Easton
I’m in the office before Zoey—the first time in a long while. I had a shit Sunday and an intense meeting with Royal Company on Monday, who ended up slapping me with an ultimatum—either get this job done or we’re moving on to the next security company indefinitely. The weather has held us up. It’s out of my hands, yet they think despite the torrential weather my crew should work. Simply not the case. I absolutely will not put any of my employees in danger. But they’ll be pushing overtime to get it done.
I’m maxing out my company, stretching my employees thin, overworking my project managers.
It’s my empire I’m building and I have a ferocious appetite for success.
While in Texas, I had to turn down Mandi—my fun as fuck lay who is always down for anything with gorgeous tits, mile long legs, and a mouth that’ll make any street hooker envious. Instead of listening to her mewl for my dick, I witnessed a range of emotions from shock to confusion before feeling her entire wrath across my cheek when she slapped me.
“I’ve been at your beck and call only for you to throw me away,” she snapped before sashaying her perfectly round ass away.
It never fails. Even when I tell a woman nothing serious will come out of this, or when I tell them I’m only here for the fun, they still put on their blinders in hopes they’ll be the one to change me.
It takes someone more than a piece of ass to open my eyes.
Penelope might have forced my eyes open, but she also slammed my heart shut. I knew better than to get involved, but something about her jumbled me up. She was sophisticated, flirty, beautiful, and knew the game she was running on me. I didn’t know what I wanted, but she worked me until I figured out it was her.
She did shit, little shit, and she stayed on my mind until I was crazy enamored by her. Blinded by her sweet side—the glimpses in between the manipulative bullshit. Dazed by her compassion—the slivers she shared. Stunned by how career-driven she was. We wanted the same things in life—prosperous business, elegance, premier choices—at first. I remember numerous times thinking how strange it was she wanted everything I did. But I pushed forward, sticking with it.
She was gorgeous as ever—long blonde hair, flawless skin, a beautiful smile, slender and petite nose, and attractive blue eyes. Those eyes could go from alluring, loving, and compassionate to steely, sharp, and hollow in a blink. She knew her beauty spoke to everyone—men and women—and used it for her benefit. She was refined on the outside. An utter bitch on the inside.
Daddy’s money made her that way.
My stupidity made me miss all of the signs until it was too late. I fell hard in love with her, or so I thought. I would’ve thrown myself across fire and brimstone for her to walk over and not get burned. She always wanted me to persevere, yet hated all the work I did. She’d never admit it, but she was jealous of Langley Security. No matter how much I loved her, my business will always be number one as I continue to grow it. I had obligations, and Penelope Elliots didn’t like that she had to take second place to the corporate meetings.
She babbled out she loved me about four months after our first date. I was walking out the door after an argument. It stopped my feet in their tracks. I guess I fell for her manipulation, tumbling straight into the web of deception. But I was crazy about her…
Our work required commitment, and we started spending a lot of time away, not speaking for days. Arguing started overpowering our fun. We’d fuck and she’d pick a fight. Tears—the fake ones that tricked me—would evoke a shamefulness inside of me. I always was in the wrong, and always the one idiot to make it up to her.
She was using me.
Rumors of infidelity—her, not me—started, and when I confront her, she’d somehow make me feel like a dumbass. I was stuck in a vicious cycle of needing to make things work out with her to quell my feelings of failure. I’m good at a lot of things, but holding down a relationship has never been one of them. That’s until I couldn’t take it any longer. My “I love yous” felt forced, never easily coming out. Like someone was holding a gun to my head.
I planned a romantic dinner one night, and before meeting her, my phone rang with a man claiming he had knowledge of her sleeping around. It wasn’t the first time I’d gotten a call. Men and women would somehow let me know, but I blew them off. But this guy knew details no one other than me should’ve known.
While we were at the table with our food in front of us, I blatantly asked her if she was sleeping around. Her eyes gave it away. I don’t know what was different about this time. The lighting? The fact I was done with it? Either way, it was clear as the fucking air between us.
I left. Oddly, it hurt amongst the relief, but even so, it reminded me of why I hate relationships. Why I loathe giving my all to someone.
Because they always end up hurting me. I sound like a punk, but I’m closed off for a reason.
Feeling this way for Zoey—wanting her to want to be with me. Wanting to be with her—it’s confusing the fuck out of me. It’s different and it’s causing me to be on edge. I detest how Zoey feels like home—a peace and belonging in this swirling life of mine. Except I truly don’t hate it as much as I’m pining for her.
Zoey steps in and skips a beat when she spots me already at my desk. I soak in the sight of her—light pink shirt loose and sinking low between her tits. Flowery skirt tight against her hips.
“Jesus. You’re going to make things hard on me today.” I eye the soft skin of her cleavage. “Are you intentionally trying to fuck up my concentration?” It comes out harsher than I intended even if I’m in a bad mood.
She brushes it off, her sultry pink lips pulling up. It’s a sight I’ve craved since the moment I left Saturday morning.
“I was coming to fill your coffee before you got here,” she says.
I hold up my to-go cup. “Stopped at the coffee shop down the street on my way in.” I tip my chin to the cup on the corner. “Got you a caramel latte.”
The corner of her lips curl up and she grins setting off the swelling in my chest. I stand and stalk to her, but stop just in front of her, handing her the latte. I tuck a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear. “You plague my thoughts,” I tell her in a sigh.
She swallows before blinking up to me. “I’m hoping it’s a good thing.”
I puff a chuckle through my nose. “Me too.”
I dip my head and kiss her cheek, restraining every muscle from yanking her into me. I’m trying to respect her wishes. She wants us to remain professional while at work, but I don’t give a fuck if the entire building knows she’s mine.
“I need you to set up a meeting with David. Preferably now.”
The way she looks at me, her hazel eyes filled with excited hopefulness, causes a kick in my pulse. “I’m assuming you had a great meeting with Royal?”
I smirk. “Yeah. You could say that.” Even if I almost cussed everyone out, I was still able to get an extension.
Her face lights up and it does something to me. Her elation about my success isn’t fake. It’s pure. And it’s fucking with my emotions—the ones I’m fighting so hard against.
She stretches to her tiptoes and kisses my jaw. “I’m glad to hear that.”
Twenty minutes later, she reemerges. “David said he’ll be here in thirty minutes. He’s got a conference call this morning,” she says standing across my desk.
“Thanks,” I gruff.
“You seem…off. Is everything okay?”
No. I lean back in my chair, clasping my hands in front of me. “No.”
“Anything I can help you with?”
Her eagerness turns me on. “Let me fuck you on my desk.”
Crimson burns her cheeks. “Besides that?”
“Let me fuck you out of my system,” I say, partly meaning every word.
She pulls her shoulders back, standing a bit taller and confident. “What if I don’t want to be out of your system?”
I stare at her, calculating. I could push her away and continue the path I was on or I can enjoy where we’re going. Dark and twisty, I’m sure. Scary as hell, I know.
“Then that makes two of us,” I exhale the truth.
She smiles. “Will your meeting be long? Would you like for me to order lunch?”
I scrape my bottom lip with my teeth. “I’ll take lunch early and make you a buffet on my desk.”
She shifts, her face scrunching up. “Your words are aberrant.”
“I’m a man with a great lay standing in front of me. I haven’t seen you for a few days with the last image of you naked in the bed. Of course my mind is on one thing,” I admit.
Her top lip curls up in disgust. “Is…Is that all I am for you?”
As I’m rounding my desk to…touch her, I decide it’s a bad idea and stop, letting my hip fall back into my desk. I shove my hands into my pockets. “This is difficult for me. Forcing myself to keep my hands off you. Respecting your wishes while we’re here. I like what you have and I’d like to have it all the time. Not being able to is messing with my head.”
Her hazel eyes latch on to mine, listening with intent.
“It’s not just sex, but I can guarantee if you felt what I feel being inside of you… Trust me. You’d understand the excessive craving I have.” Leaving out the part that she’s stirring something within my chest I know is the best idea.
It’s as if I hit a switch—a sexy as fuck switch. She strides to me with seductive eyes and surprises me with a tender kiss. If she thinks I’m keeping my hands to myself, she’s wrong. All bets are off when her lips are on me. I snatch her wrist and tug her closer to me.
She leans back, breaking the kiss.
“Dammit,” I groan. “Are you sure you don’t want to lock the door?”
A breathless giggle fills the air between us. “We need to respect your company.”
I graze my lips across her cheek, resting my mouth next to her ear. “I won’t be able to contain myself for long, Zoey. Day in and day out, I witness your beautiful body walking around here, getting smacked with fleeting visits of your perfume…” I skim my thumb across her bottom lips. “Those sexy, pouty lips…”
Her body limbers and she leans against me, steadying herself with her hands on my chest. A fascinating desire burns my skin through my suit. Her eyes fall heavy. Those lips part. I splay my hand across her back and dig my fingers in, and then I claim her mouth. Her faint moan grips my dick.
A knock on the door has her lurching away from me like she realized she just kissed the devil. She stumbles to put distance between us. Alarm spirals across her expression, eyes wide, mouth gaped, and she rushes to open the door.
David doesn’t bat an eye when he enters, oblivious to what was just taking place. He pays no damn attention to her pink swollen lips. Zoey, on the other hand, is saturated with fear and scurries out without looking back. It makes me chuckle.
I show David to the table and drop a stack of papers in front of him. They’re of every proposal—three of them—I’ve already given a definite yes to because I can’t afford to lose them. Five are waiting in limbo for an answer.
As he examines them, I keep glancing to the door, hoping Zoey will appear with her smile that lights up the damn room, the same one with the force to mix things up in my chest and mind. Unfortunately, during the entire forty-five minutes David sits here, she doesn’t pop back in. The distraction strains me to listen to David talk his thoughts out loud as he clicks on his laptop.
David is an older man, great at his job, impeccable actually, and isn’t afraid to say what’s on his mind. Under his breath, he tells me several times I’m overloading my employees, stretching the crews to their max—like I didn’t already know. But personally, I pay it no attention. They won’t complain—not to me anyway. They all know if they take care of me, I’ll take care of them tenfold. Bonuses hefty enough to weigh down their pockets. Paid vacations tropical enough to make their fantasies come true.
I’m a demanding boss—sometimes an asshole—but, I always show my appreciation. Without my employees, I would be nowhere and I know it.
An hour after David leaves, Zoey comes in. Her normal soft features are hard, mad even. Her sweet eyes are molded over with iciness. She drops a pink “message” down on my desk with an umph.
“Mandi left a message for you.” Her tone is caustic. “She said it was important you call her back but wouldn’t give me her number. Said you had it. She was worried that after this weekend you wouldn’t take her phone calls.”
Inwardly, I groan, but I keep my expression blank. “How many ‘I’m pregnant’ calls have you filtered through in the months you’ve worked for me?”
Her jaw tenses. “Numerous,” she grits.
I narrow my eyes, leaning my forearms on my desk. “Then tell me why you don’t believe them yet you’re forming opinions about Mandi?”
She clamps her mouth shut and doesn’t answer me. But her glower tells of all the cussing she’s doing in her head.
“I’m almost positive she’s calling to apologize for the way she handled herself,” I tell her.
Exasperation dons in her expression. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, shaking her head before leaving without an argument.
I don’t pursue her. I don’t have time to deal with it, knee bound on damage control. I know I could’ve explained it, but I’ll get to it later when I’m not trying to concentrate on other obligations.
“I’m heading out.” Zoey’s sweet voice fills my thought. “Need anything?” she bites, doing what she feels is right, but hating it.
I check my watch and sigh in disbelief. “Five o’clock comes fast.” I crash back into my chair and give her a charming grin. “Will you go to dinner with me tonight?”
She frowns, almost vindictively. “I have dinner plans already. Maybe another day.”
My stomach twists with an explosion of possessiveness and…jealousy?
I’m jealous?
My brows lift. “Oh yeah? With who?”
Her shoulders sag as I can see the thoughts running through her mind. “Britney and Garret,” she says like it was the last thing she wanted to.
Relief.
Sweet, sweet relief.
“Then I’ll be there.” I smirk.
She rocks back on her heels and jams her hand on her hip. “It’s not a double date.”
“I’m about to make it one. What time do I need to be there?”
Annoyance chomps away at her. “You’ve not been invited.”
“Am I not allowed to join you?”
Her eyes…fuck they’re so unforgiving. “No. It’s been a girls’ night parked on my couch for years. Just so happens tonight is boyfriend invite.”
I study her, thoughts swirling in my mind. I don’t know if she realizes she just gave me all the ammo I needed, but either way, I narrow my view. “If you wish.”
She doesn’t slam the door, but she doesn’t shut it with happiness.