Ruined Promises

by Stefanie Jenkins

  I shake my head and run my hands through my hair. “I’m not perfect, Asher, far from it.” I pause for a moment, almost ready to spill my current predicament, but think better of it. The longer I fester on it, the more of an issue it will become. I can push that brunette vixen to the back of my mind and move on. Sure, totally can.

  “Yeah, whatever you say. You’re the poster child for perfection, and you know it.”

  I roll my eyes. There is no getting through to him—it’s like beating a dead horse.

  “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m exhausted from the first day.” I rise from my seat and stretch.

  “Ahh, yes. How’d that go? Any hot new employees?”

  My jaw tenses, and I clear my throat. “It went fine.” I leave it at that. “And my employees are off-limits, but feel free to stop by sometime.”

  I walk past him and stop in the doorway, bracing my hand on the frame, glancing at the back of Asher’s head.

  “Oh, and Asher? If you’re going to bring your sluts home, at least keep them in your room and not in our shared spaces.”

  The sound of his laughter fades as I leave and make my way to my bed.

  “Whoa, look at you, asshole—all professional and shit,” my brother’s voice calls out from the doorway of my office.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Harrington, he just barged in wouldn’t wait for me to call you.” My usual bubbly blonde secretary, Taylor, scurries into the office after him, a scowl upon her face.

  I stand, buttoning my coat. “It’s okay, Taylor. He’s my brother. Asher, this is my secretary, Taylor.”

  He extends his hand and takes hers in his own. He creepily brings her hand to his lips. “Lovely to meet you, Taylor. I hope we get to see each other often.”

  Her demeanor quickly shifts as she lets out a weird giggle sound that I have never heard her make before. Is she seriously eating this up? Great, I assume I’ll be getting a new secretary soon enough after he fucks her and doesn’t call her again. I roll my eyes. “That will be all, Taylor,” I dismiss her before he starts stripping off her clothes right here in front of me. She nods and quickly leaves.

  “Way to be a buzzkill, big brother.” Asher scoffs and plops into the seat across from my desk. I retake my seat and lean back, the leather squeaking under each precise moment.

  “Well, as I told you, my employees are off-limits, especially to you.” I look up and find Asher spun around looking out the door in Taylor’s direction, or possibly trying to scope out the other female employees. “Or did that just go in one ear and out the other like everything else I say?”

  Asher startles at my slightly raised tone on the last statement. “Huh?” He spins around and settles back into the chair.

  “What brings you around here, anyway?”

  It’s been three weeks since I started here, and he has never stopped by. In fact, I haven’t seen too much of Asher period. He’s been easily distracted by something or someone. Much like me, I’ve definitely had a distraction. It’s honestly pretty hard to focus when a gorgeous five-foot-three brunette goddess walks around the office.

  “I was meeting a friend for lunch who has an office a few blocks away. I had some time to kill, so I thought I would pop in and see this place in action.”

  “Is this friend a woman?” I ask, wondering who it is my brother spends all his time with.

  “No, thank you very much. This is a guy.”

  I arch an eyebrow.

  “Not like that, you asshole. I met him out at the club the other week, and he’s been showing me the ropes of Willow Creek.”

  I nod.

  Asher leans back in his chair. “So, now you know what I’ve been up to, what’s new in the world of Bentley Harrington. Did you ever find that piece of ass from the club that other week that you couldn’t stop talking about?”

  Of course, karma is back to bite me in the ass because before I have the chance to say anything, there’s a knock on my door. Said brunette goddess is standing in the doorway wearing a simple purple dress and black heels. I pray with everything that is possibly holy that she didn’t hear Asher call her a piece of ass.

  When my eyes meet hers, she gives me a soft smile, and I can’t help but return it. We have somehow made it through the last three weeks unscathed.

  “I’m sorry to bother you, Mr. Harrington.”

  I quickly rise to my feet. “I told you to call me Ben.”

  I adjust my jacket buttons in hopes that it at least covers my hardening cock with her standing in front of me. Okay, so maybe unscathed isn’t the right word. While I may not be able to act on my feelings in real life, in my dreams and fantasies I have had her every which way I can and then some.

  “Right, of course, Ben.” She smiles again. “I was going over the vendor contracts for Best Of, and I have some questions and concerns I wanted to run by you.”

  Asher clears his throat, and she jumps. She must not have seen him there. It’s nice to see for once a woman not affected by my brother’s so-called charm.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had company. I can come back.”

  Asher stands and glides over to where she stands in between the door and my desk.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Asher Harrington, the better-looking younger Harrington brother.” That’s right—even though Asher was at Eiffel Park that night, he was up in the VIP section with those blonde bimbos.

  He reaches for her hand and brings it to his mouth, brushing his lips against her knuckles, just like he had with Taylor. My blood begins to boil, and my fists clench.

  She stares at him but not like most women do—more like she’s disgusted by him. Attagirl. She pulls her hand back and looks at it as if now covered in toxic waste before wiping her palm on her dress. “Lexi Baker.”

  “And what is it you do here, Lexi.” I hate the way he says her name as if he were imagining moaning it. I bite back the gag at thinking of my brother and moaning in the same sentence. “I hope that someone with a gorgeous face like yours doesn’t keep herself cooped up in an office all day.”

  Is he seriously hitting on my girl? Woah, she’s not even your girl, Ben. Okay, it’s time to break up this little shitshow unraveling before more me before I break my brother’s face.

  “Lexi here is our events director.”

  “I see.” Asher looks her up and down and acts as if he actually cares. I want to slap the shit out of him for even looking at her. He looks back at me, and I try to relax my expression. But it’s too late; Asher takes in my demeanor and Lexi once more.

  Thankfully he doesn’t say anything, just rubs his jaw and gives me a sly smile.

  “Well, I won’t keep you any longer. It was nice to meet you, Asher.” She then turns back to me. “Ben, if you can give me a few moments of your time later, that would be great.”

  “Yeah, I’ll come down to your office in say twenty-five minutes? I’ll have Taylor run out and pick us up some lunch, and we can eat and go over all of that. Just tell her whatever you want to order.”

  She bites her lip nervously, and my mind goes back to the night when she knew what I liked. I loved it when she bit her lip as I explored her with my hands. Fuck! Get your head out of the gutter, Harrington. Maybe I should take a leave of absence or something or perhaps attempt dating.

  “Oh, okay. Sure.”

  “You didn’t have other plans, did you?” I shouldn’t have assumed she was free.

  She seems so nervous. Was that too much? Too forward? “No, that’s fine. I’ll see you then.”

  Lexi gives Asher a small wave and exits my office. Asher watches her leave, his eye homing in on her round ass, while I watch him. My fists clench again, my nails digging into my palms.

  Once she is entirely out of range, I wait for it in 3… 2… 1…

  Asher spins around and slams his hands to my desk. “Holy shit, you did find her. You even hired her? Damn, that must be some magical pussy that you gave her a job, and a director job at that.
”

  I slump down in my chair. “Asher, it’s not like that.”

  “Oh? Because it sure as hell looks like that to me.”

  “Will you keep your voice down?” My voice is harsh. The last thing I need is a rumor going around the office about not only myself but Lexi. I rise again from my chair and shut the door before strolling over to the bar set up in the corner of the office.

  Yes, I know it’s only 11:15 in the morning, but if I’m going to explain this, especially to my arrogant younger brother, I’m going to need something more substantial than coffee.

  I pour two small tumblers, each with a splash of whiskey that was given to me as a present by the previous owner at the official sale of the company.

  “You know I will never deny a drink at any hour,” Asher says as he accepts the glass. “But for you to drink during the middle of a workday, I’d say you better start spilling.”

  I lean against my desk, crossing my ankles and staring at the amber liquid. I swirl it around for a moment before I take a swig and enjoy the smooth, crisp liquid as it goes down my throat. This woman is my undoing, leading me to drink in the middle of the workday.

  “Yes, Lexi is the girl from the club. No, I didn’t hire her; she already worked here.”

  “I knew it!” Asher shouts with a giant smile on his face. “You got all defensive around her. I thought you were about to pounce. You’re quite the caveman, Ben.” Asher smirks before taking another drink.

  “It’s a fucking mess.” I set the glass down on my desk and scrape my hands over my face, exhaling loudly. “I spent all weekend thinking about her only to come in Monday morning and learn that the woman stuck in my brain is none other than my employee. And someone that I have to work with regularly getting ready for the big Best Of event this company puts on.”

  “You didn’t google her?”

  I’m shocked by his question. “Why the hell would I google her?”

  “I don’t know; maybe you googled the employees when you took over the company? I always google women before I go on a date. I don’t see why it would be any different here?” He googles women before he goes out with them? Yeah, I know. Pot, meet kettle since I did, in fact, google Lex, but at least that was after the fact and not before.

  I shake my head. “Wow. You are…” I don’t even know how to react or respond to him right now. “Anyways, no, I did not google my employees, or dates I go on for that matter.”

  He raises his eyebrows in question. “You go on dates?” I flip him off, but that doesn’t stop him from continuing. “So you wham, bam, thank you, ma’am, and then she was gone.” I take another sip. Does he have to be so crude? “So, what next? You find out when you show up at work and then fuck each other’s brains out on the conference table? Ooo, or on your desk?” He cringes. “Ew, gross, I touched that earlier; I sure hope you sanitized.”

  I groan. “No, I mean, yes, I mean no. We found out on Monday morning when I walked into the conference room, and bam, there she is, but we managed to get through the meeting. Then afterward, we both agreed what happened was a mistake and we needed to keep it strictly professional.”

  Asher stares at me, trying to read me, cocking his head side to side. He smirks. “Right, professional. So then you haven’t made any additional passes at her, then.”

  I nod.

  “You won’t mind if I do, then? That is one sweet piece of ass.”

  I rise and slam my glass down on the desk. “The fuck you will,” I growl.

  He smirks and stands, setting his empty glass next to mine. “Right, strictly professional. Keep telling yourself that.” He playfully smacks my cheek. “Good luck with that. I gotta go or I’ll be late for lunch.” And with that remark, he exits my office, shutting the door behind him.

  Where the hell did that come from? Was I territorial over a one-night stand, a woman I can never have? Lexi was never mine to begin with.

  I press the intercom to my secretary. “Yes, Mr. Harrington.”

  “Did Miss Baker stop by and decide on lunch?”

  “Yes sir, she picked the Corner Bistro.”

  Fuck, of course. Did she know that I’ve been frequenting that place for lunch lately, or is it just a coincidence? When it comes to Alexis Baker, I’m not sure there is such a thing as coincidence anymore.

  “Wonderful, Taylor. Order whatever she wants and my usual. Can you have it in her office by—” I glance down at the time. “—12:15?”

  “Of course, right away, sir.”

  I hang up and get back to work. I compose my thoughts and get a handle on myself before enclosing myself in Lexi’s office with her. I can do this. She’s just a woman—a beautiful woman that I can’t fucking get out of my head. Even my brother doesn’t have faith in me that I can keep this strictly professional. It’s time I prove him and myself wrong.

  I kick my heels off under the conference table and move my neck side to side. A loud crack brings slight relief. As much as I am slumped over on my computer, I’m surprised I don’t resemble Quasimodo more.

  A slight smile forms on my lips, picturing me like that. Real attractive, Lex.

  “You doing okay over there?” The deep timbre of Ben’s voice whips my head in the direction of the conference room door, where he stands perched against the frame. I’m thankful to be already sitting, otherwise, I may have embarrassed the hell out of myself because I’m pretty sure my legs would have given right out from under me.

  This man screams sexy, dominant, and confident without even opening his mouth.

  He pushes off the frame, closing the distance between us.

  “We can just call it a night and go over this later if you need to.”

  I shake my head. “Oh no, I’m fine. I want to get these winners finalized so I can start generating the letters to notify them next week.” Ben is definitely realizing it is more than just picking winners out of a hat. I’m not sure people actually understand the number of long hours and hard work it takes to put on such a successful event. Even the smallest details need to be perfect.

  He claps his hands together. “Well, then let’s get started.”

  Ben pulls out the black conference chair a few away from me and loosens his tie.

  “I hope you don’t mind working in here. It’s just easier to spread all the paperwork out to keep it organized.” This will be the fourth Best Of party that I’ve helped plan and the second one entirely on my own. Over the years, I’ve found a particular way to do things, especially when it comes to this party, which has been dubbed “my baby.”

  “That’s fine. This is your project. I’m just here to nod my head, sign my name, and look pretty, I suppose.” He gives me a smile that could easily be part of a Colgate commercial. “And I hope you don’t mind”—he bounces my words back at me—“but I ordered us some food, assuming that once we start, there won’t be any stopping us.”

  Wow, that’s unexpected. “And what if I had said yes moments ago to calling it a night?” I tease.

  “Hmm.” He twitches his lips side to side in thought. “Then I guess I would be spending my evening binging on sushi alone.”

  “We can’t have that now, can we? Although maybe I don’t like sushi, and then that will become a reality anyways.” It’s a total lie, but Ben doesn’t know that. Italian is my favorite food. My motto may or may not be “give me carbs or give me death,” but sushi is a quick second. I prop my elbow on the table and rest my chin on my fist, challenging him.

  I am usually not this bold, but there’s something about Ben that brings me out of my comfort zone.

  He matches my stance, still holding my gaze. The longer he does, the more I feel as though someone has turned up the temperature in here. His eyes are burning a hole in my flesh as if he were marking me as his. My skin warms as a blush creeps over my neck and chest.

  “Now, Lex”—I wish my body didn’t react the way it does when he says my name shortened, almost like it belongs on his lips—“I would never assume, but I have walk
ed past your office on numerous occasions and have noticed you eating sushi at your desk.”

  Does he notice things that like with all his employees? Does he walk past my office often? I hope he didn’t walk past me the day I dropped a spicy tuna roll down the front of my blouse.

  “I guess I also shouldn’t have assumed you didn’t have dinner plans.” He arches a brow, confirming that I don’t.

  “No, my roommate has gotten used to me not home most nights for dinner. She knows how much of a workaholic I am. I usually stop on my way home and pick something up.” He must think I sound so pathetic; I feel like I am when I hear it like that.

  “I’m the same actually.” He nods in understanding. “So, you live with a roommate?”

  His arms are extended in front of him as he rolls up his white dress shirt, exposing the colorful lines of the ink on his forearms. It had been dark in the club, so I wasn’t able to take in the intricate detail of his tattoos. And when we were in the bathroom, my focus had been on, well—other things.

  “Lexi?”

  I pop my head up, my mouth suddenly dry, and my cheeks redden in embarrassment as my eyes meet his. The smirk on his face indicates he watched me thoroughly checking him out. I want to crawl in my seat and disappear just like that funny cat couch gif Brynn uses all the time in our group chat when she wants to avoid talking about certain things.

  I shift in my chair, pulling one leg under the other. I’m thankful to be wearing dress pants today instead of the usual skirt or dress; otherwise, I might be slipping and sliding. Just because I want to crawl in a hole right now, it doesn’t mean I’m not turned on.

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. That’s none of my business.”

  His words finally register. “No, it’s fine. I’m pretty sure everyone around here knows.” Of course, it’s because they were here to witness the demise of my last relationship that left me technically homeless, but that is too heavy of a conversation for now. “I share an apartment with my best friend Hadley. Oh,” I say with a little too much excitement, “you actually met her.” Ben looks confused. “Well, sort of. I mean, she was with me that night…” I don’t need to explain what night—he knows. His eyes darken at the mention of our first meeting. I watch as his Adam’s apple bobs and the muscles in his jaw tighten.