Ashley

“Jimmy’s right. You shouldn’t worry about that stuck up bitch.”

“Cass. Good hell, could you have said that any louder?” I asked.

“Possibly. Want me to try?” she asked.

“No, but thanks for the offer?”

“Look, what Nina did at dinner was wrong, but Jimmy handled it well. Very well, actually. Ash, he kicked some dumbass women out of a restaurant for you. Then took you for a dinner in the park. Underneath the stars. You didn’t talk his ear off about them, did you?”

“I may have told him a few things,” I said.

“Ugh. Ashley. No man wants to hear about the backstory of the constellation Andromeda.”

“Well, he enjoyed it enough to come up to my apartment afterward,” I said with a smile.

“You didn’t,” she said.

“Not all the way. But he did enjoy himself on my body a bit.”

“You didn’t!”

“Cass, it was so good. He was so good.”

“Did he stay? Please tell me he stayed.”

“I wanted him to afterward, but before that, I told him it probably wasn’t a good idea. He stuck with that notion instead of giving into what I said afterward.”

“So, he’s polite, rich, good in bed, and a gentleman? Does he have a brother?” she asked.

“You’re so bad,” I said.

“And apparently you’re not far behind.”

It was nice to get coffee with Cassidy before work. We’d made it a thing now that I could afford to splurge on morning coffee. Especially since I’d spilled the beans that Jimmy and I were now apparently a “thing.” Which I didn’t mind, but I was still worried about Nina. I was concerned about her wiggling her way into whatever relationship we were trying to figure out because of her prior relationship with him. When money was involved, people always got desperate.

There were many times where I would’ve done almost anything to get a few more bucks in my pocket.

“You’re worrying again. I see it on your face,” Cass said.

“I know you guys are right, and I hear you, but I’m still worried about Nina,” I said.

“Don’t let it ruin your chances with Jimmy, that’s all I’m asking. You’re happier than I’ve seen you in a long time. Don’t let this stupid woman ruin it for you.”

“I’ll try not to,” I said.

I hugged Cass’s neck before the two of us parted ways for work. My mind kept going back to last night, how good his tongue was and how wonderful his kiss had felt on my bare skin. I enjoyed his touch, and I enjoyed his body against mine, but that taste of him wasn’t nearly enough. My body was still riding that high, and my nipples kept puckering at the most inopportune moments.

I wouldn't have complained one bit if Jimmy had taken me right there in my bedroom last night.

I walked by Jimmy’s office, trying to ready myself for the day. I peeked in and saw he wasn’t there and felt a bubble of disappointment roll my gut. Was everything okay? He was usually in his office by now. I fumbled with my office keys, opened my door, turned the light on, and sighed.

The view from my office was gorgeous, and I’d never get used to it greeting me.

“Good morning.”

I jumped at the sound of Jimmy’s voice, and I almost dropped my coffee. The two of us shared a laugh as he picked my purse up off the floor. Then he came in and shut my door. I walked over to set my coffee down and reclined on the edge of my desk.

“The power stance. It looks good on you,” he said.

“Figured I’d give it a try. It’s not very often you come into my office,” I said.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay. You know, from last night.”

“I’m wonderful,” I said. “But thank you for asking.”

“Good,” he said as he walked to me. “That’s good to hear.”

He was standing in front of me, toe to toe as his eyes held mine. I felt the heat rising in the room and the desire for him tugging at my gut. My nipples were already standing at attention behind my bra, and I could feel my knees growing weak.

Just one kiss.

That was all I needed.

I grabbed his suit coat and pulled him into me, crashing our lips together. I wanted him. Desperately. I wanted him to wipe everything off my desk and take me right there on it. His hands fell to my hips as my legs spread for him, his body stepping between them as he towered over my form. His hand came up to cup my cheek, our lips releasing before our forehead connected.

We were heaving, breathing one another’s air as our eyes stayed closed.

I felt his grasp on me as I looked down. I saw his pants tented, the indentation of his thick cock pressed against the fabric. I moaned at the sight as Jimmy kissed my ear, trailing his lips down my neck and nipping at my skin.

I felt him leaning me back onto my desk as my legs wrapped around him.

“I can’t stop thinking about last night,” Jimmy said.

“I wished I could’ve had more of you,” I said breathlessly.

“I could lock the office door, press you against the windows, and show you off to the world as they walk by unaware of the beauty above them.”

I whimpered at his words as his hand teased my breasts. He ran his finger along where he knew my nipple would be, and I jumped. I felt his cock pulse against my thigh. My head was spinning, and my mind was at a standstill.

But the sound of heels walking to my office cut the moment short.

Jimmy pulled himself away and stuffed his hand down his pants. He rearranged himself as I fixed my clothing. The heels continued to walk by as we held our breath, and then we started laughing as they receded down the hallway.

“Not a good idea, is it?” I asked.

“Maybe not now,” Jimmy said. “But at eight in the evening when everyone’s gone? Possibly.”

The darkness in his eyes heated my core as I bit down on my lower lip. I had to get work done. I had to get focused and ready for the day. Jimmy bent down and placed a kiss on my neck, causing my eyes to roll back as he grinned.

“Have a good day, Miss Ternbeau.”

Then in a flash, he was gone.

I flopped down into my chair and tried to focus on what I was doing. I pulled up some balance sheets from earlier, a favor I was doing for the accounting department. They hadn’t found a replacement for me yet, and removing me meant they were swamped. Since the investor’s accounts were all settled for now, I had the time to do them a solid.

Especially since it gave me leverage over Mr. Brent.

I looked back over the numbers and noticed some irregularities. I’d made notes about them yesterday, but I wanted to triple-check and make sure I was right. One look became two, and two became three, and by the time lunch rolled around, I was knee-deep in numbers that weren’t right and not even halfway finished with my other responsibilities. I kept calculating numbers and highlighting things, making notes in the margins of the papers I’d printed out in my office.

Something was wrong, just like those balance sheets from before. At first, I thought it could have been the algorithm being used, a wrong number or symbol in the equation itself. After looking over the numbers yet again, though, I wasn’t so sure anymore.

“Ashley?”

“Yes, Jimmy?”

“You wanna take a break for lunch?”

I sighed as I lifted my head, my mind racing with questions I needed answers to.

“I can’t,” I said. “I’ve got a lot to get done here.”

“Want me to send you something up then? I could sit at your desk and eat while you work,” he said.

“That’s very kind of you, but I really need to focus.”

“I’ll send something up for you to munch on anyway. Sans my presence. Don’t work yourself too hard, though. And take a break at some point in time.”

“Will do. Promise.”

I didn’t feel I could bring up the irregularities to him yet. I wasn't sure why they were occurring, and it could be a malfunction in the tech somewhere, which meant it was a job for IT, not accounting.

My door opened, and I smelled a beautiful plate of noodles heading in my direction. I looked up and saw Jimmy standing there, a tray of vegetable lo mein in his hand. I sighed and cocked my head, giggling as I shook my head.

“Sans your presence?” I asked.

“I’m just the delivery boy today,” Jimmy said. “Nothing else.”

“Delivery boy. That could get fun.”

I watched his eyes light up as he made his way to my desk.

I shuffled the balance sheets out of view so he wouldn't see what I was doing. If there was something wrong, I wanted all the answers before I went to him. That was my job, after all, bringing him issues as well as probable solutions.

That and he would probably get upset with Mr. Brent again.

“I will need you in some meetings this afternoon, so make sure you’re in my office by two.”

“Is there an investor’s meeting I forgot about?” I asked.

“No, but the yearly budget meetings are coming up. I’d like you to jot down the numbers and take notes. You know, things that’ll help us figure out what the coming budgets for the departments should be.”

“I’ll be there,” I said with a smile.

He set my food down and eyed me before he left the office. He knew something was up. He knew something was amiss, but since he wasn’t pressing it, that meant he trusted me with it. I looked at the clock and saw it was almost one in the afternoon, so I grabbed the noodles and began eating them. I kept taking notes and running numbers as I mindlessly ate, finding more and more problems the further I dug into the balance sheets.

What in the world was going on?