Part of me thought it couldn’t possibly be her. I mean, after all this time, I couldn’t imagine that I’d end up seeing Sofia again.

But once I was in that room, looking her in the eye, it suddenly became real. There’s the girl I still think about sometimes, the girl I knew I could never touch, the darkest desire I’ve always tried to keep hidden inside of myself. She was just a teenager back then, a girl in high school, and even though she was eighteen when we kissed it was still so incredibly wrong.

Sometimes I’m ashamed of it, but I can’t help myself. There’s something about her, and she still has it. I can see that intensity in her eyes, although she’s all grown up now. Gone is any semblance of young softness, replaced by the full warmth of being a woman. She’s got curves in all the right fucking places, basically.

She’s even more gorgeous now than she was back then. A single photo didn’t do her justice. I couldn’t stop staring at her, I had to force myself to act normal and to look at every other person in the room. But I couldn’t help but notice that look of surprise and recognition in her eyes, and I know she remembers me. I know she was thinking about the same thing I was.

That moment we shared. That kiss, how fucking hot it was, how fucking wrong.

And it’s still wrong to want her. Maybe not in the same way, but she’s my employee. I’m not supposed to get involved with employees at all, especially not right now when things aren’t exactly stable for me in the company. Karl would use any excuse to try and get me fired, and he does have some support in the board.

I just can’t stop thinking about her though. It’s dangerous as hell, but I’ve never been the kind of man to back down from something that I want.

The next day, after seeing Sofia again for the first time, I have a meeting with the board first thing in the morning. I come into the office, get my usual coffee, check my messages, and head down to the boardroom.

I figure it’s going to be another boring ass meeting. I’ll pretend to give a shit as the old idiots drones on about sales figures and income, completely ignoring the important parts of our company like how many people we’ve helped and how many lives we’ve changed. With them, it’s all bottom line and nothing else.

But as soon as I get into the room, I know something’s off. Maybe I’ve been too distracted with Sofia this past day, but I’m not expecting this at all.

Standing at the head of the room is Karl. He has a PowerPoint presentation up on the projector and he’s in the middle of talking about a slide when I walk in.

“Ah, there he is,” Peter Booth says. I glance over at his white hair, his ruddy face, the wrinkles on his jowls. He’s heavyset with the look of a man that’s been drinking his whole life. And he happens to be Karl’s biggest supporter. “We thought you weren’t going to show.”

“This was scheduled for nine thirty,” I say, frowning at the group.

“It got moved,” Peter says. “Karl here has a very interesting presentation to give. We did wait, you know.”

I glance over at Byron Teller, one of my earliest supporters, and he just shrugs.

“My secretary must not have been updated,” I say, taking my seat. “I’ll have a word with her.”

“Anyway, as I was saying,” Karl continues, falling back into his presentation.

I didn’t know he was speaking today. I’m supposed to be updated on any board activities, but clearly this was kept from me. I bet the timing change was kept from me too, just to make me look weak in this moment.

And as Karl speaks, I can tell why. Immediately I’m uncomfortable and more than a little angry. Karl’s talking about changing metrics and demographics, and how we can more easily leverage them. He’s talking about variable pricing, increasing things like hidden fees and taxes, and cutting costs by utilizing older, out-of-date books and materials.

“As you can see, gentlemen,” Karl concludes, “there is a lot more money out there for us. We simply need to be brave enough to grasp it.”

The board claps, though Byron throws me an uncomfortable look. I’m seething in my seat, horrified about what I just witnessed, but the rest of the board seems happy about it.

“Well, that was wonderful,” Peter says as Karl takes a seat on the periphery of the table. “Any comments?”

“Just one,” I say quickly, and the table goes quiet. “If we forget our mission, we will be lost. Cutting costs and increasing revenue is all well and good, but if we fail our students, we will fail as a company.”

“Agreed,” Byron says immediately as the board members murmur to each other.

“Thank you, Jacob,” Peter says. “We all know your views. Anyone else?”

The board launches into discussions of textbooks and other boring and useless details. I glance over at Karl, and the smug look on his face makes me so angry I can barely stand it.

This was a fucking ambush. They purposefully kept me from coming here on time to knock me off guard and didn’t tell me about Karl’s presentation to keep me ignorant of it all. This was all done on purpose, and I fucking know it.

Things are happening in this company that are beyond my control, but I need to do something before we’re all ruined. Quest Education is about helping people by providing them inexpensive education opportunities. If we start gouging them on pricing and providing them with an inferior product, we’re going to not only lose our humanity, but we’ll lose all our customers. Providing a quality service is a huge part of what this company is all about.

I wish the others could see that. The meeting ends and we filter back out. Byron is in conversation with another member and gives me an apologetic look. Apparently even he doesn’t want to speak with me right now. I head toward my office, seething, not in the mood to get bogged down in conversation with these backstabbing bastards.

I shut my office door and sit down in my chair, sighing as I lean back. As soon as I close my eyes to try and calm myself, a memory comes back to me, completely unbidden.

It’s the first time I met Sofia. She was sitting in the back of the class on my first day, and I remember skimming the faces of my students. I remember seeing her bright, sharp eyes, and the little smile that crossed her face. My heart started beating so fast as she leaned forward, eyebrows raised, meeting my gaze. It was this incredible moment, so unguarded and intense and seductive, and I’ve never forgotten that.

Sofia is so incredibly sexy, and I don’t think she realizes it. There’s something subtle about her, not in your face or flashy at all. It’s a little smile, the quirk of an eyebrow, the hint of cleavage, the promise of curves. It’s the suggestion that beneath her exterior, there’s something so much more.

I got a glimpse of it every day in class with her. And for a brief moment, I broke down and I tasted it.

Now she’s back in my life. I’m under assault in my own house, and maybe she’s the perfect thing for me right now. Maybe Sofia can help me release some of this pent-up stress and anger.

It’s a bad idea. If I get caught with her, my enemies may pounce and fuck shit up even worse. But just thinking about her now, her curves, her lips, I can’t control myself. My cock gets hard and I want to march down to her cubicle right now, drag her away from her boring computer, and fuck her senseless right here in the office.

I press my intercom button. “Minnie,” I say. “Can you clear my morning?”

“Of course,” she says. “Anything else?”

“No disturbances or distractions,” I answer. “Thanks.”

“Sure. Have a good morning.” She clicks off and I smile to myself.

There. Minnie, my secretary of many years, will keep the vultures away.

I unbuckle my belt and reach down my slacks. I grasp my cock and slowly stroke myself, root to tip, imagining what I’d do to Sofia.

Maybe I can’t actually fuck her. But at least I can picture what it would be like.

Sliding my fat cock between her legs. Spanking her perky ass. Making her get on her knees and beg for it as I slowly tie her hands behind her back.

I have a feeling she’d love to moan with my cock halfway down her throat.