by Jamie Knight
“Give me a clue.”
Her eyes sparkled like she’d been helping herself to eggnog all day long. “You went to school with her.”
I sipped my drink and mentally scanned a list of possible people. “That could be hundreds of people. Another clue.”
“You asked me about her earlier this week.”
My pulse picked up speed. No fricking way. “Sophia Landers?”
My mom nodded gleefully. “Remember her beautiful, long black hair. She dyed it blonde. It’s too brassy for her, I think. Huge mistake.”
My eyes darted around the kitchen. “Where is she?”
“In the living room with her grandmother. But before you go say hello, there’s something else I want you to guess—”
“Later.” I needed to see Sophia with my own eyes. If she had blonde hair, she might also be pregnant. Was Sophia Landers the reason Michelle and Daniel Chastain were getting a divorce?
Barely able to contain my excitement, I rushed into the sitting room. Perched on the sofa with blonde hair that looked expensive and not brassy at all was Sophia Landers. I glanced down at her clearly pregnant belly.
I’d found the holy grail. When Sophia spotted me, she smiled and gave a small wave. Waving back, I walked over to her. She stood and gave me a fleeting hug. “Pearl. You look fantastic. It’s been way too long.”
“Great to see you, Sophia. Nice hair and nice bump. Who’s the lucky guy?”
She laughed, her eyes filling with love. “If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”
I laughed back. “Oh, you’d be surprised.”
Chapter Three - James
I rolled my shoulders back and lifted my eyes to the ceiling. Michelle Chastain was a woman in pain. Anger and grief consumed her, and every time we talked, she vacillated between wanting to kill Daniel and get back with him. No wasn’t a word she liked to hear, but it was something I said to her over ten times a day.
She’d suggested that she seduce him and then serve him with the divorce papers when he reappeared.
I put the kibosh on that idea. Things didn’t need to get any messier than they already were. Thank God there were no kids involved. If there was, they both would have used their children as pawns.
I’d wanted to spend the evening relaxing, but I had work to do and catch up on. Michelle wasn’t my only client. She might be my most high-profile one, but I still had other people I needed to take care of.
If I had time, I would stop by the club and find a willing sub. A blow job would go a long way to relieving the stress building up in my shoulders.
The image of Pearl’s lips wrapped around my cock popped into my head again, and my dick hardened. I’d shrugged off the idea I’d had about making her my pet. It wouldn’t work. The last thing I needed was a sexual harassment charge. She didn’t understand a thing about the lifestyle.
It didn’t matter what she’d said on the phone to her friend. Pearl wasn’t what I needed. Sure, she used toys and vibrators and talked about masturbating, but getting tied up and whipped and spanked and being pleasured to the point of pain wouldn’t be her thing. But, damn, my desire for the woman was driving me insane.
My cell rang, and distractedly I picked it up. “Hello.”
“Mr. Matthews, it’s me, Pearl.” She sounded breathless and jubilant. “It’s her. It’s Sophia. I didn’t outright ask her if Daniel Chastain was her baby daddy, but it’s for sure a possibility. She has blonde hair and is pregnant.”
I sat up straight. “Are you sure it’s the woman in the photo?”
“I’m pretty positive but, hold on, I’ll take a sneaky picture and send it to you.”
A few seconds later, a message popped up on my screen. The woman in the photo was one-hundred-percent Daniel’s mistress.
“Text me your mother’s address. I’ll be there as soon as I can. You need to find out if Daniel is the father of her baby.”
“Um, okay. It’s not like I can come right out and ask her that.”
“You’ll find a way. I have faith in you.”
It was too late to organize someone else to serve the papers. I would have to do that myself. If she was there, Daniel wouldn’t be far away.
***
Had I inadvertently wandered into a parallel universe or perhaps the North Pole? Blinking lights, candy canes, elves, and various incarnations of Santa blinded me. Tackiness was alive and kicking in Brooklyn. I pulled up outside the most brightly decorated house. Why was I not surprised that Pearl’s mother lived here?
Christmas had never been a happy occasion for my family. The holiday of goodwill to all men meant arguments and tears and Christmas trees being thrown across the living room.
Even now, as an adult, I didn’t celebrate. I went to the obligatory Christmas parties and banquets. I wished everyone happy holidays, but on the 25th of December, I worked, hoping that the day would end and that everyone would regain their sanity.
A sense of anticipation buzzed through me. A breakthrough in the divorce case was near. For over a month, we’d been unable to track down Daniel or his mistress. If only I’d known the answer to my quandary sat a few floors below me.
I got out of the car and dashed up the steps. When I reached the front door, Pearl pulled it open, and the sound of Mariah Carey’s warbles assaulted my ears. All I wanted for Christmas was to serve Daniel and his girlfriend with the papers.
Pearl wore her usually pulled-back hair down, and it curled over her shoulders in soft, hazelnut waves. She also wore a ridiculous red and green sweater that jingle and jangled whenever she moved, but it didn’t hide the mouth-watering swell of her generous breasts. Breasts I would kill to get my hands on.
“Come in,” she said and stood back. The tight jeans she wore showed off the delicious curve of her ass and hips.
“Where is she?”
“This way.” I followed her into the sitting room, keeping my eyes glued on her ass.
She glanced all around, then frowned. “She was here. I’ll ask my mom if she’s seen her.”
I followed when Pearl went in search of her mom. The kitchen resembled an explosion at a cookie factory. I didn’t think stuff like this happened in the real world. Why the hell was Pearl working in divorce law? She would have looked more at home fluttering around a bakery or cupcakery.
“Mom?”
A woman wearing a sweater as ugly as Pearl’s turned around. “You didn’t tell me you were bringing a friend.”
“He’s not a friend. He’s my boss. Mom, meet Mr. Matthews. Mr. Matthews, meet my mom, Sandra.”
She held out a hand and smiled. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Matthews.”
I took her hand in mine. “It’s James, and it’s a pleasure to meet you, too, Sandra. Pearl told me that Sophia Landers was here.”
Her eyelids fluttered, and her cheeks flushed. “She left through the back door a moment ago. She said someone was picking her up. Something about a cabin in Pennsylvania. Stupid idea if you ask me. There’s a blizzard forecast, and it’s already started snowing. Would you like some eggnog?”
Fury whirled inside of me, but I kept it hidden. “Thanks, but no.” I nodded towards Pearl.
“This way.” We made it to the backdoor in time to see Sofia step into the passenger seat of a Ford Ranger pickup. In the driver’s seat, I saw a man’s silhouette. While I couldn’t be sure it was Daniel, I was ninety-nine percent certain it was.
“If they’re going to Pennsylvania, then they’re going to his cabin in Potter County. My car is out front. Let’s go.”
Pearl held up her hands. “Woah, there cowboy. That’s hours away. We’re not going anywhere. Didn’t you see the weather forecast or hear my mom? It’s supposed to dump like twenty-three inches in the next twenty-four hours.”
I pointed an accusatory finger in her direction. “You let Sophia get away. You’re coming to Pennsylvania with me, and we’re not leaving until these papers are served. You’re the one
who said you wanted to prove yourself. This is your chance.”
“Fine,” she said relenting. “I need to tell my mom I’m leaving. I don’t want her to worry I’ve been kidnapped or something. She can go from mild-mannered to momma bear in a split second. I’ll meet you in five minutes.”
A wild goose chase to Pennsylvania when a storm was forecast wasn’t ideal, but if I didn’t take the opportunity, Daniel could disappear again.
Chapter Four - Pearl
We were an hour into the drive. The wipers worked hard but were failing to keep the windshield clear of whipping snow.
Like a petulant child, I sat in the passenger seat with my arms crossed. This wasn’t how today should have ended. It should have ended with me at my mom’s getting drunk, eating my weight in sugar, and belting out karaoke songs.
I blew out an exasperated breath. I’d bitten my tongue for too long. “If you know where they’re going, I don’t see why we had to rush there tonight. We could have left in the morning, or on Sunday when the blizzard had passed.” James shot me a look, but when he didn’t say anything, I continued ranting, “I could’ve gotten Sophia’s phone number from her grandmother. I could’ve called her and made up some bullshit story like how I was worried when she left suddenly, and I wanted to make sure she was okay. But instead, here we are driving into a blizzard so you can serve divorce papers.”
“I’ll do what it takes to get this over with. The ass has been avoiding me for too long. It’s not like he’s madly in love with Michelle. Playing games like this gives him a thrill.”
“Does anyone else on the team know the depth of your hate towards him? What about Mr. Taylor or the Davies brothers?”
“Grant and Jake know. I don’t give a fuck if anyone else does. I despise the cocksucker. I can’t understand why any woman would fall for a man-child like him. You would think by now, he’d have grown up. Not a chance. Ruining lives gives in a boner. Daniel’s a sham. Everything from his smile to his down-home-shucks-ma’am accent is a lie.”
“Bitter much?” Something about what James said didn’t sit right. Something deeper was at play. If he didn’t want to tell me, I wouldn’t pry. “If he’s as bad as you say, someone would’ve outed him by now.”
“Money talks. That’s why I want all of his.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Sophia seemed happy and glowing. Love does that to people.”
James snorted. “She might be. He isn’t. Believe me. Love is just a four-letter word to him.”
“Have you ever been in love?”
“No, and I don’t intend to be.”
“What? Really? I feel sorry for you if that’s the case.” I hadn’t meant to say that, but it was too late to take the words back. To silence myself, I rolled my lips between my teeth.
He huffed out a laugh. “Save your sympathy. I’m more than happy with my life.”
“But what about companionship? A relationship? Human contact?”
“That’s something I don’t have to worry about. And by the way, don’t talk to me about human contact. I recall you saying you only needed your vibrators.”
My nostrils flared, and I sucked in a breath. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. “Stop the car and let me out.” He’d heard every single word of my conversation with Bella. I was going to throw up. I was going to pass out. Or maybe I was going to throw up then pass out.
“You’re not going anywhere. We’re in the butt-fuck of nowhere. If I leave you here, it would be like a scene from Deliverance. I can already hear the banjos playing. If you want to end up locked up in a cage in someone’s basement, be my guest.”
I kept my eyes straight forward, ignoring the amusement in my boss’s voice.
“Unless getting locked up in someone’s basement is what you’d like. To be someone’s plaything. What was it you said to your friend? Something about Santa bringing you a Dom who’ll introduce you to the world of BDSM.”
I took several deep breaths and resisted the urge to open the door and throw myself from the car. “You’re not funny, Mr. Matthews. Why did you pretend you hadn’t heard my phone conversation when you had? It was personal. Why not keep pretending you hadn’t heard a word?”
“I don’t like getting lectured.”
“And how am I lecturing you?”
“You’re lecturing me about relationships when you said you don’t have time for one.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I don’t, huh? I know more than you think I do.”
“Like what?”
“Like you get a thrill out of making people happy. You’re a people pleaser. Their happiness makes you happy. A sub lives and breathes to make his or her master happy, did you know that?”
Heat fired my cheeks, and I clenched my fists, thankful we were in a dark car. “Save me the psychoanalysis.”
“Not psychoanalysis at all. I’m calling it like I see it. You’re a natural-born submissive.”
I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of answering.
“I saw how you shivered when I said how delicious your cookies were. How it thrilled you.”
I still said nothing.
“Tell me about the fantasies you have about me? Do they involve me bending you over my desk? You told your friend you wanted me to throw you over the conference table and eat you out.”
“Stop talking right now. You’re acting like a jerk.”
“Are you sure I’m not acting like a narcissist?”
His deep laughter echoed around the car. I was not only embarrassed that he’d heard every single word I’d said to Bella, but I was angry that he saw right into my heart and soul. How did he know me so well?
***
James hit his palms against the steering wheel. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”
I didn’t want to say I told you so, but I glanced over at him. “Told you so. We should never have attempted to drive into the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania at night when a blizzard was forecast. There’s no way we’re going to get anywhere near Daniel’s cabin in your car.”
He pulled over and nodded grimly. “We can’t turn back because we won’t make it. We have to find somewhere to stay.”
I took my phone from my purse and opened Waze. “My family has a trailer on the edge of Lake Mirror. It’s a summer community about forty-five minutes from where we are and about an hour and a half from where Daniel and Sophia are. I don’t see that we have any other choice. We won’t find anywhere else to stay.”
“It’ll have to do.”
“Listen up, Mr. Matthews. We can stay at my family’s trailer or try to get back to New York. There isn’t a gas station for miles. Like you said, we’re in the butt fuck of nowhere. If you’d listened to me, we wouldn’t be in this mess. I blame you.”
He gripped the steering wheel. “If anyone is to blame. It’s you. You let Sophia go.”
“What did you expect me to do? Lock a pregnant woman in the bathroom so we could serve her papers? Tackle her to the ground? You can’t possibly blame me for this. It was your impatience that landed us here.” I grabbed his phone from the dashboard and typed in the trailer’s address.
He didn’t say another word, which was fine by me.
I was a little excited to go to the trailer. Every summer before the real world took over my life, my mom and I would drive to what we called our happy place. We shared the trailer with her three sisters and brother. That meant there were always cousins coming and going, and I always had someone to spend my days with.
Fall breaks were spent there and also a few weekends in winter when the weather allowed. The snow-peaked mountains always took my breath away.
But as my mom got older and my cousins moved away, the trailer sat unused and unloved. There was talk about selling the land. I would sell my soul before I allowed that to happen. Grandma had left the land to all of us, so we all had a say in what happened.
During lazy summer mornings, my m
om and I would walk the almost two-mile loop around the lake talking about nothing and everything, or my cousins and I would go to the manmade beach and giggle about the hot lifeguards.
On calm days, before the kayakers and boaters got on the water, the surface appeared like glass — hence the Lake Mirror name.
It wasn’t a palace or a grand log cabin, and while everything needed updating, the walls did what they needed to do — they remained standing.
As luck would have it, my mom and I had spent Labor Day weekend cleaning out the cobwebs, and we’d paid to have someone weatherize the place for winter, but it wouldn’t take long to turn on the gas and oil and get the heat blasting.
And now, two-and-a-half months later, I would be spending the night with my boss, and not in the way I’d once fantasized.
He thought I was a ditzy idiot, and I found him insufferable and infuriating, and a self-absorbed ass.
And to think, I’d had a crush on him. Well, no more.
We were going to have an incredible night.
Chapter Five - James
Fat flakes swirled around us and showed no signs of stopping. Pearl had been right. We should’ve waited until morning. My impatience had gotten in the way and had left us stranded during a raging blizzard.
The trailer wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. It wasn’t a five-star hotel, but it wasn’t a hovel either. I needed to apologize to Pearl for my initial reaction. The things I’d said to her in the car were beneath me. My frustration and impatience were no excuse. She didn’t deserve my anger, and she didn’t deserve me revealing I’d overheard her private phone conversation. I’d been unnecessarily cruel.
It wasn’t her fault Daniel was a step ahead of me. Something I was sure he got a kick out of. I hoped he didn’t realize I was on his heels, but knowing him, he did.
Pearl had disappeared into what I assumed was the bedroom and came back out layered in over-sized clothes.
“Wait here,” she said, “I’ll go outside and turn everything on. We need to flush the antifreeze out of the pipes before we use any water. Can you turn on all the taps and the shower?”
