By the time he was preparing to shut the computer down and go to bed he realised it was after two in the morning.
“It would seem that we won’t be reunited tonight then, Evie.” He took his empty whiskey tumbler into the kitchen and laughed ironically as the shuffle of his music selected I Belong To You by Muse. “If only you did Eve. Then there would be only one reason for me to be up at this time on a Tuesday, no Wednesday,” he said aloud and reached down to grip and then stroke his growing erection as he thought of her being here with him. “I think I may need another shower.” He grimaced as he turned the music off and headed upstairs towards his bedroom.
Chapter 4
Gray woke early and had taken a very leisurely shower that had involved some masturbation with his eyes closed as he conjured images of Eve in his mind; her sitting at the bar, unsuccessfully fending off unwanted advances, her face as she turned to see him for the first time and the look of appreciation as she'd done so, fingering her in the resident's lounge, beginning to undress her in the lift, carrying her to his room, the sight of her standing in just her shoes and thong, kissing her and touching her, the sight of her biting into her lower lip as she became aroused, the sounds she made when she was about to come, the way she almost asked for his permission to come before letting go, the way she shivered and shook everywhere as she came, pulling him into her further as she did so, that one had been the one that had him spurting up against his own belly as his fist pumped away while he called her name hoarsely, imagining spilling his seed across her beautiful, firm tits that overfilled his hands.
He was dressing in gym clothes when the intercom sounded, bringing him back to reality, a reality that didn't include Eve in the shower or anywhere else he could find.
Striding to it, he told security to let his visitor in. Soon afterwards, Tim, his partner appeared, his second in command, his deputy, that one always made him laugh as he imagined Tim dressed as a sheriff.
“Morning,” groaned Tim.
“If you say so,” replied Gray, equally as grim.
“What is up with you?” asked Tim and as he saw the bottle of scotch on the table added a single, “Ah.”
“What?” asked a confused Gray.
“Single malt on a Tuesday, after a day of distraction and mood swings and a gym session I'll guess, judging by the attire.” Tim eyed him knowingly.
“So,” muttered Gray, irritated suddenly.
“So, anyone else I would say gambling and losing money you can't afford, but not you, so it could be money in general, but no again, or a woman.”
Gray stared down at his friend who at a little under six feet looked up at him smirking.
“It is, it's a woman! Don't tell me you've found one who's immune to your charm.” Laughed Tim.
“I would really like to sack you when you're in this mood!” snapped Gray before asking, “So, why are you up and here so bright and early anyway?”
“I am your partner not an employee so you can't sack me. Sam is the reason I'm up so early, she's ovulating so I had a very early wake-up call in order to maximise our chances of conceiving this month and I wanted to check you were okay after your strange mood,” Tim explained concisely.
“On what level did you think I would want or need to know exactly where your wife is in her menstrual cycle and how your attempts to reproduce are going?” Gray held a cup up towards Tim in a questioning manner.
“Tea, please. I'm off coffee in case it hinders my swimmers.” Tim’s words made Gray frown.
“I assume you did your duty on command?” Gray thought it all seemed a very mechanical way to conceive a child.
“I did indeed, and I quite like the routine of planned and purposeful sex,” mused Tim as Gray passed him a cup of tea with a further frown.
“You're kidding? Don't you miss spontaneous, bend her over the back of the sofa regardless of the condition or ripeness of her eggs sex?” asked Gray distastefully, but then smiled as he thought again of Eve bent over the foot of the bed at The Stanford wearing just her shoes. Her legs looked phenomenal like that, long and lean. All of her looked phenomenal in that pose, her arse especially, God she was amazing in every way.
“Earth to Gray, Earth to Gray,” called Tim with a snap of his fingers as he sat opposite Gray across the dining table.
“Sorry,” replied Gray returning his attention to the other man.
“So, as I was saying, whilst I admit that being told no when I try a bit of spontaneity is not ideal, I do know that for about a week each month I am the king of all I survey at home and my wish, in and out of bed is Sam's command, so swings and roundabouts really.” Grinned Tim.
“What happens once your swimmers have done their job?” Gray was curious.
“I imagine for nine months her wish will be my command and hopefully the surge in hormones will leave her constantly horny and up for anything.”
“What the fuck does my sister see in you?”
“Honestly? Not a shagging clue.” Laughed Tim. “Now are you going to the gym, coming into the office? What?”
“Later, I'll come in later, after the gym.” Gray got to his feet and grabbed his things for the gym and the office afterwards.
Eve had slept restlessly for most of the night, with dreams of Gray and his perfect form tormenting her in sleep. As she pulled her hair up into a sophisticated bun, she wondered again why she hadn't left him her number.
“Because he has sex for money you stupid cow!” she told her reflection firmly. “Yes, but he has to be the best in his field,” she protested. “Go to work!” she told herself finally.
Grabbing the picture boards, some sketches and computer-generated images and logos, she pulled her bag off the console table and headed out to meet Sally downstairs.
Sally nervously talked through her ideas and plans for the meeting as they travelled into town. Eve knew that this was how Sally calmed her nerves and allowed her to plough on with token comments when required.
Pulling into the car park Sally and Eve exchanged a glance before following the visitor's entrance signage from the underground parking facilities. Once at reception Sally did the talking and Eve remained mute, following her friend when directed to do so.
They stood in front of the lifts in silence, allowing Eve the chance to think of Gray again. This was becoming ridiculous, she had never fallen like this for a man, never, not even Max. Maybe she hadn’t fallen. This was infatuation, had to be.
She brushed a hand over her behind that was today clad in a red, knee length skirt suit and black, button through blouse that covered her sufficiently that it wasn't provocative, but it well cut enough that it flattered her naturally voluptuous curves. She peeped down at her bare legs and the black, leather peep toe court shoes beyond and hoped the people to impress weren't short people with issues or the added four inches may cost her friend the contract.
Eve followed Sally into the lift and after smiling at the woman standing next to her, she turned to face the closing doors and for a split second could have sworn that Gray was there, waiting for the next lift, but he couldn't be, wouldn't be.
Why would he be here in the city skyscraper that housed multi conglomerates and exclusive businesses like Sharpstone Advertising who they were there to see? She shook her head at herself and thought maybe she should take a look at Single No More later and move on from her one-night freebie with the lothario that was Grayson Sharp.
She departed the lift with Sally and the woman she had stood next to in the lift and took a deep breath as she found herself comparing the strange woman's jaw length, poker straight, inky black bob to Gray's hair, the hair she’d run her fingers through. The same hair she’d wrung her hands in whilst in the throes of passion, the hair that had tickled her inner thighs before he had gone down on her and brought her to that glorious climax.
She stopped abruptly as she clenched her thighs together to try and stem the wetness of the arousal she was bringing about with such thoughts. She’d hoped her e
arly night with a smutty novel and her vibrator would have sated her a little longer, although she hadn't been sated after using her shower head on her clitoris and sex that morning until she had come calling to Grayson, no not to him, but for him. What a mess her head was.
Sally was talking to another receptionist now and the pretty lady from the lift who was easily as tall as Eve, but in flat boots and a very well cut black trouser suit and a royal blue blouse similar to Eve's, a blouse that had almost matched her deep blue eyes that twinkled. She'd had sex. Eve would put money on it, with another person rather than alone, the jammy cow.
“Eve,” called Sally, gesturing towards a couple of empty, low, soft chairs between several others who appeared to be there for the same reason. “Are you okay?” Sally sounded concerned for her friend but also for her pitch and the contract on offer.
Several of the other people were called in before Sally and Eve, giving them enough time to calm themselves before the pretty lady from the lift appeared and called to Sally, “Miss Quinn?”
Getting to their feet, Eve followed Sally into the large office where a sandy haired man was getting to his feet to greet them.
“Hi, thanks for coming in. Miss Quinn, and?” He looked at Eve.
“Sorry.” Smiled Eve before introducing herself. “Evelyn Mariner, but everyone calls me Eve, pleased to meet you.” She extended a hand that he accepted.
“Lovely to meet you both. I'm Tim Stone and this is my wife, Sam.” He smiled before explaining further, “We are the lead advertising executives here and with the addition of Marshall Hotels to our list of clients we are looking for someone fresh and vibrant with equally fresh and vibrant ideas.”
“Sorry, I thought the Marshall Hotel contract was up for grabs,” said Eve confused.
“It is, in a way,” said Sam. “As we take on more and more big contracts and clients, we are looking to find new talent that we can nurture and in return you get your name on leading campaigns and we all end up as winners.”
“But Sally has her own advertising company, she doesn't want to work for someone else,” protested Eve making Tim smile at her.
“You're very direct, aren't you?” he asked smiling.
“Yes,” Eve replied slightly embarrassed by his observation. “Life’s too short not to say what you need to.”
“Shame my brother opted out of this morning’s meetings. You'd like him, he's direct too.” Sam smiled before explaining the contract. “I appreciate your desire to work for yourself Miss Quinn, but if we’re honest here we all know that you would have no chance of securing a campaign for someone like Marshall, especially as a relaunch, so I suppose you are trying to win an opportunity rather than an actual contract or client. If you were successful at this stage we would invite you back to meet a panel of senior staff and at that stage we would choose who to invite back, if anyone, to work with us on the campaign and then you will either use that success as a springboard to lift the profile of your own business or you may choose to make your relationship with us more long term. My brother has a passion for nurturing young, talented people and this kind of arrangement usually works for all parties but limits our risk.”
“So, Miss Quinn, if you're interested in what is on offer here we'd like to hear what you and your colleague have come up with for Marshall Hotels,” said Tim, moving forward.
Gray had arrived at the office and felt slightly calmer and centred after a good workout at the gym. His sense of wellbeing was relatively short lived after arriving at the lift carrying his sister upstairs to find the doors closing. With a muttering of a curse he chastened himself further when he noticed a brunette in the lift. He just caught a glimpse of her hair, all pulled up into a bun thing on her head as she glanced down at the floor and for a split second he was convinced it was Eve.
Obviously, the workout at the gym had been a very, very short-term distraction from Eve. He had to find her and knowing Sam and Tim were more than capable of sifting through potential new execs he didn't need to be there, he could focus on finding Eve.
He got upstairs to his floor and considered checking in with Sam and Tim, he hesitated and decided to drop his things in his office first. He then travelled across the floor to the large office his sister preferred to use for meetings such as today's, it was slightly less formal than the conference room that he would use for the next round of interviews and meetings.
He had just got to the waiting area outside the office when he caught a glimpse of the back of the woman from the lift. There was no way he could go in there now, not even to let Sam and Tim know he was around, not if he was going to stare at the poor woman who, not once, but twice had caught his attention or at least her hair had and for a split second confused him into thinking she might be Eve. He was sure to make himself look an idiot or make her feel very uncomfortable if he went in there today.
“Can I help you, Mr Sharp?” asked the receptionist who had watched him deliberating his next move.
“Uh? What? No, sorry, Connie, no. I'll catch up with Mr and Mrs Stone later, thanks,” he said and left.
Having worked through their ideas, storyboards and sketches Eve and Sally felt happy that they’d given Sam and Tim Stone their best and if it wasn't good enough then so be it.
“Thank you for your time, ladies.” Tim stood and prepared to escort them out. “We'll be in touch in the next day or so with our decision,” said Sam warmly.
“Thank you,” Eve and Sally said together as they left and after breathing huge sighs of relief, they hugged each other.
“Are you okay with this involving you working for them?” asked Eve.
“I am actually,” said Sally. “They were right that I would never get this kind of contract alone and the prestige of having my name associated with Sharpstone would be a huge feather in my cap, so if we get the call back I'm good to go.”
“Good,” said Eve nervously.
“What?” asked Sally concerned.
“You are the advertising exec though, Sal, not me, so they may just want you...”
“No way! We come as a team. You are on my team, so that would be a condition for me,” said Sally loyally.
“I appreciate it, but I would not expect you to turn down a chance like this for me, not ever, so if they offer it to you, you alone, you will take it or I will kick your arse from here to eternity,” Eve said as Tim appeared with Sam.
“You should definitely meet my brother-in-law with lines like that.” He laughed as he led Sam past them.
Gray had been unable to settle at his desk after another fruitless hour looking through the ever growing number of profiles that matched Eve so decided to go for a walk and found himself wandering from the coffee shop across the road back to his office via the car park to check on his car. He was unsure why he was 'checking' it or what he was 'checking' for but checked anyway.
He heard a woman's voice, not what she was saying, just general conversation but had no interest in her, whoever she was or what she had to say. There was the sound of a bleep on the remote locking of a car followed by an engine starting.
He dropped his keys and as he bent to pick them up he heard a sound that stilled him immediately, something that had every hair on his body standing on end as every sense he had was suddenly on high alert; all from a single laugh, Eve's laugh, it had to be. He turned sharply and saw the back of a car leaving the car park and despite running after it, it was gone, a silver coloured hatchback was as much as he knew.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” he shouted drawing the attention of someone who had just parked their car.
He took stock and several deep breaths before deciding he was definitely going mad; it couldn't be Eve. Why would she be here? She'd never been here before, well, he'd never seen her here before, so logically that had to mean he was imagining her everywhere, everywhere she wasn’t, and it also meant that he really was going crazy.
Eve laughed at some lame joke her friend had made and casually glanced around the car park bef
ore preparing to get in and was convinced she had seen a tall, dark man, albeit from behind. “Gray,” she whispered to herself as she closed her eyes tightly.
When she opened her eyes he was gone, if he'd ever been there in the first place. What the hell had he done to her? To her head, that was what she was unsure about because she remembered exactly what he’d done to her body, every kiss, touch, everything.
“Hey, you okay, Eve?” Sally sounded genuinely concerned.
“Yeah, just tired, sorry.” Eve lied.
Gray returned to his office and found Sam and Tim waiting for him.
“Good morning?” asked Sam cheerily.
“I suppose,” Gray muttered grumpily,
“Tim said you were in a melancholy mood, but this is a bit sulky for you.” Sam playfully ruffled her brother's hair.
“Why don't you both sod off and go and be happily smug somewhere else? Please.”
“On one condition, you come to dinner tonight,” she said, making Gray grimace. “We can even make it a work dinner and discuss this morning’s meetings if you'd rather.” She grinned.
“Will you leave me alone, both of you, if I agree?”
“Yes. Eight o'clock, don't be late.” Sam laughed as she left Gray taking Tim with her.
After dinner Sam quickly turned conversation to Gray's mood and the reason for it.
“Gray, why don't you tell your favourite sister all about it,” suggested Sam genuinely.
“You are my only sister,” retorted Gray with a raised eyebrow.
“Mmm, even more reason to talk to me, maybe I can help.” She grinned. “I bet she is a very petite blonde, with pale blue eyes, a reasonable standard of education but not too much ambition,” she suggested mischievously.
“Shows what you know,” snapped Gray, knowing that his sister was describing his usual choice of female.
“A break from the norm, is she?” Tim asked, carrying a tray of coffee into the lounge where Sam was sitting next to Gray.
New Beginnings Page 4