“No?” Gwen answered softly unsure of what she was supposed to do. She looked down at her hands where she was picking at her fingers nervously.
“What makes you think you would fit in here at MHKR? Do you think your designs are good enough for my company?” Cole leaned forward putting both his elbows on the desk.
“Your company?” Gwen said before she could stop herself. She thought Cole was just one of the managers or VPs of one of the branches.
“Yes. MHKR is my company. My father and I started it long ago. You know, you might’ve wanted to do some research about your potential future employer. Or even the company that you once worked for.” Cole almost sneered at her. Gwen had no idea what had caused this sudden change of attitude in him but she found it oddly extremely hot. He had always seemed confident but seeing him here in this office, using a tone of voice that left no room for argument, the way he accepted nothing but the best had her heart racing. “So I will ask you again why should I hire you?”
“I’m sorry, Sir. I thought I was well informed about the company I once worked for and was hoping to one day work for again under a new capacity.” Gwen spoke softly at first, but as she continued she gained back her hard earned confidence, “However, I didn’t think it pertinent information who owned and ran the company. I was more concerned about the core values of the company. I was more focused on how the company ran and whether I would even want to be a part of such a business. When I previously worked for your company, I was interested in being the best assistant that I could while learning what I could from Victoria, the designer in which I worked for. She taught me many things about operations and procedures that MHKR had in place. When I agreed to take this interview it was because I know that I have unique designs that would help give you a competitive edge on the competition. Not to mention that I am fully able to take my designs from what is in my mind and make it a fully wearable garment without any assistance and in a short amount of time. Meaning that I would be able to take unique orders and get them out to the customer quickly, which would help increase profits for the company. So, maybe I should be asking you, why should I work for you? I have numerous other prospects so I don’t have to accept just any offer you put on the table.”
“I’m not sure that we will be putting an offer on the table.” Cole stood and slipped his jacket off his shoulders, hanging it on the back of his chair before sitting back down. “I see potential, but I think maybe MHKR would benefit more if it let you work for a competitor for a few years and get all that ‘new’ out of your system.”
Gwen stood, slapped both palms down on the desk in front of him and glared at him. “Then why did you waste my time with this meeting? You knew before now about my work experience! What? You just wanted to harass me? Show what a big man you are? Did you think I would beg for you… to hire me? I’ll find somewhere that will respect my talent and what I have to offer them.”
She snatched up her portfolio and stomped to the door. This was not at all how she had thought the meeting was going to go. As usual, he never did what she expected. She thought for sure from the way Bethany had spoken with her and the fact that she had a great record with them that she would be getting an offer of some type. She had never seen or heard Cole be so cold and rude. She realized that he had always been so gentle with her. Apparently, he didn’t want her anymore and his normal personality was coming out. That worked for her but he didn’t need to be an ass to her.
Just as she reached for the door, she was pulled back by hands on her hips. Her back slammed against Cole’s chest.
“God, woman you drive me crazy.” Cole said huskily in her ear. He slid his hands up to cup her breast and squeezed tenderly. Gwen froze in shock. “Do you know how much I want you? You are so unbelievably sexy when you get all fired up. I was so pissed when you told me to go to hell without giving me a chance to explain. You’ve been running from me and letting this thing between us be something it’s not.”
Gwen groaned when he ground his hips into hers, his hard erection pressing into her lower back. She tilted her head as he licked up her neck and sucked her earlobe into his mouth. Her body was betraying her mind. She tried to speak normal but it came out as a throaty whisper, “I still hate you.”
“Mmmm, yes. Now you will listen.” Cole continued to massage her breast and grind into her ass. He spoke right into her ear, his voice was low but clear. “I was indeed married. I was in the process of getting a divorce from her. You see, I detest being in the lime light and had to keep her happy until the divorce was finalized or she would make it a big deal and draw a lot of unwanted negative attention to the company and my personal life. When she caught you in my bed, I couldn’t say anything or else she would have come after you and dragged you into the mess. I was called out of the country for a few weeks the very day you walked out. The day I returned, I was taking her to sign the divorce papers and on the way there she was telling me all about some new guy in her life.
“That’s when I saw you outside the restaurant we were meeting our lawyers at. Then I was once again called out of the country, this time for nearly 12 months. I had no chance to get back and believe me I tried, but it was impossible. I had already had my recruiters offer an interview to every single Gwen in the fashion school before our night together. I had seen your work and knew you’d be an excellent hire. But you’d never showed for an interview, not till weeks later. I was so consumed with work that by the time I found out you’d been hired it had been months. Once I knew you were hired, I've done everything I could do to make sure you succeeded. I made sure you knew about opportunities that would be coming up or people that would be able to help you along the way.
“Victoria and I spoke on a regular basis about your progress and ideas. But your designs and work ethic are what has gotten you to this point. Of course, I want to hire you as one of our new designers. However, I don’t know that I can stand to look at you every single day and not get to touch or fuck you. And you’ve already made it very clear at the gym that you no longer desire me like that.”
He released her, Gwen turned around to face him. He was breathing quickly, his very large erection pressed out from his dress slacks. He grunted and ran a hand through his hair. His eyes met hers again and there were the vibrant expressive eyes she knew. He stepped closer to her and she stepped back against the door. “I can’t seem to control myself around you. Every time we are together you seem to rip away all my control. You make me so hard just looking at you. All I can think of when I look into those big bedroom eyes of yours is how bad I want to fuck you right here where we are. You make me so damn crazy. Do you know how hard it has been to stay away from you since I got back into town?
“This is not how I wanted to explain things. I wanted to take you somewhere nice and talk over everything that has happened. I wanted to convince you to give me a chance to prove I can be better. Just to let me spend time with you. I want you to be with me. I want to take care for you. I wanted to show you how good we can be together.” Cole grabbed fistfuls of his hair and groaned turning his back to her. “But as usual you show up and I can’t think straight. Don’t get me wrong, I am aggressive with my business and I was angry with you when you showed up today, but I can’t just let you slip away again without making sure you know what happened. And you kept running from me when I tried to speak to you. Don’t run from me. Have patience with me, please.”
Gwen leaned heavily against the door. Her mind was completely blank. Every single thought she had had simply vanished when he’d so easily thrown out the explanations she’d desired for so long and the explanation wasn’t anywhere close to what she had expected it to be.
Chapter 24
“Well, Cole, I think we need to have a very long chat. Since you’ve come clean about your wife, there are things I too would like to explain and make sure you know exactly what you would even be getting into with someone like me. But this is neither the place nor the time for that.” Gwen pushed off the door,
straightened her jacket, and picked up her portfolio that she had dropped on the floor when he had grabbed her. She looked at him for a moment before saying, “For now I have other appointments and offers to listen to.
“Plus, I don’t know if I can trust you again. I don’t know if I can believe anything you just told me. I have to think if I’m even willing to do this.” She turned and walked out the door before he could respond.
She made it almost to the bank of elevators before she stopped. She put her forehead against the wall of the vacant hallway she was breathing hard. Her body turned back towards Cole’s office. But she forced herself to turn back around and head towards the elevators. Before she could think anymore, she turned on her heel and walked swiftly back to his office.
She moved quickly past his redhead receptionist without a word and shoved open the door. She threw her folder on the ground and ran to him. He’d moved to look out the window, his hands shoved in his pant pockets. He turned at the sound of the door closing. She slammed into him and pressed her lips to his while grasping his face with both hands. His arms automatically came up and wrapped around her pressing her firmly to him. It took a moment before he kissed her back but his tongue slipped into her mouth and twisted with hers after the shock wore off. His hand roughly pulled up her skirt so he could grab her ass lifting her up higher. Her legs wrapped around his waist and flexed pulling him closer to her. He turned and pressed her against the window.
Gwen slipped her hands into his hair and tugged his head back from hers before kissing down his neck, nipping him at the base of his neck. He reached one hand to her neck pulling her hair while the other slide down over her breast and the nipple pressing against her jacket. He pulled at the buttons of her jacket quickly getting the four buttons undone even while his mouth was pressed to hers. Pulling his mouth from hers, he pushed his hand inside and pressed his large palm against her lower back as his eyes ran over her beautiful breasts now exposed. He ran his tongue over the top of them, following the line of the cup of her bra. He groaned and kissed his way back up to her neck. Gwen quickly unbuttoned his dress shirt as far as she could while he was kissing her neck. She ran her fingers over his well-defined abs and chest then wrapped around his neck, pulling his mouth back to hers. As their tongues slipped around each other, she slid her hand down between their bodies and unbuttoned his slacks.
“I want you right now.” Gwen murmured against his lips. She couldn’t reach or she’d have pulled his large throbbing erection out. Cole quickly grabbed her ass and hiked her higher so that he could unzip his pants and push down his boxer briefs. His cock sprung free already dripping, ready to sink deep in her. Gwen reached down and pulled her tiny thong to the side so that he had access to her pussy. Cole shifted and sank deep in her as he locked eyes with her. Gwen bit down hard on her lip to contain the moan that wanted to slip out. Cole pounded into her hard, deep and fast. Gwen gripped the back of his head and tugged him to her. She bit gently on his lip before pressing her mouth fully to his. He tried to push back and lift his mouth from hers but she pulled his hair hard and leaned forward so that he couldn’t. She groaned into this mouth as fire spread through her body and her entire body stiffened from the orgasm surging through her. She let go of his hair and leaned back from him once the intense surges had passed. He was moving slowly in and out milking out her orgasm. She licked her lips and said, “Sorry that would’ve been loud. It feels so damn amazing.”
"Tell me you are on birth control.” Cole said as he continued to rock his hips gently. Gwen tried to use her legs to make him speed up but he was stronger than her and continued slowly. He bent and put his head to her neck. Speaking softly, he said, “I’m embarrassed to admit that I just came too. God, you are so tight. And even though I should, I can’t stop being inside you. It feels so good.”
“I won’t get pregnant.” Gwen kissed his temple and wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders. When he leaned back a moment later, she tenderly kissed his lips. “As much as I would love to let you play until you get hard again, don’t you have other business to take care of. I know I already missed one of my appointments.”
As if on cue, his phone on the desk rang once before Tiffany’s voice filled the room. “Mr. C, your next appointment is here.”
Cole groaned but he never stopped moving in and out of her. He started pushing harder against her once his secretary was done. His fingers dug into her hips as his eyes looked deeply into hers. He started slamming so hard into her now that her back was slapping into the glass wall behind her and he was grunting with the effort. She dug her fingers into his shoulders and held on while he pounded into her. She was already getting close again. She’d never been such a hair trigger before but his cock was rubbing her just right.
“Oh. Oh.” Gwen groaned loudly before she could remind herself to keep quiet. She bit her lip so hard it was bleeding as her orgasm made her dig her nails deep into his shoulders. Cole grunted twice more before groaning quietly as every vein and tendon in his neck stood out and he came deep in her, again. He leaned forward after a moment to catch his breath and laid a tender kiss against her lips. He pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes closed as he breathed hard.
“I told you, you make me so hard. Now I think I can get through an hour without craving your touch. Maybe.” Cole said before licking the droplet of blood from her lip. After a moment, he stepped back from the glass and lifted her off him. He carefully lowered her until she was steady on her feet. He tucked himself back into his pants and zipped them up before pulling her into his arms and kissed her hard again. “I think I have a new favorite position. That was amazing and to think I’ve never have sex in my office before today.”
Gwen just smiled at him before fixing her clothing so she was presentable again. Cole stood with his hands on his hips and watched as she fixed her jacket. Since he wasn’t moving to do it, she carefully buttoned up his shirt for him. She kissed him again just because she could, then stepped back and out of his reach. Gwen shifted her hips side to side. “Damn, I’m going to have cum running down my legs if I don’t get to the bathroom to clean up a bit.”
“I think that’s a sight I just might have to see.” Cole licked his lips staring at her legs before quickly tucking in his shirt. He pointed to the other door in his office. “Too bad work calls. There is a bathroom in there.”
“I’ll be just a moment.” Gwen said as she pushed through the other door. She stopped for a moment when she realized it led to a bedroom. She quickly went to the bathroom that was connected to it. She cleaned herself up quickly and was back in less than a minute. She left him a little surprise on the bath counter. She winked at him before picking up her portfolio yet again. “You have my number now, on the top of my resume. Call me tonight.”
Gwen walked back out to the elevator feeling better than she had the first time she’d tried to leave. She’d tried to tell herself that she could just walk away, that she didn’t want to give him the chance he was begging for. She couldn’t do it though. She wanted him as bad as he wanted her. But now that she knew the whole miserable situation she lived through had been a horrible misunderstanding, she had a lot to think about. It would most certainly be a lot of work. Could she really have two relationships? Could the three of them make it work?
Chapter 25
Gwen went to her other appointments, she wasn’t one to not show up when she’d said she’d be there. Plus, once Cole knew the truth about her, he might not want anything to do with her but she wanted to start with everything on the table. She left her second appointment after her meeting with Cole. It had gone much like she’d hoped. Both interviews had ended with a job offer being extended to her so she was on cloud nine. As she waited for a cab, she slipped her phone out of her small purse and saw that she had a text message.
That was naughty leaving your panties in my bathroom.
CC
Gwen smiled and quickly tapped out her reply:
I couldn’t possibly hav
e kept wearing them. They were soaked even before you slipped in me.
~Gwen~
Finally a cab stopped when she threw her arm out. She slid in and told him her address. She was too tired to deal with the subway today. Her phone vibrated in her hand.
I really want to see you tonight.
CC
She shook her head. Not so soon.
We need to have a long conversation before that happens again.
~Gwen~
That’s what I was talking about. I want to clear the air as soon as possible. What were you talking about?
CC
Gwen laughed. Sure, that’s what he’d been thinking about.
Guess you didn’t enjoy it as much as I did then.
~Gwen~
Oh trust me. I enjoyed it. But I don’t want only that.
CC
I need to talk to McKayla then I’ll let you know more tonight.
~Gwen~
I’ll be waiting.
CC
Gwen paid the cabbie when he pulled up at her apartment. She lugged her portfolio, which felt like a million pounds after carrying it around all morning, into the elevator that she rarely used. She leaned against the wall as it lifted her a few floors. Once she was inside the apartment, she dropped her keys, wallet and phone on the table before taking the folder into her design room. She went to the bedroom to slip off her heels and suit. She sighed in pleasure as she pulled on a black mid-thigh length silk nightgown. She ran a brush through her hair and cleaned off all the makeup she’d caked on for her interviews. She returned to the kitchen to get a bottle of water and pick up her phone from the small table.
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