I was nearly beside myself. After all I had done for him, all the times I had helped him through his insecurities, I couldn’t believe he thought I would turn on him. Ronny and I had been through elementary school fights, middle school heartbreaks, and high school anxieties together. We had seen each other through no small number of terrible relationships and shitty jobs, and we had always supported each other one hundred percent. When my mother had told us that family was everything, we had listened.
Until now, I thought. I was hurt and angry. I needed to be anywhere but in that room, and I needed to clear some pretty important things up with Aaron.
With a last look at Ronny, I turned back to the door and grabbed the handle. “I’m leaving.”
“Please, Miss Miller,” Detective Sawyer tried. His courtesy seemed forced, as if it irritated him that he even had to ask. “Your boyfriend is in serious trouble, and your cousin is concerned about you.”
“He doesn’t sound concerned,” I said coldly, one foot out the door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m not feeling so well. I think I’ll go home.”
Ronny called after me as I fled the conference room, but I kept going. I stepped onto the elevator, strode through the lobby, and pushed through the front doors without a backward glance.
I didn’t go home, however. I made straight for Aaron’s office.
When I showed up at Patterson, I bypassed Nora just as I had done before, and let myself into Aaron’s office. I had a strange feeling of déjà vu. The last time I had burst through this door, I had done so out of concern for Ronny. This time, it was more so out of concern about Ronny and about the security of our relationship.
I feel like we went in a giant fucking circle.
“Did you put in an offer?” I asked, voice breaking without my meaning it to.
Aaron glanced up from the papers on his desk, deep brown eyes startled. Nora hadn’t bothered following me in this time. Aaron rose to his feet, his eyes narrowing. He crossed the room to slam his office door shut.
“You need to stop bursting in here like this.” I could tell that somewhere deep under his layers of professionalism and control, I had unsettled him. “I am a very busy man.”
“Oh, cut the crap, Aaron!” My eyes were stinging, but I refused to cry. Not here, not now, not in front of Aaron, whose refusal to answer my question caused my heart to sink. Why else would he avoid answering unless … “You … you used me!”
He quirked an eyebrow. “You didn’t seem to complain last night. Or this morning, for that matter.”
“You’re disgusting. That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what are you talking about?” he snapped, good humor evaporating. “Please, enlighten me. I know most things, Audrey, but I’m not a damned mind reader.”
I pressed my hands against the small of my back and began to walk a tight circle around his office like a tiger pacing its cage. “Imagine my surprise when I got to work this morning and learned that, despite our agreement, your company went ahead with an offer to buy Pace. What—we sleep together, and you decide all bets are off? Is that why you brushed it off at dinner on Friday?”
“Do you really think I’m that kind of person?” Aaron demanded. He looked genuinely hurt, and I felt a twinge of uncertainty.
“No, but then—why are you still trying to buy Pace?”
“I’m not,” he insisted, reaching for me.
I drew away. As much as I wanted his comfort, I couldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing the sway his touch held over me.
Aaron leaned back against his desk. “Audrey, I’m not. Not legitimately, at least. It’s just a ruse. A way to keep the board busy while I try to handle these rumors. Companies do this all the time; they present what looks like a legitimate offer, to keep the other party on their toes or to keep their own name in the papers. Then they pull the offer, on whatever terms, later on. That’s been my plan from the start.”
“Why should I believe that?” I was more confused than ever. “Why wouldn’t you tell me so I didn’t get blindsided? I mean, we spent a fantastic weekend together and broke the one rule we set for ourselves, and then I have to hear from my cousin and some investigators that you—”
Aaron’s eyes narrowed, and he abruptly stood. “Investigators? What did you say to them?”
“Of course, that’s the part of the conversation you latch onto. The part that has to do with you. Heaven forbid you think of someone other than yourself!”
Aaron closed the distance between us and roughly gripped my upper arms. “Audrey, this is very important. What did you say to them?”
I wrenched my arms out of his grasp. “Don’t touch me!”
Aaron made a move to grab for me again but thought better of it. Lowering his hands, he took a deep breath and said in a much calmer tone, “I need to know what they asked you, and what you told them.”
“Nothing. I didn’t say anything. I left.”
Aaron’s shoulders slumped, and he looked relieved. “Okay,” he mumbled more to himself than to me. “Okay.”
He started to pace, and I could feel my anger dissipating. Maybe my first instincts had been correct. I obviously didn’t know everything about the situation. “Aaron, please, what is going on?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Audrey, there’s something going on. I’m not sure yet what it is. A Detective Mosedale called me the other day, asking me all sorts of questions. Then, he and his partner showed up here …”
He looked worried; I couldn’t stay mad at him. I moved toward him and wrapped my arms around his waist. Aaron’s arms came up to cradle me close. He buried his face in my hair, and we stood there for some time, holding each other.
“I’m sorry,” Aaron finally said. “I should have warned you about the offer.”
“You should have,” I agreed, but the fight had gone out of my voice.
“I didn’t want you to worry about it. It’s just a diversionary tactic to keep the board busy. No merger happens without my say-so, and I’m not signing off on this one. I just needed to buy some time while I look into what the hell is going on in my company.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
Aaron drew back, eyes dark in a way that made my blood warm. “Only one thing.”
He yanked me into a kiss, and I gasped in surprise, allowing him to slip his tongue into my mouth. I started to moan before I remembered where we were and cut it off.
Aaron pushed me back toward his desk.
My thighs hit the sleek wood, and I felt a shiver of nervous excitement go all the way through me.
He wanted me, now?
Here?
Like this?
I had never considered myself one for semi-public quickies, but knowing that Aaron wanted me badly enough to take me on top of his desk, during office hours, had me wet and ready.
“Aaron,” I began, but I didn’t get to finish.
He slid his hands under my ass and lifted me onto the desk in one fell swoop. In a moment, he had pushed my skirt up around my hips and was pressing himself against me. I had marched in here determined to get some answers and give him a piece of my mind, but all it took was one kiss, and I was soaking wet.
“Do I hear a complaint?” Aaron’s voice was rough with desire.
He had caught on quickly to how much I loved it when he took charge in bed and told me what he wanted. This was my out, my last chance to wiggle away and fix my skirt and walk out of his office with most of my dignity intact.
But I didn’t want any of that. I wanted Aaron.
I shook my head. “No … not complaining.”
“Spread those legs.”
I obeyed, displaying my thin, barely-there underwear. Aaron surged forward, mouth devouring mine in a brutal kiss. At the same time, he yanked my panties to the side and slid two fingers inside me, making me gasp with pleasure.
“So beautiful,” he groaned.
He unzipped his fly with his free hand and began to work his cock wi
th long, firm strokes. His fingers pumped in and out of me, drawing me closer to climax every second. My head fell back, and my eyes slipped shut as I surrendered to the sensation and let out encouraging whimpers. I didn’t care if the entire office heard him fucking me—I had never wanted him as badly as I did right then.
“Please.” I dug my fingernails into his back through his crisp blue shirt which would surely be wrinkled after this little romp. “Aaron, please—”
Before I could finish my plea, he shoved himself into me.
I tightened my legs around his waist, drawing him all the way inside. “Oh, yes,” I moaned. He picked up speed, fucking me hard and fast right there on top of his desk, “Yes, yes!”
He slid nearly all the way out before burying himself to the hilt over and over again. His hands dropped to the desk for better purchase, but one came up to fondle my breasts, freeing them from the confines of my button-down shirt. The desk jerked and scraped along the floor, papers and books spilling in all directions. Aaron’s mouth was relentless on my neck, biting and sucking any spot he could find. I hooked one arm around his neck while I clutched the edge of the desk.
Aaron freed me from my bra and growled in pleasure as he tugged and pulled on one of my nipples until it stood fully erect and eager, the other hand gripping my hip while he drove into me. He was close. I could feel it in the tightening of his muscles and his near-frantic pace.
Using my palms for leverage against the desk, I angled my hips up until I found that sweet spot. The next time Aaron drove into me, I experienced a wave of pleasure so intense I saw stars. In moments, I was on the edge of climax with Aaron close behind.
He sank his teeth into the juncture between my neck and shoulder as he finished inside me, his cock twitching as I tightened around him and cried out from the force of my own orgasm. I continued gyrating against him for a few moments as the waves crashed over me, and then, I sagged against his chest, spent.
Aaron reached up and pushed a lock of hair out of my face. He was still panting, but there was a smile on his face when he leaned in and kissed me sweetly. I melted all over again, and in that moment, I knew we were in too deep with each other to let our relationship go.
“Is this how all your merger negotiations go?” I asked after I caught my breath, my voice still coming out a little husky.
“Not usually. VIP clients only.”
I knew he was joking, but I rolled my eyes. Aaron was cocky to a fault. But I would have been lying if I’d said some part of me didn’t love it.
He slipped away, reappearing moments later with a damp handkerchief and handing it to me with a soft kiss. It was hard to believe this man was the same arrogant jerk who had made a move for my cousin’s company and then so confidently offered me his indecent proposal. But I had learned by now that there was a lot more to Aaron than met the eye. Falling for someone did that to you.
I realized I should have known better than to think Aaron would break his promise. The whole thing had seemed so calculated, so horrible. It was almost as if …
“Aaron?”
He looked up from buttoning my blouse. Apparently, he was fine with screwing me silly during office hours but didn’t want me walking out into the lobby unkempt. “Yes?”
“Do you think someone’s trying to set you up?”
Aaron again glanced up at me for a moment, then looked back down at my clothes, his mouth set into a thin line. “Don’t think I haven’t considered that. The inconsistencies with the numbers. The police. Something’s off.”
His eyes wandered for a moment as he lost himself in thought. Then, he shook his head and reached up to tuck a stubborn lock of hair behind my ears. “They went too far the moment they dragged you into it. When I find out who it is, I swear they’re going to pay. Nobody comes between me and what I want—or who I care about.”
Warmth swelled in my chest as Aaron leaned in to kiss me once more. His hands caressed my breasts, squeezed them gently, and then he stroked my shoulders while I felt the softness of his lips. He tasted even sweeter in the warm post-coital haze, and his thumbs brushed my cheekbones. If whoever was sabotaging Aaron and our companies was willing to get involved in illegal activities to get what they wanted, what wouldn’t they do?
“I should go.” I sighed. “I told Ronny I was going home … but he’ll still be missing me.”
“Of course. Give my regards to your cousin. I’m sure he’s in a state right now.”
I quirked an eyebrow at Aaron. By now, we had developed our own silent language, and Aaron knew this gesture meant I was pushing my boundaries, seeing just how far I could get with him. “I take that to mean I have the green light to let him know Patterson’s offer is just a ruse? He might blow a gasket and pass out on his office floor otherwise.”
“You can … let him know Patterson has many divested business interests and may very well decide that acquiring another company makes more sense than bulldozing Pace into submission. Tell him he shouldn’t worry about it.”
“Good.” I hopped off Aaron’s desk and gave him a wink. “Thanks for working me in on such short notice, Mr. Patterson. That was a really satisfying business meeting.”
Aaron chuckled and caressed my ass. “Any time, Miss Miller. I hope you don’t mind if I have my secretary see you out. There are some …” Aaron cast a dark look to the papers on his desk. Financial records, I guessed. “… matters I should attend to here before it gets much later.”
“Fair enough. See you for dinner?”
“Of course.”
I let myself out, barely slowing to smile at Aaron’s secretary as I passed. She didn’t like me to begin with, what with my habit of barging in unannounced. Aaron’s office walls weren’t that thick, so she was sure to have heard me beg for Aaron to “give it to me” just minutes ago, but I couldn’t find it in myself to care.
My head was swirling with half-formed thoughts and meandering suspicions. These thoughts followed me down the stairs, out the door, and into the cab I hailed to get back across town to Pace.
One thought stuck out to me, playing on repeat in my head: If someone is trying to tear down Aaron, does that mean they’re coming for me, too?
11
Aaron
“How did this get so out of hand?” I asked.
Audrey lay with her head cushioned on my chest, my tangled sheets draped around her naked, incredible body. It was almost seven in the morning, I had just fucked her, and neither of us wanted to get up and face the day.
“I don’t know how this could happen right under my nose,” I continued.
“You’re only human, Aaron,” Audrey said. “You can’t be everywhere at once. Whoever did this is smart. They took advantage of the fact that you’re always pulled in so many directions.”
“I still have to meet with the board later, and I have no idea what I’m going to say to them.”
It was true. The board would demand answers about the money, the rumors, the investigation, all of it, and for once in my life, I didn’t have them. Audrey and I had gone over everything we had discovered, again and again, trying to find a link to whoever was behind it, but we’d had no luck. I felt like I was missing something. All the pieces lay before me, but I couldn’t find the one thread to connect them.
“I’ve got something to say about all this.” Audrey looked up at me. “You’re not going to like it.”
“Since when has that stopped you from speaking your mind?”
“This is serious, Aaron.” The usual playful twinkle in her eyes had disappeared. “You’re not going to like what I have to say, but I’m pretty sure you’ve been thinking the same thing. Whoever’s behind this isn’t just trying to spread petty rumors or even trying to steal from you. Their plan is more malicious than that. They’re trying to make it look like you’re behind it all.”
As usual, Audrey was right. She had just voiced the concerns I had kept to myself for days now. The one thread that connected everything was me. It was my company. I
was the one looking into the discrepancies. And I was the one whom all the rumors pointed to, as the culprit behind the vague shady dealings. Whether or not it was my fault was irrelevant. In the end, I would be the one brought up on charges, the one made to account for what had happened.
I sighed and smoothed a hand over her hair. “I know.”
She jerked upright, twisting to face me. “This isn’t right. The police should focus on the tons of people who actually do bad things. You haven’t done anything wrong!”
“Well, that’s not how they see it,” I said. “That’s not how whoever set this all up wants them to see it. But, if I’m honest, I’m happy that’s how you see it.”
Audrey smiled and leaned back against my chest to give me a soft kiss. “I wish I could do more to help.”
“Trust me, you’ve been doing more than enough.”
“Still,” she said with a little sigh. “I want to do more. I want to catch this creep.”
Smiling, I pulled her close. My Audrey. My little soldier, always so willing to do whatever it took to keep the people she cared about happy and provided for. I suspected it was a skill she had learned as a member of such a large and close-knit family, and it touched me to know she cared so much. Still, I didn’t want her taking too much of my burden onto herself. As unfair as it might seem, this was my problem to sort through and my company to save.
“Thank you. I’ll let you know if there’s any way you can help. But for now, just focus on keeping Ronny sane.”
She nodded, sitting up and stretching her arms over her head. The sheet slipped from her body, exposing the curve of her back and the luscious swell of her tits. Audrey must have read my mind. She smiled and teased me by letting the sheet slip deeper, exposing more of the tanned curve of her breasts, pert and inviting. One more round? Desire ignited within me, and I wanted to put my arms around her and pull her back into bed, but I knew that another hour enjoying her body wasn’t going to solve my problems. As much as I hated to do it, it was time to get out of bed and face the music.
Sweetest Obsessions - Anthology Page 216