Overworked
Page 63
I only take jobs I believe in, though. It’s my way of helping out the country. You’re welcome.
I’ve actually built it into a thriving business. It started out just me, but I now have a team of women working for me to bring down the assholes of the world.
Fluffing my hair up, I give myself one last glance in the mirror and leave the hotel room without a second glance at the good senator.
Just as I make my way onto the sidewalk outside the hotel, my phone rings. I stop and dig through my purse to find it, my eye on a limo that comes to a stop in front of me.
My assistant’s face is smiling at me from the screen, and I swipe the glass to answer. Does she have another job lined up for me already? “Hey, what’s up?”
“I have an important client that wants to talk to you.” Her normally chipper voice sounds a little subdued, like she’s in shock or something. Hmm, must be an interesting job.
“Okay, when?”
“I was just told to pass along a message. Get into the limo.”
Carter
“Seriously, Carter. How long are you going to keep doing this?” the woman on the video call says, her eyes skeptical.
I actually roll my eyes this time. “Come on, Lola. You’re joking, right? I’m making you so much money right now that we’d all be insane to end it.”
What the fuck? First Chase, and now Lola—both telling me I can’t keep this up forever. I don’t get it. Head Hunter is the most watched show on any network and online. We’re all making bank.
I look over at Chase, who’s sitting next to me on the private jet we’re taking to New York City, and give him a scrutinizing look, my eyes narrowed.
Lola Anders is the network executive. She should absolutely be on board with keeping this up. Am I missing something? Glancing back at the screen on the wall in front of us, I give her a charming grin.
“What’s the matter? Have you decided you’re tired of watching these other women crawl all over me and want a piece for yourself?”
It’s Lola’s turn to roll her eyes. I can totally bullshit with her like this. I’m her money machine. I can say whatever the fuck I want. Plus, I’ve seen the way she looks at me. She does want me. I mean, hell, they all do. And she’s been watching me get my cock sucked for almost five years. I can’t say I blame her.
“Look, Carter,” she says, trying to be all business. “You’re twenty-six now. It’s just not right for someone as hot as you to remain a virgin.”
I laugh out loud. I knew it. She does want me.
“Let me guess. You want to be the lucky lady to end it all?” I lean forward and wink, my voice dropping into a gravelly growl that I know makes all the women wet. “Lola, baby, if you want some of this, all you’ve got to do is ask.”
Her eyes narrow, and I can tell I’m pushing her close to her limit, but I don’t fucking care. What's she going to do? Fire me. I don’t think so.
My grin widens. “But I have to tell you, Lola. After all these years I’ve been waiting, you might not be able to handle me.”
I glance over at Chase and see him hiding a smile. I’d give him a high five if it wouldn’t make me look like a total asshole in front of Lola. I mean, she does still sign the checks, even if I do get away with fucking with her more than I should.
Lola clears her throat. “No, Carter. I don’t want to be the one to take your virginity.” She averts her eyes. Lies. “But I do think you should consider letting one of the women in the last part of the season do it. Like I said, you’ve waited way too long for this. You deserve it.”
I let out a scoff, my eyes widening. “No fucking way, Lola.” This bitch has lost her mind. Playtime is over. I’m not in the mood to mess with her now. “Why would I do that?”
She purses her lips. “I just think it would be good for ratings. We can make it the finale. The Head Hunter finally gives in. Can you just imagine the money that would bring in for us?”
My lip curls up, and I look at Chase again. He’s not smiling anymore. “Hell no,” I practically snarl. “If I lose my virginity before the end of my contract, you know what that means.”
I’m certain she does. But I never expected her to stoop so low as to try to convince me to do this.
Part of my five-year contract stipulates that if I remain a virgin for the full five years then I get a two billion dollar bonus payout. I’d be an idiot not to do that. Especially when the end of that contract is right around the corner.
“Ten episodes,” I tell Lola, my gaze pinned on her image on the screen. “Ten weeks. That's nothing compared to the five years I’ve been doing this. You expect me to give it up in the next ten weeks when I’ve waited this long? For some ratings? You know we’ll get the ratings regardless.”
Lola grimaces, and then Chase leans forward, jumping in on this conversation. I’m sure he’ll have my back. He’s not just in charge of filming. He’s my network liaison, but he’s also my friend.
“Lola, I know what you’re playing at here. This isn’t about ratings.”
I look at Chase, wondering what he knows that I don’t.
“Carter, you know when they put that incentive in your contract they didn’t actually think they’d have to pay it out, right?”
My gaze flicks to Lola, who looks furious now, then back to Chase. Lola keeps talking.
“They had no idea the show would be such a hit. That’s why it was a one-season deal with the option to renew, the five-year clause tacked on just as a guarantee. Nobody—I mean nobody—thought you would actually go five years and still be a virgin. Hell, they thought it would be done in one season. If you even made it that long. I mean, who goes a whole year with the hottest women in the world begging to fuck them and still remains a virgin?”
Me. That’s fucking who.
“Okay. But I did. For five years. Now it’s time to pay up.” I sneer at Lola. “There’s nothing that could make me walk away from two billion dollars with only ten weeks to go.”
Chase grimaces. “That’s the problem. The network never had any idea this would happen. That it was even a possibility. That clause was just thrown in there to get you to sign. The truth is, they just don’t have that kind of money to pay up.”
I smirk. Too fucking bad. I earned that money and I’ll fucking get it. I look at Chase for another second, and then I turn back to Lola.
“Well, I guess I’m about to own myself a network then.”
And I push the button to end the call.
Ashley
As I sit in the limo cruising through Times Square, I barely notice anything going on around me. I’m too busy trying to figure out where the driver is taking me and whom I’m going to see. My assistant didn’t tell me anything more than that I was supposed to get into the limo.
I have no clue whom I’m about to meet. All I know is that if it weren’t lucrative, I wouldn’t be on my way to this mystery meeting.
When the limo stops in front of the ABN—the American Broadcasting Network—I pause. A TV network? This is new. I normally get hired to seduce businessmen and politicians. Do they want me to do a job for one of their celebrities? I’m not opposed to it. It’s just not something I’ve done before.
Someone pulls the limo door open and extends a hand to me, and I take it and climb out. A security guard dressed in a black suit, complete with dark glasses and an earpiece is standing there ready to escort me. What is this, the fucking Matrix?
I laugh a little to myself, but follow the burly guy inside. Once we’re in the elevator, I watch in silence as he pushes the button for the top floor. I want to ask him where we’re going and whom I’m meeting, but I have a feeling he wouldn’t say anything in response. That’s how it works with these hired goons, right?
When the elevator doors whoosh open, Security Steve leads me down the hall to two huge double doors at the end of the hall. The nameplate on the wooden doors reads Lola Anders.
Shit. I know who she is. She’s in charge of the whole ABN network. This must
be a big deal. And apparently super secret for us to be meeting so late at night like this. It’s not uncommon for me to have these clandestine meetings considering the sensitive nature of my work and the clients I take on, but this feels different. Huge.
The security goon speaks into his earpiece, and then the door clicks and he pushes it open, holding it for me to enter. I go in and he shuts it silently behind me. Okay then.
I glance around, taking in the ornate office, my eye coming to rest on a woman sitting at a huge desk with a smile on her face. A smile that feels as fake as the blonde hair framing her face.
“Ms. Taylor,” she begins.
“Call me Ashley,” I interrupt.
She nods curtly. “Ashley. Please, come forward.”
I arch a brow. She’s acting like she’s the fucking queen or something. Like, does she want me to curtsy or some shit?
Smiling at my train of thought, I take a few steps forward.
Lola dives right in.
“Ashley, I just got off the phone with Carter Blaine. Do you know who he is?”
A shiver races down my spine, settling in between my legs with a little tingle. I feel my pussy clench just at the mention of his name, and as I picture his gorgeous body, I know I’m getting wet.
Because what woman doesn’t know Carter Blaine? He’s only been the object of my late night fantasies for I don’t even know how long. I swallow against the desire that’s coursing through my body just at the memory of me touching myself at my job earlier. A mental image of Carter Blaine was what got me through that god-awful encounter with the senator.
I clear my throat when I realize Lola is watching me carefully. Shit, can she tell how turned on I am right now? My voice comes out surprisingly cool and collected when I say, “Yes, I know who he is.”
Lola steeples her fingers and continues to scrutinize me. “Good. I have a job offer for you.”
Holy fucking hell. Is her target Carter? Please God let it be Carter. Because who doesn’t want a shot at Carter Blaine? He’s the most handsome man in America—probably the world. Women go after him week after week, wanting to be the one to break him. Or, more accurately, wanting to be his true love. Because his pure strength of will in keeping his virginity has led many to believe that he’s holding out for The One.
I don’t know about that. But I do know that if Lola Anders wants me to do a job and it involves Carter, I’m all over that shit like white on rice.
I keep my face blank as I say, “What does this job entail?”
“Please, have a seat, Ashley,” Lola says, gesturing at a chair in front of her desk. I’m sure it’s a power move. She doesn’t want anyone standing above her, looking down on her. What the fuck ever. I sit, ready to hear what she has to say.
“I need to hire you,” Lola says, and I don’t miss the use of her word need. That’s right. I’m the best in the business, and she knows it. “I need you to seduce him. I need you to be the one to take down the indomitable Carter Blaine.”
My heart rate kicks up. Holy shit, he is her target. I want to ask why, but I don’t always get the detail for my jobs. In this case, I think I might be content to just have the chance to fuck him.
“When I say seduce,” Lola continues. “I mean a full-on attack. I need you to get him to stick his dick inside your pussy. None of this oral and anal nonsense that he manages to get away with week after week. I want him to fuck you. There can be no margin for error. When you’re done with him, there can be no doubt that he’s no longer a virgin.”
My breath hitches. Her words are putting all kinds of images in my mind that make me so fucking hot I don’t know if even my best vibrator will do the trick tonight. I want everything she’s saying. How is this even real? It’s like the best job offer ever.
I still haven’t said anything, so she must take my silence as indecision—though how she can overlook how turned on I am is a mystery because she jumps in again with, “I’ll pay you a bonus of two hundred million dollars if you can do this. You have ten episodes. Ten weeks. I don’t care if it’s you or one of your girls as long as you get the job done before the end of the season. Do you accept?”
Holy motherfucking shit. Two hundred million and Carter’s gloriously giant cock inside of me. Fuck yes, I accept!
While inside I’m going crazy, on the outside I give Lola a calm smile.
“Yes. I accept your challenge.”
Carter
I walk down the crowded Manhattan street, not caring that people are pointing and staring, pulling out their phones and snapping pictures. I’m used to it. Besides, I have too much else on my mind to spend the energy giving a fuck.
With my phone pressed to my ear, I listen as Chase tells me the latest development. The network seems determined to find a way out of the contract bonus.
“They’re exercising their right to film continuously when you’re with women,” Chase says. “They think that maybe you’re looking for a way to get away with fucking behind their backs. That you aren’t actually a virgin. They want to catch you so they don’t have to pay up.”
“That’s bullshit,” I growl into the phone. I take pride in my reputation. I mean, some people might think it’s ridiculous to be a twenty-six-year-old virgin, especially when you’re a fucking hot alpha male like me. But I’m the goddamn Head Hunter. I get head and get paid for it. I’m not about to fuck that shit up. Plus, I do have integrity. I’m not going to lie about it and fuck around behind the network’s back.
“I know,” Chase sighs. “Don’t they realize that if you’ve been up to something the paparazzi would've been all over it by now?”
That’s the truth. Can’t go anywhere without some fucking pap hiding in the bushes.
“Whatever,” I say, shaking it off. “They don’t believe me? Fine. Stick the cameras on me all they want. They’ll see. Do you have the filming schedule?”
I tap on my phone and pull up my calendar to start inputting the dates, but all Chase knows is that the next ten contestants have been lined up and they’ll be presented to me. Starting today, apparently.
Ending the call with Chase, I call Lola. She’ll have the details I want.
“Carter,” she says, her voice saccharine sweet, not at all like the end of our last conversation.
I smirk. “You ready to admit you want some of this, Lola?”
She laughs, but it sounds forced. “You really are doing yourself a disservice. You could have anything from any woman you want.” She heaves an elaborate sigh through the phone. “Instead you settle for getting head.”
I bust out laughing. “I wouldn’t call it settling. Not by a long shot.”
“You’re missing out, Carter,” she says. “You have no idea. It'll change your life.”
I sigh, tiring of this same conversation. “Lola, I just called to get the filming schedule. I’ve been in the city for a week and I still don’t know when we’re starting. When is the next episode?”
I hear nails clicking a keyboard on the other end of the line and assume she’s pulling up the information on her computer.
“Okay, we have ten new girls lined up for you. One for each episode. They’ll be presented to you. We’ve arranged everything. You’ll know when you see them. I’m assuming Chase told you about the continuous filming?”
I want to bite out some snide remark, but I’m so over Lola right now.
“Yeah, he did.”
“Good. With the season coming to a close, more people are watching the live stream. They want to see everything that happens.”
They. I know she doesn’t mean the viewers, even though that’s what she wants me to think.
“Fine. So when is the first one lined up?” I realize she isn’t going to tell me much because she’s hoping to catch me off guard. The filming schedule doesn’t usually work like this with me not knowing when and where I’m meeting the girls. But she has to give me something.
“Today. Get ready, Carter, you’re—”
Suddenly, som
eone walks right in front of me on the sidewalk and the phone is plucked right out of my hand. I turn, angry, my eyebrows drawing together. “What the fuck?”
Then I stop. A sexy brunette is standing there, a hand on her hip, my phone dangling from her manicured fingers as she gives me a sultry smile. Her eyes glitter and she looks like she knows exactly what she’s about.
A smile spreads across my face. Guess Lola was right. I'll know when I see them. Because this girl has “take Carter’s virginity” written all over her sassy little face. But that’s fine. I’m the pro here. She can try whatever game she thinks she has. I still won’t give in. And by the end of the night I can guarantee this girl’s mouth will be wrapped around my cock and she’ll be begging me to cum down her throat.
“Carter Blaine,” she says, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. “Get ready. Your life is about to change. Right. Now.”
Well, okay then. This one looks determined. Most of them are usually falling all over themselves to get my attention. She seems to know what she’s about. This might just be interesting.
But I still won’t fuck her. No chance in hell am I giving up two billion dollars.
Ashley
I tuck my bare feet under me and sit back in my luxurious leather chair in my home office, reading over the dossier Lola Anders provided on Carter Blaine. It has everything I might ever want to know about him. I have to admit, I’m secretly impressed at what I’ve discovered.
He’s not like the usual slime balls I’m hired to seduce and take down. He actually seems like a decent guy. He shouldn’t. I mean, he’s a total man-whore. He has a new woman sucking his cock on national television every single week. A guy like that should be an utter douche, right? But from what I can tell, he doesn’t seem all that bad. He’s definitely sexy as hell. Quite the catch.
I pull out a few of the large photos Lola included in the file. That sculpted jaw with just the right amount of dark stubble. Yum. I run my fingers over the photo, wondering how it would feel to actually touch that gorgeous face myself. His cocky smile and piercing eyes seem as if they’re looking right at me.