Without Regret

by Aubrey Bondurant

  “Yes. What a small world.”

  Yes, it was.

  Emma spoke up. “Can you tell me more about the lease terms? Are you willing to go month to month? Provide furnishings?”

  I thought Adrienne had figured out it was Emma she needed to deal with, but when she brought out her two books and spread them on a table in the center of the large room, she addressed me instead. “Yes. Of course. Let me show you what we have to offer, Trevor.”

  She crowded my space. With her hip next to mine, she leaned over me and put her hand on mine to show me photos of the furniture. I stepped back, but it didn’t help as she took it as an excuse to move in front of me, sliding her ass against my front. Aggressive didn’t even begin to describe her method.

  I cleared my voice and glanced up to see Emma’s eyes narrowing. I literally had to go around the other side of the table to get some space. “You should show Emma. She’s the one in charge.”

  Adrienne flashed her smile while Emma didn’t return the sentiment.

  I didn’t miss the way Adrienne bent over to show her cleavage.

  “Do you mind if Emma and I go back up to the other space?” I asked.

  “No. Not at all. I’ll take you up there to the eighth floor.”

  “Actually, I’d prefer the privacy, so we can talk about how this may or may not fit into our plans. Why don’t we meet you down in the lobby after? Maybe give us fifteen minutes.”

  She tried not to look put off. “Certainly. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

  Emma fell into step beside me, wordless until we got into the elevator. “Well, that was fun.”

  “I can only imagine if you hadn’t been there. Jesus, she was, uh—”

  “Aggressive,” she supplied.

  “Yeah.” We stepped off the elevator onto the eighth floor. It was the smaller of the two spaces, but I preferred it.

  Wandering around for a few minutes, I felt the windows for a draft and paid attention to the craftsmanship, scanning for any signs of sloppiness. If I intended to get into commercial real estate investments someday, I wanted to be certain I paid attention to the details.

  I walked towards Emma to find her studying me. “What is it?”

  “Nothing.” She turned to leave.

  Clearly, it wasn’t nothing. I snagged her wrist, pulling her back. “It doesn’t seem appear to be nothing. What’s going on?”

  She huffed. “Are we exclusive?”

  I was shocked she’d ask that question here and now. “Do you want to be?”

  “Do you? Because I kind of wonder what Ms. Adorbs would’ve been like if I hadn’t been here. She probably would’ve laid herself instead of the furniture samples out on the table.”

  My mind was finally catching up with what was going on. “Are you jealous?”

  Wrong thing to say as she turned and walked quickly to the elevator.

  “Wait.” I caught up with her inside before choosing the floor.

  “It’s none of my business.” She lifted her chin up with pride.

  “You do know I was doing nothing to encourage that downstairs, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, because I was standing right there.”

  I crowded her against the wall and took both of her hands in mine before lifting them above her head. I could tell the possessive action was turning her on by the lust that clouded her fiery eyes. “If I’d been alone with Ms. Adorbs, I would’ve done the same as I did today, which was avoid her. Because this is what I crave.” I kissed her, capturing her lips boldly. “What I think about far too many minutes of my day.” I dropped another kiss, this time behind her ear, which made her shiver. “And what I can’t wait to taste when I’m away from you.” Another kiss, this time with a slight bite. “And if you can’t believe anything else, believe me when I say I’m a man of my word. I don’t lie, Emma. And I don’t share. That goes for both of us.”

  I pushed the stop button on the elevator, taking her mouth again, unapologetic in the taking, and used my one free hand to plunge under her dress, finding her hot and wet for me. Wasting no time, I circled her piercing, pressing down on her clit to make her come within minutes.

  “Don’t ever say it’s none of your business when another woman hits on me. Because I want it to be your business.”

  Her eyes lifted to mine as I let go of her arms and she came down from her climax. “This is insane.”

  I grinned. “Insane would be pounding deep inside of you about now. As it is, I don’t have a condom. Otherwise, I’d most likely be doing just that.” I pressed the button to put the elevator into motion.

  “Please tell me you have nothing scheduled after this. I kind of have a thing for motorcycles.”

  “Nothing after this. And I’m glad, because I kind of have a thing for British chicks who dig them.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  Emma

  Luckily, when we met Adrienne back in the lobby, she kept her hands to herself. And she actually looked at me when I made the decision for the smaller of the two spaces and told her about which furniture I’d need by tomorrow. Thankfully, she was willing to expedite the request. For the right price, of course.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt jealousy. Envy, sure. What kid who was in foster care wouldn’t feel envious of kids who had parents and stability? Not to mention love. Fucking Christmas and all that stuff. But jealousy was for fools who let themselves get possessive over something which didn’t belong to them. And yet I’d been ready to claw out Adrienne’s eyes for thinking she might have any claim to Trevor. Good thing he hadn’t been doing anything to encourage her; otherwise, I think I could’ve taken him out as collateral damage. Evidently, I needed to work out harder in the gym if there was any hope of stowing this new breed of inner bitch who felt jealousy.

  I managed to slip back into a professional capacity, having gained some equilibrium after my impromptu orgasm in the lift. But once we walked out the door together into the carpark, my heart started beating harder. My libido spiked. What was happening to me? Although my brain wanted to overanalyze it, my gaze fixed on his motorcycle again, letting my body lead the way.

  “I don’t have a helmet for you, nor are you dressed for riding. How about I go back to my house, grab another helmet, and meet you at your hotel room to pick you up? Should take about thirty minutes.”

  It took a moment for his words to register. They made sense. Much more than, say, fucking him on the motorbike in the middle of the carpark where I was certain Adrienne could witness it. I clearly needed to take a deep breath. But I was so turned on. My eyes met his and saw his expression register surprise as he appeared to read my mind.

  “Jesus, Em, I’ll make it twenty minutes and meet you at your room.”

  My gaze tracked down to see the unmistakable bulge in his jeans. “It would probably be safer for both of us if you do. I’m in room 318. See you then, cowboy.”

  I walked away while I still could, a shiver running down my entire body when he started his engine. A man with tattoos, a piercing, and a motorcycle. I wouldn’t have guessed Trevor would be that guy.

  ***

  I didn’t bother to change my clothes. Instead, the moment Trevor knocked on my door, I opened it and pulled him in. All he managed to get out was a grunt when I launched myself on him, legs around his waist, mouth on his.

  Less than a minute later, he was thrusting inside of me, both of us frantic in our coupling. I’d never been like this with a man. This out of control. By the time he’d made me come twice and had ground out his own orgasm, we were both lying on the bed panting.

  “Decision made. I’m taking the Harley to Dallas.”

  I grinned. “God help us both, then.”

  He chuckled, the sound reminding me of how much I’d missed him, even though we’d only been apart a couple of days. “Perhaps I’ll save the bike for special occasions. You still want a ride?”

  I forced myself to sit up in the bed. “Absolutely. Let me put on some clothes. Jeans
okay?” Although I’d always been turned on by the idea of a motorbike, I’d never actually ridden on one.

  “Yep. And long sleeves along with boots if you have them. You may want to wear your hair back in a low pony tail.”

  He sounded as if he’d ridden with plenty of girls, which shouldn’t have bothered me.

  “At least that’s what my sister says if she ever goes on a ride with me.”

  Dammit. He’d done it again. Read my mind. But the truth was it did make me feel better to hear he wasn’t taking every female he met out on his Harley.

  Not good. Not good at all. I was developing an attachment. I didn’t do attachments. I couldn’t. The thought had me all sorts of anxious.

  “What’s wrong?” He tugged on his own clothes, almost fully dressed.

  The fact he could so easily read me in such a short time was disconcerting.

  “Nothing.”

  He lifted a brow. “Okay. So we can go through the motions where I pretend to believe you. I wait you out while you sit there waiting for me to ask again and getting irritated if I don’t, finally giving me the deep sigh to trigger me asking a second time. The other option is I can start guessing, but I’ll warn you that is likely to piss you off because I’ll start shouting out possible scenarios in a terrible British accent. Or you can simply spill it now and save us both the trouble.”

  I had to laugh. He was insanely accurate about the way I—and probably most women—dealt with saying what was on our minds. “Sounds as though you’ve had some experience.”

  He grinned. “I have a sister. Now out with it.”

  “I just don’t want any doubts as to what this is.” I made a motion between the two of us.

  “And what is this?”

  “I don’t know,” I whispered, the vulnerability lacing my words despite my best efforts.

  He took my hands and led me to my small couch where he pulled me down onto his lap. “Okay, let’s break it down. We’re having sex.”

  My lips twitched at his approach. “Yes. We are.”

  “Amazing sex.”

  My laugh bubbled up. He made it easy to forget my worries. “It is that.”

  “And we tend to get along. Even outside of the bedroom.”

  “We do.”

  “I wear a suit, which I realize isn’t your thing.”

  “Indeed.” Although the way he wore one, it was quickly becoming my thing.

  “But what’s underneath makes up for it.”

  I bit my lip. “Very true.”

  “We’re working together.”

  I sighed. “Yes.”

  “Which can complicate things somewhat, but I’d like to think that aside from random fingering in office elevators, we’re normally professional in the work setting. Agreed?”

  “Yes.” Just thinking about him touching me in the lift was making me hot all over again.

  “And neither of us is going to have sex with anyone else for the time being.”

  And there it was. “What does the time being mean?”

  “Ah. So that’s what’s bothering you? How about the time during which we both still enjoy one another in the bedroom?”

  He made it sound so simple. And since I wasn’t ready to end whatever the hell this was, I had to trust we would figure it out as we went along.

  “Deal?”

  I laughed out loud at his outstretched hand and the idea we’d shake on it. “Deal.”

  “Good, now follow me downstairs where you’ll straddle those delectable thighs of yours across my bike and grip me from the back while I take you for the second-best ride of the day.”

  Yes. Please.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  Trevor

  Although today was a work day and the first one on this acquisition job, I couldn’t help thinking about yesterday as I drove to the office building. There’d been something insanely hot about Emma on my motorcycle with me. Having her thighs grip mine and her center up against my ass and her arms around me. But it had been her laughter which stayed with me, even this morning. I’d taken her on a winding road leading up through horse country before reluctantly returning her back to the hotel.

  She’d had work to do with Simon coming into town and had to go. But I’d had the pleasure of her grin, exclusive for me, along with a heartfelt thank you for taking her on the ride. I’d promised to take her out again this upcoming weekend.

  Today was the day we met with the owner of Big Town Fantasy Sports, Peter Briggs, to find out what he was looking to do with his company. We knew he wanted to sell; the question was the price and what to do with the employees.

  Peter was twenty-five years old and a Cal Poly graduate with a programming degree. He’d started this company three years ago, and it now had a valuation of one point eight million. At eleven o’clock he walked into the conference room where I was standing with Simon, Tom, and Emma. My first observation was that the guy had man-lights—my word for male high lights. I tried not to hold that against the him. Unfortunately, it only took him opening his mouth to cement my poor first impression.

  “So, gentlemen and hot-looking lady, what kind of deal do you have for me?”

  Luckily, Simon was the one who spoke up as we all took seats at the table. “That depends a lot on you, Mr. Briggs.”

  “The valuation is for two million.”

  “One point eight, actually,” Tom provided.

  Peter grinned. “I rounded up. Sue me.”

  Turns out Peter Briggs was a bit of a dick.

  Simon merely moved forward. “Mr. Briggs, we’ll need to go through your financials and conduct our own audit in order to evaluate whether we wish to purchase. Do you have a financial director or controller who can help us with the numbers?”

  “Yep. That’s me. I’ll get you what you need. Seeing as most of the employees can be let go, it’s really just me you’re dealing with and my software you’re buying.”

  My fist formed under the table. He had forty-two employees, and it was clear he didn’t give a shit about any of them.

  “Don’t you have tech people who work on the software and provide support?” I queried. The majority of his staff was just that, with the rest made up of a few people who did marketing, accounting, and HR.

  “I do. However, it’s not my company for sale. Just the software.”

  I was confused. “So you’re keeping your staff?”

  “Only three of my programmers. You may want to keep the support staff of seven, but everyone else can go. Or you can keep them. Up to you. But you’re smart businessmen, so it makes sense to buy the software and absorb it into the large infrastructure of the Stone Group.”

  He wasn’t wrong. Phillip and the Stone Group had two other large software companies, neither of which dabbled in online gaming. They could pivot and perhaps start supporting this new software if we bought it.

  He continued to talk. “At any rate, I’ve already spoken with Phillip about the burden of letting people go. It’s to be your problem, not mine. Which is good. I couldn’t face someone with tears and shit.”

  Since the task of informing each of these people they’d be without a job would end up falling to me, I had to avoid speaking. My words for him would not be professional.

  “In that case, we’ll need to talk severance packages,” Simon said, not giving away his feelings on the matter.

  Peter wrinkled his nose. “I want the minimum. Nothing, if I can get away with it. Under Texas law, I don’t need to give any notice as I’m not a big enough company.”

  Now I saw Simon’s eyes narrow.

  I had to speak up. “We have a company standard at the Stone Group. Although employees losing their jobs is sometimes a necessity with a purchase, we require our buyers to give a minimum of two weeks’ severance pay. Also, you’ll need to account for paying out accrued vacation. Of course, all of that is contingent on the review of the employee contracts to see if something else was spelled out.”

  He heaved an exasperated breath
as if he’d simply noticed a scuff on his shoe. What a prick.

  “Let’s hope the attorney who helped me draw up those contracts didn’t screw me. Luckily, Texas is favorable to the employer, so here’s hoping.”

  We discussed a few more logistics and gave Peter a list of items we’d need for the financial audit.

  He glanced it over quickly. “Am I working with you on this?” He posed the question to Emma.

  She smiled, the action not reaching her eyes. “You can send me the items requested. I’ll be sure to email you the list, so you’ll have my email address. But mostly you’ll be working with Lyle, our forensic auditor, who’ll be traveling in next week.”

  “That’s too bad.” He made no attempt to hide his blatant flirting. “All right, gentlemen, guess I’d better get to my computer to supply the beautiful Ms. Emma her documentation.”

  After Peter left, Simon took me into his office. I didn’t hesitate to ask the question burning in my mind. “Are we only keeping the software?”

  He sighed. “It was always a possibility.”

  One I hadn’t really considered. Or perhaps I’d voluntarily blocked it out.

  “Let’s call Phillip to discuss,” Simon said.

  Now it was my turn to sigh.

  ***

  I needed a drink. Since it was after nine o’clock in the evening, and I was only now leaving the office, I intended to grab one. Unfortunately, the call with Phillip had yielded less-than-favorable results. If we bought the company, we’d keep a team of five support people for now, Peter would take his three programmers, and the rest would be let go. And I was the one who’d get the horrible task of informing them.

  I was packing up along with Simon and Emma. Tom had left hours ago, citing a conference call that couldn’t wait. I had no doubt he used the call as an excuse to put in the least number of hours possible. But it was easier to work without him throwing out snippy, peanut-gallery comments, so I think we were all relieved when he’d called it an early night.

  While Simon was on the phone as he walked out, Emma fell in step with me. “You okay?” she asked, glancing over.

  “I will be. After a beer or two. You want to join me?”