by Parker, Ali
“I’ll be fine,” she assured me. We made our way down the quiet sidewalk. Every part of me ached to invite her up to my hotel room, but Aston didn’t seem like that kind of girl and I wasn’t the kind of guy who tried to force a woman into anything.
Electricity zapped between us as we walked. It wasn’t intentional, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself from touching her. A graze of arms, a brush of hands. Eventually, I gave up trying not to touch her and took her hand again.
Aston melted into my side as soon as I did, grasping my hand with my both of hers. All too soon, I let her go when we reached the revolving door and the doorman welcoming us back to the hotel.
She turned to face. “Well, I guess this is it. Thank you for dinner, it was amazing.”
“It was.” I wasn’t talking about the food so much as spending time with her. It looked like she wanted to say more, but then she just smiled.
“I’ll see you around?”
“Tomorrow,” I promised. There was a moment where I came within an inch of kissing her, but then she turned and hurried away. Something told me it wasn’t to get away from me, but to keep herself from agreeing if I asked her to come upstairs with me.
But we weren’t there yet. Aston wasn’t some random, nameless girl I could fuck and forget about. And if I did get to fuck her, it would be a long time before I forgot about her.
Chapter 14
Aston
“Tell me everything about last night.” Tiffany demanded at lunch time. She carried a paper bag with the logo of a Chinese place nearby on the front. “I brought food, so you don’t have excuses to get out of taking our entire hour to give me every detail.”
I smiled coyly, winding a lock of hair around my finger. “Details about what? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Throwing me a mocking glare, she heaved into a chair. “You already forgot I loaned you that smoking hot red dress for your big date?”
I rolled my eyes. “It wasn’t a big date. It was just a date.”
“You didn’t seal the deal with Blake?” She pouted, disappointment shining in her eyes.
Remembering how much I wanted to ‘seal the deal’ with him was slightly embarrassing. “Seal the deal? Do you people still use that?”
“I’m taking that as a no.” She cracked her chopsticks apart and picked up a carton of food from the bag. “You wouldn’t be so grouchy if you had done the deed.”
Her eyes widened. “Unless—unless it was a yes but he was really bad. Is that it?”
“What?” I laughed. “No. He was amazing.”
When her eyes grew even wider and her jaw went slack, I clapped my hand over my mouth. “Wait! I didn’t mean it like that. He wasn’t amazing in bed, we didn’t sleep together. Just the date. It was amazing. He’s a nice guy.”
Tiffany’s shoulders shook with laughter. “You must have it bad for this guy if he’s got you tied up in so many knots.”
Was that it? Was that why I was feeling so giddy the whole morning? I did like him. Maybe he did have me tied up in knots. “Yeah, maybe. I had an awesome time with him. He took me to this little taco place right around the corner that I never even knew about.”
“Taco place? Close to here?” A line appeared between her eyebrows as she thought. “I didn’t know there were any decent taco places around here.”
I nodded. “Exactly. That’s what I’m talking about. It was really sweet of him to take me there. I think the place means a lot to him.”
She sat back in her seat and cradled her food as she got comfortable. “See? Those are the kind of details I want.”
For the rest of our lunch hour, I told her all about Blake and our night together. Whenever I tried to skip over any detail, she made me go back and tell her. I even broke down and told her how much I wanted the night to end up in his bed. “The chemistry between us is off the charts for me. I wanted him more than I’ve ever wanted anyone. Things with him just feel so natural.”
“Did he kiss you?” She leaned forward in her seat, her eyes intent on mine.
I shook my head, disappointment rising in me. “I thought he was going to, but then we got back to the hotel and nothing happened.”
“What do you mean you got back to the hotel? He didn’t take you home?” She was scowling indignantly as she spoke. “I thought you said he was a perfect gentleman all night.”
“He was,” I insisted. “He offered to take me home, but since I met him here my car was still in the lot out back.”
“You know I love you, right?”
I frowned, not following where the question was coming from. “Yeah?”
“Then you know it comes from a place of love when I tell you that you’re an absolute idiot. Of course he wasn’t going to kiss you in front of the hotel. He’s a gentleman, and he wouldn’t want you to look unprofessional by making out with a guest in the lobby.”
“Oh my God,” I groaned. “I am an idiot. I was so caught up in our night together and in him that I didn’t even think about it.”
“Good thing he was looking out for you.” Excitement sparked in her eyes. “I’m pretty sure if you had taken him up on his offer, you would have been kissed last night.”
“You really think so?” I asked softly. I hated that I knew so little about men. I’d never considered it useful knowledge, but right now my lack of knowledge bothered me.
I really wanted him to kiss me, so much that when he didn’t I considered making the first move. But then I worried about what would happen if he didn’t want to kiss me, and what might happen afterwards if I did.
Tiffany glanced at the clock on my wall and jumped up. “Look at you, overthinking it again, right? Next time, just take the opportunity when it presents itself. Okay?”
“Okay,” I said, determined that on our next date I would find out once and for all if he did want to kiss me back. “Are you walking back to the lobby now?”
She nodded, sighing deeply. “Sadly, I have to get back to work.”
“I’ll walk with you. I need to check up on a few guests before I go to my meeting with the IT department.”
“The IT department?” Tiffany asked, looking confused. “We have one of those?”
I gave her a sidelong look. “Calling it a department may be a stretch. We do have two IT guys who work in the office behind the business lounge. You honestly didn’t know?”
She shook her head. “That feels like something I should have known. Do you know how many times I’ve taken my cell phone to the shop for them to help me? If I’d known we had our own nerd herd, I never would have done that.”
My reply died on my tongue when we hit the lobby. Blake was marching toward the front desk, his wheelie bag rolling behind him and his jacket over his shoulder. Since I was here when he checked in, I happened to know it was the only luggage he had.
My heart sank to my feet. He was leaving. When he reached the desk, I couldn’t help myself. “Where are you going?”
Annoyance and frustration were evident in his blue eyes. I hoped it wasn’t with me. “I have to go back to the office for a few days. They need me in Florida by this afternoon.”
So this was it. A part of me jumped for joy that I hadn’t slept with him last night. It would have broken my heart to have lost my virginity to him one night, only for him to be gone by the next.
Tiffany stiffened beside me. Just minutes ago, we’d been talking about the possibility of another date with him and now he was leaving.
The expression in his eyes softened. “It’s just for a few days. I’ll be back very soon, before you even realize I’ve gone.”
I wanted to believe him, but I didn’t know if I could. It didn’t feel like it. But it wasn’t like I could break down and bawl my eyes out. Instead, I stepped forward and offered him a friendly handshake. “We hope you’ll choose to stay with us again when you return.”
It was stiff and formal. He didn’t even bother with my friendly handshake. After a strange look, he gave his head
a small shake. “Of course I will. See you soon.”
Tiffany and I watched him go. Tears burned the backs of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. She put a hand on my shoulder and shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry. I know you liked him.”
“That’s okay. Clearly, I was the only one who thought our date went so well. It’s for the best that he leaves now, before I get even crazier. Sooner or later, I would have had myself believing he wanted to date me.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong. I already thought he did want to date you.” The conviction in Tiffany’s voice was flattering, but she was obviously wrong, despite what we both believed.
I must have made up the chemistry I felt between us or something, or maybe I was the only one to feel it. Sure, he said he was coming back, but would you believe that? He said himself that he never settled anywhere and practically lived in hotels and airplanes. I was stupid to think that he might really like me. Even more so to have been secretly fantasizing about what it might be like to date him.
“I must have done something wrong. Last night, he said he was in town for at least another couple of days. The date must have sucked if it was so bad that he is changing his plans and running away—just so he wouldn’t have to ask me out again while he was in town.”
“You don’t know that’s what he’s doing,” Tiffany objected.
When I gave her a look, she shrugged. “What? You don’t know that’s what he’s doing. For all you know, he really did get called back to his office. Besides, he’s a traveling salesman or whatever. They are not generally the kind you can put your faith in.”
As much as I hated to admit it, she was right again. He wasn’t a salesman, but he was a traveling businessman. It wasn’t that I was looking for a relationship, not necessarily.
It just would have been nice to know if he didn’t want to see me again. I had to stop overthinking it. The fact of the matter was that he was leaving, and I probably wouldn’t ever see him again.
Chapter 15
Blake
Motherfucker. I was going to ring my damn brother’s neck the second this plane touched down. Fuck being mature or professional. I was knocking him on his ass before the sun set on Florida today. He was crossing a line he shouldn’t have crossed at this time.
When I woke up this morning, I was actually happy for the first time in a long fucking time. And then I checked my emails. The fucker knew I was in California, but I wasn’t letting him get away with what he was proposing now.
My rage kept simmering until I reached my father’s office. I knew he and Danny were in a meeting, but I didn’t give a fuck what I was interrupting. I burst through the doors like a hell hound on fire.
“What the fuck are you thinking?” I asked, as I stepped into my father’s office. My gaze zeroed in on Danny’s. While he looked surprised to see me, he didn’t look surprised by the hostility of my question.
“I’m thinking about what’s best for this company. What are you even doing here?” Danny had the nerve to sound annoyed by my interruption. “Dad and I are in the middle of discussing business.”
“Are you serious right now?” I spat at him. “I didn’t fly all the way back to this shit hole to have a casual chat with you about how the Yankees are doing this season. What I need to discuss with Dad is business too, like how the fuck we’re going to remove you from having any kind of power to make decisions in this company.”
“Hold on a second, Blake,” my dad said, standing up to plant himself between Danny and I. “I’m assuming you are talking about the email. It was just a proposal.”
My eyebrows shot all the way up on my forehead. “Just a proposal? It wasn’t just a proposal. The email I got was clear that the decision had been made.”
Our father put one hand up against my chest. “Danny and I have already discussed it. A final decision hadn’t been made, but I am considering it.”
“You’re actually considering this bullshit proposal?” I couldn’t fucking believe it. “Why the change of heart? Just last week, you and I were talking about upgrades that had to be made at the California property to increase our business and footprints there. Now you want to start the cuts the company has to make in California?”
“Blake—”
I shook my head, stepping back so my father’s hand fell from my chest. “Not only do you want to start the cuts in California, but you are considering giving the biggest promotion we have available to Dustin? The guy is a fucking thief. You promised me an investigation, not a promotion.”
Danny jumped up from his seat and tried to get around our father to me. “Watch what you fucking say about my friend. He is not a thief. I confronted him. He hasn’t been stealing from us. He says there has to be a problem with your numbers. I agree with him.”
“Oh, because prisons are full of people who take full responsibility for their crimes once they’ve been confronted with them. I’m so sorry, it must have been my mistake then.”
“I don’t give a fuck that you’re being sarcastic. It was your mistake. Fix it. You are defaming a good man’s name and you’re withholding a promotion he deserves.”
“Bull shit. He does not deserve it. I told you once and I’ll say it again. The only thing he deserves is to go to prison for stealing. Even if my numbers were wrong, which they are not, we have many other managers worthy of consideration for that promotion.”
Danny huffed out a short breath. “What? You want to add in the names of the women you’ve been fucking?”
“What are you talking about?” I scoffed. I hadn’t fucked a single one of the managers. Sure, I couldn’t get my fantasies of sleeping with Aston out of my head, but I hadn’t so much as kissed her.
Danny laughed dryly.” Did you really think you could keep all those dinners you have with our managers from me?”
For a second, my heart stopped. I thought he was referring to Aston. It wasn’t because I minded him knowing I’d been on a few dates with her. I did mind him blocking her from receiving the promotion I wanted to nominate her for on the incorrect assumption that it was only because I had slept with her.
Then I realized he must’ve heard about all the dinners I’d been having with the managers of the different branches I visited, to check in with them for Dad. “Jesus Christ, you’re an idiot. When I visit a property we haven’t been to for a while, I take the managers to dinner to check in on the branches in a more informal setting than a meeting.”
Danny’s head swung to Dad. “Is that true?”
Dad nodded.” Blake’s been helping me build a network of people for us on the ground level. I’ve mentioned it before.”
“Doesn’t change anything,” Danny said. “There could be a dozen managers who might also be eligible for this promotion. But I’m telling you, none of them deserve it as much as Dustin does.”
“And I told you earlier,” Dad glared at Danny. “We’ll table his promotion until the investigation against him is completed.”
“His promotion?” I studied my dad carefully to determine whether he was high or was in the process of growing a second head. “Please tell me you didn’t promise this knucklehead that his friend would get the promotion as long as he didn’t steal from us.”
Danny smiled smugly. “He did.”
“I see nepotism is alive and well in this company,” I mumbled, wondering whether it was me or Danny who was adopted, because fuck knew, we couldn’t biologically be brothers.
Dad raised an eyebrow and gave me a stern look. “It has nothing to do with nepotism. If the man is innocent, he deserves a chance, just like anyone else does.”
“Are you going to tell me next that everyone in California deserves to lose their jobs to the cuts first, just because I happened to be there this week? Because you know that’s why he proposed we start there. You need to remove him from the chain of command, Dad. He’s going to destroy the company you spent your life building.”
“Oh, I’m going to destroy it?” Danny yelled. “If the
re’s anyone who’s going to be responsible for the company’s downfall, it’s your lying ass. We’re going to get sued for millions the way you’re running your mouth about good people stealing from us.”
“Let Dustin try to sue us. I know I’m right. Soon enough, you’ll know it too. Mark my words. If anyone is going to lose us millions, it’s you for proposing to cut a branch that’s doing well and costing us good people who can help us make more money unless you fire them for no good reason.”
“It’s for a great fucking reason. Our expansion is the best reason to get rid of people. It’s us or them, Blake. What don’t you understand about business? You stay ahead of the curve, or you’re out.”
“Yeah,” I snorted. “I get that, but we’re already ahead of the curve. If you start treating employees like chess pieces instead of people, you’re in trouble. Callously cutting people from a branch where they’re still needed? That will get us in real trouble.”
“When did you become such a humanitarian?” Danny asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. His face was red, a vein throbbing in his forehead.
Our anger was palpable. It pulsed and danced in the air between us, creating a combustible mixture of rage that had been building for weeks.
I flexed my fingers, balling them into fists. “I’m not a fucking humanitarian. I’m trying to be reasonable. You want to expand into social media, we need to make cuts. I understand, but doing it this way will lose us the respect of the people on the ground. It will spread like a cancer through this company. We won’t be able to control the backlash.”
Dad dropped his hands from where they were still hanging in the air, ready to separate us again. He gave me a long look. “You really think that?”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t think it, I know it. I was there when the announcement was made, remember? People weren’t excited and incentivized by the promotions, as much as they were scared about what the expansion plans might mean for their jobs. It’s already started the mistrust in the company that I was afraid of.”
