by Suzanne Hart
We were silent for a few moments, staring at the man who was giving the presentation about jellyfish. Alfie in front of me was rapt with attention. I turned to the side again, my head was at level with his chest.
“Do you hate Gordon?” I whispered. Clark squared his shoulders, his wide chest expanded even more and I felt a thrill run down my spine. What would it feel like to wrap my arms around his chest, to snuggle in bed with that body?
“I don’t hate my brother, Tessa,” he replied and I craned my neck back again, so I could look at him.
“Is that what you think of me? That I’m some kind of monster who hates his own brother?” He continued.
“Do you care what I think of you? Isn’t this supposed to be a mutually beneficial arrangement and nothing more?” I asked.
Clark looked into my eyes for a few moments and then nodded.
“Yes, it is. And I don’t care what anyone thinks of me, other than Alfie,” he answered.
I gulped, looking away from him. His strong jaw, the shape of his face, the light dusting of dark hair peeping from the neck of his t-shirt…that image was going to be etched in my memory. I could already feel my stomach clenching with desire.
“I don’t think you’re a monster. I think you’ve been hurt and you’re refusing to admit it. You’re just pretending to be angry,” I told him.
“And what makes you think you know me at all, Tessa?” He asked. Neither of us was looking at each other, each facing the man with the microphone at his mouth.
“I don’t,” I replied, and I could feel the rage rising in Clark’s bones behind me.
“Then you don’t need to psycho-analyze my actions. Don’t forget, you agreed to do this as well,” he growled, in a low deep voice.
The presentation ended the next moment and everyone was cheering and clapping. Clark reached around and caught Alfie’s hand.
“That was cool!” Alfie exclaimed, clapping his hands. He turned to me and I smiled at him too. He was completely oblivious of the tension between his father and me.
They began to walk ahead and I followed them.
“Daddy! No! I want Tessa to hold my hand!” Alfie wriggled his hand out of Clark’s grasp and came charging at me. I had no other choice but to lift him up now and he wrapped his arms around my neck.
“I am so happy you are Daddy’s friend!” Alfie exclaimed and I ruffled his hair affectionately.
“Good,” Clark said and we looked at him. “Because she’s coming to live with us.”
My mouth nearly dropped open when I heard him say that. How could he say something like that, without asking me? Without discussing it with me first?
Alfie cheered in delight, hugging me even tighter. He was the most excited by this prospect.
“Are you, really?” He squealed and I smiled nervously at him.
When I looked over at Clark, I saw there was a glimmer in his eyes too. He’d tricked me. He now knew that I wouldn’t be able to refuse Alfie.
“Is she really, Daddy?” He turned to Clark when I hadn’t replied to him.
Clark shrugged his shoulders.
“Unless she doesn’t want to. It’s up to her, of course,” he said and they were both staring at me now.
Alfie pouted his lips.
“Please stay with us, Tessa! Please! We can go to the park every day then!” He pleaded.
I gulped, nodding my head. It felt like Clark’s deep gaze was boring a hole in my head. He was staring at me confidently. He knew fully well what I was going to say.
“Yes, of course, I’ll stay with you,” I told him. But I wasn’t going to look at Clark. He didn’t deserve my smiles.
14
Clark
Luckily for me, Alfie had managed to convince Tessa to return to our penthouse after the day out. She couldn’t say no to his invitation to dinner.
She and I had barely spoken since the Aquarium, and I could sense she was bursting to say something. I knew I had tactfully put her on the spot, leaving her no choice but to agree to move in with us.
But I wanted to be close to her.
I didn’t want to give her an opportunity to refuse. Given our strange circumstances, and since the option of asking her out on a formal date was out of the question—this seemed like the only way for me to get to know her.
And I wanted to get to know Tessa.
Penny had prepared dinner already, and before we sat down to eat, Alfie wanted to show Tessa his room, and she happily obliged.
When she and Alfie talked, she always seemed sunny and jovial. It was only when her attention turned to me that her face grew stern. Had she changed her opinion about me? Did she want to cancel the plan?
A part of me wished she did.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to pretend with her.
I couldn’t stop wondering what the real thing would feel like.
At dinner, Alfie kept pestering her about when she was going to move in with us. Tessa was patient with him, and said that she would have to make other arrangements first.
“Will you be staying with Daddy? In Daddy’s room?” He asked, which made Tessa’s cheeks flush.
“That is a personal question, Alfie. You shouldn’t be asking questions like that to people,” I told him.
“What does personal mean?” He asked.
I looked at Tessa; Alfie had me stumped. I had no idea how to explain the meaning of the word to him.
“It means something that is yours, which you don’t share with other people. It could be anything, even a thought or a feeling. Everyone has personal things,” Tessa explained.
Alfie’s eyes grew.
“Like Mr. Coco?” He asked excitedly and Tessa nodded.
“Exactly. Mr. Coco is your personal belonging,” she said.
Alfie seemed pleased with himself, for expanding his vocabulary. After dinner, he threw a fuss again about going to bed. Penny struggled to get him away from the room, till eventually, Tessa took over.
I watched as she led him by the hand to his room. Fifteen minutes later, she emerged, shutting the door behind her.
“He was exhausted. He fell asleep straight away,” she said to Penny.
Penny was going to clear the table and Tessa helped her, while I went to the living room, to pour myself a drink.
When she finally joined me there, I could see that Tessa looked exhausted too.
“Join me for a drink?” I suggested, while she crossed her arms over her perfect breasts.
“You really think I’m going to agree to have a drink with you?” She asked, cocking her eyebrows.
“I had to try,” I said and walked over to the bar in the corner of the room. I poured her a glass of red wine, but didn’t offer it to her yet. It remained on top of the counter, while Tessa stood at the end of the room, still fuming.
“What you did today was totally unacceptable,” she snapped.
I took a sip of my whiskey and nodded.
“Which bit?” I asked and she rolled her eyes.
“You know what I’m talking about, Clark. You had no right to tell Alfie that I was moving in. I said I would think about it, I hadn’t given you my answer yet,” she continued.
“And what was your answer going to be?” I asked.
“That is beside the point!” She snapped and I smiled at her.
“It appears, Tessa, that I know you better than you know me,” I said.
Her shoulders quaked as she glared at me. She could barely control her rage now.
“So, you’re saying somehow, telepathically, you knew what I was going to say and you said it for me?” She asked, in a mocking tone.
Picking up her glass of wine, I walked towards her now. Her cheeks colored as she saw me approaching her. Could she feel it too? This charged up electricity in the room? Was she afraid of what she wanted to do to me?
I knew exactly what I wanted to do to her.
“Something like that, yeah,” I said and handed her the glass. Tessa stared at the wine for a few moments
and then took the glass from me. Her fingers brushed against mine, and she snapped her eyes up to look at me.
“Well, going forward, don’t say anything that you’ve telepathically derived from me,” she responded and I smirked at her irritation.
Tessa drank from her glass and I watched her.
“So, when are you moving in?” I asked, and she nearly choked on the wine.
“I don’t know yet,” she replied, flashing rage from her eyes.
“They’ll be here in a week, we don’t have much time,” I said and Tessa gulped.
“And…and about what Alfie asked earlier. Will we…will I…”
“Be staying in my room?” I asked. Tessa didn’t reply. She could barely look at me.
“If we’re pretending to be a couple, there’s very little use in you staying in a different room, is there?” I said.
Tessa’s lips parted, they were lightly stained by the wine. I could feel my cock moving in my pants the more I looked at her. She was beautiful. Did she know it?
“And…” she murmured. I stepped closer to her, so that my breath was falling on her face now.
“Don’t worry, Tessa, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” I said and she arched an eyebrow up her forehead.
“You clearly have no idea what I was thinking. You’ve lost your powers of telepathy,” she said and took another sip of her wine.
15
Tessa
Clark was standing over me, close enough for me to see every inch of his face. Close enough for his cologne to completely fill my lungs. I wanted him, and that was what I wanted him to know.
I couldn’t step away from him, even if I should have. He watched me sip my wine, his eyes glazed over, roaming over my face…watching the way my lips moved as I drank.
“You’re right. I was lying. I have no telepathic powers,” he said, and there was a soft grin on his face. “What are you thinking?” He asked.
I didn’t dare to tell him what I was thinking. That would be all kinds of inappropriate. He was my boss. He was my ex-boyfriend’s brother. There was nothing normal about our situation.
“I guess you’ll never find out,” I said, and made to turn from him when he caught my hand.
I gasped, the wine shook and spilled from the glass. Clark didn’t look at it, he didn’t care how much wine I spilled on the floor.
Instead, he weaved his fingers with mine and pulled me close to himself. My heart was racing a mile per minute. I thought it would stop. I was worried I’d collapse to the ground.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked. He was holding me tightly, and he raised my hand up, close to his mouth. Was he going to kiss my fingers? I couldn’t wait to find out.
“Home, my home. Which isn’t this place,” I said.
“Not yet, no,” he commented.
I couldn’t drag my eyes away from him. No man, not even Gordon had made me feel this way. This sexually charged. Like I was willing to forgo everything—including my pride, to have one night with him. Was that how he made every woman feel? Was that how Clark Webber got his way?
“I…I really should be going. Tomorrow is Monday, I have a team meeting at nine,” I said.
Clark didn’t move, and he didn’t let me move either.
“You do realize I’m the boss,” he said.
“But nobody in the office knows about us. You can’t make new rules for me without raising suspicion,” I continued.
“You should stop talking right now, Tessa,” he growled and I clamped my mouth shut.
Normally, I wouldn’t have stood for anyone, especially someone I didn’t know—to talk to me like that. But with Clark, all the rules had somehow disappeared. I was a slave to his wishes, even though I didn’t want to be. Even though I knew I would regret it tomorrow.
He leaned his head towards me and I parted my lips.
I wanted him to kiss me. I didn’t care how obvious I made it.
Clark’s lips grazed mine and I pressed my eyes close, moaning lightly as his tongue slid into my mouth.
I could taste him now, and also the whiskey he’d just been drinking. His mouth was wide, and he seemed to engulf me as he kissed me harder. I moaned again, while his hands traveled down, first my shoulders, then shaping my waist till he was cupping my butt.
He had me pinned to himself, and I pressed myself to his body. I could feel his cock moving in his pants, growing with every slip and slide of his tongue down my mouth.
I didn’t care that I couldn’t breathe anymore. I was wet between my thighs, and I rolled my hips with pleasure while he kissed me harder. His hands squeezed my butt and I wrapped my arms around his neck.
Clark pulled his mouth away from me very suddenly, when I was least expecting it. I could feel my lips throbbing, they were swollen from the kissing. His hands moved away from my butt and I forced myself to drag myself away from him.
Clark stepped back and I suddenly felt very empty. Like someone had snatched something precious away from me. I had to blink rapidly to get my vision back. I felt so dazed.
“You’re right, I can’t show favoritism towards you, a new employee. You shouldn’t be late for the meeting tomorrow,” he said.
I felt breathless and in shock.
Weren’t we going to discuss the kiss? Did this not change anything?
I couldn’t get a word out, I couldn’t hear my own voice.
Clark ran a hand through his hair and turned from me. He walked over to the bar and poured himself some more whiskey.
“Okay,” was all I could muster.
“I’ll have my chauffeur drop you to your apartment. You don’t need to take a cab,” he said, turning to me with a full glass of whiskey again.
I stared at him, expecting him to say something…anything. That kiss was explosive. It was nothing like I’d ever experienced before. Where were we supposed to go from here?
“And you should make the move soon. Let me know if you need help with the moving, I’ll make the arrangements. You should be settled here by the time Gordon and Celine arrive,” he continued.
It was a command, rather than a request.
I picked up my bag from the chair near me and turned from him.
I didn't even dare to wish him a good night, tell him that I’ll see him soon because I had no idea when I would see him. I didn’t have his personal number or any practical way of contacting him.
It seemed like everything was in his control.
I was a puppet he was playing.
As I left the penthouse, I couldn’t help but regret my decision to do this. I didn’t care about Gordon anymore. I had no interest in seeking revenge. I cared about Clark. About what he thought of me. I cared about Alfie.
And all this was beginning to feel like a big mistake. But I’d given him my word, and I couldn’t go back on it now.
16
Clark
I shouldn’t have kissed Tessa, and now it was something that I couldn’t take back. If this plan was going to work, without actually hurting anyone—then there was a line that I shouldn’t be crossing.
Which I’d just crossed.
I waited for Tessa to leave, before I sat down on the couch with my head in my hands. Why did it have to be her? Why did Gordon have to find her?
It may have been easy for Gordon to sleep with my ex-wife, but I couldn’t get past that with Tessa. At some point, my brother thought he was in love with her. No matter how much I wanted to hurt Gordon, I couldn’t actually do it.
I didn’t sleep that night. I tossed and turned in bed, thinking about Tessa and how beautiful she was and how that kiss had felt amazing. What would undressing her feel like? How crazy good would it feel to be inside her? She was doing something to me that I couldn’t explain.
Usually, I prided myself in always having a handle on things. As far as Tessa was concerned, I was straying.
I went to the office the next morning, feeling haggard and exhausted. I hoped I wouldn’t have to see h
er all day, but then Michelle came into my office a little after nine.
“Oh good, Mr. Webber, you’re here. They’re all waiting for you,” she told me.
“Who is waiting for me?” I snapped at her, drinking as much coffee as I could in one gulp.
“The content team. You were supposed to talk to them this morning, give the new recruits a welcome speech. At nine. It’s on your calendar,” Michelle explained. She was calm and collected, but I could sense she was panicking on the inside.
“Oh yes, of course, my apologies. It appears I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” I said and stood up. Michelle smiled and led me out of my office.
I knew exactly where she was taking me. To a room full of my employees, which would include Tessa.
I cleared my throat and pasted a forced smile on my face when I entered the room. I tried not to look around for her face, but I spotted her immediately.
She was sitting bang in the center, perched on the edge of her seat, in a tight teal dress that accentuated every curve of her body.
I was supposed to focus on the speech I hadn’t prepared. Instead, I was thinking about the taste of Tessa’s mouth.
Michelle introduced me to the team—most of whom I was acquainted with already. There were a few new faces, the new recruits, and I shook hands with them. Tessa stood up when it was her turn, and when our hands touched, I felt that spark again. Like I’d been burned. It was an exhilarating feeling.
I had no idea what Michelle wanted me to talk to these guys about. I was making it up as I went along.
I tried to make an inspiring speech, to tell them a little bit of the history of the company—I told them about my first clients and the campaign I’d launched from my single room in a shared flat. I didn’t have an office back then. I barely had money to afford a computer.
The new recruits especially, were rapt with attention. I avoided looking at Tessa, but every time my eyes did fall on her—she looked calmer than I expected her to be. She even smirked when I told them about the ketchup sandwiches I used to eat so I could save money for rent.