CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Zoe

I woke up feeling like a million dollars. Sure, there was the hangover, something I was going to have to deal with and quickly before my entire day was ruined. But, I was relaxed. And happy. Above all, happy. And completely satisfied. Something I hadn’t felt in years, not even with Mark.

Chad was lying next to me, naked, covers thrown off to reveal his nakedness in all its splendor. His long cock was draped lazily over to the side. I smiled at myself, remembering reading about sleeping styles, and how his was a reflection of confidence. Lying on his back, arms tucked under his head, as if tempting the world to take a hit at him.

That was Chad Walters to a tee.

I resisted the urge to play with his cock and balls, though it certainly was tempting. Chad used to love it when I’d wake him up with his big cock in my mouth. Maybe later. Definitely later.

I threw the covers over him, hoping to get through the morning without being distracted by the gorgeous naked man in my bed. I couldn’t deny that I wanted more, so much more, but for now, it was all I could do to get out of bed and into the shower. My body felt like I’d just gone three rounds with Hulk Hogan. And my pussy was so sticky it squished when I walked. The sound made me giggle.

I took a long hot shower and slipped into a robe and wrapped a towel around my wet hair. Coffee, my brain screamed. Need coffee… I tiptoed out of the bathroom, pausing to look at the gorgeous, naked man in my bed. His cock was outlined beneath the sheet. He had a little morning chub going now, hard but not quite hard to full glory. Again, I resisted the urge to climb on board. There was simply too much to do.

I made my way to the kitchen, quickly popped two aspirin to quell the headache and turned on the coffee maker. The sun pierced through the twin windows, lighting up the entire living room up in a soft glow that made me feel like taking out my laptop and writing. I was one of those writers who loved to write when the muse hit, which was usually late into the night. It was odd for me to be up this early, but it also felt good, really good, and I didn’t want to waste the chance to write in the morning sun.

My cellphone began to ring, and it took me a while to find it tucked between the couch cushions. I felt my heart sink when I realized what time it was, and that Graham had called me six times already.

That can’t be good.

“Hi, Graham?” I answered, heading back to the kitchen to get my coffee. “What’s up.”

“We have a small problem,” Graham said quietly, though I could sense the tension in his tone.

I frowned. No good morning. No how are you. Just straight to business. And from what I knew about Graham, straight to business usually meant that the small problem he was referring to was not a small problem at all.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, hoping that the Costa Rica trip hadn’t been cancelled.

“How long will it take you to get over here?” Graham asked.

I felt a cold sweat wash over me. This was not good.

“I can get dressed and come right over,” I said, forgetting about my coffee and heading back to the bedroom. “What’s going on?”

“We’ll talk when you get here.”

He hung up before I could respond. Little alarm bells started ringing in my head. Graham was usually cool as a cucumber. I couldn’t help but think the worst. What could have happened that had Graham rattled so?

I quietly went into my walk-in closet and pulled on a pair of jeans and sneakers and a t-shirt. Chad stirred as I left the room, but when I looked over, he was still asleep. I didn’t have time to wake him up and explain where I was going, so I quickly grabbed a pen and paper and left him a note.

I was out of the door and headed uptown in less than ten minutes.

* * *

Graham’s secretary, Becky, was waiting for me in the lobby at Roland House Publishing. She ignored my questions and took my hand and practically pulled me past the security desk toward the elevators. I couldn’t help but notice that everyone in the lobby stared at us, some whispering, others just gawking. I wondered what the hell was going on.

“He’s waiting for you,” Becky said as we stepped from the elevator onto the sixth floor where Graham’s office was on executive row. She pushed me along and I had to skip to keep up with her haste. As soon as I was inside Graham’s office, she closed the door behind me.

Graham was sitting at his desk, looking at his laptop with a frown, his hands clenched under his chin.

“What the hell’s going on?” I asked, walking to his desk with my hands out, more than a little agitated. “Becky practically dragged me into the building and threw me into the elevator. Is the world coming to an end and nobody’s bothered to tell me?”

“You’re closer than you think,” Graham replied, turning his laptop so I could see the screen. He clicked on a YouTube video and adjusted the volume. My eyes shot went wide even before my brain told them to.

There was Chad in the middle of Vittorio’s, hovering over Mark, screaming at the maître d’ and waiters who were trying to stop him. Behind him, I saw myself racing out of the restaurant. The title of the video was, “Dirty Book Writer’s Dream Date Beats Down Innocent Dinner Guest”.

On the sidebar of similar videos were even more of the same, taken by other patrons from different angles. My name, along with Chad’s, was listed in the title of several of them.

“Oh my God,” I mumbled, sitting down heavily in one of the twin chairs placed in front of Graham’s desk. The video was on a loop, and I watched everything happen three times before looking away. I closed my eyes and let my head sink in my hands, suddenly understanding why everyone had been staring at me in the lobby.

“Graham, I’m so sorry,” I started, but he stopped me with his hand in the air between us.

“Your private life is none of my business,” Graham said formally, his voice far from the friendly, I’m-here-for-you attitude I had always gotten. “But when your private life becomes public, well, you become a reflection of this company, and right now, we look like shit.”

“I was having dinner with a friend and Mark –”

“With Chad Walters,” Graham cut in.

I nodded. “Yes, with Chad Walters. Mark just walked up and started making a scene. He was drunk and—”

“Making a scene? Whatever Mark was doing, it was definitely not making a scene. This…” Graham said, pointing at the video, “this is making a scene.”

“I didn’t know that was going to happen,” I said, weakly. “Mark kept pushing, saying awful things, Chad was simply protecting my honor.”

“That’ not good enough, Zoe.” Graham shook his head in frustration. “I can’t sell an excuse like that.”

“Sell it to who?”

“The publisher,” he said, hands in the air. “The big guy at the end of the hall who has to okay everything we do.”

I blinked at him with tears in my eyes. “You mean like the Costa Rica trip.”

“Yes. The Costa Rica trip. The contract for your next book. Whether or not to keep you under contract.”

“You’re saying…”

“I’m saying it could all go away,” he said with a heavy sigh. He shook his head at me as if I were a petulant child.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. I put my hands in my lap and kneaded my fingers together. “What can I do to fix this? What do you want me to say?”

“That you’re not purposefully trying to fuck up your life and career for starters,” Graham said, his tone walking the line between anger and frustration. “Jesus, Zoe, do you now realize how many people are affected by your actions? How could you be so fucking careless?”

“I was having dinner,” I said, wanting to yell but knowing it wouldn’t help. I was taken aback by his reaction, shocked, frowning in disbelief at his sudden outburst. Never in all the years I had known him had he spoken to me in such a way. If I hadn’t known he was gay I would have sworn that he was jealous.

“You’ve put me in a very difficult position,” he said, rubbing his eyes with his fingertips. He took a deep breath and pushed it out slowly. It seemed to drain the anger from his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to explode at you.”

“I’m sorry, too,” I said, feeling lousy for putting him in the position of having to defend me to the publisher. “Honestly, I had no idea that was going to happen.”

“I know,” Graham sighed, ruffling his hair and leaning back in the chair to give me an apologetic smile. “I really am sorry,” he said, pursing his lips. “Who you see is none of my business. I’ll figure it out. Don’t worry.”

“Is this about Chad Walters,” I asked. “Are you upset that I went to dinner with him?”

“You’ve told me about him in the past,” Graham said with a shrug. “You just get out of this mess with Mark, then this guy shows up and all hell breaks loose. I just want what’s best for you, Zoe, and I don’t either of these assholes will do. You’re a great writer, but your taste in men is absolute crap.”

“That’s… sweet,” I said with a smile. “I guess. So, what happens now?”

“Now, we do damage control,” Graham said, blowing out his cheeks and leaning forward. “I know you were innocent in this mess, but you know this business. It’s all about public perception. I’ll meet with the PR folks and figure out the best spin. In the meantime, please, keep a low profile.” He saved a dismissive hand at the laptop. “And stay away from both of these assholes. They’re nothing but trouble and you know it.”

I would have no problem staying away from Mark. Chad, on the other hand, well, that might be an issue since I left him naked and hard in my bed.

“There is more bad news,” he said.

My eyebrows arched. “More? What could be worse than that?”

“I got a call from Mark this morning, just letting me know that he was filing suit against Chad Walters and you’d probably be named, as well.”

“What?” I gawked at him. “What did I do?”

“I think the term Mark used was ‘incitement’ or something to that effect.” Graham shook his head and gave me a tired look. “Basically, it means you incited Chad Walters to smash his face into the table. You started it and incited Chad to finish it.”

“That’s total bullshit,” I said. “I did no such thing. What the fuck, are we in high school here?”

“Mark also said that I, meaning Roland House, should stay out of it or he will find a new publisher.” He shook his head and held out his hands. “Like it or not, Mark’s spy books make this company a lot of money, so…”

“So, you need to stay out of it, I understand,” I said. I gritted my teeth and fought back the tears. “That son of a bitch. He told me he wasn’t finished with me. He said it would never be over until he said it was.”

Graham gave me a slow nod. “He’s not going anywhere because his contract is iron-clad,” he said. “But he can make things harder for you.”

“He can go fuck himself!” I said. “I’m not afraid of Mark. You can just roll over and play dead, but I’ll be damned if I will.”

Graham frowned at me. “Do you think I’m not taking your side?” he asked. “I know how much of an asshole Mark can be. But he’s a major asset to this company, and I’m outvoted here. Just lay low for a bit and—”

“I’m not going to be treated like a second-hand writer just because Mark sells more books,” I said. “I’ve earned Roland House a lot of money, and I’m not going to be shit on because of that son of a bitch.”

“I’m trying to help you here,” Graham said desperately.

“No, you’re not,” Zoe said. “You’re covering the company’s ass.”

“That’s not true.”

I knew my temper was getting the better of me, but I seemed to have lost the ability to keep my mouth shut. I gritted my teeth and wagged a finger at him. “Graham, you’ve always been a friend to me, and I can’t hide the fact that what happened last night is not going to wash over easily.” I paused, taking in a deep breath. “But I’m not going to keep getting walked over just because everyone thinks I’m some airhead who writes porn.”

“What?” He huffed at me. “Who said anything like that?”

I thought about it. “Well, fuck, Graham.” I plucked several tissues from a box on the desk and dried my eyes. “I’m sorry. Fuck. And it started out such a good day.”

Graham softened his tone. “Look, just keep your distance from Mark and Chad Walters, at least for the time being. Just give me time to work this out.”

“Okay,” I said, taking a shuddering breath. “I won’t see Mark or Chad again.” I smiled and he seemed satisfied with the lie. I took a moment to compose myself, pecked him on the cheek, then headed home, wondering if Chad would still be there.