Chapter 6

Oliver

I needed a distraction and not the kind I’d been relying on for the last couple of days. The weekend I’d taken away had only served to underline the fact I wanted Mona so desperately, it was going to take more than just getting out of the city to get her out of my head.

I needed something intense and business related. Some work I could bury myself in. Something that would require my undivided attention.

I had gone to my apartment out in the countryside, not too far from the city, but far enough to take me away from the office and remind me there was, indeed, a world outside of work. I fished, hiked, worked out, drank scotch, and enjoyed my time off. But I couldn’t successfully eliminate the memory of what had transpired with Mona in the office on Friday evening.

When she walked back in the door, I was relieved because, for a second, it seemed as though she felt it too. She too was aware of the intense, unmistakable, undeniable electricity between us, and she had come back to consummate those feelings.

When I took that step toward her, I saw her react to my movement. Her lips had opened, her cheeks had flushed, and she had matched my actions, moving toward me at the same time. If she hadn’t blurted out that she had come for her bag, I was prepared to throw her down on the desk and fuck her right there and then.

I’d left at once, driving a little too fast in an attempt to burn off excess tension and sexual energy, and arrived in record time to the country house.

As I went about my weekend, I couldn’t help but imagine her joining me in everything I did. I wondered if she’d gone fishing before, where she grew up, if she considered herself more of a country girl or a city one.

I wanted to know her, to really know her. Then again, maybe it was just my libido getting confused and making me think I actually had feelings for this girl when all I wanted to do was fuck her. It wouldn’t have been the first time.

When I returned to the office, I knew it was time to focus on work. It would be hard to spend too long mooning over her if I were wrapped up in a challenging deal, and I had the perfect one in which not escape– the Masterson deal.

We had been courting Masterson and Co. for more than two years, and they were our white whale. They were a British company who had first reached out to Artemis Tech about promoting a product of theirs eighteen months ago. They were hugely successful in Britain, and I knew if we could secure them for the US, we’d be on to something lucrative.

I had been chipping away at them for months now, but still hadn’t managed to get them to commit. Now seemed the perfect time to finally get them on board. If anything were challenging enough to get my mind off Mona, it was securing Masterson.

I called Neil up to the office first thing in the morning to let him know what I was planning. He sat across from me as I laid out my game plan, and his eyebrows raised higher and higher with each new detail. When I was done, he paused for a moment and eyed me suspiciously.

“What is it?” I asked, shifting back and forth in my seat.

Neil knew me better than anyone, and I had the feeling he had seen straight through my plan.

“It seems like a lot of work,” he began slowly. “For something we don’t necessarily need at this time.”

“Are you saying I shouldn’t do it?” I asked, cocking my head at him, defensively.

He held his hands up.

“I didn’t say that,” he replied, calmly, “but I think you have to figure out why, exactly, you’re doing this.”

“To land the deal,” I shot back, firmly.

He looked at me for a moment, and I could tell he was considering whether or not it was worth it to call me out on my obvious lie.

“Is it about her?”

Neil jerked his head toward Mona’s office door.

Mona wasn’t in yet, and I had no idea how we were going to interact, given what happened on Friday. The thought made me nervous, and I hoped I could get out of the office by then.

“What do you mean?” I demanded, assuming if I went hard then he might back down and forget about it.

“I know she’s your type and that you don’t have a whole lot of restraint when it comes to the women who work for you,” he pointed out.

I could tell he was trying to be delicate despite the bluntness of his words.

“I don’t think of her like that,” I lied, swiftly, rolling my eyes and dismissing him. “I just want to land this deal, that’s all.”

“As long as that’s all that it is,” he warned. “We can’t afford a repeat of the Jeannie situation.”

“I know, I know,” I shot back, crabbily.

He was right, but I didn’t want to admit it. Everything that happened with Jeannie had been pretty fucking unpleasant, and I had no desire to relive something like that again.

“You sure? We can find someone else. Move her to another part of the company. We don’t have to dissolve her contract. It’ll be fine.”

“No, no,” I shook my head. “I’m not interested in her like that. And besides, she’s a good assistant. I don’t want anyone else working for me right now.”

“Whatever you say.”

Neil nodded in agreement, rising to his feet.

That was the thing about Neil. At the end of the day, he did trust me. He would put everything in place to cover our bases if things didn’t go to plan, but he did trust me, and I appreciated that more than he knew. I just had to earn his trust now, with the Mona thing, one way or another.

“Good luck with Masterson, and keep me updated,” he said over his shoulder as he went for the door.

“Of course,” I agreed and watched him leave.

I hated that everyone knew about what happened with Jeannie and me, but that’s how it worked in a building like this. I should have kept it in my pants if I didn’t want a scandal. I wondered if Mona knew about all that yet. I’d be surprised if someone hadn’t told her, but then, maybe they at least had the good sense not to scare her off so early in the game.

I ducked out early to go down to resources and pick up the files on all the interactions we’d had with Masterson over the last year and a half. I could have sent Mona to do it, but I wanted to put off seeing her for as long as was humanly possible. Even with my new found resolve, I wanted to avoid any uncomfortable situations.

If she walked into our office and told me she wanted me right then and there, I knew all thoughts of this new deal would go straight out of my head, and I would be completely unable to resist her.

I collected everything we had and went back upstairs. Mona’s office door was open just a crack. I took a deep breath and stepped inside, making sure she could hear me come in so I wouldn’t have to directly alert her to my arrival.

She stuck her head out a moment later. Her hair was down around her shoulders, thick and wavy, and all I wanted was to rake my fingers through it as I kissed her hungrily.

Damn it! So much for resolve..

“Good morning,” she said shyly and nodding, her cheeks flushed. “Good weekend?”

“Yes, thanks,” I replied. Better if you had been there.“Could you clear my schedule of anything not totally vital for the next few days? I want to focus on something new, and I’m going to need all the time I can get.”

“Of course,” she replied smoothly, her tone impenetrable. “What are you working on?”

“A new deal,” I replied, vaguely. “Well, an old one, but this time I’m going to make it happen.”

“Sounds interesting,” she said, grinning. “Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help.”

“I will.”

I nodded as she ducked back inside her office. I found my heart was thumping in my chest, almost dangerously fast for a man of my age. Jesus, I would need to work a little harder if just one mild conversation with her was enough to put me in this state.

I sat down at my desk and focused. I had to go over our full history with the Masterson group and figure out what approaches worked best with them. Soon enough, I had completely lost myself in my work and had forgotten about everything else, even Mona.

When I was confident in the best way to begin, I sent off an email and was surprised when I heard back within minutes from James Masterson himself, agreeing to speak with me later in the day.

The rest of the afternoon sped by as I focused on my work, and it wasn’t until Mona stuck her head back out of her office with a panicked look on her face that I so much as looked up from my desk.

“What’s up?” I asked, and a flash of amusement played on her face before she responded, as though what she had to say was pretty juicy.

“There are two women downstairs waiting for you,” she announced. “Tracy Clements and Kyra Tan?”

“Oh, fuck!”

I got to my feet.

“Didn’t you cancel all my appointments?”

“I did,” she said. “Or at least, I tried to. Seems like Ms. Tan didn’t get the message, and Ms. Clements is here of her own accord.”

“Fuck,” I muttered.

Tracy and I had split up months before. Hell, we had hardly been in a relationship to begin with. What was she doing here?

Kyra, I had planned to meet with around this time, but I was hoping to avoid that conversation. It was never fun cutting things off for good, even if I was pretty sure she knew it was for the best.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

I looked down at my papers. James was due to call any minute, so I couldn't go downstairs and give them the send off they both deserved.

I knew Kyra would be furious with me if she thought I’d been seeing Tracy at the same time I’d been dating her. This had every chance of turning into a giant cluster fuck, and it was the last thing I needed on this particular Monday afternoon.

“Stall them,” I said, getting to my feet. “If you can, get rid of them both, and make sure they don’t lay eyes on each other if at all possible.”

She lingered for a moment, regarding me with a playful smirk. I think she knew exactly what was going on, and she had every intention of jibing me for it.

I looked up at her expectantly, and she vanished back into the office for a moment before emerging with her jacket on.

“I’m on my way,” she assured me, and a few seconds later, she was off toward the elevator. I hoped she could find a way to keep my exes at bay, if only for the time being.