Acquired Asset

by ZN Willett

  “I find nothing humorous about it. When I say that I won’t tell, I won’t tell. There would have to be a life or death situation for me to even think of breaking my word. Believe me, I have a lot of pertinent information about people, and the fact that I know is all that I need.”

  “You’ve threatened people to get your way.”

  “It’s only come to that a few times.”

  “I see. Hold this over my head until it’s useful. Let’s say for the vote of our new CEO!”

  He scowled at me. “Why would you think . . . no, Quinn. There is nothing to hold over you or your father.”

  He got out of the bed and started putting on his clothes. I watched, and it was obvious that he was angry. What was I supposed to think? I decided to give him a chance, and the moment I did, we’re called into an urgent meeting.

  “I need to look over some things; I’ll see you in the office,” he said, as he snatched up his keys.

  “Christopher.” He turned and glared at me. “You can take a shower—”

  “I’m going to the gym. I’ll take one there.” He grabbed the rest of his things and left.

  “Quinn, Happy New Year. Hey, you look tan. We had rain here, where did you go? Hawaii?”

  Mia handed me a stack of files. “Close, I needed some sun.”

  I trusted Mia enough to tell her about Christopher and me, however I wasn’t sure myself. I didn’t volunteer that information.

  “Uh huh. Well, you look good. I did some snooping around and the board meeting is the preliminary one to the next vote. They want to see if any decision between your dad and Mr. Colby has been made.”

  “I see. My dad and I know Thomas would never concede to the other.”

  “It’s a formality. Porter seems to take the bylaws to an extreme. I scheduled a meeting with Christopher Colby for this afternoon. He requested a lunch meeting, but I wanted to confirm with you.”

  “That’s fine. Have you seen him?”

  “He stopped by before going downstairs to the gym. You both had the same ideas about that, umm, sun thing. You should see him. I never thought he could look better, yet I was wrong. With a tan, he looks like an Adonis.”

  She had a knowing look. “Thanks Mia.”

  “Evan, can you find something for her to do?” We had been on the phone for ten minutes discussing Reagan. I had no idea that she bothered him. He hadn’t been the Colbys CFO very long before the merger, and he was the one who decided to shift his office to LA. There was a knock on my door and Christopher peeked his head in. I signaled for him to enter. “I have to go, but I don’t care where you place Reagan, it’s up to you. Keep me informed of her progress. Hopefully, in the next month or two she can move on to hotel operations.” He grumbled a bit more and finally hung up.

  “You placed Reagan with Evan?” Christopher asked.

  “She needs to understand the P&L.”

  He chuckled to himself. “Well, this will be interesting.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing, it’s something I saw in New York between them. I’m sure it will work itself out.”

  I took a good look at him and Mia was right, with a tan, the man looked even hotter than he normally did. “Where do you want to go for lunch?”

  “I’ll let you chose.”

  I decided on a little bistro close to the office. We had a lot of work to go over and it ended up being extended back to our conference room.

  “We may need to order dinner. Are you still planning on leaving tonight?” I asked.

  “Let’s see what’s left to do by seven. I may take the rest with me.”

  We worked until six and Christopher decided to finish the rest of the report later that week when I would be in New York. He gave me a ride home on his way to the airport.

  “Will you have dinner with me on Friday?” he asked, while keeping his eyes on the road.

  “Are you sure? I thought—”

  “I was put off by your distrustful attitude?”

  “One has to earn trust, Colby.”

  “I could have said something a while ago, Quinn. The moment I had my suspicions, I could have spoken up. You and I know that even the slightest hint of this could turn votes.”

  “Yet, you are holding on to it.”

  He glanced at me. “I understand why you would be skeptical but it’s your choice to trust me or not.”

  The thought of believing him scared the hell out of me. Even though my instincts knew I could, my heart wasn’t so willing. I had been down that road before only to have it broken and in pieces.

  We pulled in front of my home and Christopher walked me to the door. “I’ll see you on Friday.” He leaned in and kissed me before walking back to his car.

  I tossed and turned all night. Christopher filled my mind and it didn’t help that his scent was all over my sheets. After coming back from Turtle Island, he had stayed overnight, and it smelled as if he had been there for weeks. Sleep should have come easy. I lacked in it for a straight three nights, yet I lay there thinking about Christopher Colby.

  The week seemed to drag, and I was sleep deprived. The whole trust thing weighed on me and I was to see Christopher that morning.

  “How was your flight, Quinn?” Millicent asked.

  I walked onto Christopher’s floor and Mrs. Colby was talking to Vanessa. “Good, thank you.”

  “You look . . . tan. Did you go somewhere?” She speculated.

  “California.” I reminded her that’s where I resided. We were always tan.

  “Christopher is unavailable,” Vanessa interrupted.

  “I’ll wait. But can you tell him I’m here? Please?” I fake smiled along with the two of them.

  “I’ll see you at the board meeting, Quinn. Tell Christopher to call me, Vanessa.” Millicent left and I took a seat in the reception area.

  Christopher’s office door opened and there were a group of people who came out. One woman in particular stayed behind while the others headed toward the elevators. “Christopher, why don’t we continue to talk about this over dinner, my place, around seven? You remember where it is.” She flipped her hair back, batting her lashes.

  “I’ll need to take a rain check,” he said, and smiled.

  What the hell!

  She whispered something in his ear before walking away. He immediately looked at me and said, “Quinn, sorry to keep you waiting.”

  I was about to say something, but noticed Vanessa glaring. “This won’t take long, Colby.”

  We stepped into his office, and as soon as the door closed, he kissed me. I shoved him back. “Rain check? You’re keeping her open if I’m not available?”

  Stepping into my personal space and motioning between the two of us, he said, “Shall I remind you that you wanted to keep this private? If I started to turn every woman down, everyone would know that I’m seeing someone. I, for one, would be happy to disclose this relationship.”

  “Before we disclose anything—”

  “You would have to trust me? Oh, and knock down a few bricks from that wall of yours.”

  My eyes narrowed. “You really can’t understand why I would be skeptical of you? You’re a smart man; you can figure it out since you seem to always psychoanalyze me. You are a known player. And have done some pretty unethical things, yet you sleep with me and I’m supposed to fall in line?”

  He stepped away and sat on the edge of his desk. “I’m a bachelor, and COO of a billion dollar organization. You think that I have to be a ‘player’ when women throw themselves at me for the taking? We all don’t always like the climb to the top. And like you said my hands may have had to get dirty, however take a good look at yourself Quinn. What’s your gain in all of this? Should I be questioning why you are sleeping with me? It works both ways.” He stood and walked directly in front of me, peering into my eyes as his hand cupped my face. While his thumb started to brush over my lips, he huskily whispered, “When I hit that place deep inside you that makes you scream out m
y name, am I just playing? Or is it reversed? When these gorgeous lips wrap around me, should I be thinking you’re playing me? Or is it when you are riding me, taking claim to what I told you could be yours. You are the one who wants this to be our little secret. I said I would wait. But . . . eventually you will have to decide.”

  He walked back and sat down at his desk. While I stood there confused and a bit wet. OK. Quite a bit wet.

  “Shall we get started?” He opened the files on his desk and I took a seat.

  During the board meeting, I sat, expecting a bomb to go off. This was Christopher’s chance to expose what he knew about my father. I purposely looked away from Christopher, mentally prepared for what could come. I waited and waited and as the meeting drew to a close I sat in anticipation, knowing that I was going to be proven right. Christopher was only using me and it all would come out . . . yet, the meeting adjourned and nothing. I finally looked over at Christopher who was leaning against a wall, regarding me. He had a strange expression on his face before he shook his head and walked out.

  I followed behind him straight into his office.

  “Christopher . . .” I closed the door.

  “How may I help you, Quinn?” His tone was hard.

  “That went surprisingly well.”

  “Why would there be any surprises?”

  “I was just saying—”

  “I’m sorry, I’m late for a meeting,” he said, and grabbed some folders, walked past me and opened the door.

  “Christopher!”

  “I’m late. You can schedule time with Vanessa.”

  I walked up to him and slammed the door closed. “What is your damn problem?”

  “I was going to ask you that, but realized the reason you were so tightly wound up in there was because you expected me to say something about Joseph!”

  We gaped at the other and there was nothing that I could say.

  “I am late, Quinn.”

  “We can talk about this tonight.”

  “Oh, you’re still planning to come over for dinner and a romp?”

  Christopher grabbed my wrist as my hand immediately went in for the kill. We both stood there, snarling, while our chests heaved. “Christopher . . .” Was all that came out before he threw me against the wall.

  Pressing into me, he asked, “Who’s screwing with whom now?” I bucked my hip and he pressed harder. “If I didn’t have this meeting . . . we will discuss this later!”

  He pushed away and walked out the door.

  As I focused on the spreadsheet, all the numbers blurred together. How dare him! I thought as I fumed over Christopher. He was an ass. Even though I grabbed my reading glasses, still nothing; the pages were still blurred. I stewed in my chair thinking about what he had said. My mind wouldn’t stop racing, and the strength to focus seemed to have walked out the door with Christopher. That was what I didn’t want. All of my focus should have been on my job, and Christopher was affecting my judgment.

  There was a time when I would have never allowed any man to affect me the way Christopher had again. He had made me second guess who I was on a daily basis. What we were, knowing that in the end our . . . whatever, would only cause destruction.

  It was fun while it lasted, but if I stopped thinking with my vajayjay, whatever it was between Christopher and I wouldn’t last. Better to stop it now while I had my dignity than later while doing the walk of shame.

  It’s not like his bed would be cold, and neither would mine. We were very similar. That was a thought that popped into my mind before throwing it out of the window. Christopher and I were not alike in any way. I sat there arguing with myself, and realized that I was arguing with myself and all because of Christopher Colby. That proved that if I didn’t stop this thing between us, the man would put me into a mental hospital for the sexually insane.

  I called Vanessa to see if Mr. Colby was in. Yes, we were back to formalities where it should have always stayed. Then a flash of his naked ass crossed my mind as I watched him drill into me in the reflection of the mirror that hung in my room.

  See, it was thoughts like that which had gotten me into this mess in the first place, I scolded myself. If I kept that up, I’d be committed to the aforementioned hospital by the end of the day.

  “Is he still in?” I asked Vanessa, as I walked by her desk.

  “Yes, hey!” She stood as I barged into Christopher’s office.

  “Colby, we need to talk.”

  Vanessa was on my heels. “Christopher, she walked in before I could—”

  “It’s fine Vanessa. Quinn has free rein,” Christopher said. Next, he turned to the blonde woman in the room and stated in a dismissive manner. “You can leave us now.”

  I didn’t turn to look at Vanessa, but felt her eyes cutting into me. So were the eyes of the blonde whore I had seen with Christopher that afternoon. She had her hand on Christopher’s arm when I came in.

  “Quinn, it will be just a moment. Scarlet, like I said before, I’m busy.”

  “Christopher, you always make time for me.”

  He looked at me. “Things change.”

  She scuffed. “What things? Are you seeing someone?”

  It was as if he was searching for something in my eyes before he shifted back to her. “It’s complicated.”

  She grabbed hold of his shoulders and said, “Un-complicate it.”

  That was it! I took a step forward, about to tear the bitch off of him, but halted the moment Christopher’s eyes locked with mine and saw a gleam and that evil smile. He looked back at her, peeling her hands from him and said, “I like the complication very much. Now, if you don’t mind, Quinn and I have a few things to go over.”

  Christopher walked over to the door and opened it. She ignored the fact that I was standing there and brushed past me on her way out smelling of musk and cigarettes. I turned to ask her what her damn problem was, but Christopher shut the door smiling. I swung away from that Cheshire grin and heard the click of the lock. That sound went directly to my sex. “Quinn.”

  “Mr. Colby.”

  He chuckled. “Mr. Colby?” Then sat on the corner of his desk.

  I took a few breaths trying to compose myself, while pushing down the feelings that bitch seemed to ignite in me. “I’ve thought about what you said.”

  “I would say that I’m glad to hear that, although the formalities have told me that a decision of some sort has been made?”

  “I won’t deny that I have enjoyed our time together. New Year’s was . . .”

  “Incredible.”

  “Yes, that and other things. However, we both know that this,” I said, motioning between us, “will only do harm versus good.”

  “Still telling yourself that, are you?”

  “It’s the truth. I may not want to believe it, though—”

  “Then don’t.”

  “I can’t disregard everything that has happened.”

  He stood from the desk and walked in front of me. “Yet you can disregard us?”

  We both stared into the other’s eyes for a moment. My heart pounded, banging through my chest asking to escape the cage that had confined it. “Colby . . .”

  “You don’t trust me and without trust there can’t be any us. I can’t blame you. But if it were reversed . . . it doesn’t matter.” He stepped closer. “If this is what you want . . .”

  There was a twinge in his eyes. I peered into them, losing myself as words swirled out of his mouth around us. It was as if I were hypnotized at that moment, faced with the fact that I would never feel Christopher again. I inhaled a light hint of the bitch’s perfume, and thought about her hands on him. That caused the heat in my core to burn. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on Christopher. The image of that repulsed me. The thought of his hands on her or someone else nauseated me.

  To never feel his soft lips or needy hands on me again . . . I realized his entire body always seemed to crave mine. There wasn’t a part of it that I never touched or felt.
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  Then it hit me.

  I.

  I was the one who craved to feel him everywhere.

  I was the one who allowed him to take me in that storage closet.

  I was the one who answered every one of his calls.

  I was the one who flew to Turtle Island with him.

  I was the one who refused to trust him.

  And now I was the one who was about to throw away something that I wasn’t ready to lose.

  “Quinn, are you listening to me?” Christopher asked, frustratingly.

  As I focused back on those now narrowed green eyes, I realized something right then. “I think I finally heard you, Christopher.”

  Then, I pounced.

  I pushed him down against the desk, and devoured his lips. I forced entrance into that dirty mouth that I loved, and showed him exactly how much. Christopher sat still; I was sure shocked by my attack. Although that lasted for a split second before he grabbed my blouse and ripped it open. Teeth clanged and mouths pressed together firmly. He leaned back for air, the air that I took in as I leaned harder against his lips.

  His hands grabbed my ass and leaned me toward him. “If we do this, you have to be all in, Quinn.”

  I sucked behind his ear heading toward his neck. “I’m so in. Forget what I said. I want you.” I kissed down his chest, as I unbuttoned his shirt. “I need you.”

  He grabbed hold of my head lifting it up. “But do you trust me?” I took in a deep breath and nodded. “Say it, Quinn.”

  I searched into his eyes and said, “I trust you.” And the cage sprung open releasing my heart. Then, I slapped him. “That is a taste of what’s to come if you betray my trust.”

  He smirked, grabbed hold, and lifted me up; turned me around as he laid me on his desk. He dropped his pants, lifted up my skirt, ripped my panties and grabbed behind my knees. A collective grunt was heard as he filled me to the hilt.

  “Quinn, I thought dinner at my place?”

  I bent over to pick up my discarded lingerie. I felt him behind me before he grabbed hold of my hips as I pulled up. Christopher’s arms wrapped around me and I leaned back into his chest. “Will we have dinner, Colby?”