Man of the House: An Older Man Younger Woman Romance

by Sarah Rowling

Bess offered to cancel her date, but Diana refused to be the reason her best friend would not be able to enjoy herself tonight. She thought of her other friends but couldn’t think of anyone she actually wanted to be with right now... except for James, who was off limits for obvious reasons.

  She then realized that she hadn’t been over to see her boss recently. She gave Richard a call, asking him if she could come over and see how he was doing. When he agreed, she changed into something more respectable and headed out.

  Chapter Five

  Diana’s boss lived in a very fancy apartment building. His first wife, James’ mother, had died when James had been very little. His second wife had divorced him. He lived alone except for his maid, Amy.

  It was Amy who opened the door for her. “Diana!” she exclaimed. “Come in, come in!”

  Amy had always liked Diana. The feeling was mutual.

  Diana entered Richard’s apartment. “Mr. Walker is in his room,” said Amy. “He’s with his son, but you can go in, they won’t mind.”

  Diana started. “His son?” she asked. “Yeah,” Amy replied. “His son comes here every day to take care of his dad. Does my job for me, so I don’t complain.”

  Diana was utterly confused. This made no sense, James hated his father. He wouldn’t be here taking care of him, that just didn’t fit the description Diana had of him in her head.

  She entered Richard’s bedroom to see him lying on his bed, an assortment of medical equipment surrounding him, and James at his side.

  “Hey, you,” said James, with that devilish grin of his.

  “H-hey,” said Diana to James. “Hey, boss,” she said to Richard.

  “Diana,” said Richard warmly. “Come sit down.”

  Diana hugged Richard and sat down on a chair beside James. “How’re you feeling?” she asked Richard.

  “I’m feeling pretty good,” Richard responded. “I’ll be back on my feet in no time, don’t you worry. James here was telling me what a great job you’re doing running my company for me when you called.”

  Richard’s voice was tired, his appearance haggard, but he was looking back and forth between Diana and James with much affection.

  They talked for a few minutes. Richard told her about how bored he was lying down all day, cooped up in his bedroom. How he couldn’t wait to get back to work. James scolded him at that, saying that his father deserved to retire now and enjoy himself, that he would be able to handle the company, especially with Diana in charge.

  Eventually, Richard grew tired and had to rest. James and Diana exited his room. “Let’s sit in my room,” said James. “It turns out, Dad had always kept a spare bedroom ready if I ever came back.”

  When they were in the room, they remained awkwardly silent for a time until Diana broke the silence.

  “This was why you were late for work, wasn’t it?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” said James.

  “Why didn’t you just tell me?” said Diana.

  James fidgeted and said, “I didn’t want you feeling sorry for me. I mean, my dad almost died. I almost lost him without ever having said that I was sorry for treating him so badly. If I had mentioned that I was with him, I would’ve started venting and then neither of us would have gotten any work done.”

  Diana reached out and touched his face. James raised his head to look at her. Without realizing it, they started to inch closer together, until their lips met in a kiss.

  This was nothing like the kiss they had experienced before. This one was far more tender, and in some way, even more intense.

  James was unbuttoning her blouse now, Diana’s hand was on his cock. She began to unbutton his shirt as he pressed his lips to her breasts.

  Diana’s hands were moving of their own accord. It was like she no longer had any control over her own body. She savored the feel of his muscular, lean chest once his shirt was open. He seemed to be savoring the taste of her neck.

  “Wait,” said Diana, uncertainly. This was not right. He was still her boss’ son. He was still her coworker. This would violate so many ethical boundaries.

  “Wait!” said Diana, firmly this time, pushing James away. James looked confused, Diana was gasping. “We can’t,” said Diana.

  She got up and buttoned her blouse back up. James stood up more slowly and said, “I guess you’re right.” He sounded disappointed, but he knew she would be unwilling now.

  They both exited the room. Diana could practically feel his gaze on her as he followed her out. They decided to sit in the living room and talk, as it was much safer. Diana just wished that he wasn’t the sweet, caring man he turned out to be. It would’ve been so much easier if he had been an asshole. Now she had even less to keep her away from him.

  Diana then looked at him, handsome as he laughed, and began to wonder why she was forcing herself to stay away from him at all.

  The End of Book 3 of 5

  * * *

  Book 44: Diana’s Dalliance 4

  Copyright © 2015 All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  This story has erotic themes and is suitable for adults, 18+ only.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter One

  The sound of an alarm pierced through the fog of Diana’s sleep. She awoke, groggy but coherent. The events of the previous day were a complete jumble.

  Recently, it seemed that every day was just one series of shocking events after another. However, the events of the previous day seemed to be the most shocking of all.

  She had still been unable to wrap her mind around how different James actually was from what she had thought of him. Seeing him yesterday, taking care of his father so tenderly, it had put a fresh perspective on things.

  As Diana got herself ready for the day, she thought back about all of the things that James had told her last night. They had talked about pretty much everything, and in this lengthy conversation, she discovered that James was not just incredibly attractive, but he was an excellent human being as well.

  He told her, first and foremost, about what had happened between him and his father.

  It turned out that James had been groomed from a very young age to take over his father’s company. It was his father’s dream that the company be handed off to his son when he retired.

  James, however, did not want to run the company as much as his father wanted him to. He had never had a normal childhood because his father’s interactions with him were always relating to work and how he could do better at his education.

  One example that James gave of Richard’s poor performance as a father was when James came home covered in scratches, bruises, and cuts after a bully beat him up. Richard was immersed in work, and depressed over his second wife divorcing him. He never gave James the attention he deserved in that moment, never called the school to complain, didn’t really do anything besides tell James he needed to stand up for himself.

  Eventually, James’s frustration at his father putting so much pressure on him and never being present resulted in him reaching a breaking point. Richard cared so much about his ex-wife, he had never worried so much about James. He had never cared this much about what James had wanted, all he wanted to do was plan James’ life out for him, never leaving any room for James to actually consider what he might want to do with his life.

  The fight escalated to the point where they almost came to blows, after which James had stormed out and gotten the best job he could, at his father’s rival company. It was the only way he could support himself and live in comfort, and his father did not blame him for choosing to work at the rival company.

  In the end, James and his father si
mply stopped talking to one another. There was simply too much anger and resentment on James’ part, and guilt on Richard’s part.

  When Richard fell sick, however, James had immediately abandoned his frustration and resentment, right though he was to feel that way, to come to his father’s side. He had decided to help keep his father’s company alive and help out as much as he could, but according to him, he did not realize that the company was already being run by someone far more capable than he would ever be.

  Diana had realized in that moment that he was talking about her and ended up blushing. James had laughed at her color, and had reached out a hand to touch her face but then stopped himself.

  The conversation continued as though this had not happened. James asked Diana about her own life, and Diana responded as best she could. She told him about her aspirations to be a successful businesswoman. She was very pleased when he complimented her, telling her that she was already a successful businesswoman and probably had a lot more success awaiting her down the road.

  He had worked his way up in the rival company from scratch to become a Vice President. Because he was the son of a rival business owner, his boss made him work extra hard. Despite all of this, James had established a solid reputation as a great businessman. More importantly, he had built a reputation for being honest, which made him very popular with his clients.

  Diana had smiled at this, and said that his good looks probably helped a lot in this department. James pretended to be offended, saying that he did not attribute Diana’s success to her good looks.

  Both of them had laughed at this. An ease had developed between them, an ease that allowed them to talk to each other in such a candid manner and remain nonchalant. Diana had started to feel a connection with him, one that extended beyond his looks.

  The conversation eventually turned to their love lives. Diana told James that she had not had a boyfriend in a while, ever since she had started working so hard. James said that this was an affront to nature, that such a beautiful woman should remain single. He suggested that perhaps Diana was interested in Bess and too afraid to say it. Diana had chuckled at this, and playfully hit him across the arm.

  James’ own love life was the exact opposite of Diana’s. Up until recently, he had been going out with girl after girl, never staying with a single partner for very long. It had initially been because he had suddenly gained independence and a place to bring girls where no one could interrupt him. He had always enjoyed the attention of women.

  However, as of late, he had begun to feel that the life of playboy was not the ideal life for him. His romantic pursuits had started to feel hollow, shallow in some way. Diana asked if he wanted a serious partner now. James only laughed.

  This had confused her. Had he been laughing because he felt that Diana’s suggestion had been ridiculous to him, or had he laughed because he was just trying to avoid the subject because he felt the same way she did? Both of them seemed like something James would do. She just had difficulty deciding what exactly had actually been the case.

  The conversation waned after a little while. Both of them had gotten quite tired from all the talking after a busy day. James had already been tired from taking care of his father all day, Diana had been tired from taking care of his father’s business. They shared a joke that each of them had become responsible for half of his father’s life, Diana for his work and James for his health.

  Eventually, James saw Diana out and retired to his bedroom, and Diana left for home. She had had a lot to think about on the ride home.

  Suddenly jolted to reality by her phone ringing, Diana turned off her shower. She wondered how long she had been in there.

  She exited her bathroom and picked up her phone from her bed. It was Robert. He had left messages as well, which Diana deleted. She wasn’t interested in talking to him, particularly because he had used her in such a way.

  Chapter Two

  “I don’t know if you’re exhausted for the good reason or the bad,” said Bess as Diana walked with her to the restaurant where they always had lunch.

  Diana gave a small laugh, rubbed her eyes, and said, “Not quite good, but not quite bad either. My date with Robert didn’t go so well, which was why I had called you.”

  “Yeah, I know,” said Beth. “What happened exactly?”

  Diana made a face and said, “He’d been lying about breaking up with his fiancée. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to believe him. I actually thought that he was a decent guy, you know?”

  Bess smiled at her friend and said, “Come on, it’s not that bad. Lots of people cheat.”

  “Yes,” said Diana crossly. “But I didn’t want to be involved in his infidelities. I just wanted a regular relationship.”

  “A regular relationship where you pretend that he’s James?” asked Bess with a smirk.

  “Oh, shut up,” said Diana. “What I did wasn’t nearly as bad as what he did.”

  “How do you know?” said Bess, tucking into her salad. Diana, on the other hand, was ignoring her pasta.

  “What do you mean?” said Diana, perplexed. “He was cheating on his fiancée, that’s way worse than... you know... me pretending he was someone else.”

  “All I’m saying, babe,” said Bess, in between mouthfuls. “Is that it’s all about perception. If some guy had used me to cheat on his wife, I wouldn’t have given a crap as long as the sex had been good. It’s his life, you know? As long as he wasn’t make any commitments to me while he was still committed to her, I would have no problems with it.”

  “Well, that’s you, right?” asked Diana, taking a sip of coffee and finally deciding to start eating her pasta before it got any colder.

  “Exactly,” said Bess, waving her fork around as she spoke. Diana had to admit, she loved her friend in that moment. She loved how wise she was, and how excitedly she doled out her wisdom. She decided that whatever Bess had to say was probably important, and that she should listen hard.

  “Go on,” said Diana, taking a bite of pasta.

  “See for me,” Bess continued. “Being used to cheat isn’t that bad, but if the guy was using me as a substitute for someone else... now that is something I just wouldn’t be able to stomach. I’m a person, you know? I’m not some toy that you can use so that you can pretend you’re having sex with someone else.”

  “So what’re you saying,” said Diana, washing down her pasta with some more coffee.

  “I’m saying that you may think that being unknowingly involved in someone else’s infidelities is worse than using that person as an analog for James,” said Bess. “But Robert might think that what you did is pretty bad, too. The point is that you know what he did, but he has no idea what you did. So you can’t really tell what his feelings are on the matter, which means that you can’t really know how bad what you did really is. You can measure how something is based on how other people respond to it, you know?”

  “So you think I should tell him?” said Diana, a frown on her face. “I don’t want to talk to him, he might get the wrong idea. And I don’t want to be cruel and hurt him by saying that I used him to think about James.”

  Bess shook her head and said, “You don’t have to tell him, but you don’t have to ignore him either. Give him a chance to explain, hear him out. Let him apologize. It might be good for you, too, you might be able to move on.”

  Diana nodded thoughtfully.

  “So...” ventured Bess. “That actually sounds like a pretty bad night, all things considered. What makes you say that it wasn’t bad?”

  “Oh,” said Diana distractedly. “I kind of talked to James last night.”

  “About what?” asked Bess.

  “Well,” said Diana, suddenly remembering what she was about to tell Bess. “I went to Richard’s place last night. You were busy, and there was no one else I wanted to see. Richard’s like a father to me, you see, I just wanted to visit him to see how he was doing.”

  “And?” Bess prodded.

 
“And...” Diana continued. “Well, when I got there, I found out that James was there, too.”

  Bess raised her eyebrows in surprise and said, “Really? James at his father’s place? I thought those two had had a major falling out, that they wanted nothing to do with each other.”

  “Well, James actually told me about that. It turns out that James’s father was very distant while James was growing up, and he was very controlling. Richard wanted James to take over the company, and that was all he groomed James for. He was never really a father to him. He was never there when James needed him, like when a bully beat him up at school.”

  “Oh,” said Bess. “That actually explains a lot.”

  Diana nodded and said, “Richard was the reason the fight happened, he admitted it himself. James was actually the bigger man, letting go of his resentment and coming to help his father. He left his job and everything to help keep his father’s company afloat.”

  “Wow,” said Bess. “That’s really heavy. I mean, I would have never thought that there was so much going on.”

  “Yeah...” said Diana. “I actually have started to feel differently about James.”

  “Oh, really now?” said Bess coyly. “No more vitriol towards Mr. Yummy?”

  Diana gave a small smile and said, “Nope. But I don’t know...”

  “What don’t you know?” asked Bess.

  “There’s still the fact that he’s either a colleague or my future boss,” said Diana. “And whatever the outcome of that will be, he’s still my current boss’ son. There’s just too much grey area around any potential relationship we might have.”

  “I have a feeling that there’s something else, too...” said Bess.

  “Well... yeah,” said Diana. “He’s kind of a playboy, you know? The only relationships he has ever really had have been with fake women who just wanted him for his money. He’s used to just using women and then tossing them aside. I want something real, something that is genuine. What if all he wants is a girl he can fuck at work? An office girl, so to speak. I don’t want to be that, I want to be in an actual relationship with him.”