Stormy Attraction
Page 13
“Juniper Katherine O’Malley, you go get you some right this minute. It’s for the good of your future. The brain gets all foggy and dumb if you go too long without a proper orgasm. It’s like meditation or yoga. It’s important.”
“I do always feel better after yoga.” Junie was smiling as she stepped out on the street and hailed a cab.
“Go downward dog in his bed. You’ve earned it.”
Val disconnected the line before Junie could come up with any more objections to this rather sound best-friend advice Val was giving her. It was time to turn off her mind and let him turn on her body.
Chapter 19
“I don’t think we should talk.” Junie pulled the shades in the room and made sure they were tightly closed. “If we talk I’m going to talk myself out of this. I’ll start listing all the reasons this is a terrible idea and—”
Under the cover of the darkness she’d created, Hugo closed in on her and put his hands on her hips. It was a fierce powerful grip that had her gasping in anticipated pleasure. Before she could draw in another breath, his lips were crushing down on hers. Apparently he agreed. There was no more need for words. They would all pale in comparison to what their bodies could communicate.
Her arms looped up around his neck as his hands moved below her ass. With hardly any effort, he scooped her up and her legs opened and wrapped around his waist. Backing her to the wall he continued ravishing her mouth with his tongue. With the wall at her back, Hugo shifted his weight and her body caught fire. His hard shaft pressed to her sweetest spot and the sparks took flight.
“Yes,” she breathed into his mouth as he ground himself against her. They were still fully dressed, barely a minute in the door, and she was already about to burst. His mouth moved off hers and to the bare skin of her neck. Nibbles, bites, and licks made her tingling skin ache for more. Her hands were caught up in his hair, a gentle tug as he hit the right spot.
“Still no talking?” he asked as he carried her to the bed, their bodies pressed tightly together.
It wouldn’t matter now if they talked or not. There would be nothing—no words, no natural disasters, no acts of God—that could make her stop this. She’d tasted his hot kiss; she’d felt his rock hard desire.
As he laid her down on the bed she pulled at the buttons of her shirt and then remembered it wasn’t hers at all. It was borrowed from Maribel so she carefully unbuttoned it and tossed it free of the bed.
“I borrowed that from Maribel.” Junie felt compelled to admit it. As though in the dark, intimate honesty was required.
“Uh,” Hugo said, temporary halting the path he was kissing down her neck and toward her chest.
“I didn’t have enough clothes. I wasn’t sure what I’d wear to the office after the first day. Maribel loaned me some clothes.”
“Why are you telling me this now?” Hugo asked as he propped himself up on his elbows and looked at her curiously.
“I don’t know.” Junie laughed as she clutched his flexed bicep. “Forget I said anything. I just . . . I shouldn’t be talking.”
He met her laugh with a knowing smile. “I don’t care what you wear, Junie. I don’t care where you live. It doesn’t make you who you are.” Hugo leaned in close and nibbled her ear lobe. “And I really like who you are. Plus I think I’m about to see you in my favorite outfit anyway.” He unfastened her pants and slowly slid them down. This was joy. This moment was fresh cut grass in a cool breeze. The sun just warm enough to kiss the skin but not so hot you wanted to run for shade. This was dandelions and trees budding. Lying here, Hugo was spring. It was new life. It was hope.
“Don’t screw this up,” Junie whispered in a raspy desperate voice, and she wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or herself.
“Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.”
“I don’t mean this.” She grabbed his face, held it in her hands, and stared straight into his eyes. “Don’t screw us up, Hugo. I need you.”
“I’ve got you,” Hugo promised, not a flicker of question in his eyes. “I’ve got you, Junie. Trust me.”
Passion erupted between them, a boiling over of tension that had built since they met. With every nibble and every thrust Hugo gave her what she’d been desperate for. A break. It was a mental and physical disruption of the pressure that had been crushing her. Over and over again this man had rescued her. Again and again he pleasured her. She was certain now there was nothing in life more complete and fulfilling than a well-orchestrated orgasm at the hands of a man you could believe in.
As he brought her again to the edge of ecstasy, she cried out his name. It was the middle of the day. The rest of the world was moving on around them as though nothing was different. As she sank her teeth into his stubbled cheek she knew one thing for sure.
* * *
Everything was different.
Chapter 20
“How was your first day?” Junie’s cheeks still seemed flush. It had been hours since their little secret lunch break, but the smell of her was still on his skin. That made this little “team building dinner” all the more awkward.
Aden shifted nervously in his seat as he replied, “It was all right. You know those people are mostly crazy, right?”
“They are,” Hugo agreed. “But so were half your clients at the bar, right? This is the same. You just have to hear them out. Get them squared away and send them off.”
“He did great.” Maribel was uncharacteristically chatty tonight. “He even had Mr. Stephenson smiling. That’s the guy who thinks we’re working with the Russians.”
“Good for you, Aden.” Hugo slapped him on the back and indicated to the bartender to bring them all another round. “I’d say we’re all on a roll. Junie met with the engineering team today and sorted out the rest of her prototype.”
“Now I need to get a lab willing to build and test it.” Junie raised her glass as if making a toast or maybe just a wish. “Jennifer said there is a long process for getting the approval on that, and she didn’t think she could help without direct approval from James West himself.”
“I’ll put up the money for a lab.” Hugo had already calculated what type of investment he’d need to make in Junie to make this work. He wasn’t trying to get West Oil to pay the bill. Not until Junie had a chance to go in and knock James’s socks off and get him to invest.
“No Hugo, you’ve done enough.” Junie waved his offer away and took a sip of her martini. “I think maybe it’s good enough the way it is.”
“Where were you at lunch today?” Maribel cut into the conversation as though none of them had been talking at all. “First I was looking for you, Hugo, because the email server was acting up, and Aden and I weren’t sure if you wanted it turned over to IT. Then I was looking for Junie because she left a sweater in the lab.”
Maribel scrunched her face up as though she were a detective who’d found a promising lead.
“I’m sure they were just enjoying lunch together,” Aden suggested, clearly smiling behind his ice cold beer.
Hugo grabbed a menu and pretended it was suddenly the most interesting thing in the room. “You know, Maribel, I think I liked you better when you were walking around all nervous and timid.”
“Can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.” Maribel nudged Junie playfully and gave Hugo a wink.
“You’ve created a monster.” Aden chuckled and Hugo couldn’t help but take stock. He never socialized with people from work. Especially people who reported to him. But there was something breaking away, something shifting inside him. Going home and pouring over process points and thinking about bigger and better opportunities wasn’t appealing to him right now. He wanted to laugh. To drink and eat and stare at Junie every time he thought no one was looking.
“I think I’ve done what I set out to do, actually. I wanted a cohesive team that could move in the same direction toward the same goal. I saw you there today, Aden, with that line of people. You never skipped a beat. And, Maribel, the email box is completely or
ganized. I like the system you used to categorize email types.”
She tipped her chin back proudly. “Yes, I went with three. Emails labeled crazy get sent to Aden to answer. Emails labeled dangerous get sent to the security office. Then there is a third category called TNJ.”
“Yeah, I saw that. What’s does that stand for?” Hugo leaned back in his chair and tried to sort the acronym out for himself but couldn’t.
“The next Junie. We can’t dismiss all this stuff as junk. If we had, then look what we’d have missed out on.”
They all grinned at Junie as she self-consciously brushed her hair back off her shoulder. It was a nice moment. Hugo was starting to find that, with this motley crew, someone was about to crack a joke. Aden got to it first.
“Well, certainly lunches would be less exciting.”
Chapter 21
Hugo usually knew better than to be complacent. But this situation was entirely different. Nothing felt like a struggle. The job James had hired him for was in his wheelhouse. He was good at sorting out what needed to be done, organizing it, and empowering the right people for the right jobs. They were actually getting favorable feedback from some of the nosiest troublemakers.
Aden and Maribel were holding down the fort so well he didn’t plan to bring on any more staff. James would be happy about that. They’d all taken to grabbing drinks after work, and suddenly Hugo’s days were about more than proving to his father he could be a success. It wasn’t about eighteen-hour workdays. He was getting the job done, helping Junie, socializing, and going to bed every night with a woman who made him feel alive. And in return he made her feel ecstasy.
He’d gathered up all the new binders filled with process points and success stories. James West had a problem. He had hundreds of problems lined up every week. Now that was handled. That was likely why he’d called the meeting this morning. And the timing couldn’t be more perfect. Coming off a nice congratulatory meeting filled with gratitude would be the best time to set the groundwork for Junie. The new lab was rushing the improved prototype. The farms had all pledged to begin planting. Manufacturing facilities had been contacted and cost analysis had been done. She was nearly ready.
This would be the launch pad to the next phase for him. James would be reluctant. The reasons would be obvious, but the product was compelling, and Junie was impossible to turn down. Charming. Optimistic. Loveable.
He choked on his sip of coffee as the last word passed across his mind. Loveable? As in love? As in being in love with her? No. That was laughable. Love was not a sustainable lifestyle. His parents had been in love. His new step-mommy, the idiot, thought she was in love. And just about everyone else he knew had thought someone they loved would be “the one” and learned in one horrible way or another how wrong they were. So he didn’t love Junie. Because he didn’t support the idea that love was a tangible thing.
But if I do . . . isn’t Junie the kind of woman I can love?
“Mr. West called down. He’s ready for you.” Maribel looked as though she knew she’d interrupted some deep thought. “Are you all right? Do you know something about this meeting? Are we getting fired?”
“No,” Hugo assured her as he shook his head to dislodge the complex thoughts of love. “It’s going to be a great meeting. Look what we’ve put together in such a short time. Don’t be surprised if you get a phone call from his office yourself with a thank you.”
“That would be a first.” Maribel gathered up some files from Hugo’s desk and headed out. She really had taken his talk with her to heart. She performed to her potential because she knew he had her back. Aden had risen to the occasion even though he’d never worked in a corporate environment before. Hugo knew if you judged everyone by the same standards someone with enormous talent could look like a failure.
James looked downright overwhelmed when he finally called Hugo into his office. There were three other people already there who he quickly told to leave. “Get that to me by the end of today or don’t bother showing up tomorrow.”
The man leaving, the last one out the door, looked like a rat trying to find a way off a sinking ship. “Yes, sir.”
“Everything all right?” Hugo asked as he placed the information he’d brought in on the small table and took a seat across from James’s desk.
“I’m running a company with thousands of employees, in a dangerous industry, that also has an unfavorable perception by the public. My days aren’t supposed to be rainbows and sunshine.”
“Right.” Hugo shifted in his chair as he considered now might not be the best time to get Junie the meeting she’s been desperate for. Surely there would be a moment to catch James when he wasn’t looking so pissed off.
“Give me the latest on your stuff.” James reached out a hand but kept his eyes and his other hand fixed on the work in front of him.
“We’ve made some real progress. I’ve had the team streamline every entry point the company has for feedback. Emails, phone calls, and in-person visits. We now have a process for each and a way to track the outcome. Having a closed-loop process is going to give us data we otherwise would have lost.”
“Closed-loop process on the crazies?” James looked up and his nostrils flared, clearly indicating his patience was thin.
“It’s a touch point with the public, and it’s important it’s handled appropriately. But there are some valuable communications in there that I think we should discuss.”
“Because I have so much time?”
“Because they could lead to some significant opportunities down the road. We’ve been able to strip out all the noise and nonsense and what’s left deserves some attention.”
“You did all this with how many people?” James arched his brow and narrowed his eyes.
“I found I only needed two. We’ve been putting in the hours and they’re both very sharp.”
“Yeah.” James nodded his head and looked thoughtful. “The kid, redhead. Aden?”
“Yes. He’s proven to have a real pension for dealing with the folks in the Pen. His people skills are strong and he has great judgment. His ceiling could be pretty high.”
“I talked to him a bit the other day in the lobby.” James tapped his pen against the desk. “He was sharp. Good. I’m glad you brought him on. Then your assistant? Mary?”
“Maribel. She had a rough start. She was a temp here for awhile. It was a confidence issue. I’ve given her some responsibility, and I’ve been impressed.”
“You’ve certainly done what I brought you here to do.” James seemed reluctant to compliment him, but Hugo didn’t take that personally. Everyone had different styles of leadership and clearly James got the job done. Hugo didn’t need a pat on the back. “You did it faster than I would have thought. I guess I’m pissed that you took something I was dealing with and made short work of it. I was letting it beat me.”
“I think you have a few other things on your plate. I was able to give it my full focus. That’s the difference.”
“And now who’s the other redhead?” James leaned back now and flipped through some of the paperwork Hugo had compiled. “The woman.”
“Junie.” Hugo choked on her name enough for it to be obviously awkward. “She’s not on your payroll. Do you think anything goes on in this company that I don’t know about?”
“You seem like a hands-on leader.” Hugo cleared his throat. It was time to bite the bullet and get to the next step. “I’m glad you brought her up, actually.”
“You are? I wouldn’t think you would be. You can’t have your girlfriend hanging around the office. You can’t take the jet to fly her to Boston. I’m satisfied with the work you’re doing. I think you’ve proven you can be a great addition to the company. I’m already considering what to move you on to next. But you need to keep your personal life out of the office.”
“That’s not why Junie’s here. Actually I wanted to talk to you about that. Remember how we discussed me pitching you a few ideas. Junie is one of those ideas
. Or she has an idea.”
“Please.” James raised his hand up and dropped his head. “You have a lot of potential, Hugo. I can see you having a great future here. Don’t be the guy who tries to sell me on something his girlfriend is doing that will be such a huge opportunity. I don’t want to have to tell you how bad that looks.”
“Junie is working on something. She’s been in the office because she’s been working on the development of a product you’ll want to be involved in. She’s secured a patent, perfected a prototype, and developed a sourcing strategy that will leave you asking why this hadn’t been done sooner. From your perspective it’s a PR home run. You’ll be the first in the industry to get behind something that’s about to revolutionize the field.”
“So you’re not going to take my advice and stop now?” James had a smirk but waved his hand to let Hugo continue. “What’s your girlfriend developing?”
“I think if you gave her some time she’d be able to explain it better. Work her in for twenty minutes and you’ll be begging to invest. The spill mitigation industry is about to be turned on its head.” Hugo was cautious not to appear too desperate, but he wasn’t positive he was being successful. He felt desperate.
“Now I’m taking a meeting with her? Boy you have some balls on you kid. This girl must have you wrapped up pretty tight if you’re willing to use your career potential to get her a meeting. Tell me you’ve figured out by now why oil companies don’t invest in developing cleanup products. Would you go to a surgeon who invested all their money on a tool that fixes the wrong cuts every time their hand slips? No, you’d look for a surgeon whose hand doesn’t slip.”
“There is a downstream environmental impact we can spin that will make you look great.”
“We wouldn’t touch this with a ten foot pole. You are a smart kid. You know if this is a bust you’re going to look like an idiot. I’m going to decide you have terrible judgment and that the next woman who gives you a little attention can easily distract you. Or whatever else she’s giving you. I’m going to allow you one more opportunity to pretend this conversation didn’t happen. I have a wife, I understand the impact they can have on us. But the ball is in your court. We can shift gears and I can tell you about the overhaul I’d like to do on the training department. It has a touch point to every employee in this company. It’s a big piece of the pie here. I want to fill a leadership position, and I think you could be a strong candidate for that. Shore up the rest of what you were hired for and then I’ll let you loose on that department.”