by C. A. Bell
I remained calm. “Excuse me? What crap are you referring to?”
“Your magazine. What you’ve printed is lies. I’ve got a good mind to sue you for slander.”
I rolled my eyes. If I’d had a pound for every time I’d heard that I’d have been twice as rich as I was.
“I’m sorry you do not care for my article, Miss Chambers, but I’m afraid I cannot help you today.”
“Take it down. It’s lies. How dare you just sit there and make such shit up about me just because you can’t fill your issue.”
“Miss Chambers, I assure you that is not what happened.”
She laughed sarcastically. “Where else would you have gotten such false information from? Oh, wait, let me guess. A money hungry gossip monger.”
I frowned. The silly bitch hadn’t even read it properly or she would have known who’d given me the info.
I shook my head at her stupidity. “Well, if your ex fiancé is a money hungry gossip monger, then yes.”
“What?”
I heard pages turning, so I waited for the penny to drop.
After a moment or two of silence, I heard her take a deep breath. “Bastard!” she hissed. “Did he really tell you all of this?”
“Mhm.”
“It’s all lies. He’s made it all up to come between me and Frank. He’s such a cock sucker.”
I didn’t believe a word she said, but I did see an opportunity for another good story.
“Look.” I started. “I can’t do anything about the story because it has already gone out. Thousands and thousands of copies have already flown off the shelf.”
“Can’t you put a statement in your next issue saying it was all fake or something?”
I laughed. “No. But what I can do is print your side of the story.”
She remained quiet for a while, obviously pondering her options.
“Okay. What do you need from me?”
“I’ll need you to come down to the office to see me so I can interview you. Now, I obviously won’t be able to put your story out until the next issue in two weeks’ time. But what I can do is put it up on our website as an exclusive.”
“That’s better than nothing.”
“But if I do that, I will need you to sign a disclaimer that states you will not give any other interviews to anyone else about it.”
“Okay. When can I come?”
“Hold the line and I’ll check my diary.”
I put her on hold and skimmed through my planner before returning to the call.
“Hello?”
“I’m here.”
“Can you do today at four?”
“Yes.”
“Great. Come down to office… Do you need the address?”
“No, I have it.”
I frowned. “You do?”
“Mhm, I was going to come and see you personally but Frank stopped me.”
“Oh, I see.”
Maybe I’d get Ava to sit in on this one with me, just in case the woman was some nutter with a flip switch.
“I’ll be there at four. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. See you later.”
I hung up then immediately pressed the intercom.
“Can you come here please, Ava.”
“Course.”
Seconds later she waltzed in, tits heaving. Goddamit that women needed to get some new blouses. I just couldn’t help but look. I swear to God she’d stuck magnets in my eyeballs or something. I was just pulled to them constantly, no matter how hard I tried not to look.
“Spill,” she said, taking a seat.
“She says it’s all lies… blah, blah, blah. But, she’s coming in later today to give us her side. Another exclusive.”
“Really?”
“Mhm. And I want you here with me. The woman sounds like she could be a bit of a loose cannon, so I need you here. Just in case.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because she told me she was going to come up and see me but her partner had to stop her.”
“Ooh, a live wire. This could be interesting.”
I quirked a brow. “I guess we will find out soon enough.”
****
Four o’clock soon came around and I waited patiently, tapping my pen against the desk, wondering what dirt she was going to dish. If it was all lies then what was the kerfuffle about on Friday night?
At ten past, Ava buzzed me.
“Yes.”
“Miss Chambers is here to see you.”
“Send her through.”
I scooched to the edge of my seat and got ready to greet her. A knock came at the door.
“Come in.”
I watched the door open. Ava presented herself first before holding her arm out and allowing Jasmine to come through. She was stunning. Long chocolate brown hair, slim, subtlety tanned… she reminded me of myself, only she lacked stature.
I stood and held out my hand. “Brook Knight.”
“Jasmine Chambers.”
We embraced in a hand shake.
“Please, take a seat.”
I glanced over at Ava as she sat on the couch to the left of my desk, my eyes dropping and diving down the crack in her cleavage.
I pulled my attention away and grabbed the disclaimer from my desk drawer as I sat.
“I’ll need you to sign this before we start. It basically just says that you will not discuss this with anyone else and that Suave owns the exclusive.”
“Okay.” She skimmed the paper quickly. “Before I do, could you please send a copy to my solicitor?”
I frowned. “Seriously, I don’t have time to sit around and wait for your legal people to respond. That could take days.”
“No, it won’t. She already knows about it and is waiting.”
“Ah. In that case… where shall I send it?”
She pushed a business card across the table and I fired off the email.
“I’ll just give her a couple of minutes and then ring through. I just want her to go through it to check there’s no hidden—”
“No need to explain,” I cut in. “Maybe you’d like a drink? A coffee? Tea? While we wait.”
“No, thanks.”
An uncomfortable silence took hold of the room while we waited for her next move.
“I’m just going to step out while I make this call,” she said, picking up the disclaimer.
“Sure.”
I watched the material of her pastel blue dress hug her cute little arse as she wiggled out of the office. I slipped into a daydream—her legs spread, breasts high in the air, back arched while I ate her sweet pussy.
My clit tingled with excitement as I sat staring aimlessly, lost in my new fantasy. I squeezed my legs together and tightened my core. I was wet just thinking about her naked.
“She’s got some nerve.” Ava’s whispers cut through into my perving.
“Huh? Oh. Yes. Well, she’s entitled to. I wouldn’t sign anything like this without a second pair of eyes on it.”
“I know. But still. I don’t like her. There’s something about her.”
Mmm, yes there is.
“You’ll do well to keep those kinds of opinions to yourself, Ava.” I looked down at her with raised brows.
She saluted. “Yes, Miss.”
“Don’t take the piss. I might like you, but I wouldn’t hesitate to put you on a disciplinary.”
Her face dropped.
“There. All done. Everything is fine. I’ll sign,” Jasmine said, breezing back into the room and filling my nose with her gorgeous coconut scent.
“Fabulous.” I grabbed a pen and slid it across the desk.
She took the seat and signed the papers. Even her signature was gorgeous—all loops and swirls.
“There.” She handed the document to me.
“Thank you.” I slipped the paperwork back into my desk drawer, pulled out my voice recorder, pressed record, and said, “Okay, start from the beginning. What happened the night yo
u saw Lennox Grant in Bar Noir?”
I glanced at Ava to see her scribbling. I’d told her to take notes, word-perfect, just for back up.
“I was there with a friend just having a few drinks and a laugh. Frank was out of town on business. Anyway, we were sat minding our own business and over comes that idiot.”
“Lennox?”
“Yes. He told my friend to excuse us because we had important things to talk about. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, so I told Lesley—”
“Lesley is your friend?” I asked, already in my interrogation mode.
“Yes, that’s right. I told her to give us five, so she did. As soon as she was out of ear shot, he started on me.”
“Started on you? What did he do?”
“He taunted me. Asked if Frank had as big a dick as him.”
He’d have to go some to beat the beast.
I waited for her to continue.
“Then he just kept asking stupid questions about my sex life. Did Frank fuck me as good as he did? Did he make me scream? Did I think of him while I was with Frank? You know, the typical shit that blokes come out with when their pride’s been smacked with another man’s cock.”
I chuckled.
“Then I snapped,” she carried on. “Told him to get lost and leave me the hell alone or I would be telling Frank. I tried to get my friend’s attention but she was too busy at the bar so I got up and started making my way to her, only Lennox grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the exit.”
I watched her lips move with every word. I wasn’t taking it all in, but the Dictaphone and Ava were, so it was all good. I could perv all I wanted and imagine those sexy lips around my nipples.
“I didn’t leave with him like your article says. He practically dragged me out. I went in the end because I realised what he was up to. He was trying to attract attention and cause a scene so if any paps or reports were in there they’d be over for our blood. Lennox just loves the attention. But the last thing I needed was photos of that arsehole and me together for Frank to see while he was working away. So, in the end I went just to shut the knobhead up.” She raised her brows. “Turns out I didn’t click onto his game soon enough.”
“So, are you saying he forced you outside against your will?” Ava pipped up.
Jasmine turned to look at her, giving me a great profile view. God, she was gorgeous. I just wanted to run my tongue along her sexy little jaw line.
“Yes.” She nodded at Ava.
My ears pricked up. Her story was starting to get interesting. I didn’t care if it was true or not. As long as it made good dirty reading, I’d print it.
“When he got me outside he forced me against the wall and told me he’d fuck me in half. I pushed him off and threatened to bite his cock off if he touched me again and he backed off.”
Alarms bells rang. I flashed straight back to last night when he’d had me against the side of the pool, saying almost the exact same thing. This girl was telling the truth, which could only mean one thing. Lennox Grant had used me. He’d fooled me, and fucked me, all the while knowing he had fed me a crap story. He’d used me and my magazine to get back at his ex. Played me like a fucking fiddle. I suddenly felt like a complete idiot. My blood boiled. There was no way in hell I was going to let him get away with this. No. Way. In. Hell.
Fan Girl
Max Harper
James laughed and shook his head as I finished telling him about my Ferrari threesome.
“God damn I wish I was you. What I wouldn’t stick myself in.”
“Jesus, James,” I said, placing my hand over my crotch. “Don’t scare the poor thing with such nightmares of what you find attractive. He’s practically curled in on himself.”
He laughed. “Yeah, well, you remember that girl at the bar the other night?”
“The blonde with scuffed shoes and regrowth?” I asked, picking my scotch up from the bar.
He chuckled. “Yeah. Well, there was no regrowth, mate. Just a smooth as silk bare pussy. And oh my God… You should have seen the giblets on it.”
I nearly choked on my drink. “Fuck me. That is so wrong.”
“What?”
“You can’t call them that. That’s just offensive. All I saw in my head then was a featherless turkey running around. Not the delicate folds of a woman’s sex lips.”
“Now that’s just cheesy.”
“I don’t care. It’s better than giblets.”
“You’d never catch me saying that. Ever.”
“Well you should try it. You might get more turkey necks for talking sweet.” I laughed.
“Maybe I’ll try it then.”
I raised my glass to him then shot the rest of the whiskey back, still amazed that he managed to pull a bird with a mouth like that.
James had called round earlier as I was getting ready to tell me about some high stake poker game that was taking place soon. When he asked where I was off, I couldn’t lie. To tell the truth, although his brashness made me cringe at times, I did like hanging out with him, so I told him to come along. Plus, I wanted a drink so I asked him to play driver so I didn’t have to call for a citrus smelling, sticky seated taxi.
“So,” he started. “Tell me again why we are here?”
“Because I’m looking for someone.”
“Yeah, you told me that. But who?”
“A woman.”
“Like I didn’t already know that. Does she work here or something?”
“No, she drinks here.”
“Hold on a minute. I’m not gooseberry, am I?”
“James…” I rested my hand on his shoulder. “You’re always the gooseberry when I’m about.”
“Fucker.” He laughed. “But seriously. You aren’t on a date, are you?”
“Of course I’m not, you fool.”
“Alright. Glad we cleared that up. And just so you know, for future reference, I don’t mind being chauffeur. There’s only one condition...”
“What’s that?”
“I get her panties as a memento.”
“Taking panties from another man’s lay? No class.”
“You know I have no shame.”
Suddenly, my nose filled with Chanel N°5. I glanced behind to see a brunette in a black dress walking to the other end of the bar. I watched intently, praying she was just as sexy from the front as she was from the back. She turned and raised her hand to the barman.
“Holy shit. Look.” I nudged James excitedly.
“What? Where?”
“Brunette at the end of the bar.”
He left it a couple of seconds and then checked her out before turning back to me.
“She’s fit.”
“She’s fit? Holy fuck, man, do you not know who she is?”
He shrugged. “Someone you fisted in a Porsche?”
“Ha ha. No. It’s Brooke Knight.”
He stared at me, hitching his brows.
“She’s the owner of Suave. The magazine.”
“Ooohh… How do you know that?”
“Her picture’s always on the inside cover of the mag,” I said, moving my head around the people stood at the bar, trying to get a better view.
“Well, go on then, big man. Go and make your move.”
“I might in a bit.”
“Playing it cool. I like it.”
“Have you ever seen me play it any other way?” I lifted my hand to the tender. “Another whiskey, no ice this time.”
“No. But I’ve never seen you look like that before.”
“Like what?”
“I dunno. Excited or something. I almost didn’t recognise you.”
“Behave, man.”
“What?” He chuckled. “Your face lit up like you’d just seen a naked woman bend over with a light bulb up her arse.”
I shook my head. “That is such a poor metaphor.”
“Best I could do at short notice.” He winked.
The waiter placed my drink down on a napkin in fr
ont of me. I paid him, clasped the glass, turned around, and leant against the bar. “Has she noticed me yet?” I asked, trying to pull back some dignity after getting all fan girl.
“Don’t think so.”
“Hmm. She obviously hasn’t seen me yet.”
I downed the autumn liquid. “Get us another. I’ll be back in a minute.”
James grinned and watched me casually walk away. I strode through the bar in her direction. As I passed, she looked up at me. I acted as if I hadn’t noticed.
There you go, baby. Now you’ve seen me.
Continuing to strut my sexy arse across the floor, acting completely nonchalant, I headed for the gents.
Pulling my shirt cuffs down so they poked out from underneath my navy Hugo Boss suit, I checked myself out in the mirror. I looked hot, as per, but there was something more tonight. A twinkle in my eye. And I knew why. This woman made me feel a little intimidated and it was sending the dominant in me into overdrive. I never usually felt like this around women, or men for that matter. I’d had relations with numerous gorgeous and powerful women, but there was something about her that made me feel nervous. It might have been the fact that I’d been crushing on her for ages, but whatever it was, I had a strange feeling in my belly, a knot that was twisting. I was going in and making my move no matter what. I had to. It was a matter of ego. But first, I wanted to read her body language. Why was she here? Was she waiting to meet someone? A girlfriend? A boyfriend? If it was the latter, I was well and truly fucked.
I straightened my collar and headed back out to find her still alone at the bar. She looked up as I passed and shot me a frown. I nodded and gave her a quick lift of the cheeks.
Back next to James, I took my drink from the bar and thanked him.
“What’s the matter?”
“Huh?”
“Your forehead looks like an old lady’s creasy cleavage.” He laughed.
“You’re such a wanker sometimes.”
“I know.”
I leant against the bar on my elbow. “She looked at me funny.”
“Funny?”
“She frowned at me.”
“Well, well. If I’m not mistaken, I think the big man is nervous.”
I screwed my face up. “Get out.”
“Yeah, you are. I can see it all over your face. You’re worried about approaching this one.”