Tell Me Something (The Something Series Book 1)

by Bondurant, Aubrey

  That made me smile. “I will follow your lead.”

  ***

  I thought the deep plum Dianne Von Furstenberg wrap dress was appropriate and added the chunky necklace with matching suede pumps. DVF said sexy, feminine, and sassy all in one. I zipped up my suitcase and proceeded down to the lobby.

  Josh was freshly dressed in a black pinstriped suit and was off to the side, talking on the phone.

  I could see his profile and felt a flutter in my belly that I had been in the shower with this stunning man only an hour ago. He exuded authority and, with it, a sexual electricity that was beginning to occupy my every thought. Even with our newfound sexual, uh, accomplishment, if you will, I wondered what the status of our relationship was going to be going forward. It felt a little too soon to question whether or not we were going to start spending nights together. I would just need to adopt a wait and see approach.

  Walking towards him, I was rewarded with a double take and then a slow assessment, with his eyes raking over my body. He ended the appraisal in a small smile when he finished up his call.

  “Is that your fuck-you-I-knew-Chinese-all-along dress?” he teased.

  I laughed in response. “I like that. Yes, it is.” We walked out to the car, and I felt his fingers find mine in the back seat. “So what is the game plan, exactly?”

  He raised a brow. “Well, I figured I’d leave you in the driver’s seat. I bought the company as of midnight last night. I thought you might want to do the honors of the firing.”

  Paling at the thought, I instantly felt sick to my stomach.

  “Are you all right?”

  I knew he would be disappointed, but the truth was that, although I was angry at Ana and some of the others, actually ending their employment left me feeling guilty. I knew in my gut that people like Ana didn’t belong in a company, influencing people, because she was like a poison, but firing her still wasn’t something I was comfortable with. And of course there was the fact that she was the owner’s daughter. “Yes, I’m fine. I’m a little overwhelmed at that prospect, I guess.”

  He seemed to buy that and went back to checking his email.

  Looking out the window I sat back and tried to get myself psyched up for this morning. “What time did you want to try to leave today? The flight is at three o’clock,” I inquired, anxious fly home.

  Josh gave me a smile. “As soon as possible. I’d rather spend time in the lounge than one more minute in that office.”

  I had to ask the obvious question. “Then why buy it?”

  “Because I know business, and at the end of the day, this one will be profitable. I have plans to grow it and the perfect man to put in charge. He’s looking to make a move from London to Hong Kong. I’ll make sure he has an assistant who secretly knows Chinese, and he’ll be good.”

  I managed a forced smile and had to ask, “Who exactly is being fired?”

  He turned towards me. “You tell me. Remember, driver’s seat.”

  Biting my lip, I tried to remain objective. “Well, who are you letting go because of performance unrelated to what I overheard?”

  “There are a few people, but I want for you to make your decision based on what you witnessed.”

  “But what if they are a big asset to the company, and I—”

  He cut me off. “Haylee, I don’t care. I want them out.”

  “All right. I guess I would say Ana, Stan, and Charlie.”

  He nodded, clearly not surprised.

  We made our way up the elevator, and I felt jittery. I wished I’d had breakfast before going in, but obviously, sex had muddled my priorities.

  ***

  As soon as we were off the elevator Ana greeted us. “Mr. Singer, Haylee, everyone is gathering in the conference room for the news.” Clearly she was aware of the logistics of the sale.

  Josh gave her a curt nod. “Lead the way.”

  Just like that, we were thrust in front of fifty people. Standing to the side, I admired the way that Josh could command a room by simply entering it.

  He offered a small smile that didn’t meet his eyes. “As I’m sure some of you are already aware, Gamble Advertising has purchased your company as of yesterday evening. My HR director and my regional vice president will be traveling over in the next couple of weeks with details regarding what this will mean to you each individually. Obviously, you can expect some changes, but I’m excited to work together to expand your Asia Pacific reach and to grow your foothold in this region.”

  “I want to thank Tom for his many years of leadership and hard work in founding this company and taking it to the point it is today. I also want to thank Ken for his guidance and hospitality in bringing me here. I welcome you to the Gamble Advertising family. Haylee, how do you say that in Cantonese?”

  All eyes turned toward me.

  With measured calculation, I made sure I glanced around the room towards all of the faces when I translated for Josh.

  Helen’s eyes hit the floor, Stan and Charlie squirmed in their seats, and the poor receptionist, Cindy, looked like she was going to cry. Only Ana had the nerve to look pissed off at the discovery. Well, at least that cemented any second thoughts I had about her losing her job.

  “Haylee has educated me on the differences between Cantonese and Mandarin, having studied both. Hopefully, by the next time I come here, I will be well versed myself.” His words were light, but his tone wasn’t. He made a point to look at Ana before giving a smile to both Ken and Tom.

  “I know you probably want to take some time with your people, gentlemen, but, afterwards, if I could have a few moments before Haylee and I leave for the airport, I’d appreciate it.”

  They both nodded, offering breakfast in one of the conference rooms to which Josh declined politely. Obviously he was anxious to get this over and done with.

  We went out the door and into the lobby, intending to wait on them. I wasn’t surprised to see Ana approaching quickly behind us.

  “Can I borrow Haylee for a moment?” she asked sweetly.

  Josh turned towards her and gave her his full attention. “I don’t think so. I need Haylee with me, actually, while we talk with your father.”

  Her face faltered. Then she made the mistake of challenging him. “That’s right, he is my father. He will not make a deal without protecting me, so I would suggest—”

  He didn’t let her finish, taking a step forward “I’d proceed very carefully, Ana, before you start making threats towards me.” He must have seen her eyes dart towards me because he continued. “And I think your time with taking shots at Haylee is done, too,” he said in a low menacing voice, letting her know who was in charge.

  She swallowed hard.

  Ken and Tom came out of the meeting. They glanced from her to Josh and then to me.

  “I need a minute with you, Josh,” I whispered.

  He hesitated, but then took my arm and led me to a vacant conference room.

  “I can’t do this. I’m sorry. I mean, I appreciate you giving me this opportunity, but to take away someone’s livelihood just like that? I find no satisfaction in it.” I could tell he was going to argue and mitigated. “Even when I know they need to be gone because to have any these people here would be toxic for this company. I know you’re disappointed, but I feel like I’m going to throw up.” I forced myself to hold his gaze and breathed a sigh of relief when his eyes softened.

  “Haylee, I’m not disappointed. I would be more upset if you found delight in firing someone, to be honest. Although I’ve definitely had more experience with this and doing what is necessary, I don’t take any joy from it either.”

  Looking up, I sighed, embarrassed that I couldn’t go through with it.

  “Why don’t you wait for me downstairs in the lobby. This won’t take long and I’m not going to get into details with them. They are all getting generously compensated to allow them time to look for alternative employment. Considering Tom is getting a good chunk of change with the sale of his
company, you could say that, indirectly, Ana will benefit from that as well.”

  I nodded and was thankful to make my way out. It was times like this that I missed my father the most. He would have offered great advice, as he’d been both practical and realistic in his views. My mother loved me, but my father respected my opinion and would guide me into making my own decision with the least amount of regret. Josh had been more than understanding, but it didn’t make the weight of chickening out any easier.

  ***

  “Ready?” Josh asked, not giving away anything he might have been feeling.

  Nodding, we proceeded from the office building out to the car. The drive to the airport seemed extraordinarily long as I stared out the window, taking in the enormous Hong Kong Harbor and thinking of all of the ships making their way across the world.

  We were early for our flight, and settled into a near empty lounge. I took the opportunity to finalize some details for our upcoming Charlotte and London trips. After we caught up on, we lapsed into a comfortable silence.

  “Haylee…”

  I looked up at the sound of my name and saw his green eyes watching me intently.

  “Today was stressful. You handled it well.”

  I didn’t think I deserved the compliment. “I wish I had been stronger. I’m sorry.”

  Leaning in close he said, “You have nothing to be sorry for. I have something for you that will hopefully put a smile on your face.” Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a box with a bow.

  “When did you possibly have time to do this?”

  He gave me a look that pretty much conveyed that is what I pay people for.

  After undoing the bow and paper, I saw the brand new iPad. “Josh, this is very nice, but—”

  “Not at all unselfish. Open it up. I had them charge it, and then this morning I added some apps for you.”

  Taking it out of the box, I found five different types of Angry Birds. My face broke out in a smile. “It’s very thoughtful of you. Thank you.”

  He looked pleased with my acceptance of the gift. “Here is where you connect to wireless in settings. When we get on the plane, you can hook up to the Wi-Fi network. And here is the instant messenger feature. You can put in your email address and set it up for personal use.”

  “I can’t wait to get the Kindle app. My mom had a Kindle in the hospital. Reading helped to pass the time when she was there for her treatments.”

  “What happened to the Kindle?” he inquired, surprising me with the details he picked up on.

  “I gave it to an older gentleman who was there almost every day my mom was. He didn’t have visitors, and he was very grateful.”

  Something flashed in his eyes, but it was gone by the time he got up.

  “Let’s get boarded and get home. You have lots of Angry Birds to play.”

  ***

  I was seated a row in front of Josh. With happy couples or business associates in the other pods, there was no trading this time around.

  Once I settled in, I waited until we were in the air to take my backpack to the lavatory and then change into my yoga pants and sweatshirt. Opting for pigtails in order to get a reaction out of Josh, I came out and went down my aisle. I reached up to put my bag into the overhead bin above my seat. Closing it, I looked over and gave him a little smile, then sat back down enjoying the way his eyes had tracked me.

  After lunch, I wondered if I should try to sleep or watch a movie. I was unprepared for Josh’s face suddenly next to mine.

  “Hi,” he greeted, grinning.

  Turning, I grinned back. “Hi.” He was so unbelievably adorable right now. It was all I could do not to be giddy like a teenager because he was knelt down next to me.

  “Could you do me a favor? Turn on your wireless and hook up your instant messaging on your iPad.”

  “Uh, ok, sure.” I watched him return to his seat and was more than curious as I logged onto the Wi-Fi and then set up my instant messenger with my personal email account.

  It wasn’t long before I received my first message from The Gambler.

  How appropriate, I thought, smiling.

  “Hi.”

  I changed my nickname to something other than my email address and settled on Peaches, hopeful he would remember the reference.

  “Hi back.”

  “Nice nickname. Your yoga pants are torture again, by the way.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “You had every man in first class watching you stretch up to put your backpack away, so yeah.”

  Hmm. Was he a little bit jealous?

  “You up for playing a game?” he asked.

  “Angry birds?” I quipped.

  “Eyes Rolling. No, something a bit more personal…”

  “I’m intrigued,” I typed.

  “This game starts with yes or no answers. Do you want to play?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, now I want you to have the flight attendant make up your bed, ok?”

  “Ok.”

  Standing up, I waited for the flight attendant to come and make up my bed. While thanking her, I glimpsed over at Josh, who was sipping his whiskey and seemed engrossed in his tablet, not sparing me a glance.

  Laying down, I closed the pod around me. I was propping myself up on my pillows when the next message came in.

  “Are you comfortable?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I want you to take your blankets and put them over you. Cover yourself up, all right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Now I want you to take your left hand and reach down and touch yourself.”

  I groaned because, unfortunately, this was not a department I’d ever been particularly successful in.

  “You still there?” came the next message.

  “Yes.”

  “Is this making you uncomfortable?”

  “Yes and no.”

  “Talk to me.”

  “I’ve never done this before.”

  “The talking or the touching?”

  “Both.”

  “Never?”

  “I’ve tried but never successful at it. I used to think something was wrong with me, but obviously now I know differently, thanks to you.”

  “I wish I could touch you right now.”

  “Me too!!!”

  “What if you imagine that it is me, my fingers feeling if you are wet for me?”

  Reaching down with my left hand, I felt the pool of dampness. “Yes, I am.” I typed with my other hand.

  “I want you to put one finger inside yourself, do you feel that liquid honey, Haylee?”

  Even when he typed my name, it made me hot. I did his bidding and felt myself slick with desire. “Yes.”

  “Good girl. Now take two fingers and rub your clit for me. Start with small circles right now. We’re only getting you warmed up.”

  Moving my fingers as directed, I felt my body start to respond.

  “That’s it, baby. How does it feel?”

  “Good.”

  “Now I want you to imagine my tongue where your fingers are. It’s licking, sucking, and tasting you. Close your eyes and imagine your hand running through my hair as you push my mouth deeper into you.”

  I had to stifle a moan, feeling my body respond to my fingers and his words.

  “Type a Y if you are feeling it.”

  “Y.”

  “Good girl. Now I want you to rub faster. That’s it. Now take those fingers and dip them down into your moist pussy and bring it back up. You’re drenched for me. I know you are.”

  “Y,” I typed, slightly out of breath. My body was begging for release.

  “Rub around, feel the ache and imagine my fingers, my mouth. Do you feel it?”

  “Y.”

  “Do you know how much I want you right now, how many things I want to do to you?”

  “Tell me.” I needed to hear it.

  “I want all of you, Haylee, I want to possess all of you. Do you know what that means?”
>
  “N.”

  “Reach down, way down, and feel how slick you are, Haylee. Are you dripping?”

  “Y.”

  “Take your fingers and suck on one. Taste yourself, and know that I would possess your mouth. You would take me in deeply and suck me dry.”

  My body was writhing with anticipation, with that mental picture.

  “Now move your fingers down again and feel that delicious slit of yours. Put two fingers inside that drenched entrance and squeeze that sweet pussy around them. I would have you there, deep and wet. Do you like that?”

  “Y.”

  “Now take those fingers and dip them down lower, taking that honey with you and feel that gorgeous pucker and know that I will someday possess you there, too, baby. Does that scare you?”

  “Y.”

  “Don’t be afraid. We will work you into it, my sexy girl. Now rub harder.”

  “Y.”

  “Now come for me, my sweet, beautiful, Haylee.”

  And just like that, I did. Stuffing a pillow in my face to keep myself from crying out, I lay there afterwards a little in awe and a little self-conscious of the fact that I’d had an orgasm in an airplane via sexting with my boss. I yawned, feeling tired now. I realized I was ignoring the blinking iPad.

  “Talk to me.”

  “Sorry, I was a little busy.”

  “So does that mean??????”

  “YYYYYYYYY.”

  “You don’t know how much that turns me on.”

  I smiled and then typed my saucy response. “Does that count for mile high club?” I could hear his chuckle through my pod and giggled at his response.

  “I’m not sure on the particulars of that one.”

  I googled it for fun. “According to Google, the mile high club does not have any provisions for self-indulgence.”

  “Pity.”

  “Do you want to play?”

  “Some other time, perhaps. You should probably get some sleep.”

  I figured it was probably for the best since I wasn’t sure how I would go about sexting him back. “A different game, then?”

  “??”

  “It’s called Tell Me Something. So tell me something I don’t know about you.”

  “I don’t think I like this game.”

  “It doesn’t have to be some deep secret, simply something I don’t know about you. It can be personal or something curious. I think it would be a nice way to get to know each other better. I’ll even go first. I can’t stand food-scented candles. I don’t understand why you would want your house to smell like cookies or chocolate or fruit. It gives me a headache.”