If You Could Only Imagine (Buchanan Brothers Series Book 2)

by M. E. Clayton

  His only downfall was that he failed to connect with people. He lacked empathy and showed almost no sympathy towards anyone who wasn’t Shane, me, Michael or Gabriel. He was coming around with our mother, but she would still never fall into Mason’s personal fold. Our father abused us for too long and our Mother’s neglect had taken its toll years ago.

  Gabriel was the oldest twin by three minutes and his strength was his ability to read people. Gabriel intuition could land him his own psychic network if he so chose to. He could spend mere minutes with someone and tell you if they were full of shit or not.

  His only downside was his loyalty. Now, most people would view that as a positive, but loyalty was dangerous when you had a brother so loyal, he’d kill for you, no questions asked.

  Now, Michael…Michael was the baby and had been treated the worst out of all of us. I never knew why my father was so harsh with Michael, but he was. And that abuse created a man who could stay calm in the eye of any storm. Michael had the ability to think and act rationally during a crisis. He eluded confidence, protection and security during times of chaos.

  His only problem? Michael never lost his temper, but when he did…he was violent and frighteningly so. I think it’s one of the reasons he held on to his control like a lifeline. If Michael called me one night and told me he murdered someone, I wouldn’t blink an eye. I’d know it to be the truth.

  As for me, I could calculate in my head. Numbers, situations, whatever…I could move the pieces around in my head and find their solutions. That gift made me perfect for the finance department of BI. Once Gabe and Mike graduate from college, Gabe’s going to head the marketing department, while Michael is going to head personnel.

  But, right now, doing my best not to eye-rape Ms. Hart, I wondered if at just how well the guys would get along without me.

  Because Denise Hart looked like she was worth the risk.

  She was a short, little thing with the most stunning hazel eyes. Her dark brown hair hung around her jawline in soft ringlets that announced her heritage if the delicious caramel hue of her skin didn’t. Denise looked to be a mix of Caucasian and African-American and the blend was perfect. She had rosy looking lips and soft cheekbones that were all woman.

  Her outfit-though professional and appropriate-did nothing to hide a hell of a rack, her small waist, rounded thighs and thick hips.

  Now, my downside…I have always been a lover of women. I think they are God’s most magnificent creation and their differences from man have always fascinated and weakened me. And when I say I love women, I mean I love all women in all their forms. Tall, short, slim, thick, any skin color, any nationality…I fucking love women. They are absolutely beautiful.

  And, as a man who truly appreciates the female form, Ms. Hart’s body was a combination of everything that made a woman perfect in my eyes.

  I willed my dick to go down and spoke, “I’ve heard many great things about you Ms. Hart.” She smiled, and I almost turned her around, bent her over her desk and mated with her, right there and then.

  “Thank you, Mr. Buch-”

  “Aiden, please,” I allowed, because…well, hell, I wanted her used to saying it so she wouldn’t have to think twice when she was screaming it, all sweaty and under me later.

  Of course, that was wishful thinking…but I believed that wishes could come true.

  “Aiden,” she repeated, and I could feel my heart speed up in beats. This fucking woman was going to give me a heart attack from just saying my goddamn name.

  Holy fuck. I was so screwed.

  She finally took her hand back and in that moment we both realized the significance of how long we held on to one another after the initial contact.

  Fuck.

  Okay, so I can play this one, of two ways. I can ignore the motion and act like it didn’t happen, and it wasn’t completely inappropriate, or I can walk over, shut her door and fuck her over her desk, condom be damned. Because her touch felt like everything was worth the risk to have her.

  I was this close-count it-this close to acting like it didn’t happen, but then she looked up at me through her lashes, her cheeks a faint rose and her hazel eyes knowing, and I stormed over, shut her door and locked it.

  I rounded her desk, and I did not give a fuck how insane this was.

  Not. One. Good. Goddamn. Fuck.

  I ran both of my hands up her neck until they were tangled in her hair and I slammed my lips down on hers.

  And it was the best decision I have ever made in all my life.

  The. Best.

  As soon as she let out a surprised gasp, I slipped my tongue into her sweet, hot mouth and-call me a star-strucked pussy-but it was the best kiss of my existence.

  I felt her hands grab onto my waist, and when her fingers curled into the fabric of my jacket, I knew the electricity between us was not just my crazed imagination.

  This was real. She was feeling it, too.

  This was what Mason had tried to explain to us the day he told us about Shane. He said the second he laid eyes on her, his entire soul shifted and there’d never be anyone else for him ever again. And that was just from a fucking look.

  All too soon, reality came crashing down on Denise and her hands went from clutching me to pushing at my chest. It took everything I had to remove my hands and lips from her body and step back from her. I wanted to fucking consume her.

  Her chest was panting, and she had a look of absolute fear and panic on her beautiful face. Her hand came up to her mouth. “Oh, my god,” she whispered, horrified. “Oh, my god.”

  I held my hands up in a calming motion. “Denise,” because, surely, we were on a first name basis now, right? “it’s okay. I’m-”

  Her gorgeous hazel orbs widened. “Okay? Are you out of your mind?” she screeched. “This is so far from okay, Aiden.” At least she was still calling me Aiden. “You’re my boss,” she reminded me. “We’ve only just met five minutes ago!” She held up her hand with her fingers spread, in case I wasn’t sure what five meant. “Who in the hell does…that, after only meeting someone for five minutes?!”

  “Denise-”

  She shook her head. “Oh, hell no,” she sputtered. “This is…no. This is not happening.”

  I stepped to her and invaded her space, once again. “The fuck it isn’t,” I growled.

  Fire leaped into her eyes, and with her hands on her hips she said, “I don’t do bosses, rich kids or men who are younger than me. So, no…it’s not happening.”

  Before I could argue all the reasons she was going to do her boss, who happened to be rich and a few years younger than her, she stormed out of her office leaving me with my dick in my hand.

  Almost literally.

  This is not how I imagined this day going.

  Chapter 3

  Denise~

  I ran out of my office like the devil was after me.

  What in the ever lovin’ hellfire?

  What was that? And who did crap like that?

  I sped walked as fast as my legs could carry me towards the women’s restroom and darted into the first empty stall I saw and hid in there like that was a solution to making this entire thing go away.

  I pressed my back up against the wall, and closing my eyes, I dropped my head back. How could I let this happen? I mean, granted, I had no idea what Aiden was about until he had his hands in my hair and was kissing me, but still.

  I hadn’t pushed him away or told him to stop. Hell, I kissed the bastard back. I kissed him for all I was worth. My only saving grace was that my sanity had returned, and I pushed him away before I let him bend me over the desk and do whatever he wanted.

  And, as God as my witness-church, here I come Sunday-when he insisted that we were going to continue on with this madness, I had flooded my panties. That sexy growl nearly had me playing the office whore. I had to gather every bit of indigence I could muster and tell him I didn’t mess with men like him.

  Granted, it might have been a little unfair to lu
mp him in with the generalization of rich, entitled men because I really knew nothing about him, but it didn’t really matter if he was the sweetest man on the planet; he was my boss.

  Yeah, he might be sex on a goddamn stick, but he was my boss, and he was a few years younger than I was. Now, some people might not sneeze at a four-year difference, but I did.

  Fuck, I had to think.

  I couldn’t avoid him, and I had to show that I was mature enough and professional enough to not let something like this affect my job, but Mary, Jesus and Joseph, I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough to resist him. I feared ending up bent over his desk more than I feared for my job. The odds in favor of stripping down for him were way higher than the odds of losing my job were.

  I took several deep breaths and opened the stall door to brave the world.

  He was supposed to go around the departments and introduce himself today, so the odds of seeing him again today were pretty slim. That made me feel more positive about the rest of the day, but it was the rest of the week I was going to have to figure out.

  My ninja skills sucked, so I wasn’t sure how I could go about avoiding him altogether, so I was going to have to make sure any future meetings we had were conducted out in the open and not-I repeat-not behind closed doors.

  I walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet. I cupped my hands under the water and splashed my face to cool myself down. Now was not the time to have a heart attack. Well, I suppose no time is really ideal to have a heart attack, but that’s what this was feeling like.

  I turned off the faucet and was patting my face dry when I heard the restroom door open. I turned from throwing the paper towels away to find Shane Buchanan standing by the mirror. She smiled up at me. “Hi, Denise, how are you?”

  I’ve only had the chance to run into Shane a couple of times, but she was very personable and always had a kind word. I didn’t think it was wise to tell her I was coming down from a near heart attack from her brother-in-law mauling me, so I just said, “I’m doing well, Mrs. Buchanan. How are you?”

  She tsked at me. “Please call me Shane. Mrs. Buchanan sounds like someone I am not.”

  I smiled. “How are you doing, Shane?”

  “I’m doing fine, thank you,” she answered. “I was actually on this floor looking for Aiden.” My brows shot up, but I remained silent. “I’ve been given an opportunity and I want some input from him about it. He is the numbers guy, after all.”

  Okay, you can do this. You. Can. Do. This. “Well, I just left him, actually,” I said, hoping my face wasn’t turning beet red. And do you know how hard it is for a person with African-American heritage to blush? “He was making his rounds of introductions.”

  “Crap. I forgot he was doing that,” she replied. She sighed. “Oh well, I’ll just catch him later. Thanks.”

  I smiled back as she headed into one of the stalls, and as soon as the door shut, I ran out of the restroom like a certified yellowbellied coward. I felt like there was a sign on my forehead that read ‘I want to bang the boss’.

  I was still a scattered mess, and I hadn’t realized how long I had lingered in the hallway, until Shane came out of the restroom and approached me. “Hey, Denise, are…are you alright?”

  I didn’t want to lie to her, so I went with the partial truth. “Meeting the boss is kind of unnerving,” I admitted.

  She let out a soft laugh. “Yes, I can see how it can be.” She gave me the most mischievous grin. “They are kind of intimidating, aren’t they?”

  “Just their last name alone is rather intimidating.”

  Shane nodded in understanding. “Well, if it’s any consolation, once you get past their last name, their money, their success, their good looks and their brute manner, they really are all sweethearts.”

  I let out a full-blown laugh. “Yeah, once you get past all those little things, I’m sure they’re pussycats.”

  She winked at me and then hit me with the unexpected. “You know, I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but my husband is kind of insane, and he gave me The Morgan Corporation to do with as I see fit.” I nodded but didn’t comment. I didn’t want her to think the floors were gossiping about her, even though they were. “That’s actually what I was looking for Aiden for. I wanted his opinion on if the numbers were worth my trying to make a go of it, or if I should just sell it off.”

  I didn’t feel right half-ass lying to her, but I replied, “I have heard some rumors about BI acquiring them, but nothing concrete.”

  “Well, if I do decide to try to make a go of it, I’m going to need a small division of my own,” she said. “Is there any chance you’d be interested in working for me? I mean, I’ll need a couple of finance and marketing people, but BI would still be the big brother standing behind me with all this.”

  I had to stop myself from jumping up and down. “I’m very excited for you, Shane, and if you decided to move forward with this, I have no doubt you’ll be a success. And if it doesn’t cause any issues for my department with the absence or part-time presence working for you would create, I’d love to be a part of this new challenge,” I answered, truthfully.

  Shane clapped her hands. “That is wonderful, Denise. And I promise I will make a final decision by the end of next week or so.”

  “No rush. I’m not going anywhere.” Unless Aiden fires me, of course.

  “Okay. I have to get going, but I’ll talk to you soon,” she promised and then sauntered down the hallway.

  My skin started prickling and my adrenaline was making an appearance at the thought of working for Shane. Not only would it be an exceptional professional opportunity, but it would get me away from Aiden.

  I snuck my way back to my office all covert-like, and it took everything I had not to shut the door when I got there. I had to act as if everything was normal, even though shit was far from it.

  When it was clear that I wasn’t going to get any work done until I let go of all the chaos that was running through my head, I called my best friend, Kelly. Thankfully, she answered and wasn’t in the middle of a design. “What’s up?”

  “Oh, my god, Kel,” I blurted out.

  “Oh, my god, what, Neese?” I whispered out the entire story and she was silent for a few seconds too long before finally saying, “Did you just tell me that the hottest man you’ve ever seen was seconds away from bending you over your desk and you said no?”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. “Can you please focus on the important stuff, Kel? That hottest man I’ve ever seen if my goddamn boss!” I whispered yelled.

  “Well, is there some sort of no fraternizing with employees policy or something?”

  “Uhm, well…no.”

  I could hear her shock over the phone. “Then what are you waiting for? Go find that man and let him finish what he started!”

  “Kelly! He’s my boss,” I whisper yelled at her again, because she obviously didn’t hear me the first ten times. “He’s also…”

  “He’s also what?”

  I let out a deep sigh. “He’s also rich, successful and very, very white elite.” I knew it wasn’t fair to focus on those points, especially in this day and age, but I’ve seen firsthand how hard life can be for mixed couples and their children.

  “Oh, honey, don’t do that to yourself,” she reprimanded, softly.

  “I’m going to need drinks tonight, Kel. You game?”

  “Just say the place and time, G.G.” Good Girl. That’s what she always calls me.

  I just hoped there was enough liquor in Indiana to make me forget this goddamn day.

  Chapter 4

  Aiden~

  I barged into Mason’s office unannounced, because…well, because I could.

  He lifted his head and leaned back in his chair. “May I help you?”

  The prick.

  I dropped on one of the two armchairs that sat in front of his huge, oak desk. “I’m in love.”

  His brows shot up. “You’re in love?” I nodd
ed. “With like…a real person? Not a dessert or car or something like that, but with a real, live human being?”

  “Yes, you asshole,” I replied.

  Then, he smirked, “A woman?”

  “Fuck you, Mase.” Now, while I didn’t care how people got their groove on, or who they got it on with, Mason knew I was straight.

  He laughed. “Okay, okay,” he said, getting serious. “So, you’re in love with a real life, live female. Congratulations?” he said, posing it like a question.

  I leaned forward in the chair. “Look, man, I know what you’re thinking and it’s not like that.” Mason just quirked a brow but didn’t interrupt. “I’ll be the first to admit women are my weakness, but…I’ve never felt this way before, Mase. Her presence is hypnotizing, and I swear, I can feel her touch deep down in my soul.” God, I sounded like a teenage boy with his first crush.

  Or with his first hard-on.

  Mason leaned forward, laying his arms on the desk and clasping his hands in front of him. “Who is she?”

  I dropped back against the chair. “That’s where it gets tricky…”

  He pierced me with a stare. “Tricky how, Aid?”

  I chewed on the bottom of my lip and then spit it out. “She’s a finance account manager,” I confessed.

  “For who?” he asked.

  I let out a deep sigh. The fucker was going to make me say it. “For us,” I clarified.

  “Goddamn it, Aiden,” he sighed, but he didn’t seem angry.

  “I know, I know,” I said, holding my hands up in a surrender motion. “But-”

  Mason held his hand up to stop me. “Just tell me one thing, Aid.” I nodded for him to go on. “Are your feelings for her enough to keep your head from being turned by someone else?”

  A low growl escaped from my throat. I knew Mason wasn’t trying to insult me-given my appreciation for the female species-but I’d never felt this way before.