by Parker, Ali
Their words would never leave my nipples as pert and erect as his had. Thankfully, I was wearing a padded bra so I didn’t think he would’ve noticed. What was worse, their touches would never leave me as hot and wanting as his brief flirtation had.
It sucked to think about it, but it was my reality. Jeremiah seemed to have a direct line to my carnal side. He tempted me to want to spread my legs and beg him to take me right there and then without even being close to me.
My panties were damp, and I briefly considered touching myself at work for the first time ever. But no, I wouldn’t go there. Ignoring the pulse beating between my legs, I got up and decided to go in search of coffee.
No better way to forget about how I wanted my boss to bend me over my desk, fuck me while we looked out over the city and were both screaming so loud everyone would know what we were doing, than getting on with my daily routine. A part of which was not getting off at work.
The staff break room was mostly empty when I got there. I said hello to a few stragglers who were nursing their cups of coffee before going to their office, but for the most part, people were already hard at work.
Jeremiah’s scent lingered faintly in my office when I closed the door, determined to join the ranks of my co-workers who were diving into their Friday morning. Whatever cologne he wore, it smelled heavenly.
Before I could lose myself in more inappropriate thoughts about my boss, I lifted my coffee to my lips and focused on its fresh, bitter smell instead. My email inbox was flooded when I clicked into it as I sipped my coffee.
Being away from work definitely seemed to mean something different here than it had at the bookstore. With a quiet sigh, I started the tedious process of working my way through my emails. I started with those that came through this morning, knowing I was already behind on the ones from yesterday.
By mid-morning, I had several piles of meeting folders prepared for the day. A whole stack of paperwork sat on Jeremiah’s desk for his signature. I’d filled up his calendar for the next week, returned phone calls, and readied a list of stuff I needed him to approve.
I also managed to work my way through all the unread emails and was more than relieved nothing had come in that caused any lasting damage from my not having attended to it for one day. I did have to reply to some irritable follow-ups, but that was par for the course.
The morning flew by. I was so busy I didn’t even take a break to go to the bathroom, but I was proud of what I achieved by lunchtime. After ordering a salad from the deli down the road, I decided to give Tiana a quick call. She told me at least five times before I left home this morning to let her know how the conversations with building security and Jeremiah went.
“Please tell me you have good news, and you’re not calling to tell me you were fired because she really is his secret wife?” I cursed myself for telling her about that particular stupid what-if scenario.
“I didn’t get fired,” I said right off the bat. Without Tiana’s encouragement, I never would’ve taken this job. I was still grateful she pushed me in this direction, and I didn’t want her to worry I’d screwed it up so soon. “It actually went really well.”
“That’s a good sign,” she said. “Did he know who she was?”
“She really is his ex-secretary. Apparently, she can’t accept she doesn’t work here anymore. I think there’s more to it, but it looks like he really didn’t want to talk about it.”
“As long as you were honest with them about everything that happened. I don’t want you to feel unsafe at work. You didn’t try to downplay it, right?”
“Nope. I told security and Jeremiah everything. He’s sending them pictures of her to make sure she can’t get into the building. And he’s insisting on driving me home every day until it’s all sorted, or I can get a new car.”
Tiana paused for a beat. “Wow. He’s taking this really seriously.”
“He is.” I didn’t quite get why he was so worried about it, but it did make me feel safer. “I’m feeling a lot better about everything now. I don’t think she’ll be waiting here for me again.”
“I’m proud of you for being honest, and I’m proud of you for making the right decisions to make sure you’re safe at work. I would’ve been terrified if that had happened to me.”
“I was,” I said. “But not anymore. I feel good about how things are going. And you’re right, I shouldn’t have been afraid of coming to work.”
I looked around my office, spinning my chair to face the view I had. I was relieved I wasn’t afraid to come to work anymore. It would’ve sucked to have given all this up over one jealous, probably harmless woman.
Chapter 31
JEREMIAH
“I don’t know about you, but I’m more than ready to call it a day. Are you done yet?” The sun was setting by the time I walked back into Stephanie’s office. She was sitting behind her desk, looking tired but gorgeous silhouetted by the orange glow coming in from outside.
I watched her for a moment while her attention was diverted as she tidied up her workspace and shut down her computer. Man, she was beautiful. Any man who couldn’t see it was blind. Her thick hair was pulled back today, falling in a dark wave down her back.
She moved with graceful purpose, using a soft cloth to wipe her desk after moving her paper tray to the side. Looking up when she was done as the hum of her computer died, signaling it was powered down, she smiled.
Stephanie nodded, reaching down to get her purse. “I was just starting to wonder if you were planning on sleeping here tonight.”
“Not tonight.” I winked. All-nighters weren’t unheard of for me, but I wouldn’t be pulling one tonight. Trying not to stare as she rose from her chair and smoothed her skin-tight skirt, I moved to stand in her open door and motioned her through it. “Your chariot awaits.”
Her brows pulled together before she gave me a surprised smile. “And they said chivalry was dead.”
“It isn’t,” I said. “It’s just grown a pair. It doesn’t show up everywhere anymore.”
“And that means what, exactly?” she asked, frowning slightly as she walked out the door. I shut it behind me, following her to the elevator. A few people waved at her, their eyes growing wide when they saw it was me walking behind her.
I returned their waves cheerfully. My father believed in reigning with an iron fist of terror, I didn’t share his views on leadership, but it was a slow ship to turn. “It means not everyone appreciates chivalry anymore, so men stop bothering sometimes.”
“Okay?” She squinted, looking at me from the corner of her eye as we waited side by side for the elevator car to arrive. “I’m still not getting it.”
“Boys are supposed to be raised to be gentlemen, right?”
“Right,” she agreed as the doors slid open in front of us. “Supposed to be.”
I hit the button for the garage floor I was parked on and turned my head to face her. “Most of us have some of those traits hidden inside of us. It’s hardwired into our DNA, being the protector and all that shit.”
She rolled her pretty eyes, a small smile hiking up one corner of her lips. “All that shit? And you’re giving a speech about chivalry?”
“Hear me out,” I said. I had no idea where this was coming from, but something inside me wanted her to know that despite everything she might think she knew about me, I could also be a good guy. So long as she never asked the tabloids about it.
“I’m waiting with baited breath.”
“Right, it’s hardwired into our DNA. You see a girl getting cold, you offer her your jacket. Or you know you’re supposed to.”
“But you’re cold too so you keep your jacket?” She chuckled.
I shook my head. “Nope. You offer it to a few girls. Some of them keep it, even though it’s your favorite jacket. They never offer to return it. Others look at you like you think they’re incapable of keeping themselves warm and get all offended. Eventually, you stop offering.”
“You’re saying ch
ivalry is dying because girls are killing it?” Her chin lowered to her chest, fight returning to her eyes.
I shrugged. “In some cases, sure. In others, because it’s just not worth it. Like with the jacket thing.”
“Your mind works in strange ways, Jeremiah Williams,” she said, frowning. “Just because some girls keep the jacket doesn’t mean we all will. I wouldn’t.”
Which is why you are worth it. “True, but think about when I offered to drive you home this morning, your first reaction was to get defensive about my offer.”
“Because you said ‘it wouldn’t do’ for me to take public transportation. It sounds patronizing.” The elevator came to a stop on the parking level where my car was, and we got out.
Pointing in the direction of my car, I told her, “That’s exactly the point. I was offering because I wanted to keep you safe. You were harassed in my office by my ex-secretary. It’s my responsibility to ensure a safe working environment for you. I wasn’t being patronizing. I was being practical.”
“Maybe you should think about your delivery.” She followed me to my new toy parked in the corner.
“Maybe I should, but maybe you should think about why your first instinct was to get defensive. I wasn’t trying to patronize you, or anyone else. I know you can get yourself home safely. I simply want to help.”
“I already agreed to let you drive me home.” She stopped next to my car when I hit the button on the key fob, causing its red lights to flash as it unlocked. “This is yours?”
“You did agree to let me drive you home tonight, but you were also going to try to make alternative arrangements over the weekend, weren’t you?” Her eyes stretched in a way that told me I’d hit the nail right on the head. “Yes, it’s mine.”
She walked around the car, looking slightly awed. “What is it?”
A wave of pride rippled through me. It was one of my latest purchases, with all the bells and whistles. “It’s a Bugatti Chiron.”
“It’s a sexy looking car,” she said.
Nodding, I walked around to her and placed my hand over hers on the handle, gently removing it to pull the door open for her. “And one of the rides home you’ll be taking for the foreseeable future, assuming I’ve convinced you not to try to make other plans for transportation over the weekend.”
Her eyes flew to mine. “You planned all this, didn’t you?”
“I might have, but in my defense, you gave me the perfect opening with your line about chivalry being dead.” In my mind’s eye, I saw two birds fall off the wire with the one stone I’d cast.
I knew she would keep riding with me now—if only to prove me wrong about women killing chivalry by denying men the chance to practice it. From the second I left her office this morning, I knew my independent secretary wasn’t going to let me drive her for long unless I did something.
And now I could show her I wasn’t the guy she thought she knew. More than the arrogant, rich bastard she thought I was right from the start.
Stephanie smiled as she sank into the soft leather passenger seat. “Plus, you know, the thing about carbon emissions.”
I shut her door and laughed as I rounded the car, settling in behind the wheel. “Of course. I wouldn’t want to forget about the environment.”
The main rush out of the parking garage was over. In no time, we were pulling out and merging with traffic. I glanced over at her, struck by how much I didn’t want to take her home just yet.
I knew I shouldn’t ask, but I just wanted to spend more time with her. Being with her made me feel different, not like corporate-asshole Jeremiah, but not like the player pre-corporate asshole version either.
“I’m starving, do you want to stop on the way home and have dinner with me?”
She looked taken aback, but I caught her smiling briefly before turning my eyes back to the road. “Do you do this with all your secretaries?”
“Only the crazy ones.” I had joked, before remembering the certifiable secretary to blame, or thank, for having Stephanie in my car right now.
Laughing, she nodded. “You must’ve had plenty of dinners with Jannie then.”
“Did I say crazy?” I tried to save the lightness of the mood between us. “I meant to say crazy good, not crazy deranged. I saw all the work you got caught up on today, you’re a machine.”
Pride crept onto her features. I could see in her eyes, in the way she sat up a little straighter and the way her jaw relaxed. “I had a sick day to make up for. My boss really jumped down my throat this morning about missing the day.”
“What an ass.” I meant it too. As soon as she told me why she’d really taken the day off, I wished I knew sooner so I could’ve given her today off too. I hated admin, but seeing how much Jannie scared her, knowing I should’ve been there to take the brunt of her delusions… “Your boss owes you one.”
“He does,” she agreed, sliding her eyes over to me. I could see her watching me from the corner of my eye. “And since he’s insisting on taking me to dinner, I think he can make up for it by choosing somewhere that serves a good steak.”
“It’s the least he could do,” I said, mentally paging through the best steak places I knew of. “How about La Fiamma?”
I heard her draw in a quick breath. “I’ve never been there. My best friend and I keep threatening to go, but it’s really expensive and always fully booked.”
Both accounts of the trendy restaurant were true. The guys and I were regulars there though. If we were going to be seen somewhere people went with the aim of being seen, it was for our buddy George’s rib-eye steaks. “I went to high school with the owner.”
Stephanie laughed, pursing her lips as she shook her head. “Of course, you did. Why am I not surprised?”
“I don’t know, maybe because you’re getting to know me.” It was meant to be a lighthearted joke, but it charged and changed the air between us.
“Not really.” She turned her head to look out of the window. “You’re not exactly an open book.”
Neither are you, Stephanie Donavan. “What do you want to know?”
She spent the next few minutes on the drive over to the restaurant asking me all sorts of questions. My favorite animal. Least favorite color. Trivial stuff I answered mindlessly, knowing the real questions were still headed my way. At least I got an answer from her on all the trivial stuff too. Her favorite animal was an elephant and least favorite color was beige.
George greeted us heartily when we got to the restaurant, giving me a discreet thumbs-up behind Stephanie’s back when he showed us to our table. I rolled my eyes and gestured for him to cut it out. We were seated at a small table near the back with no windows anywhere around it. George knew me well. I introduced him to Stephanie, and he caught up with me for a few minutes. Before leaving us he promised us he’d send over a bottle of a new red wine he was excited about and confirming with Steph that she’d also like the rib-eye. He didn’t need to take my order. He knew it already.
Stephanie folded her arms on the starch-white tablecloth in front of her, peering at me over an assortment of antique silver candlesticks with waxless candles in them. “Ready for the more personal questions?”
“Born ready.” That was such a fucking lie. I hated talking about personal shit, but I’d known it was coming. Since I already started opening to Steph about Jack’s death a couple of days ago, it wasn’t all that hard telling her more about my brother and father.
Her questions were gentle yet probing. Not in a way that pried open your soul and tore open old scars, but in a way that made me want to tell her things. We talked all through dinner, with brief pauses to swallow the delicious food and order refills of our wine.
“Did you always want to work for Williams Inc.?” she asked after taking her last bite of food. My plate was cleared as well. George had outdone himself again.
I shook my head in answer to her question. “Business was Dad’s thing, and Jack’s. I remember the two of them reading the trades together
when I was barely old enough to walk.”
“That sounds...” She trailed off, frowning. “Never mind. I don’t want to be disrespectful.”
“It sounds terrible?” I guessed. Steph nodded. “It was. Children aren’t supposed to know or care about the markets, but Jack and I always knew.”
“Did you care?”
I chuckled dryly. “Not in the least. I usually got bored and ran off outside. Jack would sit through it all before he came outside to play.”
“He cared then? Did he like business?”
I shrugged. “I think he cared because Dad did. He always knew the expectations on him to take over the business one day. He reconciled himself with it at a pretty young age.”
“That’s a heavy burden for a kid to carry.”
Once again, I was amazed at how easy it was to be open with her about all this. I nodded. “Adventure sports were his one escape. I think it reminded him he was alive, that there was a great big world out there not made of boardrooms.”
“I get that,” Steph said earnestly. From what she told me about her own parents, I thought she really did. You didn’t have to be a billionaire’s kid to feel the pressure from your parents. “My parents never subscribed to the ‘let kids be kids’ mantra either.”
I raised my glass and clinked it to hers. “Here’s to rebelling against expectations.”
“Amen to that.” She laughed, taking a deep drink. “Not that either of us is rebelling successfully anymore. I ended up getting the business degree they wanted me to, and now I’m working for a multi-national corporation. So are you.”
“Yeah, well… All kids have to grow up, right? My father still expects me to become a better businessman. I don’t think he’ll ever stop pushing. Do your parents even know where you’re working now?”
She shook her head. “They abandoned me, remember? I’m doing this for me, not for them.”
