by Lana Dash
“It’s fine.” He shakes his head. “I’m just wrapping up here anyway.”
Gina gives me a little wave of her fingers and I fight the urge to snap a few off her dainty little hand.
I turn and walk out of the office, closing the door behind me. My desk phone is ringing, and I pick it up as I drop into my chair.
“Christopher Grayson’s office.”
“There you are,” Willa says by way of greeting. “I’ve been calling you all morning.”
I open my desk drawer and pull out my cell phone. Sure enough, I see that I’ve missed five calls from Willa and a few text messages.
“What’s wrong?”
“Did you send the letters?” she asks, her voice sounding frantic. “This can’t be happening. You said that we weren’t going to be sending these.”
“Wait,” I say. “Slow down. What are you talking about?”
“The letters!” she shrieks. “The letters we wrote out on Friday night. Someone mailed them.”
I can feel the blood drain from my face, and I feel light headed.
“No.” I shake my head. “That’s not possible. We agreed.”
“So you didn’t mail them out?” she asks.
“What? No! Why would you think that?”
“Because it was your idea.”
“It may have been my idea, but I have just as much to lose if that letter is sent out.” I spin in my chair, looking for the pile of mail that got dropped off this morning. I suddenly remember Grayson saying that he wanted to go through it himself. Of course, the one day a letter I’ve written declaring my love to him that gets sent out, he decides to take it upon himself to go through his own mail.
“How could this have happened?”
“I don’t know. But I’ve got to get back to work. We’ll talk about this later tonight.”
I glance over my shoulder into Grayson’s office, hoping to see the mail I handed over to him this morning, sitting on his desk still untouched, but instead my gaze meets Grayson’s. He’s not giving anything away in his expression about whether or not he got the letter from me, but there is definitely something different about the look in his eyes that I just can’t read.
My heartrate picks up, as it always does when I’m near him. I try to distance what I feel and how I act around him but sometimes the physical reactions are overpowering. Would it be the worst thing if he finally knew how I felt? I thought that writing that letter would be enough to move on. But now that I’ve officially admitted to myself how I feel, I realize I’m not ready to move on—at least until I know that there is no chance for a future between us.
GRAYSON
“Are you even listening to me?” Gina asks.
I tear my gaze away from Maren and l look at Gina. Her lips are pressed into a thin line and I can tell she’s annoyed. She’s not used to not having the full attention of the person she’s talking to, but I’m not one of those people.
“No, I’m not,” I admit.
My attention was focused on Maren. Whoever just called her, had her fluttering around at her desk looking for something. I glance down at the leather binder sitting in front of me and I see a corner of the teal envelope sticking out. Was she looking for the letter? Do I tell her that I have it?
“If there’s something more important than this party—”
“I have at least five more pressing things that need my attention, other than this party,” I say cutting her off. “But you insisted on coming in today to discuss it.”
Gina’s mouth opens and closes like a fish without water, but she doesn’t say anything. I know she’s not used to being spoken to this way. But I’ve been listening to the plans that she’s laid out for party and it sounds more like a black-tie event rather than a company party like I’d asked her to put together.
I reach over and hit the call button that’s connected to Maren’s desk.
“Yes, sir?”
“Can you come in here for a moment?”
The door opens and Maren steps inside with her notepad in hand, ready to take notes. Gina glances over her shoulder at Maren and then turns back to me. I don’t like the look on her face, like she’s just smelled something rotten. Even without realizing the chance that I have feelings for her, I’ve always thought very highly of Maren. She’s ten times the woman Gina will ever be. I value so many things about her—she’s smart, hardworking, efficient, not to mention beautiful.
I’ve called her in here because I need an objective perspective. I need to know that my instincts about this party are not being influenced by my irritation with Gina. I know that Maren will tell it to me straight.
“Gina, can you summarize for Maren what you have planned for the company launch party.”
Gina stares at me like it’s below her to speak to Maren. The tension in my shoulders increase and I feel suddenly protective of Maren. But in truth, I know that she doesn’t need me to stick up for herself. I’ve seen her handle some of the entitled members of my board try to push her around to get one on one time with me, but she’s always able to stand her ground.
Gina reluctantly gives her the rundown of the plans, and I watch Maren’s face as she listens. I want to see if she’s thinking what I’m thinking. That this company party has morphed into some misguided social event. When Gina finishes, Maren glances at me with one eyebrow raised.
“What do you think?” I ask her.
She clicks her pen a few times. I can see the wheels turning in her mind as she formulates a diplomatic response.
“Do you want my honest opinion?” she asks.
“I wouldn’t have asked you if I didn’t.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t think that what you have planned meets the party’s objective.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Gina snaps.
Maren shrugs. “Maybe so, but he asked my opinion and so I gave it.”
“I don’t know why you called her in here.” She turns back to me. “She’s only an assistant. She knows nothing about planning an event.”
“But I do know the employees in this company, and the last thing they want to do is dress up for some fancy event that half of them probably haven’t even made it on the guest list.”
Gina doesn’t contradict her, so she continues.
“This party is celebrating the hard work of everyone in this company to help launch new software. Many of these employees have spent a lot of time away from their families to get this project done. Why not make the party something that they can bring their whole family to so everyone will enjoy it?”
“What are you thinking?” I ask. I love that idea, but with the party only a week away, I wonder if something like that could be put together in time.
“Well we don’t have a lot of time to find another venue, but I don’t think we’d have to. The company’s campus courtyard would be a perfect place to have games, food, maybe even a few rides for the kids.”
“I don’t plan events like that,” Gina finally says to me.
“Okay, then I will send you a check for your services up until today, but we will take over the rest of the planning.” I tell her.
Gina storms out of my office without another word. I know that my motives for this move is to provide the best party as a thank you to my employees for their hard work, but I suddenly find myself with a hole other reason to fire Gina. I want to spend time with Maren, and this is the perfect excuse.
4
MAREN
Did that really just happen? I should have kept my mouth shut but listening to her talk about throwing a black-tie event downtown isn’t at all what the people around here want.
I turn back to Grayson. His gaze on me is intense, and I feel like he’s seeing more of me than ever before.
“I know it’s a lot to ask, but would you be willing to help me plan this thing?” He rubs his hand over the back of his neck. “I’ll make sure that you’re compensated for the extra time.”
Even if I didn’t
already need the money, I couldn’t say no. He’d just fired the event planner he hired to put this party together. Who else does he have to ask?
“Of course.”
“Great.” He nods. “You can put aside any work that you have on your desk and focus your attention on this. Start making calls to vendors to see what we can put together. You have the company credit card to use. We can go over what you have planned tonight after everyone has gone home.”
I fill my afternoon with calls to try to find what is available last minute. It helps that money isn’t really a concern when vendors start listing off last minute fees and charges.
I take up residence in the private conference room that is usually reserved for company board meetings. It’s the only one of the conference rooms that doesn’t have glass walls. I want what I’m planning to be a surprise.
“There you are,” Grayson says, standing in the door way. He’s pulling at his tie and undoing the top button of his dress shirt.
I can see a smattering of chest hair beneath and I wonder to myself how far down that chest hair goes. Heat pools in my lower belly and I press my thigh together to try and ease some of the ache between my legs. I have to stop looking at my boss this way.
“What time is it?” I ask.
“Just after six.” He holds up a brown paper bag. “I figured you’d be hungry.”
I skipped lunch today because of the short time frame I have to make the plans needed for the party. So my stomach decides to answer him for me by growling loudly.
He chuckles to himself and sits down in the seat next to me. “I’m going to take that as a yes to the Chinese food.”
“I didn’t know you knew how to order take out,” I tease.
“Hey,” he chuckles again. “I wasn’t always the successful man I am today. I had to learn to fend for myself in college and take-out food was critical to my development.”
“You’re starting to sound like a normal guy,” I say, surprised by this more relaxed version of Grayson.
He shrugs. “I am a normal guy, but sometimes my life can seem extravagant to those that don’t know me.”
Grayson starts to remove the food from the bag. I pull apart a pair of chopsticks and start in on some beef and broccoli, while Grayson bites into an egg roll.
“Thank you for taking this project on,” he says between bites.
I shrug. “It’s my job.”
“No.” He shakes his head. His expression sincere as he looks at me. “No, it’s not. But that didn’t stop you from taking it on without complaint. You’re someone I can always depend on.”
For some reason, it feels like he’s trying to tell me something other than what a good job I’m doing. Or am I just projecting what I wish he was doing? Either way, I could get used to this new side of him.
GRAYSON
It’s crazy for me to edge closer to the line I told myself I’d never cross. But the pull I feel for Maren is enough for me to reason away any excuse not to open up. I’ve been closed off for so long that the idea of opening to someone seemed impossible. But with her, I want to be an open book.
“Tell me what you have so far,” I say.
“I figure since you agreed that this party should lean more towards family friendly, so everyone can feel included, I’ve got booths that will be set up on the east part of the campus courtyard that will feature a variety of games, face painting, a few rides.” She points down at a hand drawn map. “And on the west part of the courtyard, there will be an assortment of food trucks and a tent set up for people to eat under. I’ve talked to head of IT to set up some speakers so that you can address the crowd directly and we can announce prizes throughout the day.”
I’m amazed by how much work and planning she’s completed in just one afternoon.
“I thought you said you’ve never planned something like this,” I say, unable to hide the amazement in my voice.
She looks down at the map and then back up at me. “I haven’t.”
“You’re amazing. You’ve done more work in one afternoon than Gina did in a month of planning.”
She smiles at this comment. “I don’t really think of this as work. I like putting together a plan and setting it up.”
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m a little disappointed that you are so good at this. I thought that we’d have more time to spend together one on one. It would give me a chance to finally open up more.”
When I walked in here, I didn’t plan on mentioning the letter, but the urge to kiss Maren is too strong and I feel like I need to lay out all my cards on the table.
I reach into my suit jacket pocket and pull out the teal envelope. I set it down on the table between us. Maren’s eyes widen in surprise.
5
MAREN
There’s a second between Grayson mentioning that he wants to open up and when he pulls out the letter, and a part of me hopes that the two aren’t connected—but I was wrong.
“Where did you get that?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
“I got it this morning.”
“I didn’t send that.”
“Someone did.” He chuckles. “Did you really mean what you wrote?”
Anger and embarrassment washes over me. I push away from the table, needing as much space between the two of us as I can get. There are many responses I could have imagined him having but laughing at me wasn’t one of them.
“Screw you,” I say through gritted teeth.
The shock on his face gives me enough time to nearly get to the door before I hear him moving behind me. I grab the door handle and pull, but his hand reaches out and closes it.
“Wait,” he breathes out. I can feel the heat of his body behind me. “I need to know if you meant what you wrote.”
I spin around. “Why, so you can laugh at me some more?”
“What?” His head jerks back like my words are a slap to the face.
“I know that I don’t look like the beautiful and thin Gina Marshall’s of the world, but I don’t deserve to be the butt of some joke to you.”
Grayson stares at me and just shakes his head. “I wasn’t laughing at you.”
“You just—”
“I laugh when I’m nervous.” He rubs the back of his neck. “And since I read what you wrote to me, I suddenly feel very nervous around you.”
“You are?”
“I feel nothing with Gina,” he says, pushing his fingers into my hair. “But with you, it’s like my world went from black and white to color with a stroke of your pen.”
He leans in and brushes his lips gently across mine. I feel the sensation of his kiss down to my toes. When I don’t kiss him back, I can see him start to close up from uncertainty in front of me to protect himself. I grab the lapels of his jacket and yank him back towards me, crushing his lips against mine.
A growl erupts from his chest, like this kiss has awaken some beast inside him that’s been dormant for some time now. His body traps mine between him and the wall, and I feel the hard press of his cock against my belly.
His hands explore my soft curves, taking their time to caress and massage my body. I moan in pleasure as his hand finds its way beneath the fabric of my skirt. His roaming hand slides up my inner thigh and over the aching mound of my pussy. His mouth finds mine and swallows another moan that escapes me. I bite down on his lower lip when his fingertips, push aside the lace fabric of my panties and into my wet folds. In and out he thrusts his fingers and the pleasure grows inside me. I can’t think. I can only hold on to this roller coaster of pleasure. When I come, he doesn’t stop, prolonging the sensation of my release until I have to push his hand away.
GRAYSON
“We can’t do this,” she breathes out.
I chuckle and kiss a trail down her neck. “We already have.”
“I mean we can’t do this here.”
I’m so easily lost with her that it takes a moment for the reality that we are in the office hits me. Anyone could walk
in and find us together.
“You’re right.” I step back, needing to put space between us. The temptation and pull of her is strong and if were to try and kiss me, I wouldn’t care where we were, I’d need to have her right there.
Maren presses herself against the wall trying to steady her breathing, and I lean against the conference table. Neither one of us says anything. Maren’s gaze drifts down to my hard cock still evident as it pushes against my suit pants. She looks back up at me.
“Are there cameras in here?”
I shake my head. “No.”
The corner of her mouth ticks up slightly. She reaches beneath her skirt and tugs down the thin lace of her panties and kicks them off to the side. She closes the few feet between us and runs her hands up my chest, pushing my suit jacket off my shoulders. My heart races as she undoes each button of my shirt and pushing it off as well. She dips her finger into my pants and pulls me away from where I’m leaning to reposition herself in my spot and jumps up onto the table. I grab beneath her knees pull her thighs apart.
I find her lips with mine again, needing to taste her sweet kiss. I unbuckle my pants and pull my cock free. I step as close as I can and position myself at her entrance.
“Do it,” she breathes against my lips.
I push inside her. She’s wet and ready for me, but still tight enough to take my breath away. I push farther. Maren lays back on her hands, moaning with pleasure with each thrust in and out of her. I increase the pace of my hips, wanting the friction between us to build to a peak that will leave her screaming my name. I grip her thighs pumping harder.
She reaches out for me. I lean forward, and she wraps her arm around my neck to hold one. I give her another bruising kiss, wanting more, and knowing more will never be enough. We push closer to our climax, both holding on to the other as an anchor to keep from drifting off and losing ourselves completely in this moment. I want to see her face when I make her come. Just the thought of it spurs me on. I can feel the release, it’s so close.
“Are you ready?” I ask, enunciating each word with a thrust of my cock inside her.