Easton
I’ve been flying across the damn country, meeting after business meeting, pursuing a few large jobs, only to come back and be cooped up in my office.
Aspire—it’s a multi-million-dollar contract and I’m determined to obtain it. I’ve been fervently putting together proposals, working with the developers to produce a product Aspire can’t refuse. I feel I’m on the brink of things since Aspire’s CEO, Mr. Roth, has called me twenty plus times in two weeks. He’s an awfully impatient man. Old-fashioned down to his bones. Business is competitive and he damn well enjoys reminding me of it. Vague threats…ones I overlook.
There’s a tap on my door and I sigh. Zoey’s been on my mind, an ache in my dick. I caught her absently staring at me like I was the very thing that got her off. Her eyes were glazed over, her skin flush, those sexy lips nibbling on the end of her pen. Talk about difficult to fight off the visions of my dick being that pen.
And then last week, we shared a look, one that caused energy to sear my skin as it sizzled around us. I was seconds away from reaching out and claiming her mouth when alarm spread across her face and she fled from me. No doubt she felt that shit too. Afterward, I went home and jerked off so fucking hard in hopes to get rid of all the desire. I should’ve known it wouldn’t do a damn thing. It only fueled me.
“Come in,” I call out.
Her beautiful long blonde hair is pulled back and braided. She’s in a gray skirt with an orange blouse flattering her skin color. She’s the very reason why I’ve been working outside of the office so much and if I’m here, I don’t stray far from my desk, worried I’ll cave to my desires.
“You’re staying late again?” she asks, her voice sugar on my ears.
“Yes.” I check my watch. Time, yet again, has gotten away from me. “Business never slows.”
“Aspire?” She approaches my desk looking down at the file.
I nod.
“Need any help?”
I despise those words. They force me to stray into the depths of my own fantasies of fucking her on my desk, hearing how she sounds as she comes undone with my dick embedded in her.
“No,” I answer, praying this time she doesn’t stay. That’s a battle within itself.
She shifts and then walks to my closet. I try—not very hard—to keep my eyes off her ass, but they move involuntarily to her. My imagination strips her of her clothes, picturing smooth skin, the sexy curve of her hips, firm and pert tits, a smooth pussy. I shake my head trying to rid the image and adjust my dick.
She hands me a bottle of water. Oh, the irony. “Here. If I knew you had whiskey, I’d pour you a glass.”
I tip my chin. “It’s concealed in the bookshelf. Helps calm the nerves. Safer than drugs.”
“Want a glass?”
I’m most positive I do not need to drink while she’s here. “Are you trying to get me drunk, Miss Campbell?” I tease and her eyes go wide. I chuckle.
I watch her sexy ass move, her hips side to side as she walks to the couch. I bet it’s exceptional bare. Again, I rip my view off her and onto the designs of the new panel.
“How’d you start Langley Security?”
I glance up to curious eyes.
She shakes her head. “Never mind. I’ll save it for another day when you’re not so busy.”
I’m not ready for her to go. “By chance,” I answer and it stops her from leaving. I force back the triumphant smile and shove away from my desk. “One day my father and I had an ugly argument. Didn’t help I was sloshed and struggling with a horrific accounting class.”
Her head jerks back as surprise raises her brows. “You took accounting?”
“Requirement for a business degree. If it were up to me, whoever came up with the accounting rules should be nickeled to death on a freezing cold day.”
She laughs and it’s a damn beautiful sound.
“It escalated to a shoving match and spewing of hateful things. He had me against the wall by my collar and told me I’d never amount to anything in my pathetic little life. I stormed off after a few choice words. I was incredibly angry with him. I sobered up while wallowing in my self-pity. The same night a friend of mine’s apartment was broken into.”
She presses her hand to her chest. “Was your friend okay?”
Care. Fucking care makes her so damn beautiful. “He was. His apartment not so much. They either took it or destroyed it. Wiped him clean. The scariest part of the situation was he had a six-month old baby girl, who thankfully, wasn’t at home, but with her mother. The appetite for security overcame me. I took it as a sign. I studied everything there was about security for months after I received my bachelor’s degree. Took out a loan and here I am today.”
She melts me with a grin. “Pretty impressive.” The glimmer of astonishment rushes to my chest, tightening it with a pull. “Did you and your father make up?”
I puff a chuckle. “We did. Unfortunately, he passed away in the thick of the beginning and never got a chance to see the empire I’ve built. LS had a rough start. It struggled to get off the ground, but once I made a name for myself, the company exploded.”
Sorrow warms her gaze. “I’m sorry to hear that,” she says, her voice tender.
“I’ve come to grips with it.”
“Have you ever thought about going world-wide?”
“I have. There have been times we’ve distributed items overseas, but never contracted out work. I’d have to create a new department, study up on foreign regulations and requirements, and honestly, that doesn’t appeal to me. Not yet. I’m still trying to conquer the states.” I smirk.
“I can’t wait to see the day you do,” she says, her face lit up with a certain positivity, and it tightens my chest again.
“Stick around long enough and you will. I guarantee it.” I check the time again. I loathe the idea of her traveling at night by train. Darkness and evil roam the same path. “I’ll take you home.”
She shakes her head and scrambles to her feet. “No. I’ll be fine. I’m sure you have other things to do, especially since I’ve interrupted you.”
She’s beautiful in a blunder. “Last time, who won the argument?” I remind her. “Sit. Give me five minutes and we’ll go.”
Her legs are sexy as fuck against my black leather seats. Tan. Smooth. Delectable. My tongue would have a great time on them. She smells alluring and sweet, like her personality. Her in the passenger seat, so damn close to me… I hate doing this to myself, but I love every damn minute of it.
“You do plan on sticking around, right?” I ask.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her nod. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
I’ve got a hell of a self-esteem, but she just boosted it. I’m smiling like an idiot when I pull up to the entrance of her building.
She turns to me. “Thank you, again.”
The impulse to snatch her by the neck and pull her in for a kiss storms me. Every muscle aches to do it. Fighting the urges, I grip the steering wheel tightly and launch a polished grin. “Anytime.”
Her view dips to my mouth and then she abruptly bolts out of the car.
An idea bombarded me yesterday in the middle of a meeting.
Today, I’m executing it.
My patience chewed through me this morning during a quick “check-up” meeting with the developers of the new T88 panel before arriving at the office.
She’s sitting at her desk, her hair up, wrapped in a bun. She brightens the office with a yellow shirt and a grin. I can guarantee she doesn’t realize she’s been my only sun lately. Seems she’s a vitamin I need.
“Good morning,” I say heading straight into my office, not wanting to seem too eager.
An hour ticks by so damn slowly before she emerges with a coffee refill.
“What do you have planned for Saturday?” I ask.
Her beautiful hazel eyes, full of perplexity, blink to me. “Nothing. Why?”
“I need a plus one.” Technically, it’s not a lie.
“There’s nothing on your schedule,” she says.
“This won’t be. You’ve stayed behind as many nights as I have. I’d like to make it up to you with a nice meal.”
The color drains from her face. “You’ve driven me home those nights. We’re even. No dinner needed.”
“I want to do this, thus the need to. I’ll pick you up around noon.”
“Sir, it’s not necessary.” She can’t hide the franticness in her voice.
“Zoey,” I warn firmly. I knew she’d fight this.
Her shoulders slouch as discontent takes over her body. “I can’t go on a date with my boss.”
I clench my jaw against the anger. “What’s the difference between sharing a meal here like we have multiple times versus outside of these walls?”
She just looks at me, but I can see her thoughts racing, excuses flashing behind her eyes, but no words.
“Precisely. I won’t light candles, Zoey. I just want to take you for lunch. My way of showing you appreciation.”
And to get to know her better. Find out what makes her tick. I need to get inside of that head of hers.
“Noon?” Her voice breaks, squeaking at the end.
“Yes. And dress casual.”
I watch the door even after she exits. My grin is triumphant. Small victory or not, it’s a step in the right direction.