“It isn’t who I am, Aubrey!”
Her eyes followed him as he approached her desk and set down the coffee. She was silent as he stood to his full height and straightened his tie. He watched as her gaze followed the movement of his hands.
The soft skin of her neck betrayed how fast her heart was beating and pale pink tinged her lightly tanned face. Her hands were folded on top of her desk, fingers gripping one another tightly. Keeping her expression blank, Aubrey remained still and quiet in her chair.
Physically, she was affected by him and he wanted to know the reason. Was she afraid for her position?
“That is not who I am, Aubrey.” He wanted to convince her, to know she believed the words. It was important.
Her response was barely audible. “Elliot, I didn’t say it defined you, merely that it is part of who you are. You’re intelligent, accomplished, and attractive. Women throw themselves at your feet and I have no right to judge you for accepting what they offer.”
Closing her eyes, he watched her inhale deeply. He was amazed at the length of her lashes. When they opened, she gave him a smile that seemed fragile and it hurt his heart.
“I’d rather not have witnessed it but I was embarrassed, not judgmental. If I’m riding that way in the future – which I can assure you will not be for a long time – I’ll whistle. You know?” She swallowed before whistling the tune from Rawhide. “If you’re involved with a…a friend, you’ll have fair warning.”
Deep and unfamiliar shame unfurled in his gut.
Elliot unbuttoned his jacket and leaned on her desk, his palms flat on the surface. The sentence he intended to say was lost as he watched her eyes glaze.
Accustomed to admiration from women, he felt shock as he realized she was distracted by the tightening of his clothes over his chest and shoulders. A question he’d asked himself for years was finally answered.
Aubrey Price was aware of him as a man.
Not just as her boss or long-time acquaintance. She was sexually attracted to him and she’d hidden it well.
Blinking, she lifted her gaze back to his.
His groin tensed suddenly, painfully. Every sensation she’d ever inspired came to the forefront and he wanted her with a desperation that was foreign to a man like him.
“It won’t happen again. On that, you have my word.” The tone of his voice was thick with need but he doubted she recognized the difference. “However, you have an excellent whistle.”
The smile she gave him was warm. It was a true Aubrey smile and the tightness in his chest eased for the first time since their eyes met in the woods.
“You’ve been with the company a long time. You’re one of the most valuable people here.”
He knew instantly that the way he phrased the statement was wrong. She tried to hide her panic and failed.
“Th-thank you.”
“I’m not threatening your job. I’d never do that and I know you aren’t a gossip. Hell, everyone knows how you defend my family and my parents think the world of you.”
He tried to make his smile reassuring. God knew he didn’t want to terrify her with his need to take her on her desk.
“I appreciate that, Elliot.”
“You were sixteen when you took the intern position, right?” She nodded. “Twelve years you’ve been with us and I’ve never taken you to lunch. I’ve gone to lunch with every other person in my department. Why is that?”
She blinked. “I never go to lunch.”
Tilting his head to the side, he chuckled. “What do you mean you never go to lunch? You don’t eat or you don’t leave your office?”
“You make it sound like if I don’t have babies to snack on, Subway isn’t good enough.” One dark brow lifted and it made him laugh.
“Everyone goes to lunch. It’s part of the corporate experience and you’re missing it.”
“I get busy and the day runs away from me.”
She removed a leather portfolio from her top drawer and uncapped a gorgeous Mont Blanc pen. He recognized it as the one he’d asked his assistant to buy her as a college graduation present.
Had she used the same pen, the pen he bought her, every day since he gave it to her? Somehow, he knew she’d done exactly that and it touched him.
He smiled slowly, wondering if she could see the sensuality in his expression. “You’re an enigma, Aubrey.”
“All of the sudden?”
“No, not really. You’ve always been a puzzle and unsolved puzzles intrigue me. I have a driving need to figure them out. Have lunch with me.”
“You want me to have lunch with you?” He watched as her mind played over the pros and cons of sharing a meal with him. “I have appointments…”
“Call me when you’re leaving the hospital meeting.”
“Elliot, I won’t be done until after three…”
“We’ll eat late.” It wasn’t a request and he knew he should rein in his dominance. He didn’t.
“I…I have so much work to finish today.” Faint color tinted her cheeks and he reveled in her obvious nervousness about being alone with him.
“The work will be here when you get back.” He used a tone he had never used with her before now.
Aubrey tugged her lower lip between her teeth, realized she’d done it, and let it go. “I’ll call you when I leave the hospital and we can meet at a restaurant.”
She met his eyes and he got the distinct impression she was running possible scenarios through her mind about what lunch with him would entail.
Giving her his most charming smile, he straightened and buttoned his suit jacket. He watched her watch him and saw the effect of his movements on her composure.
For the first time, he felt powerful. It was as if everything he never knew he wanted was finally within reach. Despite the reason for starting a conversation with the woman who had haunted his dreams over the years, he felt amazing.
“I’m going to get some work done myself.”
“Thank you for the invitation, Elliot.”
For a long moment, he stared into her eyes. “You have a way about you, a calm vibe that makes me question…so many things. I’ll see you this afternoon.”
She didn’t reply but he felt her eyes on him as he left her office and walked to his own.
* * *
The moment he disappeared from sight, Aubrey crossed her arms on her desk and took a deep breath.
How could she hope to sit through an entire meal alone with Elliot and maintain her self-control?
If she giggled even once, she would die of humiliation.
A minute later, her phone rang and she had no more time to dwell on her nervousness or uncertainty.
Chapter Five
Two hours later, Elliot stood in front of his office window, hands on his hips as he stared over the landscape of northeast Oklahoma. He didn’t really see it.
He was thinking about Aubrey. Again.
It had become a regular pastime. Since the annual Christmas party, he thought about her constantly.
If asked, he would have blamed it on the dress. A dress that was modest, business-appropriate, and classy had inspired some of the dirtiest fantasies of his adult life.
The moment she’d walked into the ballroom of the museum, he’d almost choked to death on a pretzel he’d had the unfortunate timing to put in his mouth before looking up and seeing her framed in the entrance.
From across the room, the dress appeared to be solid. Later, he realized it was dark green and covered in small white polka dots.
It was a dress that would have been popular in the 1950s but was glaringly different from what the other women – his own date included – wore to the annual holiday event MMF hosted to reward their employees.
Falling below the knee, it was given more volume by several layers of underskirts. The halter-style neckline accentuated lovely breasts and well-formed shoulders. A snug bodice showed an upper body that was fit and healthy. Retro platform heels on her feet gave her strong
legs stunning tone.
Her long hair was pulled into a sleek style on top of her head and she carried a white sweater that looked almost as soft as her skin over one arm.
He watched her converse with the staff as she facilitated the dispersal of company gifts and recognition awards.
She checked on the vendors and kept the line moving for the caricature artists she’d hired to commemorate the night with souvenirs.
When her father arrived, she met him with a huge smile on her face and introduced him to her co-workers.
The big farmer was a man of few words but the place in his heart for his daughter was plain to see. After dinner, the dancing started and Aubrey’s surprise when the quiet man led her out on the dance floor made Elliot smile.
Noah leaned against the bar beside him. “Pining for your lady fair, brother?”
He popped a pretzel in his mouth and took a long pull of his drink. “I refer to it as admiring.”
His brother’s laugh drew heads. “Whatever helps you sleep at night, I guess.” There was a pause. “She sure is a pretty woman.”
“That she is,” Elliot agreed.
“I give up.” Turning his head, he waited for his younger brother to continue. “I mean it, I concede the floor.”
“Why?” There had to be an ulterior motive. They’d fought a hundred times over the years about who had dibs on Aubrey Price. “What’s your angle?”
For almost a minute, Noah nursed his drink and maintained eye contact. “You know, Elliot…Mom always said you were the smartest of us, the big thinker.” He clapped him on the back. “I guess she had to be wrong sometime. See you later.”
Then his brother, his long-time rival in regards to catching a certain young woman, walked away.
Later that night, Elliot took his date to the party home and with very little effort, talked his way into her house. Further effort wasn’t required because she fell on him the instant he cleared the threshold.
Immediately after getting her off and struggling to get off himself – stimulating his first fantasy about Aubrey and her green dress – he got up, pulled on his clothes, and left.
His encounters with women had been few and far between since that night. None of it seemed worth the energy.
Until three days prior when he’d been leaving the office but hadn’t started his engine yet as he checked his phone.
Aubrey exited the elevator and walked to her space looking far more serious than he’d ever seen her.
Instead of getting in her car, she walked around to the front of it. Setting down her laptop bag, she crossed her arms and stared through the opening in the concrete retaining wall that showed the view to the west.
For half an hour, she watched the sun go down and then she put her face in her hands and had a little crying jag. He could tell it was a rare indulgence since she wiped her face and shook her head as if disappointed in herself.
A few minutes later, she got in her car and drove away.
Elliot sat in his silent car for a long time, thinking about the woman he’d lusted after for so long. He realized he didn’t know anything about her as a human being. Outside of the office, she was a stranger to him.
To himself, he said, “You don’t deserve a woman like her.”
He went home, got raging drunk, and when an old fling knocked on his door the next morning, he said he was just going for a walk.
“I’ll go with you!”
Unable to extricate himself from the lie politely, he led the way behind his house, along a trail that ended at the creek bed. Leaning against a tree, he tried to figure out what the fuck was going wrong in his life to leave him feeling so disconnected and uncertain about anything real.
The haze of hangover and introspection delayed his reaction time to the woman dropping to her knees and exposing his cock.
As she took him into the heat of her mouth, he considered going with it, enjoying the moment for what it was as he had so many times before, but he denied the impulse. Just as he grabbed her head gently to pull her away, he heard Aubrey’s horse and looked up.
Here he was, on the cusp of understanding so much, and he wondered what he would do with the information.
“What I’d give to know what you’re thinking, Elliot,” a familiar voice said from the doorway.
He turned to his mother with a smile and kissed her cheek. “What are you doing here, Mom? Slumming?”
She laughed and sat in the leather chair in front of his desk. He lowered himself into the matching one beside her.
Smoothing one elegant hand over her slacks, she sighed. “I came to ask my son to lunch.” He was unable to hide his inner conflict and she caught it. Quirking her brow, she asked, “You have plans?”
“I’m…taking Aubrey to lunch.” The words were careful because he knew the direction the conversation was about to take. “Why don’t you join us?”
Octavia McAllister was not fooled. Her eyes narrowed shrewdly. “Elliot, I adore you. You know that, don’t you?”
He nodded, sensing a trap. No one was better at psychological warfare than his beautiful mother. Bracing himself, he didn’t rush to explain as she sat back and stared at him for a long moment.
“As much as I love you, you will make me very angry if you toy with that young woman. She is good and kind, just like her mama. I will not have you use her.”
Gritting his teeth against a sharp retort, he inhaled carefully. “You’re the second person today who’s made reference to my whoring nature.”
“The other person was whom?”
“Aubrey.”
Octavia’s laughter echoed around his office. “I choose to ignore the fact that you’re offended. Your whoring nature, and that of your brothers, has been a source of great distress to your father and me.”
“Jesus…”
“You know better, Elliot.”
“Sorry.”
He watched her take a deep breath. “She’s entirely alone in the world, son. She doesn’t have any family left and no real friends.”
Quietly, he responded, “I know.”
“Do you know that she could have gotten into any university in the country but chose to stay local so she could intern here?” He couldn’t hide his shock. “She knows and excels in every department yet took a position without recognition to assist in preserving our image.”
“What do you mean? Aubrey has a degree in marketing…”
She made a slight hum under her breath and crossed her hands in her lap. “During her freshman year of college, Phillip sat down with Aubrey to discuss her future with McAllister. He asked what job he could create to make sure she didn’t accept a position with another company.”
“Dad was going to create a position for her?”
Octavia’s smile was slow and almost diabolical. “You truly have no idea who you’re dealing with, do you? You know nothing about the source of competition between you and your brothers for years.” She shook her head. “Aubrey was being actively recruited while still in high school.”
“Are you fucking serious?”
“Yes, darling, I’m fucking serious. Her IQ is off the charts. While she does, in fact, have a degree in marketing, her primary interest is sustainable energy. She holds a dual degree in environmental chemistry.”
He sat back hard against his chair. “Wow.”
“Your father asked her to outline her ideal position within the company and she did so eloquently. Her main goal was to build a strong community presence for McAllister publicly. With all the white-collar crimes in the news, every large corporation – especially those involved in oil – is looked upon with disdain. She wanted to show how different we are to the world.”
“She takes our reputation seriously, I know.”
“Her request was that she be allowed to work at every level of the company so she truly understood it. Privately, Aubrey wished to continue her research into viable avenues of alternative energy in which we could invest a portion of our annual profit.
Your brother has been stunned at several of her proposals.”
“Wait, Gage…?”
“Her work with Gage in research and development is stellar. She continues to moonlight in his sector and requested anonymity.”
“She works in two different positions in the same company? Do we pay her enough to do that?”
This time, his mother laughed. “Aubrey is ridiculously honest. In exchange for her work outside marketing, she requested that we contribute the maximum percentage to her retirement fund and 401K. We also have company shares earmarked for her.”
“She doesn’t know…is it worth a lot?” Octavia smiled. “When do you plan to tell her she’s a shareholder?”
“When she marries or if she should choose to leave the company. She earned those shares in less than a year of analysis of our practices. Her evaluation saves us millions every year. Two years ago, her suggestion that we test alternative fuels in an abandoned town here in the United States is opening up a new revenue stream.”
Distractedly, Elliot murmured, “The dependence on fossil fuels will taper off in the next two decades.”
“In many aspects, the profit margin is lower in environmental pursuits but the entire world knows fuel industry profits are outrageously inflated. In the end, the sense of doing the right thing balances the loss.”
He was blown away on more levels than he could articulate. “Why didn’t she stay in R&D?”
Octavia brushed invisible lint from her leg. “She knew she could grow the public arm of the company behind the scenes while satisfying her love of alternative energy.” The way her eyes pierced his told him there was more. “Not to put too fine a point on it, she made your brothers look damn good. She wanted to give you the same attention.”
Standing, she walked to the large window of his office and stared out over their small city. “As a result, she has been placed in a position to defend the reprehensible behavior of my sons repeatedly.”
Glancing over her shoulder, she added, “She’s alienated herself by refusing to engage in gossip.” Her gaze returned to the view and she whispered, “She cried at the grave of her father without a single person to mourn with her.”
Somebody: A Country Romance Page 3
