Connor’s restless night was spent wondering when he’d get to see, or more importantly touch, Samantha Cane again. When she stormed out of that bathroom, leaving him with only a thank you and a smile, he was completely mystified. Even before that she had enchanted him, when she grabbed him and kissed him, when she ordered him to make her come. Every moment with her was intoxicating. He had to spend fifteen minutes alone in the bathroom after she left to recover his composure. Since then she had been all he could think about. When he finally walked out of the bathroom, he went to the door she had been standing in front of before she dragged him into the bathroom. He watched her from the small window, making sure he wasn’t seen. She was standing at the front, behind a podium making some sort of speech. She had the same unmistakable fury in her eyes and was commanding the entire room. She looked like a dynamic force. Connor couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her. Standing there in front of that room, owning her space, she was the sexiest thing he had ever seen.
Connor finally dragged himself away from the window after Samantha finished her speech and sat down to a round of applause. He was thirty five minutes late for his summer camp, missing almost the entire team meeting. He had lost all focus and couldn’t seem to concentrate on much of anything. After his restless night thinking of Samantha, he wasn’t performing much better at practice. His coach was riding him all day. He was exhausted and frustrated. Sports had always come so easy and having a slump was something new to him. As much as he tried to deny it, he knew his frustration had to do with wanting to see Samantha again.
For an entire week, Connor had walked past the debate hall at various times trying to catch a moment to talk to Samantha or at least to steal a knowing smile. But, each time he walked by they were either busy or the room was empty. Each day he lingered longer and was later to practice. His coach was pissed now, not only because he was late but because he still hadn’t come out of his slump. His coach kept calling him lazy and unfocused. Distraction was a new problem for Connor. He was known for being singularly focused. He did only one thing at a time and he did it with everything he had. It had been his secret to lettering in three sports. Each one of his coaches knew that he wouldn’t start practicing for the next sport’s season until the current sport was finished. At first they thought it meant he wouldn’t be as conditioned as the rest of the team and fought him, but each year he would show up with a fierce dedication which overcompensated for the lack of field time. Now something had changed. Samantha kept him from attaining that same singular focus and he needed to change that somehow.
The Friday before their first scrimmage game Connor’s coach gave him an ultimatum to show up and play or he’d call the UCLA coach to ensure Connor rode the bench his first year. Connor didn’t necessarily believe he could or would be benched, but it was all the motivation he needed to find Samantha. Instead of warming up with the team, he waited outside of the debate room for twenty minutes, pretending to be texting on his phone. He wanted to catch her alone, but if he couldn’t, he’d take her any way he could get her. The room was clearing out. He refused to look up from his phone, but every one of his senses was on high alert for any sign of her, her voice, her smell, the shape of her body, entering the hallway. Finally, after everyone else had cleared out he peeked inside the room and saw she was finishing up a conversation with her teacher. She picked up her bag and was headed towards him. Before she looked up and saw him, he turned away and almost started running to the men’s bathroom, suddenly terrified to face her. When he heard the door to the debate hall open, he froze with his back still to her, holding his breath. She took two steps toward him and then stopped. Was she going to come up to him? Did she even recognize him? Connor’s breath caught in his throat. They stood in the hallway, neither moving, both feeling the electric current surging between their bodies, charging the air around them, ready to shock them both. She was the first to move. It was a slow pivot on the balls of her feet towards the exit. She was leaving. He wasn’t going to let her, his desire suddenly restoring his resolve.
Connor spun around and grabbed her wrist. Samantha’s eyes immediately went to the hand that softly, but intensely held her back. A second ago, staring at his broad shoulders and athletic back, she was sure he was intentionally ignoring her and wanted nothing more than to escape from him down the hallway as fast as possible. Now, as she raised her eyes and met that oddly familiar gaze, she just wanted to melt back into his chest like the last time he had his hands on her. He saw it on her face, already able to read her body like a book. A sly smile crept onto his full lips as he pulled her into him.
“My turn,” was all he whispered before their lips connected. It felt like coming home. It was passionate, but more than that it was familiar, warm, and welcoming. It was a soft balm on the raw nerves she had all week from thinking of him, missing him. How could a place she had only been once feel like where she was meant to be? She put her arms around his neck and he pulled her against him as he walked them both back into the women’s bathroom. He lifted her up and pinned her against the wall as her legs wrapped around his waist. Just like their last rendezvous, one of his hands caressed her breast while the other moved up her thigh. His need for her was consuming. She pushed his hand off her thigh sternly with one hand as the other pressed into his chest. He pulled back and let her down to the ground, her rejection suddenly making him unsure of himself. Samantha had never been more sure of anything. She stepped around him and locked the bathroom door before turning back to him with that seductive smile.
“Your turn,” she said as she pushed him up against the wall. She kissed him with a gentle keenness as her hands unbuckled his pants. He was already completely hard as she sank to her knees in front of him. She had never done this before. She had never seen an erection before, much less put one in her mouth. She had no idea what she was doing. In any other part of her life, she couldn’t do anything the first time without being paralyzed with immense fear, regardless of how much preparation she had done. With Connor, she didn’t panic. She didn't doubt herself. She didn’t even think. She just followed her body in response to his.
Within minutes of putting him in her mouth he was coming, his hands in her hair, and her name on his lips. The way she took control, the way she knew exactly what he wanted before he knew to ask for it, was irresistible. It felt like losing control and taking it back at the same time. Before he was ready, she stood up, and walked back to the door with a sexy strut that was all her own.
“You’re welcome, lucky charm,” she cooed back at him with a soft simper before stranding him alone in a bathroom again.
Connor closed his eyes, taking several deep breaths, and trying to commit the image of her face with that smile to his memory forever. After he collected himself, he jogged out to the field and played the best game of his life. He never knew, but Samantha watched him from behind the bleachers that night. She had only meant to say for the first few minutes, but she had been intoxicated by the effortlessness of every athletic move his body made. His easy confidence on that field was the sexiest thing she had ever seen.
Chapter Five – Introductions
In his final act of petty defiance, Connor waited until Monday to send an e-mail to Samantha. He told himself it was just to spite Rebecca. In reality, it took him the full three days to figure out what to say to her, or more accurately in this case, what not to say. He had thought about what he wanted to say to Samantha Cane a million times over the years. He had pictured everything from calling her every offensive word you can call a woman until his voice gave out to dropping to his knees and begging her to just tell him why did she walk away. That question had haunted him for almost half of his life. In the end, he couldn’t do either. Over the years, ignoring her was the only defense he had. All he could do was the same thing he had always done, pretend she didn’t exist to him. Deny that at one point in his life she had been his entire world, his everything. That was going to be infinitely more difficult when he had to co
me face to face with her this week.
He sent the e-mail to her first thing Monday morning. He told himself he wasn’t waiting for her response, that he was merely continuing on with his normal Monday routine. It was a lie. He was glued to his computer, obsessively clicking refresh on his e-mail, waiting for her response. He even had his assistant confirm the internet server was still working, convinced he wasn’t receiving any e-mails, despite having received several messages from people other than Samantha Cane.
He couldn’t put his phone down the entire hour of the morning board meeting which he was paying absolutely no attention in. When he got back to his office, he kept frantically glancing at his e-mail inbox as he scrolled through the initial contract between his company and Samantha’s law firm. Phillips, Morrissey & Tanner. He needed to get used to referring to the company by its name instead of its relationship to Samantha. That would be fun to explain to Rebecca if he slipped up. He spent the remainder of the morning trying to remind himself that he was a professional and this was a job. The fact that Samantha was involved was just another complication. Every project had its special circumstances. He had never had a challenge he wasn’t able to overcome. That was why Rebecca had recruited him. That was why he was the top Acquisitions Consultant at Republic Consulting.
He checked his e-mail again. Still nothing.
With the start of every new project, Connor had Brianna, his assistant, put together dossiers on each of the principal actors in the merger, both the companies and the associates who Connor would have to interact with and keep happy. These weren’t anything too stalkerish, just a middle ground between a standard business biography and a full background check. It consisted mostly of what could be found from googling and social media. They typically included basic information such as, hometown, college attended and major, family situation, personal likes, and hobbies. With a little research, he found an easy icebreaker to start off friendly with each person. A little birdie told me you are a Buckeye’s fan? Great season they're having this year! I think you are going to kill Michigan this year. Connor was a firm believer in first impressions. It may be manipulative, but this trick allowed him to form an instant, although tentative, bond with just about anyone. Regardless of the claim that people are all business, Connor had learned that people are always willing to do a lot more for someone they like than someone they just work with. People always care more about you when you seem to like what they care about.
Connor began with the principle contact he would be working with at Keiretsu Holdings, Mr. Hirotami Kojima. He was on the younger side for a Japanese executive, only thirty-seven, which means he was likely extremely driven and very goal oriented. Connor’s thoughts again wandered to Samantha. He knew Samantha was also fiercely committed and focused. Connor made a note of the potential personality conflict the similarity might cause, jotting down a few notes on how to get them off on the right foot. Hirotami was single. He attended a Japanese university, but got his MBA from Northwestern University, meaning he was fluent in English. He had been working for Keiretsu Holdings for the past eight years and traveled back and forth to the United States every four to six months for either personal or business trips. His facebook photos were not of family and friends. They were all expensive looking meals, tiny plates on linen tablecloths in softly lit dining rooms. Hirotami was a serious foodie. Connor was looking forward to abusing the corporate expense account for some business dinners.
The next profile was on Jeremy Slone, Samantha’s boss. A senior partner at Phillips, Morrissey & Tanner. Again Connor reminded himself not to think of everyone in relation to Samantha, but rather in relation to the merger. It was a constant struggle. It terrified him how quickly his world seemed to revolve around her again. Slone was in his early sixties, an Arizona native, but living in California since college. He had been married three times so far. Wife number three has been around for the past two years and worked as an interior designer. Connor noted she was about Samantha’s age, and then chastised himself for it. Not everything was about Samantha! Slone was a well established partner. He was past the point of needing to turn any heads. Connor was guessing Slone’s primary concern for the merger was going to be keeping the train on the tracks.
Samantha’s file sat in front of Connor. He had half-heartedly followed her life over the years. He knew she had gotten into Stanford for her undergrad like she wanted to. He knew she stayed at Stanford for her law degree. He knew she turned her internship at Phillips, Morrissey & Tanner into her current job, meaning they lived in the same city. He didn’t know if she was married.
He checked his e-mail again. Still nothing.
Over the years he had kept tabs on where she was and what she was doing, but he was always afraid to dig too deep. He had always told himself it was because he wasn’t that curious, she didn’t mean enough to him to bother finding out. The truth was that he would rather hope she wasn’t married than know she was. Her facebook was set to private, so he had never been easily able to track her relationship status. He could never bring himself to send her a friend request. He had considered creating a fake account to see if she would accept a request, but he quickly convinced himself that was too obsessive. It had only been in the past few years that he started to wonder what her personal life was like. The first time he received a wedding invitation from one of his high school friends and he realized he was getting to the marrying age, he immediately thought of Samantha. It was a reflex. His mind instantly pictured her in a white dress, smiling at some other guy. Connor had been in a bad mood for the rest of the day. It was the closest he had ever come to reaching out to her. The desire to find out what her life was like was overwhelming. And here it was, sitting in front of him, in her dossier. He was petrified. He sat there for twenty minutes just alternating between staring at his empty e-mail inbox and the cover of her folder, unsure of what to do with himself.
His assistant, Brianna, knocked on the door. Connor closed his e-mail inbox and shuffled Samantha’s file to the bottom of the pile as if he had been caught doing something nefarious before calling for her to come in.
“Ms. Cane’s assistant called and wanted to confirm your availability for Wednesday afternoon. You had a meeting scheduled for the Stevens-Walker merger, but since you were reassigned,” Brianna said the last part under her breath, hoping not to aggravate him knowing how he hates not finishing a project. “I thought I should verify if you were comfortable with the Wednesday appointment.”
Conner opened his e-mail again. Still nothing. She wasn’t going to bother responding. She had her assistant call to set the appointment. She still wasn’t going to talk to him. Connor was instantly enraged.
“Wednesday will be fine,” Connor responded curtly, aware and not caring about his own gruffness.
“I’ll coordinate to have the rest of the merger team available…”
“That isn’t necessary,” Connor cut her off abruptly. “I will be doing the initial introductions myself,” he wanted to minimize the people Samantha could use as a buffer. He was going to force her into meeting with him. He was done being brushed off by Samantha Cane. The years of him hiding and her being able to ignore him were about to come to an end. Connor was finally going to force Samantha to talk to him.
Chapter Six - The Reunion
Wednesday morning Samantha spent an hour getting dressed. She should have been able to get ready in five minutes since she had spent the entire night before trying on every single piece of clothing she owned, picturing the look on Connor Grayson’s face when he saw her in them. Nothing had seemed right. She wanted something sexy, but professional. Something that made her look both approachable and aloof. Something that made her look like a woman, but reminded him of the girl he had fallen for so many years ago. In addition to all that, Samantha needed it to be close to her normal work clothes, understated enough to avoid drawing her colleagues’ attention. She didn’t want to send the tongues of office gossips wagging. It was a tall order for any out
fit.
She had spent most of her adult life working on quieting the voice from her childhood which had tormented her, destroying her self-confidence. Each achievement in her life, Stanford, law school, becoming a senior associate, was a brick in the wall she built in her mind to keep the voice of doubt locked away. The thought of seeing Connor again demolished it all. She was that anxious and awkward teenager all over again, standing in front of her mirror, telling herself she wasn't good enough.
She had decided finally on a black pencil skirt with a matching blazer. The skirt was a professional just-above-knee length, but was nearly skintight. It clung to her curves in all the right places, highlighting all the hours she spent on the Stairmaster. The blazer balanced the sexiness of the skirt nicely and made her feel authoritative. The real piece de resistance of the outfit was the red satin blouse, cut just low enough to beg the eyes to linger while still being work appropriate. Barely. Samantha almost never wore red to the office, feeling that it was both too sexy and too confrontational. For today, those were exactly the two things she needed to be when facing Connor again.
Connor spent fifteen minutes deciding what to wear. He had a fairly extensive collection of personally tailored suits, but he knew exactly which one he looked sexiest in. Ultimately, all he cared about was seeing that familiar look of desire in Samantha’s eyes. She might be able to avoid him, distance herself, and ignore his e-mails, but she couldn’t hide that lingering lust in her eyes. Connor’s suit was jet black and slim fit to show his masculine silhouette. It was paired with a crisp white shirt and a steel blue tie that matched his eyes. The suit itself was lucky. He had yet to fail to close a deal in it, in business or with a woman.
Lucky Charm Page 3