by Shain Rose
I moved the backing of Levvetor to a vote, and Victory Blakely beamed like she’d won an Oscar.
I lost the competition. She’d be able to dress like a damn rainbow for as long as she wanted. And Bastian got to come to our meeting right after this one and smile smugly at me when I told him we would do it.
None of it mattered though.
I was a Stonewood. The city needed me just like it had needed my father. I’d seen others put things first before their career and the career suffered. Stonewood Enterprises wouldn’t suffer. We wouldn’t falter. I knew because I’d found my weakness in plain sight.
She wore red and her smile shined brighter than the damn sun.
The few weeks after our meeting with the Armanellis passed by in a blur as I flew in and out of town. I managed some large mergers and handled other business matters. I lasered in on my company and handling my father’s loose ends. Every call turned into one more and every conference time extended. Business boomed, and we’d passed our stretch goals halfway through the month.
Gloria waltzed into my office to celebrate the excellent news with a bottle of champagne. A rare smile formed across her face, and I took in how symmetrical the woman was. She perfectly filled out her dress and had her hair pulled back in a tight pony. It emphasized the angles of her face, the slant of her eyes. “You’re staring, Jett.”
“You look good today.” I shrugged.
She eyed my privacy button, and I hit it without her having to ask. She slumped a little and swayed her hips as she walked over to my desk. “I’m tired today.”
“I see that.” I nodded at her now relaxed posture.
She scooted her ass up onto my desk, something she would never do if the windows weren’t tinted. Without eyes on us, though, Gloria relaxed much more. “Armanellis can be bitches to handle, and Levvetor is proving to be a big ass beast.”
“You knew that going in.”
“I knew that going in.” She tapped one finger on the bottle. “You’re working harder than usual. The goals being met attest to that.”
I straightened a paper she’d knocked askew when she sat down. “If I’m running the place, I’d better provide an impeccable example, right?”
Her hands slid to her thighs. “Agreed. I’ve been working harder under the knowledge that I’m now the assistant to the sole owner of Stonewood Enterprises. Your father resigning motivated me.”
I laughed. Her blatant honesty about slacking before could have rubbed someone else the wrong way, but Gloria’s silver was most anyone else’s gold. “You ready to quit yet?”
“No. I’m tired and wound up for sure.” When her eyes grew languid, I knew the question she would ask. “Care to unwind me now?”
My dick jumped a little at the prospect of fucking her on my desk. We were familiar, I’d had her in my office before and there had never been any mention of me not having her there again. Today, I would probably make that clear.
I glanced behind her to where I knew Victory Blakely sat even though she couldn’t see us through the darkened glass. I’d avoided her for weeks now, knowing my business would always come first and she needed someone to put her first instead.
My world didn’t match hers.
I saw the light and dark of the world and focused on where the light came from, how it energized itself, and how I could produce light in the dark. I thrived on making my city whole.
She focused on the color of it all. She burst into the office day after day in greens and blues and pinks and reds and one day orange. Bright-as-a-sunset orange. She announced it was the color of the ribbon for a specific leukemia, one that Levvetor produced a treatment for. That day she handed out orange wristbands and orange frosted cupcakes too. For no specific reason.
Just to make everyone happy, she’d said.
Her outright confidence in staying positive morphed our office into a workplace of energy. Enjoyment. Enthusiasm.
She claimed it was fun. And fun, according to her, was one of the best ways to motivate people.
I, no lie, looked it up. She was right.
“I’ve lost you.” Gloria slid off my desk and straightened her dress. “I’m glad.”
“Sorry, I’m distracted.” I rolled into my canned apology only to halt at her words. “What? You’re glad?” I stood from my chair and walked around the desk. I stopped just a few feet from her and glanced at my paperweights. Her eyes followed mine.
“Blue is still my favorite,” she offered.
“It’s a mesmerizing color.”
“And yet your gaze always wanders back to the explosion of color.”
I didn’t deny it. “They’re all beautiful.”
“Yes. You’re absolutely right. But …” She sighed and shrugged. “I’ve lost you to the explosion of color. I told you once before, we work well physically, but she can offer you so much more.”
“I’m not pursuing her.” I ran my hands through my hair, denying attraction to another woman as I let this one down easy.
She gave me a sideway glance. “I’m not too mad about it, actually. Just needed an outlet right now.” She tapped the blue paperweight and then smoothed her hand over the colorful one. “Ms. Blakely, huh?”
“No one right now, Gloria. Stonewood Enterprises needs me.”
She waved away my concern and then pointed at the champagne on my desk. “Drink this and invite her to drink it with you.”
“I’m here to work, not play.”
“Glower at someone else, Jett. I’m too tired to act like I care.” She turned to walk out of my office. “Enjoy the drink. Take a load off. The team’s working like they’re on ecstasy or something. Vick’s fun vibe is working, which means you get to work less. Enjoy it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled.
She wasn’t done. “Enjoy her. Before some mediocre idiot does it instead.”
24
Jett
My day wasn’t going how I wanted it to. I woke up late. Miranda kept screaming out of my phone.
Decline. Decline. Decline.
Steven wouldn’t shut up about us all having Thanksgiving together. Brey took a day off, which meant I couldn’t complain to her.
Josie had set coffee on my desk and, it being the day that it was, I spilled it.
I tried to maintain my composure as Steven jumped up to grab some napkins. I sighed and closed my eyes for a second.
I hadn’t spilled on my clothes or my computer. I at least had coffee to spill. I had a job to drink my coffee at.
Not that I was even supposed to drink coffee according to the nutritionist. Not that I should be putting myself under this kind of stress. Not that I even belonged here.
I shoved back from my chair, ready to take a minute in the bathroom. Or an hour.
A message popped up on my computer.
* * *
Jett: Calm the fuck down. It’s coffee.
* * *
My eyes shot up to the man’s office. He hadn’t talked to me since we’d told the Armanellis we had a deal. He’d nodded at me, walked out, and gone back to being the ever elusive, completely driven and dedicated businessman everyone knew.
A Phantom to us all. He hovered above us with the power, a stark reminder that we all had realities to face. I couldn’t figure out if his presence was actually a healthy dose of realism everyone needed or if it was a complete downer.
I sat back down somewhat violently. And my fingers flew over the keys before I could stop them.
Me: Please don’t interrupt your oh so busy schedule to worry about me and my little problem over here.
Jett: Is that hurt I’m reading under your snarky ass reply?
Me: It’s not. I just know you have work to do.
Jett: What’s wrong with you today? Where’s the radiant delight our team normally gets?
Me: I need some coffee.
Jett: And I’m sure Stevie will find you some along with some napkins to clean up the mess. Chill. Out.
Me: Go back to work a
nd leave me alone.
Jett: I’m unusually interested in why you’re not smiling.
Me: You’re a dick.
Jett: You know this is the company message system.
Me: Well, hopefully, the owner doesn’t fire me.
Jett: The owner’s asking you what’s wrong.
Me: I just spilled my coffee and I’m tired.
Jett: Take the morning off then.
Me: No. Like you said, Steven will be back with more coffee.
Jett: Forget I said that. I’ll go with you. See if we can destress together or if you’re tired and need to sleep, I’m happy to sleep with you.
Me: Get fucked, Jett.
Jett: You said that to me your very first day on the job. And I told you that day, Pix, that’s exactly what I’m trying to do with you.
Me: I’m in a relationship with Steven. Find somebody else to harass.
I slammed my laptop shut, and it effectively shut down my monitor as well. Then my phone went off and Steven arrived.
With napkins.
And no coffee.
I exhaled a lengthy breath as I silenced my phone. I grumbled a thank you when he handed me the napkins and sat back down at his desk.
“Need help?” Looking up would have served as a reminder that I could barely resist the broad shouldered, beautiful specimen of a man that was Jett Stonewood.
I let my blonde-pink hair act as a curtain while I soaked up the dark liquid. “I have it under control.”
He hummed. I heard him shift and stole a quick peek at him leaning his hip on Steven’s desk. “So, Stevie, how are the numbers this week?”
The question was unnecessary; everyone knew the numbers. Still, Steven perked right up. “Oh. Great. No worries about meeting our goals.”
“Well, we want to surpass those, right?”
“Right, right. We will. We will.” He didn’t sound as confident. “With Levvetor being in the forefront now though …”
My gaze trailed to him. I could barely believe my ears as my so-called boyfriend rattled off an excuse about everyone focusing more on that company than his. He’d thrown us under the bus to save himself and the sorry ass job he was doing.
“Levvetor is not stealing away any employee’s time,” I blurted, rage fuming from every part of my body.
Jett laughed, but it rattled out like a canned reaction. He leaned a little toward Steven and murmured, “Women, right?”
Steven puffed up like he’d won a damn award and laughed. “Right.”
I should have shut down the conversation then and there. I saw the setup from a mile away. Yet, I stopped myself.
Blame curiosity. Maybe even self-destruction. I guess a subconscious need to veer from my original dream. I couldn’t quite put my finger on the reason.
But I let Jett ruin it all. Let him dismantle what Steven and I had. He did it quickly, effortlessly. Casually.
“I’m going to hit the bars after work. Gotta let off some steam. You in?” Jett asked him.
“Yeah. Sure. Sure. Ready when you are,” my supposed boyfriend replied much too eagerly.
“You two aren’t exclusive, right? I need a wingman tonight, not a kept man.” Jett put the question out there, offering Steven a brick he could use to either reinforce our foundation or throw at a window, shattering what little we’d built
“Oh, no. We’re not exclusive.” He chucked the brick and our relationship along with it. So fast. So easily.
My stomach plummeted along with the brick. I’m sure my face fell too, but Jett didn’t give me any time to dwell. He nodded at the dumbass who was my nonexistent boyfriend. “Great. I’ll let you know a time later today.”
Then his eyes cut to mine. A vivid blue ocean burst from them, inviting me to come swim. “Victory, as discussed over messaging, we have things we need to do today. Let’s go.”
With those words, he spun on his oxfords and headed toward the elevator.
Maybe I should have tried to discuss my feelings with Steven, but then his whiny voice sighed my name with the damn Y that I should have shut down the first time he used it and said, “We can talk about it later. You know I enjoy being with you, I just really want this in with Jett.”
I held up a hand as I walked toward the elevators. “I don’t do nonexclusive. So, we’re exclusively done.”
The words ruffled his feathers to a level of discomfort he’d never experienced from me before. He squirmed and scrunched his face in a way that would normally have me consoling him. “Now, Vicky, just wait.”
My body almost surged in his direction to do just that. Instead, I curtailed my damn instinct. The one that made me smooth out the kinks, stop the rattling of nerves, settle the unsettled. I stopped doing everything for everybody else and stepped back, away from the person who only made the slightest effort and toward the person who took what he wanted.
“I’m not in the mood today, Steven. Just so not in the mood.” I rubbed a hand over my forehead and then ran fingers through my hair. “We’re over. And it’s Vick. No Y.”
I met my Phantom at the elevators where the smile he wore was as big as it was victorious. He appeared younger, approachable, less ruthless. He’d lost the tie he’d been wearing and the top two buttons of his white collared shirt were undone. My mouth watered at a glimpse of that chest.
“I hope you’re happy with yourself,” I muttered, trying my best to stay mad at him.
“Quite pleased with how easy he made it. I’ve always told you he bends with the damn wind.”
I punched the elevator button even though Jett already had. “Don’t gloat. It doesn’t suit you.”
He leaned in to me. “Relax, Pix. I’m taking the morning off to help you let go of whatever the hell is bothering you. Your tension is making everyone else tense.”
We walked into the elevator as the doors opened. When they closed behind us, he studied me. “My team has somehow stopped being mine and started being yours.”
“Huh?” I asked.
“You buzz in and they buzz up. You barrel forward and they do too. Bob called me the other day to explain a new take on a contract. He nailed it, and then proceeded to tell me about the cookie he was eating that you’d brought in. They move with you whether you’re happy or in a funk like you are now.”
I slumped onto the elevator railing. “If that’s true, I feel shitty about how I’m acting today.”
He eyed me leaning against his elevator and dragged his gaze up and down my black skirt and blouse. “I was surprised to see you in black today.”
“Well, I felt witchy this morning,” I snarled.
He hummed and then said, “What do you want to do?”
“You had us take the morning off. You pick what you want to do.”
The elevator doors opened, and he set his hand on my lower back to guide me out of the lobby to a black SUV. “Great. I wasn’t going to do what you wanted anyway.”
He opened the car door and I slid into the back seat, greeting the driver. He was an older man I hadn’t met before who’d begun driving for Stonewood Enterprises a few weeks ago.
“Well, don’t let Jett here fool you. He doesn’t work that hard, and he’s always up for a good conversation if you’re driving him.” I winked at Jett who rolled his eyes.
“Jerome isn’t an idiot, woman. He knows better than that.”
“He’s right, miss. I do, but I’m happy to try and annoy that man out of working any day I get him in my car.”
“That’s what I like to hear!” I rubbed my hands together and leaned back in my seat. Jett’s arm rested across the top of it and he curled his hand around my shoulder to pull me closer. “So, part of your problem today was being in the office. You’re out and smiling already.”
“It’s just the sun. Fall’s been cold so far, and I’m a sucker for sun and a warm day,” I admitted as I looked out the window. “Where are we going?”
“To Garrett’s Popcorn Shop,” Jerome announced. “That’s where you wanted to go, r
ight, boss?”
“You’re correct.”
I scrunched my nose. “What if I hate popcorn?”
“You love anything sweet. Also, no one hates popcorn. Not this popcorn anyway. You been there?”
“Nope. I’ve only been here for a few months. Can’t do it all when I’m working for a boss who never sleeps.”
“Your ass stays later than me half the time. You love working just as much as I do.”
I smirked as I watched the park pass us by. The trees were changing colors; the reds bled into the yellows and oranges, painting the type of autumn scene everyone imagines when October or November is mentioned. “I appreciate doing something I believe in.”
“Jerome, pull up to the park,” Jett commanded softly.
I raised my eyebrows in question, but he winked at me like he wanted to make me happy. I shook the idea away. Jett Stonewood wanted some ass, he didn’t want anything more from me. Without a boyfriend, I was in the same boat. I didn’t mind us sleeping together, but I needed to draw a line for my heart’s sake.
“Walk in the park, Jett Stonewood?” I teased him.
“We only get to enjoy the autumn colors for a few damn days. Entertain my little whims, woman. You got big ones I have to deal with daily.”
My laugh skittered out as I jumped from the SUV and waved to Jerome.
The breeze blew around us, ruffling feathers of the ducks on the lake. The smell of the lake and maple trees invaded my nose. The sun warmed my skin just enough that my long sleeved blouse kept me comfortable rather than chilled. Jett unbuttoned his suit jacket and slid it from his shoulders to offer it to me. I shook my head. “I enjoy feeling the wind on my skin.”
“You would, Pix.” He draped the jacket over his arm and offered his elbow to me. I took it and fell into step with him. We walked along the park sidewalk, listening to the lake lapping against the rocks. In the middle of the work day, the park was empty, secluded.