Holland Technologies was a rival company, although as far as Andrew knew, they were in a different niche than Dracosys.
“Holland Technologies has no product similar to ours. I’m absolutely certain that Dracosys can offer you a better way to manage your data.”
“I’m sorry, Andrew. Your software is brilliant, but I can’t do anything at this point. I’m sure you’ll find other buyers for it. I’m actually quite shocked by Mr. Smith’s request, too. I’d have thought he would want to help your company.”
Andrew spat out a laugh at that. Carl was no ordinary father. He was ruthless when it came to getting what he wanted. And right now Carl wanted him back at Finn Associates.
“Please don’t tell anyone I told you about this. I thought you should know. It’s not something I’d like to be made public. It could affect the school’s reputation.”
The noises of a workday—keyboard keys being struck, papers being filed, discussions—echoed behind Dr. Liu.
“Of course.” Andrew gnashed his teeth.
“I wish you and Dracosys all the best. I definitely see potential in your product and I am sure others will too, in time.” Mr. Liu’s dry voice was gone with that.
Andrew wanted to toss the phone on the floor and watch it shatter into a thousand fragments. His blood was boiling, bringing to the surface all his violent tendencies. He wanted to break something. Smash something.
“Ugh!” He punched the cushion in frustration, but it only doubled his annoyance at the whole thing.
Carl had never done anything so openly vicious before. The time he had tried to get Andrew out of college by interfering with his scholarship sponsor seemed like a silly prank compared to this.
The battle between Andrew’s angry side and rational side escalated. He couldn’t tolerate Carl’s attempts to get him back to the company anymore. But he couldn’t do anything to block them either. He could have a shouting match with Carl, but that would be as useless as the hundreds that had preceded it.
His powerlessness sneered at him.
Resting his face on his couch, Andrew tried to go back to sleep. But he couldn’t. He should let this go. It was a small setback. The deal had never been final anyway. There were other clients he could pursue—and be stealthy this time. He’d learnt a lesson. Maybe it was for the better.
All the excuses in the world, even the perfectly sensible ones, did nothing to make him feel calmer. This deal had meant the world to him. How could Carl have screwed this up for him?
The million times Carl had berated him rang in his ears.
“You’re not good enough, Andrew.”
Maybe he was the one who was lacking. Maybe he wasn’t good enough. Maybe the product wasn’t good enough. Maybe he wasn’t cut out to run a business.
He was rescued from a trip down the winding road of self-deprecation by the heavy metal ringtone that washed out the words.
Ashley. Good thing he hadn’t smashed his phone three seconds ago.
“Hey.” Andrew said. “Everything good?”
“Guess where I am? You have five seconds.” Ashley said.
Andrew peeped through his window and there she was, carrying a bouquet of flowers and something else in her hand. “Outside my office?”
“I know you cheated.” she met him with her cool blue gaze. “But I am in a good mood.”
“Why? Did you get a job?”
She dropped a lengthy sigh at that. “No, but I got a year older.”
“Happy birthday.” Andrew said, though he didn’t come across sounding as congratulatory as he should have.
He grabbed a pencil and circled the date on his table calendar. Eleventh of March.
“I want to have a picnic in the park. It’ll be short because I know you have to start work at nine.” she shook the cake box in her hand excitedly.
Andrew pushed back the thought of smearing cake all over her and licking it off her skin. She’d made herself clear on their first date—no sex for now. It was a good thing that he enjoyed talking to her so much that he could forget about sex.
Swiveling to catch the heaps of work on his table—none of which had a point now that he had no client—he made up his mind.
“No work today. I’m going to be with you all day. And you can make me do anything you want.”
He needed this break. With the mood he was in, Andrew doubted he would get much work done, anyway.
“Anything?” Mischief was mixed into her challenge. “What if I tell you to mow Cadman Plaza Park? In an hour.”
“I’d have thought you’d pick something more daring than that.” He nudged his shoulder up to hold the phone at the junction of his neck while typing out a quick email to the staff and his co-founders, informing them of his one-day vacation.
“Should I?” she enquired. “What about a really expensive meal for which you pay?”
“Anything for you,” he said in an exaggerated tone, though he knew there was no way he could afford to dine her someplace expensive.
“No, I’m not that cruel. I’ll settle for eating cake with you.”
Outside his room, Andrew saw Justin, one of his most dedicated programmers, clocking in and took the opportunity to dump the day’s duties on him. He rushed down the stairs, too impatient to wait for the elevator. Dracosys was on the thirteenth floor but it was good for his health to be active sometimes.
His first action was to hug Ashley. She smelt great—shampoo and soap—and her hair felt divine against his skin. In a simple flowery dress with navy petunias that set off the color of her eyes and hair, she could have been a real angel.
“We’ve been apart for a few days and you’re already missing me?” She circled his shoulders with her arms. “I missed you too. I know that’s a strange thing to say to someone you met two weeks ago.”
The instant connection between them made time seem like a mere number.
They waltzed down to Cadman Plaza Park, where the greenness of the grass was intensified by the sun. It was a clear day for March. Glass-blazoned buildings stuck out beyond the rows of trees. The relative lack of human population could only be attributed to the early hour, because the weather was on its best behavior. Not too many people hung around at a park on Monday morning.
The warble of blue jays highlighted their trail. Their footsteps were imperceptible, but they moved in unison.
Ashley was a head shorter than him, so the cardboard box dangling from her hand bumped into his knee. He swooped up the box and sniffed it. “What cake did you get?”
“Chocolate.”
“Safe choice. Why not something more unusual?”
“I like chocolate and it’s my birthday today, so I can do as I please.” She found a vacant bench, which was part of a string of other vacant ones, and chose it as her spot. “Let’s eat.”
“Just you and me?”
“Just you and me.” She looked up at the sky. “Is there something weird about that?”
“I was hoping we could distribute the calories amongst more people.”
“What’s the fun in sharing cake? As a kid, I hated sharing my cake with others. This is one case where the fewer, the merrier.”
She opened the box. A chocolate-smothered cake with the words ‘Happy birthday’ iced in white lay inside.
“So how old does my girlfriend turn today?” There it was. The first sign of possessiveness. My girlfriend.
“Twenty-three.” She beamed, producing a plastic knife from her coat pocket to cut the cake.
“I wonder what would be an appropriate present for a twenty-three-year-old.”
“Chocolate never goes out of fashion, you know. And neither does a good, old-fashioned hug and kiss.”
“You have a voracious appetite for hugs and kisses,” he chided but embraced her.
“I’m a touchy-feely girl. I told you. I like hugging.”
Their coats crunched together as the distance between them shrank even more. There was something intimate about being so close, yet no
t touching. When she tilted up her face, her breath fanned his lips. Her lips were barely an inch from his and the urge to take them was strong. When her breath stopped, he did. Or maybe her breath stopped after he did.
The icy coldness on his lips melted away as the heat between them filtered in. Her eyelids dropped like curtains over her pristine aquamarine irises, but his didn’t. He watched every crease on her face, taking as much pleasure in watching her expression as in kissing her. Specks of sunlight formed kaleidoscopic patterns on her skin. She looked like a goddess, with that pure face and deep passion.
Her mouth parted, little by little. His tongue wasted no time shooting into her. But just as it did, she jerked away, breaking the spell.
A dog’s bark had startled her. He saw an overweight bulldog with its owner in the distance. Right now, that dog was firmly enshrined at the top of his most hated list.
Just when things had been starting to heat up…
“I hope we go beyond hugging sometime.” he said. He could still taste her—her fun, flirty flavor—and he wanted more. Kisses should be long and full, not teaser trailers.
“Me too.” her mascara-coated eyelashes fluttered rapidly, tickling his jaw.
“Good. I’m relieved to know you’re not one of those women who have a five-date rule, because I was worried.”
Patience had never been one of his virtues. And the way she looked right now—radiant and vibrant—all he could say was that every minute in her presence was subtracting a minute from the countdown to the moment his willpower shattered.
“I thought I was a five-date-rule woman, but you make me want to break rules.” She tilted her jaw to push back the hair lounging on her shoulder.
“You too, Ashley. You’ve been appearing in my dreams since I met you. Relentlessly.”
“I never thought I’d become somebody’s dream girl by my twenty-third birthday. Looks like all my childhood dreams are finally coming true.”
“You wanted to be somebody’s dream girl?”
“I wanted to be a magician too. So I could give myself anything I wanted. Actually, still think it would be a pretty solid career.”
He loved how their conversations ventured into wacky territory so quickly… which reminded him. “I have to give you a birthday present. How about anytime-you-want sex? You can redeem it whenever you like. Don’t worry. I’ll give you something more tangible once I get back.”
“That’s the most interesting birthday present somebody has ever given me.” She threw her head back, exposing her neck.
Blood froze in his veins. Neck was another part high on his fetish list, after fingers. He wanted to tug at the nape and run kisses down the curve. How could one girl be so perfect?
“I’m quite innovative when it comes to stuff like that. Now let’s cut the cake before the ants on the bench decide that they want to join us in celebrating.”
She giggled and dusted off an ant from the cake box. “Yeah, I hate sharing.”
He sang her a very bad version of ‘Happy Birthday’. Andrew had never been musical. His father had decided to pull him out of voice lessons at eight after realizing that his son was wasting time doing something he could never excel at.
“The first piece goes to… me.” Gobbling a chunk of gooey cake, she smiled, every chocolate-coated tooth showing.
“And the second goes to the guy who sang you the worst Happy Birthday song.” Andrew grabbed a geometrically cut slice of chocolate cake. The chocolate adhered to his fingers like goo. “I hope you brought tissues.”
“Your birthday song wasn’t so bad. You got all the words right.” With her clean hand, she handed him a paper napkin from her handbag.
He wiped away the stains on his lips before plucking another slice from the box. “Thanks. This cake is addictive.”
Ashley seized his arm before he could bite into the slice and smeared the chocolate icing from his fingers onto her lips. Her pupils dilated.
“Lick it off me.” Her breathy voice sent an instant shock of heat through his system. “I’ve fantasized about this since I woke up.”
“Me, too. I’ve been thinking of doing this since the moment I saw you with the cake box at my office. But I don’t just want to lick it off your face. I want to lick it off your breasts, your stomach and anywhere else you’d let me.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
***
An hour later, she was naked under him with the scent of cocoa emanating from her, along with the most satisfied, smug little smile. Facing his ceiling, she was almost in a trance. He pushed back the swirl of hair that had fallen on her face.
Green sheets were pooled under her legs, leaving her body naked to his stare. Her creamy, chocolate-coated body. He propped up his head on his arm and raced over her with his gaze.
She didn’t have a supermodel body with a flat stomach and toned legs, but her body balanced out her face perfectly. She was real and her body was a pleasure to explore. Flaws that were part of her looked perfect, too.
“What are you looking at?” she wanted to know. “My nipples?”
“Caught me.”
She flipped over and rested on her stomach, communicating a silent yearning to him.
Take the next step.
He had run his tongue over every square inch of her ‘sweet’ figure and savored the taste, and now it was time to go deeper into what was truly her.
“I think we’ve had enough dessert for now. We should move onto the mains,” she suggested, picking up the last smidgen of chocolate from her lips.
His chest contracted, arresting his heartbeat.
The next step.
He was eager and anxious at the same time. He really wanted to do this. He was aroused and he didn’t believe in leaving things halfway. But a part of him was intimidated. What if he didn’t please her? It was her birthday today. He couldn’t disappoint her on her birthday.
“You’ve done this before right?” he asked, looking into her. Better make sure.
“No. This is my first time.” She avoided his stare. “I’m a virgin.”
He gulped. That put a ton of pressure on him. A ton. He had to do it right. He had to make it perfect. He had to make it unforgettable. And he wasn’t sure how.
“Don’t worry.” He stroked her hair, feeling no confidence in what he was saying.
The last girl he’d made out with had not been a virgin and he was in a brand-new pool of water here. He didn’t even know the depth of this pool. Jumping into the deep end was scary.
“So?” She looked up, clearly anxious. Her anxiety compounded his anxiety.
“You need a shower and I need to run down to the pharmacy. I don’t have any condoms on me.”
“Oh, right. I didn’t think about that.” Her vigorous nod, followed by the faintest blush told him that she was embarrassed about her inexperience.
“You’re positive you want to do this, right?”
“Definitely.”
Her conviction put him at ease.
“First time’s not so comfortable,” he warned.
“I know. I’m not stupid. I’m not expecting three orgasms in a row, so relax. I just want to be close to you. To experience this with you.”
She hugged him and it made his heartbeat return to its equilibrium.
“Sorry, I’m nervous.” he said.
“Virgins make everybody nervous.” Diffidence crept into Ashley’s voice.
“That’s not true. It should be less pressurizing to satisfy someone who’s never done it before, since their expectations are lower.”
“You don’t think it’s strange that I’m a twenty-three-year-old virgin in this generation?”
“No. And you shouldn’t think it’s strange, either.”
She kissed his nose, the relief evident on her features. “Hurry up now. I want to lose my virginity before midday.”
“I’ll be back before you know I’m gone.” He pulled a T-shirt over his chest and stalked out of the apartment.
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***
After he was gone, Ashley soaked in his studio apartment. A single large room, where he had positioned his bed, couches and television, attached to a tiny kitchen and bathroom, was all it consisted of. It was modern, with clean lines and functional spaces. Not even a square inch of space was wasted.
She ambled to the bathroom, climbed into the shower and turned it on. The rain of hot water flowed down her sticky breasts. She foamed up the pink bergamot and lavender shower gel between her palms, noting that it was a surprisingly feminine choice of scent for a man, and massaged the thick froth over her breasts.
Her nipples, sticking out like board pins, were evidence of how much the delicious foreplay had aroused her. She couldn’t wait for the rest. Her hormones were begging her to press her skin against Andrew’s hot body and let him into her deepest core—to feel him throb inside her. She wanted him.
When he touched her, her senses sprang to life magically. Writhing under the slow strokes of his tongue, she’d felt like a goddess.
It was like there was a certain chemical in her which reacted explosively to some chemical in him.
The suds of the soap accumulated on the patch of her pubic hair. She gathered water in her palms and flushed it down.
Under the pitter-patter of the shower water, her mind drifted to the alarming nature of her unemployment situation. She’d have to start claiming social security if she didn’t find something by May. That thought didn’t sit well with her.
And then what? Would she continue living off the state for the rest of her life? That wasn’t why—
The thrust of wood against the doorframe reached her ears. Andrew must be back.
Bundling herself in a towel and burying her thoughts, she stuck her head out and saw him put away his blue laced-up sneakers. His chestnut hair was windblown. He had a plastic bag with the CVS logo on it.
“Are you superhuman? How can you run so fast?”
It had been barely five minutes since he’d left.
“A horny man has superpowers of his own,” he said with so much urgency, she dropped the towel covering her. His eyes raked over her and the expression on his face said it all. “I don’t think I can even make it to the bed.”
The arch of her hips pushed against the wall to find stability as he gathered her into him. Looping one arm around the curve of her back, he captured her nipple with his teeth.
You're Still the One Page 4
