Come Undone: Romance Stories Inspired by the Music of Duran Duran

by Kim Carmichael

  The taxi pulled away. How could he find joy in his day, while Tessa lay unconscious in a hospital bed? He shook his head. It would be best to focus on something he could do something about. Instead of telling the driver his home address, he gave the address of the office.

  Chapter Six

  YANCY LEANED BACK from his computer to stretch. "I can't make sense of the books. Right now everything is just a blur." For the past three hours he had searched through Bill's files on the server. Nothing indicated anything amiss, but why would their friend have left them in such a lurch right before taxes were due if everything was copacetic? Every time he looked away from the monitor he stared out the window at the craggy mountains which dotted the Las Vegas valley, and his mind wandered back to Tessa, not to the woman lying in the hospital bed, but the woman who permeated his dreams.

  "Dude, why don't you go home? You need some down time to recoup," Trevor said. "I didn't even expect you in today."

  "We need to figure this out." Besides, going home to an empty house held no appeal.

  Trevor stood. "Sometimes you're more stubborn than I am. Quark misses you and we can both use a break from this place. I'll drive you home and we can play some video games. It'll take your mind off stuff. You're more likely to come up with answers when you're not searching for them." His friend's reference to the lesson they'd learned back in the day when working on their first software program didn't escape him.

  "One of the bosses should be here." Since they set up shop a decade ago, that had been their agreement. The business was small, but depended upon quick responses. Even though they had reps to answer phones and do most of the routine customer service calls, their proprietary software occasionally ran into glitches, the same kinds of bugs any software ran into. Since they recently released an update, the calls were coming in hot and heavy.

  "They can handle it."

  While his friend was right, he hesitated. "I still hate to take you away from the office. You need to finish the revisions on the Bridge to Eternity package."

  "It'll wait until after you're healed and the tax situation is settled. And the most important thing is to get you healed." Trevor flashed him a grin. "I haven't forgotten I still need to beat the crap out of you on Tribal Voyage."

  Reluctantly, Yancy shut down the computer. "You win, but only because you've caught me at my most vulnerable. Doesn't mean my Tribal skills are affected. I'm so going to invade and conquer your ass."

  "That's the spirit, keep up your dreams, not that they'll come true, but keep the faith. It makes for a better competition anyway." Trevor led the way out of their office, then glanced into the reps office. "We're out for the duration, but if anything comes up you can't handle, text me."

  A good natured derisive response greeted the suggestion along with a chorus of, "feel better, boss."

  Once they exited the office they got into Trevor's baby, a silver Audi R8. He revved the engine and backed out of the stall. While Yancy preferred living simply even with their business success, Trevor went all out on luxuries, maintaining it provided a good impression for their customers.

  Under the warm spring sun, the convertible top opened. He closed his eyes, letting the breeze wash over him. The hum of the motor was never the normal music to sleep by, but evidently his body had a different idea. Sleep overtook him.

  Tessa grinned at him from the driver's seat of her car. "Are you sure you want to go into the office with me?" Dressed in the same teal suit she wore the day before, she sparkled. "You may not like me when you see me in my natural habitat."

  They discussed it earlier after a steamy shower where they scrubbed one another down inside and out. His cock hardened at the memory. "I want to know all parts of you, the good, the bad and the beautiful."

  "More like ugly." She put the car in gear. "All right, I guess we might as well get this business over then."

  He had called in to his office and cleared his schedule for the morning. In the afternoon he planned to return the favor by giving her a quick tour of his company.

  "Do you mind?" She reached for the knob on the dashboard. "It's a little ritual of mine, music to get me into my day. I have my player pre-set with all my tunes, depending on the day."

  "Not at all. What music do you listen to?"

  "All kinds, but a lot of eighties pop. I love those boy bands from back then, the whole second British Invasion along with a lot of other bands." Her enthusiasm jumped when the song came through the speakers. She started head-bopping and tapping the beat out with her fingers on the steering wheel.

  "Isn't that a little older than you are?"

  "Sure, but good music lasts through the ages. I got hooked because my older sister listened to them. You know, the theme song from Quest Quarka has the same kind of feel. It was written by the creator. 'Soar with me today, barnstorm the unknown.'" Her voice carried the notes rough and impromptu, but sweet too.

  The fact that she was singing the words to another song while music blasted his ears should have made him crazy, but with her, it made him laugh. He guessed it wasn't much different than having music on while his video games played their own sound track.

  "Here we are." She pulled into a covered parking lot for a small office complex and turned into a spot marked by the company name. Toussaint and Sanchez. After she grabbed her briefcase from the backseat, she took his hand and led him toward a door with the tasteful company logo etched on the glass.

  A blonde receptionist wearing a headset greeted her from behind a high counter. "Here are your messages. Gloria said to peek into her office when you got in."

  "Great, thanks. I know I never ask you to do this, but would you be a sweetheart and get Mr. Howard a cup of coffee? We didn't take time to stop at the coffeehouse on the way in this morning." Already Tessa headed into a hallway. The phone rang and after a moment the receptionist smiled. "One moment." She turned to Tessa. "Mr. Barton is on the line, says he'd like to talk for a few before he heads in for his first day."

  "Okay, let me take that call."

  Mr. Barton? Yancy's ears began to ring. No. It wasn't possible. There must be a thousand people in the valley with that name, right?

  Mesmerized by her dark red lips curving into a smile, he admired the way she shifted smoothly from one topic to another. She held up a finger toward him and reached over the counter for the phone. "Bill? How are you?"

  Bill Barton? His stomach flipped over. The Barton he might overlook, but Bill Barton narrowed the field to only a few possibilities and what were the odds two Bill Bartons would be starting a new job?

  Pretending to inspect the waiting area with various local business magazines stacked on a coffee table, he kept his attention on Tessa's conversation with Bill.

  "Yes, I spoke with Ivan last night. They were impressed with your accounting background, but what clinched the deal was your base knowledge of the industry. That's why they came to Toussaint and Sanchez and that's what we deliver. You'll do fine." Another moment of silence and then, "That's great. Give me a call any time, but I especially want to hear from you after your first day. Good luck." The cheery confident tone no doubt calmed a lot of first day jitters.

  Confusion wound him up. How dare she approach Bill? Things were going just fine for them. Certainly any job could have waited another couple of weeks until the taxes were filed. As for Bill, Yancy swore he would make sure his new company knew what kind of person they hired, someone who put duty and friendship on hold while reaching for the brass ring. Damn.

  "I'll just be a minute checking in with Gloria to see what's on the agenda for the day. Go on back to my office, the second door on the left. Make yourself comfortable."

  Someone nudged his shoulder and he jumped.

  "Hey, dude, you were really out of it." Trevor jerked back. "What's wrong, Yance? You look like someone who's ready to punch someone."

  "Damn it." He pounded the passenger door. "I think I know what happened with Bill. I need to do some research first."

&
nbsp; "We'll get through it. What happened?"

  "I can't tell you now, and it's way too weird if it's true, but I sort of think it might be." Things started falling into place in his mind, how Bill had taken some time off a month or so ago, then came back all distracted, almost angry at them. He took a deep breath. "Sorry for that. Trev, would you mind if we didn't make the Tribal challenge today? I'm sort of beat." It was true, but more to the point, he needed some sleep time, to resolve things with Tessa, to find out how much she knew, who instigated Bill's recruitment.

  "No problem, bro. Honestly, you need to take care of yourself. I was a little concerned you showed up at the office."

  Maybe that was a bad idea. Had his dream world taken the issue of Bill's departure and woven it into the dream of Tessa? The dream had the same feel of reality as the others had. This time he didn't have the meds to blame either. "I just think I need some sleep. Talk to you later."

  At the front door, he turned to wave Trevor off and entered to a rambunctious Quark. "Hey buddy. How're you doing?"

  When he leaned down to greet him, the dog covered his face with kisses. "Whoa, easy guy. I'm okay."

  The little whine seemed to indicate the dog wasn't taking his word for it. He sniffed at the bandages.

  "I'm going to let you out in the yard for a few and then we're napping, okay boy?"

  Only at the questioning tone did Quark sit and stare up at him expectantly.

  "What, boy? I don't have any snacks on me."

  The dog got up and went to the door.

  "You want to go for a walk? No, that's not happening, not now. Later. I need to sleep."

  Quark whimpered, then scratched at the door. Something was definitely off. Even at his most boisterous, the dog always understood no and accepted it."

  Yancy headed for the patio door and let the dog into the yard, but he merely circled once and returned to the door.

  "Okay, but you better not wake me up to go out later."

  After stripping down, he got into bed. Instead of curling at his feet, Quark sniffed the bed beside him, twisted and pawed the comforter, nudged it with his nose and whined.

  "What are you looking for?"

  As if he could communicate his thoughts through his eyes, he stared at Yancy and then at the pillows.

  "Let's just sleep. I don't have the energy to play games with you now."

  Finally the lab mix settled down and huffed.

  Sleep came fast. The dream began almost before he closed his eyes.

  Yancy waited for Tessa to come to her office, wondering how to broach the subject. He needed the truth, and their relationship--what relationship--he pushed the thought away, yet stubbornly it returned. Yes, he wanted to get to know this woman, spend more time with her and see if just possibly, they had something more than a canceled TV series and great sex in common.

  During the next twenty minutes he racked his emotions over the coals. He waffled between understanding it was just her job, to being convinced she intentionally undermined his business. Perhaps the whole coffee mishap at the shop was to play some kind of sick game, while she knew all along he was the owner of the company she just screwed out of their accountant. Wait, maybe that was it, that Bill was screwing her, too. Shit. Too upset to sit, he paced the office and stopped at the window. The Strip casinos glittered in the sunlight.

  The door opened behind him, but not trusting his self-control, he didn't acknowledge her.

  When she encircled his waist with her arms and laid her cheek against his shoulder, he tensed. "That's the best part of this complex, the view of the Strip. I love watching the shadows and light play over the valley."

  "Hm." With a conscious effort he relaxed his muscles. "What's the best part of your job? Snagging a good find who will make you a big commission off his six figure salary? Or, perhaps it's stealing a good employee from a company just because you can offer him the promise of something more, even if he's pretty happy where he is?"

  Immediately, she dropped her arms. "Where the hell did that come from?"

  "I don't know, it seems like that's sort of what you must do." He faced her, needing to see her expression. "Like with that Bill guy on the phone. Wasn't he happy at his other job? Is that why he left? Did he call you or did you call him?"

  "What are you talking about?" Confusion crinkled her brow and she shook her head. "I can't talk about individual clients, as I'm sure you know. It's my policy to keep things confidential unless a client gives their okay."

  "But how does this work? Say I needed you to find me an employee for my company." Maybe he could put this to good use. "Yeah, say I need someone like a finance guy, accountant type who is good with numbers and knows a little about the computer biz. What would I need to do?"

  Her eyes narrowed and then she went to sit at her desk. "Then I initiate an inquiry for you. We talk about your company and what type of position you have open, then I go to work finding a couple of possible qualified people for you to interview."

  "Let's do that then. Open up an inquiry for me."

  "Seriously? This isn't something I play games with." She turned on her computer. "I don't mean to say that I can't find someone, I'm the best, but are you really wanting to do this, or is this some kind of test? Because it feels like some kind of strange relationship test."

  There, she'd used the word too. "Is that what we have, a relationship?"

  "The possibility is definitely there," she nodded, "well, until that nasty comment about what I liked about my job. That just wasn't very nice."

  While he had his questions about her and Bill's agreement, he decided then and there he needed to speak with Bill first. The wide-eyed surprise on Tessa's face seemed to answer the most important one, it didn't seem like she had any ulterior motive when she bumped into him at the coffeehouse and they made a natural progression to his apartment and spending the day together.

  "I apologize. It just caught me off guard, you, us, everything." He couldn't mention Bill, not yet, but he would make things up to her. He rounded her desk, and stood behind her chair, kneading her shoulders. "Forgive me?"

  Her moan greeted his ministrations. "If that's the way you apologize, then yes, I forgive you."

  "I think we just had our first fight." He kissed her neck.

  Her hand found his and brought it down to her breast. "Maybe that means we need to initiate some make up sex?"

  It was his turn to moan. "That might definitely be the case." As fast as his anger had flared earlier, his libido blazed. He spun her chair around to face him and swept her into his arms for a kiss that left them both breathless. "I can't get enough of you."

  "Me too." She pulled his button down shirt out of his jeans and unfastened them. Her eagerness sent his arousal to the outer limits. His erection pressed toward her, needing, wanting. When she ran her fingernails lightly over him, he growled.

  Unwilling to wait another moment, he sheathed a condom over his cock. "I need you now. Here." He lifted her to the desk and pushed her skirt up over her hips.

  "Not as much as I need you." With one hand balanced against his chest, she reached down to remove her panties with the other. "Now." Her lips found his and she widened her legs to invite him in. With one thrust he was home again.

  Engulfed in her sexy wetness, he inhaled her light perfume, a scent he associated with flowers and spring and all Tessa. He buried his hands in her hair, mussing up her careful bun. The pins hit the desk with a clink.

  Her arms embraced him, drawing him closer as he plunged into her over and over, never deep enough, and yet deeper than he ever remembered being.

  "You're so tight, so wet, feel so good." His words came between kisses and grunts. He pushed again, and reached between them to encircle her clit. With a light pinch, he urged her on. She met him lunge for lunge pressing upward, riding him or being ridden, he wasn't sure.

  The warmth built in his balls, his climax just seconds away. "Come."

  "Yes!" A soft mewling accompanied her cry, th
e sound he already learned signaled the approach of her orgasm.

  "Oh, god." Her quivers took him over the edge with her, and her legs tightened around his waist drawing him deeper. He collapsed on top of her, holding her close until his heartbeat returned to normal. Only then did he withdraw.

  "Wow, that's a first." Her quiet giggle charmed him.

  "What? Make up sex?"

  "Well, yes, but my desk has just been christened. Do you think anyone heard us?" She shook her head. "It doesn't matter if they did. They can just be jealous."

  As he followed the verbalization of her thoughts, he wondered how he could have gotten so lucky. Most women would be trying to hide their activities from their co-workers. "You really do try to live the credo, don't you? Live completely in the moment."

  "I'm getting much better at it in the last twenty-four hours." She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, leaving a trail of tempting moisture he needed to taste.

  Once more he took her mouth in a deep kiss, which he ended when someone knocked at the door.

  "Yes?" Tessa called.

  "I just spoke with the Sampson account. They have some temporary positions they need filled."

  "Give me a second, Gloria." In a rush, she adjusted her skirt while he pulled up his jeans and tucked his shirt.

  His cell phone rang and jolted him out of the dream. Quark barked and licked his face.

  He checked the caller ID, shocked to see Bill's number. "Yes?"

  "Hey." Silence stretched out. "Uh, I just heard about the accident. Are you okay?"

  "Yeah, just a little banged up." He practically bit his tongue to resist interrogating the man he used to call friend.

  "Good. Glad to hear it. Uh, listen, I need to go, but we should talk."

  "Wait, that's it? You bet your ass we need to talk."

  "Now isn't a good time. I'll call you tomorrow."

  The line went dead. Yancy fell back against the pillow and scratched Quark's head. "You know, buddy? It seems my real life is a dream and the dreams are real. Everything's upside-down. Weird."

  Chapter Seven