by Paige Kelley
The Big Surprise
Corporate Complications
Paige Kelley
Copyright © 2018 Paige Kelley
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Any references to names, characters, organizations, places, events, or incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Contents
Stay in the Loop
About Corporate Complications
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Stay in the Loop
About Page Kelley
Stay in the Loop
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About Corporate Complications
Our heroine, Alexa Nelson, finds herself in a difficult spot. She’s trying to recover from a difficult break up and she’s on the right track. Until the decision to sleep with a hot guy from a bar complicates her plan.
Even though she’s sworn off love, she wonders if her plan was put in motion too soon. Could love be in her future? Or are all men liars and cheats like her ex?
1
"Hello? Are you still there?" the female voice said through the phone, startling her from a frozen state of shock.
The female voice belonged to a woman named Katelyn. The woman who just happened to be the fiancée of her one-night stand. Oh, and the one time in his office. One really hot time in his office. She blushed and hid a sly smile as she remembered her first day of work.
And then the memories of all the times after that flooded back and her smile couldn’t be hidden. She took a deep breath and brought her mind back to the shock she was dealing with. The joy of her happy, adventurous sex life crashed and burned.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I, um, well, I didn't realize Mr. Frenquist had a… fiancé." Alexa Nelson stumbled over her words.
She’d been standing by her work desk when she answered the phone and had to sit down in her chair before her knees gave out from under her. As the news that the man she'd been falling in love with was engaged slowly sunk in, emotion washed over her. Alexa leaned her head against her left hand while she held the phone with her right, trying to keep from being sick.
"You must be new to the company," the woman on the phone said with a breeziness that was warm and charming. "I'm Katelyn Mills, Charlie's business partner, and now his fiancé'. I've been setting up our new branch in Chicago, but don't worry, now that I'm back things will settle down. I'll make sure Charlie doesn't dump extra work on you just to spend time planning our wedding."
Damn, she sounded so nice. Alexa knew that under any other circumstances she probably would have loved this woman.
"Yes. Let me put you through to Mr. Frenquist right away."
2
Alexa rushed to get off the phone before she passed out. She transferred the call, and ran into the restroom, clutching her stomach and gasping for air.
"How the hell could I have been so stupid to have fallen for a man who’s already engaged?" Alexa berated herself as she stood hunched over the sink, crying.
Time after time, she'd fallen for men who turned out to be cheaters and liars. Alexa had dated her last boyfriend, Ethan, for eighteen months and had dared to think he might actually ask her to marry him. Instead, Ethan had announced that he was having a baby with her ex-best friend, Jocelyn.
Alexa had decided then and there that she would there would be no more relationships with men. She couldn’t risk it. It seemed like the perfect solution. Then, stupidly, she'd allowed herself to have a fling with the amazingly hot guy who’d picked her up in the bar. Oh, wait. She’d really picked him up. He’d probably have bought her a drink first, but she’d suggested going to his place before he had a chance.
The fact that he’d thought she was a hooker, was a little funny now, though when she’d found out, she wanted to strangle him.
Charlie Frenquist had been so funny, kind, and creative; not to mention the fact he was sexy as hell with his chiseled features, thick dark hair, and those incredible hazel green eyes flecked with gold. She thought hooking up with the hot stranger would be the safest way to avoid a relationship, but she got the surprise of her life when he turned out to be her new boss.
At the office, they’d both tried like hell to ignore the sexual chemistry between them, but it crackled in the air like raw electrical current. They spent nearly every moment together, talking and working, and even spending lunches and dinners together. Even when they weren't having sex, the chemistry between them just grew stronger.
Charlie’s declaration that they couldn’t work together and sleep together hadn’t lasted long. She hadn’t really tried to entice him, but she hadn’t dressed like an old school marm, either. She did need the income, after all. It was him who gave in first.
After weeks of trying to deny it, Alexa had been about to walk into his office and tell Charlie she loved him. That's when the surprising call came from his fiancé, shattering her newly repaired heart back into a million pieces.
Alexa had spent weeks flirting with her boss in low cut blouses, laughing with him over lunches. They’d been having a scorching hot affair—in and out of the office. She’d been slowly falling in love with Charles Frenquist, only to discover he’d been planning to marry another woman the entire time.
"Oh my God!" Alexa gripped the porcelain sink of the office bathroom as a new realization hit her. "I'm the other woman. I'm the slutty mistress who's been sleeping with someone else's man. While Katelyn was innocently planning their future together, I'm the one who's been secretly sleeping with him on the side. Oh, God!"
All the hatred Alexa had felt for Jocelyn turned into guilt and disgust for the woman whose reflection was now staring back at her in the bathroom mirror. She'd been the one allowing a man to betray his fiancé; she was the home-wrecker.
Slowly, that vile hatred Alexa felt transferred from herself back to where she was sure it belonged; onto Charlie Frenquist. He'd been the liar. He was the one who had tricked her into this. He knew what he’d been doing all along. What a snake!
Alexa splashed some cold water on her face, making her delicate features look fresh and bright once more. Her blue eyes were blazing with determination, as she reapplied her lipstick and brushed back her long, pale-blonde hair from her face. She straightened her navy pencil skirt, tucked in her white silk blouse.
As she took a final look in the mirror, she jutted her chin out and knew she was ready to face him. She looked good and her anger was simmering at just the right temperature.
She stormed from the bathroom on a direct path to Charlie's office to tell him just what she thought of him.
3
Charlie had known he was in trouble the moment Alexa's voice came through the intercom with those fateful words, "Your fiancé is holding on line one."
"Shit. I can explain." he'd said, but there had been no response. It was too late, Alexa was already gone.
Charlie had flung open his office door, eager to explain things to her, but Alexa's desk was empty. Feeling deflated, Charlie slumped back to his desk and pre
ssed the button for line one.
"Hey, did you miss me?" Katelyn's gentle voice came over the line, and he felt like a complete jerk.
"We need to talk." His somber voice didn’t even come close to conveying the trouble he felt in his heart.
"I know. I have a million things to tell you about the operation in Chicago. I'm at the airport. Come pick me up."
Charlie realized this was the kind of conversation that was best held in person rather than over the phone, so he agreed to meet her out front of baggage claim. After all, how did you tell a friend and a colleague that you didn't really love them and that your marriage proposal to them had been a hypothetical conversation and not a real engagement?
Katelyn was the best business partner a man could have, and a really nice person. He hated to break her heart, but he'd been putting off the truth for too long. It was time to let her know he didn't love her that way.
He regretted the joke he’d made. Desperately regretted it. We work so well together, we should just get married. He'd been joking, but she didn’t see it that way.
They'd never had sex, never kissed, or even been on a date. How was he supposed to know she'd take his words as a serious proposal? The next day she'd flown to Chicago and had been there ever since.
He hadn't had the balls to tell her the truth, but now that she was back, he had no choice but to do it. He'd break the news the moment he picked her up from the airport, and pray she didn't want to dissolve their partnership.
No sooner had Charlie grabbed his car keys than his office door slammed open and Alexa entered, looking like a beautiful blonde storm of fury. She locked the door behind her and blazed across the room as he rose to meet her.
Prepared for the slap she was about to deliver to his face, he caught her hand by the wrist before she could deliver the blow. He held her tightly to his chest while she struggled in his arms, trying to beat him as she told him off with a vicious onslaught of verbal insults.
Alexa wasn't just beautiful and intelligent, she had a fire inside her that Charlie found exhilarating. He respected her all the more.
As she yelled at him, there was only one way he could think to calm her. This method always worked. Charlie pressed his mouth over Alexa's soft lips, taking her in a fiery kiss. She melted at his touch, opening her mouth to him and letting his tongue collide with hers.
He was surprised this was working so well this time. He knew she must feel betrayed on many levels. He hoped she would soften and give him a chance to explain. He’d be honest. After he’d given her at least one orgasm.
4
The pleasure Alexa felt at Charlie's kiss was unexpected, and a moan escaped her throat. Her nipples hardened into taut nubs that protruded beneath the thin fabric of her blouse, and her panties instantly moistened.
She stopped fighting him and gave herself over to the passion of his embrace. Charlie released his hold on Alexa and she wrapped her arms around his strong neck as his hands wound through her hair.
This was wrong. This was so wrong. Charlie had misled her. He’d lied to her. He was engaged to this Katelyn woman, for hell’s bells. But the power of their sexual magnetism was too strong for either of them to resist.
"Let me have this one last moment of pleasure." Alexa breathed as he kissed her neck down to the cleavage of her blouse. Without hesitating, he ripped open her buttons, baring her naked breasts to him. He filled his hands with them and then devoured her bare flesh with his mouth while she arched her back, wanting more.
His teeth nipped at her hard nipples playfully, sending thrills radiating through to her. God, how she wanted him. Alexa's hands found the zipper of his trousers and freed his cock, massaging him expertly and making him groan with pleasure.
"I want you, Alexa. Oh, God, I have to have you." Charlie’s whisper was a low growl.
"Now. Fill me up, now."
Charlie lifted her up onto his desk, knocking over files and a lamp in the process. His hands slid up Alexa's shapely thighs, sliding her skirt up to her slender waist as she spread her legs wide, inviting him to take her.
With deft fingers, Charlie pushed the damp fabric of her panties aside and entered her wet and ready slit with his rock hard shaft. She nearly came right then, she was so hungry for him.
Gripping Alexa by the hips, Charlie began to pump deep inside her, while Alexa leaned back against the desk, thrusting her hips upward to meet him. He drove into her deeper and deeper. They moved as one, undulating in perfect rhythm with one another, matching in power and passion as they spurred each other on to greater heights.
"I'm coming" Alexa cried out with a gasp. "I'm coming."
As her climax began to ebb, Charlie pulled her from the desk and turned her around. Bending her over the desk, he entered Alexa from behind, sinking his hard member deep into her dripping pussy while she quivered with pleasure.
"Keep coming for me baby." He growled low in her ear as he gripped her full, round breasts with both hands and kneaded them sensually while he kept plowing into her from behind, pressing her against the hard surface of the desk.
Alexa felt a fresh orgasm rising up from the epicenter of the first, expounding her pleasure into unbelievable heights. She loved the way he was massaging her tits and she didn’t want him to let go. She reached a hand down to her core and flicked her erect nub and then rubbed around it in a fast circle.
The euphoric waves kept building onto each other and she was unable to stop herself from crying out again with the intensity of it.
5
Charlie felt Alexa's body quiver and shudder against his as he stroked powerfully inside her. Every nerve in both their bodies vibrated with pleasure.
He bit his lower lip, trying to make it last as long as possible, but he couldn't hold back any longer and climaxed so powerfully, he feared he might pass out. Gasping and shaking, he let himself enjoy the most incredible orgasm of his life as he felt her doing the same.
When at last it was done, they both collapsed against the desk, sweating and smiling. When they recovered their senses, they worked quickly to put the office back in order and also straighten their clothes and appearances.
"Wow, that was the last thing I expected." Charlie looked at her with a boyish grin as he zipped up his slacks and straightened his tie.
"Consider that a goodbye." Alexa smoothed her skirt back down over her knees without looking at him.
"What do you mean? You can't quit. I need you." Charlie was horrified that he'd never see her again.
"I'm not leaving the company. I need this job, but I'm saying goodbye to our affair. No more sex, no more flirting, no more lunches together or late night dinners. From now on it's strictly a professional working relationship between us. And this time, it’s gonna stick."
He could see from the look in her steely blue eyes that she meant it.
"You haven't given me a chance to explain about Kate—"
She cut him off. "I don't need to hear anything you have to say. Whatever lies you’re going to share with me, I don't want to hear them. Return to your fiancé. This was the last time you and I are ever going to be together like that, and nothing you can say will change that."
Charlie felt shell-shocked as he watched Alexa stride from his office with her head held high. He wanted to chase after her, to force her to listen to his side of the story, to agree to take him back, but he knew she wouldn't listen.
Maybe she was right not to. Maybe he was being selfish in trying to force her to be his. Alexa Nelson deserved much better than Charlie Frenquist, and he knew it. After all, wasn't a lie of omission still a lie? Hadn't he led her on all these weeks?
And he felt horrible as he realized he’d done the same thing to Katelyn by not setting things right the moment the misunderstanding between them had occurred. He’d been a coward. Or lazy. Either way, he’d been wrong.
Why hadn't he told Katelyn that he didn't really want to marry her? He'd told himself it was because he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Tha
t he couldn't tell her something like this over the phone.
But the truth was, maybe he actually did want to marry her. After all, he was thirty years old, working late night after night, with nothing but his business for companionship.
He’d been lonely, and Katelyn was a damn attractive woman. Her dark red hair, emerald green eyes, and voluptuous curves would tempt most any man.
On top of that, she had a brilliant mind for business, and they worked really well together. They were excellent business partners, perfectly compatible in almost every way, and it only made sense that they'd make good partners in life, too.
So what that they weren't in love. Maybe that would develop over time. Or maybe it was better to not have to worry about love and the tangled emotions that go with it.
6
Charlie went through all the rationalizations for marrying Katelyn as he drove through the city to the airport. He spotted her right away standing out front of baggage claim with her suitcase by her side. Her red hair fell to her shoulders in thick waves and the tight black dress she wore showed off her full curves and sexy legs. Who wouldn't want to be married to a woman who looked like that?
"Welcome home," he greeted, and when she smiled back it lit up her beautiful face. They shared a chaste kiss and he loaded her bag into the back seat as she got into the car.
"I have so much to tell you." Katelyn said, and began to chat excitedly about Chicago and the new factory, and all the things that had happened there. It was all work and no play.