by Lauren Wood
“Well son, you should really get a handle on that drinking. I used to drink, years ago when I first met my wife. She made me stop almost immediately and you know that was when I started to really make some money. I didn’t realize how much it was affecting my performance.”
“I do okay Ronald.”
“I know you have done well Chris, but there is always more out there for you. Never settle with okay.”
Ronald took a drink of his water and even though I was tempted to take a drink of the wine in front of him, I abstained. I wanted to see how Chris responded and he didn’t pull any punches. I had learned that rich had big egos and they were not afraid to say what was on their mind. What was the worst that could happen really? They had no need to look to others for any part of their survival.
“Okay is a term I use to deflect. I am doing quite well Ronald. I think when I am your age, I will have long surpassed your net worth.”
That got the older man paying attention and I swear that if he could have looked Chris up, he would have started compounding numbers to see if it was true. It was like a cock fight without any birds and looks, words.
“Well we all have enough. Gemma is telling me all the time, what are you going to do with what you have?”
Ronald smiled and seemed to settle down a little. “She is just like her mother. She heard her say it so much that Gemma took it to heart.”
“Yes, she does get a lot from your wife and of that I am thankful. She has really opened my eyes to the possibilities. Here I am, working all of the time and at some point I have to wonder when enough will be enough.”
Chris made a disparaging sound in the back of his throat. Was it really that bad to feel that way? It was how I felt. I didn’t want the world, just a small piece of it to call my own. The men at this table, these three men had more wealth than small countries. I had wondered myself, what for.
“What do you think Stacy? Do you think enough is enough?”
I turned to Chris and narrowed my eyes at him. He had a knack of putting me on the spot. He did things like that to me because I was sure that he liked to watch me squirm.
“I think everyone at this table has more than enough.”
Ronald busted out a loud laugh that startled me. “Now that is a judicious answer. What is your name girl?”
Keenan apologized. “I am sorry for not making proper introductions. Ronald, this is my assistant Stacy. Do you remember Ashlyn that was with me the first time that I met you?” Ronald nodded. “This is her niece.”
“Well your aunt is a delight Stacy, but I am sure that you know that.”
“Yes she is.”
Ronald and Keenan had taken me out of the fire and I was thankful for them. I tried to ignore Chris, but after a few moments I felt the familiar touch of his thigh against mine. I tried to move away from him and act like nothing was going on, but he wasn’t going for it. Just like before. Chris upped the ante quickly and I felt his hand on my thigh. He was pulling me back towards him. I had to stop myself from crying out in surprise.
I turned to Chris and told him to stop, mouthing the words under my breath. He just kind of smiled and pretended that he was paying attention to the stock talk going on between Ronald and Keenan. I could only focus on the hot palm that was going up my leg, it was impossible to think of anything else. What had started as an innocent touch that could have been waved off, it was now becoming more. His hand had started at my knee, but was quickly moving closer to my nether region and my anxiety was rising with his hand.
“So Stacy, what do you think of the market?”
Chris was doing it again. The smirk on his face was one that I wanted to slap off of him.
“I don’t care much for the market. I don’t have enough to worry about the market anyways. It is fascinating in some ways, but just not for me.”
Ronald told me that I was a breath of fresh air, but I could only smile. I wasn’t really listening anyways. I was far too worried about the touch on my upper thigh. As his hands pulled me closer to him, I cried out when I felt him opening my legs as far as the pencil skirt would allow, which wasn’t much. As he moved under the fabric, my face started to burn. I should have stopped him, told myself that I should have, but it just felt so damn good I didn’t want to. I wanted more. I wanted him.
I tried to move away, but he held me still as he fingered my panties. I gasped at the touch and Keenan looked over at me worried. “Are you okay Stacy?”
“Yeah, I am fine.”
He had a question in his gaze that I didn’t answer. It was all just too much. I wanted to stop Chris, but part of me wanting to see where the build-up was going to lead me. I could feel everything around me getting hot and I wanted more. God, I needed more.
Instead of pushing his hand away, what I should have done, something told me to lean down in my seat and open my legs the rest of the way. I wanted him to have easy access and I was overwhelmed as his fingers touched on my sensitive core. I jerked and my face was burning, but I didn’t want to move. I wanted more and soon I had tried to close my legs because the more was just becoming too much. I was shaking and Chris was not going to let it stop. He was pushing me to whole new heights.
“Are you sure you are okay Stacy?”
Keenan looked concerned and it was then that my body exploded from Chris’ ministrations. “I am fine, really.”
I didn’t sound fine. My breath came out fast and my words were clipped and then nonexistent. I had to stomp on Chris’ foot to get him to stop and he was the one that made a loud noise.
“Excuse me while I go freshen up.”
“Let me know if you need anything Stacy.”
I looked at Chris and his satisfied smile, but I didn’t say a word. I just couldn’t. Instead I walked away and tried to pull myself together. My knees were weak and I knew that he was going to be a problem. Chris popping up was no coincidence. I knew that much for sure.
How could I get through my day, knowing that he may just pop up wherever I was? Who had told him that I would be here?
There were many questions that I wanted answers to, but I had to take care of the squish feeling between my legs. I was mortified that I had let him, maybe even made it easier for him, but I couldn’t help it. Chris knew what felt good and it was impossible to deny the pleasure that I had gotten from his touches.
I steadied myself in the mirror and tried to not see the differences now so evident to me. My eyes were practically glowing and there was a flush to my face. It was also clear that I had thoroughly enjoyed it all. I worried that when I went back out there, the other two men would know what happened. It was bad enough that Chris knew what was going on. It was worse to know that others may know as well.
I didn’t want to stay in the bathroom too long, but I took time for the red to leave my cheeks. Something that could shouldn’t be that wrong, but I knew that it was wrong. Working myself up, I finally just sent a text to Keenan that I wasn’t feeling well and that I would get a copy of the meeting sent to him. I was just going to have Chris send him one, since it was his fault for the irritating stickiness in my panties and my mental state at the moment anyways.
Chapter 11
Chris
“Stacy just text. Says she isn’t feeling too well and is going to leave.”
I kind of smiled to myself, telling Keenan that I hoped she felt better soon. “I am sure she will be fine, but she certainly didn’t look well, did she?”
He gave me a meaningful look and I didn’t return it. I wasn’t going to discuss this with Keenan and certainly not in front of Ronald. Ronald made a comment about Ashlyn and the peculiar way she looked at things. I was relieved to get the subject off of the woman that just jetted out of here in such a way. I know that it was my fault, but I didn’t feel the guilt like I should have. I didn’t feel anything but a slight amusement.
Stacy had responded to me in the most beautiful way and I was dying to taste her juices on my finger. I just hadn’t found a way to
do so, but I was going to as soon as I could.
“No, she did look a little flushed. I find this hotel a little on the warm side. Maybe she just got a little overheated.” It would explain the flush in her face that I had seen before she ran off.
“I suppose. I will call later and make sure that she is okay. Ashlyn would have my head if anything happened to her niece on my watch.”
“Lovely girl.”
I seconded the sentiment of Ronald, but Keenan didn’t comment one way or another. Like he said, he truly didn’t have eyes for anyone else but his wife.
“She is quite lovely.”
Keenan shot me a look and I just took the pose of a man that was innocent, even though the hard on under the table would have told otherwise. I was even surer than I was before. I had to have that woman, one way or another.
***
I couldn’t wait to see Stacy again, so I finally just weaseled her for information to find her address from Keenan. He didn’t want to, but I already had what I needed by the time he had figured out what it was that I wanted. I had been warned about her again, but I think he knew that it wasn’t going to happen. There was no way that I was going to give up. I couldn’t. She had done something to me that I didn’t really understand, but it was impossible to deny. Stacy had changed me.
Nervous to be standing in front of her door, I waited a few moments to let my heart calm down so that I could think properly. For all of the time that I had waited for this, I still wasn’t sure what I was doing here. Stacy made it clear that she wasn’t interested. I should respect it, but that meant that I would have to give her up. I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t even get her out of my mind enough to think that was possible.
So I knocked and waited. The parking lot had several cars in it and I couldn’t quite remember what kind of car she had. There were no windows in the front, so all I had to look at was a door with a small hole in it. Was she on the other side of it, looking out at me?
If she was, Stacy didn’t answer. I was so sure that this would be it. It was hard for me to leave because it felt like a defeat. There was a moment I thought about staying for a while and waiting for her, but I didn’t want to feel like a stalker either. After what had happened today, I thought that Stacy would feel differently about everything. I know that I certainly did and I didn’t understand why she wasn’t as bothered by our encounters as I was. I had never had a woman be so blasé about out intimate time together. It was one thing that I had always excelled in. Stacy was killing my confidence.
Finally I just left and drove back home, taking the long way to give myself time to think. I wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to be with me, but I knew what her excuse was. She said that we had no future and maybe she was right, but at the same time she could be wrong as well.
With the information I was given, I was also provided with a couple of phone numbers for her. The first one didn’t yield anything and the second one got me a voicemail. I hung up before I could leave a message, not sure what to say and irritated to no end that I didn’t have the guts to say it.
I needed some courage and to hell with what Ronald says, I needed a drink. I need to forget about the raven-haired vixen with the purple eyes and the curves for days. She was taking over my thoughts and my whole life. I needed some way to stop thinking about her, just for a while. I didn’t like to admit it to myself, but a woman had finally gotten to me and I hadn’t even seen it coming.
The closest bar was a small one that I had never heard of before. I thought I was going in for a drink, but I was quickly changing my mind about everything. Someone was there that I hadn’t expected, though I remembered vaguely Stacy telling me that she worked at a bar. I hadn’t figured it would be one quite like this.
“Well small world, isn’t it?”
She was not happy to see me and I knew from the expression on her face that she thought I was following her. I wasn’t of course, it was a coincident this time, but considering the one I had created a little while ago and then took full advantage of, I could see why she was a little hesitant to see the truth.
“I swear I had no idea you worked here.” I wasn’t about to tell her that I had just came from her house.
“So you just happened to come into this bar, on this street, miles away from where you live?”
“Well when you put it like that.”
“Stacy, who is your friend? He is yummy. Is this who you have been holding out for?”
A brunette was smiling my way and she was passably cute, but I wasn’t here for her. I didn’t have eyes for her, but for her friend. Holding out?
“Angie shut up. He is just a customer. Why don’t you go ahead and get him something to drink while I go into the back for some more limes to cut?”
Angie nodded her head at Stacy and I don’t know why, but even I would have listened and done what she said. Stacy had an air about her in this place, or maybe it was because I was here, because of what I had done to her in the restaurant. I hadn’t thought to do it, it wasn’t premeditated, but it was enjoyed thoroughly with every fiber of my being.
“What can I get for you honey?”
“A beer and a bottle of tequila. It is going to be a long night.”
Angie smiled at me and told me that when I was done with Stacy, she got off at two. There was no temptation, even though before there maybe would have been. I had my blinders on, only seeing a small tunnel of light that ended with Stacy.
It was a while until Stacy came out and I was still where she had left me.
“What are you doing here Chris?”
I held up the bottle and showed her my glass. “Would you like some?”
“No thanks. I don’t really drink.”
“But you work at a bar.”
Stacy shrugged and I just took her in. She was wearing tight jeans that made her ass look incredible and a short T shirt that was tied in the front. It was a very different get-up than what she was wearing today, talking to some of the richest men in the country over amazing food. How could she go so easily from one world to the other?
“Yes, I do work at a bar. You are very adept tonight. I wouldn’t drink too much Chris, you might lose it.”
“I can see the claws are out tonight.”
“I already had to deal with you at one job Chris. I really don’t want to have to deal with you at the other one.”
“You had to deal with me? If I remember right Stacy, I think you dealt with it just fine, even helping in the end.”
She did not like that answer and I could see the anger leap into her eyes like it was a flame. I didn’t know what to say to her, or what to do. All I knew was that I wanted to see her and damn, her eyes did flash when she was mad.
“You embarrassed me. How am I supposed to look Keenan in the eyes after that?”
I shrugged and told her that he had no clue. She had hidden it well and even I had to wonder if I had made it all up. But there had been slick fluid on my fingers and I knew that she had come to full pleasure. I wasn’t going to stop until she did and Stacy had gone over the edge sooner that I thought she would. I hadn’t even really done much more than rub her for a minute or so. She was primed and ready. Was she now?
“It’s fine Stacy. No one will ever know but me and you.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel any better?”
“Maybe not. I like that we have a little secret between us.”
“I don’t Chris. I don’t want to have anything between us.”
“You can’t stop it.” God, I really hoped she couldn’t. I knew that if I could get my hands on her, I would be able to change her mind and stop all of this nonsense. It was going to happen, sooner or later and I had never been a patient man for too long.
A man at the other side of the bar called out Stacy’s name and she moved to get him some drinks. He watched her ass as she bent down to get the beer and I felt a rage run through me. No one else was supposed to be looking at her, she was mine and it was about time that
I took what was mine.
But Stacy had other plans and she avoided me most of the night. As I drank more, she ignored me more and before long I was slurring. I had drunk too much and I let my head rest on the bar.
***
I woke up with my face on the side of the bar and what I was going to hope was my own drink from the night before. It took a minute for my eyes to open and adjust to the light. I groaned from the pain in my head and Stacy walked up behind me.
“Rough night?”
“Yes. Why am I here??”
“Well I didn’t know where your car was or where you live, so I figured this was the best place to keep you.”
“Thank you Stacy. I don’t know what came over me last night. Thanks for letting me stay here.”
“Don’t thank me, thank the owner. I told her that you would pay off all of the outstanding tabs on her books to thank her.”
“Why do I get a feeling this night’s rest is going to cost me?”
“It will I would imagine. We have a lot of tabs open.”
I frowned and stopped her with my hand. “What happened last night?”
“Nothing Chris. You just had too much to drink, happens all the time. I need to get to work. I was supposed to meet Keenan half an hour ago, so can we go?”
I could see that she was irritated with me and I felt like a scolded pooch. Sliding off of the stool, my head was dying and I knew that it wasn’t going to get better for a while. I wanted to talk to Stacy, but she locked up and started walking to her car. When I moved in her direction, she stopped me and told me that my car was the other way.
“Why don’t we make this our last meeting Chris?”
She didn’t wait for an answer that she wouldn’t want to hear it anyways. I knew I had blown it and I was going to have to do something to get her back. What had I said and done last night that had her so upset?
Sighing to myself, I got in my car and leaned back against the seat rest. There really was no telling, but I had to figure it out. I didn’t want to mess things up before they even got started.