Brandon (Members From Money Book 19)

by Katie Dowe

  “It’s more than that. It’s our reputation. We’ve never put out a product that’s failed, Nicole. We might’ve had less than stellar performances in the market in the last few months, but that was just a dip. This is… This is an actual failure. I’ve never had something like this before. Everything my family stands for…”

  He trailed off, and Nicole wished she knew exactly what to say.

  “We’ll find a way to make it work, Max. We will.”

  He shook his head.

  “I need to clear my head, I think. Noel and the firm can handle it for a while. Maybe I’ve just let myself get too wrapped up in it.”

  Nicole was bewildered. Was he just giving up?

  “Come with me.”

  No, now Nicole was really bewildered. She’d only been puzzled before.

  “Max, what’re you talking about? We need to launch a campaign to counter this.”

  Max shook his head.

  “Noel can do whatever needs to be done. I need some space. I need… Nicole, I need you. I know you made it very clear that you’re involved, but I need you. Will you come with me?”

  Nicole stepped away slowly.

  “I have work, Max.”

  But that was just an evasion, and they both knew it.

  “I know you do. So do I. How about if we make a deal? We give it a week – a week for damage control, if such a thing is even possible now. A week for you to decide. You can give me an answer at the end of that week. I hope you’ll say yes, Nicole. I’ve come to need you in ways I never meant to.”

  Nicole couldn’t mistake the sincerity in his voice. She couldn’t mistake the longing inside her, either.

  She needed him, too.

  Chapter 6

  Five days later, it was obvious that damage control wasn’t working very well. The fire was just too large to put out. They had to let it burn out on its own.

  Nicole got angrier and angrier with every passing day. Anderson was sticking his head in the sand and refusing to acknowledge how he had miscalculated, to say the least. He even seemed to be attempting to shift the blame to Nicole, and she wasn’t going to take that.

  When she got home, she found Fred waiting for her, an impatient and petulant look on his face, and Nicole felt like it was the very last straw. She just couldn’t take it.

  “Not now, Fred,” she said, walking straight to the kitchen and pouring herself a glass of wine.

  But Fred was looking for a fight. He followed her to the kitchen.

  “We were supposed to talk about things after that campaign. Things were supposed to go back to normal.”

  Nicole turned around, her eyes flashing. She’d had a horrible day at work. The last thing she needed to do was soothe her boyfriend.

  “Well, Fred, maybe there is no normal. You have a demanding job. So do I. I’m not willing to risk my job to make you happy. If you can’t be happy with the way things are, with me giving priority to my job, maybe we both have a lot of thinking to do about where we’re headed.”

  Fred froze. His eyes went hot, then cold, so cold that Nicole shivered.

  “Is that how you feel about us?”

  Nicole felt like he had jabbed her with something sharp.

  “I don’t know, Fred. It’s just a lot. I can’t seem to deal with all of it as well as I should. And… Well, the fact is that I need some support, not constant questions of when I can set aside all the things that are worrying me so much. It feels like dealing with you is another problem when I already have enough problems without that.”

  Nicole’s painful honesty made Fred flinch.

  “I can’t be the only one putting any effort into our relationship. Relationships don’t work like that. It takes two people to make it work,” responded Fred.

  Nicole nodded, slowly and sadly.

  “I know. You were patient for ages when I was working on the campaign, and now that the campaign has bombed so spectacularly, I need to put in more work. I can’t make it up to you because I need to do this. I can’t choose you over my career, Fred.”

  Fred shook his head angrily.

  “I’m not asking you to do that. But I have to have something. I have to have some room in your life. Now, it feels like you’ve shut me out.”

  Nicole sighed and poured him a glass of wine and motioned for him to sit down. Deep down inside her, she knew that this was the end, and she knew that it was the right thing to do.

  She also knew that she wasn’t being completely honest with him. They had grown apart, but it wasn’t only because of her job. It was also because of Max. She had feelings for Max, and she couldn’t be with Fred when she did.

  Briefly, Nicole considered telling him the whole truth. But what purpose would it serve? If things were over between them anyway, what could be gained by hurting him, by letting him know that there was another man?

  “I know. Fred, I don’t think I can do this. I thought we were meant to be, but we’re not being very good for each other. I feel like you haven’t supported me enough, even if I know how patient you’ve been. Heaven knows I haven’t been supportive to you. I don’t even know what’s going on in your life anymore. This is no way for a relationship to be. We’re just draining each other, instead of helping each other.”

  Fred looked resigned, thought Nicole. He didn’t look shocked. Maybe he had come over that night knowing how things were going to end – knowing that things were ending. Maybe the writing on the wall had been plain to him, too.

  “We’ve been together for so long, Nicole. We can’t just give up.”

  But Fred’s words didn’t have any real strength of conviction behind them. They sounded bleak, and his eyes were blank.

  Nicole reached across the table and laid her hand on his.

  “You know it’s the right thing to do, Fred. Deep inside, you know it is.”

  “Maybe we can just take some time. Maybe we can take a break,” said Fred, as if he was making one last attempt.

  Nicole shook her head.

  “If you’re honest with yourself, you know that that’s what we’ve already done. We’ve already taken a break and we’ve taken some time. Things aren’t going to change, not for us. You know that already, Fred. We were good together for a while. But we’ve been drifting apart for a while, too. We’re not good for each other anymore. You know that.”

  There was desperation in Nicole’s voice. She needed him to agree. She needed him to see that they had drifted apart, that they weren’t right together.

  She didn’t want all of this to be because of Max. She wanted it to be the right decision in and of itself.

  Finally, Fred nodded, and he looked miserable. Nicole felt that misery tug at her heart, but she felt curiously numb.

  “I’m sorry, Fred. I thought we were going to be together. But we’ve both changed. You know that. We’ve both changed too much and in different ways.”

  Fred nodded again, as if he had run out of words to say. It was as if there was nothing left, and Nicole mourned for what might have been if things had been different.

  If their lives had taken different paths, if they had met sometime later. If they had…

  It didn’t matter, she told herself, as they sat there, wondering what came next.

  Finally, Fred got up.

  “I think I’d better go. I… Here, you should have your key back.”

  Nicole nodded and reached for her bag to find the key to Fred’s place, too.

  “I’m sorry, Fred,” whispered Nicole.

  Fred nodded.

  “So am I,” he told her, and he walked out of her life.

  Nicole tried to get herself to settle down after Fred left, but she couldn’t. She had another glass of wine and got a bit tipsy, but that just made her think even more. She had a long bath, but that didn’t settle her mind, either.

  She was unsettled, but she wasn’t unhappy, realized Nicole, and she found that difficult to reconcile with how she thought she ought to feel. She should be unhappy. Fred and she h
ad broken up.

  She shouldn’t feel free, she should feel bereft.

  But she didn’t.

  As if she hadn’t made the decision completely on her own, Nicole got up and walked to her cupboard. She opened it and, purposefully, she chose a red wrap dress that was short enough to show off her toned legs.

  Considering, she opened a drawer and found her black stockings and the black lace underwear she only wore when she knew exactly what she wanted to happen.

  She did her makeup carefully. She still wanted to look like herself, but she didn’t want to look like her usual self.

  Nicole chose a large coat that reached her knees and when she put it on, she was dwarfed. But she knew what she wanted, and so she didn’t feel like she was.

  Before she could think about it too much and change her mind, she walked out of the door, locked the door and walked down the stairs. Nicole refused to let herself think even when she got in her car. She made herself focus on every aspect of driving, thanking herself for getting a stick shift, as she made her way to Max’s condo.

  This time, nobody looked at her funny or questioned her request to call Max and let her go up to him.

  This time, as the elevator doors opened and she saw Max standing there, right in front of her, she knew she had crossed a line, and she had no intention of going back.

  Max looked at her steadily, as if he already knew why she was there. But he didn’t say a word.

  Nicole walked out of the elevator and, recklessly, walked to him and stood in front of him. Wordlessly, she undid the belt of her coat and slipped it off. She stood there, lovely as a siren, determinedly burying every bit of uncertainty within herself.

  “I’m here,” she told Max.

  Max didn’t move.

  “Are you sure about this?” he asked her.

  Nicole nodded.

  “Yes. I’m here.”

  Max’s eyes changed, as if they had held a storm deep in the heart of the ocean and it had finally found a way to break free. In two strides, he was in front of her, and he pulled her into his arms.

  This time, there was an awareness as he held her. This time, they knew how this would end, and they were both ready for it.

  Nicole held her breath as she felt his lips brushing against her cheek. She felt his lips against her ear and she trembled.

  Her breathing became shallow in anticipation. Her eyes were still open and wide, and she felt mesmerized when his face came closer to her, his lips almost touching hers.

  That first brush of their lips was potent enough to nearly send her to her knees. Her lips parted as if of their own volition at that testing, gentle touch. She moved closer to him, suddenly aware of how every part of her was pressed close to him. Her breasts felt full and heavy as his lips touched hers again.

  It was a slow, soft, tentative kiss. It was a kiss intent on making sure that every moment was savored.

  Max wondered at how small and perfect Nicole was in his arms. When his lips met hers, a testing, teasing touch, he felt that contact rock through him. He pulled her closer to him, his lips moving more firmly over hers now. He felt her lips part and his tongue slipped out to trace the shape of her lips. He felt her tremble at that first touch of his tongue, and he felt like he had won something more precious than words could say.

  “You’re so lovely,” he murmured against her lips, and Nicole sighed softly.

  Her arms moved up to wrap around his neck, pulling his head closer to her. Nicole’s lips responded to the kiss eagerly now that she had absorbed that taste of him. Her lips moved under his, and her tongue met his, stroking over his softly, smoothly.

  She pulled him closer as she pressed her body against his, moving against him gently. Their tongues became more insistent, more demanding, as that kiss went on.

  Finally, they pulled apart and looked at each other, and they saw what they both needed to see.

  “Make love to me, Max,” whispered Nicole, and her words were the final seal.

  He pulled her close and kissed her again. His lips were wild and passionate on hers, slanting over her mouth in a kiss that promised to devour her.

  Nicole whimpered when she felt his hands moving over her back. Every touch sent shockwaves through her, leaving her moaning and trembling against his long, hard body.

  She felt him undo the dress and she stiffened for a minute.

  “Nicole…”

  His voice was urgent and desperate, deep and husky with desire when he said her name.

  In answer, Nicole tugged him to her and kissed him again, without reining in any of the wild passion that was coursing through her.

  She felt him push the dress down her shoulders and dropped her arms so that it could fall off her, and she stood there in her lacy, black bra and panties, and sheer black stockings.

  Max stepped back from her and looked at her. Nicole felt, just for a moment, as if she had to cover herself. But she let her arms drop and stood there, letting him look at her.

  She felt his eyes moving over her body, as potently as she would’ve felt his hands or his mouth. Daringly, she stepped closer to him and smiled, laying her hand on his chest.

  “Do you like what you see, Max?” she asked, her sexy lips curving in an inviting smile.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he told her, his voice hoarse as if from the effort of holding himself back.

  “Then take me,” said Nicole, her hands tugging at his T-shirt. He helped her pull it over and off him. Nicole gasped – his chest was hard and muscled, his waist and hips narrow. She could see the bulge at the crotch of his sweatpants, and she wanted to touch him, feel him grow hard under her hand. With a cry, she flung herself at him and they were wrapped around each other again.

  This time, the kiss was even wilder, because they could feel the heat of passion like a fire on each other’s skin. Nicole rubbed her body against him sinuously. Her breasts, so full and soft, were pressed against his hard, muscled chest.

  Her hands moved over his broad shoulders, marveling at the strength in him. His arms were corded with muscles, and she felt light as a pixie when he pulled her into his arms and strode to the bedroom.

  He laid her down on the bed and moved towards her. Nicole felt unaccountably nervous. It had been so long since she’d done this with anybody new.

  “Let me touch you,” murmured Max, and he raised her leg to roll her stockings off. The simple act was made sensual by his fingers, and when his lips brushed against the skin that was left bare by the stockings, her muscles seemed to turn to water and tremble.

  “Max,” she whispered, as he turned his attentions to the other leg, rolling down the sheer material smoothly, slowly, kissing her thighs as he did so.

  She felt his fingers tickle against the back of her knee, and she gasped a breathless laugh. She felt his hands on her feet, his lips against her heel, moving along the sole of her foot, and she couldn’t believe how he could make her shiver for him so easily.

  She felt his lips on her toes and she nearly cried out, her body arching off the bed.

  Smiling, he moved up her body, sliding over her intimately. This time, his mouth went to her breasts, and Nicole stopped thinking at all.

  The soft, sheer material of her bra was no obstacle to him. His lips nuzzled against her dark, round, full breasts, brushing over her hard nipples. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity of teasing, he undid the clasp of her bra and slid it off.

  He moved a bit farther away and looked at her, his eyes drinking in the sight in front of him.

  Nicole was hotter than he had imagined, and he had an excellent imagination. Her body was made for loving. She was so responsive to every touch that it was difficult to control himself and go slowly. But he wanted their first time to be slow, and memorable.

  “So perfect,” he whispered as his fingers moved over her naked breasts, touching her as if memorizing the shape of her. His fingers moved over her hard, large nipples and Nicole whimpered.

  His eyes inten
se, he moved over her again, his chest brushing over her as he cupped her breast and teased her nipple relentlessly. His leg pushed her legs apart and slipped between them, pressing his thigh against her crotch.

  He could feel that heat seeping through to him, the heat that told him that she was ready for him, that she needed him as much as he needed her.

  Nicole was nearly delirious with desire as she felt his hands on her breasts, squeezing lightly, stroking. Her nipples were so sensitive that she felt as if she couldn’t take much more. But she wanted so much more.

  His lips were on hers again, and the kiss became wilder, and more passionate. She could feel his manhood pressing against her. He felt so hard, so big. Nicole wanted him inside her. She wanted him to fill her, to move inside her until she was screaming his name.

  “Max, please,” said Nicole, pushing at his sweatpants. She needed them off. She needed nothing between them.

  Max smiled against her lips and helped her by slipping it off, and Nicole gasped as she came into full contact with his hard member, pressed so intimately against her softness.

  Max bit back a chuckle at her reaction and kissed her again, swallowing every response she made. His lips moved to her neck, kissing his way down to her collarbone, dipping his tongue into the little hollows there.

  He found her breasts again, and he kissed them, worshiped them with his lips and his tongue. When he pulled her nipple into his mouth and sucked gently, she cried out, wrapping her arms around his head and pulling him closer to her.

  Max finally moved down from her breasts, kissing her belly.

  She tasted like the richest and darkest of chocolate, thought Max – potent, she made his head swim. He needed her as he had never needed anybody before.

  His lips moved over her hips, kissing her, pressing a kiss over her lace-covered crotch.

  He could smell her arousal. It was heady to know how much she needed him. She whimpered as he kissed her, her panties so wet.

  Finally, Max drew them down her legs and off her, and her legs fell open, hiding nothing from him. His face moved closer to her pussy, and Nicole’s legs trembled as she held her breath in anticipation. She felt his lips brush against her lips there, and she gasped again.