CHAPTER 11
CHRIS
Getting that text from Ali two weeks ago was enough for me. It confirmed what Jenny thought: Ali wasn’t being totally truthful when she left me that day. Because my editor was adamant that the girl loved me, and merely tongue-tied and tangled every which way. Okay fine. I’ll take it for what it’s worth. It still doesn’t change the fact that I declared my love, only to be trampled on.
But I haven’t given up because maybe Ali’s just confused. She’s young, after all, and doesn’t realize that what we have is precious. So it’s my job to make her see it, and I’ve been working like a fiend as a result. Jenny and I spent the last two weeks preparing materials to bring to the board to convince them that this fucking dating rule is ridiculous. Obviously not in those words, but I think we’ve prepared well for this. We have a real chance of convincing the board to change the guidelines.
And today, the board’s gathered in our conference room of Carmichael Publishing. Who knows what they’re discussing while we wait, but I really don’t care. Only Ali concerns me now.
Jenny meets me in my office ten minutes before our appointed time. “You ready for this, Chris?”
I pick up my stack of papers, which includes the best chapter of my girl’s novel, as well as statistics about dating in the workplace. “I’m ready. Do you think it’ll work?”
“I hope so. I don’t want to lose this book.”
At this point, the book is nothing to me frankly. I just don’t want to lose her.
We walk to the other side of the office floor and knock on the conference room door. Steven, the chairman, lets us in.
“Right on time,” he says, gesturing for the table. Jenny and I take the only two empty seats in the room. The board is made up of four women and three men. They make business related-decisions and stop me from doing anything stupid. Like sleep with one of our authors.
Steven returns to the head of the table and sits down. “Next up on the agenda, Ali Hartman.”
A murmur travels through the group, but Steven silences them with a harsh look. “We’re here to decide if Ali Hartman’s novel should be published by this company. Ali and our CEO have had a sexual relationship, which makes her a liability to us.”
“The relationship has ended,” I say calmly. “And the sexual relationship had nothing to do with her contract. The contract was our standard one, and duly executed by the author.”
“I don’t know, Chris. She could use this to hurt us,” Monica says. A forty year-old mother of three, Monica is practical and realistic. Her grey-flecked chestnut hair is piled on top of her head in a tasteful bun. “It might not be the best idea to keep her book in the catalogue given liability issues.”
Liability, schmiability. I stand with my stack of papers and hand the sample chapter out to the group. “This is the novel you’re considering turning away over my indiscretion.”
A couple board members roll their eyes.
“Chris, we don’t need to read the project. We’re here for business. We don’t do editing. That’s your job.”
But I’m insistent.
“This is our business. Books. You need to read it to understand why it’s important we publish this manuscript. Take your time. I’ll wait.”
It takes the group all too long to read the chapter. Jenny and I went through the entire book to pick the one that would evoke the most emotion without any context. Luckily, Ali sent her final revisions over last week and the chapter we have on hand is perfect. The main character, Sarah, just discovered that her father is a serial killer and offed her entire family. All of the board members have tears in their eyes when they finish reading.
“I get it now,” Monica says quietly. She discreetly wipes her eyes while the rest of the board murmurs in agreement.
But Steven’s a fucking hardass.
“This is a huge risk,” he says. His voice is hoarse. “But if we don’t publish this, someone else will pick it up and it’s going to be a giant hit.” He turns to me. “Is she worth the risk, Chris?”
“Yes,” Jenny and I say at the same time. Some of the board members laugh.
“All those in favor of publishing Ali Hartman’s book, say ‘Aye.’”
All the voting members of the board chorus “aye.” I can’t believe it. Ali’s in! My heart races because I can’t wait to tell her that everything’s okay and that her book is going to be published by Carmichael Publishing. But there’s something else we have to deal with.
“If that’s everything on the agenda, I hereby call this meeting of the board ….” But before Steven can adjourn the meeting, I interrupt him.
“There’s something else I’d like to propose,” I say, standing up. I hand out the packet I’ve prepared with statistics on why dating in the workplace isn’t harmful and a proposed new rule to add to the handbook. “I think the workplace intraoffice dating guideline needs to be overturned.”
“Chris,” Steven starts.
“Hear me out, guys. I know why the rule is in place. Hell, I was a champion for the rule when we first formed the board. It helps protect everyone from sexual assault allegations. But the thing is, sometimes when you work with people, you fall for them. Putting a rule in place to stop true love from prospering is unfair.”
“You have power over authors, Chris,” says Monica reasonably. “It’s inherently an imbalanced relationship. We can’t just have you dating a bunch of women willy-nilly. They could sue us. Think of the #MeToo movement, and the revolution that’s caused. Public opinion isn’t in your favor.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to date a bunch of women. I want her, specifically. And there’s no power dynamic. I am willing to sign an addendum to her contract that says I will be completely hands-off in any books Ali does for us. I won’t have any say in her work.”
Steven contemplates this. “We can arrange for that, but we don’t have to change the entire policy for you.”
“Actually, Steven,” Monica pipes up, idly twisting her pen, “Chris has a point. Look at his updated policy. It says that relationships within departments have to be reported to HR. No relationships with your direct supervisor. And relationships between departments are fine and don’t need to be reported. It makes sense. Allowing people to date isn’t going to cause rampant assault. Hell, half the employees are already dating under the table,” she adds wryly. “They’re just terrified of being caught.”
I laugh. She’s right. There’s at least one couple in my office that I know of. I’ve kept their secret because I care about them. If this new policy passes the board, then they won’t have to hide their relationship anymore.
“Exactly,” I say smoothly. “It’s not just about me. We want to foster a safe and open workplace. If we change the policy and it goes haywire, we can revisit the issue. I think we should give it a shot though.”
Steven sighs. “Okay fine. Everyone take a look at Chris’s proposed policy change.”
The group flips to the page containing my proposal. Jenny and I put a lot of thought into it. We also talked with legal to make sure it wasn’t against any of our current policies.
“I don’t see anything wrong with this,” Monica says reasonably, glancing at the rest of the group. “It’s well thought out and seems on par with the usual policies you’d find in a workplace like ours.”
Steven reads the whole thing through. “It looks good. We’ll have to get legal to sign off on it officially though,” he says, before staring at me pointedly. “Although it looks like you’ve already run it by them?”
I shrug, not wanting to show my hand. “Maybe a little. What do you say?”
Steven sighs again.
“All those in favor of Chris’ proposed change to the dating rule, say ‘aye.’”
All of the board members say ‘aye.’
I can barely contain my excitement. This meeting went better than I expected. Of course, I’d hoped the board would go for it, but I wasn’t sure. Immediately, I want out of there. I need to go to her. Jenny and I excuse ourselves, and as soon as the door closes, my editor turns to me with excitement.
“OMG I’m going to go call Ali and tell her she’s in!” Jenny says.
“Wait,” I say, grabbing her arm before she can run off. “Can I tell her?”
Jenny smiles knowingly. “Sure boss. I’ll call her agent. You can tell Ali yourself.”
“Hold on a sec. I need her address.”
Jenny laughs. “I have it at my desk. Let me call Darla and make sure Ali will be home, too. Because doesn’t she live out in the burbs? That’s quite a drive.”
Jenny and I practically run to her desk. She dials Darla’s number while I key Ali’s address into my phone.
“Hi Darla, it’s Jenny from Carmichael Publishing,” Jenny burbles into the receiver. “I’m well. How are you?” Jenny waits for Darla to respond and then says, “Listen, the board meeting went great. They’ve agreed to let Ali stay on as an author.”
I hear Darla’s excited scream through the phone. Smiling, Jenny pulls it away from her ear. “Yeah, we’re really excited, too. There’s something else. The board has revised the company dating policy.” Darla screams again, making me smile. “Yeah, exactly. We were just wondering if Ali is home? Chris wants to tell her the good news himself. In person, if you get what I mean.”
Darla voice returns to a normal decibel because I can no longer hear her. Jenny says “okay” a few times and then they hang up.
“Good news. Darla says Ali is working at home today, so she should be there.”
I high-five my editor. “Thank you so much. I’m going to rock her world.”
Jenny’s face scrunches. “TMI, boss. See you tomorrow.”
“Later,” I say with a wink.
I call my driver and ask him to meet me out front as I head to the elevator. I keep a driver on call in case the weather sucks, or if I have to go to a meeting that’s more than a mile away. The driver programs the address into his GPS and says he’ll meet me out front in five minutes.
Unfortunately, the ride to her place takes forty-five minutes with the city traffic. I wish I could’ve teleported into Ali’s apartment, but I can’t, so I settle for the long wait, impatiently tapping my foot the entire ride. Thankfully, it gives me more time to think about what to say to her.
I send my driver away as soon as we arrive. I can take the train back into the city if Ali turns me away.
And standing there in the middle of suburbia, I feel more nervous than I ever have in my life. But I force myself to knock. There’s a rustling inside and then the door opens, revealing my beautiful brunette.
“Chris?” she says, clearly surprised. She’s wearing pajama pants and a tank top without a bra. Her nipples strain against the flimsy cotton, the same ones I’ve tasted on three occasions.
Temporarily distracted by how amazing she looks, I stare at her for too long.
“Chris?” she repeats. “What are you doing here?”
“The board met today. You’re still in the catalog.”
Ali gasps, then jumps up and down in excitement. “That’s amazing. Thank you so much!” She throws herself into my arms. “I’m so happy. My dream is coming true!”
We pull apart and our eyes meet. Ali tries to step back but I hold her against me. “Something else happened today,” I add on a serious note. “The board agreed to change the dating policy at Carmichael Publishing. That means, if you’ll have me, we can be together.”
Ali’s eyes roam over my face, hungrily and yet with tenderness. She must find what she was looking for because she crashes her lips onto mine, pulling me into the apartment and slamming the door simultaneously.
She pulls away for just a second so that she can say, “Don’t worry, my door locks automatically. No one will interrupt us.”
I lift her so that her gorgeous legs are around my hips and walk her toward where I assume the bedroom is. I don’t make it that far. I pin her against the wall and attack her neck.
“Yes,” she moans as I find the sensitive spot behind her ear.
My hand finds the doorknob, and I push the door to her bedroom open. I toss Ali down on the bed and yank off my shirt.
She giggles as she stares at my chest. “We’ve never done this before.”
“Oh yeah?” I say, removing her tank top. I kiss her breasts, working my way to her nipples. She moans when I suck on her satin skin, no doubt leaving a mark. I like the idea of branding her as mine. “I seem to remember we’ve done this a few times.”
“Never in a bed,” she giggles breathlessly.
“I plan on doing it in a lot of places,” I rasp. “Starting with your bed.”
She giggles again, and I return my attention to her nipples. Her breasts are extremely sensitive. Ali unbuckles my belt and pulls down my slacks. I return the favor and remove her pajamas. For the first time ever, we’re both completely naked in a bed together.
I could get used to this feeling.
“I believe we were in the middle of this when we were rudely interrupted,” I growl.
I kiss her lips tenderly, taking the time to savor the touch and feel of her softness against me. But Ali has an agenda as well.
“There’s something I want to say first,” she says breathlessly. “Chris Carmichael, I love you.”
My heart beats like a fucking drum because the words sound so good. The air chokes in my chest but I can’t break down like a fucking baby. Not now. I need to tell her what’s lodged in my throat as well.
“I love you, too,” I manage. “More than you can imagine.”
The words set me off. I kiss her harder. Screw taking it slow. I need to be inside her now. I keep kissing her while my fingers find her pussy. She’s soaked for me, and I slide two fingers inside as deep as I can go.
“Oh, God,” Ali moans. I could get used to hearing her crying like this every day. It’s even better when she does it with my cock inside her. And now that I know she’s plenty wet, I adjust myself above her. I line my cock up with her soaked pussy and push inside.
“Yes,” she moans, eyes falling closed. “Deeper, unnnh. You feel so good.”
I listen to her beg and push in as far as I can go.
“Your pussy was made for me, baby,” I murmur against her lips. “It’s curved to the shape of my cock. No other cock has ever been in here, and no other cock ever will.”
She nods breathlessly.
“My pussy’s yours,” she says in a throaty whisper. “It belongs to you, Chris.”
I pound into her, snaking a hand between us to stroke her clit.
“I’m so close,” Ali breathes. I thrust faster and rub harder. “I’m coming,” she screams. Being quiet doesn’t matter anymore. If we want to shout the roof down, then so be it.
“I’m close, too, baby. I’m going to come in you.”
“Please,” she begs. “Come in me. Fill me up.”
Her words and her clenching pussy push me over the edge. I lodge myself deep inside her and spurt a massive load, the virile sperm gushing into her twat. She gasps as I release, writhing with pleasure.
“Yes, Chris,” she squeals. “Yes, give it all to me! Drain your dick in my pussy!”
And fuck, but it only makes me come more. I spurt and spurt and spurt, gallons of seed rushing into that pretty cunt. She comes as well, her vaginal spasms pulling my deposit even deeper into that fertile body. But everything good ends at some point, and careful not to crush her, I collapse on my side, rolling away from that curvy form. We take a few minutes to catch our breath and then Ali snuggles up against me and closes her eyes.
“I love this,” she says quietly. Her breathing evens out as she drifts off.
“I love you,” I say, kissing the top of her head. And I drift off as well with the most amazing girl in the world sleeping against my chest. Because who could have guessed this would happen? I moved the world for my woman. I wanted Ali Hartman so badly that I took on the board, and changed the rules of the game. I re-fashioned the world so that I could be with this gorgeous female. And now that she’s here, in my arms, I plan on keeping her by my side forever … for better or worse, for the rest of our days.