Chapter 27

Grant

Crissy hadn’t even left the office yesterday before she had plans with Dylan, and I had to admit that burned my blood. There was something off about that Dylan character. Ever since he started hanging around Crissy’s desk those first few days, I saw the look in his eye. I didn’t want to step on Crissy’s toes with this little operation of hers, partially because I knew it would work, but I wanted to keep her safe. She reassured me no rules would be broken, but we were far past those asinine rules.

I wanted her safe.

I knew where they were going, and I knew what time they’d be there. By the time 7:45 p.m. crept up, I was a mess. It was Saturday, and usually I would be doing something with her. Taking her out to dinner, teaching her a new lesson, having that little ass of hers in the back of my car. But instead she was out to meet another man, and I didn’t like that.

Not one fucking bit.

My phone buzzed, and I picked it up from the table. It was a message from Crissy saying she’d gotten to Hound Dogs all right. I got up and paced, my hands gripping one another behind my back. Dylan was gonna pull something. I just knew it. So, I sent her a message back to be careful. I told her not to drink too much and let the ice water down her drinks if she insisted on drinking.

But personally, I wanted to command her to not drink at all.

When she didn’t return my text, I got nervous. I couldn’t stand here all night and wait for her while she was out with some other dude. This was Crissy, and she was with a guy who wanted to undress her, have her, wine her and dine her. My mind got the best of me, and I ripped my scarf and a hat from my coat rack before I grabbed a pair of sunglasses. As long as I stayed out of sight of the two of them, I could make sure she was safe.

And make sure Dylan didn’t pull anything stupid.

I got into my car and headed to the bar they were meeting at, and I realized it was actually a night club. That meant drinks and grinding on one another, and that already had my gut churning with anger. I knew I was crossing a line, following her like this, but what the fuck was she thinking? I knew Crissy well enough to know that Hound Dogs would’ve been her idea in the first fucking place. This had her written all over it. Why the fuck would she bring some dude here? It gave the impression she wanted to dance closely with him. It gave men like Dylan permission to touch her.

I pulled into the parking lot and searched for Crissy’s car. I saw it parked in the corner, way off in the distance. Every fucking choice she had already made was wrong, and I knew in that instant I’d made a terrible choice. Why did she park her car so far away from the brightly lit entrance?

I wanted to trust her. I wanted to believe her when she told me she’d be all right, that no rules would be broken. I wanted to trust Dylan, but that was impossible. I saw how he drooled all over her and made pathetic excuses to come see her. I knew he was still asking about her around the junior executive office, and I even knew Alex probably wouldn’t have an issue with them going out.

My mind ran away from me. I slipped on my scarf and hat and got past the bouncer as my mind began to whirl. What else was she doing to entice him out? Was she sending him pictures? Maybe of her beautiful breasts with those tasty little barbells? The rules I’d set forth didn’t extend to messaging and flirting with other men, and I felt my jealousy rage out of control.

I knew no one would recognize me in the jeans and black T-shirt I was wearing, but when I got into the club I put on the sunglasses anyway. I blended in with the crowd just fine, and I cased the inside of the club until I found them. Crissy had the two of them sitting on a bench by the dance floor, drinks in their hands while Dylan sat way too fucking close for my taste.

I went up to the tables on the balcony that overlooked the dance floor and took a seat.

Dylan was rubbing his hand slowly along Crissy’s knee. She was giggling, putting on her dumb-ass routine, but all I wanted to do was break the man’s fingers. Didn’t he know who she belonged to? Who treated her better than he ever could? I sat on the edge of my chair, poised and ready to attack should anything happen to her. Crissy was precious, and while she was doing this for me, I cursed myself for ever allowing it.

Crissy got up, throwing her drink away before she dragged Dylan to the floor. My jaw clenched as he willingly went, his hands settling on her hips as they swayed to the music. I’d break that man’s fucking arms if he touched more of that beautiful body. Only men who were worthy could have a body like Crissy’s beneath their touch at night.

And Dylan was anything but worthy.

Time and again, a bartender came up and give them drinks. Dylan had obviously worked something out with the bartender, and I suddenly wanted to break that guy’s arms, too. Dylan thought he was hot shit by having some bartender bring her drinks. He could never give her what I could, and I knew Crissy knew that deep down in her gut. But she willingly took every single drink she was handed and didn’t wait any longer than she had to before she downed them. Her dancing turned to fumbling, and soon Dylan’s jowls were flapping while Crissy nodded her head and listened intently.

Maybe she’d finally gotten him to open up, and if that was the case, then this was done. They didn’t need to interact any more as far as I was concerned, and she could go home. Hell, I’d have to drive her home with the amount of alcohol she now had in her system.

Even with her swaying against Dylan’s body, he handed her another drink that she took willingly. I had no idea what the fuck she was trying to prove, but the only thing I could hope was she’d talked to the bartender, too. Maybe she was being handed virgin drinks and she was simply acting drunk, but the light sheen of sweat on her forehead told me otherwise. She needed to slow down before she got into trouble.

I watched as Dylan pulled her closer and closer. This was done. This entire fucking thing was over.

I got to my feet as the two of them made their way off the floor. I was going to fuck Crissy hard. So hard that the memory of that douchebag’s hands would be wiped from her mind. I was going to remind her what I could do to her, what I could elicit from her, how I could take care of her in ways no other man could.

Especially not the likes of Dylan.

I made my way downstairs and over to the bar where they sat, and I paused to listen to their conversation. Crissy’s statements were obviously slurred, but I was impressed with the information she was pulling from Dylan. She was using her “dumb drunk woman” persona in order to get him talking about the acquisition, and I heard him admit that he knew about it. He admitted that he knew the board wasn’t prepared but that Alex himself had pulled the research part of the job from them days ago. That told me more than anything else would have, and I had to commend Crissy for how slick she was being.

She was being manipulative. Conniving, but with a purpose. She was still coherent enough to remember what it was she was doing, and while I no longer approved of the circumstances, she was growing into a woman I’d love to keep. She would prove to be very useful in the business world, and I found myself wanting to keep her as my personal assistant as long as I could.

And honestly, I wanted to keep her at my side as long as I could.

But would that be an option? Could that ever be an option? I was two and a half decades her senior, and her father was my best friend. Was keeping this woman I was molding and watching grow an option without the risk of losing my friendship with her father? Or the company we’d built? Before, I would have gladly took the sneaking around we were doing against the option that I might not have her at all, but now that didn’t seem like enough.

I wanted more with her, and I surprised myself by admitting that.

When I came to, however, the pair of them were gone. Panic rose in my throat as I looked around the dance floor. I didn’t see them, so I ran back up to the balcony in order to case the entire club.

They were no longer there.