Found My Love [Learning to Love 3] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Alison Mello

  I’m kidding! I’m excited to see your place. Is it a total bachelor pad?

  That wasn’t funny, little lady! No, my place is not a total bachelor pad. At least I don’t think so.

  I have to get back to work, so I can leave on time. My lunch meeting with Abbey already ran late, so I have a lot to do in the next 3 hours.

  Okay see you later.

  I love our texting banter. It makes me smile. He’s so much more fun to text than my ex. I can’t help but wonder if we’re going to have sex tonight. He told me the last time we slept together that it wouldn’t happen until he knew I was ready, but how the hell am I going to prove I’m ready? I’ll just have to try to seduce him tonight. Maybe he’ll cave, and we’ll have some kick-ass sex. Then again I haven’t had sex in so long that any sex would probably be kick ass to me.

  “Hey, Theresa, can we go over my payment report for tomorrow?” Abbey asks, standing in my doorway.

  “Shit. I forgot we didn’t get to go over that this morning. Come on in,” I tell her as I pull up my e-mail. “I just need to see if I got an e-mail I was waiting for from Rob, and of course, he didn’t send it.”

  I pick up the receiver to my phone. “Rob, can you come to my office, please.” I hang up without a response. His flirting with the office staff is getting annoying, and now he isn’t doing what he’s asked to. This should be good.

  There is a knock on my door. “Come in,” I shout so he hears me through the closed door.

  “Hey, Theresa. What’s up?”

  When he walks through the door he can tell I’m not happy and he holds his tongue from any smart remarks because Abbey is in the office with me. “Have you gotten an update from Vertex on payment yet?” I say as I look at him with one eyebrow raised, my signature “I’m pissed” look.

  “No I haven’t.” He looks like he wants to say more but probably knows he has no excuse and doesn’t know what to say.

  “Can I ask why not? You do realize that they owe us over a hundred thousand, right, and they are forty-five days past due, and they have another job in the pipeline?” I say tersely.

  “I know, Theresa—”

  “You know.” I cut him off because he was slacking off earlier with one of the girls from HR, and it pisses me off that he does more flirting than working. “Yet you haven’t called them yet today, have you? You know what? I’m going to give you five minutes to go to your desk, make that phone call, and return to me with an answer. You see, Abbey here pays our bills, and she can’t pay them if you don’t do your job and ensure the money comes in. Now if you can’t do your job, I can talk to Jack about finding someone who can. Am I clear?”

  “Yes, you’re clear. I’ll be right back.” He runs out of my office, pissed off and shaking because his job is on the line.

  “Sorry about that, Abbey. He needs to learn that we’re here to work, not hook up with any office staff that will take him.”

  “Theresa, you’re my boss. You do not need to explain to me. To be honest, I think you handle him well.”

  “Well, he’s supposed to be the head of AR, so if his people are doing the billing properly, then he should have no problem keeping up with getting the payments in here.

  “Well maybe this will be enough to get him to do his job, but only time will tell.”

  “Speaking of jobs, I spoke to Jack today about your performance and how well you’re doing. We agreed that we want to change your position a little bit. We would like to change your job description so you’re in more of a manager position. Instead of working with the data entry clerks, we would like you to be in charge of them.”

  “Are you serious?” she says, totally shocked.

  “Yes, you’re pretty much doing it now anyway, so we would just like to make it official. Your title will change to accounts payable manager. All the AP clerks will report directly to you, and if you’re having issues with anyone just talk to me about it, and I’ll help you take care of it.”

  “Theresa, that is awesome. I’m so excited!”

  There is a knock on the door, and I again yell, “Come in!”

  Rob comes strolling through the door. “Theresa, I’m sorry I didn’t take care of this sooner. I have no excuse, but I promise it won’t happen again. I like my job here and don’t want to lose it.”

  “Do you have an update?” I say, not letting him off the hook that easy.

  “Yeah I had to make a few phone calls to different contacts in the company, but I finally got through. They are going to wire us seventy-five thousand on Friday, and they will get us caught up on the rest next week. I told them if we’re not caught up next week their project would be put on hold until it is. They said they understood and would take care of it.”

  “We shall see. Please make sure we get the remainder next week. That’s all for tonight,” I say, dismissing him from my office.

  Abbey and I spend the next forty-five minutes going over her AP report, confirming what she’s to pay and discussing any issues with missing invoices. In our company, the invoices have to go through AR so our clients can be billed before they come to AP, and sometimes things get hung up.

  “I have these five invoices that are missing, and from what I can see in the computer they are probably sitting in AR somewhere.” Abbey shows me the two on the report.

  “Okay. When we’re done, e-mail Rob and ask him to figure out why they haven’t made it to AP yet, and CC me on the e-mail, so I can see what his response is. Otherwise, everything you want to pay is fine. I would like to get those five entered and paid unless he gives us a valid reason not to pay them.”

  She stands up to leave. “Sounds good, I’ll keep you posted if he doesn’t do a reply all.”

  “Thanks, Abbey,” I say as she leaves my office to go take care of her business.

  “Hey, Abbey, are you done meeting with Theresa?” I hear Jack ask her.

  “Yup all done, Jack,” she replies right outside my office.

  “Then congrats are in order,” he tells her, so I get up to walk out.

  “Thanks, Jack.”

  “Jack, do you need to see me?” I appear at my office door.

  “Actually I do.”

  I take a deep breath and say, “Come in.”

  “Is there a problem with Rob? I just heard him complaining to Alyssa in HR. He was telling her he got in trouble with you, and they can’t talk at work anymore. I didn’t even know he was talking to a girl in HR.”

  “He was slacking today, and I asked him for an update on the Vertex account so I could finish talking AP with Abbey, and he never did it. When I called him into my office about it, he had no update and no excuse as to why it wasn’t done.” I shrug. “I told him he had five minutes to figure out when we were getting the hundred thousand they owe us.”

  “So what did he do? How did he handle it?” Jack wants details because I can see he’s mad.

  “He practically ran out of my office to his desk and about four-and-half minutes later he came back to tell me we are getting seventy-five thousand on Friday and the rest next week.”

  Jack is shaking his head. “He’s a good kid when he’s focused, but sometimes he thinks with the wrong head. What’s going on with the second-round interviews for Abbey’s employee?”

  “Well, I was going to check with you to see if you wanted to be a part of the second interview before we made calls. We have two girls we are looking at. Abbey really likes this girl Julie, and I have a feeling she will be who we offer it to, but it will depend on references, too. We’re asking both girls to bring a list of three to five references with them.”

  “I don’t think I need to be in the interviews to be honest. I think the two of you can handle it. If you want another opinion, bring April from HR into the meeting.”

  “Okay. Sounds good to me. Do you need anything else from me? It’s getting late, and if you don’t mind I want to scoot out of here. Abbey and I have our self-defense class tonight.”

  “No, I’m good. To be honest
, I’m glad you girls are taking that class, so have fun, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  * * * *

  We are all panting on the side of the mat and drinking water, trying to hydrate because we have been practicing punching and kicking for the last thirty minutes. We have thirty minutes left, and for the second half of the class we are going to practice blocking blows coming at us. That is way harder than sitting here throwing punches or practicing balance for our kicks.

  One of the instructors calls us to the mat. Craig stands in front of me, and he tells everyone to pay attention. He starts throwing tags at me that he wants me to block. I’m holding my own at first, but he’s moving at a nice, slow pace. All of a sudden, his tags start coming faster and faster. The quicker he moves, the harder it is to block his blows. He gives me a break, moves to Abbey, and does the same thing to her and then to Ellen. We are all figuring Tracey is not here because she’s going to tell us that she’s pregnant this weekend and that she can’t do a lot of this training while she is. The trainers tell us we had a great class tonight and that they will see us next week.

  We get to Knucklehead’s, and Michael is waiting with all of the guys sitting at the table. They have beers and have ordered our usual meals for us, so we are eating within a few minutes of getting there. Chase has ordered me a glass of wine, and after the day I’ve had I welcome it.

  I get everyone’s attention. “I want to share some good news, everyone!” I raise my wine glass. “I would like to congratulate my partner in crime on her promotion to accounts payable manager effective today. She will now be responsible for all AP processes and four AP data entry clerks below her. Way to go, Abbey!”

  Everyone starts cheering her on and congratulating her. She beams as she turns to me and thanks me.

  “I just want to say if I can be half the boss Theresa is, I will do all right.”

  Mark pipes in. “You already got the job. You don’t need to suck up to your boss now.”

  Everyone starts laughing, and we go about enjoying our night.

  “Nah,” Abbey says, “I saw her handle an employee today. There is no sucking up involved. She kicks ass!”

  “Our shy, quiet Theresa has an evil side?” Ellen says, teasing Theresa.

  “I’m friends with her, and I was scared sitting in her office,” Abbey tells them.

  I’m now blushing and smiling because they are all so surprised that I can be tough. “You all just don’t know me that well yet. Plus it is different at work. I have to be a hard ass or my employees will walk all over me.”

  The waitress comes over with our bill, and I go to grab it, but Chase does. “What are you doing?” I ask him, narrowing my eyes at him, a bit mad that he picked up the bill. “It is my week to pay.” I give him a look like “What the fuck?”

  “I know, T. I got it.”

  I let it go because I don’t want to fight in front of our friends who are now all staring at us. I’m quite sure they realize that I’m not happy. I’m a capable woman, and I don’t need him paying for every little thing. I work hard so I can do things like this, and I don’t want my friends thinking I can’t take care of myself.

  I finally look back at him once the waitress has left his credit card slip and say, “Ready?”

  He nods and lets out a deep breath because he knows he’s in trouble. I say good night to everyone, and when my friends can no longer see me, I storm off pissed that he just did that to me.

  “Theresa, wait up please,” Chase shouts. With his long legs, he easily catches up to me. “What are you so mad about?”

  “Do you really want to have this conversation in the parking lot, or should we go home first? If we do it here and it doesn’t go well, I may not end up at your house.”

  “I don’t know what I did, but please let’s go to my place so we can talk about it.” He puts his hand on the nape of my neck and leans in to kiss me.

  I pull away. “Fine. I’ll follow you,” I tell him as I get in my car.

  I’m glad I have a few minutes to myself to think because I’m pissed, and I’m not fully sure I know why. Well, yes, I do. That was embarrassing. It was my week to pay, and he acted like I couldn’t handle it. He assumed that I wanted him to pay, and it wasn’t fair, especially because we have talked about my independence. I will myself to calm down because we have arrived outside his house, and I want to be mature about this.

  He walks up to my car and opens the door for me. His house is huge and beautiful, but I’m nervous, so I’m only half paying attention.

  “If it’s okay with you, I’ll give you the tour later. It’s getting late, and clearly we need to talk,” he says as he unlocks the front door.

  “Your house is gorgeous, Chase.”

  “Thanks. Come on. Let’s get comfortable.”

  I follow him up the stairs to his bedroom, which is really big. I’m looking around taking it all in when he breaks my thoughts.

  “Want to tell me what happened back there?” He sounds hurt.

  “Want to tell me why you took the bill?” I say, frustrated.

  “I’m your boyfriend. Why wouldn’t I pay?” He sounds so confused.

  “Yes, if we are on a date, I can understand that, but I don’t expect that when we’re out with our friends. Now you made it look like I can’t take care of myself.”

  “Really? Is that how it looked or is that what you’re worried about people thinking?” Now he’s mad and we are having our first fight.

  I stop and think for a minute. “I…I don’t want our friends thinking you have to take care of everything because I’m a single mother. You have no idea how hard I have worked to prove that I can take care of myself. I don’t want them thinking that I’m like your ex,” I yell, bordering on tears.

  “Hey, I don’t think you’re anything like my ex, and I don’t give a fuck what our friends think, and neither should you. What I did tonight had nothing to do with your situation. It had to do with you being my girlfriend,” he says, stressing the our and pulling my chin up to look him in the eyes.

  Now I can’t stop the tears that are escaping my eyes.

  His tone softens. “Clearly we have some self-esteem issues we need to work on, and I’m not sure where this comes from but you’re way off base. I didn’t pick up the check thinking, ‘She’s a single mom and probably can’t cover this, so I better.’ Is that what you thought?”

  I nod because that’s all I can manage.

  “Baby, I’m sorry you thought that but you’re way off, and next time I’ll talk to you about it first, but I just figured it was our turn to pay as a couple, not your turn, and I certainly wasn’t trying to make you look bad in front of our friends. I’m so sorry if that is how I made you feel.”

  “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have even thought it, but my sister has always made me feel like shit for being a single mom. She gives me a hard time about not being married before I got pregnant, and now I feel like I have to prove myself at every turn,” I say as a few more tears escape my eyes.

  “Baby, you proved yourself to me a long time ago. Screw your sister. We are a team now, and we do things and figure things out together. That means if we go out together, I will most likely pay, so get used to it, okay?”

  I give him a small smile and nod as he leans in and kisses me gently on the lips.

  “I love how soft your lips are,” he says quickly before he starts kissing me again.

  He breaks away from our kiss and lifts my shirt over my head before he starts kissing me deeper and undoing my bra at the same time. I go for the button and zipper on his jeans. He picks me up and places me in the center of his bed before I can manage to get any further with his clothes. He slides my shorts and panties down my legs, and I’m now lying naked in the middle of his bed as he rids himself of his clothes.

  He starts at my feet, kissing my toes, my ankles, up my calves and heads up to my knees. When he gets to the inside of my thigh he pauses and says, “I don’t think you’re ready for me to bury mys
elf deep inside of you yet, but I want to make you feel good, okay?”

  I nod and start to say, “I’m ready,” when he buries his face inside my pussy, and I lose all thought. He’s gently licking my clit in long, slow strokes with his amazing tongue. I can feel my juices running down my ass, and he just continues to lap it up, making sure his tongue brushes over my clit each time.

  “Chase, please, baby!”

  He starts moving his tongue a little harder and a little faster over my clit.

  He pauses to say, “Not tonight because I’m enjoying my feast, but soon, I’m going to show you that you can have a vaginal orgasm.”

  I blush at his words as I groan in frustration because I just want to come, but the thought doesn’t stay with me long because he’s sucking on my clit, and I can feel I’m so close. He nibbles on it and then sucks on it a few more times before my orgasm rips through me. I want to close my legs on him, but he won’t let me. He’s pushing them apart as he licks up every last drop of my orgasm.

  “Chase, I want you to fuck me,” I moan as I recover from my orgasm.

  “Not yet, baby,” he says as he rubs his erection on my nub.

  “Please, Chase. I’m ready.” I sound whiny, but I don’t care. I take his cock in my hand and start stroking him, slowly and seductively. “I want this—“ I squeeze him in my hands—“buried deep in my pussy.” I try to sound bossy, but the blush that creeps up my body betrays me.

  “I want to be buried deep in your mouth.”

  “Oh really, you mean like this?” I push him down so I can straddle his body in a sixty-nine position and suck on his large cock. I hope to tease him with my pussy in his face so he’ll want to be buried deep inside me when I’m done. I suck him in deep and fast, but he just starts licking my pussy again. I want his orgasm pouring down my throat and I want it now. He starts moving his hips in rhythm with my sucking motion, fucking my mouth like it’s my pussy, and I love it. He sticks his tongue deep inside me and I almost lose it. I continue to work him hard, rubbing my tongue over his bulging vein, and it pushes him over the edge. He pauses with his cock deep in my throat, and I swallow every last drop of his release as he continues to fuck me with his tongue.