amenities, but I failed to see how a man could fit so seamlessly in both polar opposite environments.

The luxury property must have been designed by one of the finest architects around because the wrap-around water feature of pools and artificial lake that nestled the house was none like I had ever personally experienced before. It complemented the layout of the land and the beautiful open space. The house was mounted just atop a rise, so the property overlooked the mountains and valley. The two story wall of glass made everything even more sophisticated and iconic.

“No way! This is your home?” I asked Tate because I just had to hear him confirm it.

He glanced at me and frowned. He tapped his index finger against the steering wheel as he pressed a hidden button somewhere in his car and a garage door I hadn’t even noticed before raised.

“Yeah, this is home,” he answered and said nothing else.

When he drove us inside the garage and killed the switch, I could not even move to unbuckle my seatbelt. His garage was bigger than the apartment I had given up to live with Keith. This wasn’t what I wanted to sign up for at all. Keith had been one wealthy son-of-a-bitch and he had thought he could use his money to control me. While I completely blamed him for the way he treated me, I had played a hand in letting him get away with it. I’d become too comfortable with what he had to offer me until he was able to use that against me.

Thinking about it now, I realized I had been too ashamed to leave him because I’d taken so much from him. I never meant to be the kind of guy who just took. I had protested at first, but after he got through me the first time, I’d become lax, allowing him to give me whatever he wanted. Not used to so much attention being focused on me, I had accepted his gifts, told him thanks and then he would have me on my knees.

Funnily enough I never realized back then that I had been working for those gifts. It was as though a lightbulb went off before my eyes. How could I have not seen this before? I’d been too gullible to understand what Keith was doing. Those gifts he bought me might have seemed expensive but did nothing to dent his pockets. He was only too glad to shower me with gifts, as long as I acted like his little slut. The more I thought about it, the more I felt sick to my stomach for putting up with our relationship for so long.

I had been his kept boy. No wonder he thought he owned me and that I had to do his bidding.

I hesitated in getting out of Tate’s car because fear gripped me. What if I was doing this all wrong? Again. My relationship with Keith had started off well then spiraled down the rabbit hole faster than Alice had tumbled. I barely knew Tate. We had met less than a week ago, and here I was about to make the same mistake I did with my ex. I was shacking up with another wealthy man while I had very little of personal value to add to our relationship.

“Come on, let’s get your cases inside,” Tate remarked.

I was still too stunned to move, as I racked my brain trying to think my way out of this mess. We were moving at lightning speed. The world was shifting beneath my feet, tilting too fast for me to maintain my footing. I hesitated long enough for Tate to have thought I was waiting for him to open my door. The second it registered what he was about to do, I reached for the lock so he didn’t think I was pulling a diva stunt on him.

Too late. Tate already grasped the handle and opened the door for me. I stared up at him, still unmoving. His brows knitted in a frown and his eyes seemed worried. Was he having second thoughts about inviting me to stay with him? I couldn’t bear the thought of him not wanting me around. While he might still want to sleep with me it didn’t mean the guy wanted to live with me. I didn’t know if I wanted to live with him either. I just had nowhere else to stay.  I would need at least a couple days to find somewhere affordable.

“Bryan, is something wrong?” Tate asked, his frown deepening. “Are you hurting badly? I could carry you inside.”

I flushed remembering the way he had carried me before when I’d sprained my ankle up in the mountains. I shook my head. “I’m fine. I was just thinking that I shouldn’t intrude on you like this.”

“You’re not intruding.”

Despite him saying the words, I was not convinced. It was hard to tell with Tate. He was always tight-lipped and wasn’t one to delve into excess of words to explain himself.

“No, really.” I decided to stick to my decision. “I’m sorry to have let you drive all this way, but I can stay at a motel until I get a job and an apartment. Or maybe I should call a cab since you’re already home. I would have driven myself but…” I trailed off, hating the way I sounded so damn pathetic. I would have driven myself, but I’d left the car Keith had bought me back at his place. I didn’t feel right to keep it given the way our relationship had ended. It would save me the embarrassment of Keith repossessing it anyway.

Tate reached inside the car and gripped my chin gently. He stroked the area above my eye where I’d sustained a wound from Keith. His hand shook slightly before he pulled away. “Hey, I said you could stay here. I don’t like having to repeat the same thing. If I say something, that’s what I mean.”

I chewed on my bottom lip in worry. I’d rather stay with him than in a cheap motel with sheets used by hundreds of strangers, but I hated being thought of as an inconvenience. “Are you sure?” I asked again, then upon seeing his scowl added. “Alright but this is just until I find a new job and get an apartment.”

“You can stay as long as you want.” He took hold of my arms and helped me out of the car.

“But you don’t even know me,” I argued, inhaling deeply which was a mistake. The aroma which was all Tate hit me and formed a dangerous cocktail of desire which now streamed through my blood. The corner of his lips tilted upwards ever so slightly in a knowing manner. I hated that he already knew enough about me to know what I was thinking at that moment. Although I was determined to slow things down with Tate, I still wanted him.

“I know enough,” he replied and squeezed both my arms. “Stop worrying so much. Things will work out. You’ll see.”

He closed the door and moved toward the trunk of the car to remove my suitcases. I bit my tongue not to remark that I didn’t just want things to work out by his hands or anyone else’s hands. I wanted to make things work for me. I wanted to be self-sufficient and to feel like I had value. How was I to do that if someone was always there to give me a hand instead of allowing me to get up on my own?

I stared from my two pitiful suitcases at his feet and then glanced around his large garage where he had two other vehicles parked. One was covered and the other, a Jaguar was testimony of his wealth. The comparison between us was everywhere around us. How could he not see it as plainly as I did?

“Come on. This way.”

I shuffled my feet against the floor in the direction Tate indicated. He surged ahead, and I had to hurry to catch up with him. I scowled at his back but didn’t tell him to slow down. He led us to a side door which he unlocked. He gestured for me to step in and once I did, he disabled the alarm system on the wall right by the door.

“We’ll leave your bags here for the moment,” Tate remarked, placing the bags against one wall. “I’ll show you to our room later if you don’t mind. I’ll also give you the grand tour, but right now I need to get some carbs into me.”

My heart skipped a beat at his reference of ‘our’ room. He hadn’t even asked me if I wanted to share his bedroom. Before I could bring it up, the minimalist interior décor of his house blew my mind away. It was as though every piece of furniture and art that hung on the wall had been carefully hand-selected. I  vaguely pinpointed where he disappeared before I studied the interior of his house without having to guard my reaction around him.

How was it possible for someone to be so wealthy? I gazed around me at the winding glass stairs which led to the second floor. The open floor design showed off the house in all its beauty. The sofas and split two-piece center table in the living area looked too delicate for use. They seemed more of decorations than for utility. Glass was everywhere, and the cream-colored couches and lounges complemented the mixture of the same hue and darker hues of the floor. An oval dining table with a glass top and eight stylish chairs made up the dining area. I was completely blown away by the design of the fireplace. It was the central feature of the layout with everything else strategically placed around it.

“Bryan!”

I snapped out of my trance at Tate calling my name and hurried in the direction he had disappeared. I ended up in a kitchen just as beautiful as the rest of the house. Tate stood at the granite top island, a can of beer at his mouth. He gulped it all down before returning to the ingredients he had on the counter.

“Your house looks lovely,” I told him because I didn’t know what else to say.

“Thanks, I haven’t spent much time here,” he answered, then gestured to the bread slices he was removing. “Are you hungry? We’ll go out later for dinner, but I missed breakfast this morning because I was hellbent on finding you.”

“And you found me,” I stated. Now what are you going to do to me? “I’m not hungry.” I probably was beneath the bundle of nerves in my stomach since I hadn’t eaten anything at Keith’s yesterday. I’d been in too much pain for me to join him for dinner. I’d instead holed up in the guestroom and refused to let him in. When I’d refused to accept his apology and to sleep with him, he’d left me alone.

“I’ve beer in the fridge if you’d rather something to drink.”

I shook my head. “I don’t really like beer.”

“No? Well, sit. You don’t need to look so uncomfortable. You’ve been living with me for almost a week. What do you think is going to change?”

It wasn’t necessarily what I thought was going to change but what I felt was about to develop. I already had so much emotions about this man who I knew very little about. How could I fall in love with him when I didn’t even give myself time to get over Keith? He might have been a dick, but we had been in a relationship.

I took a seat at the island as he indicated and gripped my fingers together tight. I didn’t say anything at first but watched as he prepared himself a bite to eat. He made himself a ham and cheese sandwich stuffed with lettuce and salad. He cleared the counter once more before grabbing another beer from the fridge and sitting across from me. I lowered my eyes so I didn’t have to make him uncomfortable watching him eat.

“How big is this place anyway?” I asked him to break the uncomfortable silence.

He swallowed before answering. “There are six bedrooms here in the main house and eight bathrooms. Out back there’s also a two-bedroom guesthouse next to the zero-edge pool and tennis court.”

If he had a guest room I could stay there instead of the main house. Then I wouldn’t get in his way. Perfect.

“Forget it. You’re not staying in the guest house.”

I flushed at his words. How did he even know what I was thinking? “Wouldn’t it make for a better arrangement?” I asked him. “You’d have your privacy.”

“If I were concerned about my privacy, I wouldn’t have taken you here,” he answered. “I don’t like the idea of you being so far away in the guest house. There’s plenty of space here.”

“But aren’t you used to being alone and having your own space?”

“No. I’m not.”

I glanced up at him then and saw the pain reflected on his face briefly before his features went blank. His wife and daughter, I thought. He still harbored guilt about them.

“Is this where you lived with them?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No.”

That was all. Since he wasn’t about to elaborate, I decided to just say what I had to. “Alright, I’ll stay here in the main house, but I would like my own bedroom. Downstairs.”

Tate eased back in his seat, scowling at me. “Why? I’ve seen you naked. We slept together in the same bed, and we just spent the last few days fucking everywhere possible in my cabin. Now, all of a sudden, you want us to pretend that we’re what? Friends? I thought you were joking about the no sex thing.”

“I’m not joking,” I answered. “I’m not saying we have to be friends only, but we don’t have to have sex with each other. It’s me trying to get a grip on my life, Tate. The last few days might have been great, but they happened way too fast.”

His scowl turned into a frown. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I don’t know what this is.” I gestured wildly between us, pretty sure I must have looked like a crazy person. “Are we just fuck buddies? Because at every turn we wind up in bed. You tell me right now if we’re just fuck buddies and I’ll gladly stay in your bed while I’m here, but if that’s not all between us, then let me get to know you.”

 

 

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