Down to Business (Business Series)

by Alexander, J. C.

  “Are you done?” He asked smirking, his head propped on his hand as he watched me.

  I shook my head, rubbing my cheek against my shoulder to wipe my tears of laughter since my arms were still restrained. “Your face was priceless!”

  I mocked his shocked expression and laughed again.

  “You know you’re not in a good place to taunt me. I could retaliate in a tickle assault…or worse.” He wiggled his brows at me and his hand clamped over my thigh. The arousal I felt at being completely at his mercy shocked me.

  “Go easy on me. It’s my first time in cuffs.”

  He grinned, pushing my thighs apart. “This will be your first warning, Ms. Malone.”

  I bit my lip to contain a laugh. He leaned over me and kissed me passionately, his hand finding its way to the aching spot between my thighs. I cried out and bucked my hips when his fingers teased my already aroused folds. Once he was done teasing, he slid two fingers inside of me and completely brought me to a whimpering, panting, thrusting mess. I came once and when I thought it was over, he surprised me when he did the same thing all over again with his tongue, licking me into submission until I came again.

  My wrists were chaffed from all the tugging and yanking against the cuffs between orgasms, but I barely noticed when he rolled me onto my stomach, causing my wrists to cross. He propped me up on my elbows and knees and parted my legs a bit. As uncomfortable as it felt to be in such a submissive position, when his solid shaft filled my warmth from behind, I moaned so loud I was sure the whole building heard. He followed up with a loud slap to my right ass cheek that made my thighs tingle. When he finally started bucking his hips into me, I was sure the neighbors thought we were filming a porno from the way I was moaning. He took me hard and rough, both of us groaning out praises and goading one another on with dirty talk. I never thought I’d be in cuffs screaming obscenities. I never thought I had it in me, but apparently, I was suddenly full of surprises since Vinny came into my life.

  Once we finished, I collapsed to my stomach and he dropped beside me.

  “You okay?” he whispered, pressing a kiss between my shoulder blades.

  “Uh huh,” I breathed into the side of my arm, my hands still bound.

  He leaned over me and removed the keys from the drawer. I felt his hands on mine as he unlocked the cuffs, setting me free.

  I rolled onto my stomach, feeling relieved and rubbed my wrists that had some red lines crisscrossing them. He reached over and took my left wrist, kissing the underside of it. “Sorry.”

  I smiled as a shudder chased over me. “It’s okay.”

  “Did you have fun?”

  “Yeah. We have to bring the cuffs on vacation with us.” I was surprised at how quickly they were growing on me.

  He smiled. “I ruined you.”

  I giggled. “You’ve taken me to the dark side. I don’t think any guy will ever be able to please me like you do, Vinny.”

  “No one other guy will have to. You’re mine,” he said, kissing me. I smiled and slid my arms around his neck, my heart melting as I returned his kiss.

  And he was mine.

  I spent most my free time during the following week studying for the mid-terms and trying to ignore the impending weekend when Vinny would be at Vivian’s mercy. I expected her to gloat in my face at work about getting Vinny to herself all weekend, but that didn’t happen. I figured maybe Vinny had talked to her and told her not to say anything to me. Unfortunately, that was far from the truth. She was waiting until our busy hour on Friday night to unleash her assault, when she knew I would not be able to defend myself.

  “Carmine party!” I called and grabbed six menus.

  Her tight black dress and over-exposed cleavage appeared before me and I smelled him before I saw him as he stepped up behind her, dressed in a black suit with a silk maroon tie. I smiled at him as he squeezed past her and our arms brushed, sending a small thrill through me. He always managed to be professional around me, yet leave little reminders that he was thinking of me with a wink, a small pet on my back, or squeeze to my shoulder in passing.

  The scent of his cologne hung in the air as I escorted the party of six to their table and passed out menus. I gave them the special, Veal Scaloppini, and headed back up to the front to find them both talking with some guests who wanted to arrange a wedding reception.

  Vinny took down the man’s information, thanked him, and once they left, he stepped around the counter and looked into my eyes. “Hey.”

  “Hi,” I said biting my lip to hide a smile.

  Vivian pressed herself between us.

  “I’m so excited about tomorrow, aren’t you Vin?” she asked, petting his tie.

  He stepped away from her and looked down at his Blackberry. “Uh, yep.”

  I started to adjust the seating chart, trying not to smirk at her failed attempt at being an attention whore.

  “I was thinking that we could do dinner at that fine dining seafood restaurant we ate at last time you took me to a Rangers game. It’s right next to our hotel.”

  I shot a glare at Vinny. “You’re staying at a hotel together?”

  “Well, yeah.” Vivian answered in her usual condescending tone. “We’re not going to drive out of the city after the Rangers game. There’s too much traffic. We will just stay the night and drive back the next day.”

  I snapped my gaze to Vinny, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. I barely felt comfortable with him going to the game with her, but staying overnight at a hotel together? Why would he even agree to something like that?

  “Are you sharing a room?” I asked accusingly.

  “Why wouldn’t we?” she asked, rubbing Vinny’s arm.

  I clenched my teeth, looking from her hand on his arm to his face. He rubbed at the side of his nose and looked back at me, his worried stare answering my question.

  I crossed my arms. “Can I talk to you in your office about my time off request for next weekend?”

  Vivian snorted. “I already denied it. Didn’t you check the schedule?”

  “I revised it.” Vinny mumbled. “She needs it off.”

  Vivian scoffed and glared at him. “For what?”

  “None of your business,” I answered, unable to contain my frustration. I kept my gaze locked on Vinny to let him know he wasn’t getting out of this.

  “It’s her Grandmother’s 80th birthday.” Vinny answered her, his voice full of caution towards me.

  “You need all weekend off for that?” Vivian asked.

  “YES!” We both yelled.

  She said glared at us. “Jesus Christ. You don’t have to get hostile.”

  “You said you needed to talk to me in private?” Vinny asked, looking back to me. I could tell he was struggling to keep his cool by the way his shoulders were pulled back and he was using his cold managerial tone.

  “Yes,” I said moving past him.

  “Can’t it wait? It’s busy, Vinny. She needs to stay here.”

  “It will only take a minute.” He answered and followed me.

  The moment I stepped into his office and the door closed behind us, I let him have it.

  “You’re staying at the hotel with her? In the same room? What the fuck, Vinny!”

  “It was a last minute decision on her part. What do you want me to do?”

  “Oh I don’t know,” I said and crossed my arms in case I felt the need to punch him. “Maybe get your own fucking room?!”

  “Lower your damn voice.” He growled. “All the rooms are sold out because of the game.”

  I stepped closer, my hands curled into fists. “Here’s a thought…don’t stay at a hotel and drive home! I can’t believe you would think this was a good idea. How would you feel if I was going to spend the night with my ex who still wanted to get back together?”

  He raked his hand through his hair. “Look. I’ll get my own room, okay?”

  “When were you going to tell me?” I asked, swallowing hard. “Or were you not p
lanning to?”

  “It just happened today,” he said, glaring at me. “I was gonna tell you tonight.”

  “I’m so tired of this…” I said, putting my hands over my face.

  He walked up to me, pulled my hands down, and looked into my eyes. “I told you, if things go well this weekend, she will sign it over and were through. I need to do this, for me…and for us. Just remember where we will be next weekend, together.”

  I released a deep sigh as I stared up at him through my tear-blurred vision.

  He took my face in his warm palms. “Autumn. Don’t do this shit to me right now. I love—”

  A knock startled us apart.

  “What?” he called out, glaring at the door.

  I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes.

  Vivian opened the door without asking and glared at me then Vinny. “I need the company credit card for our room reservation, mine got declined.”

  He rubbed his forehead, seeming flustered. “Yeah, okay. Give me a minute.”

  “I don’t have a minute. I have the hotel on hold.”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled a black American Express card out of his wallet. “I need my own room.”

  “What?” she asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Why?”

  “Because it’s what I’m comfortable with.”

  “You know it’s four hundred a night, right?”

  “I don’t care. Just book two rooms.”

  Her gaze darted to me accusingly and I glared back at her.

  “Are you done bitching? Cause we have guests that need to be seated.”

  “We aren’t done with our meeting.” Vinny said, holding out his arm to stop me in case I was going to move.

  “Maybe you should go cover me Vivian, aren’t you the manager? Start managing.”

  “You know what,” she said pointing the black credit card at me that was pinched between her fingers. “You better start respecting me...or I will get rid of your ass.”

  “Vivian,” Vinny warned. “That’s enough.”

  “Why don’t you let me take over this little meeting? I know what her problem is and how to handle it. She is a jealous little bitch and she needs to get fired. Why do you put up with her shit?”

  “I just asked him the same thing about you.” I said, crossing my arms.

  She stepped towards me. “Get the fuck to the front or else.” She pointed over her shoulder, her lip curled in a sneer.

  “Make me.” I answered, standing my ground and looking her in the eye.

  “Okay, knock it off!” Vinny said and moved us apart. “I’ll fire both of you if you don’t stop this fucking fighting. Jesus! Vivian, just go book our fucking rooms,” he paused and looked at me. “Autumn, get back up to the front. We can talk about this later.”

  I rolled my eyes and walked past Vivian.

  “You don’t know me, Autumn. You better watch yourself.” She called after me.

  I turned around and opened my mouth to tell her to go fuck herself, but Vinny intervened, pointing in Vivian’s face. “Don’t you ever fucking threaten her again! Do you understand me?”

  Vivian’s chin dropped and she stared at him wide-eyed.

  I froze and stared between them, too surprised to say anything.

  “Do you understand, Vivian?” he repeated, his voice harsh.

  Her mouth pulled into a frown. “Yeah. I hear you.”

  “Good. Autumn, get back to the front please.” He acknowledged me with a glance then turned away and walked out of the office. The look of disgust Vivian gave me when I left was priceless and she didn’t say another word to me for the rest of the evening. It was about time she got put into her place.

  Vinny spent the night with me, but he had to leave early the next morning to get ready for his weekend with Vivian. He promised he’d text me and call me any chance he got, but that didn’t keep me from feeling nervous.

  I spent most of Saturday studying with Lindy, who had her own mid-terms.

  Vinny kept his promise and texted me the information for his room and that he made it to the hotel. The afternoon passed at a snail’s pace and I had a hard time concentrating on anything other than the fact my boyfriend was sitting close enough to touch my mortal enemy in a confined area. I hoped she got hit in the face with a hockey puck.

  When he finally called me after the game, the news was better than expected. The Rangers lost and Vivian had a bad hot-dog and started vomiting on the way back to the hotel. While she was hacking up her hotdog, Vinny and I chatted for an hour in peace before he decided he should go to her room and check on her. I was glad that there would be no dinner and I doubted she was going to try to seduce him in her state. When he called again an hour later, to my dismay, she was feeling better and they were going to dinner as planned. I tried not worry, but while Vinny dined on lobster bisque and calamari, I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a side of cheese and crackers and brooded. How could I not be jealous?

  My brooding turned to pure ire when he called me after dinner and told me they were going to catch a movie. When I started on him about how I thought he should just come home, he made an excuse that he had to go. I threw my phone across the room and glared over at Lindy who was more interested in talking to her new love interest on the phone than helping me through my crisis.

  Instead of worrying and being jealous, I found two familiar friends to hang out with named Captain and Coke. I drank until the worry went away and then somewhere between finding some show about funny animals hilarious and feeling sick, I passed out on the sofa, cuddling Doug the teddy bear.

  I woke up Sunday morning with a headache and a serious case of the lazies. I rolled over to see the clock on the wall read 10:30AM. Struggling to get my bearings, I made it to the kitchen table where I left my phone next to the half-empty bottle of Captain Morgan. I had two missed texts and a missed phone call. The phone call was from my mother, asking how I was doing, and the texts were from Vinny, one to say goodnight and he loved me, and one to say good morning and that he was on his way home.

  I text him back that I missed him and couldn’t wait to see him, then I went back to bed and slept off the rest of my hang over. The next thing I knew, it was dinnertime, and Lindy ordered a pizza. I knew Vinny had to work that night so I decided to wait to see him the next morning at our mid-term.

  I arrived to class ten minutes early Monday morning, so I could study my notes for a few extra minutes. Vinny was one of the last to arrive. He looked flustered, but showered. I knew he probably over slept and needed a shower to wake himself up. I figured he needed all the mental alertness he could get since he barely studied.

  His scent filled my senses the moment he sat down behind me. I turned around in my seat and looked at him with a smile. “Hey.”

  He looked relieved. “Hi.”

  “Over-slept?”

  He nodded once.

  “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too.” He said looking into my eyes. “Should I spend the night tonight?”

  “Yeah.” I answered with a smile.

  Before I could get any information about his weekend, the test worksheets and scantrons came down the row to me. I took one and passed them along to him.

  “Good luck,” I mumbled.

  “You too.”

  All of the studying I did seemed to pay off. I breezed through the first half of the Business 101 mid-term. When I got to the written portion it took me a little longer, but I still finished before Vinny. After I was done, I turned in my test and stepped out into the hall to wait for him.

  About ten minutes passed before Vinny came out. He smiled when he saw me waiting for him. Shock trickled over me when he stepped over, took my hand his and pressed his mouth to mine. It was our first public kiss and even though my cheeks burned, I felt overjoyed at the same time. I wrapped my arms around him, indulging in the kiss. Afterwards he brushed his hand over my hair, and whispered, “God I missed you.”

  I laughed a
nd touched his cheek rough with a five o’clock shadow. “I missed you too.”

  He gave me another quick peck before he took my hand and walked me out of the building, ignoring anyone who gave us a questioning stare. I don’t think my heart stopped pounding until we reached his car and got inside.

  I braced myself for another sudden make out session or more, but instead he pulled out his keys and started the car.

  “Where are we going?” I asked, reaching back for my seat belt.

  “Were going to make up for lost time.”

  I had a feeling I knew what that meant. “Vinny we can’t, my next mid-term is soon. I need to study.”

  “You’ve studied.” he said, speeding out of the parking lot. “We can be fast.”

  Car horns blared as he cut off two different people coming out of the parking lot.

  “Vinny!” I squealed, grabbing onto the car door and looking over at him.

  He laughed. “What’s your problem, Jumpy?”

  “I was going to ask you the same thing.” I said, wondering what got into him.

  “I don’t have a problem, not anymore.”

  “Oh?” I asked, hesitant.

  He shrugged and looked over at me. “I did it. Vivian is signing over Mazzolas to me.”

  “What? She is?”

  “Yeah, I was able to convince her. She said she’d do it if I’d pay her a cut of the revenue we bring in every year.”

  “How much is that?”

  “I tried to get her to go with ten percent but she wanted fifteen.”

  My stomach clenched. “Fifteen? How much does the restaurant make a year?”

  “Depends. This last year we brought in close to a million.”

  I did the math in my head and then glared over at him. “So you’re going to pay her about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars every year?”

  “Yeah something like that,” he shrugged.

  “That’s insane. That’s more than most people make a year! She’s robbing you.”

  “She was taking half being a co-owner. It’s going to be fine.”

  “That’s more than what my parents paid for Malones!”

  “Look, it’s what I have to do to get it back in my name. She’s doing this behind her father’s back so we can’t fuck it up. My mother and I are meeting her and her lawyer in private next Monday at ten to sign papers.”