by Megan McCoy
Then what?
Pulling her pillow out from under her head and clutching it to her chest, she looked around the bare bones room. Stark yet had a rich feeling to it. Everything in it was, just right. Some decorator had had her, or his, way with it. But it didn’t feel homey. It felt like one of the houses on the TV shows, that had been staged to sell, and you looked at it thinking ’so where is the TV and where do I stretch out and just get comfortable after a hard day at work’. Like a hotel room. Really pretty but not home.
Her room at home was cluttered with pictures of her dogs, and family. It had cozy throw rugs and a quilt her great grandma had made on the bed. She had a small space heater that looked like a fake fireplace, and while granted, that was not something needed here in this dry heat, it still felt cozy and she missed it.
Stretching she wondered, what if the impossible happened and this guy wanted her to not only cum, but come to stay?
If, she allowed herself to dream, in the privacy of her room, if he did happen to offer her the fantasy, would she take it? Long term was a scary thing. Would she make terms? Make him sign a pre-nup? Suddenly giggles overcame her. Yes! She would! She would insist upon it. Insist he would have no claim on her heavily mortgaged business or the proprietary knowledge of dog training in her brain. Maybe she’d let him go half in on the five-year-old car she still owed another year on. Yeah! Now she was thinking smart! No letting the man take advantage of her, that’s for sure!
Jericho of the smoldering eyes and stern expression, that melted into the occasional smile….yeah, he’d take advantage of her all right, but not monetarily. That wasn’t a serious concern, any more than her taking advantage of him was an option. Money was great and she felt quite certain she could learn to enjoy having some, and not sweating the bills every month. However, that wasn’t a good reason to leave everything she knew.
Was Russ? She adored the kid, but he was almost a teenager. If the doctors were right, he’d be walking soon, and while he’d continue therapy for a long time, he’d be a normal cranky teen soon who hated the world and the people who cared for him. It was a normal part of pulling away, but it still sucked. Her heart twinged thinking of Henry wanting nothing more to do with Jenn or her. But she knew it happened. She loved her daddy, but she distinctly remembered a few years where she could barely stand to be in the same room with him. After she left home, they’d gotten along again. Russ would be leaving in a few short years for his own life. Was it fair to her to disrupt her life for him?
Shaking her head, she fought back a snort of laughter. Who would have thought she’d be thinking along these lines?
If she was being fair, it wasn’t Russ, it wasn’t her pulls to the humid, black dirt, and lush green of Illinois, it wasn’t the business that barely kept her in dog food and sneakers, that made her mind whirl constantly.
“Tymber,” she said to the sweetly slumbering dog curled next to her. “It’s him. Jericho. What is it about that man that makes me want him and yet be terrified of what he does to me?”
While he did have this peculiar thing about paddling her butt, she wasn’t afraid of him, exactly. It was how hard, how fast, and how much she, well, loved him. “Dammit, Tymber. I didn’t mean to do that.”
Glancing at her phone, she saw it was almost six in the morning. Since, Jericho was out of town till late afternoon doing whatever he did, Kane would be heading in here to work early today. He came in early when Jericho was out of town but that was still a few hours away. She rolled over again, feeling the pleasant twinge of sore between her thighs, and hugged her pillow and pulled her dog close, feeling the heat radiate from his warm skin. She’d try to sleep an hour or two, then get up and go collect the horses and take them all outside for a morning workout.
Then she’d talk to green haired Kane and see what she could find out about her boss/lover/who knew what. She had a plan.
“So how long have you worked for him?” Joy perched on Kane’s desk and watched him computer click.
“You coming here to pick my brain about the boss man?” Kane asked, leaning back in what had to be a specially designed ergonomic chair.
“Am I that obvious?”
“Pretty much. If you pick mine, I get to pick yours, deal?” he laced his fingers back behind his neck.
“I guess,” she pouted just a little. “So. How did you meet?”
“Went to college with Lori. She and I hit it off and often hit on the same guys,” he smiled, a bit sadly. “We had a blast together. Then we graduated and parted ways, but when she needed a right hand man for her new company, she called me. I was there at the beginning. When she….died…I stayed to help Jericho out. I just keep staying.”
“You seem like the only one who does stay,” she noted. “Why is that? I mean, I get why you do, now, but why doesn’t anyone else?”
“He’s hard to work for,” Kane said. “Jericho can be an asshole. Lori was just a sweetheart. It was a hard transition for a lot of people. Here at home, same thing. Russ has issues. Jericho has issues. I, of course, am wonderful, but I only work here part time, and mostly when he’s home. He took two weeks off,” Kane air quoted the off, “and so I moved my stuff here to be close to the action till his” again the air quote “vacation is over.”
“I wondered if you were here all the time,” she said.
“I’d like to be,” he shrugged. “I have all the technology I need here. I don’t mind being close to the Professor, and I think Jericho needs to be here more, but it’s really hard for him. “
“Because?” she asked, not wanting to lead him.
“He hates being frustrated. Russ’ condition frustrates him. He’s going to be fine, but it’s going to take time. Patience isn’t one of his virtues.”
“I’ve noticed that,” Joy said, dryly. “He can be a brute, too. But he seems to be a really good dad and patient with Russ.”
Kane smiled at her, “See, he can be patient. He just needs to learn to spread the wealth of that patience throughout the rest of his life. He has high expectations and doesn’t handle it well when people let him down.”
“Noticed that, too. He likes having his own way,” she sighed and asked, “So, how many women has he invited to live here in the last couple years?”
“Five,” he said promptly, without even trying to count, she thought.
“Damn,” her mouth fell open. “So I’m one of five?”
“Technically, you’re six,” at her look, he laughed. “You’re the only one he’s slept with, if it helps.”
She buried her head in her hands, and moaned, “I’m not sure if it does or doesn’t. Were they all caretakers or what?”
“Housekeepers, caretakers for Russ,” Kane shrugged. “You know you’re different, right?”
Giving him her best alpha bitch glare, she told him, “If I did would I be here trying to find out what goes on in his brain?”
“I think I’m the wrong one to ask about his thinking,” he said, sitting back up straight in his chair and putting his fingers on the keyboard.
“I can’t think of anyone better,” she retorted.
“Jericho,” he said. “Now, go away, I have to work.” He gave her a wave and she slid off his desk and smiled at him. She liked Kane. Maybe they would end up being really good friends if she stayed. Or there was always Facebook if she left. She could see her bad girl self stalking Jericho on line if she left.
If she left? If, not when? She thought, heading out to see Russ and his horses. What was she thinking? She really didn’t know right now.
Walking down the hall, she could hear the dogs bouncing around Russ’ room and him yelling at them futility.
“Lovey! Thurston! Stop it! Quit doing that. Behave!” he yelled, as she walked in the door and shut it behind her.
“Hey, Russ,” she said, mildly as both the dogs rushed her.
“They won’t behave!” he complained. “Make them stop it.”
“They aren’t my dogs, they are your dogs,” she
said, ignoring the dogs’ wild attempts to get her attention. “You make them behave.”
He rolled his chair back to his computer area, “I don’t know how!”
“What’s the first thing to think about?” she asked him. He did know. They’d been working on this.
“If I have their attention,” he said, reluctantly. The dogs hopped around her as if they were bunnies on speed.
“And?” she encouraged.
“I don’t. So I need to get it,” Russ sat straighter in his chair. “Lovey! Thurston.” His voice crackled with an authority that sounded so much like his dad’s that it made her smile. The dogs glanced in his direction.
“Lovey, Thurston, come!” he commanded.
The dogs bounced their way over to him, as they got closer, he said, “Sit,” and followed through with his hand signal. Joy did not squeal as the dogs both sat in front of his wheelchair and looked at him.
“Perfect.” she said, happily. “Now what?”
“Come around,” he told them, and they both stood and walked around to their side of his wheelchair and sat. Now all three of them were looking at her, and if she’d had a blouse on instead of a t-shirt she would have burst her buttons with pride.
“See, you know how to do this. Now, have they been fed this morning?” They started on their morning chores as Joy went over the day’s lesson in her mind.
“Hey, boss man,” Kane greeted Jericho as he strode in the door. “You’re back early. Didn’t expect you till tonight.”
Jericho glimpsed himself in the reflection of the picture behind Kane’s desk. Rumpled shirt, no tie, dark hair badly in need of a comb, and his usual serious expression. His wife told him he had the male version of resting bitch face. He really needed to make an effort to change that, but it often came in handy during work negotiations. “Yeah, I finished early and wanted to be home,” he said, dropping his laptop and paperwork on Kane’s desk.
“Wanted to be home,” Kane said, mockingly. “Wonder what cute dog trainer you were wanting to be home to do?”
“You have no respect for authority,” Jericho growled at him.
“Sure I do. I never drink and drive, and I hardly ever rob banks.” Kane used both hands to fluff his green Mohawk. “Oh, you mean you? Yeah, not so much. Why? You wanting me to start respecting you? Well, I could, but it might cut into my productivity. You wouldn’t want that.”
Jericho stared at him, and stuck out both his hands, as if they were a scale and he weighed out, “Respect. Productivity. Hmm. I don’t know. Might be worth it.” Kane snorted with laughter. “The dog trainer is rubbing off on you, boss man. That’s a good thing.”
Jericho rolled up his sleeves and half smiled back. Yeah. He had to agree. “Let’s get the final figures done on this, and then you can go home and I’m going to spend the evening with the family.”
He saw Kane’s eyebrows shoot up, which moved the silver piercing in one of them quite dramatically, but he didn’t say a word, and just turned back to his computer. Good. Kane still knew who signed his paycheck. Or would sign it, if it wasn’t all automated. The thought was the same. Jericho scowled at him, just on general principles and then sat down at his desk. All he wanted was to be done working, then head to the kid’s room. Maybe there would be an early bedtime in his future. A man got tired after a business trip. Everyone knew that. He could hope for a fun playmate to give him a second wind. After he got the kid tucked into bed.
Two hours later he looked up. “Go home, Kane,” he said, powering down his computer.
“Heading out the door this very minute,” Kane said. “Got a hot date myself. You have fun tonight. See you in the morning.”
“Try to be here on time,” Jericho growled.
“On time is when I arrive, now isn’t it?” Kane said, grabbing his pile of whatever it was he carried in and out with him every day. Jericho really had no clue what it was. He assumed it had to do with work, but who knew? Who cared? He just wanted to go see Russ and Joy.
“See you tomorrow. Try to behave. Or if you don’t, try to enjoy,” Kane smirked at him and left the office door standing open. Jericho frowned. Heck with resting bitch face, he didn’t like his office door left open and everyone knew that.
A minute later, before he’d put away the items on his desk, the reason he hated the door open came bounding into the room. “Horses, go away!” he tried his commanding voice, but it didn’t work. They bounded over to him, and one tried to jump in his lap. He shoved it off, and then petted both their heads as they wiggled and bounced and one tried to grab a paper off his desk. Finally, though, they started to calm down a little. Idiot dogs. He did like them. Especially when they were not being insane, and just nuzzled up to him. The dogs both stood for petting for a second then turned their heads, as all three of them heard a long low call, “Lovey, Thurston, come!” and they both took off, out of the office, at a quick lope.
Well, that was a little insulting, Jericho thought.
A bit later, Joy walked in his office, a calm, focused dog on either side of her. “I’m sorry,” she smiled at him, not seemingly sorry at all. “They forgot their manners.”
“Apparently,” he said, not having to try to be stern. His dogs that he paid for, and who lived with him deserted him for a sweet come when you are called. And she’d called the dogs to come and not him. He wasn’t sure which irritated him more. “I thought you were here to teach them better.”
“Yeah,” she looked at the two dogs sitting on either side of her. “They are so out of control, right?”
“Yes!” he said. “They came running in here, and jumped all over me. What’s the deal with that?”
“Well, boss man,” she drawled in such a perfect imitation of Kane he wanted to smile. But he didn’t. This was serious. “As a professional, what I think happened, is they heard someone they wanted to see, and came to see him. Since he has no clue how to make them behave, they jumped all over him.” She shot him an I-dare-you look that made something rise to attention. “What thinks you? Could be a possibility?”
“They are my dogs. Why don’t I know how to control them?” he asked, looking at both the dogs that sat patiently at her side, looking up at her. This is what he wanted her to do, so why did it irritate him so much she was doing it?
“It isn’t about control,” she said patiently. Damn, she was hot. Who cared about the dogs? Oh. He did. “It’s about telling them what you want them to do in a way they understand.”
“I tell them what I want,” he said, irritated.
“Do they understand what you want?” she asked him, taking a step forward as the dogs shadowed her move, then sat by her side again.
“Of course. I tell them!”
“Okay, tell them to come to you and then sit down. Pretty easy, huh?” she asked, with that grin she did when she knew she was going to get her way. He’d seen it during sex, he’d seen it when they were discussing her staying. Now she was challenging either his manhood or his dog-training hood. Something. More than something. Why did he want to put her over his knee and paddle her butt so badly right now? Later. He’d do that later and enjoy every squirming squalling bit of it.
But now. “Hey. Come here.” He said in his best CEO voice. It made employees cowed and waiters give him a great table.
The dogs didn’t even look at him.
“Come here now!” he commanded again, and her giggle made him even more irritated.
“Why aren’t they coming?” she asked him innocently, hazel eyes twinkling at him.
“You put a hex on them?” Yeah, this wasn’t working out.
“Nope. No hex. Try again.” She still seemed to be choking back giggles.
“Get over here!” raising his voice, and giving the dogs the death stare.
“I don’t think that worked,” she said, as if concerned.
He planned to concern her butt. Soon. “Tell me what works,” he told her. Then he sucked in a huge breath, and said, as if it didn’t kill him, “Teach
me, please.”
He watched closely as she gave a hand signal to the dogs that still stared at her as if she were the queen of the world, and then she walked over and stood next to him while they still stared at her. “What are they looking at?” he whispered.
“Me. Of course.” she said. “You know like you look at me when I take my shirt off.”
“What?”
“Oh, think about it.”
Sometimes her giggles made him insane. “I’m thinking. Of you. Shirtless. Good thought.”
“And the dogs are thinking of me giving them treats and being able to do fun things with me.” she said, as if that made sense. Well, maybe it did. He’d reserve judgment.
“Okay, watch what I do. Lovey, Thurston, come.” The dogs both rose and walked over to her, then sat in front of her. She looked at him. “Tell me what I did.”
“You called the dogs to come,” he said, feeling even more frustrated. “I did that. They ignored me. “
Joy sighed, and moved her arm again, then turned to face him. “Jericho, I just turned to look at you. You looked back, right? Dogs will do the same thing. Get their attention by calling their name. Then tell them what you want them to do, then reward them for doing it. It’s not rocket science or scientific computer things.”
“I don’t have any treats,” he said, frustrated. “I don’t want to carry cookies everywhere I go.”
“What’s under my shirt?”
“What are you talking about?” Why couldn’t she just show him her magic trick for getting the dogs to come without all this nonsense?
“Under my shirt. If I took my shirt off, what would happen, what would you see?” she repeated, patiently with that evil glint in her eye that made him want to bare her butt.
“Gorgeous boobs. Big pink nipples, nice handful and very sweet tasting,” he said. Okay, maybe this was a fun game.
She giggled again. Yeah, her butt was going to be his, sooner than later. “How do you know that? I’ve got two layers of clothes on!”