She’s barely breathing now. “Yes, sir.”
“Go.”
And then she’s gone, and I have to adjust my pants again. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun with a girl—woman. No wonder the people who do this full time call it playing.
* * *
This is such a bad idea. Not because it’s wrong, but because I’m distracted. I haven’t been able to focus on anything but the minutes ticking by and how long I have until she gets back here. I haven’t gotten a single thing done. Thank God for Ellen who’s working in over drive because she’s leaving early. Nothing important is scheduled and she pushes me to clear the smaller tasks off my desk. I owe her more than I can even say because she’s helped keep Jack off my back, making up excuses for why I can’t meet with him about Takedown and the offer to buy the company. I think I’ve seen Jack less in the past two weeks than in the entire time that I’ve known him.
By the time Ellen leaves, I’m more than ready for playtime. Five minutes after that, Cora approaches my door. Four o’clock on the dot. “Being on time will go a long way in pleasing your boss, Miss Bradbury. I’m impressed.”
“I do want to please, Mr. Foster, and I try very hard.”
I wave her forward, and she comes closer, following my hand as I beckon her until she’s standing right beside me. She’s wearing one of those truly mouthwatering pencil skirts, and heels so high I can only call them ‘fuck me’ heels. “Kneel,” I tell her. “Under the desk. As much as I want you thinking about it happening in front of everyone, I think it’s better if we keep this to ourselves.”
Cora sinks to her knees with far more grace than I’d ever be able to manage, maneuvering herself under the desk and between my legs. I undo my belt, and nothing more. “You’re going to suck my cock, nice and slow. Make it last. And you may use your mouth only, for everything. Every time you use your hands I’ll add to your punishment later.”
She folds her arms behind her back. “Yes, Sir.” I can’t wipe the smile off my face as she begins to use her teeth on my zipper, then my underwear. I was expecting to have to help her, and I’m more impressed than I want to admit that she managed to free my cock effortlessly with her teeth.
Her lips close around the tip of my shaft and she does what I asked, nice and slow. I close my eyes and lean back a little, luxuriating in the feeling of her mouth on my skin, of the suction she’s giving. She’s using her tongue in these maddening little circles and I make note to use them on her later—
My office door slams shut, and I jump. Jack is striding across my office and he leans over the front of my desk. “So I’m guessing you haven’t been ill.”
I’ve pulled myself closer to the desk to erase even the chance that Jack might notice that there’s someone under the desk. “Who told you I was sick?”
“That’s what Ellen told Jill for the last week when she asked to schedule our meeting.”
I assumed that Cora would stop what she was doing when Jack first spoke. That she would wait until he had left the room. I assumed wrong. She keeps taking me deeper into her mouth, smoothly and slowly. I told her to suck my cock, and I didn’t tell her to stop. “I’m sorry about that.”
Jack takes a step back. “Is there a good reason for the lie?”
I shrug, trying to keep an air of relaxation. “I am not ready to have that meeting.”
“And you don’t think that was something you could have just told me?”
Cora pulls back, and then sinks down onto my cock, working me into her throat, and for a second I freeze. Fuck that feels good. “Would you have listened?” I hope he doesn’t notice the way my voice just changed. “You didn’t seem inclined to when you notified me of the offer.”
“You’ll never know now, will you?” Jack says, the expression on his face ugly.
I sigh, hiding the fact that one of my hands is white-knuckling the armrest of my chair. “Jack, it’s Friday. It’s almost the end of the day and it’s been a long one. I promise we’ll have the conversation next week.”
His eyes narrow, and for one eternal moment I think that he knows. But he stands and straightens his suit, pinning me in place with his glare. “We will. It’s going to happen.”
He exits the office with the same abruptness that he came into it with, and I almost melt into my chair in relief. “Cora, what the fuck.”
All she does is laugh and speed up her rhythm. Never in a million years did I think I’d be in that situation—trying to get Jack out of the room because his daughter is under my desk with her lips around my cock. Adrenaline and arousal roll though me. That was terrifying. Exhilarating. We should have done something at the office long before now.
Cora’s teeth graze me, just enough to make me shudder, and I close my eyes and let her work. It doesn’t take long until my breath is coming in time with the movement of her mouth, pleasure building deep inside like it’s behind a dam that’s about to break. And suddenly it does, and holy shit, I forget every time just how good it feels with her.
She sucks me down into her mouth as I come, taking everything that I give her and drawing the pleasure out in long, slow strokes. I look down at her under the desk as she releases me, a wicked grin on her face. “I’m not sure I can put you back with just my mouth,” she says.
“That’s fine.” After that performance, she deserves a break.
I help her out from under the desk after adjusting myself, and stand. “Are you ready to leave the office for today? Because that was just the start.”
Cora’s eyes flash. “The start of what?”
“The start of a very fun weekend.”
8
We barely leave my apartment the next two days, and I think it’s the first weekend in eight years where I do no work whatsoever. I take Cora to a gorgeous restaurant on the outskirts of Houston, and more and more I realize that I’m taken with her. She’s smart and funny and sexy and she likes to play. I understand now the clichés about how a person could be everything that you never knew you were looking for. That’s the way I feel. I didn’t know that I was looking for someone like Cora, it just happened. I suppose I have Jack to thank for that, as strange as it is. Even though I’m not nearly ready to tell him.
Cora looks over at me from the other side of the bed. The sheets are draped over her in a way that’s fucking sexy, and I’m tempted to take a picture, but my phone is in the other room.
“We never actually talked about that code you had me look at,” she says.
I smirk. “We were busy doing other things.”
“True.”
“What do you think of it?”
She sits up, bringing the sheet with her so that she’s still covered. It’s cute, after everything we’ve done with each other that she still has the impulse. “I thought it was good, but when we get to the office tomorrow I want to show you a base code application that I think will just make everything simpler. It won’t change the aesthetics much, just function.”
“You think it’s better?”
“Maybe,” she says. “I think starting with that will allow you to route things through fewer protocols, which will make it faster. There’s the potential for it to be smoother than it already is.”
I nod. “Then I’m excited to see it.” I lean back against the headboard. “The truth is, I don’t really disagree with Jack on expanding. I just want to do it our way. Up until now we’ve been cautious, and it’s worked in our favor. I think he’s worried that moving that slowly will make us less competitive.”
“How do you want to expand?”
“I’d like to do a whole bunch of things,” I say. “I’d like to try a subscription box since those seem to be so popular. I don’t think Takedown’s idea of on-call tailors is a bad one if you can find a way to make it financially viable. Eventually, down the road, I’d like to see if we can get any traction in the women’s clothing world. But what we have now is good, and I don’t want to ruin what we have by rushing into something we’re not re
ady for. One weak point in the boat will make you sink even if all the other parts are strong.”
“You want to know what I think?” she asks, crawling over to me and lounging across my chest.
“There are lots of things that I always want to do with you,” I say.
She laughs. “I know, but seriously, Michael. I think you’re both right.”
“Oh?”
“Jack’s right that you guys need to adapt. Things are changing quickly and you might have to be more nimble in your planning in order to keep up with the smaller start-ups that are taking more risks in order to one-up you. But, by the same token,” she’s straddling me now, “you founded the company by finding a niche that needed filling. You’ve got loyal customers and a solid base. Customers like what is familiar to them. And besides,” she says, eyes sparkling, “old things can be beautiful too.”
I roll over, reversing our positions. “Are you calling me old?”
Her laugh rings out clearly throughout the room. “If that’s the only thing you took from what I said, you really are going senile.”
“Senile at thirty-five,” I say, leaning in to kiss her. “That is a cruel fate.”
These kisses are soft, a slow burn that’s definitely leading somewhere. I trace my tongue across her lips, silently asking them to open, and they do. Our mouths are dancing together, gathering heat and strength, and when I pull away we’re both a little short of breath. “I do understand what you said, though, and I agree. It’s one of the reasons I don’t want to sell the company. We built it and I’m not ready to let it go to someone who won’t necessarily do what’s best for it.”
“Wait,” she says, pressing her hands against my chest. “Who wants to buy you out?”
“Those investors that you were sent to seduce. Anderson Financial. We got an offer a couple days after the bar.”
Cora shakes her head. “I didn’t know. Is that what Jack was talking about while I was…you know.” She waggles her eyebrows.
“Yes, he’s been trying to corner me, to have a meeting about it, but I don’t want to meet. He wants to take the offer, and I don’t. Besides, I’ve been having too much fun doing other things to focus on it.”
“It has been very fun.”
“Has been or will continue to be?” I ask.
Her body stills under mine, and there’s no trace of playfulness there now. “Continue to be. I’m here for as long as you want me to be.”
“That may be a long time,” I warn her. There’s an ache in my chest that I don’t recognize, and I try to ignore it. Instead, I kiss her again, and show her exactly how I mean to spend our last evening of the weekend.
9
I manage to put Jack off in the morning, and make a note to myself to get Ellen a very, very nice gift for all the interference she’s been running for me lately. But near lunchtime, I see him storming down the hall towards my office, and I know that there’s nothing that I can do about it now. We’re having this meeting whether I want to or not.
This time Jack doesn’t explode into my office, he stalks. Which is far more dangerous. Loud Jack is able to be reasoned with and controlled. Cold, angry Jack is something that’s terrifying and that people should hope they never see. I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve seen him this way, and now he’s there. I can see it.
I walk to the bar in my office and pour myself a small drink. It looks like I’m going to need one very shortly. Jack closes the door quietly and comes to stand in front of me. “Is it true?”
“Is what true?”
“Is it true that you’ve been seeing my daughter behind my back?”
My stomach goes into freefall, and I know that my face instantly gives me away. I’m used to controlling my face—to concealing surprise—but this was the last thing I expected him to say. “What?”
He scoffs. “Did you really think you could take her to The Palace and no one there would see you and tell me?”
I had hoped. “You hate The Palace, Jack.”
“Yes, I do. It’s overpriced garbage, but other people do, and I make sure that the wait staff loves me wherever I go. You know that.”
It’s true, Jack can be one of the most charming people I know. Combine that with good tips, and you get remembered. Only one problem. “How would the wait staff of The Palace know that Cora was your daughter?”
Jack stiffens and looks down his nose at me. “Why are you changing the subject? Does it really matter how I found out? I found out.”
“What if I told you I took her out to dinner simply as a mentor.”
“Then I say that’s bullshit,” Jack explodes, his voice echoing off the walls. “You were seen not only having dinner at The Palace, but sharing multiple kisses with my daughter.”
It’s true. Something Cora did to her lips that night made them irresistible—aside from the fact that she’s an amazing kisser. I couldn’t help myself. I clear my throat, trying to see a way through this. “What are you more angry about?” I ask him. “That I kissed your daughter or that I didn’t tell you about it?”
“Both, and more, Michael. We’re in a critical juncture of our business, and you’ve been distracted. Now I realize it’s because you’ve been screwing around with Cora. I’m done with you dictating to me what we’re going to do with this company when you clearly can’t see what’s best for it.”
I knock back the half-shot of whiskey that I poured myself. “What exactly are you going to do?” I ask him. “We have equal stakes in the company, so it’s not like you can just have your way. I’m not selling.”
“Oh,” he says with a sinister laugh. “You will.”
“No, I won’t.”
Jack brushes past me and pours himself a drink. “You will because it’s your only choice. You will sign those papers tomorrow, or I’ll leak to the media that you sexually assaulted Cora. No one will ever work with you again. I’m giving you the chance to do the right thing.”
I suddenly feel nauseous. “Where is this coming from, Jack? When did it get so bad between us that you’d want this? Even though we want different things for the company, I thought you were still my friend.”
He finishes his drink in one go, even though it was a much larger drink than mine. “Let’s face it. Business partners can never be true friends. There’s too much that gets in the way. You have a day to think about what I said, and if the papers aren’t signed by noon tomorrow, I’m going to have the story of my poor, innocent daughter, the billionaire’s intern who had no choice but to submit to his demands. It’ll be on the front page of every newspaper and gossip rag in the country.”
“You would really do that? You would put Cora through hell just so that you can get your way with me?”
“If I have to.”
“Don’t do this, Jack,” I say to his retreating back. “We can still work this out, find a way to move forward with the company in a way we both want.”
“I think that’s what you’re not getting. I don’t want to.” His oily smile almost makes me vomit.
How did this happen? How did everything turn over so quickly? There are those moments when you realize how fragile everything in your life is, and this is one of them. All I did was take the woman I love on a date. One date! And now everything is in ashes.
My brain shudders to a stop. The woman I love? I thought about her as the woman I love. Holy shit, I do love her. I love her enough that I can’t let this happen. My reputation is one thing—I could disappear with the money I have and never have to see another reporter. But Cora doesn’t deserve to be branded a victim when she’s not. This would destroy her, and I can’t have that happen.
Just last night I told her that I didn’t want to sell the company, but I’ll do it for her. The fact that I’m being blackmailed makes me sick to my stomach, but there’s nothing I can do about that. Jack doesn’t bluff, and I know that probably even right now he’s having Liz gather the phone numbers of the most prominent journalists in Houston and possibly the nat
ional news organizations. He’ll be ready to follow through if I don’t do what he asks. Rock, hard place. Anger spikes through me, hot and violent. This isn’t what is supposed to happen. I’ve worked hard, harder than I ever thought possible on this company. My company. Jack’s company. Our company. I didn’t devote this much of my life to just let it go. I hear the snapping sound from my fist connecting with the wall before I even register that I’ve done it, or the pain that comes swiftly afterward.
I sigh, and pour myself another drink, and then I use it to ice my knuckles.
This morning when I came into the office, I was feeling so optimistic about working out a path for the company, and now there’s nothing. I have to find a way to try to get out of it, and I know that I’ll spend the entire day trying. But the dread in my stomach tells me what I so desperately don’t want to know—there is no way out of this.
10
I’m staring out the window at the view when Cora comes into my office later. “Michael, I need to talk to you about something. It’s important.” Even though I register her words, I barely notice that she’s there until she touches my shoulder and I jump. “Wow,” she says, “you’re never jumpy. Is something wrong?”
Yes, everything is wrong. Absolutely everything. But I can’t tell her that. It’s not fair to her. Knowing that someone is using her for blackmail would be a terrible thing to hear, and the last thing I want to do is hurt her. I know I’m going to though, I have to. I have to hurt her in order to protect her.
I know Jack all too well. Even if I sign the papers, there’s a chance he’ll go to the papers anyway and spread that story just to make sure I can never make a move to take the company back without him. Cora being attached to me would connect her to that. Her name would be dragged through the mud along with mine and make her senior year hell. I can’t have that. She didn’t do anything wrong by choosing to be with me.
Happily Ever After with My Dad’s Best Friend Page 27
