Chapter Sixteen

Carrie

Instead of sleeping, I spend the night alternating between thinking about Reid and thinking about Reid. By the time I finally try to sleep, I’m back to Reid—there’s a surprise—wondering what it would have been like to go home with him. Wondering what the apartment of a man like Reid looks like. Wondering too much about a man, who—oh God. He has my panties! He doesn’t get to keep my panties. Not him. Not after ordering me to go home after fucking me on his desk.

I grab my phone and I’m about to hit Reid’s number when I come to my senses. What am I doing? I can’t call him about my panties. Why would I even consider such a thing? In fact, he can keep my panties. That’s as close to owning me he gets to come. Except maybe when he kissed me by the water tonight. He’d felt different like he had during that few minutes in his office when he’d held me and didn’t seem to want to let me go. It wasn’t just him though. I’d been different. We’d been different. In those moments, we’d felt connected beyond handcuffs and some unspoken mutual conquest between us. In those moments, I’d felt myself falling for Reid, which was, and is, insanity. He’s the man who stole my father’s company.

I’m not falling for Reid Maxwell. I’m not that stupid. I ran from him tonight to make sure I’m not that stupid. I punch my pillow and roll over. “Sleep,” I order, myself. “Sleep.”

I sit straight up. Oh God. I ran. He’s going to see that as a weakness. I can’t afford to have that man think I’m weak, which is exactly why I can’t be getting personal with him. He’ll judge what he sees outside the office. I reach for my phone again and set it right back down. Calling him would also seem weak. Tomorrow I will own my decision to walk away tonight. Because that’s all Reid will respect.

***

I don’t remember falling asleep, but suddenly the alarm is going off and I sit up, exhausted to the bone, but I’m out of the bed in seconds, hurrying to the shower. I need to do something. I need to take action and win back my company. Nothing else can matter. Reid will not distract me ever again. Exactly why I dress in a simple black dress with no buttons. I’m keeping my top on and my panties, too. In fact, I wear my favorite black lace panties that I’d never allow to be torn.

I arrive at the office early on a mission to own the CEO job. I’m barely behind my desk when it feels like a reasonable time to call Royce Walker again. I’ve wanted to call him for an hour.

“Problem?” he asks.

“No,” I say. “Well, except for the fact that I had to fire three people for stealing company secrets. I need to keep this from happening again. Can you help me with security and how much will that cost?”

“We’re already working for you, which is why you found out about those three men.”

“Right. Of course. Did you come to terms with Reid to provide security long term?”

“Yes. We did.”

“Thank you, Royce. We need you. We should have had security in place before now.”

“Why didn’t you?” he asks.

I have no idea how well he knows Reid, but well enough, I decide. “I wasn’t in charge or we would have,” I answer honestly and then push for answers, even indirectly. “To cut costs by way of leaving ourselves exposed is just another of my father’s decisions I don’t understand.”

He’s quiet for several beats and I hold my breath, hoping he tells me what he knows about my father’s decisions if he knows anything at all, but he does not. “If you have concerns, call me,” he says simply.

“I think I’ve proven I will.”

“You have,” he agrees, “but just so you know, I’m available twenty-four-seven. More soon on our now ex-employees and criminal charges.”

“Excellent.”

We say a brief goodbye and disconnect. Sallie chooses that moment to appear in my doorway, holding a sealable baggie in her hands. “I made cookies. It just seemed like a cookie kind of day.”

“As much as I love your cookies,” I say. “I think I might need a cake, too.”

Her eyes go wide and she hurries forward, sitting down in front of me and handing me the bag. “Comfort food.”

I open the bag. “Three employees were stealing company secrets and selling them to the competition. They’ve been fired and we’ll be pressing charges.”

“Who?”

I slide a piece of paper with the names listed in her direction. She reads it while I devour a scrumptious cookie. “Delicious,” I murmur, thinking she should open a bakery, and if I still had my money I gave to my father, I’d finance it.

“I’m speechless,” she says, shaking her head and scooting the paper in my direction. “They’re long-term employees. And my God, I had the hots for one of them and don’t ask who. I’m not saying after this. Do you want to say anything to the staff about the terminations?”

“Not yet,” I say. “I want to talk to Reid first.”

“Understood,” she says. “What can I do for you in the meantime?”

“Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

“I could take cookies to Reid. Maybe that will make him a little less cranky?”

“No,” I say. “Reid does not get any of your cookies.” I brush crumbs from my hands, right as Reid buzzes in my office and says, “In here. Now.”

“Take him a cookie,” Sallie suggests. “It’s better than nothing. His assistant called. She will be here soon. I’ll give her cookies. Getting her on our side has to be smart.” She disappears and I almost snort.

Considering last night, I’m pretty sure a cookie won’t satisfy Reid. I have a brief moment where I consider ignoring his command, but then he’ll just come to me. Not only will that lead to one of our many fights, he’d then think that I ran last night and plan to hide today. I stand up and hurry across the offices, and of course, his door is shut.

As has become our norm, I don’t knock, but as my hand comes down on the knob, I mentally steel myself for the impact of this man after he kissed me the way he did last night. Oh God, don’t think about it, Carrie. I open the door and step inside, the force of this man’s presence washing over me even before I confirm that he’s behind his desk, a safe distance away, he’s as good looking as always, in a dark gray pinstriped suit that draws attention to his piercing blue eyes.

I shut the door. “I’m here,” I say, and I don’t linger by the door. I walk toward him, and he watches my every step. I stop between his visitors’ chairs and I don’t speak or sit.

“Sit,” he orders.

I suck in air, but I do as he says. I sit down.

His eyes narrow on me. “And she did it without fighting me,” he says. “I thought for sure I’d get yet another no from you.” The glint in his eyes tell me that he’s not talking about work, at least not in full, before he says, “Royce told me you called him.”

“I did, and I’ll spare you my reasons. He obviously told you. I’d like a copy of the Walker Security contract.”

“As you should.”

“What do you want to tell the staff about the firings? How do you want to handle this?”

“You tell me,” he says.

“I want to send out a memo that defines the breach of security and assures the staff that new security is in place. That way if someone else is betraying us, they’ll bolt.”

“Works for me. Let’s get this behind us and get to the money-making.”

“Right. The money-making.” Because that’s what this is to him. It’s why he does everything.

“And for the record, you did the right thing by calling Royce. It’s what I expected you to do.”

This statement hits me ten shades of wrong. “So it was a test.”

“An expectation.”

“A test,” I bite out. “Then I guess when you ask me to go home with you, that was part of the test, too. Had I been there with you, I wouldn’t have been focused on my job.”

He leans forward. “Or you could have asked me those questions instead of Royce.”

“The implication being that we would have talked. I don’t believe that for a moment. I’ll go take care of business so we can make that money we both want to make. Oh, and Sallie made cookies. She wanted to bring you one but I was afraid she’d end up on top of your desk so I didn’t let her.” I stand and head for the door.

“Stop,” he all but growls.

I do. I stop and I whirl around to face him, to find him already on this side of the desk, moving toward me with a predatory grace that makes me want him almost as much as I want to punch him. He halts in front of me, that earthy scent of him tantalizing, even when I don’t want it to be. “No one but you will end up on my desk.”

“I’m not playing your games.”

He presses his hands on the door, beside me. This is becoming a habit of ours apparently. I want to tell him to back away, to stop doing this to me, but I can’t seem to make the words come out this time. “I would not fuck Sallie, or anyone else, on my desk.”

“You fucked me.”

“Except you and I had a history when I walked into the office. We are not a game. Last night was not a test. What we are is a distraction that we can’t afford, not with the powerful people counting on us turning this company around.”

“You’re the one who wanted me to go home with you last night.”

“I did. And I wanted you to go home with me when I shouldn’t have. But maybe had you just said yes, we’d be past this. I know that I for one hoped like hell that a night of fucking you would get you the hell out of my head.” He pushes off the door and walks away.

I feel punched in the chest and I don’t even worry about looking like I’m running. I’m suffocating in this man and I need air. I open the door and I leave, thankful that his assistant isn’t yet at her desk, nor is Sallie at hers, which allows me a clear path into my office. Once there, I shut the door, and fall against the surface. Reid just told me that he can’t stop thinking about me, but he’s angry over it, too. The part that stands out to me is the part where he told me. He let me know I have that power over him. Why? Why would he give me that power? Well, of course, it’s not really power, since I feel the same way. Maybe that’s the point. We’re in this together.

Or, he’s playing me, and I cannot let myself forget that he has everything to gain, and I have everything to lose.