Working Desires: A Dirty Office Romance Boxset

by Hazel Keys

  I shook my head. I had no desire for sex games. I just wanted to be with Tara. “I’m sorry, my friend, I have some issues to deal with.”

  “Fair enough. Your loss, eh?” He smiled, looking back at his two beautiful companions. He nodded to me and went back inside, closing his door.

  All too soon, I reached the door of my cabin. I thought about knocking. I’d said I was sorry and walked out. The two girls had been teasing me, tantalizing me until it seemed I couldn’t stand anymore, but I’d just left. Going by her screams and curses that had echoed after me as I escaped, she was justifiably mad. Knocking might just give her time to find something to throw at me, I thought, so I simply went in.

  Inside, the cabin was dimly lit, just as it had been before. In the large central bed of the opulent, circular room, Mia lay under the sheet. She had put her white cotton nightshirt back on, and her long, straight black hair was spread out across the pillows. She faced away from the door. I couldn’t tell if she was awake or asleep.

  “Mia, I…” I began.

  “Did you fuck her?” she cut me off without turning around. Her voice was measured, quiet and calm. “Darling, I really don’t care if you did, just don’t lie to me.”

  I told her the truth. “I didn’t.”

  “Seth,” she continued, “I know there’s going to be girls throwing themselves at you. You can fuck all of them or none of them — it won’t affect our relationship. Jesus, I know I’m going to bang the odd pool boy or rock star on occasion. It’s fun and I refuse to deny myself that pleasure. But, here you have one of the most pursued and lusted after girls on this planet trying everything just to get you inside her, and you’re off chasing stolen kisses from some jumped-up waitress. What the fuck?”

  “I don’t know,” I muttered. “You’re amazing Mia. You’re stunning, smart, successful. Tara is just… I can’t stop thinking about her.”

  “Oh, Jesus Christ! Don’t even tell me you’re in love!” she snapped, turning around and sitting up, her voice taking on a much more venomous tone. “Some dumb whore you’ve known for two days? And, in that time, you’ve had to save her life twice!”

  “Don’t call her a whore,” I growled.

  “Oh please. Invite her in here now. We can fuck her together if it means so much to you. I’ll write her a check. Five thousand ought to be plenty. No, let’s make it ten, as she has to do both of us. Then I get to fuck you, you get to fuck her and she gets a nice big payday. Everybody wins.” Mia’s voice sounded so angry. “Who knows, maybe Tara and I will fall in love, then you’ll know what this rejection feels like.”

  Obviously furious, Mia bent over to the nightstand on the side of the bed away from the door. She leaned over far enough that I could see she hadn’t put her underwear back on, the sheet slipping enough to reveal her toned, tanned butt. She noisily snorted back a line of cocaine that I hadn’t realized was there.

  “I didn’t know you used that shit. Where did you get it?” I demanded.

  “It’s none of your fucking business,” she hissed back. “And don’t even begin to think you’re in any position to tell me what to do.”

  I shook my head, resigning myself to having no hope of making peace with her. I thought she might forgive me and realize I just wanted someone else. It happens all the time. But she would never understand. She lives in a world where people just take what they want, who they want and don’t care about the consequences, I thought to myself, they bully, intimidate, or pay off everyone. People like her and my father. Oh, my God! This is what Tara is afraid of! This is what she thinks I’m like, the world I live in. No wonder she bolted.

  I said no more to Mia. She snorted back another line as I went into the closet and grabbed my small bag. I couldn’t remember what was in it, I just figured there might be something I could use. Anything I left behind was most likely going to be floating around the Caribbean by sunrise.

  “The fuck are you going now?” Mia snarled at me. “Going to go give your stewardess whore a whole three minutes of fun?” I turned back to look at her. Mia’s normally phenomenally beautiful face was contorted into the ugliest mask of hatred I had ever seen. “Or do you think you’ll need me to send Valentina over again to help you get it up?”

  I turned and walked out, her insults following me down the passageway for the second time tonight.

  Chapter 16:Tara

  I didn’t stop running until I got to my little cabin. I ran in, closed the door a little too hard and started sobbing. I didn’t mean to disturb Suzy, asleep in the top bunk, but I wasn’t really thinking.

  “Tara,” Suzy murmured, slowly rising from her sleep. She hit the light and her eyes widened as she saw my ripped shirt, torn open by Seth in the heat of passion. “What the hell happened? Are you okay, did someone hurt you?” Suzy was younger than me but, because of her slightly more senior rank and because she’d been part of the crew for six months and me only two, Suzy always seemed to be on the lookout for me. And, although I was perfectly capable of looking after myself, I adored her for it.

  “No, I’m fine, really.” I sniffed.

  My makeup was running. I looked down at my shirt. It was ruined. My bra was still pushed up, too, exposing my breasts, where Seth had shoved it so he could grope, kiss, and lick me. I felt better for a nanosecond, the memory of his hot hands and mouth all over my tits as I crushed his head to my chest returning. I pulled off the tattered remains and took off my bra. Suzy handed me a tank-top, which I slipped on before thumping down hard on my bunk. Suzy slid down from the top, slipped on her fluffy robe to cover her own nakedness, and sat down beside me.

  “You sure you’re not hurt?” she asked.

  “I’m sure.”

  “In that case, you’ve been getting naughty with someone,” Suzy teased. “Come on, spill.”

  With Sofia interrupting us, then dashing off to who knows where, the whole crew would know soon enough. So, I told Suzy. I told her about the kiss the first night, about the near kiss tonight, about being so close to making love in the galley just now. And about how relieved I was that Sofia had shown up, preventing me from making a terrible mistake.

  However, I still couldn’t tell Suzy that I’d specifically joined the crew of Venus to be on this charter, that I was only on board to take revenge on Seth for what his father did to my family. Or that, in getting to know him, I’d discovered that he was nothing like his father, or that I thought I was falling in love with him.

  “That little witch, though,” scowled Suzy about Sofia. “She doesn’t have to tell the captain. He’ll fire you.”

  “I know,” I said, resigned to the fact, “but who can blame her? Or him? My unprofessional behavior might be enough to screw up the tip for everyone. I should be fired.”

  “Don’t say that. It sounds like Seth really likes you. Maybe this is your Cinderella story.” She sounded so full of hope I had to smile.

  “That remains to be seen,” I told her. By now, he’d be back with Mia. They’ll have been fucking like bunnies since I left him. Guaranteed. In the morning, he’ll be like "Tara who?"

  “Well, if we get through this,” said Suzy, “next time a charter makes you feel all gooey, come tell me.”

  “And you’ll what, Suzy?” I smiled. “Take care of my urges?”

  Suzy smirked back and gave me a big kiss on the lips. “It’s tempting, but it might make bunking together a little awkward. So, I’ll just listen and tell you you’re an idiot, deal?”

  “Deal.”

  It was rolling toward two-thirty and, even postponing our normal dawn running session, we still both needed to be up before seven, so Suzy popped back up to her bunk and put the lights out.

  Lying in the darkness, there was no way I could sleep, though. My mind raced from my fear of what the morning would bring, and the elated emotions I couldn’t help feeling as I remembered Seth’s hands on me, his arms around me, his mouth on me, and the sensation of his marble-hard cock as it touched my lower lips, poised and ready to
penetrate me, before we were interrupted. The urgency of his kisses, the passionate strength of his embrace, the way his impressive member throbbed in my small hands, all those recollections made my body sing. I twisted in frustration and let out a soft sigh.

  “Stop playing with yourself and go to sleep,” came Suzy’s mock-stern voice from above. “You don’t want to have to make me come down there.”

  *****

  After what seemed like only five minutes’ sleep, Suzy and I were back up and getting ready for work. In the galley, where the crew was gathering for breakfast, neither the captain nor Sofia were present and everyone that was went suspiciously quiet when I walked in. Suzy strode in behind me and started taunting, teasing, and flirting her way around the room, as she always did, giving the crew no option but to think and talk about something other than me. She’s probably the most amazing girl I’ve ever met, I smiled to myself, before the dreaded call came over the intercom, summoning me to the wheelhouse.

  I expected Captain Samson’s normally kind, bearded face to be furious but, on arrival, I found him as placid as usual. He didn’t school me on the right way to behave, merely reassured me that he knew I hadn’t deliberately caused trouble, just merely blindsided, but rules were rules and he had to let me go.

  “I’ve seen you on duty,” he smiled, “and I’ve been doing this for long enough to know you haven’t told me everything about your past employment. I could ask some questions, but I feel like you must have had good reasons to be… economical with the truth about yourself.”

  “I never meant any disrespect, Captain…” I began.

  “Of that, I have no doubt,” Samson said soothingly, “and it’s all now in the past. I’m sorry, Tara, but you’ll have to be confined to quarters until the charter is over. After that, I’ll see you get your share of the tip and your ticket home. I trust I don’t need to find someone to escort or guard you?” I shook my head. “Off the record,” he said, “I know a little something about what the heart wants. And I think you’ll be okay, my dear.” He winked at me and I hugged him, a tear in my eye.

  Chapter 17:Seth

  I eventually mustered the courage to go for breakfast on the lower deck. Already there were Mick, Antonia, Jessica, plus George. My short, overweight but well-meaning attorney had gone to bed early last night after being talked into doing tequila shots with Jay Money and his other porn star playmate, Coco, much to the annoyance of his date Valentina. No doubt her frustration at George’s continual failure to show a good time had led to her becoming involved in Mia’s sexy surprise last night. I needed to speak to George about what happened. He was my best friend, after all.

  As I sat down, Jessica and Antonia excused themselves simultaneously. “Was it something I said?” I smiled.

  “Are you okay?” asked George. “Mick told me about the shouting match between you and Mia last night. What happened?”

  “The real question,” I said, really trying to avoid that subject, “is what’s going to happen when Jay wakes up? Aren’t you the slightest bit worried about him finding out about your little party with Jessica and Antonia?”

  “No. I squared everything with him,” explained Mick.

  “You… You didn’t buy her, did you?” George ventured nervously, making the obvious misunderstanding. I snorted a laugh.

  “Of course not!” Mick cried. George looked relieved. “But I now owe Jay my Senna Edition Ducati. Was totally worth it, though.”

  I shook my head at the Englishman’s nerve, then turned back to George. “I have to tell you what happened with Valentina last night. It seems Mia managed to talk her into…”

  “It’s okay, Seth. Valentina told me,” he said calmly. “She only told me to hurt me, but it came as no surprise to find out she wasn’t actually attracted to me. I’m not an idiot.”

  “I didn’t try anything with her. I may have been a little slow to stop her, but…”

  “It doesn’t matter.” George gave me a smile and a hand on my shoulder. “So, where are you and Mia now?”

  Antonia and Jessica returned and, pausing out of politeness for Michelle or Suzy to serve, I told them about my feelings for Tara, Mia’s frustration, and that we’d been discovered together.

  “That’s why we haven’t seen Tara this morning?” asked Jessica.

  “Wow. It’s so romantic, so passionate,” mused Antonia, dreamily.

  “Yeah, but she’s going to lose her job and no one will let me down to see her,” I complained.

  “Poor, poor Seth,” came Mia’s malevolent tones from behind me. I whirled around to see her looking classically stunning. Big shades, big red sunhat and a red two-piece under a sheer wrap. Leaning on her arm was Valentina, dressed in her usual denim short-shorts and white crop-top. “Of course, she’s not your problem anymore, darling. She’s fired from this boat and, by this afternoon, she’ll struggle to get a job crewing the ferry that runs the ten-minute crossing between Malta and Gozo.”

  I knew she was going to do this. I felt my fists clench, my teeth grind, and I struggled to control my breathing. “Why do you have to do that?” I managed to seethe quietly.

  “Because I can,” Mia was yelling now, “and I want you to feel some of the pain and helplessness that I’ve endured these past few days, throwing myself at you and being rejected over and over.”

  The other guests shifted uncomfortably.

  “I think I’d better go,” I told her, trying to end this encounter.

  “I’m not even half done with you yet,” she screamed. Valentina stared at me viciously. I slowly stood and approached them, keeping myself under control, just. Everyone held their breath.

  “Whatever you’re planning to do to me, Mia,” I said evenly as I walked toward them, “there is, at least, no way you can force me to stand around and watch you do it.” I walked past them to the stairs, leaving them far behind.

  *****

  Thankfully, from my point of view, there was only another hour or so before Venus returned to Aruba and the charter was over. I stayed in my cabin and thought about Tara. It’s the craziest thing, I said to myself, this vacation was a chance for a break, to see if Mia and I had a thing worth pursuing. I know it’s all good on paper; a merger between the Radisson estate and the Wong family fortune. But I don’t want to get married because it makes good business sense. That’s what my father would do. Still, I never expected to meet her. I never imagined someone so beautiful, so mysterious, so right for me. I must find Tara.

  As soon as the yacht was in dock I heard Mia and Valentina disembark, ordering poor Troy, the third deckhand, around and not wanting to wait for the official farewell from the crew. I gathered my things, let the deckhands take my cases off, and went up. I hung around the entrance to the galley and the crew quarters until the others started complaining, just hoping I might catch her, or catch a glimpse of her.

  Eventually, though, I was back on the aft deck. The crew was lined up in their whites once again to see us off. The last to leave, I shook hands with each crew member. Michelle and Suzy, the other two stewards, both gave me a quick kiss goodbye. Sofia wasn’t present. She was probably a little uncomfortable, to say the least, so I said nothing.

  “Well, what can I say?” said Captain Samson, as he shook my hand heartily. “Thank you for giving us a very… interesting charter.”

  “I hope it wasn’t too terrible, Captain.” I smiled, pressing the thick envelope into his hand. “I know I caused some problems. Hopefully, this will help you weather the storm.”

  “That’s very generous, thank you. Please come back and see us again.”

  “I would love to. Please, though, is there any way I could talk to Tara, or get a message to her?” I implored. This felt like the last chance.

  “I’m sorry, sir, Tara left the boat as soon as we docked, even before your lady, I mean, ex-lady friend.” The captain shrugged.

  Man, I thought, she wasn’t kidding about having to find her. I nodded gratefully to him and trudged off. I
followed the others down the jetty to the waiting stretched Hummer and ducked inside. Before closing the door, I allowed myself one last look at the magnificent Venus, gleaming white against the clear blue sky, gently rocking on the sparkling Caribbean waters. My God, I said to myself, what this boat has managed to do.

  Chapter 18:Tara

  Suzy was banging on my cabin door. “Come on, bitch, shake a leg!” she yelled. “Crew meeting and the captain insists you attend.”

  I wiped the tears from my eyes. “Be right there.”

  I had to go through with it. I quickly touched up my makeup and fixed my hair. When I finally felt I looked half presentable, I took a deep breath and headed for the crew lounge.

  There were a couple of knowing glances and shy smiles as I entered. Sofia avoided my eyes, as did Alex, reminding me of our recent flirtation. Tristan and Troy waved hello. I squeezed in next to Suzy, who dropped her hand below the table so I could hold onto it.

  “You all know my rules,” began Samson, “everyone who works on the charter gets an equal share of the tip. Now, this was a somewhat extraordinary charter, what with lifesaving, masts hit by lightning, crew members losing their heads…” He didn’t look over at me. “So, I’m happy to say, we have a somewhat extraordinary tip.” The captain pulled out a wad of cash from an envelope. “One hundred thousand dollars,” he announced, slowly and deliberately, and to the accompaniment of a large collective sigh. Suzy involuntarily squeezed my hand in hers. I couldn’t believe it. “That’s right. That’s about five times what we would normally expect from a two-night charter, but there it is. Around ten thousand each.”