Grayson
The next day she doesn’t show up for work and after I hear what she’s done, I buy an untraceable burner phone and send her a text.
Me: It’s me. Gray. We need to talk.
Izzy: You lied to me.
Me: Meet me at the Starbucks near work. I can explain.
Izzy: K
Slate drops me off, I order an espresso, and sit at a small table and wait with eyes on the door. My heart leaps when she enters, blond hair all windblown against a shapeless dark coat. Except for dark circles under her eyes and a chip on her shoulder, she looks great as she orders at the bar, then sits.
I’m not used to wanting a woman so bad that it aches and it stirs up my temper. “So, I heard you consulted with a lawyer? You’re taking me to court?”
Obviously, I should be drinking decaf because this is not how I meant to start off.
She eyes me as she blows across the coffee, lips pursed. “Why shouldn’t I?”
“You liked it.” Damn, even as angry as I am, I want to reach across the table, pull her to my lips and kiss that look away.
“What’re you talking about?” Her blue eyes narrow, surrounded by thick blond lashes.
“On the plane. You liked it.”
“My God. You think that’s what this is about?” She shakes her head and eyes me all superior-like.
“I apologize.”
“Good. I’ll hand in my resignation. You give me compensation until I find a new job and oh yeah, I want a good recommendation.”
“And why would I do that?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do? Besides. If not, my lawyer says I have enough to take you to court but not because of the airplane. It’s how Patten Securities treats women. All women.”
“You do that and it will come out that you’re an alcoholic. No one will ever hire you again.”
“Whaaaat?” She stands, the table wobbles, and the last of my coffee splats over my boots. “Why the hell would you make up shit like that? I only had two drinks with you and that’s because I’m afraid of flying. Never would’ve happened if you hadn’t put me in first class.”
“No one forced those drinks down your throat.” I dab at my jeans with a napkin, glaring bullets into her.
“What the fuck? I don’t have a problem! You do. Where’s this coming from?” Her voice goes up a notch and a few people catch it on their phones but frankly, I don’t give a flying fuck.
I can’t believe I’m standing and shouting at her in public. “Tell me that meeting last night was not an al-anon meeting.”
“Just a second.” She rummages through her purse, pulls out a card, and slaps it down on the table.
Dr. Simone Darby
Specializing in adult survivors of sexual abuse
“That’s our group.”
Oh fuck.
Isabella has tears welling in the corners of her eyes. Her eyebrows are raised, fists clenched, and she swipes a sleeve across her face. “Are you happy, now? Huh? It’s not a twelve step. At least not in the way you mean it.”
I don’t think I’ve ever felt more like a heel. “I’m sorry. Sit please. I really, truly am sorry.”
“Don’t be. Write me a nice letter of recommendation, get out of my life, and that will be payment enough, okay? And I’m sorry I let you touch me and that I kissed you on the plane. I’m working on that.” Her ears are that bright shade of red and she uses a napkin to blow her nose.
Blaming herself for what happened is unacceptable so I block her way. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Lashes wet with tears raise up and my gut tightens.
That should be my sign to smarten up and get the hell out of Dodge but I’ve never been that bright and never before had such intense feelings.
“You shouldn’t apologize for me touching you or for kissing me. Sit down and talk. Let’s work this out as adults.” I pull out her chair and hold my breath, hoping I can find a way to make this right.
“Just drop it. Okay? It never happened.”
When I gently push on her shoulders, she sits, looking so miserable, I would do anything to go back in time and fix things. “Listen. I want you to stay at Patten.”
“No.” Her heart-shaped chin juts out, her lips quiver, and I cover her hands with mine.
From now on, I’m going to take care of her, whether she likes it or not. “You signed a non-compete clause. I’ll see to it no one else hires you.”
“After all you did, you would hold me to that?” Her hurt is cutting me in two but I can’t let her go.
I convince myself it’s about the Houston project but it’s not. I’ve never felt this way about a woman and I know she feels the same. We just need some time to figure this out.
“I’ll double your salary and you only have to stay until we go public.”
With lips pursed, she sits and sips on her coffee watching customers come and go before answering. “Okay, I’ll stay if you agree to one more thing.”
“What’s that.”
“You need to review the evidence I have on Patten Securities.” She unfolds her laptop, turns it toward me, and plays back a video of two people being interviewed. First a young woman and then a man.
Shit. They’re asked two completely different types of questions.
At one point the female interviewee is pulled aside and told, “This is not some cushy job. You may need to stay up all night, long hours. Are you up for that? Do you have a sitter?”
The man was patted on the back, asked some generic questions about his college background and salary requirements.
Then, Isabella hands me their resumes and I moan. The woman was way more qualified for the job than the male. So, this is what she brought to her lawyer. This kind of thing, even if I lose in court, could send my dad’s company into the shitter. I can’t believe she’s giving me a way out.
“Don’t tell me. Xavier hired this one.” I hold up the man’s resume.
“Well, duh.” Her eyes roll.
“If I promise to deal with this, you’ll come back and work for me? I really need you in Houston.”
“You got more problems than just this. The attitude about women is companywide. It comes from the top down.”
“For example?”
“I had one project manager tell me that woman are too emotional.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Let me try putting another minority in there. Black people are too emotional.”
“Keep your voice down.”
“I had another guy, when I disagreed with him tell me I didn’t understand the problem.”
“So?”
“Dammit, Patten. I understood the problem, I just disagreed about the best way to fix it. He made it sound like I was a complete moron and shut me down.”
“I think you’re just being paranoid.”
“No, I’m not. Women in this company aren’t given the same opportunities to advance and even when we are, we’re too quiet or too abrasive. Hell, it’s a wonder any females stay but I’m through. I got an interview with Google. I just need your personal recommendation. Make something up or I swear, I’ll put this video onto YouTube.”
“You wouldn’t.” After reading more about Isabella, I know she’s the reason my dad’s had huge successes, recently. I really do need her and in more ways than one.
Suddenly, a guy sitting at the next table stands up and introduces himself, holding up his phone. “Hi, I’m Monty from Money Talks Blog. Care to comment?”
I can’t fucking believe this. “You set me up, Isabella? Damn you’re good.”
“Wait, no. I didn’t.” She shuts her computer and tries to keep me from leaving by pulling on my wool coat.
Monty steps in front of her with his phone jutted out like a microphone. “Isabella Harte, right? You work for his father. Did you know this man is Grayson Patten, now CEO of Patten Securities? Are you screwing him?”
Izzy’s eyes go wide. “Huh, no. I didn’t know...”
“That’s good, because that might be something his prospective shareholders would want to know.” The asshat holds up his phone and when I try to snatch it out of his hands, he quickly pulls it out of my reach.
I could get it but not without an assault charge to go along with all his other accusations.
Ah fuck. I’ve known that this kind of shit happens to billionaires all the time. I just never expected it to happen to me. I’ve been so damn careful for years.
It’s Isabella. She makes me stupid.
I turn to her and clap real slow-like three times. “Perfect performance. Don’t bother to come to work tomorrow.”
“What about your promise?”
“I’ll hire someone to come in and clean up this mess. You aren’t indispensable Ms. Harte.”
“But I never-”
“Goodbye Ms. Harte.”
“Ohhh. You are so, damn, stupid.” She stamps her foot, digs into her purse, and throws a crumpled twenty onto the table.
Then she’s gone. Out the door and out of my life. Probably, forever. Not only that, I can kiss the government deal in Houston goodbye.
Before I can put my coat on, there’s a loud screech and the awful bang of crumpling metal. People start pointing out the front window with eyes wide.
A woman rushes in and shouts, “Oh my God. Someone call 911. A woman was hit by a car! Is there a doctor?”
A guy jumps out of his chair and I follow him out the door.
It can’t be her. No way. Shit.
Cars honk while bloody blond hair rests against the pavement, a body crumpled under a dark coat.
Is it her? I can’t be sure.
“Someone, let me through.” I push a few pedestrians aside and drop to my knees.
“Step back.” The guy who’d rushed out of the coffee shop checks her neck for a pulse.
I can’t see her face, dammit. I need to see.
I reach to turn the bloodied face toward me but at the tap on my shoulder, I turn. My heart nearly explodes with relief as I stand and wrap my arms around Isabella, my face in her hair.
“I thought she was you.” After a bit, I loosen my grip and she looks up at me, eyes all wide, face pale.
“The car never stopped. It was if he was aiming right for me. I jumped back but that poor girl got hit.”
I pick up my phone and text Slate my address while the sirens in the distance get louder. Soon, a couple cruisers park on the curb along with three ambulances.
A big cop gets out and waves his hands at the gathering crowd. “You people should move along.”
However, Isabella steps forward and juts out that heart-shaped chin. “Excuse me, officer. I saw the whole thing. I got a partial plate.”
While she gives him all the details, I write down the number and my fears grow worse. Three near misses in one week is no coincidence.
The asshat from Money Talks Blog talks in front of his phone, no doubt hoping to make the eleven o’clock news.
Then, he points the phone at me, “Something you want to say?”
“You post anything and I’ll shut you down tighter than a clam’s ass.”
“Can I quote you?” He starts working his thumbs on the keys.
“Try it.” I walk Isabella away from him with my arm around her shoulder. “You need to come home with me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Something similar happened to me last week. Until I’m sure it’s unrelated, you should stay close, in case they try again.”
She looks down at the blood that splattered on her wool coat and takes it off despite the wind chill of twenty-degrees. “I’m fine. I just need to drop this off at the cleaners.”
“We’ll do that. Get in the car, okay?” I don’t like the blank look on her face and by the time I get her home, I’m glad I insisted because she’s sobbing unconsolably.
I turn on the gas fireplace in the living room and pour her a drink.
After taking a sip, she makes a face and asks, “Can I have ice? It’s too strong.”
“Better?” It pains me but I put a couple of cubes in my twenty-five-year-old bourbon.
She nods, her face still pale. “That poor girl. Do you think she’ll be okay?”
“She’s getting the best care money can buy.” I made sure of that as we made our way uptown. Whatever the reason, some asshole is after me and an innocent got caught in the crosshairs.
What if he had accomplished his goal? What if it was Isabella in the hospital or worse?
“Hold me, okay? I’m so cold.” She stands, puts her silky blond head on my chest, and wraps her arms around my waist.
Ah hell, up to now, I was doing fine. In fact, I’d just convinced myself not to take advantage despite what I’d overheard in the hotel in Houston. If Isabella doesn’t kiss me back, I’ll lock her in the spare bedroom. After that, I’ll take a cold shower.
Lifting her chin, I catch her heated gaze, and wait for her to close the few millimeters between us.
Her silky lips touch mine, she closes her eyes, and moans.
I break apart so I can apologize. “I’m sorry. For everything. What I did in the airplane was unforgiveable.”
“It wasn’t all that bad. All you did was squeeze my knee and kiss me back.” Her cold fingertips dig to the back of my neck making chills run up and down my spine.
I nip at her lower lip, feeling bad about how I tried to seduce her. I’ve never done anything like that before. Something about Isabella makes my brain turn to mush.
Shutting down my self-talk filled with doubts, my tongue spars with hers and I reach under her shirt to feel more of her skin. She slips her hands up my back, and it’s so right, I fucking shiver. When her knees go weak, I pull her butt up and her long legs wrap around me.
Then, she stops, takes a deep breath, and stares.
“What?”
A sly smile crosses her face. “I’m supposed to think before I act.”
“And?” My heart races. “Do I need to let you go?”
She shakes her head back and forth, blond locks flying. “No. I’m done.”
“Good.” I walk her down the hall with her heels locked behind my back. Then I release her onto the bed and gape at her beauty.
“You sure, Isabella? You had a pretty close call. Maybe this is a reaction to it.”
“That’s just it. When that car was coming for me, all I could think about was how life is too short. We should go for this, I mean, if you want to.” Her shy look is so damn sweet, it’s hard to believe she’s the same woman who stormed into my office threatening to sue me.
My t-shirt goes up and over my head and I climb onto the bed next to her. We share kisses, our desire growing as we slowly explore the newness of each other.
Before long, she tosses her t-shirt over her head, exposing a lacy black bra and my fingers are drawn to her lush curves.
“You’re so damn beautiful,” is the best I can manage.
For the longest time I caress her and kiss her, finding out what makes her sigh. My mouth clamps around her breast, sucking the lace until its soaked and her nipples hard.
When her nails dig into my back, I feel for a clasp at the back of the bra. Frustrated, I stop, about to rip the sexy thing off her body.
“Hold on.” Laughing, she twists a tiny plastic tab in the front which magically frees her bountiful D cups.
Damn, she’s so fine. I straddle her, sit on my heels, and caress that playground of flesh until she moans, and arches. That’s when I unbutton her jeans and reach between her legs.
“Fuck, Izzy. You’re so wet.”
As a kind of answer, she slides out of her jeans, leaving only a tiny black thong.
She’s the sexiest thing ever with blond hair mussed up all over the place and her thick lashes half closed. When a pink tongue comes out, some kind of animal noise comes out from deep within me.
I climb up to find her mouth, she rubs her mound against my cock, and slides a hand in to release the top button of my jeans. Then, her fingers wrap around me.
Ah fuck.
I grab both her wrists in one hand and pull them over her head. With her locked in place, I slide a finger down to her soaking pussy while I kiss her into oblivion.
She moans when I let go to kick off my shoes and struggle out of my pants. Then, I ease onto my knees and open her legs. Her raised-up pearl glistens and I circle around it with my tongue, watching it grow while Isabella shivers.
She pulls my hair, and opens her legs wider.
My cock thickens at her begging and I place one finger into her and curl it toward her G-spot.
“Oh, oh…” The sound of her panting drives me wild.
With a lick over her clit, she screams and comes hard. Then, I scramble up her body, place my cock at her slickness and thrust up, filling her fully, balls to her core.
“Oh my God.” She digs her heels into my back and holds on tight while I slowly start to increase my pace.
Each time I rock in, I think I may go mad with the intenseness of it all but hold back because of the ecstasy on her face.
“Grayson. Oh yeah.”
I stop moving as her inner muscles tighten once again and nibble a breast until I know it might hurt but she arches up for more.
When I pull out fully, she squirms and cries out.
With one hand I hold myself at her entrance, sliding against her clit.
“Ah, ah…” Her breath sucks in, she gets all frozen-like, and I plunge to the bone.
She goes wild, rocking and bucking so I roll her on top. She rides me like I’m a fucking stallion and we go at it like this until she screams out with a second orgasm. It’s so damn hot I spurt my hot juices into her.
Then she falls onto my chest, panting, soaked in sweat and my cum.
“Damn, Isabella. You are so, so hell, I don’t know. So out of this fucking world.”
Her chin rests on my chest as she flashes me a big smile. “Right back atcha.”
Then, I sleep soundly for the first time in ages.