“I made grilled chicken sandwiches for lunch,” she gestures to the bag still sitting on the floor.
“You didn’t have to do that but thank you. We can eat at the table over there,” I chuckle.
“What’s so funny?” she asks.
“You realize you’ve been in my office twice now, and both times you’ve brought food with you?”
“I guess you’re right. I hadn’t realized that.”
Things were so different the last time she was here: she had brought muffins and cookies in the day after her apartment had been broken into. We only had a few minutes in between meetings to spend together, but I remember being just as surprised then, as I was today when Kenzie showed up unexpectedly. That day was also the first time we were truly alone with each other. It’s hard to believe how much has changed since that day—how much our arrangement has changed.
“How was your morning?” I ask her.
“Good. I had breakfast with Julie, and then spent some more time going through everything that Ginny had given me yesterday. I’m using your laptop much more than I had expected I would—”
“Your laptop,” I correct her.
“Your laptop,” she argues. “I’m only borrowing it, just like the phone.”
“They’re yours, Kenzie—”
“They’re on loan to me,” she interrupts. “However, I am finding it to be extremely useful right now since Ginny had everything tracked by hand. I’ve already begun a simple spreadsheet to keep track of all her vendors and their current costs. Since all the food is made at the bakery, I think I want to see if we can find any of the ingredients at a lower cost somewhere. I mean, really flour and eggs are flour and eggs, no matter where you buy them, right?”
“I would assume so, but clearly I’m the last person to ask about eggs, seeing as though I couldn’t even make scrambled ones the other day.”
“Good point,” she giggles. “How was your morning? Your last meeting sounded… rough.”
“That’s an understatement,” I chuckle. “It’s been very busy, and really up until that meeting, was going well.”
“Did you fire her?”
“I did. She was a member of my PR team, and I’ve been questioning her advice for some time now. The meeting today was just the last straw—I had to let her go.”
“Is it hard?”
“Is what hard?”
“Firing someone? I’ve never done that before…”
“The first time you do it, it’ll be hard. You’ll put off doing it, keeping the person around much longer than you should because you want to keep giving them chances that they don’t deserve. But eventually, you will do it. It’ll be hard and you’ll probably feel bad afterwards, but then once you get past it, you will realize it was something you should have done a long time ago. I think after that it gets a little easier.”
“I’m not going to look forward to that part of owning the bakery.”
“It was probably one of the hardest things I did when I first started PFS, but it’s a part of business. It’s important not to befriend your employees: it makes firing them, or even disciplining them, much more difficult. That’s probably going to be hard for you though seeing that you were their peer, whereas I hired everyone for PFS from the beginning.”
“I really wasn’t friends with anyone, though, I mean I didn’t hang out with anyone outside of work. We would chat of course, but it was never more than just passing time.”
“Good, try to keep it that way. Many young managers make the mistake of hanging out with their employees outside of work, thinking that if they are liked by their employees, they will do a better job. Part of that is true: you don’t want your employees to hate you, but at the same time, you don’t want such a casual relationship with them that they think they can take advantage of you.”
“Good point.”
“Don’t be surprised if you receive some push back from a few of your employees. I think it’s going to be hard for some of them to look at you as their boss. Be firm in the decisions you make; if you’re uncertain about any decisions, hold off on implementing them until you are sure. I swear some employees can smell uncertainty.”
“Thank you, I really appreciate all your advice, it’s very helpful.”
“If I ever overstep, just tell me. I’m so used being the one in charge of implementing changes and putting in new processes when we sign a new client, that I might forget and get a little too involved in the bakery.”
“I think I’d be more lost if you weren’t involved.”
“Mr. Parker, your one o’clock is here,” Melody alerts me. I’m not sure how an entire hour as passed—it feels like we just sat down to eat.
“I should go, I’m sure Mr. Donnelly is waiting for me as well,” Kenzie begins clearing off the table and I quickly grab the garbage can next to my desk.
“Melody reserved the board room just next to my office for your meeting.”
“Thank you for letting me take some of his time, I’m sure he is very busy with projections for you.”
“It’s nothing, he’s glad to help however he can.”
She picks up the files and her laptop, I only now realize she had placed on the chair when she walked in and gives me a quick kiss before turning to walk out of my office. With my hand on her back, I escort her to the board room where Mr. Donnelly is already waiting for her. I introduce them quickly and he immediately begins showing Kenzie all the information we currently have from the purchase of the bakery. Although, this was not a new client taken on by PFS, I still had several of my departments involved in the purchase. His opinion was key in my decision to purchase Sweet Dreams for Kenzie. I wasn’t going to set her up to fail.
“Hunter, my office. Melody, give me two more minutes,” I request.
“Mr. Parker,” Hunter closes the door behind him.
“I want you to run to Neiman’s and get Kenzie a bag before her meeting is finished.”
“A bag, sir?”
“For her laptop, and all the other stuff, she brought today. Something classy but functional.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll go right now.”
“Very good.”
My next meeting takes longer than I expected, but thankfully Melody was able to rearrange my afternoon a bit so I have a break in my schedule to prepare before my last meeting of the day. After checking through emails and returning a few phone calls, I gather up the documents I need Melody to prepare for the meeting and bring them out to her. On my way back, I realize that the board room door is still open, and when I hear Kenzie’s voice, I’m surprised to learn that she is still here. I had assumed she had left long ago.
“Thank you again for your time today, Mr. Donnelly I really appreciate it.”
“No problem, Mrs. Parker, I’m glad I could help.”
Just as I approach the doorway, I watch Kenzie bend over the chair next to gather up her files and papers that are sitting there. Mr. Donnelly comes around the table just in time to see her bent over the chair and he stops dead in his tracks, his eyes obviously glued to her ass. My hands clench in anger when I see him blatantly staring at her; I silently count to ten willing myself not to punch his lights out.
“Excuse me,” I enter the room and watch the color leave his face at the realization that he has been caught. “Kenzie, can I see you for a moment?”
“Sure, just let me—”
“It can wait,” I interrupt, grabbing her hand to lead her back to my office. I glare at Donnelly as he skirts past us hurrying to the elevator, no doubt afraid that if he waits another moment he’s going to get fired or get his ass kicked.
“Nicholas—”
My lips are on hers before the door even closes behind us; I back Kenzie up until she is against the door just as it clicks shut. When she gasps in surprise, I take full advantage and slip my tongue into her mouth, tasting every inch of her. Her hands fist my hair and she moans when I reach around and grab her ass pulling her against me. With my lips never lea
ving hers, I pull the blazer off of her, quickly tossing it onto the floor somewhere behind me. Pushing her dress up, I groan when my fingers find her damp thong. Her hands are between us, unbuttoning my pants, freeing my dick from the tight confides of my underwear.
“Oh!”
Kenzie gasps in surprise when I lift her up and carrying her away from the door. Her legs wrap around my waist, her dress now pushed up to her hips. Her thong is the only thing stopping me from thrusting into her right now, that and the fact that I’m not wearing a condom.
Finally reaching my desk, I set her down on a pile of papers without giving a shit what they are, and grab a condom from my wallet. I quickly pull at her thong until I feel it rip, quickly tossing it to the floor. She moans against my lips when I slide my fingers through her slit. I quickly tear open the condom, cover myself and thrust into Kenzie.
“You’re mine,” I growl in her ear, holding her against me, desperately needing to sink further into even her.
“Hmmmm…” she pushes right back against me.
“Tell me… tell me you’re mine,” I mean it to come out strong and demanding, but instead it comes out more like a plea.
“Yes... I’m yours, Nicholas,” she pants and wraps her arms around my neck.
I don’t know what comes over me, but I thrust hard and fast into her, as I suck and bite at her neck. Her legs grip me tightly, never letting me pull out far from her before I plunge back inside of her warmth. I lose track of the number of times she comes, my name is all but a whisper on her lips after the third time. I’ve been holding myself back, not wanting this moment to end, but when she takes my ear in her teeth and bites down I lose any sense of control I had.
“Mine,” I growl and thrust hard into her one final time.
“Yes,” she moans as my own release triggers another one for her.
Her head falls onto my shoulders, her body going limp against mine. Gently lifting her off the desk, I carry her over to the small sofa against the windows. I sit us down, with her straddling my legs, our connection still intact. My heart is pounding, and my breathing is still erratic, but Kenzie’s fingers teasing my hair grounds me and brings me back to reality. It’s only then do I realize that we are both still partially dressed and that I just fucked her on my desk… SHIT!
“Kenzie… Fuck… I’m sorry.”
“You’re apologizing?” she leans back so she can look at me and fuck if my dick doesn’t twitch as I slip deeper into her.
“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Shouldn’t have done what exactly?”
“Done that,” I gesture to my desk, confused as to why she isn’t getting what I’m referring to. “I shouldn’t have fucked you—”
“Okay, then,” before I can stop her, she climbs off of my lap, pulls her dress down and goes in search of her blazer.
“Fuck, Kenzie… that’s not what I meant,” my mind is still very much on what just happened, so it takes longer than it should for me to realize she thinks I’m saying we shouldn’t have had sex in the first place.
“It’s fine,” she picks up her blazer and leaves my office before I can find my pants to go after her.
FUCK FUCK FUCK
If I didn’t still have employees in the building, I would run after her right now, dick hanging out and all. Knowing that Melody wouldn’t appreciate seeing that much of me, I quickly toss the condom into the garbage can and throw on my pants. It takes me longer than I would like to put myself back together and by the time I open the door there is no sign of Kenzie anywhere to be seen.
“Mr. Parker, everyone has arrived and is waiting in the board room for you.”
“Thank you,” I look over the elevator willing it to open with Kenzie waiting for me.
“Mrs. Parker just left with Mr. Hunter, sir,” Melody says.
“Thank you, Melody.”
Returning to my office, I throw my phone against the wall, watching it come apart before it hits the floor. I fucking suck at relationships—this is the exact reason I tried so hard to fight my attraction to Kenzie. I knew that I would fuck this up.
Chapter 26
Nicholas
“Parker, we need to get started,” Alex simply shakes his head looking at the pieces of my phone lying on the floor.
“Start without me—”
“We can’t. You know as well as I do they won’t sign without you. Whatever is going on needs to wait. If you aren’t in the meeting, they’re going to walk and we’re going to lose all the work we’ve put into this contract for the last year. We need this—”
“Fine,” I grumble, reluctantly agreeing with him. “Melody, I need a new phone.”
“Yes, sir, I’ll have one to you in the next few minutes.”
“Ladies, gentleman,” I address the many people around the board room, focusing on this deal and trying to forget how badly I just fucked things up with Kenzie. “Let’s get started, shall we?”
While Alex is reviewing the information he put together, Melody quietly walks in and hands me a new phone completely linked with my email, contacts and calendars. Even though I hadn’t expected Kenzie to have texted me, I’m still disappointed when I don’t see one from her. I wish like hell she didn’t leave my office so quickly and gave me a chance to explain. I can only imagine what she thought I meant—I still can’t believe I told her I shouldn’t have fucked her. Of all the ways I could have worded what I meant, I had to pick the worst way possible.
Try as I might, I cannot fucking focus on this meeting. Luckily really this is Alex’s deal: he has been working for over a year on this project and is essentially running this meeting. The only reason I am here is because they refuse to finalize the contract without me being present. Normally I don’t play hardball like this, but Alex was right, we need this client as it can open doors for us.
I spend the meeting texting her, tempted to walk out and call her, but I know that will just piss off the owners, so I force myself to stay in the meeting. She doesn’t respond to my text messages, but that doesn’t stop me from sending them. I guess I keep hoping that she’ll eventually respond to one of them.
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said. –N
I couldn’t leave, I couldn’t come after you. I’m stuck in a meeting, but as soon as I get home tonight, we need to talk. –N
Please give me a chance to explain, Kenzie. –N
I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. –N
Shit, I’m horrible at this, please… let me explain. –N
I’m so fucking sorry. –N
I wish I would have followed you when you left my office. I wish I could have insisted that Carter follow Hunter home so we could talk. I’m sorry I had to be in this meeting. –N
Kenzie… don’t let me fuck this up, please. I can’t lose you. –N
“Ladies and Gentleman, on behalf of PFS I want to thank you for allowing us the opportunity to assist you in branching out on this new venture.”
Even though I want nothing more than to leave and go find Kenzie, I stay and shake hands with everyone at the table while they are packing up. This has been a very long process of going back and forth, far longer than new contracts usually take.
“Great job, Alex,” I pat him on the back when the last person leaves the board room.
“Thanks, Parker. Now go buy the biggest bouquet of flowers you can find at this hour for your wife,” he smirks knowingly.
“How did you—”
“I watched her storm out of your office with Hunter hot on her heels, only minutes before you came out of your office. You obviously did something to piss her off—though I’m not surprised. Go buy her flowers, maybe a nice bottle of wine, and apologize to her.”
“I will,” I chuckle at how well he knows me.
“Sir—” Carter is at my side the moment I step out of the board room.
“Give me two minutes, Carter, I need to put this shit in my office,” I gesture to the pile of papers in my hand.
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“Yes, sir, but—”
He stops talking when I open the door to my office and I freeze. Much to my surprise, curled up covered under a small blanket on my leather sofa is Kenzie sound asleep.
“When did she come back?” I whisper.
“She never left, sir.”
“What do you mean she never left? Melody said she left with Hunter.”
“Technically she did—Hunter escorted her to the car, but after putting her bag in the trunk, she requested he bring her back up here. Unfortunately, by that time you were already in your meeting.”
“She’s been here the entire time?” Fuck, my meeting lasted more than three hours and she was in here the entire time?
“Yes, sir. She fell asleep about an hour or so ago. I had Hunter bring up the emergency blanket from the SUV before I sent him home for the night.”
“Let me put my stuff down and we’ll leave.”
“Yes, sir.”
I quietly close the door behind me before walking over to my desk and putting the paperwork away. I grab my laptop and a few other things I think I might need to review tonight, tossing them into my bag. Not wanting to wake Kenzie, I give Carter my bag before gently lifting Kenzie off the couch and carrying her out of my office. She immediately snuggles into my chest but doesn’t wake up until the SUV door closes.
“Nicholas?”
“We’re heading back home.”
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep in your office—”
“It’s fine. I had no idea you were there until I opened the door once the meeting ended. I can’t believe you stayed the entire time.”
“We needed to talk.”
“I texted you—”
“Hunter packed up my stuff that was in the board room, I think the phone is in the bag… wherever that is. Thank you for the bag, by the way, it was very thoughtful of you to send Hunter to get it for me. You didn’t have to do that but thank you.”
“It was nothing Kenzie. I figured you needed a better way to carry everything especially since you’ll probably be doing work at both Accord Towers and the bakery.”
On Her Terms (The Arrangement Duet Book 2) Page 26