by Nella Tyler
I passed him a sideways glance. “Are you forgetting that I have seventeen years of schooling under my belt, including the rough year that was kindergarten?” I waited for a nonverbal response that came in the form of an eye roll before continuing. “I’ve been down that alley and traversed that road. In the end, it’s all going to pay off. You just need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.”
“By my what?” he questioned, lost in confusion.
“It’s a figure of speech.” I wrapped one arm around his neck and held him in place. “You see all of this?” I gestured towards the seemingly infinity of the golf course. “This could all be yours someday?”
“Seriously?” He chuckled. “Are you giving me the Lion King speech right now?”
I pursed my lips and freed my arm from around his back. “No,” I lied through my teeth.
“What if I’m just a big ol’ dumbass?”
“We’re going to have a talk about your filthy mouth later.” I wagged my finger at him before going back into brotherly mode. “This talk about you being dumb? That’s nonsense. You’re thirteen and shouldn’t be worrying about stuff like this right now.”
“What if I can’t get a job?” He bowed his head in frustration. “What if I fail out of school and end up flipping burgers?”
I cupped him at the chin and forced his head up before wagging a finger in his face. “That’s not going to happen. You’re too damn smart to not be successful. Besides, even if you drop out in ninth grade, you’d still have a job somewhere in my company.”
“Really?” He arched his head upwards with a hint of hope in his eyes, almost as if I had just given him permission to flunk out of school. “That’s awesome.”
“Sure.” I grinned wickedly. “We could always use more janitorial staff.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Just try not to flunk out of school and it won’t be a problem.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he said lowly because he always had a problem admitting when I was right. I didn’t blame him though because I had the same exact damn problem. “So, uh…”
“Yes?”
He stepped towards me slightly and searched both directions with his eyes to make sure the caddy couldn’t hear us. “So, when do I get my vodka.”
I did the same as him, looking both ways before lowering myself to stand at his eye level. I whispered to him, “That’s obviously not going to happen.”
“You’re such a dick,” he scolded me with a shake of his head.
“Come on,” I teased him. “Did you really think I was going to support your delinquency? Besides, from the sounds of it, you’re already partying too much when you should be spending that time studying.”
“I hate you,” he pouted and landed a playful punch against my arm. He sulked as he made his way back to stand in position in front of the tee. He swung backwards before driving the ball forward. Just as I had done with my own ball, I watch with careful eyes as the tiny white orb floated against the backdrop of clouds before hitting the embankment just behind the hole.
“I can’t believe I’m getting my ass handed to me by my little brother.”
“Yeah, what a loser.” He cocked a grin. “I’ll make you a deal.”
I crossed my arms and waited to hear the terms of said deal. Something told me I wasn’t going to like it. “Continue.”
“Well,” he shrugged, “If I beat you today, you have to do all my chemistry work for the remainder of the semester.”
“I could.” I pursed my lips before smiling. “That’d be a terrible idea though, because I basically flunked out of chemistry.”
“Then how the heck did you get into—”
“I slept with my teacher.”
His mouth gaped open. “You are so gross.”
“I’m kidding,” I said with a roaring laugh and tapped my palm on his shoulder. We both looked out into the distance and when he was no longer looking, my smile turned into a grimace. I can’t believe I actually admitted that out loud, to my little brother of all fucking people. I might have been a fully-grown adult but that didn’t mean my father couldn’t still cane my ass if he ever found out.
From behind us, I heard the familiar idling of my father’s golf cart as it came to a stop behind us. I turned around to see him jumping out onto the grass, and a young caddy following suit with a bag swung over his shoulder.
“It’s about time you rejoined us,” I said with a smile and steadied myself with my club in the grass. “Let me guess, it doesn’t quite flow as much in your old age.”
“Not quite.” The young caddy situated a ball on the tee. “The problem is that it flows entirely too much.”
That wasn’t a mental image I needed, but I couldn’t complain because it was I who initially brought it up. “So, weren’t we supposed to be meeting somebody today?” I questioned, reflecting back to our phone call.
“Not quite.” He smirked as the caddy placed the ball on the tee. “In fact, it’s not I who will be meeting the girl, but you?”
I was taken aback and flinched in place. “Me?”
“Yeah.” He shrugged as he drew back his swing, and then craned his head over his shoulder. For being an older man, he was spry as hell. “She’ll be in on Monday, and I’ll be needing you to take her out to lunch.” He swung the club, sending the ball into Kingdom Come and landing merely a yard from the hole. He was certainly better at this stupid sport than my younger brother or I.
“What? Really?” I questioned, trying to figure out what he was up to. “What’s in it for me?”
Dad peered over his shoulder to make sure Jessie wasn’t listening as he leaned in close to me. “I guess a hot piece of ass.” He slapped me on the shoulder. “Just make her happy.”
“Yeah?” I nodded. “And what’s in it for you?”
“I need her approval on opening a new clothing line with my company as our seed money investor, but she’s not quite sure about it just yet,” he said and poked me squarely in the chest. “So, I’m going to need you to sweeten the deal. Make her like us, or hell, I guess all she really has to do is like you.”
I chewed into my lip contemplatively, considering is offer before realizing it probably wasn’t an offer. To him, I would always be in debt. That’s how he saw it anyway.
“Fine,” I grumbled under my breath.
Chapter Twelve
Lindsay
After a long weekend of doing basically nothing and diving deeper into a hole of depression over sleeping with the CEO of the company, I wasn’t exactly in the best headspace to march back into work, but a girl’s got to pay her bills.
I sat at my desk arranging a stack of papers and documents, all the while keeping a close watch on the clock and waiting for the 10am meeting that I was more than dreading, because I knew Caleb would be there.
When it was just about time, I hopped to my feet and grabbed my laptop before scurrying down the hallway. My intention was to find a place in the back of the room where it would be somewhat likely I wouldn’t be in close proximity to Caleb.
Fate had other plans.
When I entered the room—the same room Caleb had screwed me in the Friday prior—almost everyone else who was supposed to be there were already there; Lance, Tara, and a few others. Caleb was nowhere to be seen. I secretly wished that he would be a no-show, perhaps nursing a hangover at home. On one side of the table, Tara was busy wiping something red from the side of Lance’s mouth—I assumed it was lipstick but I couldn’t be certain. The two jerked apart from each other when they caught me eying them from the door, and the discomfort in the room was apparent. It wasn’t just I who was mildly disgusted by their behavior, but I didn’t exactly have room to talk.
I peered around for an empty seat and noticed there were only two. I grumbled to myself and took a seat in one of the two empty seats and prayed to Jesus Christ himself that Caleb would definitely be a no-show.
Again, fate had other plans.
Caleb
stalked into the room and shut the door behind him. His eyes searched the room before he even said anything and his lips folded into a grin when he realized the only open seat in the room was right beside me, because of course it was.
“Good morning,” he said with a nod towards me and then continued to address the rest of the room with the same greeting, “Good morning, everyone.”
As soon as he took a seat, Lance rose to his feet to begin the presentation. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Caleb eying me with sexy eyes. In response, I rolled my eyes and made sure he noticed. He furrowed his brows at me, but I shifted my attention to Lance standing at the forefront of the room, doing my best to ignore Caleb at all costs.
Lance’s presentation was predictively boring, but all those damn meetings typically were. There wasn’t much substance, and certainly wasn’t too much information that it couldn’t have been covered in a quick email. These meetings honestly felt like a waste of my valuable, Caleb-free time.
Speaking of Caleb, he actually seemed to take great interest in the presentation for once. I wasn’t sure if something had come over him, or if he was just paying such close attention so he could be a complete ass in the aftermath.
“It’s a good talk,” Caleb said with a cocky shrug. Yep, he was just going to be an ass about it. “But honestly, I think the whole thing is a terrible idea that could risk plunging our business into the pits of hell.” He cleared his throat and smiled widely. “I mean, my business.”
“Seriously?” Lance arched one brow and pursed his lips. “I don’t think you have a clue what you’re talking about.”
Caleb wagged his finger at him. “I don’t think you have a clue who you’re talking to.”
“Unfortunately, I’m very well aware who I’m talking too.”
“Ouch,” Caleb feigned hurt. “There is so much hostility in this workplace. It’s really quite unbecoming.”
Lance motioned to speak, but thought better of it and just shook his head in an aggravated manner.
“I’m going to interject.” Tara cleared her throat and leaned forward with her hands folded into each other on the table. “I know it’s somewhat of a risk, but I’ve seen all the data, and the ad will generate great returns.”
I thought about saying something. I thought about speaking up and putting an end to this merry-go-round of bullshit. Firstly, Tara wasn’t an accountant; she was a tax manager. It might seem like a small distinction but there’s no way I would have trusted her opinion on the matter, especially because I knew that the numbers hadn’t actually been ran yet. But since I was a lowly junior accountant in the firm, I knew it was best to keep my mouth shut.
“Really now?” Caleb arched a brow and looked at Tara intently. “And you wouldn’t just be saying that because you’re getting a little piece of the pie.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Tara chuckled and retreated into the depths of her chair. “I’m salaried, so the success of this project has no bearings on my personal financial situation.”
“Right.” Caleb scratched at the length of his nose and chuckled to himself as if he was about to say something unbecoming. “That’s not the pie I was talking about.”
Shots fired, I thought to myself and moved my palm over my mouth to hide my growing smile. “
Tara cocked her head at Caleb with a flat smile, and then shyly turned away. She cleared her throat, gesturing for Lance to take the floor.
“I think this is as good a time as any to take a break.”
“Sure thing, brother.” Caleb leaped from his seat and patted Lance on the shoulder as he stormed out.
I sat there in awkward silence, the same awkward silence as everyone else. There had always been tension between the two brothers but the tension seemed to be boiling over lately, like a volcano that was about to blow. I didn’t want to be caught in the lava, but at the same time, it was one hell of a show—a deathmatch between two raging egos.
# # #
I left the bathroom and turned right to head back to my desk, but craned my head over my shoulder towards the opposite end of the hall where Caleb’s office was. There was something off about the meeting that I just couldn’t shake. Although Caleb was an ass who hadn’t said two words to me since we slept together—again—the other day, it was still within my job description to help guide his decision making, and I felt as if it was my duty to inform him that the numbers hadn’t actually been ran yet before anyone went ahead and pulled the proverbial trigger on the marketing campaign.
I took a deep breath and reaffirmed my decision to tell him. I pulled up my big girl panties, as I’m sure Caleb would have called them, and marched towards his office. The closer I raced towards him, the heavier my breathing became. While my intention was to inform him of a business matter, there were other things on my mind that risked coming out.
When I finally reached his office, I stopped dead in my tracks. Inside his office, sitting on the desk with her skirt hitched too-high up her side, was a pretty, young woman—stunning, actually. Far more beautiful and sexy than I could ever hope to be.
In an instant, without even giving it time to think it over, I twisted on my foot and marched straight away from his office, dejected and even more annoyed than I already was.
Chapter Thirteen
Caleb
Shit, I’m going to be late, I thought to myself. Shit, I already am. I flicked my wrist and marched down the long aisle, passing a pair of bathrooms before reaching my office. Once I arrived, I saw her sitting there, but not on a chair. Rather, she was perched on the edge of my desk like an absolute, cock-hardening vixen. Blonde hair flowed over her shoulders, contrasting against the stark blackness of her tight-fitting dress that hovered around the base of her knee on one side, with an open slit exposing porcelain skin on her other thigh.
“Good afternoon,” I said, my voice somewhat stifled before clearing my throat. “I assume you are Mrs. Fielding?”
“Hi,” she said lowly and landed on her feet while straightening out her dress. “And you must be Caleb.” She checked me out with her eyes and by the expression on her lips, and the lust swirling in her eyes, I knew that she definitely liked what she saw. This was going to be far too damn easy. She began to approach me and offered her hand, her soft and petite hand. “Call me Sarah, though.”
“That, I definitely can do,” I said and shook her hand. Inside, I was struggling because I knew I had to look at her eyes but secretly I just wanted a peek at her firm breasts. Somehow, I fought the urge and broke away from the shake. “I’m not in the mood to be in my office; would you prefer having this meeting over lunch?”
“Sure.” She shrugged with a beaming grin. “Got somewhere in mind?”
“The best damn lunch on this side of the city.”
# # #
She sat across from me at an outside table of The Plaza, a lunchtime hotspot for the corporate elite. Her blonde hair danced in the warm breeze, but that smile was enough to just send me over the damn edge. She was far more attractive than I had thought she would be, certainly far more attractive than the typical woman my father passed off to me.
“I’ve been in fashion since I was six,” she said and flipped her hair over one shoulder. I was the one who was supposed to be seducing her, but it seemed as if she was trying to seduce me and it was fucking working.
“Since you were six?” I arched one brow and shook my head with a light chuckle. “How is that even possible?”
“I grew up in that world, you know. My mother and father were both involved in the industry, so I’ve been around it.”
“Right.” I nodded. “So you weren’t actually working in a sweat shop or something like that.”
“No.” She laughed and sipped on a glass of water. “I didn’t actually start working in the typical sense until my first internship when I was sixteen, but I’ve been designing clothes since I first learned to draw.”
“That’s fascinating.” I leaned across the table. “I’ve always wa
nted to learn how to draw.”
She leaned forward and met me half way. “I’m an excellent teacher.”
“Yeah, but are you expensive?”
“I don’t think that’s the kind of question you should ask a girl on the first date.”
“First date?” I furrowed my brows with intrigue. “I thought this was just a meeting.”
Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip as she grinned. “I think you know exactly what I meant.”
“I think I got the gist of it.” I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms over each other.
“Enough about me though.” She adjusted in her seat and kicked one leg over the other. She was definitely digging me, and I was definitely digging her. Those fucking legs just about sent me over the edge. I thought about having my way with her right then and there, for the entire Plaza to see. “Tell me about your company.”
“Markham and Dillon Enterprises first began when I was a sophomore at Harvard.”
“Really?” she questioned with intrigue, and it all felt real, as if she were actually interested in what I was saying. “Do tell me more.”
“I’m trying,” I said with a chuckle and shook my head. “Back then, it was just the two of us. My best friend, Nathan, and I.”
“Tell me, Mr. Markham,” she leaned across the table again and spoke to me in a sexy, hushed whisper, “is your friend as attractive as you?”
“Not even close,” I said with a gentle shrug and took a swig from the beer bottle in front of me. “Though don’t tell him I said that.”
“Cross my heart and hope to die.” She chuckled, and I started to get the sense that maybe the genuine interest she was showing previously wasn’t so sincere after all. But who the fuck could care when she had such beautiful, perky, kissable tits.
“Anyways,” I nodded and continued, “we built the company from the ground up, and today it’s a multi-billion-dollar company.”
“Your father mentioned something about apps.”