Chapter 12
Kain
I leaned back into my chair, breathing hard and sweating. The bliss of the orgasm that had just ripped through my body still lingered. I almost felt high. I smiled as I looked down at the beautiful head rested on my bare chest, her arms wrapped around me as she simmered in the afterglow of her own orgasm. Mandy breathed out a long, contented sigh. This moment was magic, pure magic, and I wanted it to last forever but reality was already starting to slide in, and I knew things were going to go back to how they had been before.
The catch was, I wanted more than that. I wanted to be able to call her mine.
I blinked a few times, shaking the thought from my head.
Hold up there, hold up, you're moving too quickly. Hell, how do you even know that she wants to do anything like that? After all, it does take two to tango, as the saying goes.
I tried to push these thoughts out of my head. This wasn't what I wanted or needed to be thinking about right now. But still, it was something that was going to have to be confronted and dealt with at some stage.
Mandy looked up at me, and genuine affection stared up at me, maybe even something more. “That was... that was pretty amazing,” she murmured, still looking up at me with those gorgeous eyes.
I smiled, a broad smile of genuine warmth. I couldn't take my eyes off her, and I couldn't help but wonder if she was seeing the same thing in my eyes that I could see in hers. That thing that both of us were feeling but, perhaps, neither of us were quite ready to talk about. Not yet, not for a while, maybe.
“It was,” I replied. “I couldn’t agree more.”
We both stared into one another's eyes for a few moments, still savoring the elation of our lovemaking. Eventually, though, Mandy stood. For a few moments, as she put her clothes back on, I was treated to the sight of her naked body with those exquisite curves. Man, she was attractive. Curvier girls had always been my type, the ones who really got my motor turning, and she was packing some serious heat in the curves department. Down below, I felt a stirring, a swelling and a throbbing of heat and excitement but even though I wanted to do it again, I held back.
After a few moments, she finished putting her clothes on and then straightened her hair and got her bag. “I guess I'd better get going. As you know, I've been here literally all day, and now half the night as well, and I have to, and I really mean have to get some rest now.”
I nodded. “Of course. You did email me everything you finished up this evening, right?”
It was amazing – and kind of weird – how quickly we managed to slip back into work talk after what we had just done together. Was it a sign that things were...? No, no, I wasn’t going to read too much into this right now.
“If you check your email, you'll see that it's all there,” she said.
I nodded. “Fantastic. Thank you so much for that. I really, truly appreciate the hard work you've been doing. I know we've been pushing you pretty hard, and you've really held up under all of this pressure. I'm genuinely impressed.”
She smiled. “Thank you. I do enjoy working here. It's a challenge, of course, but it's a good challenge, and I can definitely say that I’m learning and growing because of it.”
“Excellent. I'm glad we've been able to provide you with the opportunity to do that.”
She nodded and stepped toward the door. A sudden anxiety sprang up inside me as she did.
“Wait a second,” I said as she reached the door.
She turned around, running her fingers through her hair as she did, and for a brief moment I was totally struck once again by just how stunning she was.
“Yeah?”
I breathed in slowly and deeply before speaking, feeling a tingle of nervousness inside me. “Are we gonna... are we gonna talk about what just happened?”
I immediately saw a look of something in her expression, something a little like fear, or maybe anxiety, definitely something like awkwardness, but she quickly disguised it. “I, uh... Well, I know we should. Obviously. It's just that right now... you know, I'm exhausted, I'm sleep deprived, and I'm feeling like a total zombie.”
“Oh, I see,” I replied.
“Not that I mean I don't want to talk about it. Please don't think I mean that,” she said. “I just think that now maybe isn't the best time. When we're both a little more... awake... and when you don't have so much whiskey in your system.” She eased the tension with a smile.
I nodded, and then grinned. “Hey, you have a bit of whiskey in your system. too, you know.”
She smiled. “A little.”
“And didn't you enjoy it?”
“It's the first whiskey I've ever had that I actually enjoyed,” she remarked. “It was quite tasty. I have to admit that I didn't expect that.”
I chuckled. “I told you, twenty-one-year-old single malt. It's amazing stuff, it really is.”
“I believed you. Anyway, I've got to get going.”
“I understand. But we do need to talk about things. And not just... what happened right now between us. Other stuff, too. Look, I just want to say again that I'm really, really sorry about how I've been acting toward you over the past month. Things are gonna change.”
“I'm sorry, too. I'm not gonna place all the blame on you,” she said, “I was guilty of a little bitchiness as well.”
An idea popped into my head and before I could even mull it over, I was blurting it out. “Can I take you out to dinner?”
“Take me out to dinner, huh?”
“Just as friends,” I added quickly, perhaps a bit too hastily.
She nodded. “As friends. I can do that. When do you want to do this?”
“I was thinking maybe tomorrow evening, since you're not working?”
“I did promise my best friend, who I've hardly seen for a month, that I would spend the day with her tomorrow,” she said. “I'm not trying to blow you off or anything but I really owe it to her – and to myself – to do that.”
“How about maybe Friday evening then?”
“Okay. Friday evening it is,” she said with a smile. “Good night, Kain, I really have to get going now.”
I nodded. “You need me to call a cab, give you a ride, anything like that?”
She shook her head. “No, I'll be fine but please promise me something.”
“Sure, what?”
“That you won't drive yourself home tonight. You've had far too much to drink to get behind the wheel of a car – even if you do consider yourself to be an expert driver. Overconfidence combined with alcohol and a car is a recipe for disaster and tragedy, so please, get yourself a cab home, okay?”
“All right, I'll do that.”
“Is that a promise?” she demanded. “Because if tomorrow I find out that you lied to me and drove home, I'll be pissed.”
I held up my hand, the palm of it facing her, and smiled as I spoke. “I'll take a cab home when I'm finished here tonight, I promise. I mean that.”
She nodded, a somewhat serious expression on her face. “I'm holding you to that promise, Kain Williams. You get a cab home. And I'll know if you didn't, trust me on that.”
“Okay, okay, I swear I'll get a cab home,” I assured her with a smile.
“Good.”
“Have a good night, Mandy,” I said. “I hope you get a long, restful night of sleep.”
“I need it, I really do.”
“And you deserve it. Don't forget that.”
She smiled, and once more I was captivated by just how beautiful she was. “Good night, Kain. I'll see you soon.”
“Good night, Mandy.”
She walked out, and then she was gone and I was alone in my office once more. I sighed, and then opened my email account. She was free to go now but I still had a long night of work ahead of me. I poured myself a little more whiskey, and then got to it.
* * * * *
I had offered to pick Mandy up for our “date” but she declined, saying she’d just meet me there. I had to admit, I was feeling a little nervous. I wasn't sure what exactly I was feeling nervous about, though. Maybe simply the uncertainty of it all, and where we would go from this point on. I don't think either of us had been expecting what had happened the other night to happen but in a way, I was glad that it had. It had brought to a head a number of issues and some tension that had been simmering between us for quite some time.
I pulled up outside the restaurant, got out of my Porsche, and handed the keys to the valet.
“I'll make sure I park it nicely, sir,” he said with a smile.
I headed into the restaurant and looked around until I saw her already seated at one of the tables. I stood and watched for a while before she caught sight of me, just staring at her and drinking in her beauty. Man, she was gorgeous. I had to remind myself that I needed to concentrate, remain focused, and not get distracted by how attracted I was to her.
After a few moments, I headed over to her.
“Hey!” she said with an enthusiastic smile, standing as I reached the table.
She hugged me, something I didn’t expect. It felt good to have her body pressed against mine again for a while, even if it was for something as tame as a hug. I felt tempted to reach down and give her ass a squeeze but I didn't.
“So,” I began.
“So...” she said as I sat down across from her. We both had to chuckle, and any awkwardness that remained evaporated into the air.
“Did you enjoy your day off the other day?” I asked her.
“I really did,” she said. “Ellen and I went to the beach that morning, then saw a movie, got massages and just indulged in a lot of good food that wasn’t good for us. It was super relaxing, and I really needed it after all the hours I’ve been putting in.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said. “And you really have been working super hard. Trust me, I've been paying attention. The work you did the other night was phenomenal, by the way. Where do you get these ideas for your marketing campaigns?”
She laughed. “Oh, I don't know, they just pop into my head, I guess. I'm glad you're impressed with them.”
“I really am, and I'm not just saying that. You're a real asset to the company.”
She smiled, almost shyly. “Thank you, Kain. I really appreciate that.”
The waiter interrupted the moment, and I asked him to bring us a bottle of wine. Then we continued talking. I think both of us were kind of waiting for the wine to arrive before we got onto the topic of what had happened in my office a few nights ago. Talking about that kind of thing would be a lot easier when we had had a little to drink and our inhibitions were a little lower.
“So, uh, what happened in my office,” I started.
She blushed. “Yeah, that... I knew it was gonna come up but to tell you the truth, I'm not really sure what to say about it.”
“Well, I guess we were both feeling a lot of pressure from work, and there was the tension between us that had been going on for a month,” I said.
Where was I going with this? Was I ready to tell her the truth, that she had been on my mind constantly, that I couldn't get her out of my head, that I thought about her all the time, and that I wasn't able to even talk to another woman? This is what I had been thinking about all day, telling her what I was struggling with, letting her know how I truly felt. But that we were actually talking about it, I was feeling as if I couldn't quite say those things. I didn't know why but this moment just didn't feel like the right time to say it.
“Yeah. There certainly was a lot of tension,” she said. “And I don't think you need to shoulder the blame for that yourself. Like I said, there were times when I think I was being more than a little on edge.”
“I do think it was more my fault, though,” I said. “I was feeling a lot of stress and pressure after taking over the company from my dad, and then there was the um, the awkwardness that arose from how you and I first met, and I acted like a dick. I'll admit that. And I'm sorry about that.”
“I'm sorry, too,” she said. “Well, I guess we can see now why what happened the other night... happened. There was just all this pent-up tension, and that was a way to release it.”
I nodded, not sure how I felt about the direction in which this was going but feeling pretty powerless to do anything to change course.
“Yeah,” I said. “It certainly was a fantastic way to, uh, to release all of that tension.”
She chuckled and smiled. “It really was.”
A hot stirring of arousal started within me but I managed to keep a level head about this whole thing.
My phone rang just as I was wondering what to say next, providing a welcome interruption in the conversation. It was my dad.
“Excuse me for a moment, Mandy,” I said. “It's my dad, so I need to take this.”
“No problem,” she said.
“Hi, Dad,” I answered, “can you give me a minute to step outside?”
“Sure thing, son,” he said.
I walked briskly out of the restaurant so that I could talk to him with a little privacy.
“So, what's up?” I asked as soon as I was outside.
“Do you remember the conversation you and I had the other day, Kain?”
“Uh, which one?”
“Come on, son, don't play dumb. About the need for you to settle down and clean up this playboy image once and for all. You do remember our conversation about that, don't you?”
I groaned. “Yeah, Dad, I remember.”
“Don't act like that about it. You know your public image is extremely important for the company. Now you're going to have to man up and do this.”
“I told you, Dad, it isn't as easy as all that.”
“That's why I'm going to help you with it.”
“Help me with it?” I asked, wondering what he meant.
“Yes! I've arranged a date for you.”
“A what? A date?”
“There's a girl I know who is just perfect for you, Kain! And you'll be taking her out for dinner tomorrow evening. Write it down in your calendar. It's a date. Tomorrow evening you're going to meet the girl who I’m certain is going to be your wife.”