by Vivian Ward
“Ally?” I’m surprised to hear from her so soon. “The meeting is already over? How did everything go?”
She sighs and then takes a long pause. “They’re trying to bribe me. They think that I’ll agree to them offering me a position within the company in exchange for my USB drive. I can’t believe that Darcy is dumb enough to think that I’d actually want this story about you to be published. I swear, she’s a zombie sometimes.”
“Yeah, she is,” I agree with her. “I have some good news for you.”
“Oh yeah? I wanted to ask you something first, though,” she says. I can hear the concern in her voice.
“What’s that?”
“I was talking to Mark today and he said something about you needing leverage. What is he talking about?”
“Don’t worry. I don’t think I’ll be needing it. I just hung up with my financial advisor and I think I’m going to buy The Gateway Times.”
“What?” I hear the shock in her voice. “How are you going to do that? Why would you want to do that?”
“For starters, it’ll keep them from being able to publish the story. It will also give you your very own newspaper to run, and I’ll double my money relatively quickly over the deal. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
“Oh my God! Are you serious? My own newspaper?” I can hear her voice cracking as she realizes the potential this could have.
“Yep. I’m still waiting on my attorney to call me back but I think it’ll all workout for the best. Are you happy?”
“Happy? If I were there, I’d show my appreciation,” she purrs into the phone.
I begin thinking about the night we had sex in my office at the club and how much hotter it would be to take her on this desk. I’ve held so many meetings here. I’d love to think about how I fucked her in this very spot while I entertain some of my dull clients. It would definitely make for more interesting meetings.
“I’d let you,” I say drunk off the image that’s in my head. “Maybe you should come to my office one day to do that.”
She giggles and I can tell it’s turning her on too. “Maybe I’ll do that.”
The thought of her coming to my office makes my cock hard and it’s only 12:30. There are still many hours until I get home so I try biting the inside of my cheek to inflict some pain to take my mind elsewhere. “I should let you go so I can get back to work. I have a lot of things to do before I can go but I’m keeping you on the hook to come here one day to show me how much you appreciate me.”
“I love you,” she sighs with a hint of laughter in her voice.
“Love you, too.”
I begin pulling out my files for my 1 PM meeting about a development that I’m having creating plans for when I’m interrupted once more. My office phone buzzes. “Mr. Kaswell,” my secretary says. “While you were on the phone, Mr. Winston said he was trying to return your call and asked that you call him when you are free.”
This day just keeps getting better! Jacob Winston is my lawyer and he takes care of drafting up business deals to make sure everything is legal and that I’ve got all the bases covered so that nobody can destroy my hard work. I’ll need him to draft the paperwork to purchase The Gateway Times.
“Thank you, I will call him right now.”
A couple of rings later and I have him on the phone. “Colton,” he says. “Thank you for calling me back so soon.”
“My pleasure,” I say. “I wanted to discuss a business plan with you.”
“Oh?” he asks. “I was going to call you this afternoon and let you know that I received his proposal. I have to say, I don’t like you doing things without talking to me first.”
It’s obvious from his tone that he is irritated with me but I’ve no clue what he’s referring to. “What? I’m not following you. What proposal did you receive?”
“For the bar,” he says. He continues talking but I stop listening as my mind tries to wrap around what he’s telling me. He’s talking about my bar. He’s talking about Tyler!
“Hold on,” I stop him. “Are you saying that Tyler drafted up business plans to buy the bar and sent them over to you without talking to me about them first?”
“Well, I don’t know if he talked to you or not but yes, he sent over his proposal to buy the bar, and it’s a cheap one at that.”
“That bastard,” I say. “No, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about at all. I was thinking of making a new purchase, a pretty hefty one at that.”
“Why don’t we meet over dinner? I’m very short on time right now but we could discuss this tonight” he suggests. “I’ll bring Tyler’s proposal and we can get this all sorted out. What business were you thinking of buying? Maybe I can do a bit of looking it up before we meet.”
“I want to buy The Gateway Times.”
“The newspaper?” he asks.
“Yes. I’ll explain more at dinner, just make sure you bring those plans.”
“Okay,” he sounds unsure. “How about if we meet at the steakhouse on Manchester Road? The one in the new strip mall?”
“Sure, sounds good. We’ll meet you there.”
“We?” he asks. “Who will you be bringing?”
“Ally. Allison Parker. She’s my,” my voice trails off. How do I describe her? My girlfriend? My lover? “She’s my partner,” I say and leave it that.
We quickly end the call because he has to go and my one o’clock meeting is waiting outside my office door. I can’t wait to see what bullshit Tyler’s drafted. Dinner won’t come fast enough.
Chapter 14
Ally
Grabbing a fluffy white bath towel, I wipe the steam away from the bathroom mirror as I begin to get ready for our dinner meeting with his attorney. I still can’t believe that he’s willing to buy The Gateway Times so that I have my own newspaper. I know that deep down he doesn’t really have to buy it because we have enough dirt and evidence on Greg and Darcy that we could stop them from publishing that story. He’s doing this for me.
When he came home from work, he told me all about Tyler sending over a business proposal to his attorney in an effort to buy the bar. I’m not sure if it’s just the downstairs portion or both businesses in the building but Colton is livid, and rightfully so. I was shocked when I heard Tyler did it. Well, I was at first because it doesn’t seem like something he would do but when you factor in that he’s with that bitch, Brooke, nothing surprises me.
“Do you want me to set your clothes out for you?” I offer Colton while he finishes his shower.
“No, I can get them myself.” His tone is still just as bitter as it was when he walked in.
“You know, it’s okay to be mad but you don’t have to take it out on everyone, including me.” I start applying makeup to my face. “I’m just trying to help, you know.”
He shuts the water off in the shower and wipes his face with his towel before drying his body off. “I know, and I don’t mean to be so short with you but this has got me really pissed off. Why do you suppose he just sent business proposal over to Winston? Why didn’t he say something to me first?”
I’ve not gotten to know Tyler very well so I’m not sure what motivates him or why he does the things he does. When I encountered him at the club, he seemed like a very reasonable man. “Who knows why anyone does anything,” I say as I apply some highlighter to my face. “Besides, you haven’t even seen the plans yet. Maybe he’s trying to lowball you and doesn’t want you to see it.”
His facial expression drops as he looks at me in the mirror. I love looking at his tight abs and muscular chest. “You know what?” He asks. “I think you just hit the nail right on the head!”
“What? That he’s trying to lowball you?”
“No, well maybe, but I think he sent the papers straight to Winston hoping that Winston would assume I knew about them and approve the deal.”
“What do you mean?” I ask. I’m not sure what idea I sparked but whatever it was, Colton seems to think he’s onto som
ething.
“Normally, when someone does a business deal, their lawyer knows about it, right? Well, what if Tyler sent this plan over to Winston hoping that Winston would approve it and put it through without me ever knowing about it because Winston would assume that Tyler and I had already discussed it.”
“Oh, that makes complete sense!” I say as I begin applying a coat of mascara onto my lashes. “Still, I can’t believe he’d do that if that’s what he was trying to pull. You two have been friends for so long. It’s kind of sad, really.”
“Yeah, and I didn’t even tell you about the rumors going on around the club. Apparently, there have been talks around there that he’s buying the place out.”
I’m shocked that he hasn’t told me about this. “Why? And how come you didn’t tell me about it?”
I watch him in the mirror as he shrugs his shoulders and slips into his boxers. “I don’t know. I guess I never said anything because I know you don’t like the club. I’m sure he started the rumor to alienate everyone from me since I haven’t been around much. The sad thing is, most people probably believe it since I’ve been absent and he’s been there pretty much every day.”
It makes me sad that he thinks I don’t like his club and I don’t want him thinking that way. I walk over to him and put my arms around his waist. The minute our bare skin touches each other I want to fuck and I know he does too. I can see the hunger in his lust-filled eyes.
“Hey,” I murmur. “The only reason I don’t talk about your club is because I’m not sure what to think about it all. Part of me likes it. I liked working there and being there. It was fun.” I pause as I think about my next words but I don’t dare tell him that I was, and still am, highly interested in the voyeur room. “But I haven’t brought it up because there’s one thing I don’t like.” He arches his eyebrow waiting for me to say what I don’t like so I tell him. “Brooke. I don’t like her, I can’t stand her, and I wish she didn’t exist. If it weren’t for her, I’d have no problem with the club but she’s the last person I want to run into if we go there.”
He thinks about this for a minute before a sly smile creeps across his face. “Let me get this straight,” he says. “You like the club, you just hate Brooke?”
I nod not wanting to say much more on the subject but he’s not letting go that easily. “Then let me ask you a question,” he says. “When you say you like the club, what does that mean?”
I swallow hard and try to articulate my words carefully. “I don’t know if the club is right for us—sexually, I mean—because I think it’s something that we need to talk about but I don’t dislike it.” I pause for a second before I timidly make my confession. “I was actually very interested in the voyeur room.”
He smiles and kisses the top of my head. “You know, Ally, I’d actually considered selling it to him when he first brought it up but I didn’t know if I should or not. I didn’t know if I was ready to be done with that lifestyle and leave it all behind or if you were interested in living the lifestyle. I think we have some things that we need to figure out.”
“I’m not sure what I want, Colton. I’m not ruling it out because it sounds fun and exciting but I’m not sure if I could handle seeing you with another woman or if I could actually be with another man. When I finally realized how much I love you, jealousy consumed me any time a girl looked at you but after everything we’ve gone through, I know I can trust you no matter what. And that’s all that matters.”
“I love you, Ally,” he says as he leans down to kiss me. Softly, he bites my bottom lip and sucks on it, holding me captive with his mouth but I love every second of it. I love being his.
“Come on, we’d better get going so we’re not late.”
The waiter delivers our drinks as the three of us begin discussing the details of everything. There’s so much to talk about but Colton wants to discuss the bar first, and I don’t blame him.
“Show me the business proposal that was faxed over to you,” Colton insists. “I want to see this with my own eyes.”
Mr. Winston takes the papers out of his briefcase before clicking it shut. “I’ve got to say that when I read these, I was quite shocked. He doesn’t value the club very much based on the numbers in this proposal.”
Passing the proposal across the table to Colton, I silently read along with him. I’m not sure what all of the legal jargon means but neither of the men are impressed by it. I study Colton’s face as he reads through the details of the offer and watch his mouth drops open.
“Is he kidding?” Colton asks in disbelief. “He thinks the club is only worth $750,000? I can’t believe this!”
The attorney nods, his double chin digging into his collar. Yes, he is. He must not know how successful it is or he would offer a lot more than that.”
“At least double,” Colton says. “Any reputable businessman would know that my bar and restaurant are worth a couple of million. Why would he offer me such a low amount?”
“That’s exactly what I said when I was reading it over,” the balding lawyer says.
“Is it for the bar downstairs or does it include the restaurant upstairs?” I ask since I don’t understand any of the proposal.
“Both,” they answer simultaneously.
“This is crazy,” Colton says. “He was there when I was building the place. He walked beside me as I explained the layout. Tyler is a smart businessman. Surely, he knows the worth of the lounge and the club. Either this was a shot in the dark or something else is going on.” He turns his attention back to Mr. Winston. “Did you respond to this or receive any other communications about the offer?”
Mr. Winston finishes sipping his water and clears his throat. “No, this came straight to my fax around 4 AM. I’ve not had any calls or emails. I thought you’d worked out some kind of deal or something because it was such a low offer.”
“I don’t care what kind of offer we’d make, I’d never let one of my businesses go for something like that. My dad taught me about doing smart business when I was very young.”
The waiter brings out our dishes and we all begin to dig in. I’m starved since I had to skip lunch because of my meeting with Darcy. I hate bagels so I wasn’t about to eat at Sweet Sensations.
“This is the best steak I’ve ever tasted,” I say. I can practically feel every flavor melting on my tongue as I chew the tender meat.
“They are known for their signature steaks,” Mr. Winston says. “Colton, tell me about the business deal that you were considering.”
Colton beams at me, “Ally is a writer; a journalist, actually. She’s been working for The Gateway Times and I hear they’re in trouble. There’s a publication company who’s looking at buying them but I’d like to be the one who does it. I spoke to my financial advisor and he says I can easily double my money in the first two years.”
I still can’t believe how much he’s willing to do for me. After everything I’ve done and put him through, he’s doing this for me.
“But Colton, you know nothing about running a newspaper outlet. How will you manage it? Who will advise you? You’ve been in real estate your whole life. I thought the cocktail lounge was a bit of a stretch for you but you seemed persistent and I figured with a bit of guidance, you could pull it off. It’s not difficult to order food and drinks, but a news outlet? That’s a whole other ball game and it will take a lot more management. It also has a lot of liabilities if inaccurate facts are published.”
Colton looks at me and smiles. “I know, that’s why I’m turning it all over to her.”
Chapter 15
Colton
Ally looks stunned when I say everything will be left to her but she shouldn’t be surprised. We both know she has the capability to handle things. I trust her to make smart business decisions so I’m not worried about it. She’s beautiful and intelligent. I know without a doubt that she can do anything she sets her mind to and if she does need help, we can hire someone. She can hire that person. I mean it when I s
ay that I’m leaving it all up to her. I have enough of my own business adventures to keep me busy for a lifetime. This is all for her. It’s only ever been about her since she walked into my life. I knew the night that I met her in the flower shop so long ago that she was going to be mine, and here she is.
Winston looks at me like I’ve gone mad. “With due respect,” he looks at Ally. “You said she’s a journalist. That hardly constitutes a business degree and it’s stretching things a bit. While you may trust her to make decisions, you have to ask if she has what it takes.”
His insinuation pisses me off. “Ally will do just fine. I just need you to start drafting the proposal and the sooner, the better.”
“Why? What’s the rush?” Winston asks, stabbing his steak with his fork.
I know if I tell him the real reason—that I’m trying to stop a story from being published AND trying to give Ally the career of her dreams—he’d likely not put together the business deal at all, so I opt for option number two. I lie through my teeth; partially.
“Why?” I laugh. “Are you really asking me why? I’ll tell you why, Mr. Winston. St. Louis is my hometown. I was born and raised here. I know everything there is about this city and know the people like the back of my hand. I love St. Louis with all my heart; it’s in my blood.” I lean closer to him across the table. “I’m not going to let The Gateway Times go to shit just because of some old coot who’s too ignorant to update the method in which news is delivered. Local businesses are important to me. I don’t want some conglomerates coming in, buying the place up and shipping jobs overseas. We need St. Louisans to have jobs. Our city needs local news delivered to them by local people. I’m going to save my city!”
When Ally and Winston hear my speech, they are both shocked and impressed. Winston straightens his tie as he adjusts his collar. The shirt and tie are practically choking him to death because his neck is so fat. His face is a healthy crimson color until he loosens the top button on his collar and undoes his tie. Using his napkin, he wipes the beads of sweat from his brow. The room’s not stuffy but all that extra weight is taking its toll on him, and I’m sure his old age doesn’t help.