by Alina Jacobs
"Keep your eyes closed," I said, spreading my legs slightly, "and see if you can find the surprise."
His hand moved down, warm against me. He pressed his hand against the panties, then he felt it.
"These have a hole in them," he remarked. "I thought you bought new ones."
"It's not a hole," I said, shoving him slightly. "They have a built-in slit for easy access."
He grinned wolfishly then, in one smooth motion, bent me over the bed to lick at the slit. I arched against his mouth.
"I should wear these at the office," I gasped as his tongue licked my clit, still covered by a bit of the sheer fabric. "It will give you easier access." My head dipped down as he put two fingers inside of me. He ripped a condom packet with his teeth. I spread my legs wider, inviting him, needing him to fuck me.
Mace entered me in one smooth motion and pushed me into the bedspread, a large hand tangled in my hair. The hand moved down to circle my breast, pinching at the nipple as he fucked me through the slit in my panties.
I bucked against him when his hand moved down. The panties ripped, giving him better access to my clit. His fingers teased me while he filled me with his cock. I let out screams and moans every time he moved in me.
I came in a jumble of ohmygods and curse words. Mace grabbed my ass, fingers tight as he came in me.
Nuzzling my neck, Mace said, "The nice thing about these old houses is the plaster is two inches thick. I can make you scream all I want."
All through the morning drive down to New York City, Willow texted me complaints about Tara. Willow had left for the conference yesterday. She stayed with Marnie and was already on-site setting up. Tara was overseeing the general booth for Svensson PharmaTech, and Willow was working on the one specific to the gene therapy.
Willow: Anke's here. She's talking up a storm with Tara. I wouldn't mind her getting ripped off by Anke
Josie: As much as I can't stand Tara, I'm not sure even I could wish Anke's destruction on her
"Who are you texting?" Mace asked, looking over.
"Just Willow about the booth," I said. "She says it's all ready to go."
Our rooms were in one of Archer's hotels near the large conference center. We dropped off our bags then headed over to the conference center.
"Badge, badge," Anke said, handing them out. Mace went off to talk to Owen, and as soon as he was gone, Anke turned to me.
"Isn't it wonderful to be back in New York City?" She squeezed my hand. "Simply marvelous. Just like old times, isn't it? We should go out. I know a great place."
"I can't, Anke," I said through gritted teeth.
"You aren't still mad at me, are you?" she exclaimed.
"Of course I'm still mad at you," I hissed, brushing her off to look at the booth setup.
"Look who finally decided to show up," Tara snipped while I walked around. "Too busy screwing the boss to show up on time, I see."
I stopped dead in my tracks. She smirked as I struggled to keep the shock off my face.
"You weren't all that careful," she said. "I saw you two together."
I leveled my gaze at Tara. "I guess that's the closest you'll ever get to sleeping with him."
"You're a slut," she spat.
"Better than a conniving bitch who is shitty at marketing yet claims to be a pro," I retorted.
"You're going to pay for that," she snarled and stomped off.
"You seem pretty confident," Willow said, linking arms with me as we went off to look around the rest of the exhibition space.
"I got laid last night," I said, grinning. "And the night before that and the night before that. This conference is finally happening. Mace bought me some new luggage, and I have a drawer full of candy in his bedroom."
Willow stopped short, and I jerked to a halt. "Wait, is that some euphemism for sex toys or like edible underwear or something?"
"No," I said. "I literally have a drawer full of candy."
"You're an addict," my friend said and laughed.
"Hey, I had to survive this past month somehow!" I said.
"Do you think Tara is going to make your life miserable?" Willow asked in concern.
"She can try."
After looking at exhibits and watching a few sessions, we went to meet up with Marnie for a drink.
"Did you see any of the presentations?" Marnie asked after we had all hugged.
"Our stuff looks a thousand times better," Willow said, looking at the cocktail menu.
"Agreed," I said.
"Not to pat yourself on the back!" Marnie said with a laugh. "Look," she continued, her tone serious. "I've reached out to the FBI. They've already been looking into Anke."
"For defrauding people?" I asked, feeling sick. "I thought it was just you and me."
Marnie shook her head. "Not just people—banks. The agent wouldn't give me specifics, but it sounds like Anke has been running some sort of lending scheme where she convinces a bank to give her a loan for a fake business idea or investment. They give her the loan. She spends the majority of it and uses the rest as collateral to secure another huge loan."
"Like how much?" I asked, feeling faint.
"Millions of dollars," Marnie said.
I looked down at the table. The server brought our drinks. I took a big swig of mine, but I could barely taste it.
"You should go to the FBI," Marnie urged.
"What's the point?" I asked finally. "It's doubtful they care about what happens to me. The banks are going to get their money back first." The drink was sour in my stomach. "The only thing that's going to happen is that my name is going to be attached to the whole scandal. People—Mace—will know I'm a complete idiot. I'll never see a penny of that money. I'll have to testify. There will be stress eating and drinking." I took another sip of my drink. "I just don't see why I should."
"Just think about it," Marnie said.
"I will," I told her, easing off the barstool. "I have to go. Mace's presentation is tomorrow. I have to make sure he's ready."
I trudged back to the hotel.
And things had been going so well.
Surely if the FBI was involved, Marnie would have told her boss, Greg Svensson, what had happened with Anke. Word would get back to Mace soon. It was only a matter of time before my charade disintegrated faster than the cotton candy in that viral video of the raccoon washing it in a puddle.
As I headed back to the hotel, I noticed through the window of a little French restaurant someone who looked like Anke. She was talking to a rich-looking older couple along with a doughy, sweaty man I thought I recognized from somewhere. I couldn't place him.
I wanted to stare longer, but I didn't want them to look up and see me. I didn't know what Anke was doing, but I knew, I just knew, she was up to no good.
54
Mace
My presentation was that morning at eleven a.m. I was up at five a.m. to make sure I wasn't late.
"It's so early," Josie murmured when I turned on the light. She pulled the covers over her head, and I kissed her through the sheet. She was naked under them. I knew because I had taken all her clothes off last night. "Go back to sleep," she mumbled.
I ran my hands over her through the sheet, kissing down her torso and sucking on a nipple through the soft cotton. She moaned slightly. "Or I could wake you up," I said. "Morning sex is better than sugary cereal to get you moving."
"It is?" she asked, her breath slightly hitching. I reached one hand under the sheet. She was warm and still slick from our lovemaking the night before. I drew my fingers through the wetness. Her back arched slightly, and she pressed back against my hand.
"You might need to prove that theory," she gasped. I rolled on a condom, my other hand still stroking her.
"We'll have to have a lot of morning sex," I told her. "You have to have several data points."
I kissed her neck then slid into her, feeling satisfied as she whimpered through her nose. I moved in her slowly and methodically, stroking her clit
in time to my thrusts. She ground her hips against me, then I flipped us over so she was on top of me, riding my cock.
"Now are you awake?" I asked.
"Yes," she said and moaned.
I held her hips as she rode me. I moved her up and down, feeling her tighten against my cock as I stroked her clit. She tipped forward on her knees over me, and I thrust up into her, hearing her high-pitched little moans every time my cock rubbed against her clit.
Her nails dug into my shoulder as she came. Then she collapsed on top of me. Her breasts were soft as she rested against me.
"You know what would make this perfect?" she asked as her breathing slowed.
"What?"
"A bowl of cereal."
"Maybe that wasn't such a good idea," Josie said as we headed downstairs. The hotel connected to the conference center through a sky bridge, which was convenient. I looked at her in concern.
"I mean," Josie clarified, "I hope I didn't take all of your mojo. You need some to spare for the presentation."
I pulled her into a niche and kissed her. "I always have more in reserve."
After doing the sound check, I waited backstage with Josie, Tara, Adrian, and Anke while we watched as people filed into the large hall.
"Ready?" Josie asked as she adjusted my suit. I didn't think I would ever tire of having Josie fuss over me. "You got this!" she said, clapping her hands. "Who's the best? You're the best!"
"What are you doing?" I asked in confusion.
"Hyping you up!" she exclaimed. "You need to have a ton of energy, and you won't eat sugar, which is the best booster there is!"
"Funny," I said. "My brother swears by bulletproof coffee."
"Which brother?"
"Several of them actually," I said. One of the stagehands motioned to me.
I walked out on stage and looked back, just a quick glance. Josie was making a heart sign with her hands. My heart jumped, and it wasn't just from the adrenaline.
My presentation was short. Josie had worked to keep it under ten minutes. Then Owen and Parker joined me onstage, and we did a roundtable discussion about the product with one of the conference hosts. I led it so that I could steer the conversation to the relevant points we were supposed to hit.
That was also Josie's idea. She said it would be more engaging than a forty-five-minute presentation. After taking several audience questions, our hour and fifteen minutes were up. The audience filed out slowly to go to lunch while Owen, Parker, and I went backstage.
"That was fantastic!" Josie crowed, pumping her fist. "The audience was super engaged."
"I'm so glad that's over," Parker said, loosening his tie.
"Please," I snorted. "You enjoyed it."
"I'm just glad you sounded interesting for once and I didn't have to stand up there under one of those vomit-inducing PowerPoints," my younger brother shot back. "I'm going back to the booth. I'm sure people will have questions, and I want to make sure that there are no rumors or misinformation."
"You have a lunch with the hospital heads," Anke reminded me and Owen.
The lunch went well. The hospital administrators put us through the wringer with questions, but Josie's pamphlets, website, and other collateral were helpful in explaining the concepts.
"Stop by our offices anytime to see the labs, or we can send someone out to give a presentation to your people," I said after thanking one president of a large regional healthcare system.
I was never a big people person. Archer was the one who always was gregarious and fun and extroverted, but I felt great today. I knew it had a lot to do with Josie. I couldn't wait to see her.
I saw her from afar as I headed back to the booth with Owen.
"You got lucky with her," Owen said gruffly.
"She's great!" I said. I couldn't help but smile when I thought of her.
"Don't screw it up," he warned.
"Please," I snorted. "As if."
"You should buy her something nice for helping us out," Owen said. "There was no way we would have been able to get another firm on such short notice."
"I already have it covered," I said, trying not to grin when I thought about the present I had found for Josie.
The Svensson PharmaTech booths were busy. Parker was doing a live demonstration of sequencing genomes at the booth along with geneticists specializing in various cancers and other diseases who were there to talk about how they used the information.
"Any interest?" I asked Josie, touching her lightly on the waist.
"There's been a steady trickle of people," she told me. "People seem very interested, especially with the speed and relatively inexpensive cost."
"You helped make it easy to understand," I told her.
"So the rumors are true!" I heard a man say behind me. I turned to see my brothers Weston and Blade.
"There are more of you!" Josie exclaimed.
"Nice to meet you," Blade said solemnly, extending his hand. "I told him not to come bother you," Blade said to me.
"I'm assuming from the names you're all Mace's full brothers?" Josie asked as Weston swept her into a hug. I shoved him off of Josie.
"Of course!" he said, batting away my hands. "Though we're the younger, fresher models."
"You aren't that young," I told them.
"Are you guys twins?" Josie asked.
"Irish twins," I explained. "Born the same year but nine months apart."
"Exactly nine months," Blade said. "It's actually quite fascinating when you look at the probability of that occurring."
"Your name shouldn't be Blade. It should be boring," Weston retorted.
"You're boring!" Blade shot back. How they managed to run a successful company was beyond me.
"I'm the fun one,"' Weston told Josie as he put a palm on Blade's face.
"Is Archer around?" Blade asked. "I was wondering if there was any news on the conference center."
"The chocolate factory?" Josie asked excitedly.
"You've been there?" Weston demanded. "How does it look? Could we hold retreats there?"
"Their company, ThinkX," I explained to Josie, "is a consulting company. They do logistics and a type of fake engineering called industrial engineering."
"It's real!" Blade protested.
"Please," I scoffed. "While I was studying inorganic chemistry, you guys were partying. All you do is make spreadsheets."
"Don't knock a good spreadsheet!" Blade said.
"Also, who designed your whole software system?" Weston demanded. "And who developed your whole supply chain?"
"All right! All right!" I said, waving my hands. "Correction—they do a little bit more than spreadsheets."
"We're a big competitor with Holbrook Enterprises," Weston bragged.
"I think we do better work than them because their conglomerate is a catchall for a variety of industries," Blade said, "whereas we mainly focus on logistics, software systems, and back-end processes to make your business run more smoothly and make more money."
"You have a pretty good sales pitch," Josie said.
"But you could make it so much better," Weston said, grabbing her hand.
"What my brother means to say," Blade said, pulling Weston back before I tackled him, "is, how much is Mace paying you because we'll pay you three times as much?"
"And I'll pay you five times as much." A tall dark-haired man in a dark suit clapped me on the shoulder and shook my hand.
"Wes Holbrook," he said, extending his hand to Josie. "Also I'm probably the only Holbrook the Svenssons can stand."
"Greg can't stand you," I corrected.
"Can Greg really stand anyone?" Blade mused.
"I think he's kind of funny," Josie said. We all gaped at her.
"You think Greg is funny?" Blade asked, peering at her like she was some sort of strange sea creature.
"He has a dry sense of humor."
"Maybe she has him mixed up with someone else?" Weston asked. "Are you sure it was Greg? Tall, blond, mean as a snake?"
"Are he and Hunter around?" Wes asked.
"They were at the presentation, but I think they're off on investment meetings," I told him.
"Phew. I don't think I can handle them right now."
"How's business?" I asked Wes.
"We have this new product…" Wes bounced slightly on his feet and looked at Josie.
"Are you serious?" I asked, looking around. "All of you want to hire her?" They nodded.
"Hell. No," I snarled. They all started yelling at me at once.
"You can't say that!"
"I'll pay you ten times the amount!"
I waved them all away.
"Just think about it!" Wes said over his shoulder as he left.
"You have so many handsome brothers," Josie said, nudging me. "But don't worry, you're the best looking one!"
I stayed at the booth the rest of the afternoon—people seemed to like that Owen and I were there to talk and answer questions. When I wasn't talking to people, I watched Josie. I wondered if she was happy.
It was clear I couldn't have her go back to being my assistant, especially since now Anke was my assistant. Did Josie want to continue to live in Harrogate? We had amenities, yes, but it was nothing like Manhattan. Maybe she would be happier working on slick marketing projects at ThinkX with Weston and Blade. Or maybe she would want to work with Wes Holbrook. His robotics company was hot right now, and tiny robots were always cool.
I knew I should encourage Josie to build her career, but I didn't want to lose her. I wanted her to always be in my life—not just in the tiny house but in my home.
55
Josie
The flow of people trickled off as we approached cocktail hour.
"Two days down, one to go," Willow said.
"I could use a drink," I said as I strung the cable lock through one of the TV screens.
"I'm meeting up with Marnie," Willow said to me as we powered down the iPads. "You coming?"
"No," Anke said, coming up beside me and wrapping an arm around my neck as if we were old friends and she didn't scam me out of my life savings and tank my credit score. Willow glared at her. I longed to ask Anke what she was doing in the restaurant yesterday evening. I wished I could remember who that man was.