“Has he cancelled the project?”
“As far as I know, yes.”
“Then sure,” she says.
“But what happens when there’s a project that he can’t just move? At some point there’s going to be a conflict that we can’t solve.”
“Or maybe knowing you will change the way that he thinks about taking projects in the first place,” she says. “Maybe he’ll make an effort to see the humans behind the numbers before actually agreeing to things.”
He did tell me that he would give me reason to trust him, and I need to give him that chance.
“What made you this jumpy about stuff like this?” Lila asks.
“You know.”
She shakes her head. “No, I don’t. It’s never come up.”
Lila and I are best friends now, but in the grand scheme of things we haven’t known each other that long. I thought she’d known. “In college I got really close with one of my clients. I was studying social work, and I got to know the whole family. They were living in a building and they were being displaced because of the same thing. The developer wanted to build new apartments. We got enough traction to stop the demolition. The building was fine, it just wasn’t what the developer wanted.”
I sigh and keep going. “But he went around us. He paid off the people that he needed to pay off in order to continue the demolition, and he decided that he didn’t want to wait. The people were practically dragged out of their home so that the building could be torn down. They imploded it. Many of the people living there lost their possessions as well as their homes.”
Lila makes a sound of disgust. “That’s really fucked up.”
“Tell me about it.”
“But Keenan isn’t like that.”
“No,” I say. “He’s not.”
I cross my heart inside that that’s true.
Half an hour later I’m polished and primped, hair curling around my shoulders and waiting outside for Keenan to pick me up. I told him to collect me from Lila’s house. It didn’t seem that important to go all the way home.
There’s no mistaking which car is his when it turns onto the street. A sleek sports car that practically oozes sex appeal the same way that he does. I’m not sure how a car manages to do that, but it does. And when Keenan gets out of the car, I swear that all the air in the world has disappeared.
He’s wearing a silvery gray suit that is tailored exactly to his body. It hugs his shoulders and his hips and makes my mouth water with lust.
Keenan is looking at me the same way that I’m looking at him, and I’m tempted to suggest that we skip the date entirely. But he’s walking toward me now, wrapping me in his arms and kissing me deeply. “You look stunning.”
“So do you.”
“Are you ready to let me wine and dine you?”
I smile. “Unless you want to move to dessert first.”
“Tempting,” Keenan says. “But fair is fair. I owe you a dinner.”
He opens the door for me, and I slip into the car and deeper into his world.
* * *
My heels are hanging off the tips of my fingers as Keenan carries me off the elevator and into his apartment. I’m deliciously tipsy, and I can’t remember a time where I’ve truly felt this relaxed and happy.
But with that happiness also comes confusion.
Keenan took me to a restaurant where the meal cost more than my monthly salary and the wine we had practically tasted like gold. Everything was delightful and pretty. There was elegant music and dancing, and we spun under a chandelier that glittered.
I may have had too much to drink, but everything seemed so lovely that I couldn’t help myself. It felt like I was living in a fairytale…and I liked it.
But none of that would have been possible without Keenan and the wealth that he has. It was eye opening to see that it wasn’t all bad. Somewhere along the way I started to think that there was nothing good that could come of it. But he managed to sweep me away. Perfect conversation and dancing, and enough casual touches that I’m ready for him to take me to bed.
I’m more sober now than I was at the restaurant, but still buzzed enough to know that I want to fuck him senseless. But first, I have a plan.
“You know,” I say to him, dropping the heels on the carpet on the way to his room. “We didn’t have dessert.”
Keenan chuckles. “Yes we did.”
“Go with it,” I whisper.
“Okay, what would you like for dessert then, Justine?”
Leaning up, I press my lips to his ear. “Your cock in my mouth.”
I swear that he nearly drops me. “That’s not what I was expecting you to say.”
“That was the idea.”
When we reach the bedroom, he lets me slip down to the floor onto my feet, but I keep going to my knees. I want him now. I want to taste him the way that he tasted me.
Undoing his belt, I find him already hard. His cock is just as gorgeous as the rest of him. Thick and long and straight. I could be more subtle, but not tonight. Wrapping my lips around his head, I suck him down. Keenan groans, his hands falling into my hair. He had almost as much to drink as I did, and he’s just as aroused.
His skin tastes like smoke and salt as I swirl my tongue over him, teasing that spot just beneath his head. Further and further I push myself down, trying to take as much of him as I can. But I’m not even close. He’s too long, and I can feel him at the edge of my throat.
“Jesus,” he says.
I laugh, pulling back. “Nope, just Justine.”
His laugh strangles into another groan as I sink back onto him, setting up a rhythm on his shaft. Sinking down deep and pulling back, again and again until he’s gasping, using his hands to help me move faster, franticly fucking my mouth.
Focusing on just the head, I suck hard, and feel him start to shake. Just that tiny spot is enough. I can feel it, and I work him with shallow strokes. Glancing up, Keenan looks ragged. His lips are parted and eyes closed, completely lost in the pleasure that I’m giving him. I love the feeling of being responsible for that.
And when he spills himself across my tongue, I swallow all of it. It’s mine.
Keenan curses under his breath, fingers tightening in my hair to hold me still as he finishes, bursts of his cum filling my mouth.
He pulls me off my knees and spins me around, stripping me out of my dress in seconds before discarding his own clothes. We fall onto the bed together, tangled, kissing, reaching with hands to explore every part that we can reach.
I open my eyes and startle at a sharp shape near me, and then I start to laugh. The cactus is sitting on his bedside table. “You kept it.”
“Of course I did,” he says. “You picked it out. And you’re right, it’s not going to die. A reminder that I need my ego poked once in a while.”
His eyes are shining in the darkness, and the mood between us shifts from frantic to sensual. Every movement is slow and deliberate, and no less connected. I help him put on the condom and guide him into me. We start slow together, mouths sealed against each other.
This is a different kind of passion. One that’s deep and trusting and totally open. Everything between us builds together. Breath and pleasure are totally synced, and when I fall apart in his arms, he’s there with me. We fall into our own pleasure and then each other’s, the orgasm just as deep and just as pure.
Keenan pulls me close after, wrapping us both in blankets, and I cannot remember a time that I’ve felt this safe. This seems so simple and easy. Something more than I could have imagined…
But even as I’m falling asleep, I don’t dare say the words.
13
Keenan
“You can’t just cancel a project without notice, Keenan.”
I sigh. “I’m not cancelling it, I’m deciding to move it. You were right when you asked before. We got pushback. I didn’t realize the people that lived in the building were a vulnerable population.”
Brandon is seething.
I can see it as I stand in the doorway to his office. “And you were right when you said that the numbers lined up and that everyone would be compensated. The demolition is already on the books for Monday. I got them to move it up because the permits were ready and they were stellar. We are ready to roll.”
I shake my head. “That doesn’t even make sense. That barely gives anyone time in the building to find new living spaces.”
“Like I said, they’re being compensated handsomely.” He practically rolls his eyes. “I’m sure that they don’t own anything that’s actually that valuable.”
For the first time I’m seeing the truly ugly side of Brandon. Or maybe it was always there, and I didn’t notice. Or chose not to. Justine crashing into my life has given me a new perspective, and it’s a good one. I can’t play god in people’s lives, and I would never want to. “It’s the right move to delay this project indefinitely,” I say, “and that’s the end of the discussion.”
“Excuse me?”
I shrug. “This is the right call. I’m sorry that you don’t see it that way, but it’s the truth. I called to pull the permits an hour ago. You couldn’t go ahead without my okay anyway.”
“You’re fucking pulling rank right now? Jesus, Keenan. What kind of stick do you have up your fucking ass?” Brandon yells, standing up from behind his desk. “This project is one of the most profitable ROIs we’ve ever had at the company, and you’re going to throw it away over a few old people?”
I stare him down, putting ice in my glare. “This company is doing better than ever, and we have plenty of other projects to work on. Pick another one. Any one. And we’ll revisit this project when it’s appropriate.”
Brandon shakes his head. “I heard you fucked one of those activist sluts, but I never thought that she’d actually get to you.” He looks a little guilty when he sees my face, but he doesn’t back down.
If I didn’t need him to actually go along with what I’m saying, I would have a hard time not punching him in the face right now. As it is, I’m struggling to keep my hands in my pockets from folding into fists.
“Get your head out of your ass by Monday, Brandon.”
I don’t wait to hear his response. Whatever it is, I’m not interested.
* * *
The field looks exactly the same as I remember it. Justine agreed to come away with me for a weekend, and this is a stop on the way to the coast where I plan to keep her in bed the entire weekend. But this is a nice reminder, given that I was just thinking about this the other night.
“I used to come here all the time,” I say. “I would lay in the middle of the field and just watch the stars and try to find new constellations that no one had ever found before.”
“Really?” Justine says. “How did you get here?”
I take her hand and pull her further into the field. “I’ll show you. In the evening this whole field is absolutely swarming with fireflies. Or at least it used to be. I haven’t been down here in years.”
We follow the path that I used to walk, to the tiny isolated house on the outskirts of one of the local farms. “This is it,” I say.
“What is?”
I smile. “This is where I grew up.”
Justine gazes at the small house in wonder. “You lived here? No wonder you asked if I missed the stars.”
“This was my aunt’s house,” he says. “She worked on the nearby farm and she took me in for a while when my parents weren’t able to care for me anymore. They were far more interested in their drugs and fighting each other for every cent of drug money than they were in being parents.”
“Oh my god,” she says, leaning on my arm. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I say. “Coming here is probably the best thing that could have happened to me. I learned what it meant to be normal and healthy. What hard work meant, and that what I had always known wasn’t the way the world had to be.
“Here, I figured out how to take control of my life. And I became determined to make it so no one could take anything from me by force again. That’s why I do what I do. The money was never about…making other people feel less. I just wanted to make sure that I never had to worry.” I smile. “It worked better than I could have hoped.”
Justine rises up on her toes and captures my mouth with hers. I kiss her back—a kiss of understanding and consolation.
“Thank you for showing me this,” she says. “It’s beautiful. I’m sorry about your aunt.”
I laugh. “Oh she’s not dead, she’s just too old to do farm work. I bought her a place in the city so it was easier for me to visit. I should go more than I do, but half the time I go she’s busier than I ever imagined she would be. I swear she’s the life of the party.”
“I think I would like her,” she says.
“I’m pretty sure that you would. I actually pay for a similar service to the one you work for to help her with her groceries. She’s still independent, and loves to do her own thing. But her eyes aren’t good enough to drive anymore, and she likes the glamour of having someone deliver her groceries. She tells me that it makes her feel like a queen.”
Justine laughs. “Which service? I probably know it. There aren’t that many of us.”
“Delovery,” I say, and I watch her face transform into shock. “What?”
“That’s where I work. What’s your aunt’s name?”
“Ellen Bassa.”
“Oh my god.” She’s laughing now. “I’ve never met her, but I’ve heard stories. You’re right, she really is the life of the party. I think that she would be best friends with my client Rose. They seem like they’d be two peas in a pod.”
I smile and start to walk her back toward the car. “Maybe we can get them together.”
“Rose would love that. One of her friends recently passed away and she could use some new ones.”
We’re quiet as we walk back through the field, and I feel more at peace than I have in a long time. Being here with Justine feels absolutely right.
“Now I know all your secrets,” Justine says.
“Not quite.”
Her eyebrows rise in surprise. “Oh?”
“You don’t know my biggest one,” I say, stopping to face her. Even totally alone it doesn’t feel right saying it at full volume. Instead I press a kiss to her cheek before whispering in her ear. “I’m already falling in love with you.”
The way she kisses me tells me that she is too.
14
Justine
I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect weekend. I’m sore from the sheer amount of sex and I feel like I’m glowing from being so close to Keenan. Getting to know him better and hearing his confession, I can’t stop smiling.
It’s still early, and I have clients this afternoon, but right now I feel like I’m bathing in perfect bliss, and I stretch out on my bed to take a glorious nap. There wasn’t much sleep to be had last night.
I feel like I’ve barely closed my eyes when my phone starts to ring and I wake with a start, realizing that a couple of hours have passed. It’s Morgan, but I’m not late yet. Probably something about the next protest. She was over the moon when she got the news that the plans to demolish the building were reversed.
“Hey Morgan,” I say, answering. “What’s up?”
“I need you at the Aster building right now. They’re about to tear it down and we need bodies.”
It feels like a bucket of ice water has been dumped over my head. “What? That’s impossible. That was cancelled.”
“I know that’s what was said, but the bulldozers are here and they’re going to start with the park if we don’t hold them off.”
“Fuck. I’m on my way.”
What the hell is happening? Keenan told me that he pulled the permits. It has to be a mistake. It has to be. This can’t be happening again. Not again. There’s probably still people in that building. But if they start with the park, the building won’t be far behind. Not if they think they have the right to turn
it down.
I throw on my shoes and grab what I need as quickly as I can before sprinting to my car. The drive isn’t far, but every second counts. As soon as the car is on, I’m dialing Keenan. He has to know what’s happening. But the phone goes straight to voicemail.
He went home, but I don’t know if he fell asleep too or went to the office. It rolls over to voicemail and I don’t bother to hide exactly how frantic I feel. “Keenan. They’re demolishing. I don’t know what happened but they’re trying to take the park first. I’m going there now. Call me back.”
I hang up and call him again immediately. Again, voicemail. Shit. If he doesn’t know what’s happening, he won’t be able to stop it. But it has to be a mistake. They can’t bulldoze without permits, right?
If they were bribed, they might not care. Dread sinks through my skin. Anyone can be bought. That’s what I know. Anyone. For enough money you can be convinced not to care about people. People have problems, money solves those problems. That makes us all vulnerable.
Skidding around the corner, I nearly run my car onto the sidewalk. Morgan is right. The bulldozers are here and running, only being stopped by the thin line of people standing in front of them. They’re blocking the patch of woods in the park.
A crowd is starting to gather, watching what’s about to happen. I fling myself from the car, barely remembering to lock it before I’m tearing across the field toward the man in the suit who’s clearly the one in charge. “What the hell are you doing? You have to stop. This is illegal!”
Every eye is on me now as I scream everything at the top of my lungs while I’m running. But that’s good. If their eyes are on me, they’re not on my friends.
I skid to a stop in front of the man. He’s tall. Taller than Keenan and built thickly. Blond. And his mouth is twisted into a cruel smile. I’ve never met him before but that smile brings back memories all the same. That’s the smile that does terrible things.
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