Now it was my turn to follow her. I grabbed her arm and pulled her around, trapping her against the brick wall of the building so that she couldn’t escape again.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“It’s what you implied.”
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to know that the fact that I’m your boss didn’t play into anything between us?”
“The only thing that does is make this more complicated.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I suppose it does.”
“What are you even doing here? I didn’t think this would be your kind of place.”
“Interviewing a potential candidate.” I moved closer to her, aware that the resistance had left her. “Didn’t go well.”
“I’m sorry.”
I shrugged. “Things are starting to look up.”
“Yeah?”
That teasing light was back in her eyes, and that was when I knew she’d forgiven my idiocy. I brushed my nose against hers and went in for a kiss. She responded with the sweetest touch, threatening to take my breath away. What was it about her? I wasn’t sure I would ever figure it out, but I wanted to live in this moment for the rest of my life.
Her hands slid up under the back of my suit coat, the heat of them penetrating my shirt. All I could think about was how amazing it would be to take her back to my house and do the things to her I’d been imagining all day. But then she brushed her hand over my growing erection and I wasn’t sure driving across town was something I could do right then.
Jeans. Why did she have to be wearing jeans?
I touched her through her clothes, cupped her beautiful cunt the same way I’d done earlier, moving right back to that moment of need, to that intensity as though no time had passed. She groaned, the vibration of it dancing through my chest and grabbing me where it made the most impact. It wasn’t even a question of want. I needed her. I knew if I walked away in that moment, I would regret it for the rest of my life.
I tugged at the buttons holding her jeans up around her full hips, needing to get my hand inside, needing to feel the heat and moisture of her femininity. She groaned—even as she pulled back—and whispered something I didn’t quite catch.
And then we were in the backseat of my car, tearing at each other’s clothing like a couple of randy teenagers. Why did I always feel that way when she touched me? Like the responsibilities of adulthood were simply gone and replaced with something innocent. Pure. And then she was straddling my lap and I was inside of her and my whole world had shrunk to her: her moans, her touch, her kiss.
I let her take the lead, let her set the rhythm. And it was so incredibly hot. I hadn’t done anything this spontaneous since I was…hell, I don’t think I’d ever done anything quite like this. I wasn’t the typical teenager. I didn’t seduce girls in the backseat of my dad’s car. I planned it out. Had music playing, clean sheets on my bed. A bottle of wine chilling in a bucket when I was old enough to drink. This…it was as new as her touch.
Her ass in my hands, her lips on mine. I wanted it to last, and I wanted it to end all at the same time. I wanted to see her cum; I wanted to watch the pleasure rush through her. And I wanted to cum inside her, leave a little piece of me that no one could corrupt or take away. I wanted to mark her as mine, as primitive as that sounded.
And then I did, and it was one of the most intense orgasms I think I’d ever had. It seemed to go on forever, the sounds and sight of her orgasm only making it more intense.
That was the moment. That was the moment I wanted to live in for the rest of my life.
Chapter 11
Joey
I walked into the office Friday morning and everyone was walking around as if they’d just come from a funeral. It should have dampened my mood, but it felt like nothing could knock me off the cloud I was floating on. I could still feel Jason’s hands on me—even after I went back inside to finish my shift, even after I went home and drank too much coffee to keep my eyes open while I baked. And the dreams I had…only reality was better.
I never thought I’d say that.
I grabbed another cup of coffee from the breakroom and made my way to my cubicle. I felt eyes on me, but I just assumed it was about the rumors that had been circulating the night before, so I didn’t think twice about it.
And then Lesley popped her head over the divider.
“Have you heard?”
“What’s the latest?” I asked, in too good of a mood for even Lesley’s brand of gossip to bother me.
“It’s not about work. Though I did hear that Mrs. Constantine had been called upstairs this morning.”
“Yeah? Do you think she’ll be promoted?”
“I don’t know. Could be worse. They could promote Jen.”
I bit back a groan. Jen was another supervisor. Thankfully, I don’t have run-ins with her often. She was Fredericks’ assistant, a glorified secretary who thought she was more important than that. She was known to have shouting matches with some of the accountants. No one wanted Jen to be promoted to the head of the department.
I took a slow sip of my coffee, as I watched the excitement dance over Lesley’s face.
“So what’s the latest? Why is everyone moping around?”
Before she could answer, Mrs. Constantine arrived at my cubicle.
“I need to speak to you, Ms. Forman.”
I set down my coffee and followed her down the hall. Now my cloud was beginning to falter.
There was a uniform cop standing in her office.
“Joanne Forman?” he asked.
I nodded, my ability to speak suddenly gone.
“If you could come with me, please.”
“Am I under arrest?”
He didn’t answer. He just grabbed my arm and marched me toward the elevators. I could feel everyone watching; I could already hear the whispers that would turn into something more the moment the elevator doors closed.
Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!
What the hell was I going to do now?
Chapter 12
Jason
I stared at the picture on the internet, feeling slightly less self-conscious about it than when I first saw it. Justin, my younger brother, thought it was hilarious. He called me before I was even out of the shower this morning—which is saying a lot because before he became a father about a month ago, he likely would have just fallen into bed about the time I got up to start the day—crowing about the fact that he wasn’t the one getting himself into trouble this time. I was. He was laughing so hard, his warning to take care of it before Mom and Dad became aware of it was nearly lost.
I’d never been in this situation before.
Justin had. I couldn’t count on both hands the number of times I’ve had to bail Justin out of an awkward situation. The time with the stripper was the worst. I had to actually pay the girl off to get her to stop slipping things to reporters. When you come from a family whose name is on the deeds of almost all the buildings downtown, you have to be very careful about what you do and say in public. And in private sometimes, too.
This morning was my first rude awakening to that very clear fact.
I went to a local bar to interview a guy for one of the departments in my company, a role that needed to be filled quickly because a friend, someone I once trusted with my life, betrayed me and stole from the company. Therefore, I’m in the middle of a complete overhaul of almost my entire supervising staff. The interview went sour. But then I saw the girl I’ve been seeing and we had words because some guy kissed her right there at the bar. In front of everyone. The fact that it was on the cheek and he turned out to just be a friend was beside the point. I was jealous. And I don’t get jealous.
Anyway…one thing led to another and we ended up in the backseat of my car. Apparently, someone passing by recognized me and snapped a picture of the two of us. Then that person posted it on the internet—as if me with my girl was news. I mean, Christ! Anyone could see we were having a private moment. What ki
nd of person intrudes on something like that? What ever happened to the days when you saw something like that and you laughed behind your hand, but you left the participants alone? Talk about lack of respect. I mean, I know we were in a public place, but does that really give someone the right to take our picture and…?
I guess it’s a little too late for recriminations. Now I needed to focus on how to get this off the internet and reduce the damage to not only my family name, but to my own reputation. I had clients who might be seeing this right now. Family-based businesses. This was not good.
It was dark. And the interior of my car is dark, too, so all you could really see were our faces and our hands. Her face was turned away from the camera. It was hard to get a real sense of what she looked like. But mine…I was looking up at her with this expression of pure ecstasy, which was exactly what I was feeling at the moment. She has this way of making me forget everything but what’s happening in the moment. No one else has ever been able to do that for me…and I’m digressing again.
It was obvious what we were doing despite the fact you couldn’t see much more than her sitting on my lap. And the comments under the photo were…let’s just say they wouldn’t win me any new contracts with the type of companies I preferred to work with.
I had to make it disappear. But first, I needed to warn the girl.
Joey Forman.
Joanne.
If she didn’t already know. The gossip in this place was like a fire raging through the mountains in a drought.
This was one of the dangers of dating me. I wish she didn’t have to learn it so soon after we began. I mean, hell, we’d only met Wednesday. This was Friday.
I had to admit, though, the idea of seeing her again had me smiling despite everything. I had every reason to be angry, annoyed, stressed, hurt, frustrated, and a million things that weren’t pleasant. But when I thought of Joanne, all I wanted to do was go find her and hide under the covers of my bed with her in my arms. She was beautiful and feisty and intelligent. She was everything I never thought I’d find in a girl. I knew almost nothing about her—except that I wanted to see her more than I wanted to deal with all of this bullshit.
I picked up the phone to call my assistant, Shelly. To tell her to have Joey sent upstairs from her cubicle in accounting.
That’s right. Joey works for me.
It’s complicated.
But just as I was about to push the right combination of numbers, Shelly stepped into the office.
“I was about to call you,” I said with a little smile, putting the phone down. “I need to—”
“We just got a call from downstairs,” she said, a sober expression on her face that she rarely ever wore. Shelly was a naturally reserved person, but a happily reserved person, if that makes any sense. I’ve known her for more than ten years, ever since I hired her as the first employee of my graphic design company.
I knew there was trouble when she looked like that.
“What’s the matter now?”
“The police just escorted Joey Forman from the property.”
I was out of my chair before the words had even finished coming out of her mouth.
Chapter 13
Joey
My hands were shaking. I didn’t know what was going on. The uniformed cop took my arm and led me to the elevator, but he never said a word beyond asking me to go with him. Was I under arrest? If so, for what? Everyone was staring at me, whispering behind file folders and cubicle walls, pretending I couldn’t see what they were doing. Pretty soon they wouldn’t bother to even make the pretense of hiding it. There’d been plenty of gossip going around lately—thanks to the dismissal of the heads of several departments—but this would be the icing on the cake.
I could even guess what they were saying. Perfect little Joey, finally got caught!
What I’d been caught at, I wasn’t quite sure. But I don’t think it mattered much to them.
We boarded the elevator, and the cop let go of me. I wrapped my arms over my chest and stared at the numbers above the doors, wondering whom I would call when they gave me my one phone call. Did they still do that? They must. But I had no way of knowing because I’d never been arrested before.
Rosie, I decided. My sister. She was something of a flighty kid, but she loved me. She’d get me out quickly. And her boyfriend, Jackson, was pre-law. Maybe it’d be good practice for him.
The doors opened, and the cop gestured for me to lead the way through the lobby. I was glad he was no longer pulling me along. At least the few people still lingering down here wouldn’t immediately know I was being arrested. Maybe they’d think it something else, something innocent.
And maybe my boobs would suddenly shrink and my legs would grow a few inches so that I’d look like the models I’d admired as a kid.
A patrol car was parked at the curb. I expected to be shoved into the backseat, but the cop politely held open the passenger side door. I slid inside, tucking my skirt around my thighs, and tried not to look scared to death, even though I was.
What would Jason think when he found out about this? That was really what scared me the most. The gossip I could deal with. The arrest…it was way out of my comfort zone, but I knew in my heart that I hadn’t done anything wrong. This would be resolved. But Jason? I wasn’t as confident that he would be as forgiving about this as I wanted him to be. I’ve worked for the company for a little more than a year, so I’ve known about him. I’ve heard the rumors and stories about his family. But I’ve only known him a few days. I didn’t know how he would respond to this. But I was afraid it wouldn’t go well. He had a reputation to maintain, after all. He wouldn’t want a girlfriend who’d been arrested.
Girlfriend. I wasn’t even sure that was what I was to him. We’d shared a bed once. And the backseat of his car…I blushed even thinking about it. But was that enough to call myself his girlfriend? Or was I jumping too far ahead?
My thoughts were jumping all over the place. The cop got in the car, and we moved into traffic. I stared out the window, wondering what my parents would think when they found out. What would Rosie tell them? And my friends. Some of them would be supportive. Others would probably distance themselves. Who gets arrested? Not someone you wanted to be close to, someone you could trust and rely on to always be there for you. Would people think I was no longer reliable?
Just the thought made me sick to my stomach.
We pulled up to the police department sooner than I expected. A man in a suit was leaning against the wall just outside the front doors. He pushed away and came to the car, wrenching open my door as we came to a stop.
“Ms. Forman,” he said, reaching in with a big, beefy hand. “Thank you for coming down.”
I stood, smoothing my skirt as I did. “For coming down?”
“Yes. We’re hoping you’ll be able to clear up some information for us.”
And now I was confused. “I’m not under arrest?”
The man in the suit flashed an ugly glare at the uniform cop who just shrugged.
“I apologize, Ms. Forman,” the suit said, bowing his head like a gentleman from another generation. “I’m Detective Grant. We’re investigating some wrong doing at JB Graphics and were hoping you could help clarify a few things.”
Relief washed through me so quickly that I became a little unsteady on my feet. Detective Grant grabbed my arm to keep me from falling.
“I do apologize for the misunderstanding. Sometimes communication between my department and the patrol officers is a little muddled.”
“It’s fine. I’m just glad I don’t have to call a lawyer.”
He smiled. “Not unless you were somehow involved in this little embezzlement scheme.”
I shook my head. “I wouldn’t even know how to go about it even if I had access to the right things.”
He inclined his head slightly, then gestured for me to follow him inside. Moments later we were sitting in a small office with an old metal desk that was covered in so m
uch paperwork, empty coffee cups, and discarded vending machine snack wrappers that I couldn’t imagine how he ever knew how to find anything. But he seemed to have a system. He picked up a file folder, leaned against the front of the desk, and handed it to me.
“These are financial records from the private bank account of a former employee of JB Graphics, a couple of billing statements, and some of those estimations I guess you and others in your department fill out each time the company takes on a new project?”
I flipped through the papers, recognizing the same bills and estimations Jason had shown me in his office a few days. And then the bank statement that showed several deposits from the company that fit the excess on the billing statements of two of the bills.
I wondered whom it belonged to. The name had been redacted.
“I’d like you to take a look and explain to me what all that stuff means.”
He smiled again, an almost charming smile that was also a little self-deprecating.
“Well, these estimates show how much the project should have cost, based on the price of materials, the billboards the material would be used for, labor, and all the other little things that go into these projects. And the bills are what the client was billed after the work was finished.”
“Is there always such a huge discrepancy between the two?”
“No. The final bill is almost always less than the higher estimate, but higher than the lower. That’s why we do three estimates, so that the client will be aware of the high end, but relieved when it comes in lower.”
The detective nodded. “That’s sound business practice.”
“These bills are off because someone charged for too many billboards and more supplies than they should have. It’s a simple mistake that should have been caught by the accounting department when the creative team sent their receipts down. Normally, in cases like this, the client would have asked for more billboards and that’s why there would be a discrepancy. But when that happens, the creative team normally sends an amended order to us so that we can adjust the estimate.”
KILLIAN: A Mafia Romance (The Callahans Book 2) Page 59