You.
I shook my head to get that bad thought out of it, and he laughed. “No?”
Stopping the movement, I nodded instead. “I mean, yes. Yes, I’d like to talk to you about your time.”
“My time?” He stepped out of his shoes and sat on a nearby chair to take his black dress socks off too. And there were his gorgeous bare feet.
Who has such nice-looking feet? I thought again.
Pulling my eyes back to where they belonged, I gave myself an internal berating for ogling my boss. So unprofessional!
“Yes, I know you’re new to the parenting thing. And I know you must not even be thinking about this, but you’re neglecting Braiden.” I put my hands on my hips, shifting my weight as I watched to see his reaction to my words.
His brow furrowed in obvious irritation. “Neglecting is a strong word, Brooke. I talk to the kid every day. I scoop him up every evening when I come home and give him my full attention.” He shook his head. “That’s not neglect in my book.”
“You give him about twenty minutes of your time out of each day. You were doing much better a week and a half ago. What happened, Gannon?”
He shrugged. “Business hours can be erratic. That’s why you’re here. To provide stability when I can’t be home on time.”
I scowled. My temper was fairly mild, unless my core beliefs were in question, and they certainly were now. “I’ve waited for you to get into some kind of a pattern on your own, but you haven’t done that. That’s why I’m intervening now, before too much time passes and things become difficult for you two.” I tried to think of how to say things the best possible way to avoid putting the man on the defensive. “Certain rituals are good for kids to help build a bond that will last a lifetime. Like putting your child to bed, reading him books until he falls asleep, then kissing him goodnight. You should be doing that with your son every night that you possibly can.”
“Okay, I can do that.” He tossed his socks toward his shoes. “What’s his bedtime?”
“Eight.”
His laugh made me frown as he shook his head. “That’s way too early. I’m almost never home by then. I tried to be early on, as he settled in, but it’s difficult. Find something else for us to bond over. You can do that ritual with him each night yourself.”
Fire began to ooze through my veins, building up heat inside of me. “Gannon, this isn’t a joke. And just what is so important that you have to go out each and every night?”
Those blue eyes landed on mine with a blue flash of anger. “Business meetings, often. I work with a lot of companies on different time zones, where my night is their morning. And dinner, Brooke. Yes, I sometimes go out to eat dinner with my friends. It’s not a crime.”
Now I was irate. “Gannon, your son is a lot more important than your friends are. He needs you a thousand times more than any of them do.”
Gannon folded his big arms over his broad chest. “Braiden seems to be doing just fine with the limited time I’m spending with him.”
I could see I needed to put things in black and white for the man. “It’s what you did before you had a son to think about. Now you have one, and he needs to be your number one priority. Not a bunch of over-privileged, spoiled rotten, rich jerks!”
I earned another frown, which I didn’t much like seeing on his handsome face. But I’d put it there, and now I had to deal with that fact.
His tone was low, his voice quiet, “Brooke, you’re paid to make him your number one priority. Tell me if that’s not the case.”
Shaking with raw anger, the likes of which I’d never felt before, I lit into his selfish ass, “He is your son, Gannon Forester. Not mine! His mother threw him away as if he was nothing more than a piece of trash. He definitely is my top priority. And as that, I will make sure his father does right by him. If I have to nag you, beg you, or bribe you to become the father that child deserves, then I will do that.”
With his head cocked to one side, he looked at me with no expression on his face. “Do you realize how you’re speaking to me?”
I could feel my brows raise in surprise. Had the man never encountered an angry female before? Had he no instinct for self-preservation?
Although I wanted to dart across that large room and smack the man upside the head to get him to snap out of this master-of-the-manor bullshit, I stayed put and took my hands off my hips to avoid the negative stance I’d been in.
Using my soft-but-firm voice, a thing I’d learned how to use when dealing with rambunctious and bratty young children, I forged ahead, “Braiden needs more from you. I’d like to see you at breakfast each morning. I can have him at the table each morning at whatever time is convenient for you. And dinner in the evening is another good way to establish time you will be spending with him each day—times he knows he’ll see his father, a person he absolutely adores.”
A smile pulled his chiseled lips up at each corner. “He does, doesn’t he?” Crossing his long legs, he touched his whisker-shadowed chin as he looked up dreamily. “I can see it in his eyes every time he runs to me when I come home. Pure love for no reason at all. He barely knows me, yet we share such a deep and instant connection. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.”
With his words, my heart started to fill with something close to hope.
Maybe he can be the man Braiden needs in his life after all.
But then his hand moved and his eyes met mine. “I think the time he and I share when I get home is enough. For now.”
And just like that, he pissed me off once more. One hand flew to my hip; the other pointed a finger at him as if it was a pistol. “Now you listen to me, and you listen good. He needs more from you. A lot more than twenty minutes of your precious day. Let me lay this out for you. Breakfasts, dinners, and bedtimes are now added to the time you will spend with your son. Make it happen, Gannon. Or I will.” And with that, I turned and left his bedroom.
And prayed I hadn’t just lost my job.
Chapter 9
Gannon
Sitting in stunned silence, watching Brooke stride out of my room, I didn’t know how to take the way she’d talked to me.
I wouldn’t call it a verbal assault, but I did feel as if I’d been knocked around a bit. And that wasn’t anything I was used to, after years of being one of the most powerful men in business. I’d earned respect, including how people addressed me. I didn’t like being told what to do. I never had.
Walking into Braiden’s room, I stood there for a while, watching him sleep. Brooke had told me he was gradually sleeping more hours without waking from the bad dreams that had plagued him when he first arrived. Still, he occasionally still missed his mom, even if she hadn’t loved him.
“I love you,” I said quietly, kissing his soft cheek. “I’ll do better, Braiden. Somehow. I promise.”
Drawing the covers more securely around him, I left the room and headed for the shower. I always liked to rinse off the day before hitting the sheets.
The hot water ran over me as I wrestled with feelings of desire and guilt. The guilt was because I knew Brooke was right. I’d fully intended to be a better dad to Braiden, but a combination of trying to do the right thing and keep my hands off Brooke and old habits had waylaid those initial good intentions. I found myself staying out later just to keep away from her, even when I did miss my little boy and thought of him frequently throughout the day.
I’d have to do better, somehow, I acknowledged to myself, letting the water sluice over me. Starting tomorrow, I’d be a better dad. Some tension dissipated with that decision, but another remained firmly in place. Very firmly, as I thought about how cute Brooke had looked in her little shorts and tank top. Pink always looked good on her. The color accentuated her naturally-tan skin tone. Blondes always looked cute in pink. But Brooke took that cuteness to a whole new level.
I noticed her toes and fingernails had a light pink color on them too. I had to wonder if she painted them herself or had them done.
<
br /> Lathering my hands with soap, I ran one down the length of my shaft that was growing stiff as I thought more about Brooke than I’d allowed myself to in the last two weeks.
Closing, my eyes, I gave into my need. Stroking my cock, I thought about her. My imagination had her coming into my bedroom with a different agenda.
‘Gannon, can I come in?’ her soft voice called to me.
I was lying in bed, naked, the sheet tented from my hard-on. ‘Come in, baby. I’ve been waiting for you.’
Walking into the room, she gave me a warm, sweet smile, the kind that always left me half-liquid when it was paralleled with the heat in her eyes.
Drawing back the sheets, she raked her eyes slowly down my naked body, making me impossibly harder with her gaze. Then she climbed onto the end of my bed and crawled on her hands and knees toward me. Moving in between my legs, she eyed my cock as she licked her pink-stained lips.
For a moment, she looked at me. Our eyes met as she slowly moved down until her lips touched the head of my dick. She puckered just before her mouth touched me and it was the sweetest kiss I’d ever felt.
With a soft groan, I took her head and gently urged her to take more of me in. The heat of her mouth moved over my cock as she moved her head nice and slowly.
Humming, she took me higher and higher. Finally, I drew her back and looked into her beautiful eyes. “Next time it’ll be my turn to make you crazy like that,” I promised, lifting her over my rigid shaft. “Right now, though, ride me, baby.”
A smile pulls her plump lips into a half-moon as she moves up my body, straddling me and easing down my shaft. “Ahhh,” she moaned, leaning back and rolling her hips, making me groan. “Ohh …”
She moved up and down as I held her by the waist, watching her tits bounce with each stroke she made. Her golden hair fell over her narrow shoulders and over her tits, only allowing peeks at her pert pink nipples now and then.
“Lean over me, baby,” I urged, and moaned with delight as she did, her nipples now in range of my hungry lips. I drew one soft rosy nipple into my mouth and nipped it, making her moan delightfully. Then I sucked hard, knowing the combo of tongue and teeth that she liked so much.
Her body moved in waves over mine while I sucked and sucked, switching from side to side in an increasing frenzy and reveling in the sounds we both made and the marks I was making on her perfect body, until she convulsed and cried out.
I didn’t come yet, letting this pleasure be all hers as I continued to suckle and nip and lick.
“Please, don’t stop,” she chanted over and over, holding my head against her delicious breast.
Rolling over with her, I fucked her slowly, making her wait just a little bit before I really give it all to her, whispering dirty words that made her blush prettily.
Her legs wrapped around me. Her soft feet moved up the backs of my legs. Once I was in, balls deep, I let go at last. “Oh, yeah, baby. Now I’ll give it to you hard,” I whispered, kissing her hard and imitating the thrust of my cock with my tongue.
She stayed with me all the way, crying out, begging for more, trembling, and clawing at my back like the sweetest she-cat.
“Do it, baby,” I finally urged, as we both fell over the edge.” Come for me.”
Her body convulsed around my cock as she let it all go, shuddering right along with me, like we were one body. When it was over, I held her close and kissed her soft lips endlessly.
My cock erupted in my hand, bringing me out of the fantasy. Panting hard, I leaned my forehead against the tiled shower wall.
Bewitched.
That had to be it. The girl had bewitched me. There was no other explanation. No one had ever gotten so embedded in my brain. No woman had ever affected me the way Brooke had. And in only two weeks’ time at that.
As I got out of the shower, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around my waist, I looked at my reflection in the mirror over the sink. “What the hell are you letting happen to you, dude? She’s just a chick. There are plenty of them you can have. Forget about her like that. Don’t you remember that you made your best bud a promise about that girl?”
Sighing, I made my way to bed and prayed I wouldn’t have any dreams about the girl who was sleeping just across the hallway.
Chapter 10
Brooke
The very next morning, I was in the kitchen taking inventory of what kinds of food were available for Braiden to eat. The sounds of expensive dress shoes clicking on the tile floor made my heart do a little dance.
“How’s daddy’s little man today?”
Yes! It seemed my boss might have listened to me last night.
The chef, Consuela, was the first to greet our employer, “Good morning, Mr. Forester. Will you be having breakfast here this morning, sir?”
Without looking back at him, I tried my best to act as if I was still taking stock of the food, but my ears were keened, waiting to hear what I hoped I would.
The legs of the chair scraped the floor—a good sign he was taking a seat at the table where Braiden was sitting in his high chair. “I will be having breakfast here this morning.” He chuckled. “Good morning to you too, son.”
The tenderness in his voice melted me completely. God. He really did mean well, in spite of his arrogant tendencies.
“And I’ll be eating breakfast here every morning, Consuela. How about some eggs? I don’t care how you make them. Surprise me.”
Making her way to the fridge that blended into the darkly-paneled wall, she got out a carton of eggs and got to work. I put my clipboard down and finally turned to greet my boss. “Morning.”
Looking over his shoulder at me, he pointed at the chair across from him. “Tell our chef what you would like to eat this morning and join us over here, Brooke. I want this little bonding time to have you in it too.”
“Oh, I don’t …” I couldn’t get it all out before one of his dark brows raised, and I went to him without saying anything further. “You can make me the same as what he’s having, Consuela. Thank you.”
Smoothing out my knee-length skirt, I took the seat opposite him at the small breakfast table. Braiden took a fresh strawberry out of his bowl and held it out to his father. “How thoughtful, son. Thank you.” He took the fruit and ate it in one bite. Then his eyes turned to me. “Coffee?”
I went to get back up to get him some, as that’s what I assumed he meant. “How do you take it?”
“Sit down,” he said with a chuckle. “I meant, do you want some coffee? Not that I wanted you to get up and get me some.”
“Oh.” I felt stupid, but shook that off. “Yes, I think I’d like one cup.”
Overhearing us, Consuela was already sending one of her kitchen helpers to us with cups and the pot of freshly brewed coffee. Placing the cups in front of us, she filled them, then left us alone.
Looking at the steaming cup, I thought about the fact I liked sugar in mine and some cream too. Gannon took a sip of his, then he looked at my untouched cup. “Sarah, cream and sugar please.” He looked up from my cup to me. “You know you’re allowed to ask for things you want here, right?”
Letting out a breath I didn’t even realize I’d been holding, I nodded. “I’m just a little out of sorts this morning. Our exchange last night has left me a bit shaken. I hope I didn’t overstep my bounds. “Gannon … I have no idea where my lines are with you. Could you please help me understand them better?”
Sarah placed the cream and sugar on the table and a small spoon on a white linen napkin next to my cup of untouched coffee. “Here you are, ma’am.”
“Thank you, Sarah.” It was only then that I realized how the rest of the staff was regarding me. Not like one of their own. No, not at all. I was treated the same way Gannon was. Only I was allowed to call him by his first name. Only I was sitting down to eat with him. Only me, and they all saw it. But why only me?
Gannon took another sip of his coffee as I fixed mine up and Braiden offered his father a fat blueberry. “Ho
w about you eat that one, Braiden? Daddy wants you to be nice and healthy.” I caught Braiden’s wide smile as he popped the fruit into his mouth, chewing it happily.
The kid was happy almost all the time. He wasn’t whiny or moody or demanding. It didn’t make any sense why his mother wanted to be rid of him. He was a joy to be around.
Gannon turned his attention back to me. “Brooke, I don’t know how to do this father thing, and I’m looking to you for guidance. When you came into my bedroom last night,” I caught the kitchen staff stopping to look at us, “and told me I was neglecting my son,” Consuela’s face contorted as if she had a stomach cramp, “I wasn’t too pleased.”
Sarah nodded. I knew what they had to be thinking--this girl is an idiot.
Trying my best to ignore our small audience, I tried to speak as if no one was listening. “Yet, here you are at the breakfast table as I asked you to be.” I tapped the silver spoon on the inside of my cup to rid it of the drop of coffee that had settled into the scooped bottom before placing it back on the white napkin. Pulling the cup to my lips, I blew the steam off the surface and took a sip. Much better.
Gannon’s eyes danced as he grinned sexily at me. “Yet here I am.” One large hand rubbed his dark beard that he kept neatly trimmed. “You made me think. I’m really not used to being told off that way, you know.”
“I did it for the sake of your son.” I leveled my eyes on his before I turned them to his son. “I’d do anything for him.”
“I can see that.” Trickles of electricity moved through my hand as I had laid it on the table. When I looked to see just why that was, I saw his hand on top of mine.
I looked up to find his eyes filled with emotion. “Brooke, I know you’d do anything for him. And that’s why I listened. I’m not used to admitting that I can be stubborn. And I hate being told what to do. But what you told me last night changed me a tiny bit.”
I was mesmerized by the man. His soft, smooth, deep voice. His handsome face. The way he looked at me. I was lost in him. “Oh, yeah?”
Nightclub Sins: A Billionaire Romance Series Page 5