by Lauren Wood
I turned and looked back over my shoulder. “What are you waiting for?”
I shouldn’t have asked. He took it as a challenge and thrusted into me so fast and hard I could barely stand it. But I had never been so turned on in my life, so my body took him in greedily.
“Such a bad, bad girl,” he teased. His words were followed by several sharp smacks to my butt, which only excited me more.
I felt myself clenching up all over again, my body aching for the same release that had tore through me before. I was so close again already, and I could feel he was right there with me.
That would have been enough. I could have let go right then, just like that, and it still would have been the best sex of my life. But I forgot I had met my match, and Jordan Ashford never settled for anything. He was always the over-achiever, going the extra mile.
He pounded into me over and over again as his hand snaked into my hair once again. He pulled back with a sharp tug that I felt right down to where his dense body was smacking into me from behind. No one had ever been that deep before…that hard or that full of stamina.
If we hadn’t been in his office, he could have gone all night…just as he had promised before. That’s when a tinge of regret hit me. I knew my plan was flawed. This wasn’t going to quench my thirst for him for good. It was going to make things so much worse for me. I would never be able to stop wanting more, and now I would be stuck working with him for years to come.
Somehow, he managed to fuck all of that out of my brain until we were both bursting through the rise and fall of our orgasms. He shivered and pumped inside of me until he was drained dry, and I was panting with whimpers from exhaustion.
Normally, sex gave me more energy. But maybe I just hadn’t been doing it with the right people. I felt drained dry. Then again, nothing had been my definition of normal on that night with him.
“Holy hell,” I gasped as I tried to remember how my limbs worked well enough to stand.
“Yeah,” he huffed back, raking his hands through his hair.
We stumbled our way through getting dressed and putting ourselves back together. A somewhat awkward silence fell as we looked back to the stacks of papers scattered all around us.
“Well, back to it then,” I decided out loud, still out of breath.
“Jesus, you really are a workaholic,” he quipped.
“Eventually, you’ll learn to believe me when I tell you things about myself and you’ll stop underestimating me,” I grinned. I knew it was my moment to save face, no matter how I really felt inside. “And that includes what I said about tonight. This was a one time only thing.”
“You don’t have to tell me that,” he chuckled, and I could see a glint of fear in his eyes. As if he was just now realizing exactly what he had let himself do.
But there was no way he could possibly regret any of it. I certainly couldn’t, no matter how much I knew I should have.
7
Jordan
Of course it was impossible to go back to work after that like nothing happened. Cat didn’t seem to have any problem with it, but for me…all the words kept blurring around in circles on the pages in front of me.
“I’m calling it a night,” I decided, jumping up to grab my coat. I draped it over my arms and started shoving everything into my briefcase.
“Giving up already?” she teased.
“It’s after midnight.”
“Only after midnight,” she countered.
“You don’t have a badge for the building’s security, so you’ll have to walk out with me. We can fix that later if there’s a need.”
As she reluctantly gathered her things and followed me to the door, I started to think of all sorts of uses for her having a badge that gave her access to the building. Such as more midnight rendezvous like the one we just had.
But I immediately shook my head, trying to get rid of that dangerous thought. That wasn’t just a one time only thing because she claimed that was all she wanted. That was all it ever could be, no matter what either of us wanted.
As we got onto the elevator and rode down to the lobby, a sick feeling started creeping into my chest. What have I done?
I rapidly cycled through all of the worst possible outcomes. I imagined Cat’s fiance finding out, then her father finding out. He’d beat the shit out of me and cut all ties. He’d destroy my reputation and make sure I never worked in this city again…maybe even the whole country or world. Mark Whitaker wasn’t that kind of of guy, really. But all bets were off when it came to his daughter, or so I imagined.
Of course the Heartstring deal would fall to pieces, and my whole life would be in shambles. How had I managed to go so long without ever sleeping with anyone I worked with, yet throw it all away in a brief few moments for a woman who was a million times riskier than all the other offers I had to shit where I ate?
The panic started building and rising up into my throat until I couldn’t stand it anymore. The moment we got out onto the dark sidewalks where a light sprinkle of rain was falling, I grabbed Cat by the arm and pulled her off under an awning.
“Listen, Cat. All jokes and games aside, I need you to know that will never happen again. Nothing like that can ever happen again between you and me. And…I hate to ask this, but you can never tell anyone about this.”
Her eyes glossed over with rage, but she still managed to play it cool. Somehow that was even sexier than when she was trying to seduce me. “I know it will never happen again. I believe I already told you that. And your second point was more of a command than a question. Still, what the hell makes you think I would tell anyone and why would you hate to ask that? You think I’m just dying to go bragging about it to everyone? I can’t have anyone finding out either, remember?”
“Maybe I’m the one who thinks I should be bragging about you,” I offered, trying my best to smooth it over. If she hated me, I had no security or assurance that she wouldn’t let all of this blow up in my face as vengeance.
But she didn’t look the least bit amused. Her eyes squinted with anger, and I could see the rage bubbling up even more inside. “Don’t try and sweet talk me or kiss my ass, Jordan. Those games don’t work on me, and the only reason I was attracted to you in the first place was because you didn’t do that very thing.”
“Well, good then,” I shot back. “Because we need to stop being attracted to each other. Call it a favor to both of us.”
“God, I don’t know how I missed that you were this full of yourself,” she seethed. “Or…I guess I knew, but it’s like us sleeping together just lifted the veil from my eyes.”
“I’m sorry,” I submitted. “I wasn’t trying to start a fight.”
“Right, you were just trying to butter me up as damage control,” she huffed, crossing her arms.
“God, how did I not realize what an insufferable…”
Her eyes widened and her brows lifted. “I would choose your next words very carefully.”
“Vixen,” I smirked, immediately regretting the choice of title. That was the opposite direction of where this needed to go. What was she doing to me? Even the biggest business tycoons couldn’t talk me in circles like this.
But finally, it worked— for better or worse. Her lips softened in a smile. “A vixen whose lips are sealed.” She mimicked a zip and lock across her lips before tossing away the invisible key. “Unless of course your secretary asks what we get up to in these late night meetings. I can be a very jealous woman, and I’m afraid I might have to tell her the truth just to put her in her place.”
“Jealous?” I scoffed. “And what about your fiance? Is he a jealous man? Because if so…some right you have…Maybe I’ll just go pay him a visit.”
“I should slap you,” she fumed, getting pissed all over again. All the smoothing over I had done dissipated just like that.
“I’m sorry,” I admitted. “Really, I am. Look…I’m just worried you’re not taking this seriously. I need this deal to go through.”
&
nbsp; “So do I,” she said sternly.
“Then you understand those stakes, but if this gets out…Your dad is going to kill me, not you,” I explained.
“You’re scared?”
“You’ve met your father, right?” I smirked, trying to lighten the mood. But it didn’t seem to be working.
“Thanks for ruining a perfectly good night,” she snipped, pushing past me to the curb. She scanned the passing cars, presumably looking for a cab.
“Cat, come back. Let me call my car around for you,” I argued.
But with nothing more than a quick glance back, she stormed off around the corner. I couldn’t resist peeking around to watch her catching a cab further up the block. I also couldn’t have messed that up more if I tried.
My head was spinning in circles as I pulled out my phone to call my own car and driver. I couldn’t put my finger on why anything had happened the way it did. Cat had some sort of wild effect on me that left me dazed and confused afterwards, like I didn’t know what hit me.
The sex though…God, was it good. The best of my life, if I was being honest with myself. And she didn’t even have a chance to do much to impress me beyond demonstrating her mind blowing BJ skills. The rest of it was all in her body and how she moved…the sounds she made and the looks that flashed across her face. I had never met such an intoxicating woman before…and it just had to be Cat Whitaker.
Mixed in with my enchantment with her was the lingering panic over what a huge mistake I had made. I had half a mind to call her, just to make sure she understood this was no game for me. Or maybe I was just looking for an excuse to hear her voice again? Even though she only left me a few seconds ago.
I didn’t know what was happening to me. All I could do was go home and shower, hoping to wash away some of the madness. By the time I settled into bed, I felt a little more clear headed. I hoped by the next morning that this would all seem like a distant dream and that some of my fears would subside.
But instead, my night was filled with hot sweats and vivid dreams about everything that happened with Cat in the boardroom…all bleeding together with brand new fantasies that I wanted to happen in the future, knowing full well they never could.
Where the hell did Cat come from? And why couldn’t she be a harmless teenager again fawning over me by the swimming pool? It was an easy no-brainer to resist her then. It never even crossed my mind. Now that she was all grown up…I was screwed, in more ways than one.
8
Cat
The only thing worse than getting ready for work and wanting to attract Jordan while knowing nothing could ever happen, was getting ready for work after all the things that never should have happened already did.
I stood in front of the mirror, vengefully making myself look hot as possible. I didn’t appreciate the speech he gave me after our little thing. Going on about it only being the one time and no one ever finding out. As if I hadn’t been saying that from the very start!?
I grumbled to myself as I ran a lint roller over my pants and jacket before turning to steaming my shirt. Who does he think he is?
I was used to cocky businessmen who were rich and powerful and convinced that they were god’s gift to women. Anyone who slept with them would automatically fall under their spell. They’d be in love and start thinking all sorts of ridiculous things and want to shout it from the rooftops.
I understood all of that. I just didn’t understand where Jordan Ashford got off thinking I was one of those women, or that I felt any of those things about him. I wasn’t fifteen anymore. He was nothing more than a sort of fetish…a fantasy to fulfill. And now that it was fulfilled? I was fine. More than fine.
After slipping into my pressed clothes and putting on my earrings, I applied another round of lipgloss and threw everything in my bag to head out the door. I was in a huff the whole way, reminding myself that I would have to use every opportunity possible to not only prove to Jordan just how wrong he was, but also to teach him a lesson about who he was messing with.
But all of my vengeful thoughts were brutally interrupted when I walked into Jordan’s office to find my father sitting in the very chair where Jordan had been camping out on our last all-nighter.
“There she is,” my father beamed.
“Hey, Daddy,” I smiled back, rushing over to kiss him on the cheek. My eyes darted across Jordan, but I made a point not to let them linger. He didn’t need anymore ego boosts from me.
“I see you and Jordan here have made tremendous progress on these contracts,” he noted, spreading them out on the table.
I swallowed hard as flashbacks from the other night came flooding back to me. As my father’s hand drifted over the papers, I knew my half-naked body was being pummeled by Jordan in that very spot not so long ago.
“Daddy! Yes, thank you,” I blurted awkwardly, shuffling him away from the crime scene as subtly and naturally as possible. “We have been working hard. I’m glad you’ve had a chance to look it all over. Any thoughts?”
“Just one,” he grinned. He broke free from my grip and leaned back against the table—once again in the very spot where my bare ass had been. He crossed his arms and flashed his eyes back and forth between us both.
“What’s that?” I asked, feeling suddenly short of breath. I wouldn’t let myself look at Jordan long enough to try and guess if he was as mortified as me.
“You two,” he replied, still not breaking his glaring eyes from me, then Jordan, then back to me. “Why didn’t I ever think to pair the two of you up before?” He shook his head and laughed. “Talk about a power couple! Hell, if you weren’t already wearing Drew’s ring, I’d have half a mind to suggest you…”
“Dad!” I blurted, stopping his words in mid-air while my cheeks turned bright red.
“I’m only teasing,” he defended. “I didn’t mean romantically…obviously. Come on, it’s Jordan. He’s practically family, and he’s ten years older than you!”
“I know that,” I smiled awkwardly as Dad came over to kiss me on the cheek. This time, I did let my eyes wander over to Jordan…mostly because I didn’t understand why he wasn’t doing a damn thing to help me.
I was pissed at him for the way he acted after we had sex, and I did kind of want to secretly punish him for it around the office. But not like this…not in front of my own Dad.
I would never really tell anyone. I was engaged, and Dad would kill Jordan. I knew nothing else could ever really happen between us, but that didn’t stop me from wanting more…or from wanting to make him pay for being such an arrogant ass.
But then I thought…since Jordan wasn’t doing a damn thing to circumvent the awkwardness with my Dad, maybe I could use the moment to my advantage.
“But you know…he’s not really like family,” I blurted suddenly. “Not to me. He was around, but we were never really close. And anyway, aren’t you and Mom like seven years apart in age?”
I glared at Jordan as I said it, wondering if this would be the moment that broke him. He was obviously tense, but he didn’t speak a word. Apparently, neither of us had gone far enough.
“Would it really be so bad if we ended up together?” I added, just to drive the point home.
Dad’s brow furrowed as if he was really thinking it over, while I could see Jordan cringing inside. Finally, he let out an uncomfortable, weird laugh that broke the rising tension in the room.
“What she means is…we make great business partners,” he scrambled to say, coming over to place a hand on Dad’s shoulder…as if to remind him what great pals they were and how he could never betray such a sacred line.
Dad seemed to buy it and eased into a smile. We all did. No one was getting ratted out or caught…not yet anyway.
“Were you coming or going?” I asked Dad, knowing he never stayed in one place long. Not these days.
“Going,” he said regretfully. “My day is jam packed with meetings. You know how it goes.”
“Not exactly, but I hope to soon,” I smi
rked. “Come on, I’ll show you out.”
I gave Jordan the cold shoulder as I led Daddy out to the lobby. We both stopped in front of the elevator to say goodbye, but I was surprised when he put both hands on my shoulders and flashed an intensely sincere smile.
“I’m proud of you, honey,” he said with a softness to his voice. “I always hoped you’d follow in my footsteps, but I never wanted to force it. And then even as I watched you take an interest in entrepreneurship, I was always half worried you’d lose interest.”
“Not with your blood in my veins,” I laughed.
He kissed my cheek and proceeded onto the elevator, leaving me to return to Jordan—who was mad as a hornet when I walked back into the conference room.
“My office,” he thundered. “Now.”
I would have defied him, but the sternness to his tone kind of turned me on. I was curious to see if he would end up caving into his desires again—once he got me alone, all mad and bothered as he was.
But when he slammed the door behind me, I had a feeling it was not that kind of private meeting.
“What the hell has gotten into you?” he barked, crossing his arms.
“Nothing,” I shrugged. “I was just talking to my dad. If you can’t keep up with our jokes, that’s on you…not me.”
“Jokes!?” he scoffed. “You were practically begging for his permission for…”
“For what!?” I snapped. “For us to work together? News flash, Ashford! We already are! He was the one who started implying things, not me. I was just trying to play it off and diffuse the situation. If I tensed up the way you did, you think he wouldn’t have picked up on the fact that something obviously happened between us?”
He started raking his hands through his hair again—the way he always seemed to do when he was particularly stressed. But this time, he paced as he did it. “My god, what did we do? This was a huge mistake.”