Chapter 15
Cole
“Mr. Crayton?”
I tore my gaze away from the sinful sight of Violet’s ass from where she was bent over, rifling through a filing cabinet. My dick was hard and throbbing. It was a good thing I was seated behind my desk because the bulge in my pants was noticeable. Very noticeable.
“What?” I quipped, irritated and horny as hell. “What were you saying, Cheryl?”
Cheryl tapped a finger impatiently on a file she set on my desk. “I said, these contracts need your signature and approval before I go to FedEx. I need to get there in the next hour to make it on time.”
“Oh, right.”
I glanced down at the contracts in the file for a group of new clients on the west coast. They were estimated to bring in an extra million a year. I scribbled my name down on the bottom of the contracts before handing them off to Cheryl.
“Make sure they get there on time,” I said and ignored the exasperated sigh. “It’s nearly lunch time, too. Can you pick up the floor some food?”
Cheryl’s jaw dropped in surprise. “You want me to get lunch for the entire floor?”
No. I just want some time alone with Violet.
I gritted my teeth as I pulled out my wallet and tossed the company American Express to Cheryl. She picked it up with wide eyes.
“You all deserve some lunch,” I said. “Just pick up whatever you think is easy to bring back here for everyone.”
“If you’re sure,” Cheryl said, pocketing the card. “I don’t know what’s gotten into your sudden generosity here, but I like it. Whatever is making you happy, I hope you keep it around.”
She winked at me before disappearing out of my office. Our conversation from two weeks ago played in my head again. There was talk, I was sure, over the nature of Violet’s position as my personal assistant. She stayed late with me over the past few days, but I was careful to leave after her departure to head straight to her apartment outside of Manhattan. We ordered in food. We made love every single night.
I was happy. Maybe even generous as Cheryl noted. I felt young again and careless, even though I was still cautious. I didn’t know where this was going to go, but for once in my life, all I wanted to do was enjoy what I had now.
“Mr. Crayton?”
I glanced down at my phone at the sound of Violet’s voice. She was twisted around in her chair, looking at me nervously.
“What?” I asked.
“My father is on line two,” she said. “He said he needs to talk with you right away. I tried to tell him you were about to step out for lunch.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’ll take the call if you can shut the door.”
“Of course.”
She rose from her desk to shut the door, closing out the busy sounds of the office behind her. I stared down the flashing light for a few seconds. It wasn’t possible that Alan found out about Violet spending the weekend at my house in the Hamptons. As strict as Violet’s parents were, they didn’t keep close enough tabs to know that Violet had spent the night at my house— in my bed.
“Fuck,” I groaned, rubbing my face in aggravation. I still needed to have a very serious conversation with Violet about where this was going. The last thing I wanted to do was put myself between her and her parents.
I just couldn’t let go. No matter how much I told myself to let this go, to let Violet enjoy life as a twenty-one-year-old young woman, I couldn’t let her go. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that this needed to be over before one of us fell for each other.
I didn’t like the sick feeling in my stomach, either, when I picked up the phone and pressed line two with a heavy sigh.
“This is Cole Crayton,” I said, briskly. “What can I help you with?”
“Since when do you sound so fucking normal on the phone?” Alan asked.
His teasing tone immediately eased the tension out of me.
“Since the day I built this business from the ground up,” I said. “I assume there’s a reason why you are calling me in the middle of the afternoon?”
“Look, I didn’t want to call and bother you, but Gloria is asking me to talk to you about Violet.”
“Okay,” I said, slowly. “What does she want you to talk to me about?”
“It’s her schedule. Gloria is worried that Violet is getting ill, or unable to deal with the stress of being your personal assistant. She came home upset this weekend, but wouldn’t tell either one of us what was going on.”
Guilt burned the back of my throat. She was upset because of me, Alan. I fucked her, and then messed up by telling her to leave. I shook those thoughts away.
“She hasn’t mentioned a word to me about feeling upset or tired,” I managed to say in an even voice. “I’ll make sure to talk to her about having a good balance between work and life. I don’t want her to feel stressed out.”
“That’s what I told Gloria, but she insisted that I talk to you about it. I know that you don’t have any kids, but Violet is our baby. Even if she’s all grown up, we still worry about her.”
My skin felt hot and itchy as I rubbed at the back of my neck with a sigh. “I understand. I’ll make sure to have a talk with her. If she doesn’t say anything, then there isn’t anything that I can do.”
“I understand that. Just promise to keep an eye out on her. Make sure she’s eating and sleeping.” Alan sighed into the phone. “If you don’t, then you’re going to have to answer to Gloria. You and I both know how that will go down.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on her.”
I let the phone drop back in the cradle. What the fuck was I doing? That sense of peace no longer felt peaceful. Guilt bubbled in me bitterly as I got up from my desk to gaze out across Manhattan.
“Cole?”
The office door opened. I turned to watch as Violet popped her head in through the crack. She looked over at me in concern before stepping inside fully and then shut the door behind herself.
“Mr. Crayton,” I reminded her crossly. “We’re in the office, Violet. You can’t address me so personally here.”
Violet’s eyes widened at my tone. “Everyone has left for lunch break. Cheryl said that you gave her the company credit card to get everyone lunch, but I wanted to see what my father wanted.”
“He wanted to make sure that you were okay.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it,” I echoed, and walked over to the small cabinet I kept whiskey in. It was tempting to pour myself a drink even though it was the lunch hour in the middle of a work day. I needed something to take the edge off after that conversation. “Violet, I don’t know how much more I can—”
“Don’t.”
The harshly spoken word caught me off guard. Violet’s eyes were shimmering brightly with an indescribable emotion. It was a mixture of frustration and lust that instantly set my blood ablaze.
“I’m twenty-two years old,” she started, approaching me with confident steps. “I can have a relationship without anyone’s approval—including my parents. They don’t control what I do, or who I chose to do.”
Alarm bells went off in my head as Violet rounded my desk, but I couldn’t force myself to move away. A part of me squirmed anxiously to see where this was going to lead. My cock was still hard and begging for another release. That was the enticing power Violet had over me. She appeared so innocent, so quiet, but when pushed to the limit, a new side of her emerged. A confident and sexy young woman who refused to take no for an answer.
“You don’t understand the position I’ve put myself in,” I said. “I’m your father’s best friend. We’ve been friends for a long time, and I know he will never agree to this sort of thing happening between us.”
Violet’s fingers hooked onto my belt. “Any other excuses you can think of?”
“I’m your boss,” I said as Violet’s deft fingers undid my belt. I reached down to halt her progress, but Violet’s hands batted mine away impatiently. She could feel my arousal straining for her touch. “This isn’t appropriate. You name it, Vi. Do you know how people are going to look at us if this keeps going?”
“I don’t care how anyone else looks at us,” Violet said. “You shouldn’t worry about it either. Who’s to judge? Everyone has had a relationship that no one else approves of, and yet, they are still happy with who they are with.”
She had me there. What arguments I had left disappeared the second that Violet’s hands dipped down to stroke me with confidence. My eyes slipped closed as I gave into that carnal desire that had been clawing at the back of my mind for the past few days in the office. It was unbearable having Violet working in the office so close to me. There were times that the temptation to bend her over my desk, to hike those tight skirts she wore up, and fuck her wildly was so strong that I had to go for long walks outside to calm down.
Violet’s lips were hot and needy on mine when she leaned up on tiptoes to kiss me. I kissed her back, taking over easily as I wound my arms around her tiny waist. I grasped her ass cheeks firmly in both my hands and coaxed her to wrap her legs around my waist. Our tongues tangled aggressively as I stumbled blindly to the couch near the window before sinking down with Violet underneath me. I nipped and sucked at the column of her neck desperately while I worked at the buttons of her blouse.
“Wait a moment,” Violet whispered, pushing my hands away from her breasts. “Sit up for a moment.”
I reluctantly leaned back to sit down as she ordered. I eyed her suspiciously as she smoothed out her blouse before leaning in to kiss me again. Before I could deepen the kiss, she pulled back with a mischievous giggle.
“I’m in charge this time,” she said. “Sit back and relax.”
There was no relaxing, though. Violet bent over my lap then, and hot lips engulfed my hard shaft. She sucked and licked me greedily until my senses were utterly frayed from the pleasure of it. My fingers clenched at Violet’s hair as I debated on whether or not that I wanted to finish like this. Coming inside of Violet was the best sensation, but this whole new sensation of Violet’s mouth was topping it. Her previous attempts at oral pleasure felt good but were always timid and unsure. Right now, the confident sucking was completely different, and it was unhinging me in all the right ways.
My peak came hard and fast. My world went black with pleasure as I grabbed a hold of Violet’s head with a guttural cry, pounding into the wetness of her mouth without a care if it was choking her. I released into the back of her throat before pulling back quickly with a jagged breath.
“Violet?” I panted, smoothing her blonde hair back from her head. “Are you okay?”
She leaned up to sit on her knees, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. Her pale cheeks were flushed a bright red while her lips and mouth were swollen from our arduous activity.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Was that better than before?”
My heart was pounding wildly in my chest as I looked over at her in surprise. “It’s always been amazing. Where did you learn to do that?”
“I did some research on the internet. I wanted to make sure it felt good for you because you’ve always given me the best pleasure before letting yourself go.”
“It was amazing,” I said and leaned into peck a kiss on her lips. “We better get cleaned up before everyone comes back from lunch.”
Violet smoothed her rumpled clothes the best she could before helping me do the same. She leaned in to kiss me one last time before opening my office door, pausing to catch my eyes with a smile.
The second Violet walked out of my office, I sat down in my office chair with a sigh. I could at least get through the day now without a hard on, but it didn’t replace the uneasiness now lingering in my mind. Walking away from Violet was going to be impossible. Our sexual chemistry was something new to me. The previous times had been meaningless—even with Stephanie, it had become routine. None of it ever felt this exciting, or even comforting. Just the one weekend alone with Violet had solidified the fact that I enjoyed spending my free time with her. There was more to Violet than being Alan Summer’s daughter. She was quick in the office, level-headed when it came to decisions, and did her job without a single complaint. She was eager and curious to learn everything, something that I inwardly loved about her.
There was more to it than sex. I could feel it every time Violet looked over at me with that soft smile on her lips. I was falling for her one day at a time. There was no doubt in my mind about that, but for now, I had to figure out where this was going to lead. I couldn’t afford to let any of this come out just yet. Not before I talked to Violet, and certainly not before I talked with Alan.