CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Back in London, Megan paced back and forth in her office, nervous at how Tristan was going to react when he got there. She kept looking at the clock on the wall, wondering where he was. He hadn’t talked to her at all since the charity ball and she was worried that he was angry with himself that he failed to win her in the auction.
She sat in her office chair and recalled the events of the night. Jensen’s sister’s words still haunted her. It’s so nice to see you back together. He really loves you. How could she not have known about Kristina? She was Jensen’s sister. She couldn’t understand that.
She couldn’t understand why Jensen bid a half a million pounds for a single date with her either. After the auction was over, and the crowd started to dissipate, the auctioneer introduced her to Jensen as if they were meeting for the first time.
“Let’s schedule something within the week, if that is possible,” said the auctioneer.
“I would rather take her out to this lovely little restaurant in London if that is okay.”
“Oh, are you from London also?” asked the auctioneer.
“I am,” he said, smiling at Megan. She stood there with her arms crossed, scowling at him.
“Well, then I don’t see any harm in that.”
“I will contact her soon, if she is willing to give me a good working phone number.”
She knew what he was doing and she hated him for it. She rattled off the number he already had and after his confirmation, she stormed off the stage. She had gone back to the hotel alone after that and didn’t hear from Jensen or Tristan the whole night. The next morning, the train ride back to London was long and quiet and a separate car picked her up at the train station and dropped her off at her apartment.
She decided to drown herself in her work until she saw Tristan instead of letting it bother her. About an hour later, he knocked on her door and hesitated before entering.
“Good morning, Megan.”
“Morning,” she said, waiting for him to break the ice.
“I… I wanted to apologise.”
“Apologise… for what?”
“For not winning the auction like I promised you I would. Dean blindsided me and came out of nowhere.”
“It’s okay, really. I didn’t expect you to overbid his ridiculous amount.” She still had a very hard time believing he paid half a million to a charity just to see her.
He sat on the corner of her desk, facing her. “I want you to be super careful when you go on this date with him. Keep everything in public and don’t let him out of your sight. I don’t want to see him hurt you again.” He caressed the side of her face with the back of his hand. “I want you to contact me if anything goes wrong. Do you understand?”
She nodded.
“I am very concerned, Megan.”
“I’ll be fine. I know how to handle Jensen Dean.”
“I’ll be out of the office during lunch but there will be a two o’clock meeting this afternoon. I put some notes in the schedule online.”
“I saw them. I’ll work on it before I go to lunch.”
He stood up and hesitated, looking at her. “Are you sure you are okay with everything?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay then.” He walked out of her office and she immediately went to work, working through her morning. Just before lunch, a knock on her door interrupted her progress. She looked up and saw Black standing in the doorway.
“Mr. Black, hello,” she said, standing up. “Please, come in.”
“I’ll only be a minute.”
“What can I do for you?”
“I wanted to apologise for stalking you last week.”
“It seems as though there is a lot of that going around today.”
“It is out of my character and I am somewhat embarrassed over the whole thing. I was only following orders.”
“Jensen’s I’m sure?”
“Yes.”
“It isn’t your fault and I don’t blame you at all.”
“I have to say, the man is making the entire security team miserable.”
“Because of me?” she asked quietly.
“Don’t make it sound like it is your fault.”
“I’m not. I just don’t understand why he is doing all of this.”
“It got a lot worse since the night someone spiked your drink. He got worried sick over you. Couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, cranky all the time and ordering us to keep constant tabs on you.”
“I’m sorry you have to go through all of this.”
“If I may say so, I would have to agree that he thinks you are the one.”
“The one… what?”
“That one special lady that every man hopes to meet in their lives?” Black had a softer tone in his voice.
Stunned at his comment and for fear of saying something that might have incriminated her, she quickly changed direction of the conversation. “I have to say, Mr. Black that this is the longest conversation I believe we have ever had.”
“I do believe you are right,” he said, the familiar strict tone returning. He handed her an envelope and turned to go. “Have a good day, Miss Jenkins.
“You too,” she called out just before he disappeared from her office.
She looked down at the plain white envelope and turned it over, opening it and pulling out a single card.
Be ready for our date, tonight. 8pm
She flipped the card over to see if there was more, but it was blank. She laid her head on her shoulder, trying to imagine what he had planned for her.
“Is that what you are wearing tonight?” Lorena popped into Megan’s room, unannounced and looked at the light blue dress she had on like it was something from her grandmother’s closet. “Oh, no, no, no. Come here.” She took Megan’s hand and dragged her into her own room. She went through her closet and pulled out a little black dress. “This… is perfect for tonight.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, hesitant on whether she could pull it off.
“I am 100% positive. Grab those Jimmy Choos you showed me and the small black clutch you got from Paris.”
Megan took the dress and went back into her room. When she emerged a few minutes later, Lorena was nodding and smiling in approval.
“You are so happy and bubbly,” said Megan after getting used to the short black dress. “What gives?”
“I am seeing someone,” said Lorena. “From work.”
“Who is he? Give me the details.”
“His name is Ted Stratten and he is 28. Very beautiful and he said he can’t get enough of me.” She was giddy and extremely hyper as she spoke about her new love.
“That’s wonderful, Lorena. I am so happy for you.”
“Yeah, I guess guys aren’t so bad after all.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“Are you kidding me? You have two rich, gorgeous and very popular men fighting over you right now.” She put her hand on her hip, lowering her gaze at her and pursing her lips. “I don’t want to hear it.”
“Yeah, one is engaged to be married and the other one is my boss. No trouble there.”
“Megan, it is obvious that Jensen really cares for you. If he is still engaged, then maybe this is your opportunity to change all of that. He is giving you the open door to do so.”
“Oh, no! I am not going to be the other woman who breaks up a relationship. The only reason I am going out with him tonight is out of pure obligation. After this I am done with Jensen Dean.”
“Do you love him?” Lorena asked as if Megan didn’t just give a speech about dating the enemy.
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“You look nervous.”
“I’m petrified,” she said.
The doorbell chimed and Megan took a deep breath. “It’s him.”
“I’ll get it.”
Megan went back into her room and took a few deep breaths to try and calm her nerves as Lorena invited Jensen in. She applied more blush to her cheek bones and looked at her reflection in the mirror.
“Megan,” Lorena called from the living room. “Are you ready? Jensen is here.”
She picked up her clutch and walked out of the bedroom, locking her eyes on him as soon as she saw him.
God, he was handsome.
She felt a twitch in her stomach as she approached him. He smiled awkwardly but she didn’t reciprocate. She didn’t want him to think she wanted to go through with this date he paid so much for. She stopped a few feet from him and looked at Lorena. Lorena raised an eyebrow and nodded toward Jensen. An awkward silence festered between the three of them until Lorena pushed Megan toward Jensen.
“Well, have fun you two crazy kids.” She walked toward them trying to usher them out the door, shutting it behind them as soon as they got into the hallway.
Megan walked down the hall with Jensen directly behind her.
“You look lovely,” he said. She kept walking without a word.
He escorted her to his car and the driver took them through the city to his penthouse. Megan grew worried when it came into view. Her eyes shifted from one side of the house to the other until the car stopped out front. He got out and opened her door for her, offering his hand to help her out of the car.
“Why are we here? Can’t we go to a restaurant or something?”
“Just come on. Trust me.”
She scoffed and let him help her out.
He smiled and pressed the lift button when they got to it. The lift lowered and took them up into the penthouse. He led her through the living room and up to the rooftop where a small table was set up with a white table cloth, several candles and beautiful flowers as a centerpiece. Small twinkling fairy lights lined the walls and some of the most delectable food awaited them on a separate table.
“Shall we?” He put his arm out toward the table and let her lead the way. Soft music was filling the air from someplace, but looking around Megan couldn’t figure out where it was coming from.
He pulled her seat out for her and as she sat, he helped push her up to the table. He pulled a bottle of red wine from an ice bucket and popped the top, pouring her glass half full before filling his and putting the bottle back. He sat across from her and watched her face, smiling, his eyes dancing the same way they did the day she met him.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“Don’t, Megan. Please. Don’t spoil this. It will all be worth it in the end.”
“I’m sorry. You did pay…” she cleared her throat, “a lot of money for this date and I should oblige you.”
“I’ll take that, for now.”
She nibbled on the fresh spinach greens and pushed the beef tips around on her plate. When he saw that she wasn’t eating, he focused his attention to it.
“You need to eat,” he said, noticing how thin and frail she had gotten.
“I am really not that hungry.”
“Are you still having problems with your diet?”
“Just stressed out… mostly. It’s no big deal.”
“It is to me. Eat,” he demanded. “At least try one piece.”
She picked up a piece of a breadstick and forced herself to eat it.
“Did you find anything out on who might have drugged me that night at the club?”
“I’ve been working on it. We should know something very soon.” He picked up his wine and took a good drink before continuing. “I want to talk to you about Kristina.”
Megan’s eyes narrowed. “Can we not bring her up, at least this once?”
“We have to. She is a bitch, plain and simple.”
“I don’t care,” she interrupted. “I really don’t want to hear about her.”
He continued, regardless of her pleas. “I had to break up with her after she decided to take over my life and this was way before I even met you. She was so horrible that one of my staff members, who had been with me for years, quit. She moved in here without my knowledge while I was at work and I had a hell of a time trying to get her out of my life.”
Megan stayed quiet as he talked. She tried to convince herself that he was still telling lies, even though it all sounded completely believable. She picked at the food on her plate as he reached over and picked up a large folder. He handed it to her and waited for her to take it. She stayed quiet, but took the folder, opening it up and pulling out the contents. She set the empty folder in her lap and looked at the printed emails.
“These are all from her?” She flipped from one page to the next. “Why are you showing me these?”
“Read them.”
She took a deep breath and began to read. There were hundreds of them all dated just before she applied for the housekeeping position.
“She is unstable and seems to get off on stalking me. If you notice, some of those emails are direct threats to me, to ruin my life if I were to ever meet anyone else.”
Megan’s mouth dropped open as she read email after email, proving everything Jensen was trying to tell her.
“But why would she leave proof?”
“She isn’t the smartest cookie in the cookie jar.”
He held his phone out toward her and waited for her to take it. “Press the play button.”
She did what he asked and started to watch the video he had.
“This is… your office?”
“Yep. I have constant surveillance inside and outside my office.”
She watched as Tristan entered, shaking his hand and sitting opposite him on the other side of his desk. She took a deep breath as she realized it was the day she was sitting right outside the door. She wondered why she wasn’t caught on camera. A few minutes into the meeting she watched as Kristina flung his door open, slamming it shut and b-lining it over to him. She cupped the back of his head, straddled him and kissed him hard, right in front of Tristan. She fumbled with her hands, in between them as Jensen fought her off.
“Is she….” Megan looked closer. “Is she trying to take your pants off?”
“Yes, she is.”
She gasped.
“I believe this is the proof you were asking for?”
She slowly sets his phone on the table and looks up at him. She was speechless and mortified at herself for not believing him each and every time he attempted to tell her the truth. She remembered how horrible she treated him and all of the mistakes she made because she didn’t believe. Tears rimmed her eyes as she tried to think of something to say to somehow reconcile what she had done.
“Jensen,” she barely whispered. Tears fell from her eyes as he quickly got up and rushed around the table, picking her up out of her chair and kissing her with urgency. She pushed away from him and covered her face as she started to sob.
“I am… so sorry, Jensen.” She tried wiping the tears away, but they kept coming. “How can you ever forgive me? The things I put you through, the horrible things I said… did.”
He hugged her tightly and didn’t let go for a long time. He let her cry in his arms as he consoled her. He finally broke through and got her back into his arms. He breathed a sigh of relief as he stroked her hair. She looked up at him and kissed him hard. He deepened their kiss and felt her relentlessly tug at his tie.
“I want you,” she said breathlessly. He sat down in her chair and pulled her onto his lap, pulling her dress up and caressing her thighs. He hooked her thongs and pulled them to the side, quickly gliding his fingertips up and down the exposed area between her legs. He kissed her passionately and she moaned into his mouth, causing his body to react. He pressed into her as she leaned back toward the table. He slid his finger inside of her, running his other hand down the middle of her breasts and leaning forward, kissing her breasts through her dress.
“Make love to me, Jensen. Please,” she begged.
“All night long, baby. All night long.”
She panted and pushed her body into him as an orgasm came from out of nowhere and washed over her like fresh cool water putting out an inferno. She wrapped herself around him and buried her face into the crook of his neck. He stood up, with her in his arms and he carried her down off the roof and into the penthouse, where he carried her to his bedroom. He lay her on his bed, stripping her dress from her body and looking at her curves, hungry for her. He quickly pulled his suit off, leaving it in a disheveled pile on the floor before crawling onto the bed and imprisoning her underneath him. His kissed her several times, slowly, all over her face before kissing her mouth, deepening his kiss and sliding his tongue deep inside. She moaned and felt his cock, hard against her. He shifted just right and slid inside, fucking her slowly. Her arousal quickly returned. His hands slid up her body, to her breasts, his fingertips toying with her taut nipples. She cupped his ass as he pushed into her.
“I love you, Megan” he said in her ear. \
Goosebumps covered her body as she felt the warmth of his words and knew he meant it.“I love you too,” she breathed.
They made love well into the night and lost the entire next day as they rediscovered each other and fell completely in love.