His Redemption
By
Nikki Chase-Coakley
©2018 Nicole Chase-Coakley
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission from the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to person’s living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all products of the author’s imagination.
Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters are represented as 18 or over.
Tony Mason’s plan for his life was simple. Make amends for his past, keep his head down and focus exclusively on making his pet shops the best they could be. Simple right? It was, until he hired Sarah Fournier to be his new store manager. Then simple turned into chaos.
From the moment Tony first sets eyes on Sarah he can’t deny his attraction to her but there are a couple of things wrong with this scenario. First, Sarah works for him. Second, she is so far out of his league he shouldn’t even think about acting on his feelings. Third, and most important, she is a good girl and Tony had never been into good girls.
Sarah is so completely different from Tony’s usual type he doesn’t know what to do. He tries hard to ignore what’s happening but can never quite pull it off. Can he convince Sarah to take a chance on him? More importantly, if they let things get serious will she be willing to overlook his past or will it come back to bite him on the ass and rob him of a future more beautiful than he deserves?
I this book is dedicated to the late great Cheryl Chase. She always believed in me and encouraged my life -long fascination with the printed word. I love you Mom. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you and miss you deeply. The world hasn’t been the same since the day you left it.
Chapter One
Sarah turned the key to cut the engine then stared absently at the large green and white structure just beyond the hood of her car. It looked like a house that someone had renovated to suit its current purpose, a pet shop. The top floor housed the office of the owner and the managers of the business as well as a room where the pet groomer worked. The second floor was considered the main floor and housed the kennel along with a bird room. The bottom floor housed all of the more exotic pets like reptiles and tarantulas along with the live fish and aquarium accessories. As the new store manager, Sarah would be required to know all three floors like the back of her hand and the sooner the better. Her fingers tapped nervously on the steering wheel while she gathered the courage to actually go in. It was her first day on the job but she had been introduced to a number of people already employed there during her interview. They all seemed nice enough. The only person she was feeling apprehensive about was the owner, Tony Mason. She had never actually met the man. When she came in for her interview he was out of town and the out-going manager was given the task of interviewing and eventually hiring his replacement.
She hadn't heard much of anything about the man so she didn't have a clue what to expect. She had to believe he was at least nice considering the kind of business he ran. Most people that liked animals were nice, right? She clung to this hope as she got out of the car and made her way up the drive way to the entrance. She pulled open the front door and took a quick glance around. To her right were four short aisles with floor to ceiling shelves stocked with supplies for cats, dogs, birds, rabbits and other assorted small animals. She could hear the loud squawks and chirps of several birds coming from the bird room just past the aisles further to the right. To the immediate left of the entrance was a set of stairs heading up to the offices and a little further in was the cash register and sales counter. A young woman that looked as if she were only a year or two younger than Sarah stood there finishing up a phone call. After turning to hang up the phone the employee turned to greet her with a smith.
"I'm afraid the store isn't open for another hour."
Sarah returned her smile. "That’s alright I’m not really here to shop. My name is Sarah Fournier, the new manager. I believe Mr. Mason is expecting me."
Sarah knew she sounded a little uncertain but that couldn't be helped. She was nervous. This was her first real job out of college and she wanted to do well. Already, she had ideas about what could be done to improve the space and the flow of traffic and couldn’t wait to get a feel for the job to see what else could be done to improve sales.
The girl gave Sarah a slow appraising inspection before responding. A moment later, her smile brightened a fraction and she held out her hand to shake. “I remember you. You came in last week to meet with Mike. You're taking over his old job. It's good to see you again. My name is Christy, by the way."
Sarah took the offered hand, feeling marginally calmer. "Thank you, Christy. I'm not quite sure where I'll be starting. Is Mr. Mason in yet?"
"Not yet but I can help get you settled in the meantime." She moved from behind the counter towards the stairs. Sarah followed Christy. The air felt increasingly stale and stuffy, the further they climbed while the staircase twisted off to the right at the top. The floor consisted of three rooms and a bathroom. She was led past the largest of the three rooms which was a pet grooming room. This consisted of a stainless steel table in the center, an industrial sized sink big enough to bathe a mastiff and a small row of cages on the opposite wall. A strange looking contraption with a long tube sat pointed at one of the currently empty cages. Sarah knew from her earlier tour of the place that this was a dryer that was used by groomers when they didn’t want to get too close to the animal they were grooming. She wondered if any of the store’s clients had many biters and made a mental note to stay as far away from that area as possible when it was occupied.
Christy opened the door to a small storage closet. Several stacks of blue and white shirts sat neatly folded on various shelves. The woman reached for a stack of white shirts. “You’re a medium right?” She asked.
Sarah looked down at herself and wondered if she had suddenly gained twenty pounds. She had always been on the smallish side at nearly five feet three inches. Her breasts were the only part of her that seemed inordinately out of proportion with the rest of her body making her torso seem bigger than it actually was. She accepted the shirts figuring she could always change them out later if they were too big. Christy nodded her directive toward the bathroom on that floor to change. "When you're done you can store your things in your office. It's the second door down on the right. After that, you can come downstairs and meet everyone. I’m sure Tony will be in by then."
∞∞∞
Tony bounded up the rear staircase leading from the bottom level of the store. The main floor was quiet or at least as quiet as it could be with thirty or so barking puppies all excited about their morning meal, along with another forty odd birds and countless small animals. He looked around trying to spot his new store manager and came up empty. Frowning he approached the kennel room and yelled to be heard over the din.
"Christy, have you seen the newbie- Sarah, I think her name is?"
The girl looked up from scooping kibble into stainless steel feeding dishes. She nodded. "Yeah, uh I think she went to take a look at the birds while she waited for you."
"Thanks, what do you think of her?"
She shrugged. "She's alright, I guess. Though, you could have saved yourself the trouble of finding and training a new manager if you'd just given me the job. It's not like I couldn't have handled it."
His irritation was instant. "We've been over this already and I'm sick of hearing about it. You know why I didn't give you the damned job. You can either accept it and carry on or leave. The choice is yours. I'm not gonna tell you again."
"Fine." She muttered.
> "Good, now let’s get to work. We've got too much to do today to sit around rehashing shit."
Tony turned and left the room. He had to work hard at regaining his control as he crossed the sales floor in the direction of the bird room. The last thing he wanted was to scare off his new employee the first day on the job. On the way there he passed a heavy five foot tall cage that was bolted to the floor. The cage contained a very large very unpredictable rainbow macaw the staff had affectionately named Bosley. After having been a resident for more years than anyone could remember, he had become the unofficial mascot of the store and was no longer available for sale. It was there that Tony spotted her. She was tiny, at least a foot shorter than he was with a slender but shapely frame. Her dark glossy hair was pulled into a serviceable pony tail that hung to her shoulders. She was dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and the white polo shirt that indicated she was the new manager. Tony was so mesmerized by the curve of her ass in her uniform and the toned, darkly tanned legs that he almost didn’t catch the fact that the woman was lifting her hand to Bosley's cage. She was crooning softly to the bird and he watched waiting to see if anything would happen that would require him to step in. He didn’t have to wait long.
As the woman leaned in closer Bosley got that look in his eye, the only warning sign that he was up to something. Beak opening wide, he flapped his wings and cawed loudly as he abruptly lunged for her. She jumped back giving a startled cry of her own. She spun as if to run slamming right into the solid wall of Tony’s midsection instead. He caught her neatly before she could bolt and tried to calm her.
“Sorry about that, Bosley can be a bit unpredictable but he’s never actually been violent. He was only trying to scare you.”
Slowly, very slowly the woman raised her chin to see who she had slammed into. It was all he could do not to laugh at her mortified expression. He would have if it weren't for two things; the sight of her mouthwatering breasts and her sweet angelic face.
“It worked. He scared me half to death.” She admitted breathlessly.
Tony, having been taken by surprise at his reaction to the woman nearly forgot to breathe as he took his first look at Sarah Fournier. She was incredible. Her smooth skin was the color of rich caramel. Her large expressive eyes were a color somewhere between grey and blue. They made him think of a stormy summer sky and were heavily fringed with long sooty lashes. When she smiled tentatively up at him he could have sworn his heart stopped for just a moment before it began a furious gallop in his chest. She tilted her head, her expression changing from one of deep embarrassment to concern.
“Are you alright? I-I didn't hurt you, did I?”
The words seemed to snap him out of his momentary trance. “N-no, I'm fine. Why do you ask?”
She tried to pull away from him. Realizing then that he had not yet relinquished his hold on her, he released her as if she were on fire then silently cursed himself for acting like an idiot. This woman was his employee. He had no business staring at her as if he hadn’t eaten in weeks and she was a juicy T-bone steak. Shoving his hands in his pockets he tried his best to look at ease and not notice the gorgeous twin endowments just below her shirt’s neckline. They had to be two of the most enticing breasts he had ever had the privilege of holding against him and, considering his past, that was saying something. The effort it took to appear normal grew considerably harder with every passing second. Loose tendrils of her silky looking hair framed her face further emphasizing delicate, high cheekbones and a stubborn little chin that, he thought, made her look adorable. When she spoke her soft low voice made him think of candlelight, satin sheets and lots of moaning.
“Sorry, I’m Tony- Tony Mason, the owner of Pete’s Pet Shop. You must be Sarah Fournier.”
She nodded. “I am. It’s nice to finally meet you, Tony.” She tilted her head then as if to study him. “Can I ask you a stupid question?”
The back of his neck and his ears were turning red. He could feel the heat of it, which surprised him. He had seen and done so much in his twenty nine years that blushing should have been damned near impossible. In fact, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd done it. Then again, he also couldn’t remember ever being attracted to women like her so he supposed he shouldn't be too surprised. So much about him had changed lately it shouldn’t have surprised him that his taste in women was no longer the same.
Yes, I want you and would like nothing better than to take you upstairs to give you my own personal tour starting with the zipper to my pants.
“Sure, what’s that?”
“If your name is Tony and you own this place, why is the store called Pete’s Pet Shop?”
“Pete is my dad. He's the one that started this business and when I took it over it seemed like a waste of time to change the name.”
She nodded satisfied with the answer. “Makes sense, I suppose. So, where do you want me?”
He mind instantly went fuzzy at the possibilities; straddling his lap in his office chair, bent over the table in the grooming room, the backseat of his truck, spread eagle tied to his bed and that was just for starters. Work stupid, she was talking about work. Get your head out of your pants and focus on work. That’s why she’s here, remember?
“Oh- uh, there’s some paper work for you to fill out first. Then I can introduce you to everyone.”
“That won't be necessary. I’ve already met everyone and I thought I might take the paperwork home so I could get right to work instead. I understand mornings can be a little brutal if you’re understaffed which, I know is the case today. Ashley called and said she would be late so I thought you could use the extra pair of hands.”
Mmm… hands.
Forcing away the thought of her small hands and what they might feel like on him, he answered. “That would be fine. You can help me take care of the bird room so it will be up and running by opening time.”
“Lead the way.”
Chapter Two
For the next hour they worked together emptying the trays beneath each cage, lining them with fresh paper and refilling the food and water dispensers. As they worked Sarah couldn’t help checking out the man that was now her boss. It was a strange feeling being attracted to the person that signed her paycheck but that realization was nothing compared to the fact that for the first time ever she was intrigued by a man without dark skin.
When Tony first introduced himself, it was all Sarah could do not stare or drool. The man was gorgeous. At more than six feet tall, he was a study in hard lean muscle with smooth pale golden skin lightly dusted with a sprinkling of dark hair on his sinewy forearms. He had a thick head-full of nearly black hair that didn’t seem to be cut into any particular style. Instead it hung in a mop of unruly curls and waves nearly to his shoulders held back with a black and white bandanna. His eyes were a deep coffee brown capped by dark eyebrows. When he smiled at her his full generous lips parted to reveal a set of straight white teeth and a single dimple in his right cheek. She found that small indentation absolutely devastating. It was all she could do to remain upright when he flashed it at her.
When he looked at her it was almost as if he were sizing her up. What was it with these people? Was everyone she met at this new place going to look at her that way? That Christy girl had done the same thing and so had a few of the guys downstairs but this assessment seemed a little different than the others. Before, it seemed as if the staff were just trying to get a feel for the kind of boss she might be. She was small in stature so it wasn’t surprising that they might question her ability to give orders and command respect.
If she hadn’t known better she would have sworn this man was watching her with an interest that had nothing to do with work. It was a unique experience considering she had never had a white man flirt with her before. It made her feel a little disconcerted but it didn’t stop her from appreciating the way he was looking at her. What girl wouldn’t love being noticed by a guy this good looking?
There was something about him
that bothered her though. He seemed friendly and he'd been nice enough not to laugh at her for being frightened by that bird but there was something not quite right about him. It was in his eyes, a kind of darkness that wasn't easy to interpret. It was as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and it saddened her just looking at him. She wondered if this inner heaviness had to do with the financial stability of the company or something far more personal. If the issue was the former then she would do her best to fix the situation. If it turned out to be the latter- well, she wasn't sure what or if she could do anything about that. The man was her boss not her friend. He might not appreciate her trying to reach out to him on a personal level no matter how much she might feel compelled to do so.
Tony squatted to pick up a plastic water bowl he had dropped and Sarah nearly tripped at the sight of his tight, perfectly rounded rear as his jeans stretched across it. For the first time ever she wondered what it would be like to be kissed by a white man. She recalled what her friend Kara had said about that. "They’re just other men. All of my exes were thoughtful and affectionate. Unfortunately some were a little too affectionate with other women which is why we aren’t together anymore." This made Sarah even more curious about Tony. Would he be like that?
“Sarah?”
She blinked. “Huh? I’m sorry. I'm afraid I wasn't paying attention.”
Tony was saying something to her and she had completely zoned out. He chuckled at her reaction and she prayed her expression didn’t betray what was going on in her head. “Are you in need of a caffeine boost?”
“Is this your way of telling me you want me to do a coffee run?”
That earned another chuckle at her expense. “Nope, I have a machine upstairs in my office. Would you like a cup?”
“Bless you, I would love that.”
His Redemption Page 1