Chapter 11

Tanner

I sat at the table, my mind completely lost in thought. I had fucked the hell out of Ava the night before, and I couldn’t get it off my mind. It was so hot, raw, and needy, and even afterward, as we ate takeout and talked, I wanted to fuck her again. Usually, when I had satisfied my want for a woman, it was easy for me to walk away, but this woman had latched herself into my brain and my cock, and I couldn’t even begin to describe how bad it was driving me crazy. I thought it was annoying before when I couldn’t get her off my mind, but now it was ten times worse.

I ran my hands over my face and grabbed my cup of coffee, walking through the open living room of my penthouse and standing at the floor-to-ceiling windows. I looked out over the cityscape, thinking about the last couple of weeks. It had been nuts, and Ava had changed everything from the first moment she stepped into the room. How could someone so young, so inexperienced in the world, grab my attention with such force and ferocity? I was starting to think I was losing my mind and my grip on the reality of the situation.

A yawn escaped my mouth, and I leaned my forehead against the cold glass. I was exhausted, but I didn’t foresee any sleep coming to me. After we had finished eating, I left, neither one of us saying anything about me spending the night. I hadn’t spent the night with a woman in a very, very long time. She was worried her parents would show up to check on her and find me there in her bed, something I couldn’t help but chuckle about when I imagined Dean’s face. When I got home, I took a long, hot shower, still finding my cock wanting to struggle past being rock-hard and knowing it wasn’t getting any more of Ava that night. I had climbed into bed and switched on the television, thinking that taking my mind off her would help me relax, but as I flipped through late-night movies and terrible infomercials, all I could do was replay that hot sex over and over again in my head. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep but maybe two hours, and that was after my body was so exhausted from struggling that it finally gave out.

The sun came flooding through my windows a couple of hours later, and as soon as my eyes opened, I started thinking about Ava again. I lay there, letting my brain go wherever it wanted, not wanting to fight it. Finally, I had drug myself out of the bed and fixed a pot of coffee, figuring if nothing else, I would call her in a bit and see what she was doing. We had ripped into each other, all the restraint that had been there days prior just falling to the ground. It was the first time since I got divorced over twenty years before that I had fucked a girl and actually wanted to see her again. It wasn’t forced or wanted, it just was there, and I couldn’t control it. Her eyes, her smile, her hair, those hips, it all ran through my mind repeatedly without any internal power to stop it. I was almost going crazy thinking about how bad I wanted to see her face and hear her voice.

I walked over and plopped down on the couch, setting my coffee on the coffee table. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, trying to shake all of it from my mind. The sex had been hot, raw, and amazing. There was no question about that, but there was more to it, and that was what was making me nervous. There was a chemistry between us that I couldn’t get off my mind. We clicked, every step of the way, and we had since the first day. She was ambitious, realistic, and didn’t live in the fantasy world that most girls her age did. She had been brought up in a world where she was spoiled and rich, but knowing her father, he’d been honest and forthright about how life really was when you were out on your own. This may have been her first real job, but she handled herself like a veteran, and that crossed over into her personal life as well. It wasn’t necessarily that she was extremely grown up, but she was responsible and put her dreams ahead of her wants at every turn. Well, almost every turn. Last night, she definitely gave into something that she had wanted just as long as I had.

I could sit there all day thinking about her, or I could give in to my nagging need to see her. There was no use fighting it anymore. That ship had sailed as her pouty lips ran over the head of my cock the night before. I reached down and adjusted myself, my dick already hardening at the thought of her sucking it. I was torturing myself, and it was absolutely useless. I got up from the couch and tucked my half chub into the waistband of my boxers before walking into the kitchen and grabbing my phone. What was the worst that could happen? Maybe she doesn’t answer, but if she did, I could take her out to breakfast and maybe bring her back to my place for a little Sunday fun day. I didn’t have any problem spending all day banging her all over my penthouse. There were a lot of rooms, and I was more than ready for her.

I dialed the number and sat there, listening to the ring. There was a good possibility she wasn’t even awake yet. Finally, around the fourth ring, she picked up, the sound of the shower going in the background. Immediately, I pictured her naked body glistening through the hot steam in her bathroom.

“Hey there, sexy,” I said.

“Hey,” she replied, something strange in her voice.

“Whatcha’ doing?”

“I was getting ready to jump in the shower,” she replied. “I just woke up a few minutes ago.”

“Sleep well?”

“Like a freaking rock.” She laughed.

“You’re welcome,” I teased. “When you’re done showering, why don’t you get dressed, and I’ll pick you up for breakfast? Then, we can come back to my place and lounge around.”

“That sounds nice, but I can’t,” she said with little emotion. “My father called this morning, and he wanted to talk and check on me. He’s on his way over now. I think he’s bringing our normal Sunday bagels and coffee that we did when I was home from college in the summers. I don’t want to disappoint him.”

“Of course not,” I said, covering up my disappointment. “How about dinner? We can go out to the water and eat at one of the restaurants out there.”

She was silent for a moment, and I felt my stomach drop, sensing that our time apart might have changed her outlook on everything. I didn’t think that one night would make her run screaming in the other direction. However, as a young woman new in the business world, I could see her pushing back from sleeping with her boss.

“Tanner,” she sighed. “Look, last night was fucking incredible, but I don’t think I can do this. I mean, between you being my boss and my father hating your guts, I feel like this is a recipe for disaster. I want to be a part of your company, someone who makes a significant difference, and I want to be taken seriously. I don’t think anyone will take me seriously if they find out I’m fucking the owner of the company. I’ll end up falling to the wayside, being labeled as the girl who made her way to the top by sleeping her way there. That’s not the life I want. I think you are great, super sexy, and I can’t get last night off my mind, but I have to. I have to keep this professional. Well, as professional as I possibly can at this point.”

“Okay,” I said, not sure what to say. “You sound pretty resolute in your decision, so I’m not going to try to talk you out of it. I’ll see you at work tomorrow then.”

“Thank you for understanding,” she said with a sigh.

When we hung up the phone, I stood there staring down at the blank screen. Hell, I didn’t want to be understanding. What I wanted was to go to her house and rip off her clothes and melt that resolve right away, but I couldn’t. Not because her father was there, but because I needed to respect how she felt about it. Besides, maybe it was a good thing. I was getting incredibly wrapped up in this woman, in a way I had never done before. I was starting to forget things at work, not being as productive as I wanted to be, and catching feelings when she didn’t return my affection. I had told myself a long time ago that I wasn’t going to fall for that. I wasn’t going to get involved with anyone, especially not someone who worked for me.

My company had come leaps and bounds above what I had thought it would be, but I wasn’t at a stopping point yet. I knew if I stayed stagnant, if my mind fixated on other things, I would never make this merger work to its top ability. I had the opportunity to expand my company across the world, and that had been a dream I never thought I would be able to reach. For the last couple weeks, though, I found myself becoming complacent, happier to have Ava on my mind than to keep pushing through the stagnation that would happen every so often with the company. It was hard to spend over twenty years pushing every single day with unwavering motivation. Sometimes, it got exhausting, and I was pretty sure I was using Ava as an excuse to give in to that.

I shook my head and tossed my phone in my bag. I walked into the bedroom and grabbed some office casual clothing, brushed my teeth, did my hair, and looked at myself in the mirror. Through the aged skin and peppered hair, I could still see that young kid determined to make his dreams come true. Though I felt more like Dean than that kid recently, I knew it was time to step up my game again. One too many days off was a weakness, and I could easily lose everything I was working so hard for.

I grabbed my bag and left the penthouse, getting back to my normal schedule of working at the office on the weekend. I needed to do this for me, for the company, and to get Ava off my mind before I completely lost it for this girl. She had made her decision, and I had to respect that. Sitting around moping and wishing wasn’t going to change that. There was no time for crap like that in my life, and going into the office was what I needed to remind myself of that fact.

I walked out of the lobby of the complex and the cool autumn air hit me in the face. It was a beautiful morning in New York, and my office building was shimmering and glowing in the sunlight. I walked across the street and through the lobby of the building, waving at the normal guard. He stepped out of the office and walked over to me.

“Mr. Johnson,” he said scanning my entrée card. “I missed you last weekend.”

“Yeah.” I chuckled. “I got a bit distracted, but I’m back.”

I walked over to the elevator and got in, trying to act like everything was normal. Instead, thoughts of Ava were swirling around in my brain, and it was driving me crazy.