“No, you won’t.” Ralph frowned at me as he stripped off his t-shirt. I watched his half-naked body and tried to stir up some interest, but there was nothing. He wasn’t a bad looking guy. A little too pale and slender, but he had nice blue eyes and great hair. I liked running my hands through it when he kissed me.
It was about the only thing that I liked when he kissed me, but that would change too, right? When we were more comfortable around each other.
His words finally sunk in, and I widened my eyes. “What?” I was flabbergasted. “You’re not going to let me stay while you’re at work?”
Buttoning up his shirt, he shrugged. “I don’t like people in my apartment when I’m not here.”
I wasn’t just ‘people.’ I was his girlfriend. He couldn’t trust me?
“Ralph,” I protested. “I’m not going to steal anything or snoop. I just want to watch some television.”
“I said no,” he said sharply. “God, when did you get to be like this? This sniveling, whining bitch? Pull yourself together, Daisy.”
Flinching, I closed my eyes. “Yeah. Okay. I’m sorry.” Dazed, I grabbed my purse and stood.
He straightened and smiled as if he hadn’t just yelled at and humiliated me. “Thanks, babe. I’ll talk to you later.” Maybe he was just under a lot of stress at work, and I needed to respect that.
Still, I walked out with stiff steps, feeling like my crappy world was crumbling even more. The hot summer air filled my lungs, and for a moment, I thought that it might suffocate me. Gasping, I tightened my grip on my purse and slowly walked down the sidewalk. People hurried by, bumped into me, barely saw me. I felt like an insect.
A powerless insect that was going to be crushed. When had my life spiraled out of control? When had I stopped being able to make my own choices?
I wandered around the city aimlessly for a little while before finally heading home. I reached for the doorknob, but my neighbor, an older black man with a badly scarred face and a walker, stuck his head out the door. “Baby girl? Why don’t you come over and keep me company for a little while? I haven’t seen you in forever.”
Hesitating, I paused. I knew what he did for a living. The shady, shaky, and sometimes violent people going in and out of his apartment day and night were testament of that, and while I liked talking to him in the hall, I didn’t want to be in his home. Didn’t want to be noticed by any of his customers.
But then, the loud moaning inside my father’s apartment finally reached my ears, and I stepped back. “Yeah. Thanks,” I whispered.
“Don’t worry, baby girl. I won’t let nothing happen to you.” He understood my hesitation. “So your father got himself a new girlfriend?”
“She’s moving in.” I walked into his apartment, and gingerly sat down on his torn green couch while trying not to inhale too deeply. Johnson slammed the door shut and glared at the grunts and moans that were coming from my place. “And I’m moving out.”
“Good for you. You moving in with that nice boyfriend of yours?”
I wanted to tell him the truth. I didn’t love lying, but still had my pride. Admitting that my boyfriend didn’t want me to live with him and my father didn’t care was something that I couldn’t do, even to an old drug dealer who couldn’t remember my name to save his life. “With a friend,” I said finally. “Moving in with a friend.”
“That’s nice girl. Was starting to think that you didn’t have any friends. You never bring them around, although I can see why.”
“My father doesn’t like to be bothered.” Not exactly a lie, but Johnson wasn’t wrong. I didn’t have any friends.
All I had was a father who hated me, a boyfriend who didn’t love me, and a bunch of neighbors who were generally too stoned to care.
The banging on the wall grew louder, and I tried to drown it out. “So,” I said desperately. “How are things going with you?”
Chapter Four
Brick
Glancing at the front page of the social section of the newspaper, I cringed. The media’s obsession with my love life was getting tedious. I’d attended a charity dinner alone last night, and the salivating hyenas were already speculating. They hadn’t seen me with a woman on my arm in a month. Was I nursing a broken heart? Was my reputation as a ladies man finally affecting my love life? Were the women of Manhattan scorning me?
Was I gay?
“Fucking ridiculous,” I muttered to myself. There’d been no date because I’d planned to use the dinner to talk business, and didn’t want any distractions. Women lined up for me when it came to social dates, and most of them understood my needs, but these informal meetings were not something that I wanted to share with them. I’d been conducting them for a month, but clearly, the tactic wasn’t working.
I was getting more attention than ever.
So, I made a mental note to make sure that there was a date at my next function. I’d have Julia go through my contacts and pick someone suitable.
The devil herself cleared her throat as she stared at me. “The news could be worse,” she pointed out. “Being boring is far better than a scandal at this point.”
“Perhaps, but it’s out of the norm, and with the deal that I have cooking, I don’t want there to be any speculation about me. Make sure that I have dates for the next few events,” I said and pushed the newspaper aside. “And leak something about the donation that I made during the charity.”
“Already done. Your next event is a birthday party for the CEO of Salinger Incorporated in a little over a week. He’s turning fifty. I’ll make sure that you have a date.”
“Good.”
“Also, I made a few adjustment to the intern schedule,” Julia informed me as she tapped on her tablet. “And no, it’s not because I think the Johnson girl is too hot to work with you. She has an aptitude for graphic design, and she’s wasted on this floor. Everything else looks good. I’m going home for the weekend now. See you on Monday.”
“Whoa.” I looked up sharply and pointed to the boxes of files sitting in the corner of my office. “Who’s going to digitize those if you’re leaving? I want them done before Monday.”
“Are the cardboard boxes messing up your posh decor?” Julia mocked as she uncrossed her legs and stood. “Relax. I delegated. Guy should be here in…”
Just then there was a knock on the door. A satisfied smile crossed her face as she walked to the door and opened it. A pasty-faced twenty-something walked in with a cocky smile on his face. He immediately pissed me off, and he made it worse by opening his mouth and speaking to me unprompted. “Mr. Langston, I just wanted you to know how thrilled I am that you chose me to help you. I’ve studied your career path. You were a huge influence on my studies at school.”
“I didn’t choose you,” I told him crossly. “My assistant did. You should be thanking her.”
“This is Ralph Cook,” Julia said before giving me a smirk. “So about my weekend...”
Ralph didn’t even bother giving my assistant a second look. Instead, he had the audacity to stride towards my desk and stretch his hand out. “The merger with Gaynor Investments was the most pivotal and critical move of your career. The way you edged out the president and installed your own men on the board gave you complete control. Brilliant. Cold and calculated.”
“I know. I was there.” I refused to shake his hand, but it didn’t deter the little jerk. Wanting him out of my office immediately, I nodded to the boxes. “Get started.”
“Yes! I don’t mind working on the weekend at all. Your assistant’s call could not have come at a better time. My girlfriend actually thinks that she’s going to move in with me. Can you believe it? Anyway, this was the perfect opportunity for me to get away from her. Women, am I right?”
“The boxes are right over there,” I reminded him with the nod of my head.
Ralph didn’t seem to get the message. “I mean, we’ve only been going out for a few months. She’s hot as hell, but I can’t have her around all the time. Wo
men start to get ideas at that point, and I’m too young to be tied down. Besides, how am I going to get any strange on the side if she’s hanging around all the time. Am I right?” he laughed.
If he said am I right one more time, I was going to strangle him.
Julia opened her mouth to tear the guy a new one, but I held up my hand to stop her. I didn’t believe this guy’s story for a second. There was no way in hell that he had a hot girlfriend, and if he did, he certainly wasn’t tossing her aside for any strange. It was time to take him down a peg or two and remind him of his place. “Let’s see a picture of this hot girl of yours,” I said mildly.
I was expecting him to bluster some excuse for not having a picture, but instead, he pulled out his phone, tapped on the screen, and handed it to me.
The picture on the phone wasn’t of just a hot woman. She was breathtaking. Wide, dark eyes with specks of caramel peaked out from a fringe of black lashes and were filled with innocence and kindness. Long, dark tresses that curled and swept over her shoulders begged for my touch. Her skin was smooth and creamy and glowed with just a hint of the sun’s kiss. I was mesmerized by the gentle slope of her shoulder and the inch of her exposed abdomen. Her hips flared in those tight jeans, and there was no denying those luscious curves that swelled beneath the thin white fabric of her shirt.
Her unpainted, full and kissable lips were parted just ever so slightly, and God knows, I wanted to see if she tasted as sweet as she looked.
She was young. Too young. Other than my dalliance with the intern, I usually stayed away from young women. They, of all people, had ideas about their future. Still believed in white knights and Prince Charming. Thought a single night in my bed meant forever. But this woman here, she was glorious, and I desperately wanted to feel that skin beneath my fingers. To sink my teeth into that shoulder.
To tease and torment her until she was begging for more.
My sudden obsession surprised me, but it only egged me on. It had been so long since I’d had such a visceral reaction to a woman. It was an opportunity I wasn’t about to let pass between my fingers.
“How old is she?” I said roughly. Please say eighteen. Please say eighteen.
“Eighteen. She’s about as good as it gets when it comes to picking out bitches from the Bronx,” Ralph sniggered. “She’s a little innocent for my taste, but I can’t wait to break her in.”
Jealousy and anger instantly streaked through me. What the fuck was someone like her doing with Ralph, and why the hell would Ralph talk about her like that? “Julia,” I said calmly, “I believe you said something about leaving to enjoy your weekend?” The last thing I wanted was for her to witness what I was about to do to Ralph Cook. Files be damned. I was going to beat the living shit out of the snot-nosed kid until he learned a little respect.
And then I was going to tell him to drop his sweet little girlfriend by my office for a chat. I had a position, a few positions, that I wanted her to fill.
“Brick,” she said in a low voice. “Please keep in mind that the press is watching us very closely right now.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Brick.”
Turning my head, I fixed her with a steely-eyed glare. “I said thank you, Julia.”
I could see the hesitation in her eyes. I could tell that Julia wanted to watch me bloody the kid’s nose, but sensibility and her loyalty to the company always came first.
Or rather, they came second. After her loyalty to me.
With lips pressed tightly together, she spun on her heels and marched out of the office. The door slammed behind her, and I gripped the phone tightly as I stood and walked around the desk. Ralph was completely oblivious to the danger that he was in.
“Man, you’ve got to get yourself an assistant with less mouth. Now Daisy, she’s all kinds of obedient. Her daddy’s kicking her out so he can get his freak on with his girlfriend, and she’s got nowhere to go, but when she came begging to me and I told her no, she didn’t even bother arguing. Just swallowed those tears and nodded like a good little girlfriend.”
I immediately stilled. The beautiful woman was about to be living on the streets? And this asshole was going to let her?
Ralph continued. “Of course, she’s not wife material. With my future potential, I can’t be chained to someone like that. I need a woman with class. With a little bit more money, I’d be able to get a place in Manhattan and aim a little higher.”
Unbelievable. Now the dick was hinting about a raise. I glanced down at Daisy’s beautiful face. Submissive. Desperate. Beautiful. She was everything that I wanted, and I didn’t want this piece of filth ever touching her again.
“You want money? Sell me your girlfriend.”
Ralph snorted with laughter and shook his head. “Damn, Brick. I love your style. Man, I wish it was that easy.”
I stiffened. The sound of my first name on this idiot’s lips almost drove me to kill him right then and there. “It is that easy. You want money. She needs a place to live. Sell her to me for a month. She’ll live with me, and I’ll pay you…say…a hundred thousand dollars.”
Ralph immediately stopped laughing. Eyes wide, his jaw dropped, and he stared at me. “Sell Daisy? That’s not right, man.”
Not right? Even as he said it, I could see the wheels in his head turning. It was far too late for him to act like the dutiful boyfriend now. “Are you sure you’re not interested,” I coaxed him.
“Look man, I know I said some stuff about Daisy, but she’s a good girl. I couldn’t just sell her…for less than two hundred thousand.”
That kind of money was nothing to me, but I wanted Ralph to know exactly what I planned to do with his good girl. “Two hundred thousand, huh? You say that Daisy is obedient. Is she open to submissive work?” I hated the thought of Ralph acting as Daisy’s master.
“What the fuck?” Ralph choked out. His eyes practically bulged out of his head.
“If Daisy is open to being my sub, I’d be open to paying…say…three hundred thousand dollars,” I said smoothly. “That’ll buy you a nice little condo here in the city, won’t it?”
Nodding feverishly, Ralph’s eyes glowed with greed. “Three hundred thousand dollars. Hell, yeah. I’d um…I’d be able to take care of Daisy.”
Take care of Daisy? I had a feeling that Daisy wouldn’t see a single cent of that three hundred thousand, but if she gave me what I needed for the next month, I’d see that she wasn’t destitute. “I’ll have the contract drawn up as well as an iron-clad NDA. If you tell anyone what transpired here, I will bury you.”
“Are you kidding? You’ve got nothing to worry about, man. Daisy’ll do whatever you want, man. She’ll keep quiet. I’ll keep quiet.”
I dismissed Ralph to finish his job. My stomach rolled with disgust how quickly this boy had sold his girlfriend to me, but she’d have shelter over her head and food in her belly. She’d want for nothing while she was with me.
So long as she pleased me.
Chapter Five
Daisy
I tossed a few napkins and the packets of mustard into the brown bag and gave the customer a dazzling smile. “Number six with extra relish?”
The older woman returned my smile as she took her order. “You are just the prettiest thing. Has anyone ever told you of that?”
“Probably not nearly as much as you hear it,” I joked. The white-haired old woman chuckled and shook her head.
“Oh, in my younger years, I was quite the head-turner. Much like you.” She leaned across the counter as if she wanted to tell me a secret. “You don’t let anyone flatter you with pretty words. You hold out for the real thing, you hear me? I did, and I spent fifty wonderful years with my love.”
“That sounds lovely,” I said softly. “I hope one day that will happen to me. Enjoy your meal.”
Gripping her cane, the woman tottered away. The line that had formed behind her glared at me, and I worked quickly to make up for the extra minutes that I’d spent with her. By
now, my managers had learned to stop chastising me for talking to people. I just couldn’t help myself. I adored meeting new people, and even though there were some real douche bags that came through here, there were also some real gems. If there’d been more time, I would have talked to the woman about her life with her husband. I bet she would have had some stories to tell me.
The dinner shift was busy, and by the time that I was finished, my feet ached. Closing out the register, I grabbed the cash and headed to the break room to count it. My impending eviction was affecting me more than I would have liked. Normally, closing out my till was an easy task, but tonight I ended up counting it a few times before getting it right.
“Daisy, your boyfriend called.” Stacey, one of my co-workers, plopped down in the chair next to me and pulled out her pack of cigarettes. Sliding one out, she twirled it around between her fingers and stared at the door. “You really need to get yourself a cell phone.”
“Too expensive,” I said, writing my figures down on the worksheet.
“Yeah,” she muttered distractedly. Tugging at her hair, she put the unlit cigarette between her lips and sighed.
“Stacy?” I prompted. She was a little spacey sometimes, and it took work to keep her focused. “You were saying?”
Pulling the cigarette from her lips, she blinked and shook her head. “Yeah. Right. Sorry. So Trent keeps inviting me over for movie night. He’s got some grade A chronic, but I know what he wants in return, and I’m just not feeling him. He’s probably a walking STD, and I don’t want to get a reputation around here. I’ve only been working here for a few months, but really need a hit of the good stuff, and money is tight these days. What do you think?”
Raising an eyebrow, I laughed. “I think maybe you should follow your instincts and stay away from Trent. What did Ralph want?”
“Ralph? Oh, right. Sorry. He said for you to stop by his place when you get off. Ya’ll had something to discuss.” Propping her elbows on the table, she cocked her head and stared at me. “Why are you with him? I’ve had some pretty bad boyfriends in my life, but Ralph? He’s kind of a limp noodle, isn’t he? A girl like you could do so much better, and I don’t like the way he talks to you when he comes by here. He could use a little slapping around, ya know.”
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