by Mia Ford
I walked out of the lobby of the complex and the cool autumn air hit me in the face. It was a beautiful morning in New York, and my office building was shimmering and glowing in the sunlight. I walked across the street and through the lobby of the building, waving at the normal guard. He stepped out of the office and walked over to me.
“Mr. Johnson,” he said scanning my entrée card. “I missed you last weekend.”
“Yeah.” I chuckled. “I got a bit distracted, but I’m back.”
I walked over to the elevator and got in, trying to act like everything was normal. Instead, thoughts of Ava were swirling around in my brain, and it was driving me crazy.
Chapter 12
Ava
It was the first time in my life that I woke up not wanting to pursue my future. It wasn’t the fact that my goals were almost overwhelming at times. It was the fact that I had gotten myself into quite the situation without using my damn brain. What the heck was going on with me? I had always been the girl who made the smart choices, not the willy-nilly, think with your crotch choices. I had a mix of emotions going on as I readied myself for work. I was nervous because I had fucked my boss, I was lying to my father, something I had never done before, and I had told Tanner I couldn’t see him anymore. On top of that, I could feel anger twisting inside of me every time I thought about him. My father, when he came over the night before, told me about the fight he got in with Tanner at the polo match. I didn’t know why he didn’t mention that when he was here, but I was almost livid about it.
He had come over without calling, which normally would have been fine, but he came over after having it out with my father. It was almost blatantly obvious what he had done. He had gotten pissed at my father and come over to my apartment and fucked me just to spite him. There was nothing more to that sex than his own selfish anger toward my father. I had been played hardcore, Tanner knowing that it would eventually all come out, whether I wanted it to or not. He knew that if my father found out he was sleeping with me; my father would be beaten down. I didn’t care how much my father held a grudge, he would never do something that low to Tanner. It was reprehensible on so many levels. However, I had worked too damn hard for Tanner to screw up my chances for the future. If he was going to use me as a pawn in this two-decade-old battle, I was going to use his company to push me up the corporate ladder.
I looked at myself in the mirror and put my shoulders back. I didn’t know what to expect at work that day, but whatever it was, I was going to face it with class and dignity. There was no way I was going to lower myself to his level. I had worked too hard to show I was a decent person and an excellent employee to let his petty behavior ruin that for me. I walked out to the corner to grab a cab with my spirit starting to come back. I spent the ride over thinking about all the work I could get accomplished that day. Tanner may be the CEO, but he wasn’t the only person I could impress at that company. There was a whole slew of executives who could be excellent references for the future. Not to mention the men coming in with the other company that we were merging with, none of who knew me from Adam. They would only assume I was as knowledgeable as I showed them I was. I liked to prove myself, and I felt better knowing I had the opportunity to do that with a lot of important people in the business.
When I got to the building, I walked in and rode the elevator up to our floor. By the time it reached its destination, I was feeling positive and strong about my day and my future at the company. That all changed quickly, though, when I walked into my office and saw a note from Tanner requesting that I see him as soon as I made it to the office. Fear flew through my chest, and I looked across the hall at his office door, which was shut when it was normally open. I put my things down and flipped on my computer, trying to breathe before going over there. There was a very good chance that after everything, Tanner was exactly the man my father had told me about so many years before. There was a good chance that now that I had turned him down, he was going to fire me. I knew that was illegal, but that didn’t stop it from happening on a regular basis. I didn’t want to be anywhere near him, and though I knew he was waiting for me, I flipped through the office emails, trying to bide my time a bit longer before I faced him.
If I got fired, I could blame him, but really, I had no one to blame but myself. I had been warned about Tanner my entire life, but I still decided it was a good idea to sneak around and take a job with his company. I had thought it was a good idea to flirt with him and sleep with him, even though it had occurred to me this was a very real scenario that I could face. I wanted to be angry, but I knew walking in there, he had the upper hand, and the last thing I wanted to do was piss him off even more than I feared he already was. Still, even after years of hearing about him, I couldn’t picture him being the man I was expecting to find behind his office doors. He had seemed ambitious and even ruthless, but he didn’t seem like a complete asshole.
I sighed. I couldn’t keep avoiding the situation because speculating itself was driving me even crazier than just walking across the hall. I stood up, straightened my skirt, and held my head up as I walked out of my office. I crossed over to his secretary’s desk and smiled as she hung up her phone.
“Mr. Johnson had requested that I come to his office when I arrived,” I said sweetly.
“Of course,” she said. “He’s been expecting you. Go on in.”
I took a deep breath and turned, staring at the office door. I stepped forward slowly, not wanting to go running in to my doom. When I opened the door, Tanner was sitting at his desk finishing up a phone call. He nodded at me and stuck his index finger in the air, letting me know it would be just one more minute. I looked around the office before taking a seat in the chair across from him and folding my hands in my lap. I tried not to make eye contact with him while he was talking. It was clear he was talking about the merger. When he hung up the phone, he took a deep breath and looked over at me, a friendly smile on his face.
“Thank you for coming in to see me,” he said. “I wanted to take a moment and talk about the other night.”
My palms were sweating, and I could hear my heart beating in my head. He seemed relaxed and professional, but I didn’t know what was going to come out of his mouth next. I was terrified that my career was over as soon as it had started. What would I tell my father? How would I explain all of this to another employer?
“The thing is,” he said, continuing. “I feel really bad. I want to apologize to you for what happened. It was unprofessional of me, and I should have respected you more than that.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head and letting out a deep breath. “You don’t need to be sorry for that. I wanted it as much as you did. I’m a grown woman, and I could have said no.”
“I have positions open in other offices,” he said. “If you aren’t comfortable here, I would be more than happy to transfer you. You can do the same job but be based out of there and not here.”
“No, no,” I said relieved, my heartbeat slowing down. “I don’t want to do that. It’s not necessary. Like I said, you didn’t force me to do anything. It was an adult, mutual decision.”
He looked at me for several moments, trying to read my face. I could tell he wasn’t sure whether I meant that or it was just me being non-combative. He genuinely didn’t have anything to apologize for because, at the time, I’d wanted him as much as he wanted me.
“Good,” he replied, straightening the papers on his desk. “I really didn’t want to go through all that paperwork anyway.”
My smile quickly faded as those words shot from his mouth and into my chest. Ouch! I didn’t understand what in the world would make him think that saying something like that was nice at all. I tried to calm down, remember that I was the one who decided that we needed to keep our relationship strictly professional, but given the circumstances, he didn’t need to take a dig like that. He looked up at me with realization on his face, and I watched as he took in a deep breath, thinking about what he said. He looked l
ike he wanted to correct himself, like he felt bad for saying that, but he quickly tightened his face and looked back down at the files. I wasn’t sure what to say at that moment, and I could feel the anger starting to rise back in my chest.
I stood up and crossed my hands in front of me, thinking carefully about my next words. I could start a fight, but what would it do besides make things even more awkward? I shook my head and took in a deep breath as he looked up at me.
“Will that be all?” I was stern and emotionless.
He nodded his head, and I turned to walk out of the office. However, as I reached the door, I stopped, unable to let what my father told me to go. I had to say something or at least ask.
“Tanner,” I said turning back around. “My father told me about the fight you two had. Was that why you came over to my house? Was that why we had sex? Were you trying to get back at my father?”
“No,” he said, looking up with a surprised face. “Ava, that was not the reason. That had nothing to do with it.”
I wanted to say something else, but at that moment the secretary opened the door. She looked at both of us awkwardly before Tanner waved her in. I took that moment to scoot out behind her, not wanting to talk anymore about it. I didn’t believe Tanner, not after he acted so short and uncaring about having me switch offices. There was something about the way he handled himself that made me think that I didn’t know him like I thought I did. I walked back over to my office and closed the door, not wanting to even catch a glance of Tanner for the rest of the day.
I spent the rest of the workday going up a few floors and working with the financial department on their changing management strategy. Anytime I caught wind that Tanner was coming up, I would make sure to go back to my office, purposely missing him passing by. I knew it was childish, but I needed a minute to really understand what happened that morning. I still had my job, but for some reason, I felt like my pride was completely gone.
Chapter 13
Tanner
All day, yesterday, Ava made it impossible for me to talk to her. Hell, I didn’t even see her for the rest of the day, but I knew she was still there because she was working with the financial department. I tried to nonchalantly ask around for her, but every time I ended up somewhere, she had just walked out. It was extremely irritating. I was going to try to take her to lunch, realizing that our conversation seemed emotionless, and I’d come off pretty cold. The thing was, she had made the decision that she wanted to keep our relationship professional, and I wanted to honor that. It was difficult to not tell her otherwise as she sat across the desk from me, looking gorgeous as always. I held my breath when I asked her if she wanted to switch offices, completely relieved when she said no. I may have sounded cold when I made the remark about too much paperwork, but I couldn’t very well tell her I was glad because I wanted her to be close to me. That would completely negate the whole purpose of the conversation where I was showing her that I could be professional with no hard feelings.
I looked up as she walked down the hall and into her office. Finally, I was going to be able to talk to her. I stood up and walked over, nonchalantly knocking before entering. As I walked through the door, she glanced up and then back down at her paperwork. I could see her cheeks get red, and I realized that she still didn’t believe that her father and I fighting had nothing to do with what happened between us.
“Do you want to grab lunch with me? It’s been a while,” I said, smiling.
“I have too much to do today.” She didn’t even look up from her work.
“Would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?”
“That’s sweet, but I can’t,” she replied, still not making eye contact with me.
“How about tomorrow night?”
“I have plans,” she said, this time trying to hold back a smile.
“Is there any chance that you will be available at any point this week to have dinner?”
“Maybe,” she sighed, putting down her pen and finally looking me in the eye. “I’ll have to check my schedule.”
It had been a very long time since I had approached a woman and had her turn me down at every pass. I knew that I already technically had hooked up with Ava, but this new attitude was like dealing with another side of her. It was turning me on that she was playing hard to get, and from the look on her face, and that smirk that she was trying to hide, I could tell she knew exactly what she was doing. She wanted to be professional, but she couldn’t deny the pull between us, just like I couldn’t when I started to obsess over not talking to her for a day. That mischievous grin on her face made me want to shut her office door and bend her over the desk, smacking her ass as I fucked her hard and deep.
I shuffled my stance, slyly adjusting my half-cocked dick. My pants were getting tighter, but I didn’t want her to know that she was having that effect on me. I hadn’t had to chase a woman down since before my ex-wife, and while other men might find it annoying and a waste of time, I found her playfulness refreshing and erotic. She wanted to be in charge, and that alone made my cock stand at attention. However, if she wanted to play games, then games we could play. I sat down in the chair and crossed my legs, watching her as she took a phone call from upstairs. The silence between us was making her anxious, and she was feeling as if that control she thought she had was quickly slipping away.
I chuckled as she furrowed her brow at me, taking notes from whomever was on the other line. I sat quietly, listening, watching her body movements, glancing at her heaving breasts, and thinking about what my next move was. When she hung up the phone, she tried to ignore that I was sitting across from her, staring. She was fidgeting, and I smiled teasingly, watching her glance up at me from the corner of her eye. She was trying so hard to keep a straight face, and I thought it was adorable. Finally, she took in a deep breath and put her pen down, looking straight over at me, raising her eyebrows. I stood up from the chair, walking over to the door and pausing before I opened it.
“I’ll see you at my place at eight on Friday. I’ll send a car,” I said.
I turned the doorknob and walked out of her office, shutting the door behind me before she could say a word back to me. As the door shut, I heard her let out a deep sigh, and I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. I had really gotten to her, and I found that this game was even more fun than the first one had been. I knew I wasn’t keeping my promise to respect her wishes for a professional relationship, but who was I kidding? I wanted her, and now that she was playing hard to get, I wanted her even more. She acted like she wanted a professional relationship, but that was her way of trying to protect herself and her job. She wanted me around as much as I wanted her around, and it wasn’t some big secret. She was terrible at hiding that fact, and though it was endearing, I was going to show her that she may think she was in charge, but that was only because I let her be. I was taking back the ball this time, and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. In fact, I wasn’t even going to let her answer.
I walked down the hall and to the elevator, going to check on the other departments to see how they were doing. As soon as the elevator doors shut, I let out a deep breath, realizing that I was more brazen than I ever thought I could be. This old man still had it, and I wanted to use it on Ava. I didn’t care that my fear of commitment was slapping me in the forehead. I just wanted to make sure Ava didn’t go running off. I did my rounds and came back downstairs, looking over at Ava’s closed door and chuckling to myself as I walked over to my secretary’s desk. She had a couple new messages for me, so I went into my office and returned the important phone calls. Everyone seemed to need something from me that day. No matter what the issue was, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ava, and I didn’t mind it at all.
When I got off the last call, I leaned back in my chair, opening my email to send responses back that I had neglected to address that morning. As the email loaded, I leaned my head back in my chair and laughed to myself. This was fun, at least it was for now. I had no intent
ion of letting this carry on forever, but I also had no intention of letting Ava go. I opened my eyes and leaned forward, looking at the new messages in my inbox. Suddenly, I froze, staring at a message from Ava’s father, Dean. My mouse hovered over the message for several seconds and fear bubbled up in my stomach. What if he had found out about Ava? That couldn’t be it. I was pretty sure if he found out about Ava, he wouldn’t be sending an email. He would be stomping through the office raising hell and dragging her out of there like a twelve-year-old caught sneaking out. I clicked on the message and began to read.
Tanner,
It was offsetting to see you at the polo match after so many years, and my actions toward you may have been unwarranted. I’d like to sit down with you, talk about everything. There is no reason to spend our lives angry at one another. If you are free tonight, pick a place and just let me know when and where and I’ll be there.
Dean
I sat back in my chair, at a loss for what to say or do. Dean seemed like he was reaching out, wanting to smash decades of animosity and anger. He had been my best friend for many years, and I loved him like a brother. This email must have taken him a lot to write, knowing how stubborn he was. I couldn’t pass this opportunity by, even if it meant upsetting Ava. I was going to go to dinner with Dean and at least hear him out, and I would tell her the next day, making sure to calm her fears.
I looked up several restaurants, not used to picking places that weren’t for romantic reasons. I didn’t want to romance Dean. I wanted to have a nice dinner, but make the situation comfortable and inviting. Fine dining was off the table. I knew how much he hated fine dining. He may be an extremely wealthy man, but when it came to food, he liked meat and potatoes. I called up the local steakhouse, Chima, and made a reservation for the two of us. I made sure the table was somewhere relatively private and comfortable, so we could talk openly without having to worry about other people listening in. I also wanted to make sure we had some sort of privacy, so if things got heated, there wasn’t some huge scene to be made.