Happily Ever After with My Dad’s Best Friend

by Wylder, Penny

  I don’t know what I’m more furious about: that Jack is using his own daughter to further our business or the fact that watching his daughter flirt with these men makes me see red. I don’t know what it is about Cora that sets me off. I’ve never encountered a woman that made me feel this way before, especially one that I’ve known for such a short time. But I couldn’t even look at her with them. I saw her smile and laugh, and all I want is for that smile and laugh to be directed at me.

  It’s ridiculous. I don’t have some caveman type claim on her. She’s free to do whatever she wants. But if Jack is telling her to sleep with potential investors, does she really want that? Does she feel like she has to because their relationship is new and she wants to do well with him and at the company? The idea that she might feel pressured into sex by her own father makes me feel even more rage. I’ve known Jack a long time, and he’s one of my closest friends, but I know for a fact that if I walked out of this hallway at this moment I would punch him in the face.

  I sit down on a small bench and run a hand through my hair. I’ve got to get out of here. I have to; it’s too much.

  “Michael?” Cora rounds the corner, and I spring to my feet. “We’re missing your company. What are you doing?”

  “I don’t think I’d be very pleasant company at the moment,” I say, schooling my features. The heels she’s wearing make her just a little taller, which means her face is that much closer to mine as she approaches. And approach she does, taking each step deliberately. It’s easy to see the sensuality she’s putting into every movement. It puts a bitter taste in my mouth. “I know why your father brought you here, and that’s not for me. I would never want or ask you to do that.”

  She smirks. “Yes, that is why he brought me here. Thankfully, my father doesn’t control what I do. And I’m not sure it’s any of your business.”

  My chest feels tight because of how close she is. I could reach out and touch her. Kiss her, just like I’ve been thinking about all day. I pray to God she doesn’t look down because after everything today, I can’t control myself anymore. I’m hard, and I’ll probably have to fix this problem in the bathroom before I come back out in front of people. “It is literally my business,” I say. “What you’re doing affects that, and I don’t want anything to do with it.”

  Cora takes another step closer. “Do I seem like the kind of girl who would do that?” She doesn’t sound angry or offended, just curious, and that step closer lets me get a hint of her perfume. Jasmine. Dear God, I think I’m going to explode.

  “I don’t know what kind of girl you are,” I say. “I barely know you.”

  “You want to know me better though.” Her voice drops, low and sultry. “And I want to know you better. I didn’t come here tonight for them.”

  She reaches out like she’s going to touch me, and I grab her hand, stopping it. If she touches me, I won’t have any control left. “That’s not a good idea.”

  She smiles, and I know the roughness in my voice is betraying me. I’ve faced down some of the toughest men with ease, and this woman is undoing me with the possibility of a single touch. “Maybe I’ll decide what a good idea is, Mr. Foster. You don’t control me any more than my father does.” I’m still holding her wrist, and I can feel her pulse beating fast under my fingers. “Besides, why would you care if I sleep with one of those suits? Your company only benefits from this, right?”

  I grit my teeth. I’m not going to get into this. I can’t. “No. I don’t want to see you do that.”

  “Why not?” She presses forward until our bodies are almost touching, looking up at me, daring me to rise to her challenge.

  There’s no denying this heat between us, the way it’s spiraled out of control. She knows what she’s doing to me, and I can’t hold myself back from saying it. “Because seeing you flirt with them makes me angry in a way I can barely explain.”

  “So maybe this,” she glances to my hand, wrapped around her wrist, “is a good idea after all.”

  “It’s not. You know it’s not.”

  Her eyes are all fire. “It is.”

  I drop her hand and take a swift step back, the frustration of the day boiling up and over. “Why are you doing this, Cora? You shouldn’t be. You know, maybe have a little respect for me and the positions that we’re both in right now. For the next three months I’m your boss, so even though we’re not at work, my word is final.”

  Cora’s breath hitches in her chest and her eyes widen, but that’s not fear I’m seeing. It’s excitement. That seductive smile she has appears, and she closes the gap between us, pushing me back against the wall and pressing her body against mine. Fuck, I can feel her every curve. Her breasts are pressed into my chest and I can feel how hard her nipples are, and there’s no way she doesn’t feel my cock. She moves, rolling herself down with a slow arch of her back and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from groaning.

  “If you think what I’m doing is wrong, then you should punish me,” she says softly, her face inches from mine.

  My entire body goes still, processing her words before my mind does. And then I see it, her words spinning into images in my head, of all the ways I could punish her with pain or pleasure that would satisfy us both.

  She tilts her face up to mine, and her voice is barely a whisper. “Punish me.”

  My control snaps. I pull her closer to me, so that while we were touching before, we’re glued together now. “That’s what you want?” I don’t give her a chance to respond. I pull her across the hallway to that little bench and suddenly she’s over my lap. Anyone could come around the corner and see us in this position, but after today, I can’t even bring myself to care.

  Dragging my hand up her leg I flip the fabric of her dress up over her ass and I’m greeted with nothing but skin. Of course she’s not wearing underwear. I didn’t think my cock could get harder at this point. I was wrong. It presses up into Cora’s stomach and she moves, causing the most perfect friction. I smooth my hand up under her ass and it’s like heaven under my fingers. And then I spank her. Once. Twice. A third time.

  Cora moans, and I place my other hand on her back to hold her still. “This is what you want?” I ask as my hand comes down again. Her ass is turning the most delicious shade of pink as her skin heats under my hand.

  “Yes.” It’s a breathless sigh, and she arches against me, lifting her ass for more. I give it to her, the sound of the spanks echoing down the hallway. Smoothing my fingers over her skin, I soothe the sting after every slap. I love the way she jumps when my palm connects, the satisfaction that I’m getting a little sweet revenge for all she’s put me through today.

  Jack’s voice is suddenly there, echoing from the bar. “I’ll be back in a bit, guys,” I hear him say. It’s like a fog is lifted. What the fuck am I doing? I flip Cora’s dress back down and set her upright, adjusting my pants as I stand. I have to get out of here. There’s no time to wait or to say anything, so I just go. I make it out of the hallway before Jack gets there, thank God. I hear him say my name, trying to stop me, but there’s no way in hell. He’ll know something’s up. He’ll know that I did something with Cora, something I never should have done. I can’t be here with these young investors and his ridiculous plan. I’m going home, and he can yell at me tomorrow.

  But even though I don’t want to admit it to myself, Jack isn’t the problem. The problem is that I just spanked his daughter and I loved every fucking second of it. And for the rest of my life, I’m going to remember how goddamn perfect her ass felt under my hand, and how I’m never going to feel that again.

  Fuck.

  4

  When I left the office yesterday, my goal for today was to finish my experimentation with the code and run some diagnostics, maybe show it to Cora to see what kind of feedback her fresh eyes could provide. Today on arriving at the office, I have an entirely different goal: avoid Cora at all costs. I jerked off three times last night and still wasn’t satisfied.

  It’
s only been a day and she’s gotten under my skin. I can’t have that. Not when Jack and I aren’t communicating well and suddenly have differing views. If he ever found out I had messed around with his daughter, that divide would only grow worse. Not to mention the optics of a thirty-five-year-old man sleeping with a twenty-year-old intern. Consumers and investors would drop us faster than gravity. The safest course of action for me is to just stay away from her. It shouldn’t be too hard; it’s a big office and she’ll be doing plenty of busywork for other people.

  Jack calls out to me as I’m heading down the hallway toward my own office. I hear him jogging to catch up. “Michael.”

  I sigh, I didn’t want to have this conversation first thing. I was hoping to make it through lunch before being berated, but when I turn around, the look on Jack’s face isn’t angry, it’s worried.

  “Are you all right? You left so quickly last night.”

  “Yeah,” I say tightly. “I had a rough day, and I wasn’t in the mood to schmooze people I’m not convinced that we should be in bed with.”

  He avoids my eyes, expression sheepish. “I’m sorry about that. You were right, I should have at least discussed it with you before springing it on you. I realized after you left that it must have felt like you were getting thrown to the wolves.”

  “Something like that,” I mutter.

  “Still,” he says, “I’d like to sit down and talk about the possibilities they have to offer.”

  I nod. “I’m going to evaluate Takedown like you asked, and we can talk about it Monday?”

  “Works for me.” He claps me on the shoulder. “I’ll have Liz put it on the calendar.” He walks off with a little swagger in his step, and something in my mind eases. I may have jumped to conclusions about where he stood. After this long working together, I should know better than to assume that Jack would just swan dive in a different direction without consulting me. Not fair to either of us. We both want this business to succeed, and even if we have different ways of thinking about it, we’ll come to an agreement eventually. That’s the way it’s always worked and the way it should be.

  Which means that it’s even more imperative that I stay away from Cora. I can’t risk the friendship and working relationship I have with jack—it’s too important. I see Cora at the end of the hallway and turn around. I can avoid her if I try. And I have to try. Even if it’s really the last thing I want to do.

  * * *

  I barely notice the day flying by, and it feels like no time has passed when I look up and it’s dark outside. There’s a vague memory of Ellen saying she was leaving for the day, but that’s it. Judging from the silence, I’m the last one here. Not that that’s anything new. I tend to forget myself when I’m working, even more so when I’m working on the actual tech. I roll my shoulders, trying to relieve a buildup of tension I hadn’t noticed was there. Maybe I should invest in a better office chair or something. I’m not getting any younger.

  Getting up and looking out the window, I take in the view of Houston. It’s one of my favorites, the city laid out in glittering lights. It’s small moments like this that remind me how lucky I am.

  A knock on the door surprises me, and I turn to find Cora, looking like a sexy secretary in a white button-down and a skin-tight black pencil skirt. My cock rises to attention like it’s a soldier and she’s the damn American flag. I guess I’m going to have to get used to that because my body refuses to control itself when she’s near. I did okay avoiding her today—until now—but I can’t hide in my office for the next three months. “Cora, how can I help you?”

  She lifts a folder to show me, and then comes to place it on my desk. “You asked for information about Takedown. I know it’s a little past end of business, but I saw that you were still here.”

  I had almost forgotten that I had asked her for that. “Thank you. Anything interesting that pops out to you?”

  “Aren’t you going to read it?”

  I wander out from behind the desk. “I am, but I’m wondering what you thought.”

  Cora crosses her arms, hesitating like she doesn’t think I actually want to hear what she has to say, but after second of staring at each other, she breaks. “They’re an okay company, they have some okay ideas, but they don’t have a good business plan. They rely too much on deficit financing, and in order to try to compete with Tailor Me and other similar companies, they’re expanding too fast.”

  “So they’re in the red?” I ask.

  “Big time. They don’t have the capital for the kind of payroll burden they now have with all the on-call tailors. They’re trying to hide it, and they’re trying to woo new investors to the company, but they really need this to work or they’re going under.”

  “That’s good to know.” Does Jack know this? If he does, then why is he trying to emulate them so quickly? I file the question away for when I go through the folder and when we have our meeting about this next week. “Thank you for being so thorough. You’ve more than earned the right to be off the clock by now.”

  She hesitates, then nods and starts to walk away. I’m turning back to the window so I don’t look at her ass and remember what happened last night when I hear her stop. “Do I repulse you or something?”

  “What?” I turn and the look on her face is half confusion, half anger. “Of course not.”

  “I’m just trying to understand why you walked away last night. Because you didn’t have to. You didn’t do anything wrong. We didn’t do anything wrong. And you haven’t even looked at me today. You haven’t looked me in the eyes since I came in here.”

  She’s not wrong. “It’s not—I’m not repulsed by you. It’s not that.”

  “Then what is it?” She storms across the room and stands in front of me. “Do you think I’m not worth your time because I’m an intern? Because I’m younger than you? Do you think I’m slutty because I flirted with those men last night? I’m just trying to figure out what I did wrong to go from that to this.”

  I reach out and grab her hand, and it’s not like last night. This time I’m not trying to stop her, I’m trying to draw her closer. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” I say roughly. “Nothing. It’s the opposite of that. You’ve gotten under my skin. I can’t get you out of my head, and I barely understand why. Only that the only thing I can think about doing is this.”

  I pull her against me and kiss her, pouring every ounce of frustration and lust I’ve experienced the last two days into it. She melts against me and it steals my breath. Cora’s lips are softer than I even imagined, full and passionate and I feel all of it now because she’s kissing me back. Her arms twine around my neck, and even though there’s no space between us, it’s like we can’t get close enough.

  Somehow we stumble to my office couch. My suit jacket is on the floor. The buttons on her shirt are undone. I let my hands roam the way that they wanted to last night, exploring the swell of her hips and the softness of her breasts. Pulling away for a moment, I catch my breath. “We shouldn’t do this. There’s a million reasons why. Mainly because if your father ever finds out, he’ll lose his mind. And quite possibly kill me.”

  Cora laughs against my mouth. “In case you didn’t guess this last night, I don’t care about what my father thinks. Not about this.” She pushes me back onto the couch, climbs on top of me so her red curls are cascading in a curtain down toward my face. “But maybe you’re right,” she says. “Maybe I’m just a bad girl who does naughty things. After all, no one ever taught me to behave.”

  Her lips crash down on mine, and I groan because I can’t stop myself. I can’t fight this, not now when she’s right here begging me for the very thing I’ve wanted. But not like this. I sit up and lift Cora off me, setting her on her feet just long enough for me to pull that skirt off her hips. She’s wearing panties this time, a lacy turquoise thong that makes me want to take it off with my teeth. There’s time for that later. Instead I guide her back over my lap again, just like last night.

  “
I’ll teach you to behave,” I say, barely recognizing my own voice as my hand comes down on her ass. “I wasn’t quite finished last night when we were interrupted.”

  “Yes,” she pants. “Please.”

  I grab her panties, gathering the fabric into my fist and pulling them taut so I can see the outline of her pussy and the edges of her perfect asshole. She’s soaked through the tiny piece of cloth, and I run my fingers across her clit. The way she shudders is almost enough to make me come. I press my thumb down harder, rolling it in circles, using her panties against her as the friction of the fabric gets her off. “Is this what you want?” I ask, “To get off?”

  “God, yes.”

  I pull my hand away and spank her twice. “Well, then you have to promise to be good. If you’re not good, you’ll be spanked more.” I let my hand fall harder on her skin, just to prove my point. She cries out, and at the same time her back arches into me. Moving back to her pussy, I stroke her lips, tracing the outside through the fabric before dipping underneath. That first stroke, that first feeling of heat, is everything that I imagined it would be. She moans as I push a finger inside her, and I immediately pull away. Three quick, glancing blows just at the base of her ass where the skin turns tender. “I told you to be good,” I say. “Now be quiet and let me play with you.”

  Her mouth is muffled where it’s pressed into the couch. “Yes, Sir.”

  Something dark and primal unlocks at her words. I’ve never considered myself a kinky person—never been into sadism or bondage or anything you see in those strange romance novels. But I have a girl over my lap, and I’m spanking her, and I love it. It feels right. I feel powerful, knowing I can give her both pleasure and pain and she’ll like both, and even further, she’ll accept both.

  I never thought I wanted to be called “Sir” in the bedroom, but the way she says it, like I’m the most powerful man in the world, makes me want to run to the rooftop and pound on my chest, crowing that she’s mine. I like it more than I should. “I see you’ve taken my advice,” I say, smoothing my hand over her ass. “You’ve decided to show me some respect.”