I didn’t know what to expect during the first business dinner that I attended. Mr. Cane had told me that the dinners were excruciatingly boring and that he needed me there to keep him entertained, whatever that meant.
That first evening, he was hosting a Mr. Tanaka, a Japanese businessman. Mr. Tanaka was an exceedingly polite older man with glasses thicker than Mr. Magoo’s. He also was hard of hearing, which seemed to annoy Mr. Cane more and more as our dinner progressed.
I was seated quietly next to Mr. Cane, with Mr. Tanaka directly across the table from us. We were at a small but upscale restaurant, tucked neatly into the back corner of the room – at a table that I learned Mr. Cane always requested.
Sometime during the conversation, Mr. Cane’s hand gently rested on my knee. I could barely breathe as it slowly made its way underneath the fabric of my skirt. I saw him frown with disappointment when he reached the leg opening of my panties.
He leaned in close to my ear and spoke, barely lowering his voice, “You shouldn’t be wearing panties. Go to the ladies room and remove them.”
Luckily, Mr. Tanaka didn’t hear; he continued on with his long story without missing a beat. My heart pounding frantically in my chest, I excused myself and headed to the restroom.
By the time I returned with my panties buried in my handbag, I was so worked up with anticipation of what would happen that my pussy was wet and aching with desire. Mr. Tanaka was still talking; he needed very little encouragement to continue the never-ending stories about his homeland in his halting English.
Mr. Cane wasn’t paying any attention to him. His hand was once again on my knee and sliding ever so slowly toward my inner thigh. The progress his hand made was so painstaking; it left me burning with desire. I shifted in my seat, willing his fingers to reach their destination, but he was maddeningly patient in his assault.
His fingers were so close now, I was sure he could feel the heat of a thousand suns pouring from my core. I slid my legs open wider, begging him silently to touch me. When the tip of a finger just barely grazed my throbbing pussy, I let out a moan. My eyes flew to Mr. Tanaka’s in horror, as he had suddenly stopped talking.
To cover for my mistake, I hastily reached for my wine glass. As I took a sip, Mr. Cane’s finger slid deep into my pussy.
Chapter 10
Jason took me to a quaint Italian restaurant where they all seemed to know him by name. A short Italian woman with brown frizzy hair greeted us profusely. “Come in! Come in! We haven’t seen you here in awhile, Mr. Kaine. Follow me, we’ll get you set up at your favorite table and Marco will bring out the wine right away.”
The restaurant was only half-full. We were led to a quiet corner in the back of the room. Jason held out a chair for me to sit while the woman lit some candles at our table. The lighting was dim and the candles made the atmosphere quite romantic. He had obviously been to this restaurant many times before and I felt a twinge of jealousy when I realized he had probably brought many different girlfriends here.
After I was seated, I was surprised when Jason sat in the chair next to mine. I had been expecting him to sit across from me.
I must have given away my surprise, because he explained with an easy smile, “I don’t like sitting with my back to the room.”
I didn’t comment, but I was feeling anxious. His sitting much too close to me had my head spinning. My mind had already been in the gutter thinking about Corporate Secrets and his nearness didn’t help any.
“Are you okay? You look a little flushed?”
I had to shake of my uneasiness. This was just a professional dinner and it was time I acted like one. “Guess I’m just really hungry.”
Just then, a waiter approached with a bottle of wine for Jason to inspect. I used the moment of distraction to take a few deep breaths and distract myself. As the waiter poured our wine, Jason asked for some appetizers to be brought out.
“How about some antipasto skewers? And the prosciutto wrapped asparagus. Please bring them out right away. Ms. Collins is very hungry.”
“Right away, Mr. Kaine.”
The waiter left, so that Jason and I were alone again. Being with him outside of the work setting was making me jumpy. All I could think about was SEX. Writing Corporate Secrets had not been cathartic at all. It had only made my inappropriate feelings a million times stronger.
When Jason grabbed the linen napkin from the table to arrange on his lap, my heart leapt when I felt the wisp of a touch against my knee. It felt like his hand.
I grabbed for my wine glass. I had to calm down. What felt like his hand was probably just his napkin brushing against my leg. I was acting like a complete imbecile. Already, I could feel my nipples pebbling into hard little buds against my silk blouse. My body seemed to be primed on the edge of arousal – ready to explode at any moment.
I nervously took a sip of wine, aware that Jason was closely watching my every move. Without thinking, I rubbed a finger across the tingling sensation that remained on my leg where he had touched me.
“Lilliana…”
I had been avoiding looking at him, but his voice commanded me to. He was so gorgeous with the candlelight flickering across his features and glinting in his dark hair. Why had I ever thought I was immune to his charms? It was impossible.
His smile was disarming. “I just realized that I don’t know much about you. Did you grow up around Boston? Do you have family nearby?”
“Well, I grew up in western Massachusetts. I went to Boston U and got a degree in Business Administration…” I trailed off. I sounded so stilted – like I was on a job interview. I took a breath. “My parents retired – they were both school teachers- a couple of years ago and moved to Arizona.”
“Do you visit them often?”
I took another sip of wine before answering. “I have a couple of times. But it’s kind of boring there. They don’t stay put for long, anyhow.
“They like to travel?”
I nodded. “All the time. Next month, they’re off to China for three weeks. They’re still trying to get me to go with them.”
He raised an eyebrow. “But you don’t want to go?”
“No way.” I finished off the wine in my glass. “I spent every summer of my childhood wandering aimlessly around foreign countries with them. We were like nomads. They were teachers, so we didn’t have a lot of money. We stayed in cheap places far away from the big cities. We didn’t go to see any of the usual tourist sites. They just wanted to soak up the local flavor of the country we were visiting. It was actually quite boring for a kid.”
Jason refilled my glass. “So, now you hate to travel?
“Oh, I’d love to travel.” The wine had loosened my tongue. “But I’d like to do it just the opposite. I’d stay in five-star hotels and eat at fancy restaurants. I’d see all the famous sites and wander around the city streets. Can you believe, I’ve been all through Europe, but I’ve never seen Big Ben, the Louvre, the Colosseum or even a darn castle that wasn’t a pile of rocks?”
“You haven’t been back?”
“No. I was going to go to Paris last summer with my friend, Becca. She works down the street from us – at Dryden Corp. Anyway, it didn’t work out. But, I’ll get there someday. The Eiffel tower will still be there.”
Our appetizers arrived and I happily munched on them. Whether it was the wine or Jason’s flawless social skills, I was feeling much more relaxed. Jason kept the conversation running smoothly for the rest of dinner and I found myself relaying information about myself that I’d told no one before.
On the car ride back to my home, Jason insisted on taking care of my car trouble. He’d have my car towed to a nearby shop and would have a rental car dropped off for me in the morning all at his own expense. When I protested, he explained that it was the least he could do to show his appreciation for the great job I was doing at work.
Even though I told him it wasn’t necessary, he walked me to my door when we arrived at my home. I fumbled for far
too long in my purse searching for my keys, which gave me too much time to get nervous.
With alcohol pumping through my veins, I had the crazy thought to ask him inside. Luckily, I bit my tongue, but it did lead to an awkward moment between us. As we said our goodbyes, I stared up at him and for a strange moment I thought he was going to kiss me. It was quite possible that I swayed toward him slightly, because his magnetic pull was so damn hard to resist.
I wanted him so badly, but I knew it was just a fantasy. A pathetic fantasy. He was so out of my league it wasn’t even funny. And tonight, he’d shown himself to be a thoughtful and wonderful man. Not like the jerk I thought he was at all.
I closed the door as he left and sank into a puddle on the floor. My body was thrumming with unmet desire. A book boyfriend wouldn’t satisfy this hunger. I went to my bedroom and dug through my nightstand drawer until I found my vibrator. It would have to do.
Chapter 11
Jason sat at his desk thinking about Lilliana. He couldn’t get her out of his head. Bill Travers would be in his office any minute and he still hadn’t figured out a strategy to to placate the man. Still, he couldn’t concentrate on that, not with Lilliana invading his every thought.
She was a bundle of contradictions. At times she acted ice cold to him - even downright hostile. Other times, she was skittish around him. The other night at dinner, she was clearly nervous at first. He couldn’t help himself, he had purposely brushed her knee and she’d nearly jumped out of her skin. She did always seem to be very aware of him or was that just wishful thinking on his part? How could he not think she was attracted to him after he read that journal, Corporate Secrets?
He still hadn’t figured out what Corporate Secrets actually was. A secret diary of her fantasies? Or some kind of sexual lawsuit documentation to screw him royally? No matter what it was, he couldn’t stop reading it and desperately wanting to make those salacious scenarios come true.
It was pure torture. Thankfully, she was blissfully unaware of the devastating affect she was having on him. He had to use all his willpower to keep his raging libido in check when she was so close at the restaurant. When she excused herself to go to the ladies room, he couldn’t help but wonder if she had slipped off her panties and put them in her purse. It had driven him nearly insane the rest of the night. His cock had been rock hard and throbbing with the need to plunge into her hot little pussy. He wanted her more than he’d wanted anything in his life.
Lilliana’s voice spoke over the intercom, “Mr. Kaine, Mr. Travers is here to see you.”
“Send him in.” He sat back in his chair and sighed. This wasn’t the best way to end his day.
Bill entered his office and closed the glass door before sitting in the chair directly across from him.
“Can I get you a drink?” He knew Bill never turned down the offer. Maybe the older man would go easier on him.
Bill nodded. “Yeah, I could use one. I could use some good news, too. Tell me you have some…”
Jason stood and went to the bar. He used the time while he was making the drinks to determine how to proceed. He was a master at persuading people and he needed to utilize all his skill to the greatest now.
He handed Bill his drink and then returned to his seat. “The good news, Bill, is that the ship is righting itself. The Stelton deal is looking strong. Our numbers are up this quarter and share price is holding steady. Triton, as you know, is so massive that a win would wipe out any financial concerns the board has and leave Kaine Industries stronger than it’s ever been.”
Bill tapped on his glass. “Stelton is small potatoes. Triton is do or die. And you’re telling me that we still don’t know who is fucking us over?”
Jason took a sip of his scotch, appearing unconcerned. “Triton is locked down cold. I’ve got security crawling all over it. Safeguards with more safeguards on top of them. I’m going to sweeten the deal too.”
Bill grunted. “I saw you with her. Getting into your car after hours.”
Jason set down his glass angrily. “Her car broke down. I’m beginning to resent these insinuations, Bill.”
“This is the sort of thing the board is whispering about – outright questioning of your judgment.”
Jason set his jaw, forcing himself to keep his tone even. “You’re barking up the wrong tree. Lilliana is a hard working and loyal employee. You better keep your theories to yourself; I won’t have you smearing employees with baseless accusations.”
“You’re a fool, Kaine.” Bill laughed harshly. “If you’re so sure Lilliana is innocent, then you won’t mind if we prove it? We can’t afford to let the Triton deal implode on us. We’ve got to find out now; we don’t have any more time.”
“What are you suggesting we do?”
Bill smiled. “A canary trap. We’ll feed her false numbers for the Principle One account. I’ve known Jim Parrick for years. I’ll give him a heads up that we’re floating some disinformation. He’ll go along, because there’s no way they want to give up this contract. I’ll back channel the whole thing, that way we’re not jeopardizing anything. And, we’ll know for sure if your sweet Lilliana is really our leaker - before Triton gets fucked.”
“Fine.” Jason was disgusted. “Set it up and then get back to me.”
Jason couldn’t get the prick out of his office soon enough. As soon as he left, he poured himself another splash of scotch and downed it. The thought of Lilliana betraying him was crushing.
For nearly the hundredth time, he turned to his computer and opened the Corporate Secrets file. He practically knew it word for word; he had read it so many times. There was no financial information or allusions to corporate espionage in there. It was entirely about sex. Sex between Jackson Cane and his secretary. Steamy, hot, and triple X-rated sex.
He checked the file for any new additions. It hadn’t been altered in weeks, so he was surprised when he saw an update. He clicked the link to take him to the new material. The document skipped to the first page.
A cover page had been added. In bold lettering, it read, “Corporate Secrets by Portia Wainwright.” He clicked to the next page, which was a copyright notice. Following that was a page containing information about the author, including her e-mail address. The next page was a dedication page.
This novel is dedicated to my dear friend, Becca. Without her support, this novel would have never happened. Here’s to kitties and roosters!
Jason sat back in his chair. He was floored. Holy Shit! This was a novel? She was publishing this? Our most intimate moments together? For the whole world to read? He thought about some of the most explicit scenes and immediately felt his cock responding.
He glanced at the clock. It was 4:30 and there was no way he’d get any more work done. He grabbed his briefcase and then the stack of papers resting on his printer tray on the way out.
He stopped by Lilliana’s desk and handed her the papers. “Here’s the list of names that have approval to attend the Miami meeting and awards dinner. Send each department head a list of their employees, so they can make travel arrangements.”
Lilliana nodded. “Okay.”
Was it his imagination, or were her blouses getting more and more low cut? He ripped his eyes away from the hint of cleavage showing. “Also, coordinate with travel for my arrangements. And make sure you book your own, too.”
Her eyes grew wide with surprise. “Mine?”
“Of course. Have you ever been to the awards dinner?”
She shook her head no.
“This will be your first then. It’s in Miami this year. You’ll enjoy it.” He turned to leave before he got caught staring at her tits, but then stopped himself. “I’m leaving for the day, so you might as well get out of here. You can make the arrangements in the morning.”
Her mouth was still hanging open when he left. He had surprised her twice in the span of minutes. Now, he just needed to get home and take a cold shower so he could get the erotic mental image of her spread out naked across
her desk out of his mind.
Corporate Secrets
It was late. As usual, Mr. Cane had me working long after all the other employees had left. I was finishing up a report when I heard his footsteps behind me.
“Lila, have you finished the report yet?”
I spun around in my swivel chair, and his hard stare pinned me in place. “Almost, sir.”
“I needed that report hours ago.” Mr. Cane admonished. “Your effort has not been good enough.”
“I’m sorry.” I swallowed nervously.
Mr. Cane spoke sternly, “I’m afraid I’m going to have to teach you a lesson, Lila.”
“Yes, sir,” I said meekly.
“Take off your blouse, Lila.”
I quickly scanned the open office space around us. All the cubicles appeared deserted, but we were fully exposed. “Wouldn’t we have more privacy in your office?”
“Privacy is not the objective tonight. Now, do I have to repeat myself? The blouse, Lila.”
Disobeying was not an option. With trembling fingers, I unbuttoned my blouse and slipped it off my shoulders.
“Now the bra.”
I glanced around the rows and rows of cubicles fearfully, but unsnapped my bra and removed it like he demanded. He took it from my hands and then tossed it over his shoulder.
“Now stand up.”
I stood up, fighting the urge to cover my breasts with my hands. “What if the cleaning staff comes by?” I asked timidly.
He chuckled. “Well, then they’ll get an eyeful, won’t they?”
He kicked the chair out of the way and then backed me up, pinning me against my desk. In an instant, his hands were all over my breasts, squeezing and pulling. When his mouth began teasing them, I couldn’t conceal how good it felt. My head lolled back and I moaned with ecstasy.
Too soon, he had stopped, but his next words sent a thrill sliding down my spine. “I want you completely naked, Lila. I hope you’ve obeyed me and you’re not wearing any panties.”
Impossible (to Resist) Boss: Billionaire Romance Page 7