GRATIFICATION (Desire Never Dies)

by Clara Grace Walker

  “That’s not true. That was just your excuse for breaking our engagement. You know, you could’ve just said you didn’t love me.”

  Did he really believe that? “If it was as simple as that, I never would have agreed to marry you in the first place.”

  Her words brought him around the corner of her desk, standing so close she could feel his breath on her face. So close she could smell the hint of wine, mixed with mint, on his breath. What was he thinking? That he could just walk back into her life and start barking out orders, tell her she had made a huge mistake three years ago, and she would just swoon. Oh yes, Preston. What was I thinking?

  “And what about now?” he asked.

  She didn’t like where this conversation was heading. “Now is irrelevant.” She walked to her office door, her clear signal that their meeting was over. “Thank you for stopping by, Preston. If I have any questions about the threatened takeover, I’ll let you know.”

  Chapter 3

  Damn!

  Preston knew as soon as he got to the parking lot he’d screwed up, and screwed up royally. His carefully planned speech had fled his brain the moment he’d stepped into Maggie’s office. He’d been totally unprepared for the way seeing her again would affect him. She hadn’t changed one bit. Her jet-black hair still hung straight down to her waist. Her eyes were still as round as the full moon, and as turquoise as the shallow depths of the ocean. And those pouty lips of hers still begged to be kissed.

  He’d taken one look at her and forgotten all about what a handful she could be to deal with.

  She’d kept in great shape, too. No way of missing that with the thigh-high pencil skirt she’d been wearing. Showing off her tall slim legs and a flat belly that suddenly gave way to a generous swell of breasts. She could well be the fantasy of any heterosexual male that laid eyes on her.

  And damn her if she didn’t know it. Her attitude hadn’t changed one bit either.

  Preston reached inside his Mercedes and halted. He’d forgotten to tell her about the lawsuit he’d asked Rod to file if need be, and how he’d need her to be a part of it. She was probably waiting smugly up in her office for him right now. Expecting him to turn back up with his tail tucked between his legs, offering an apology for whatever wrong she imagined he’d done her. He allowed himself a moment to visualize her there, waiting for him, arms folded across her chest, looking more damn gorgeous than any woman had a right to. So damn gorgeous he became aroused at the mere memory of her.

  And what would happen if he did apologize? He’d look and feel like an idiot, that’s what. And it wouldn’t make any difference to her anyway. She could be so irritatingly stubborn when she wanted to be.

  Which, he finally concluded, was exactly why he should just go back to his hotel room for the night and give her a chance to cool down. Think about what he’d told her before he tried talking to her again. Try giving her some of that ‘space’ she always talked about needing. Not put any of that ‘pressure’ on her that she always accused him of.

  He was about to get into his car when he heard someone approach. He looked up and saw Elise Chambers, whom he’d recently fixed up with the Clarkes’ butler, running across the parking lot, waving. Elise was well-known for her love of the male gender, and sex in general. She wrote a very popular blog on the internet, famously dishing on her love life.

  “Preston.” She smiled happily. “Whatever are you doing in Key West?”

  Her presence surprised him. “I could ask the same of you.”

  She giggled. “Actually, I called your office and your secretary told me you’d come down here.”

  “You followed me to Key West?” The word “stalker” came to mind.

  “Yes.” She nodded, sounding breathless. “I heard some disturbing news from Andy Clarke yesterday. Something I think you’ll be interested in knowing.”

  “You could have just called,” he suggested. “Or sent me a text.”

  “True.” She smiled playfully at him. “But I thought it might be more fun to deliver the news in person.”

  She reached him and slowed to a walk, wiggling her hips purposely as she moved. Denied a chance to relieve himself with Maggie, the part of his anatomy that was utterly without regard for anything but hormones stirred. Elise was a well-built woman, and she showed it off with a short, clingy spandex dress that made the most of her sculptured breasts and thighs. There was a day he might have thought leaving with Elise would make Maggie jealous, make her realize she still had feelings for him, but he knew better than that now.

  “So, you have inside gossip on the Clarkes?” he asked, and wondered just how far Andy had gone with his takeover plot.

  “You bet I do, lover boy. I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to find you alone.” She motioned toward the bar. “This is Maggie McKenzie’s place, isn’t it?”

  She sounded surprised, Preston noted. He shrugged and smiled good-naturedly. “She is still my business partner.”

  She grinned and winked at him. “I can’t believe that girl was silly enough to throw you back into the pond.” She came closer and slid her hand up the length of his chest. “And you know, Preston, it just so happens I am in a position to let you in on a little secret where Taralynn is concerned. And I’ll just bet…” She slid her hand down to his crotch and began fondling him through his clothing. “…that if I get carried away in passion tonight, I’ll slip up and tell you something Andy Clarke doesn’t want anyone else in the world to know.”

  Preston removed her hand. Spending the night with a woman he’d just fixed up with another man wasn’t the sort of thing he was in the habit of doing, and after seeing Maggie again, there wasn’t a chance in the world any other woman would be enough to quench his thirst anyway. No matter how much she stirred his anatomy. Still, she definitely had his attention. He hooked his arm around hers. “Let’s go get some coffee,” he said. “Maybe caffeine will loosen your lips just as well as passion.”

  Chapter 4

  Maggie dialed Preston’s cell phone, recalling only too quickly the numbers she still knew by heart. When she heard him answer, she got right to the point. “Preston, it’s Maggie. The solution to your problem is obvious.”

  “What?”

  He yawned as he spoke, sounding like he’d been sleeping. Maggie glanced at the clock and realized her restless pacing had kept her up well past four a.m. “God, Preston, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

  “No, Maggie, that’s okay. I wasn’t sleeping. I’m still out at the café. What’s up?”

  “Preston, honey, who is it?”

  The distinctly female voice in the background gave Maggie an uncomfortable twinge of emotion she wished had stayed buried in her subconscious. Consciously, she reminded herself she had broken off her engagement with him. Three years ago. They had no commitment anymore. He was free to do as he wished, and she didn’t care. She didn’t. “Never mind,” she mumbled. “I can hear that you’re busy. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “No, Maggie, wait-”

  She clicked down on the receiver. She was not jealous. It had been more than three years. Obviously, he had moved on. So had she. She had, hadn’t she? Of course she had. How many times had she thought about him in the last couple of years? Not really that many. It was just seeing him again. That was it. And it wasn’t jealousy anyway. It was just remembering how he really was. The jet set corporate lifestyle he lived. The Business is my God mentality. That was all that was bothering her now. And she would deal with it.

  Her hands trembled unsteadily as she pulled her covers up to her neck. She wanted to forget about Preston. She wanted him to go back to Miami where he came from. There was absolutely no reason in the world he couldn’t handle this business with Ty-Ken back there. He didn’t need to be here. That’s what phones and faxes and e-mails were for. And she would tell him so, too. The very next time she talked to him.

  Her phone chose that exact moment to start ringing. She inhaled a deep breath, already knowing
who would be on the end of the line, and answered. “Hello.”

  “Maggie, it’s Preston. Please don’t hang up. Look, I’m really sorry about that. You did not call at a bad time. Really. I really do want to talk to you.”

  She quickly took another deep breath and reminded herself she did not care. “Fine.” It had been a mistake to let him know she actually did care about her late father’s company. He’d just use it now as an excuse to bother her more often. Still, the idea of a greedy, selfish sleazebag like Andy Clarke possibly heading up an organization her father and Warren Tyler had built from the ground up made her sick. She just wished now she’d made the call later. Like late afternoon. Made it look like an afterthought, rather than like she’d been up pacing about it all night.

  “So, what’s the answer to my problem?’

  His question brought her mind back to the present. “Oh. Uh, yeah, a lawsuit. We need to seek an injunction against any tender offer Andy might make. Reports showing Clarke Industries is in no position financially to leverage the kind of debt needed to buy out Ty-Ken. Possibly that it would run afoul of anti-trust laws. We also should have reports prepared showing the resulting lay-offs that would occur when cost-cutting measures are implemented in order to pay off the debt. Stir up public sympathy against Clarke’s offer. If nothing else, it will give us some time to devise other strategies against the offer.”

  “I swear you’re a mind reader.” Preston’s tone had turned upbeat and excited. “That’s exactly what I wanted, for us to team up and fight the Clarkes together if this threatened takeover becomes reality. I’ve already got my lawyer, Rod Skinner, working on it. I told you about Rod before we broke up, remember? Anyway, he’s drafting a complaint to file with the Court if Andy does make an offer.”

  She wished now she had never called. Wasn’t like he really needed her bright idea anyhow. And now he was back to thinking of them as a team. Great. It had been so much easier to immerse herself in her own world, in her own business, and to forget about things like broken engagements, high-powered companies and self-absorbed people.

  “Is that the real reason you came to see me?” she asked. “To ask me to lend my name to your lawsuit?”

  “Yes. Well, that is, I mean, I wanted to see you again, of course. Regardless of what you might think, Maggie, I have thought about you a lot the last three years.”

  “I didn’t call to discuss our previous relationship.” She sounded cold and she knew it, but right now she was too tired to care. “My only interest is in preserving my father’s legacy, which I’ve come to realize actually does matter to me.” There, might as well admit the obvious. “And please don’t insult my intelligence by telling me how much you’ve been thinking about me between your numerous affairs and one-night stands. It isn’t necessary to try and romance me again to get my help.”

  “Maggie, please. If you’re referring to Elise, it’s not what you think. Elise has information for me to use against Andy. We’re just having coffee. Really.”

  “Naturally.” Just coffee. As compared to what? Getting involved with Taralynn Clarke and bringing her father sniffing around their family business? She felt sick having everything thrown back in face. Preston. The business. All of it. “There’s no need to explain. If you want to go have coffee, or go on a date, or anything else with another woman, that’s your own business. I really could care less.”

  “Maggie, let’s not start sniping.”

  “I wasn’t sniping. I was merely stating a fact. But if it makes you uncomfortable, let’s leave our personal lives out of this.” She had already decided to help him. Getting into an argument over his personal lifestyle choices wasn’t going to serve any purpose.

  “Anyway,” she continued, “let’s not pretend your reasons are anything more than self-motivated.” God, she just couldn’t help herself. “You’re only here because you need my cooperation to achieve a business objective, not because you missed me and were dying to see me again.”

  “I did miss you, Maggie.”

  Why did he keep saying that? Did he think if he said it enough times she would start to believe it? Did he think it mattered? That it would help his case in some way if they were on romantic terms again? “Preston, I don’t have time for any nonsense. Just have your lawyer e-mail me whatever documents I need to look over and I’ll get back to you.”

  “Fine.” His tone was curt. “You should have everything by tomorrow.”

  “Good. And, Preston?”

  “Yes?”

  “Just one more thing. My cooperation is going to cost you.”

  “What?” There was a pause at the other end of the line. “Selling out for a price, Maggie? That’s hardly your style.”

  “Well, I’m afraid it is this time.”

  “Fine. So what’s the catch?”

  “If I help you fend off Clarke Industries as an unwanted suitor, I want your pledge that one percent of the annual net profits for the next two years will be given to the charity of my choice.”

  “One percent?” He sounded like he’d just swallowed a golf ball. “Don’t you think that’s a bit much? How about half a percent?”

  He would try and negotiate the point. He was still trying to negotiate her buying her bar and leaving as she was busy packing. “One percent, Preston. Or I don’t care. As long as I’m going to start looking out for my father’s legacy, I might as well make sure it’s a legacy that matters.”

  There was a long pause at the other end, followed by him exhaling. “I swear to God, Maggie McKenzie, you are the most stubborn woman I know.”

  “Then you ought to know better than to ask for anything less than one percent.”

  “Okay, fine. I’m sure I can get approval from the rest of the Board. One percent of the net…” He emphasized the word. “…profits for the next two years will go to the charity of your choice. Which, if I might inquire, is?”

  “Abused children,” she supplied.

  “What?”

  “Abused children. You know; the ones who don’t grow up with a silver spoon in their mouths.”

  “Somehow, I think there’s a little more to the problem than the lack of a silver spoon.”

  So he had a tad more social awareness than she’d given him credit for. “Indeed. I know that. I just wasn’t sure if you did. Anyway, that’s the deal. One percent to abused children for two years. And also….”

  “And also what?”

  She had just thought of a way she could spare herself from having to deal with Preston Tyler ever again. “The other condition for my help is that you buy out my share of Ty-Ken after Andy’s bid has been defeated.”

  “You mean you intend to sever your connection to the company completely?”

  There was no mistaking the somber tone in his voice. It made her think wistfully about those first few days when she told him she was leaving and still hoped he’d decide he needed her more than his picture on the cover of Fortune magazine. “The connection was severed three years ago,” she said. “This just makes it official.”

  “Whatever you say, Maggie. Your wish is my command.”

  If only it were that easy. The sarcasm in his voice as he hung up the phone was thick with anger. If she ever needed a reminder of why they could never be together, this was it. There was simply no way she could ever have anything more than second place in his heart. Business would always come first. By a long shot.

  Chapter 5

  Preston pulled his Mercedes into the circular drive of Oceanview Manor. Apprehension stirred his blood. He brushed his palm against his forehead, clearing away the perspiration brought on by the humid Florida summer. The air smelled of garden flowers, in full bloom on the grounds surrounding the house in Palm Beach. The estate was meticulously maintained. Picture perfect. And yet, on each of the three previous occasions he’d been here, he’d felt a vague uneasiness. Like he was entering a prison, rather than a magnificent home. Today his insides knotted up. He tried to imagine how Taralynn would react when
he delivered his news.

  She wasn’t known for her calm demeanor. At twenty-three, she’d already been involved in half a dozen highly-publicized romances, most of which ended with ugly, public spats. If she stayed true to form, more than likely she’d turn into a screaming banshee when he ended things, unleashing one of her world-famous temper tantrums. The fury of a woman scorned and all that. This would go so much better if she were the one dumping him, but that didn’t seem likely to happen, and he didn’t see any point in dragging things out any further. Ending what could barely be called a relationship with her would be a relief. No more whining, no more calling and texting him non-stop, trying to run his life, and definitely no more encouraging her father to think there was going to be some kind of ‘friendly’ merger of their family businesses.

  He wished he could remember why he’d dated her in the first place. Why he’d dated anyone. But the only thing he could come up with was the need to keep up appearances. Not to appear like a man drowning in sorrow after having been jilted, practically at the altar. Hell, he’d been so ruined after Maggie he’d never wanted to feel anything again. And losing himself in a bevy of women he knew he could never really care about had seemed like the perfect solution.

  Taralynn Clarke had been no different. When she’d first called, suggesting they attend the Governor’s Ball together, he’d said, “Sure. Why not?” Something to do with convenience, he recalled now, remembering his thoughts when he’d accepted. She was a woman who’d been raised in the spotlight, a woman he could call at a moment’s notice if he needed an escort to some high-profile public function. But he never should have gone on even one date. Putting himself and Ty-Ken on Andy Clarke’s radar had been a huge mistake.

  Taking a deep breath, he got out of his car. No point in stalling. He was about to stuff his keys into his pocket, when he decided just to hold onto them. If Taralynn took getting dumped any worse than he feared, he might be in need of a quick getaway.