by Goode, Ella
“He’s good for me too,” I admit. He does things to my heart. Something about soothing him soothes me too. I enjoy working him up and then calming him back down again. Still, I hate what the woman in the mailroom said about him burning through women.
“I know,” Charlotte says with a smirk before turning back to her computer to type away. Oddly she reminds me of my dad with her all-knowing looks. It makes me like her more but miss my dad too. I really miss home. I try not to dwell on missing home. I think I’d miss Drake even more though if I left. I am willing to stick this out because of Drake. He is worth the effort. I just keep reminding myself that I can do this not only for me but for Drake. I will stay here for him.
When I was in his office I was fine. Thoughts of home were long gone from my mind. He filled up the space that had me feeling homesick. My focus was all on him and maybe a little on his hard cock. I was always trying to get a rise out of him. I took pleasure in watching all that control he tries to hold on to slip away. In my heart I believe what we have is real. I’m not one of those women in a line of many, as Sherile was saying downstairs.
If being with him means staying here I think I can do it. Maybe this big city will grow on me after a while. I’ll just stay close to Drake as much as I can. I’ll try to ignore the catty comments from other women and lewd looks from some of the men. Maybe I’m not used to being around so many people and it will take some adjusting, but I can do it as long as I know he wants me.
“Oh.” I remember that I haven’t given him a kiss. I turn to go back into his office, knowing if I don’t kiss him I won’t be able to get anything done. I’ll keep thinking about it. “Going to pop back in,” I tell Charlotte.
“You can come and go as you please,” she responds, not looking away from her computer screen, but I see her smiling.
“Anyone else allowed to do that?” I find myself asking.
She turns and looks at me. “Nope.”
That one simple word makes me all warm inside. See, I knew I was different. I nod my head at Charlotte and head back into Drake’s office. I pull open the door a crack, smiling. I am hoping that he’s found the panties I dropped under his desk and is now touching himself thinking about me. The thought has me wanting to crawl back into his lap. I want to see how far he is willing to let me take it.
I freeze when I hear my name.
“Delilah needs to go back home,” I hear Drake say. I swear my heart stops beating for a moment. “I’m working on getting her to leave,” he adds after a beat. My eyes water, wondering who he’s talking to.
“You were right. She doesn’t belong here. I can’t stand her even being in this building. I had her moved to my floor so others would stop staring and whispering about her.” My dad. That has to be who he’s talking to. Maybe this was Drake's plan all along. He was going to use me, break my heart into pieces and send me running back home. I bet he’s not divulging to my dad half of the things he’s been doing to me and with me all in an attempt to get me to go back home. I feel sick to my stomach. I’m so freaking naïve.
I let go of the door, stepping back. I turn my face away from Charlotte so she can’t see it as I make my way back to my new mailroom. It isn't until I’m alone that I let a few tears fall. I wipe them away quickly. Maybe he’s right: this city isn't for me. I’m not vicious enough to live in this world.
I should have listened to Ma when she said I wore my heart on the outside even if the doctors did put it back where it belonged.
I get myself together, seeing my bag that Drake had brought in for me sitting in the corner of the room. There is no way that I can lug that thing past Charlotte. I would never get it by her without her asking what I’m doing. I’m pretty sure she likes me but I still think she’d let Drake know what I am up to. I would expect her loyalty to be to him so I couldn’t even get mad if she did tell him.
“Hey,” I scream, turning to see Charlotte standing in the door to my mailroom office or whatever this place is called. She looks at me like I’m crazy. I probably look it at this point. I randomly screamed for no reason. Well, that’s not true; I screamed because I thought I was busted trying to sneak out of this place but I hadn't done it yet.
“Sorry. Hey.” I fake a laugh. “What’s up?” She eyes me for a second.
“Just wanted to let you know your calls have been redirected.”
“Thanks.” I glance over to my cell phone lying on the table.
“I have to run out but I’ll be back shortly. Did you need anything?” she asks. She’s not my assistant but maybe Drake told her to babysit me. Because, well, I’m not fit to be here. Right? I fight the tears that try and escape because of my own thoughts.
“Nope. I’m good but thanks.” I give my best smile. She stands there for a moment studying me. Again she reminds me of my dad, who is way too good at reading people.
“Okay,” she finally says before she turns and leaves. I dash for my suitcase, finding a pair of panties before grabbing my purse and my cell phone.
If Drake doesn't want me here then I’m not going to be here. I don't need him taking me back home. I know how to get there on my own. Maybe they were all right. I wasn't cut out for this. Worse, maybe Sherile wasn't lying and I am only one of many. I’m not livestock and no one is going to tag and number me.
14
Drake
I hang up the phone, satisfied with the conversation that I had with Wyatt. I am ready to leave this city life and start a new one with Delilah as soon as possible. I have enough money not to have to work so hard anymore. Delilah has woken me up from the boring life that I’ve been living. I feel alive for the first time in my life.
Now, I want to spend every second I can enjoying her. I’ve worked hard all of these years and I have the means to sit back and not worry about money. All of my focus can be on her. The problem is I’m not sure she has realized yet that the city isn't where she wants to be. It might be shiny and new right now but that will fade for someone like her. I know it. I will have to wait it out but for her I’d wait forever. Maybe I can start plans on building us a place. I know she’ll want to be close to her family.
I want her smiling and happy all the time. I know that isn’t going to happen in this big city away from her dad and mom. I told Wyatt all those things. He listened calmly. I was waiting for him to rip into me at any moment but he didn't. He kept on listening while I told him why I needed her and why I thought she needed to go back home.
Wyatt gave me his blessing and told me he couldn’t be happier to have me be a part of their family. It was in that moment I could have sworn he knew this was coming. That he’d been waiting on this call all day. His voice and tone were a little too all-knowing.
I wanted to be as upfront and direct as I could with him. He has known me for a long time and I think he understood from my tone that I was serious. I am going to marry his little girl and start a family of my own.
I could feel the excitement coursing through my veins after I hung up with Wyatt. I can have her. There really is nothing standing in the way now. I bet when I walk out of my office with this giant smile on my face, Charlotte is going to think I’ve finally lost my mind. I don’t care what anyone thinks because this is the second happiest day of my life. The first was the day I first saw my beautiful girl standing in Times Square. She was staring at it in awe and I remember thinking I wanted her to look at me that exact same way. Then she actually had when her eyes moved to me and in that moment I knew I was never letting her out of my life.
I make my way toward the mailroom, wanting to tell Delilah what this is that is happening between us. I am going to lay all my cards out on the table, considering I have the winning hand.
I want to tell her everything and see if maybe I can convince her to let me take her back home to the country where she and I belong together. I have to be prepared for Delilah to want to stay in the city though. There is no guarantee that she will just agree to my plan. She may disagree just to get a rise out of me.
I smile to myself thinking of her giving me a hard time just for the hell of it. Although I want her back home, I’d stay anywhere she is as long as she keeps giving me those smiles. I couldn’t live without her laugh that shakes her whole body, because like everything Delilah does, she puts her whole self into it.
I am going to take her home and take the cherry she’s been taunting me with. Make her mine in all ways. There will be nothing standing between us anymore. She is mine for the taking and I am definitely going to be taking.
I glance at C’s desk, forgetting that she stepped out. Good, I can have a moment with my girl before I take her back to my place. She will work off this hard-on she left me with earlier. I slip my hand into my pocket, making sure I have her tiny panties with me. I would have been fucking livid if I hadn’t seen them under my desk and the cleaning crew found them. She’s lucky I didn’t spank her ass for that one. The day is still young, so maybe I will. I walk faster toward the office I had turned into a makeshift mailroom. The only thing I’m thinking about is clearing all of the mail off of her desk and bending her over it. I quickly make the decision that I will be spanking her ass before I pull my cock out and come all over the red marks my hand leaves. I am going to mark that ass so everyone knows it’s mine. I will have to settle with the spanking for now to hold me over. There is no way that I am taking that sweet cherry of hers on a desk at work. No, I am going to wait until I have time to enjoy her.
I push open the door, not finding her there. My phone vibrates in my pocket again but I ignore it, yelling out her name. I exit the mailroom and go in search of her.
The elevator doors open. My gaze snaps up to see Vinnie standing there. He’s bent over holding his knees. He seems really out of breath.
“Sir. I tried to call you.” The poor guy looks panicked. “She left. I couldn’t stop her.”
“Who?” I glance to C’s desk. I know she left. The realization of what Vinnie is eluding to hits me like a ton of bricks. I actually stumble back a foot.
“She got a cab.” He quickly adds, “I don’t know where she went.”
My heart starts to pound. I step onto the elevator and use my master key to override any stops it might have made. I need this ride to be a direct shot to the bottom floor if I have a chance of catching up to Delilah. My mind begins to race with so many questions. Where did she go? Why did she go? I pull out my phone and try calling her. It goes straight to voicemail. I try and track her but it looks like she turned off her phone.
“Fuck!” I slam my fists against the elevator wall, knowing she left. I don’t know how or why, but I feel it. She’s leaving me. What the hell could have changed in the short time since she left my office with her soft laughter and sweet smiles? How could this all have gone to shit in a matter of an hour?
The phone in my other hand rings. I look down, not knowing the number, but I recognize the area code. I answer the phone, thinking maybe it’s Wyatt on the other end.
“I think I have something you’re looking for,” the man on the other end of the line drawls. It’s not Wyatt.
“Colton,” I growl out. That’s the only other person I can think it might be. I asked Wyatt about the man after he’d given me his blessing, needing to know if this Colton is going to be a problem. He told me no but I am still feeling all kinds of territorial when it comes to my girl. How could he not want her? It’s his loss that he ever let her get away to begin with. She is mine now.
“You’ve heard of me?” he says with a laugh in his voice.
“Where is she?” I demand.
“Word is you’ve got plans to come back this way. I reckon you learn some manners before you do. More flies with honey.” With that, the line goes quiet.
“Colton,” I warn.
“Told you I wanted something.”
“As long as it’s not her you can have anything you fucking want.”
“That’s good, because it’s not Delilah I want. I want that smart-mouth assistant of yours.”
15
Delilah
“You okay?” the woman next to me asks. I look up from the airplane safety manual that I’m pretending to read since I can’t play with my phone. I know if I turn it on Drake will know where I am. I am minutes away from takeoff. He shouldn’t care where I am. I am doing what he wanted. Going home.
“I’m fine,” I tell her as I wipe away a tear before glancing over at her. She looks at me like I’m crazy. That’s when I see she has a phone pressed to her ear and she’s not talking to me. She gives me a look that says Leave me alone.
My face heats as embarrassment hits me. Of course she’s not talking to me. I glance back down at the manual, wishing I was home already. No, I wish Drake was here. That I could go back to the happiness I felt before I heard him talking on phone. The pain I felt in that moment was like no other pain I’ve ever experienced before. I should have known better but I didn’t. My heart was crushed and now I’m going home alone to lick my wounds.
I feel my bottom lip start to quiver. I bite it, not wanting to burst into tears. I’ve already embarrassed myself in front of the woman sitting next to me. I don’t want to cry and make a bigger spectacle of myself. I can’t seem to get out of my own head though. I just keep rehashing Drake saying that I needed to go home. Each time I think it the pain in my chest worsens.
“Get up.” My head snaps up at the sound of Drake’s deep voice. “Up,” he says again.
“Holy shit he’s hot,” the woman next to me says. This time I know she’s not talking on the phone. I want to smart off that she can have him but I can’t bring myself to say the words.
I look at Drake and then back to my seatmate. This lady is going to think I am a hot mess. Anger starts to flow through my body at his demand. He’s got some nerve coming on this plane and ordering me around after how he talked about me in that phone conversation. I smile big, showing my dimples, and recline my seat as far back as it goes.
I do it to be a brat but his mouth twitches in a smirk.
“Baby,” he warns.
“He must be talking to you,” I tell the women next to me.
“I’ll get up.” She smiles big at Drake. He doesn’t bother to glance her way.
“You’ll have to get in line from my understanding.” I’m not sure if I’m warning her or myself because I want to get up and jump into his arms.
“I don’t mind a line,” the woman says. Drake’s smirk drops from his lips and he looks more irritated than I am at the woman’s words. The sound of her unclipping her seat belt has me jerking my head to look at her.
If I can take Bacon I can take her, but I shouldn’t care. Before I can tell her Sit down, I’m lifted into the air and thrown over Drake’s shoulder. I’m just thankful that I put panties on before I made my run for it.
“What are you—" I yelp when a hand comes down on my ass, catching me by surprise. I try to look up but my hair falls, blocking everything out as Drake strides from the plane.
“Is someone going to stop this?” I shout. It only gets me another smack to the ass. “I was doing what you wanted! I was going home!” I shout again when he doesn’t respond.
“Put me down!” I try again. When I realize no one is going to help me nor am I getting away, I stop trying. My body is drawn to him. Regardless of how much my mind wants to continue fighting, my body knows who is going to win this fight. I want him too badly even though I want to slap him too.
We keep moving but my hair hangs down in my face, making it impossible to see where he is taking me. I hear people address Drake as Mr. Weston. I just hang there frustrated and quiet as I wait for Drake to stop and put me down. He’s quiet also but he’s moving at a fast pace. It isn't until we shift some that I know we’re going up stairs. I try to peek again but all I can see now is that we’re outside for a moment. I hear a door open a few moments later.
“I’m going to put you down, baby. You have to promise to listen to me and let me explain everything,” he says in that deep, no-nonsense vo
ice of his.
I nod my head up and down at first but realize he’s unable to see my face.
“Fine,” I sigh, pretending I don’t want to know what he has to say but while he carried me over his shoulder like I was a rag doll my mind was spinning with the many excuses he was going to give me. I was leaving. So what he didn’t get in my pants. It is clear he doesn't need help getting laid. One thought keeps dominating my mind though. He was the one that came to find me, boarded my flight and carried me away because he wanted me.
He slides me down his long, hard body and my traitorous vagina clenches with need, growing wet. I try to take in my surroundings, which looks to be a bedroom of some sort, but my eyes stay on him. My feet still haven't touched the ground. Before they can, he moves, placing me on a bed. I immediately scoot back away from him. I want to hear what he has to say but I need a little distance from him so that I’m able to think straight. When his hands are on me all I can do is think about where I want them to explore next. There is no denying that my body wants him and I’d be lying if I said my heart didn’t.
I watch hurt flash across his face as I move back from him. He sits down on the edge of the bed and looks me straight in my eyes. It’s something I’ve learned I love about him in the short time I’ve known him. He doesn't back down. Though right now, I can see the worry in his eyes. He looks disheveled when I really take him in. I doubt Drake has looked disheveled a day in his life before now. How I know that I have no idea, but I do. It’s in the way he carries himself, speaks. Always two steps ahead. I’m pretty sure it’s why I enjoy doing some of the things I do to him. He needs to be shaken up from time to time.
“You gonna say something?” I finally drawl.