The bile rises up from the back of my throat, choking me as we make our ascent. Silence is worse than having him yell at me the entire ride upstairs. Mr. Conway is the type of man who speaks only when he has a purpose. Of course, he chose to use his words to embarrass me in front of Regan. He never seems to have an issue with making people feel inferior in front of their peers.
Even with my promotion, I’m still not high enough on the food chain to garner the privilege of moving up to this floor. But I work my ass off in hopes of one day making that a reality. I need to explain everything to Regan. Why I work so hard to get where I am. Why I left her stranded by the elevator. Why I stood her up this morning at the coffee shop.
My life back in Chicago was complicated, to say the least. All I had growing up was Charlie, a few clothes and toys I was allowed to take from home, and the one comic book I salvaged from the wreckage. I don’t know who had it worse—Charlie or me.
That part of my life I keep tucked away from the world. Only Charlie knows what it was like when we were kids. She’s the only person who understands what I went through without feeling sorry for me. If I could muster up enough courage to tell Regan, then maybe she would figure out why this job and my work are so important to me.
Maybe I could make her see that this is not just a game. There will always be another project and possibly something even greater one day. But that’s not why I do this.
Mr. Conway doesn’t speak until we reach the executive level. Once the doors open, I should be able to breathe easier, but I have no idea what awaits me. My boss is full of surprises and enjoys toying with me. He knew I had a date this morning, although I never said it was a date. That didn’t keep him from stopping me from leaving the building.
The guards had escorted me back to the office when I tried to leave for breakfast. Two times in one day, he made me feel insignificant. Made a fool of me. Well, the day will come when I get my chance to make him pay.
From the pristine white marble floors to the offices encased in glass, the entire floor gives off the vibe that only the elite belongs here. I am not one of them. I will never be one of them, no matter how hard I try.
While I might be the best programmer they have on staff, the big wigs will never see a guy like me, who had come from a humble beginning, on the same level as them. I can’t golf. I don’t like the stale taste of cigars. And I’m not a womanizing pig. We have nothing in common.
In this business, you have to play the game. I choose to forge my own path. But I still have to follow the rules. Or at least until I can make my escape.
“Take a seat,” Mr. Conway says, once we step inside his office. He slams the door so hard it causes the floor to shake beneath my feet. “We have a lot to discuss.”
With those words, the sickness rises up from my stomach again. At a bare minimum, I have to finish this project. My future in gaming depends on it.
In front of the massive oak desk that spans one wall of the office, I sit in one of the high back leather armchairs. It’s an unusual choice for an office, but Mr. Conway likes everything to be of the highest caliber—including this expensive furniture. But this is not your typical office. The ceilings are high with windows that almost reach up to them, providing a perfect view of the city.
I have a similar view, but from this height, I can see the top of Independence Hall with Liberty Bell Center right across the street. Both Charlie and I have offices that are conveniently located across from historic Philadelphia sites. In a city rich in United States history, it’s hard not to surround yourself with the culture.
When we first moved to the city, Charlie and I immersed ourselves in everything the city had to offer. Much like Chicago, we found all the tourist spots, learned which ones to avoid, and where to get the best food. We’d started over together, built new lives for ourselves. I remember the first time Charlie ate a hoagie, a cold lunchmeat sandwich that Philadelphians obsess over as if it’s the greatest food ever invented. She fell in love with hoagies, and I had become obsessed with cheesesteaks.
At a time like this, I have to remember why I moved here and what brought me to this company. I wanted a better life, one that I now have because of the sacrifices I had to make…continue to make.
Mr. Conway plops down in the chair across from me and folds his hands on the desk in front of him. The look in his eyes, so hard and intense, could cut through glass. His mouth twists in disgust, the corners eventually turning up into a smirk.
“We have a problem, O’Connor.” His voice sounds even deeper and more demanding in the quiet room. “Our client called while you were off fucking secretaries.”
His words stir a fire inside my chest that causes me to ball my hands into fists on my lap. Fighting off the desire to reach across the desk and choke this bastard, I grind my teeth together to keep my mouth shut. Regan is not a fucking secretary. But he doesn’t know that. Even if he did, he wouldn’t care. To a man like Mr. Conway, women are as replaceable as the furniture in this room. So are all people, for that matter.
“What did they say?” I choke out, doing my best to control myself. My voice sounds level enough that he doesn’t pick up on my irritation.
“You and your team have less than one month to deliver the finished product.”
“But we were supposed to have the same amount of time to give them the beta version. We’re still testing the software. It has a few kinks that I’m trying to work out. They can have a demo of the game, but I will need more than a month for the final product.”
He leans forward, his stare growing more intense. “Get it done. I don’t care how you have to do it. I don’t care if you sleep in your office from now until then. TGS paid us a lot of money to give them what they want. I’m not about to lose one of our biggest clients over this game.”
I sit up straight in my chair and clear my throat. “Yes, Sir. I’ll make it work.”
He gives me a weak smile and sinks back into his chair, resting his thick forearms at his sides. “That’s what I like to hear, O’Connor. I’ll let TGS know that you will be ready for their live demo on Monday.”
“Monday?” I practically fall out of my chair in shock. “That’s not enough time.”
“You just said you could hand over the final product. If that’s the case, you should have enough of the modules built to do a live demo or at least fake one for our client.”
“The guys at TGS are too smart to give them a false presentation. They’ll see right through all the loopholes in the game and realize we’re full of shit.”
“Like I said, I don’t care what you need to do to get it done. If we lose this client, I’m not so sure we’ll have a place for you or your team.”
My heart drops into my stomach, the bile that never went away choking me so much that it takes my breath away. I swallow to clear my throat, but nothing happens. I had given up so much to get where I am today. And my team has come along with me for the ride. Some of the guys have families, college tuition bills, and second mortgages to pay. I cannot let them down. I cannot be the reason they are out of a job.
“We will make it work, sir.” My tone doesn’t indicate an ounce of confidence, though I wish it did. I’m so transparent he can see right through me, through the façade.
“For your sake, let’s hope so, O’Connor.” He waves his hand toward the door, an evil grin crossing his lips. “You’re dismissed.”
With the seriousness of the situation weighing me down, as if my body is made of sand, I have trouble getting up from the chair. Holding onto the arm, I push myself up and nod in acknowledgment at my shithead boss, wishing I could punch him in the face instead of shaking his hand.
He gives my hand a limp shake. You can tell a lot about a man by the way he shakes your hand. But I have to suck it up and deal with whatever he throws my way. We don’t exchange another word, and I leave his office almost in shame. More like humiliation. My entire life I have been kicked while I was down. It sucks. You get used to it.
I wish Regan were still here to help me take my mind off things. Walking toward the elevator bank, I think about calling her, just to hear her voice. But I’d rather not have her hear how beaten down I am at this moment, even though I know she can take away some of my irritation.
The thought of disappointing her again crosses my mind a few times on the way down to my office. What if this job scares her away, like the rest of them? I can’t lose her. Over the past few weeks, she has become too important to me. If only I had more time to show Regan how much she means to me.
Chapter 10
Regan
After his boss had scalded him in front of everyone at work, Jamie called to change our plans. I was all set for a real meal at Luciano’s. Instead of overpriced Italian food, we’re sitting on the couch in Jamie’s apartment, eating pizza from the box on the coffee table and playing his video game.
As much as I would have liked the fancy date, this one is much better. It’s also our third date if you want to get technical. Which means sex. And I’m slightly nervous. More like ready to puke.
“How did you do that?” Jamie shakes his head at me with a curious look in his eyes. “Do you know how long it took me to map out that sequence, and you just crushed it in five minutes.”
I shrug, a smirk already on my lips. “I’m just that good. What can I say?”
“I can’t believe a girl outplayed me.” He glances down at the controller in his hand, confused. “I need to make a few tweaks to the game.”
“Isn’t that why you call me Foxy?” I say proudly. “Because I always have a trick up my sleeve.”
Settling into the cushion next to me, Jamie drops the remote on the table and pulls me into his chest. “You’re about ten times sexier than you were five minutes ago.”
“Oh, is that so?” I laugh against his lips as he presses his to mine. “And how did I manage to do that?”
“You were speaking my language the entire time you were kicking my ass.”
“I was?” My tone indicates a question, not a statement. “What did I say that was your language?”
My nipples harden as he runs his hands down my bare arms, feeling his way down my body. With his mouth so close to mine, every breath makes my body tremble. I was nervous about tonight, but I am so ready to give Jamie all of me.
“When I mentioned storage space, you started talking about hard drives. Something about that conversation turned me on, and then you had to go and beat my team.”
“Hard drives,” I whisper against his lips, as I slide my hand up his thigh. “I bet you have a hard one…just for me.”
My comment is so stupid that we both laugh but only for a second. He covers my hand with his, so I can feel exactly what I have done to him.
He breathes against my lips and rubs my jaw with his thumb as he cradles my face in his hand. “Keep saying shit like that, Regan.”
The sexual tension between us is so thick that the anticipation of what’s to come sets my skin on fire.
“Hard. Drives.” I annunciate each word, a smile crossing my lips.
Before I can finish the rest of my computer speak, Jamie’s lips crash against mine, and his tongue slips inside my mouth as he pulls my head closer, stroking my cheek the entire time, as he deepens the kiss. Without breaking away from him, I climb onto his lap, my knees digging into the couch and my thighs molding around his.
Jamie threads his fingers through my hair to pull me to him. Our kisses are so rough and animalistic, unlike the tender, more passionate kisses we’ve shared in the past. Jamie wants this. I want this. He doesn’t waste time removing my shirt and bra, and then he’s sucking on my nipple while massaging my other breast with his hand. Jamie is working wonders on me with his mouth, making me dripping wet. So wet my juices are ready to spill down my leg.
Feeling beneath his T-shirt shirt, my hands travel over his sculpted stomach, and my fingers work on getting the button of his jeans open so I can slide my hand through the slit in his boxers. I laugh to myself when I think of his shirt. When I’d walked through the door earlier, I had made fun of him for a few minutes because his shirt says I know HTML. At first, I thought that was a normal super nerd thing to wear, until I noticed it says in smaller print How to Meet Ladies, and we had a good chuckle over it. That’s just one of the silly things about Jamie that lured me in from the beginning. Now, he’s all mine.
Jamie stops kissing me long enough to remove his shirt and lift his hips to push his pants and boxers down far enough that I can grab hold of his cock. He’s big, not like porn star huge, but big enough that my hands seem small in comparison. With each stroke, I pick up my pace, and with each groan of pleasure, I get the hang of how fast he likes it.
He tilts his head back against the couch cushion and twists his fingers through my hair. “Fuck, Regan,” he mumbles.
I slide off him and onto the sofa, getting on my knees as I lean over him, still stroking his length. I lower my mouth and lick the tip, testing him to gauge his reaction. I love seeing the facial expressions he makes as my tongue glides along his sensitive skin.
He makes a hissing noise that’s so fucking hot I can feel my juices sliding further down my thigh. Holding my head in place, Jamie grips my hair tighter, as he comes in my mouth. The noises he makes when he comes, including my name on his lips, I swear is hot enough to make me come on the spot.
I barely have enough time to swallow before his hands are on me. Jamie pushes me onto the couch, and my back lands flat against a wall of pillows. After removing his shoes and pants, he climbs on top of me, separating my thighs with his hand. The skirt I have on allows him easy access. I wore it on purpose so that nothing would come between us.
He slides the material up my legs, peels back my panties, and slips his finger inside me, drawing it back for a second to shove another one inside my slickness. Quickening his pace, he circles my clit with his thumb, and I tighten my grip on his fingers.
Jamie dips his head down, lowering himself between my legs, with his fingers still pushing further inside me.
“Jamie,” I moan, biting hard enough on my bottom lip to draw blood when his tongue rolls over my clit.
“I’m gonna…” I manage to choke out, my voice trailing off.
He peeks up at me, telling me with his eyes that he wants me to come. I shove my hands through his short, dark hair to hold him right where I want him. Focused on his tongue and fingers, his rhythm is so perfectly timed that my body trembles, and an orgasm possesses my body.
At first I’m unable to speak, still panting and trying to catch my breath. I sit there, staring at Jamie as he removes his fingers, leaning back just enough so he can grab a condom from his wallet on the table.
Without wasting time, he opens the foil packet, rolls the latex down his length, and positions himself between my legs. My body tenses for a second, nervous in anticipation. He eases into me slowly, giving me a few seconds to adjust to his size, before filling me all at once.
I groan in pleasure, his name on the tip of my tongue, as I wrap my legs around his back. A smile stretches across his handsome face, and I push the hair that falls in front of his eyes out of the way so I can get a better look at him.
As Jamie slides in and out of me, I get used to him, and with some of the pain comes intense pleasure. It has been far too long since the last time I had sex. I haven’t been able to trust anyone enough to get close to them. And with Jamie, we have more than a sexual connection. There’s a deeper level of understanding between us.
Jamie picks up the pace, his movements so in sync as he grips my hips and fucks me, hard and fast. I love this side of Jamie. The hungry, take whatever he wants kind of man that I have been waiting to see.
With a firm grip, he lifts my right leg over his shoulder and pushes deeper inside me, hitting the right spot. I don’t want him to stop. I wish this feeling could last forever. My insides clench, a brush of heat spreading from my cheeks to my toes, as my moans turn into screams and an intense orgasm rocks through me, commanding control over my body. I have come undone. Jamie has wrecked me.
With this kind of stamina, he could go all night. He pumps faster, the sweat trickling down his forehead with each thrust. After I come again, Jamie pulls out of me, and grips my hips to lift me on top of him, as he leans back into the cushions, acting as if I weigh nothing.
Throwing my legs at his sides, I straddle him. I lift my hips just enough so I can position myself above his cock. Once I do, he thrusts into me, filling me once more. I push my palms down on his chest, my nails digging into my skin as I ride him hard.
Circling my clit with his thumb, he grabs my breast in the other hand and pinches my nipple. It doesn’t take long before my insides tighten, holding him in a vise grip. I’m so close, my juices coating his skin, as he matches my movements. We lock eyes, another earth-shattering orgasm brewing within, and when he starts to groan, his facial expression changes, a look so sexy it only heightens my pleasure.
His body trembles beneath me one last time before I lean down to kiss him, slow and passionate this time. After our lips separate, I sit up and sit next to him. Naked and glistening with sweat, his toned body is perfection in every way. Jamie could easily pass for an athlete with his muscular build. The fact he doesn’t work out and eats junk food shocks the hell out of me because I could admire his body all day.
Jamie grasps my hip with his hand. “Take a shower with me,” he says, staring up at me with the sexiest look in his eyes. “I’m not done with you yet.”
I nod, still too stunned to speak.
Jamie removes another condom from his wallet and cocks a finger toward his chest, telling me to follow, as he heads to the bathroom. Walking next to Jamie, I admire his tight ass and muscular body. He sets the condom on the counter and deals with the one we used, while I work on adjusting the water to the perfect temperature.
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