Men In Control (Smith Brothers Complete Series)

by Brenda Ford

  It doesn’t even matter that I will have to pass the two biggest bitches in the office to get out of here. I just need to escape. Maybe it will even teach them a lesson to know that I overheard them and their bitchiness. It might make them keep their God damn mouths shut in future.

  I shove the door open, barely able to see as I try to get to the door, but it instantly becomes clear that I have made a massive mistake. I definitely should have remained locked away in that damn cubicle until they left. Tawny bursts into an unapologetic laughter and Beth stands in the way of the door.

  “Oh my God, she is here! She’s here. The slutty bitch is here,” Beth screams delightedly. “She was listening in to us the entire time. Isn’t that freaking hilarious. Now we can ask her all about it.”

  “Please,” I whisper beg, probably pointlessly. “Please, just let me go.”

  “Oh no, we want to know if Amy is telling the truth,” Tawny jumps in. “Did she really see you and Brad at it? Because her description was very freaking graphic. I have to say that I believe her.”

  Amy. Oliver’s assistant. The other bitchy girl in this group. Of all the people who had to see me and Brad, why the hell did it have to be her? I don’t know if I can deny the truth. Not believably.

  “Just let me go. Leave me alone. I want to leave. Please, this is crazy.”

  “Oh, hell no.” Tawny stands in my way now too. “You are going to tell us the truth. You got a promotion and we all know why. It isn’t right. Why should some whore get promoted over other people?”

  The tears are practically soaking my face. I’m a fucking mess. I don’t think I could get any more words out even if I wanted to. Not that I know what the hell I’m going to say anyway. I just need to shove them out of the way and get through this door. We aren’t in high school; I’m not going to be bullied by these bitches and that’s the end of it. I use all my might to break them apart and to get the hell out.

  Chapter Ten

  Brad

  “What did you do?” Angelo declares while punching me in the arm, a little too hard to be jokey if I’m honest. “Mate, please tell me you haven’t completely fucked everything up already. I had such high hopes.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I glare and rub the bruise I know is forming. “I’m trying to work here.”

  “Everyone is talking about you. You’re the subject of office gossip. You aren’t aware of that?”

  “Oh, fucking office politics. Why the hell would I care about that? I’m sure this isn’t the first time around, is it? People should be working rather than bitching. Don’t they know there’s a lot to get done here?”

  Angelo rolls his eyes at me. “You might care this time around because it affects Tami.”

  My blood runs ice cold. Angelo is right, I do care. If it affects only me, then I’m not going to give a shit. I have thick skin and can withstand whatever. But I don’t know if Tami is the same. She’s sweet and really good. She’s different to me in that way, and I like it. I don’t want her to face anything challenging.

  “What do you mean?” I snap angrily, shoving my laptop away. “What is everyone talking about?”

  “A couple of people saw you kissing each other as they left work on Friday, and apparently it looked like it was leading somewhere. Everyone is speculating what’s going on. It’s a shit show out there.”

  Fucking hell. This is a nightmare. I got caught up in the heat of the moment. On Friday night, I didn’t care if anyone saw us but now, I’m realizing the implications of that. I mean, people can speculate about me all they want. No one will be brave enough to say it to my face, but Tami… well, it’s a different story with her, isn’t it?

  “Where is she?” I shoot to Angelo as I head towards the office door. “I need to make sure that she’s okay.”

  “Wait, I’m not telling you anything until you admit that I was right about everything.”

  “What?” I rake my fingers angrily through my hair. “What the hell are you talking about, Angelo?”

  “I told you that Tami was perfect for you, and you sneered at her, saying that she was too young. But I can see it in your face. You care about her. There was something that happened on Friday, wasn’t there?”

  “I don’t have time for this, Angelo. There’s a disaster here. I need to get out there and sort this out.”

  He rests his hands on his hips and smirks, looking far too pleased with himself. “Admit it then. Tell me that I was right. Admit I know what’s best for you and you should listen to me more often.”

  I roll my eyes and snort, trying to act like he isn’t right when we both know he is. He did push Tami on me, and I didn’t want to know. I tried to shove her off because I didn’t want to admit that she really might be the one for me in reality, even if she isn’t on paper. She shouldn’t be right for me, but somehow, she is.

  “Alright fine, whatever. You were right. Does that make you happy? Can I sort this out now?”

  “Yes, I knew it!” He fist pumps the air childishly. “See what I mean, Brad? You need to start letting us help you. You have spent so long looking after us, it’s our turn now. We want to take care of you.”

  I narrow my eyes at him, unsure how to take this sudden outburst of genuine emotion from Angelo “You know, I will always be looking after you. That isn’t ever going to change.”

  “But we can do the same.” He nods determinedly. “Now, Tami was by the water cooler when I saw her…”

  I’m gone before he can finish that sentence. I race past everyone else, fully knowing that they’re whispering about me, but I just don’t care. There’s only one person in mind and I need to see her.

  “Where’s Tami?” I demand when she isn’t by the water cooler. “What’s going on?”

  “Why?” one of the artists, Hayley, giggles childishly, causing me to want to fire her in an instant. I’m already all messed up and ice cold inside. She doesn’t need to make it worse. “Do you need her?”

  “Yes, I do.” I shake my head sharply, letting everyone know that I’m not in the mood for their fucking joking. That can be dealt with later on once I make sure Tami is okay. “Now, where is she?”

  The door to the women’s bathroom swings open and there she is, tear stained and looking very distressed. Sadness crushed through me, it’s utterly devastating to see her looking like her world has ended and knowing that I’m to blame. I lean and see Tawny and Beth looking far too pleased with themselves behind her.

  “Tami,” I whisper as she looks at me with sheer horror. “Oh my God.”

  “Please…” she whispers back, averting her eyes. “Please, don’t. All of you, stop it. Leave me alone.” She backs away, heading towards the exit. “I don’t want any of this.”

  “Tami, no!” I call out as she turns and runs, the pressure getting too much for her. “Stop.”

  When she doesn’t, I turn and glare at everyone in turn. Some people look guilty, like they know that they have gone too far, and others are still laughing. It’s really hard to contain the rage as I see that. How dare they think it’s okay to upset someone else? What is wrong with all of these people?

  “I don’t know what you have said to Tami,” I spit out, my sheer rage shining through. I’m usually a very contained and controlled person, but not now. “But I do not tolerate work place bullying…”

  “And we don’t tolerate unfairness,” Hayley snaps back, her arms folding defiantly across her chest like she isn’t totally in the wrong here, speaking to her boss like a piece of shit in front of everyone else. “Tami is getting a promotion because she’s sucking the bosses dick. How can we not be pissed off about that?”

  Of course, that creates more laughter which makes my blood boil with sheer rage. I ball my fists up angrily by my side “Tami has been offered a promotion because she’s very capable…”

  “Yeah, I bet she is.”

  “Hayley, I’m warning you, you should not speak to me that way. I’m your boss. If you have an issue, then
please come and speak to me privately about it.”

  “We all have an issue with this. None of us are happy.”

  “That doesn’t give you the right to make someone else’s life miserable,” I insist. “Just because you disagree with what’s happened, even if it wasn’t right, it doesn’t make it right to hurt someone else.”

  “Pfft,” Hayley snaps. “It also isn’t right to create these office issues.”

  I glance around at everyone, suddenly freaking the fuck out about all of this. I hadn’t ever liked someone before, not like this. Tami was the first one. But if it was going to create this much of an issue at work, was it worth it? I’d always put my responsibilities first. This was the first time that I didn’t want to… but would it be a mistake? Angelo catches my eye and gives me a curious look. He knows that I’m battling between what I want and what I think I should do. I’m pretty sure he wants me to pick what I want.

  “Oh, fuck these lot!” he suddenly blurts out, shocking everyone. “Brad, I know that you’re telling the truth. You didn’t pick Tami to be promoted because you like her, those are two separate issues, and I think that deep down everyone else knows that too. You’re the best boss any of us could ask for, but it’s time to put yourself first. So, go after Tami. If she’s who you want, then none of this matters.”

  Some people are nodding in agreement. Maybe not Hayley or the girls in the bathroom, but enough for me to think that this might be okay after all. I nod sharply, and stare at Angelo once more.

  “But I don’t know where she is.”

  “I do.” He grabs my arm and pulls me along. “Her apartment isn’t too far from here. She’s gone there.”

  “Hey, how do you know where her apartment is?” I protest. “Please tell me that you didn’t…”

  “No! Of course not. Do you really think that I would have recommended Tami to you if I had? I just pay attention to the people who work with me. I ask them questions and learn. It might be time for you to open up a bit and start doing the same thing. Don’t even try and tell me that you have because you never really do.”

  I don’t ever ask people questions, because I don’t want them to do the same thing, but with Tami just talking about anything is as easy as breathing air. It started the moment I realized that we shared something, and it’s progressed a lot over time. Maybe I haven’t learned enough though. There are still places to go.

  “Okay, fine. I’ll try. Now take me to her. I need to see her.”

  Angelo drags me along to the apartment door and he leaves me there with some words of advice that I don’t really hear. Once I’m by myself I take in a couple of deep breaths and nod to myself while I try to get myself ready. Of all the important conversations that I have had in my life, this one feels like the most important of all.

  A warmth burns down on my shoulders, and since it isn’t the hottest day, I decide to take that as a sign that Mom and Dad are watching down over me, approving of my decision. I remember enough of them to be sure that they would like Tami, even with the age gap. They were all about love and happiness. I remember it well.

  With a shaky fist, because I’m nervous that she’s going to reject me because of the pressure coming from everyone else, I knock once. Then once more, the nerves really creeping all the way through me.

  “This better be Tami’s place,” I mutter to myself, irritated. “Or I will kill Angelo.”

  It seems to take too long for her to come to the door. I’m just about to give up and assume that she’s not home or Angelo has the wrong address, when the door swings open and there she is. In all her beauty.

  My heart really does skip a beat as I run my eyes over her. Angelo really was right. This is the woman that I could fall in love with, given half the chance. Whatever it takes, I’m going to have to make sure that I don’t lose her. This woman is the one that I need. Whether it’s forever or just right now, I don’t want to let her go.

  “Brad,” she gasps while rubbing away a few stray tears. “What are you doing here?”

  I don’t answer. Instead I grab and kiss her, using my body to answer for me. I kiss her with all the passion and emotion that I feel inside, knowing that this is it.

  “Don’t run away from me,” I whisper as we pull apart. “Give this a chance. Please.”

  “But…” she tries, but I already have an answer for this.

  “I know. There are so many ‘buts’, but we should give it a try anyway, shouldn’t we? Don’t you think we might regret it forever if we don’t? Yes, there might be issues along the way, it might be complicated, we may well face issues, but I don’t want to send forever asking ‘what if’?”

  Chapter Eleven

  Tami

  “But… but Brad,” I gasp out, forcing myself to step backwards. “You’ve just seen what a mess we have made by having sex just once. Now everyone thinks that you’re a play boy and I’m sleeping my way to the top.”

  “I don’t care what anyone thinks of me! Come on, you would know that by now.”

  A strange smile creeps up onto my lips. Somehow, with everyone else doing their best to bring me down, Brad still has this way of making me feel good. I don’t know how he does that, but I like it a lot.

  “I know that you might not care, but you’re the boss. People can’t say anything to you. To me, they will take the piss forever. I’m going to be the subject of office gossip for the rest of my life.”

  “I will fire them,” he snaps back instantly. “I will fire all of them, anyone who upsets you.”

  “So, you’re willing to have an office with no one in it? Huh? Because it’s everyone.”

  He shrugs and smiles. “It will be my own fault, won’t it? I’ll have to cover everyone.”

  I lean forwards and giggle. I can just imagine him running around like a headless chicken, trying to get everything done. “I don’t think I’m worth all of that, you know.”

  “Oh, to me you are.” He nods vigorously. “To me, you are worth anything and everything.”

  His words make my chest swell with happiness. This is crazy, this is real and raw. He really does seem to mean everything that he’s throwing my way. He really does feel the same about me as I do him which is wild. There was me thinking that I threw everything away for a heat of the moment one night stand, and here he is telling me that I can have it all. I can have the first man who’s ever really cared about me in my life.

  “What about work though?” I need to sort everything out before I commit to anything. “How will we make it work? I don’t just mean all the gossip and everything, I mean me and you.”

  “Well, I wasn’t planning to have sex with you in my office every single day…” he chuckles.

  “No, I know. We would obviously keep anything amorous out of the office.”

  “Right, exactly. So, what’s the issue?” He shrugs. “We take each day as it comes. There is no need to worry about issues that we haven’t even come across yet. Let’s just see how we get on.”

  “Isn’t that a bit risky? When we have to work together. To just see how it goes?”

  He rests his hands on my hips and smiles serenely. “That’s how relationships go. You can’t make any kind of decision based on what may or may not happen. You just need to see how it goes.”

  “The only problem is last time I saw how it went, I ended up getting cheated on.” I didn’t even mean to say that. It just kind of popped out. “I mean… sorry, that was a weird thing for me to say.”

  “No, not at all. I want to get to know you and everything about you.”

  I automatically step back basically inviting him inside. It’s probably for the best, enough of what has happened between us has been far too public. We don’t want anything else to be in the public realm.

  “So, tell me more about you.” He presses me up against the hallway wall. “Did someone hurt you?”

  With his body pressed up against mine, I feel oddly safe. Like telling him about Daniel won’t be so hard. “Yes, someone hurt me
. My ex-boyfriend cheated on me and I saw it over web cam.”

  “Wow.” He brushes a stray strand of hair off my cheek. “That’s dreadful. I can’t believe someone would do that to you.” His lips graze ever so gently against mine. “You’re so freaking beautiful.”

  A heat rises up through my body and my foot automatically presses up against the wall. I spread my thighs apart and basically invite him inside, pressing against my core. Instantly, a flame builds. How can I turn my back on this when it feels so fucking good? I don’t want to make any mistakes, but I don’t want to lose him either.

  “I think he didn’t want me because I was a virgin,” I find myself admitting headily, probably a bit too candidly. When I’m looking into his dark eyes, I lose my damn mind. “That had to be an issue.”

  He pulls back, his eyes boring into me. I don’t know if he realizes what I’m actually trying to say. This is probably something that I should have told him before we ended up together last time. Before my first time so he could have made an informed decision about whether he wanted to be with me or not… but I craved him too damn badly. I couldn’t stop myself however much I wanted to. But it wasn’t just about me, was it? It was about him as well and I took away his choice to do whatever he wanted.

  “You were a virgin until when?” he practically whispers in shock.

  “I was a virgin until Friday night.” I gulp down the terror. “I’m sorry, I should have…”

  “Why did you lose your virginity to me?” He pulls me tighter instead of letting me go.

  “Because it felt right. Because I haven’t ever felt like this about anyone before.”

  Shit, I don’t know if I have said too much. If I have been too honest about my feelings. I don’t want to freak Brad out by not only being a virgin but getting too caught up in my feelings as well. Getting too heavy too quick.

  “That’s so wonderful to hear.” He scoops me up in his arms. “Because I feel the same way.”