by B. B. Hamel
Regardless of whether he sent the email or whether he was in that park or not, I need to be careful of him. Everly doesn’t like him, thinks he’s a real creep, and I know he hates me. He wants to destroy this deal for whatever reason. I may never find out exactly why. Maybe he just doesn’t like me.
It doesn’t matter, though. I’ve come so far already and I’m not turning back. I’m not letting some spoiled rich boy ruin my plans. He thinks he can have whatever he wants just because his father is rich, but he has no clue what hard work really means. I built my company from my own genius and labor, and I’m going to beat him now.
Fortunately, after that one incident, nothing happens for a few days. I spend as much time with Alexa and Everly as I can before the next workweek starts, which comes sooner than it should every single week. Monday rolls around, and Everly and I go back to the job, while the nanny comes and watches Alexa during the day.
Around noon on Tuesday, I get a call on my personal cell from a number that I don’t recognize. It’s been a normal day, though I haven’t seen Everly as much as I maybe want to. I’ve just been insanely busy with work, staying up late and leaving as early as possible. I barely have time to see Alexa, and she’s my first priority, of course.
But the call comes just as I’m thinking about having an early lunch. I take out my phone and check the screen but I don’t recognize the number. Usually, I wouldn’t answer, since it’s normally a telemarketer. But this time I decide to pick it up anyway.
“Hello?” I answer.
“Logan!” Instantly, I recognize Chester’s voice, though he sounds like he’s far away. “Can you hear me, my boy?”
“I can hear you, Chester. Are you on a landline right now?”
“How could you tell?”
“The connection isn’t great. Sounds like you’re far away.”
“Well, you guessed right. I’m in Dubai!”
I smile to myself. “What are you doing in Dubai?”
“Business, of course,” he says. “Can’t say more, since you know they’re listening in on this right now. Aren’t you, ya nosy bastards?”
I grin and shake my head. He’s not wrong, though. Most foreign governments listen in on prominent Americans when they make calls or use the Internet in their country. It’s pretty much standard practice to assume that you’re bugged and being watched at all points during a trip to any foreign country, including European allies.
“What can I do for you, Chester?” I ask. “Let’s skip to that, since I don’t want you to insult your hosts.”
“They wouldn’t do a thing,” he says. “Can’t admit that they’re listening, can they?”
“Good point,” I say, smiling to myself.
“But okay, the reason I’m calling. I have a cabin on the Saint Lawrence River, actually a whole string of cabins. I practically own a town there.”
“Sounds nice,” I say to him, not sure why he’s telling me.
“I’m going there with the family this weekend, and I want you to come. Bring the wife and kid.”
I hesitate. Obviously Spencer will be on this little trip, and the last thing I want to do is to bring Alexa and Everly anywhere near him. But this is the sort of thing you have to do with Chester.
He’s the sort of man that thinks family is more important than business, or at least he pretends that it is. I know I have to win over his family before I can get him to sign on the damn dotted line.
“Okay, Chester,” I say. “That sounds great.”
“Great! My secretary will fax over the details. It’ll be a grand time.”
I wince a little bit. I don’t even know if we have a fax machine, but that doesn’t matter. “Sounds great. Thanks for the invite. I’m sure Alexa and Everly will be excited.”
“Of course they will! The Saint Lawrence is beautiful this time of year. The fish practically leap out and onto your boat!”
“Well, I’ll make sure to bring a fishing rod, then.”
“Good! Okay, I’m going before these damn spies think they’re invited on this trip, too. See you soon.”
“See you.”
He hangs up the phone and I sigh. Chester is such an odd man. I like him, but he makes this deal as difficult and as complicated as possible.
As soon as we’re off the phone, I buzz my secretary and tell her to expect word from Chester. After that, I call up Richard.
“You busy?” I ask him.
“Always,” he grunts. “What’s up?”
“Meet me at Good Dog. Twenty minutes.”
He hesitates. “Yeah, okay. Why not? Nothing makes the work day go faster than having lunch in a bar.”
I grin and hang up the phone. Twenty minutes later, I’m strolling into one of my favorite bars in the city. Richard is already there and sipping a beer, of course, with one waiting for me. I sit down in the empty seat next to him.
The bar is called Good Dog because the walls are literally covered in framed pictures of dogs. They cover the walls entirely. The food is pretty damn good too, and their drink menu is great, but there’s something funny about being surrounded by so many dog pictures.
“What’s so urgent that you dragged my ass from my office?” Richard asks as I sit down.
I sip the beer and shrug. “Wanted to ask about the email.”
He shakes his head. “I thought that was it.”
“Anything yet? I’m starting to worry about her.”
“Nothing,” he says. “I talked to my guy last night. He says whoever did this knew what they were doing. He’s asking around, but it’s not looking good.”
“Shit,” I say. “I was afraid of that.”
“It’s not over just yet. He’s still looking.”
“Thanks.” I take a long sip of the beer, watching the condensation slowly roll down the pint glass. “Listen, what do you know about Spencer Winterfield?”
Richard shrugs. “Son of Chester. I think he’s trying to get into the real estate business like his father. That’s pretty much it.”
“Interesting,” I say. “I didn’t know he was in the business.”
“I did a little research on all of the Winterfields when you started up this deal, and I found a little land LLC in Spencer’s name. Doesn’t look like he’s done many deals, though. The kid definitely isn’t his father.”
I nod my head thoughtfully. “That could make sense.”
“What does?”
I hesitate. I normally tell Richard everything. But this thing about Spencer and Everly, well… it sounds bad. It’s a serious accusation. I have to tread lightly.
“Spencer hates me,” I say. “Knew that from the start.”
“Sure. You mentioned that a while ago.” He cocks his head at me.
“Recently though, Everly’s been saying some things about him.” I pause for a second. “She’s very uncomfortable around him.”
Richard raises an eyebrow. “She’s getting creeper vibes?”
“Big time,” I say.
“Can’t say I’m surprised. Growing up rich like that, it’s got to do something to your brain.”
I grin at him. “How’s that?”
“You know plenty of people that grew up rich. How many of them are normal people?”
I think for a second. “Two,” I say, and laugh. “That’s not a good percentage, is it?”
“Not at all.” Richard shrugs. “I don’t know if that just means we know weird people or if rich kids are messed up or what, but it’s a correlation I’ve seen.”
I stroke my chin for a second before sipping my beer. “Thanks for looking into this for me. You know I appreciate it.”
“Yeah, you better.”
“One more thing. Chester invited us on a little weekend retreat with him and his family.”
Richard sighs. “You get all the exciting invites.”
“Please. It’s going to be a weekend of doing outdoor crap with the weirdest people I know. Not something I’m looking forward to.”
“You
’re going to go, right?”
“Of course,” I say, sighing. “I don’t want to. Last thing I want is to put Everly or Alexa anywhere near Spencer.”
“I can see what you mean,” he says. “But that’s the game with guys like Chester.”
“Oh, I know it.” I finish my beer and drop a twenty on the bar. “Thanks for the talk.”
“That’s it? You drink and run?”
“You know me, Richard. Got to get back to work.”
He sighs, shaking his head, but he’s smiling. “At least you’re paying for the drinks.”
“See you later.” I pat his shoulder as I walk past him.
I wish he had better news about that hacker, but at least he did give me one interesting piece of information. If Spencer is trying to break into the real estate world, that might explain why he wants that land. Maybe he has some kind of development project in mind for it or something.
I hate to drag Everly and Alexa on this trip, but I have to. And I know Everly is going to be fine with it. She’s been as accommodating as possible during all of this. I feel guilty dragging her into it, but she’s not backing down. She’s strong and she’s fucking gorgeous. I keep thinking about that night on the roof, and I can’t get it out of my head.
The way she feels, the way she moans, everything was fucking perfect. She drove me wild, and now I just need another taste. But I’ve been so fucking busy lately with work and with Alexa, I haven’t had a chance to take what I really need.
Maybe this weekend is exactly what I want. Although we’ll be stuck with the Winterfields, at least we’ll be stuck together.
18
Everly
I was expecting a log cabin. Like in the movies, cabins next to lakes are always the same simple wooden structures with like two rooms and a hole in the ground for a toilet. I don’t know why, but that’s what I expected.
I should have known better. Chester Winterfield is way too rich to have some cheap log cabin. The place we step into is as far from that as possible.
It’s luxurious. I don’t know how else to describe it. Big, huge windows overlooking the river. Beautiful sunlight pours into the enormous great room that’s furnished with comfortable chairs and couches around a big flat-screen TV. There’s a big, modern kitchen, and at least four bedrooms and three bathrooms.
“What do you think?” Logan asks me, grinning.
I can’t help but laugh as I pick Alexa up from her car seat. “It’s too much,” I say. “There’s enough room here for like three families.”
“It’s just us here, little wife,” he says, grinning huge.
“I should have expected this. Chester doesn’t seem like the type of man to do anything halfway.”
“You got that right.” Logan leads me into the master bedroom. There’s an enormous king-sized bed and our own modern, totally refinished bathroom. “This isn’t exactly camping.”
“Where are Chester and his family staying?”
“I think in the house next door,” Logan says, shrugging. “And I think Spencer has his own house, too.”
“Wow. That’s just…”
“Absurd?” he finishes.
“I was going to say crazy, but yeah, same thing.”
He grins at me and walks over. He takes Alexa from my arms. “Come on, let me show you to your room,” he says to her.
I follow them down the hall and into a nursery. I didn’t expect there to be a nursery, and so we brought our little Pack ‘n Play for Alexa to sleep in. But there’s a crib all set up already.
“Did you know they’d have this?” I ask him.
“Chester mentioned it,” he says, grinning. “Let me get Alexa down for her nap. You can go explore.”
“You sure?” I ask him. “I can do it.”
“No, go ahead.”
I smile and turn away from him as he sits down in the rocking chair. I leave him to give her a bottle and put her down. He’s a good father, and he’s always quick to take over the boring tasks when he has the chance. He works too much, but he makes up for it by loving that little girl more than I thought he would.
I head downstairs and out the back door. The yard is immaculately landscaped and complete with a patio furniture set and a Jacuzzi. I follow a path that leads through the grass and head down toward the river.
I’ve never been to the Saint Lawrence River, but it’s beautiful. I stop at the bank and take my shoes and socks off. I step into the water up to my ankles and curl my toes around the silt-covered rocks that line the river bottom.
I smile to myself as the water lazily rolls past. I love the outdoors, although I don’t get much of it anymore. I grew up with the outdoors. I used to run around the creeks and trails that lined the woods behind my house. We didn’t have a lot of money, but there were always kids to play with and places to explore. I had a really good childhood, and I think my parents worked hard to make sure I was happy.
I think Alexa is going to have that in Logan. He’s so attentive and patient, it’s really impressive. His greatest fault is that he works too much, and I hope one day he decides to step back a little bit. But that drive is also one of his best qualities, and something I have to admit that I’m attracted to.
I smile to myself and take a deep breath of air. I’ve been cooped up inthe city for too long. I wasn’t looking forward to this little trip, since I’m afraid of Spencer, but maybe this won’t be so bad. At least I’m out in nature for the first time in a while, and that feels good.
I stand there and enjoy the water for a while. I don’t know how long passes, but the sound of someone approaching from the house pulls me back to reality. I turn and smile as Logan comes down the path toward me.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“Standing in the river,” I say.
“Want some company?”
“Sure.”
I watch as he takes off his shoes and socks before stepping into the water next to me. We stand there, side by side, and watch the river flow.
“Nice, isn’t it?” I ask him.
He nods. “Very nice.”
“How was Alexa?”
“Easy,” he says. “She took the whole bottle and went to sleep.” He takes a white plastic rectangle from his back pocket. “I brought the monitor in case she wakes up.”
I take another deep breath and smile. “So we have a couple hours without the baby. What do we do?”
He cocks his head. “I don’t know. I was thinking about throwing you into that river.”
“What?” I ask laughing. “You better not.”
“Why not?” He advances on me, grinning. “You’re only in some tiny little shorts and a tank top. You won’t mind getting wet.”
I laugh and run away. “Logan, you better not.”
“Get over here, girl,” he says, chasing after me. I laugh and splash through the water, and he easily catches me.
He wraps his arms around my waist and lifts me into the air like I weigh nothing. “Don’t!” I say, laughing.
He places me back down on my feet and spins me around. He pulls me tight against him. “You really think I’d throw you into this water?”
“Yes,” I say, looking up at him, breathing heavily from running through the water.
He smirks at me. “I don’t need to dunk you to get you wet.”
I roll my eyes. “Good one.” But my heart is beating fast and I love how close to me he is. We haven’t done this since that night, and I was afraid we never were going to again. That would probably be okay, but I’d be disappointed.
I want more from him. I know I’m greedy, but I want it.
And he gives it to me. He leans forward and kisses me hard, his lips open as his tongue touches mine. Desire floods through my body and I hate to admit that he’s right. I’m dripping wet already at just one taste, because I know what he’s capable of.
He kisses me slow and deep before running his hands up my back and into my hair. He grabs a fistful of it, tipping my head back, h
is other hand on my lower back. He kisses me deep before kissing my neck.
“I’ve been thinking about this nonstop,” he whispers.
“Thinking about what?” I ask, my heart hammering.
“Finally taking your body again. Tasting you again. You think that was the first and last time?”
“I wasn’t sure,” I admit.
“You’re not getting out of this so easily, girl,” he whispers. “Part of why I wanted to do this was to get you alone.”
“We’re not alone. The Winterfields aren’t too far away.”
He smirks and kisses me softly. “You think I care about that?”
“I don’t know,” I admit.
He walks over to the bank, still holding onto me. Once we’re on dry land again, he presses me up against a thick tree. We’re obscured by the heavy foliage all around us, and I can only see the river as it continues to flow.
He kisses me, pinning me up against the rough bark of the tree. I love the way he handles me, so rough but he knows what he’s doing. I let him take my hair in his fist and my ass in his other hand as I wrap my arms around his neck, desperately pulling him closer.
I’m shocked at how badly I need this. My body reacts the moment he touches me, like it was a livewire just waiting for a connection. I can feel the sparks flowing down my skin and I know I can’t stop this even if I wanted to.
He runs his hands over my breasts and pulls at the hem of my shirt. I let him slide it up and off me, leaving just my bra to cover my skin. He kisses my neck and teases my breasts again, kissing my chest and my cleavage. I groan softly as he unbuttons my jean shorts and tugs them down over my hips.
“We never seem to do this in a bed,” I whisper to him, smiling.
He grins at me. “I don’t mind,” he says, and his fingers slowly slide beneath my panties. I gasp and bite my lower lip, smiling from the pleasure. “And I don’t think you do, either.”
“Maybe I like the risk,” I say as he presses two fingers inside of me. I gasp softly and bite my lip again, trying to be quiet.
“I think you do,” he says. “But mostly I just think you want me to fuck you again. You’ve been thinking about my fat cock filling you up, haven’t you? I know you’ve never felt something like that before.”