“I’ll talk to him. Text me.” He hangs up.
I dial the first of the three thieves, and it’s all quite easy. “You’re fired. You know why.” Those three words work all three times. Lucky threes. I text Royce: It’s done. And with that, I’m a ball of nerves that has me changing into leggings and sneakers for a run, my way of calming my mind. I pop in my headphones, turn on a music mix, and head downstairs. Once I step out into the now inky night, the touristy crowd has thinned out and I make my way to the sidewalk, running along the ocean and all the buildings. I skip my stretches, which will give my mind time to get the best of me.
I take off running, cranking up my music, and still, I’m in my head. I’m back in Reid’s office. I’m reliving every moment with him. I thought—God, what did I think? It was hate sex and nothing more, and yet when it was over, he didn’t want to let me go. I felt it. I didn’t want to let him go. And then he did, and I still don’t know why I want him at all. I think more of myself than to sleep with a man that—
I run into someone and gasp as Reid catches my arms, and he too is in running clothes, sweats, and a T-shirt. “Are you stalking me now?” I demand. “Was investigating and fucking me not enough?”
“No,” he says. “That’s the problem. It’s not.” He’s barely spoken the words and his hand is cupping my head, his mouth closing down on mine, his tongue licking against my tongue and I want to resist. No. I try to resist, but there is something about Reid. Something that calls to me even as he punishes me, tries to control me and generally treats me like shit. I want this man, and I can’t stop the want. I sink into the kiss, and he moans, like he needs this as much as I do, his hand flattening between my shoulder blades, molding my chest to his.
I am lost in this man, how he feels, how he smells, every lick of his tongue and then suddenly, he’s lacing his fingers with my fingers. “Come on,” he says, stroking a hand over my hair and caressing my cheek.
I’m dazed by the gentle touch to the point that when he starts walking I follow, but a blast of ocean air has me blinking into reality, digging my heels in, and tugging against his hand. “Wait,” I say, pulling him around to face me. “Where are we going?”
“My place.”
His place.
Yes.
No.
“No,” I say, rejecting how close I am to letting this man own me in all ways. “No. I’m not going to your place.”
“Then we’ll go to yours.” He starts walking.
“No,” I say, trying to dig in my heels again, but he keeps walking. “No!”
He rotates to face me and before I know his intent, he’s kissing me again, and damn it, I want him to kiss me again. I don’t resist. I melt into him. I kiss him back. And when he pulls back and strokes my hair again, he says, “We need to be alone.”
My hand firms on his chest. “Alone is the last thing we need to be. I can’t do this, Reid. I won’t do this.”
“It doesn’t seem to me that either of us has a choice.”
“You,” I say, “have many choices, many of which involve me. I have two. Stay or go. And right now, I’m going.”
“Let’s go talk,” he says. “Just talk.”
“We won’t talk. We’ll fight or fuck, and neither of those things work in my favor. Let me go, Reid, or I swear to you I’ll start screaming.”
“We both know you won’t do that.” His eyes harden. “But if that’s what you want, I’ll let you go.” He does. He lets me go and I should be pleased, but I’m not. I hate that he let go. I hate he didn’t fight me on this as much as he fights me on everything else, but why would he? It’s a fuck. He, no doubt, has a proverbial black book of women. He’s Reid-fucking-Maxwell.
I step around him and start walking, steady and controlled though I don’t feel controlled at all. I feel the weight of his attention, of him watching my every step, and when I reach the corner, I tell myself not to turn, but I do. I turn, and I find him at the railing dividing us from the ocean, his hands on the steel bars, his head lowered. As if I’ve affected him. As if the unbreakable Reid Maxwell has a crack in his steel. I don’t know why I want to believe it matters, or that I matter. The truth is, he isn’t a man that knows rejection. I’m a rejection to him and rejection has to be conquered. I can’t forget that. I am nothing but a conquest to this man in all ways. I admire that in him, but I hate it, too. I turn away and start walking. I hate him and yet, I don’t.
I don’t hate him.
And that’s a problem, a weakness. And a weakness is not something I can allow myself to have with a man like Reid Maxwell. All he can see is me meeting him head to head, conquering him as he tries to conquer me. And I will, just not tonight, and not with his mouth all over me.
Chapter Sixteen
Carrie
Instead of sleeping, I spend the night alternating between thinking about Reid and thinking about Reid. By the time I finally try to sleep, I’m back to Reid—there’s a surprise—wondering what it would have been like to go home with him. Wondering what the apartment of a man like Reid looks like. Wondering too much about a man, who—oh God. He has my panties! He doesn’t get to keep my panties. Not him. Not after ordering me to go home after fucking me on his desk.
I grab my phone and I’m about to hit Reid’s number when I come to my senses. What am I doing? I can’t call him about my panties. Why would I even consider such a thing? In fact, he can keep my panties. That’s as close to owning me he gets to come. Except maybe when he kissed me by the water tonight. He’d felt different like he had during that few minutes in his office when he’d held me and didn’t seem to want to let me go. It wasn’t just him though. I’d been different. We’d been different. In those moments, we’d felt connected beyond handcuffs and some unspoken mutual conquest between us. In those moments, I’d felt myself falling for Reid, which was, and is, insanity. He’s the man who stole my father’s company.
I’m not falling for Reid Maxwell. I’m not that stupid. I ran from him tonight to make sure I’m not that stupid. I punch my pillow and roll over. “Sleep,” I order, myself. “Sleep.”
I sit straight up. Oh God. I ran. He’s going to see that as a weakness. I can’t afford to have that man think I’m weak, which is exactly why I can’t be getting personal with him. He’ll judge what he sees outside the office. I reach for my phone again and set it right back down. Calling him would also seem weak. Tomorrow I will own my decision to walk away tonight. Because that’s all Reid will respect.
***
I don’t remember falling asleep, but suddenly the alarm is going off and I sit up, exhausted to the bone, but I’m out of the bed in seconds, hurrying to the shower. I need to do something. I need to take action and win back my company. Nothing else can matter. Reid will not distract me ever again. Exactly why I dress in a simple black dress with no buttons. I’m keeping my top on and my panties, too. In fact, I wear my favorite black lace panties that I’d never allow to be torn.
I arrive at the office early on a mission to own the CEO job. I’m barely behind my desk when it feels like a reasonable time to call Royce Walker again. I’ve wanted to call him for an hour.
“Problem?” he asks.
“No,” I say. “Well, except for the fact that I had to fire three people for stealing company secrets. I need to keep this from happening again. Can you help me with security and how much will that cost?”
“We’re already working for you, which is why you found out about those three men.”
“Right. Of course. Did you come to terms with Reid to provide security long term?”
“Yes. We did.”
“Thank you, Royce. We need you. We should have had security in place before now.”
“Why didn’t you?” he asks.
I have no idea how well he knows Reid, but well enough, I decide. “I wasn’t in charge or we would have,” I answer honestly and then push for answers, even indirectly. “To cut costs by way of leaving ourselves exposed is just another of my father
’s decisions I don’t understand.”
He’s quiet for several beats and I hold my breath, hoping he tells me what he knows about my father’s decisions if he knows anything at all, but he does not. “If you have concerns, call me,” he says simply.
“I think I’ve proven I will.”
“You have,” he agrees, “but just so you know, I’m available twenty-four-seven. More soon on our now ex-employees and criminal charges.”
“Excellent.”
We say a brief goodbye and disconnect. Sallie chooses that moment to appear in my doorway, holding a sealable baggie in her hands. “I made cookies. It just seemed like a cookie kind of day.”
“As much as I love your cookies,” I say. “I think I might need a cake, too.”
Her eyes go wide and she hurries forward, sitting down in front of me and handing me the bag. “Comfort food.”
I open the bag. “Three employees were stealing company secrets and selling them to the competition. They’ve been fired and we’ll be pressing charges.”
“Who?”
I slide a piece of paper with the names listed in her direction. She reads it while I devour a scrumptious cookie. “Delicious,” I murmur, thinking she should open a bakery, and if I still had my money I gave to my father, I’d finance it.
“I’m speechless,” she says, shaking her head and scooting the paper in my direction. “They’re long-term employees. And my God, I had the hots for one of them and don’t ask who. I’m not saying after this. Do you want to say anything to the staff about the terminations?”
“Not yet,” I say. “I want to talk to Reid first.”
“Understood,” she says. “What can I do for you in the meantime?”
“Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
“I could take cookies to Reid. Maybe that will make him a little less cranky?”
“No,” I say. “Reid does not get any of your cookies.” I brush crumbs from my hands, right as Reid buzzes in my office and says, “In here. Now.”
“Take him a cookie,” Sallie suggests. “It’s better than nothing. His assistant called. She will be here soon. I’ll give her cookies. Getting her on our side has to be smart.” She disappears and I almost snort.
Considering last night, I’m pretty sure a cookie won’t satisfy Reid. I have a brief moment where I consider ignoring his command, but then he’ll just come to me. Not only will that lead to one of our many fights, he’d then think that I ran last night and plan to hide today. I stand up and hurry across the offices, and of course, his door is shut.
As has become our norm, I don’t knock, but as my hand comes down on the knob, I mentally steel myself for the impact of this man after he kissed me the way he did last night. Oh God, don’t think about it, Carrie. I open the door and step inside, the force of this man’s presence washing over me even before I confirm that he’s behind his desk, a safe distance away, he’s as good looking as always, in a dark gray pinstriped suit that draws attention to his piercing blue eyes.
I shut the door. “I’m here,” I say, and I don’t linger by the door. I walk toward him, and he watches my every step. I stop between his visitors’ chairs and I don’t speak or sit.
“Sit,” he orders.
I suck in air, but I do as he says. I sit down.
His eyes narrow on me. “And she did it without fighting me,” he says. “I thought for sure I’d get yet another no from you.” The glint in his eyes tell me that he’s not talking about work, at least not in full, before he says, “Royce told me you called him.”
“I did, and I’ll spare you my reasons. He obviously told you. I’d like a copy of the Walker Security contract.”
“As you should.”
“What do you want to tell the staff about the firings? How do you want to handle this?”
“You tell me,” he says.
“I want to send out a memo that defines the breach of security and assures the staff that new security is in place. That way if someone else is betraying us, they’ll bolt.”
“Works for me. Let’s get this behind us and get to the money-making.”
“Right. The money-making.” Because that’s what this is to him. It’s why he does everything.
“And for the record, you did the right thing by calling Royce. It’s what I expected you to do.”
This statement hits me ten shades of wrong. “So it was a test.”
“An expectation.”
“A test,” I bite out. “Then I guess when you ask me to go home with you, that was part of the test, too. Had I been there with you, I wouldn’t have been focused on my job.”
He leans forward. “Or you could have asked me those questions instead of Royce.”
“The implication being that we would have talked. I don’t believe that for a moment. I’ll go take care of business so we can make that money we both want to make. Oh, and Sallie made cookies. She wanted to bring you one but I was afraid she’d end up on top of your desk so I didn’t let her.” I stand and head for the door.
“Stop,” he all but growls.
I do. I stop and I whirl around to face him, to find him already on this side of the desk, moving toward me with a predatory grace that makes me want him almost as much as I want to punch him. He halts in front of me, that earthy scent of him tantalizing, even when I don’t want it to be. “No one but you will end up on my desk.”
“I’m not playing your games.”
He presses his hands on the door, beside me. This is becoming a habit of ours apparently. I want to tell him to back away, to stop doing this to me, but I can’t seem to make the words come out this time. “I would not fuck Sallie, or anyone else, on my desk.”
“You fucked me.”
“Except you and I had a history when I walked into the office. We are not a game. Last night was not a test. What we are is a distraction that we can’t afford, not with the powerful people counting on us turning this company around.”
“You’re the one who wanted me to go home with you last night.”
“I did. And I wanted you to go home with me when I shouldn’t have. But maybe had you just said yes, we’d be past this. I know that I for one hoped like hell that a night of fucking you would get you the hell out of my head.” He pushes off the door and walks away.
I feel punched in the chest and I don’t even worry about looking like I’m running. I’m suffocating in this man and I need air. I open the door and I leave, thankful that his assistant isn’t yet at her desk, nor is Sallie at hers, which allows me a clear path into my office. Once there, I shut the door, and fall against the surface. Reid just told me that he can’t stop thinking about me, but he’s angry over it, too. The part that stands out to me is the part where he told me. He let me know I have that power over him. Why? Why would he give me that power? Well, of course, it’s not really power, since I feel the same way. Maybe that’s the point. We’re in this together.
Or, he’s playing me, and I cannot let myself forget that he has everything to gain, and I have everything to lose.
Chapter Seventeen
Carrie
I draft the staff memo and give Sallie a heads up that it’s going out. I then send a copy to Reid’s email and, in turn, find an email from him in my inbox labeled: Walker contract.
I open the email and there are no words. Nothing. He didn’t type anything at all. It bothers me. I think he knows it will bother me. At that moment, my email pings with a response from Reid on my staff memo that reads: Brutal perfection.
Two words. Good words. I inhale with the compliment, which I find myself far too pleased over. He affects me. What he says, and what he doesn’t say, affects me. He also challenges me and not just as a woman. He challenges me to be the best I can be for this company, I just don’t always like how he does it, but he is pushing me. He is making me reach higher and I’m not beyond admitting this. I wouldn’t think that quota he picked was possible, but now I’m fighting for it.
I close the email and s
tart reading the Walker contract. Once I’m certain I’m up to speed, I end up sidetracked from new money trying to save old money, on the phone dealing with challenges related to a project we’ve recently closed on for a group of investors. My stomach growls and I eat cookies. At some point, Sallie sticks a sandwich in front of me that I didn’t order, but I set aside. I had lunch: her cookies. It’s nearly two when I walk out of my office to find Reid’s assistant now seated outside his door.
I turn to Sallie with a sudden thought, my father’s assistant on my mind. “What about—”
“Resigned,” she says, reading my mind. “She heard about the takeover.”
“Okay well, that’s a solution I guess.”
“You know you never liked her,” Sallie supplies. “And neither did I.”
I don’t deny or confirm her words. “How is Reid’s assistant?”
“Connie’s marvelous. She has a whip she uses on Reid and gets away with it. You’ll love her.”
A whip. I wonder if it’s like my cuffs and before I can stop myself, I glance in Connie’s direction, right about the time she heads to Reid’s office, her blonde hair streaming down her back. She’s pretty, petite, but curvy, in a pink suit. She’s pretty and I hate the pinch I feel in my belly over this. I hate that I wonder if Reid is fucking her. It isn’t my business and yet, isn’t it? I need to know if he’s fucking her, considering he’s fucking me. Or he did. He did. He’s not going to again.
I mentally shake myself. “I’m going to walk to the lobby and talk to security about our new security procedures, which I forwarded to you in an email.”
“I saw,” she says. “You want me to do it?”
“No, I want to make sure they know it’s important enough for me to go down myself, but I better grab my phone.” I enter my office and grab my phone just in time to find my ex-best friend Crystal calling. I hit decline. She’s in Japan with my brother, which wasn’t a big deal since they both worked for the same company here. Except that she knows how he treats me and then started fucking him. She can talk to him. I head for the door and Connie appears in the entryway.
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