by Ivy Nelson
“I’m fine with this, Kelly. Thank you.” He kept his voice as neutral as possible.
Patrick whistled as the server walked away. “My sister has you whipped.”
Elijah shot him a glare. “Now’s not the time. I’ve got Jax on the payroll and he’s staying in town. I’m gonna get him over here right now.”
Patrick and Elijah made small talk about their joint business ventures until Jax showed up. He was on the other side of town, so it was going to take some time.
Just after eleven he strolled into the club.
“This is not my kinda place fellas,” he said as he slid into the velvet lined booth they occupied.
Kelly appeared again. “I don’t think I’ve seen you before, cowboy,” she said in her flirty voice.
Jax ate it up. “I’m new in town, darlin’. Maybe you can show me around sometime.”
Elijah rolled his eyes and waited for her to take his order and leave.
“What’s going on?” Jax asked when she was sashaying away.
Elijah let Patrick explain the phone call he got from Grant. The cowboy remained quiet throughout the story. When Kelly returned with his drink, he didn’t flirt. Jax was in work mode. The waitress huffed and flounced off to find another VIP to flirt with.
“This isn’t good. I don’t know if I can do my job with them clued in. Is there a chance that Holly told him?”
“Not a chance,” Elijah quickly answered.
Jax waved him off. "You’re sleeping with her, I’m not asking you. I’m asking Patrick.”
Elijah shot Jax a glare, but Patrick didn’t give him a chance to say anything else.
“I don’t think so. At least not on purpose. I love my sister, but she can be manipulated easily. If she talked to him, she might have let it slip without even realizing it. Grant has been in her life for a long time. They even dated for a while.”
Jax nodded. “I’d like to talk to Holly alone then. See if I can figure out how they got the information. If she’s in front of either of you bozos, she might feel nervous or think she’s done something wrong. If this was an accident and she’s not spying for Sutton, we can probably use it to our advantage.”
Elijah knew it made sense on a practical level, but he didn’t like it. He tossed back the last of his scotch and said, “Fine. You can talk to her tomorrow before she goes to work. I’ll leave early and you can make sure she gets to the office safe.”
Jax seemed happy with that.
The three men had one more drink while they talked about various strategies for getting more dirt on Nicholas before they went their separate ways. When Elijah got back to his house, Holly was still sound asleep. Instead of curling up with her though, he went to his office to get some work done, because he knew he was too amped to sleep.
Two hours later, he heard a sound at his door. “Elijah?” When he looked up, his heart clenched. She was so beautiful.
“Hey, baby. Did I wake you?”
She shook her head. “I woke up and you weren’t there. Then I saw your note. Is everything OK?”
Elijah wasn’t sure how much to tell her so he said, “Nothing that can’t be fixed, baby. But tomorrow, Jax wants to talk to you alone. Are you OK with that?”
Holly frowned. “Why can’t you be there?”
Elijah pushed back from the desk and patted his knees. When she climbed into his lap, he pulled her close. “He thinks I might make you uncomfortable, or I might skew your answers somehow. It’s not that he thinks you’ll lie, he just thinks a one-on-one conversation will yield the best results.”
Holly shook her head. “I don’t like it, but I’ll do it if that’s what you need.”
Elijah kissed her nose. “I’m sorry, baby. He’ll be here in the morning, and the two of you can talk over breakfast after I leave. I’ll just tell your boss you’ll be late for work,” he teased, hoping to lighten the mood.
Holly took the bait and squirmed in his lap. “I don’t know. My boss is kind of a hard ass. He might punish me if I’m late for work.”
Elijah’s eyes darkened. “Don’t tempt me, baby. I promised to behave at work.”
Holly giggled. “I’m sure we could get away with having a little fun in your office.”
Elijah leaned in and nipped at her bare shoulder. “Just remember it was your idea when you find yourself bent over my desk with a red ass and a well fucked pussy.”
He watched her cheeks flush before she buried her face in his neck. Her little bursts of boldness regarding her sexuality were fun to witness.
“Come on, baby. Let’s go to bed. I’ve done enough work for tonight.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Holly stared at the cowboy sitting across from her as she pushed eggs around her plate. After Elijah had left this morning, Jax had insisted on going down the road to a diner instead of talking at Elijah’s house. Neutral ground, he’d called it.
“When was the last time you talked to Grant Sterling?” Jax asked.
“I had breakfast with him last week, but I left early.”
“So, you didn’t call him any time after that and warn him that I was investigating your father and his company?”
Holly’s mouth fell open. “You can’t be serious. Of course not. Why would you even ask?”
Jax studied her for a moment. Was he searching for signs that she was lying? Because she wasn’t.
“He knows I’m looking into your father, and he made it sound like he got that information from you.”
Holly felt sick to her stomach. Is this why Elijah didn’t want to be here for this conversation? Was it supposed to be an interrogation? She felt ambushed and hurt that Elijah might think she could betray him.
“Did Elijah put you up to this?” she whispered.
Jax shook his head. “Nope. In fact, he didn’t like the idea of me talking to you at all.”
Holly felt some of the knots in her stomach loosen. “I just don’t understand why Grant would say that. I swear, I haven’t talked to him. You can check my phone. I use my driver everywhere I go.”
“Except last Monday.”
“What?”
“Last Monday before I got called in. You didn’t take your driver to the cemetery, you took a cab.”
“How did you know that?”
“It’s my job to find these things out, Holly. If you’re lying to me, I’m going to find out.”
“You’re very rude.”
Jax leaned back and chuckled. “You have no idea just how rude I can be.”
Holly huffed. “I don’t have to listen to this.”
“So, where did you go that day?”
“I went to the cemetery to visit my mother’s grave. Dale picked me up when I was done.”
“Anything could have happened between when you got in the cab and when Dale got to the cemetery.”
Holly felt tears threatening to break free, and she swiped at her eyes. “I would never do anything to hurt Elijah. He has to know that,” she choked.
Jax sighed and reached across the table. “He knows, honey. I’m paid to be skeptical though. Please don’t cry. It makes me itch.”
Holly giggled. “Sorry. I’m a crier, Mr. Fischer.”
He shook his head. “Nope, nope, nope. Don’t call me that. I’m Jax.”
“I’ll try to hold it together. I swear I’m not lying to you.”
Jax leaned back again and eyed her carefully. “I believe you. Just don’t take it personal when I start digging.”
Holly pushed her plate away. “I know it’s your job. I’ll deal with it. I need to get to work now.”
“Come on. I’ll drive you. Dale could use a break. Did you get a company phone when you started working for Elijah?”
Holly nodded.
“Good. Do me a favor and use that one. Leave your personal phone with me.”
“Why?”
Jax shrugged. “Just humor me.”
Holly sighed and slid the phone across the table. As he was picking it up, she said, �
�Oh God. Give that back.”
Jax shook his head. “Nope.”
“Please,” Holly begged. “There’s a picture on there that was only meant for Elijah.”
Jax threw his head back and laughed. “Of course, there is. But nope. Don’t worry. I’ll skip that picture and I won’t even tell Elijah I saw it. I can’t give it back to you on the off chance you are lying to me. You might try to delete some evidence you only just now remembered.”
Holly glared at him. “I. Am. Not. Lying,” she said through clenched teeth.
Jax stood. “Come on. I thought you had to get to work.”
“I’ll call Dale. Thanks anyway.”
Holly stormed out of the cafe before Jax could say another word. Thankfully Dale arrived less than two minutes after she text him on her work phone.
As she seethed in the backseat, she sent a text to Elijah.
Jax is an asshole.
Elijah didn’t respond. But he was waiting for her at the elevator when she stepped off on the top floor. He remained quiet until they got to his office where he pressed her against the wall for a breathtaking kiss.
When their lips separated, he smiled down at her. “You’re late, Miss Sutton.”
Holly’s complaints about Jax faded to the edges of her mind, as she committed to the game Elijah wanted to play. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Barrett, Sir. How will I ever make it up to you?” she asked in a flirty voice.
“I take punctuality very seriously,” he said solemnly. “I’m afraid I have to punish you if you want to keep working here.”
Holly tried not to giggle but couldn’t stop herself.
“You don’t seem to be taking this situation very seriously. I think you better come here.”
Elijah led her to the couch and sat down. With a gentle tug, he led Holly down and across his lap. “You’re almost an hour late, Miss Sutton. Quite disgraceful. I think a swat for every five minutes you were late will do. Then perhaps we can talk about some… other ways for you to pay for your crime.”
Holly’s breathing sped up as moisture pooled between her thighs. How was this so fucking hot?
Elijah pulled her skirt up over her ass and hummed. “At least you’re wearing company approved panties,” he said as he hooked his finger into the lacy waistband. “Too bad I have to pull them down and spank your naughty bottom.” He tsked his tongue as he slowly lowered them to her knees.
“Such a lovely ass,” he murmured. Without warning, his hand came down hard on her left cheek. Holly gasped as he repeated the process on her right orb. “Ten more,” he crooned.
Elijah took his time between spanks, letting his hands roam her backside and between her legs. At the halfway mark, he slid two fingers into her slick entrance and gave a low sensual laugh. “Such a wet little pussy you have. Someone likes punishment.”
Holly whimpered as he pumped his fingers in and out of her. Then he was spanking her again. This time, he didn’t take his time. Each swat fell one right after another, hard and fast and Holly was squirming from both pain and arousal by the time he was done.
When Elijah pulled her panties back into place, he helped her up to sit next to him on the couch.
“How was that?” he asked, cupping her cheek in his hand.
“That was hot,” she whispered, still feeling aroused and needy.
Elijah grinned. “Good girl. I want you to keep in mind how hot that was until lunch. You’ll come back in here on your break and I’ll give you what I know you want.”
An orgasm, he was talking about an orgasm. But waiting until lunch? That sounded like torture. She wanted to protest, but her still stinging rump reminded her to behave. Maybe punishment wasn’t so terrible after all.
“Now,” he said, his tone taking a more serious lilt. “Why is Jax an asshole?”
“He’s very abrasive and he took my personal phone. Told me to use my company phone, and when I told him there was a picture that was meant for you on there that I wanted to delete he refused to give it back.” When Elijah’s solemn expression turned to a glare she quickly added, “But he swore he would skip it. Just said that on the off chance I was lying to him he didn’t want to give me an opportunity to delete evidence. So infuriating.”
Elijah chuckled. “I’ll have him let me delete the picture, baby. He’s doing his job, and he’s very good at it. I’m sorry he made you angry.”
Holly laid her head on his shoulder for a moment before she straightened and said, “I suppose I should get back to work before my boss fires me.”
Elijah’s brow furrowed into a mock scowl. “He won’t fire you, but he might make you stay late and suck him off if you keep slacking off, young lady.”
Holly’s mouth dropped and she clasped her hands together with excitement. “Oh my God, is that an option?”
Elijah stared at her and shook his head. “You never fail to surprise me. Seriously though, we have a meeting in half an hour, and I need the binder prepped for it.”
Holly grinned and stood. “Yes, Sir. I’ll have it ready in twenty.”
Elijah pulled her in for a kiss. “See that you do.” His hand trailed down her backside and came to rest on her still warm bottom. “Though, I would appreciate another opportunity to put my handprints on this ass again soon.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
• • •
“Are you sure about this?” Elijah asked as he stared out his office window onto the busy streets below.
“Positive, man. There’s a bug on her phone. Problem is, I have no way of knowing if she put it there or if someone like her dad or Grant Sterling put it there, Jax said.
“Damn it. Do I confront her about it? Or should I just keep quiet?”
Jax took his time answering. “I’m going to say that’s up to you. But if it were me, I would keep quiet until I finish my investigation. Now that I know someone was listening, I know I’m on the right path. Just don’t let her have access to anything you don’t want to fall into the wrong hands.”
“It’s a little too late for that,” Elijah said bitterly.
“Jesus, man. How long have you known her?”
“Long enough to know she’s not a liar.”
Jax blew out a breath. “OK. I don’t exactly trust your judgement when it comes to women you’re sleeping with, so I’m just gonna keep doing my thing. You may want to think about keeping her at arm’s length.”
Elijah wanted to throw the phone. Had he made a mistake letting Holly in? His gut told him no, but Elijah had never been a gut feelings guy. He liked facts and data. Right now, the facts were ambiguous at best.
To make matters worse, the subject of his thoughts knocked on his door and stepped into the room. His stomach twisted into knots at the sight of her. Her happiness to see him was infectious.
Elijah ended his call and tossed the cellphone onto his desk.
“What’s wrong?” she asked as she closed the door behind her.
Elijah forced a smile. “Just stressed about the London contract.”
Holly gave him a funny look. ‘I thought we had everything ironed out for that one. Is there something I can do?” she asked as she lifted her tablet and began tapping the screen. Elijah crossed the room and plucked it from her hand.
“It’s fine. Just last-minute contract jitters.” God, he hated lying to her.
“Is there something I can do to take your mind off of it?” she asked, worry clouding her pretty blue eyes.
Elijah lifted a hand and stroked her cheek. “Well, it is lunch time, Miss Sutton. Is your pussy still wet for me?”
Holly’s face grew red and her head darted to the door. “The receptionist is still out there,” she whispered.
Elijah’s dominant wanted out, needed out, so he narrowed his eyes at her. “Is that what I asked, Holly?”
She shook her head. “No. I just…”
As she trailed off, he tilted her chin upward, testing her. “Do we need to go home for lunch so I can give you a real spanking?”
>
Holly’s mouth opened and closed but he saw the shift in her eyes as she became his submissive in that moment. “Well, if my pussy wasn’t wet before, it certainly is now,” she said, causing him to fill with pride at her boldness.
His grin was wide as he bent to kiss her. “Good girl,” he said when he broke their connection. “But I can tell you’re uncomfortable doing anything while the receptionist is out there, so I’ll have mercy.” He winked and dropped a kiss on her forehead as she sagged with relief.
“Is Jax done with my phone yet?” she asked.
Elijah sighed. He knew he couldn’t keep it at bay forever, but he wasn’t ready to think about the bug and how it might have gotten there.
“Not yet, baby. He’ll give it back as soon as he is.”
“OK,” she said with a small smile.
Out of curiosity he asked, “How long have you had that phone?”
She shrugged. “Maybe eight months? Grant always kept my phone upgraded for me.”
Elijah scowled at the mention of Grant’s name but didn’t say anything. He wanted to ask more questions but knew if he did, he would wind up spilling everything and he’d promised himself he would sit on the information Jax gave him.
“I’ll pass it on to Jax and see if that’s useful,” he said.
Holly wrapped her arms around his waist and stared up at him. “If you’re not going to fuck me will you at least feed me lunch?”
Elijah shook his head and gave her a mock frown. “I may have to find something else to do with that dirty mouth.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Holly, I’ve got a Grant Sterling on the phone for you. Should I put him through?”
Holly stared at the intercom for a minute. Why was he calling her at her office? It dawned on her then, she still didn’t have her phone back from Jax two days later.
“Put him through please,” she told the receptionist.
“Hi, Grant,” she said when she picked up the phone.
“Holly, it’s good to finally hear your voice. I was beginning to think you were mad at me when you weren’t answering your cell phone.”
