by Lexy Timms
What was the PA doing answering the front desk phone?
“Miss Eriksson, this is Mrs. Reid. I can’t seem to get a hold of my husband, and I was just wondering if you can tell me where he might be.”
“Oh, Mrs. Reid,” Miss Eriksson said, the smile in her voice somehow audibly becoming a little brighter. “Mr. Reid is still here in his office. He’s been in there all afternoon working on one of the big investor’s accounts. Did you need me to get him for you?”
Of course he was. Just like that, Jamie’s annoyance was back. Why hadn’t he at least texted her again to let her know what was going on? Why hadn’t he picked up her call?
Benton, denied his back and forth game, had crawled across the floor and reclaimed the truck himself, rolling it into Jamie’s leg. She gently took it and set it a few inches away, silently encouraging him to drive it another direction.
“No,” she said. “Thank you. I just wanted to make sure that he hadn’t left the office yet. If he does emerge, tell him that his wife called?”
“Of course, Mrs. Reid,” Miss Eriksson said. “I’ll be sure he knows as soon as possible.”
“Thank you,” Jamie said. She paused. “Oh, and Miss Eriksson? Why are you answering the front desk phone instead of Justin, if you don’t mind me asking? Is he okay?”
“He went home sick this afternoon,” Miss Eriksson said, obviously not bothered by the question. “I just rerouted the front desk calls to my personal phone so that we wouldn’t have to bring someone else up from downstairs to take care of them. It’s been a slow enough day that I can field the calls and do my own work. But I’m sure Justin will be back in a day or two.”
“If you see him before I do, tell him I said I hope he’s feeling better, could you? And thank you for letting me know.”
“Not a problem, Mrs. Reid. Have a lovely evening.”
“You, too.”
She had to give it to Miss Eriksson. The woman was a very efficient PA. Maybe not quite as efficient as she had been if you asked Alex, but she knew how to do her job. Although she’d had misgivings about them hiring another PA early on, Jamie was glad now that Alex and Zander had someone to help them keep things running smoothly. They didn’t have time to take care of all the little things that needed to be done every day on top of their own jobs.
Benton rolled the car into her leg again, and Jamie laughed, standing briefly to put the phone up on the table again where neither of the twins could get their hands on it, then took the truck in hand and drove it in a circle around Benton, toward Lilli.
At least, she thought as she settled down again between them, making engine noises for the truck that attracted Lilli’s wide-eyed attention, she had the twins. And she wasn’t going to let a little thing like Alex being late to ruin her evening or theirs.
***
It was nearly ten when Alex finally walked into the kitchen. Jamie, sitting in the living room with a book, heard the sound of the door open and close, and then his footsteps moving across the floor. She didn’t look up from what she was reading. The kids had gone to bed nearly two hours ago.
“Hey,” he said as he moved into the living room and saw her. “Sorry I’m late, baby.”
Jamie slid a bookmark between its pages and closed the book, setting it aside. “One text,” she said quietly. “And then you show up almost five hours late. I had to call your PA to find out where you were.”
Alex stopped in the doorway, looking at her like he didn’t know what she was talking about, and Jamie’s irritation fanned into outright anger. It would have taken him five minutes to pick up the phone and call, and they could have avoided this whole thing. But of course he couldn’t stop to think of that when he was at work. “You did?” he asked. “I had my phone with me.”
“You didn’t answer it,” Jamie said. “And you didn’t call. I finally called your front desk and got Miss Eriksson, who told me you hadn’t even left the office despite the fact that it was already an hour after you were supposed to be home. At that point I just figured I wouldn’t see you for the rest of the night anyway, so I might as well not try calling again.”
“Jamie…” Alex said. He sat down beside her, briefcase leaning against the end of the couch, and gave her an apologetic look.
Even angry at him, Jamie couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was in the golden light from the lamp she’d been reading by. She wanted to reach out and run her hands over the beloved lines of his face, draw him down for a kiss, and take him to bed, but first she wanted an explanation.
“I’m sorry,” Alex said, and he sounded it. He sounded exhausted. “I had no intention of staying so late, but it was just one thing after another today. I’m still trying to stop the remaining stock owners from selling any of their options, and I thought that I had them, but one of our biggest investors almost sold today. Nicholas is offering a price the stocks aren’t worth, which is why he’s been so ridiculously successful at buying them out from under me, even from people who have owned stock in Reid Enterprises for years. They could keep going with the company and make money slowly over time, or they can take Nicholas’ deal and have a bunch of it right off. Some of them are obviously more impatient than informed. And he can afford to bait them because it’s not like he actually needs the money. He just wants to fuck with me.”
Anger draining out of her, Jamie reached out and ran her hand gently up and down Alex’s back. “He’s not going to be able to take the company from you,” she said firmly.
“No,” Alex agreed, “but he can cause all kinds of problems with as much leverage as he has, and there’s really nothing I can do about it. That ship sailed years ago. Once a company is public, you can’t take it back.”
“Surely your board isn’t going to listen to Nicholas?”
Alex laughed, but the sound was sharp and unhappy. “My board keeps trying to tell me that Nicholas is some kind of godsend. An experienced CEO with an extremely successful company, blah, blah, blah. Like I’m not both of those things and more. Nicholas doesn’t have a background in investments. And he’s actively trying to sabotage Reid Enterprises, but try convincing the board of that. They’re going to start accusing me of being a conspiracy theorist. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he’d paid half of them off.”
He leaned into her arm, and Jamie shifted so that she could lean more securely against the back of the couch, Alex’s head resting on her chest. She ran her fingers gently through his hair, and he sighed.
“What if I talk to him?” she said after a moment of silence. “He liked me before. Maybe he’ll listen to me.”
She felt Alex tense in her arms. Obviously he didn’t like the idea. He’d always hated anything that put her and Nicholas in the same place, especially after they’d gone out on that date. But he couldn’t let his personal hang-ups get in the way of the business… not if he wanted to be able to deal with the Nicholas problem, and she told him as much.
“I don’t feel comfortable having you anywhere near him, Jamie,” he said, turning his head to look up at her. “The man’s a lowlife, and there’s no telling what he’ll do. He ruined Gina’s life for his own petty amusement.”
“I know what he is, though, Alex. It isn’t like he’s going to seduce me.”
“No, but he might have some other tricks up his sleeve.”
“Well,” Jamie said, fingers still moving through her husband’s hair, “someone’s got to do something. And he’s obviously not going to listen to anything you have to say. Or even agree to meet you, probably. So you’ll have to send someone that he’ll actually be willing to have a conversation with — if he’s still willing to have a conversation with me — and who knows the business well enough to deal with whatever curve balls he tries to throw.”
“I still don’t like it,” Alex growled, and Jamie almost laughed.
“I know you don’t,” she said, “but we don’t have to decide right now. It’s just an option that we can think about.”
“I suppose.”<
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Instead of stopping her light stroking at the nape of his neck this time, Jamie ran her hand down along his spine, feeling the muscles in his back. Still as solid and defined as when they met, and she wanted it. Wanted him.
“What if we forget about business for a while,” she suggested, dipping her voice a little lower to make her meaning very clear, her hand sliding down the outside of Alex’s hip, “and go think about something more enjoyable?”
Alex straightened, pulling back so that he could meet her eyes. “Are you propositioning me, Mrs. Reid?”
“Seducing you, I think,” Jamie said, only a little bit of a smile sneaking through the straight face she was trying to wear.
He laughed. “Well, in that case, I think that your efforts have been very successful.”
Before she could stand he was on his feet, and he’d gathered her up in his arms. Her own wrapped around his shoulders, holding tight, but she trusted that he wouldn’t drop her as they started up the stairs, both of them laughing. Alex had never let her fall. She didn’t think he was going to start now.
Chapter 4
“We did it!”
Mark laughed at Erica’s enthusiasm, popping the cork on the Champagne and watching it overflow in a rush of bubbles as he poured it into two glasses. “All we did was stand around and look pretty for the cameras,” he pointed out, handing one of the glasses over to Erica. “Occasionally offered a sound bite. We haven’t even seen the story. It could be terrible.”
“It’s not going to be terrible,” Erica said, her slender fingers curling around the Champagne flute. “It’s going to be brilliant! And this place is going to be overrun with guests. You’ll see.” She smiled at him, sweet and enticing, and raised the glass she was holding. “To success. And to Little Lake Country Club.”
Shaking his head, Mark lifted his hand and tapped his glass gently against hers. “To success,” he echoed. “And to Little Lake Country Club.”
They both drank.
“And,” Mark said, lifting his glass again, “to the very best pro-golf instructor at the club. And the most beautiful woman in New York State.”
Erica’s cheeks flushed faintly pink, and her smile widened. “Is that so, Mr. Reid?”
“Oh, absolutely,” Mark said, setting aside his glass and stepping forward to wrap one arm around Erica’s waist, pulling her in. “In fact, I think you’re probably the most beautiful woman on the whole Eastern Seaboard.”
“You know, that kind of over the top flattery is completely—”
Mark cut her off with a kiss before she could finish her complaint. For an instant, she was startled still in his arms, and then she sank into him with a sigh, one of her arms sliding around his shoulders to help hold the weight of her body, and her mouth opening under the press of his lips to let him slip his tongue inside and taste her. The hand that wasn’t at her waist slid down, over the curve of her buttocks, and then further, curling around the back of her thigh to pull her even closer.
They broke apart, but only far enough to breathe before they were coming together again, this time moving with the kiss, stumbling backward toward the bed.
“Shirt off,” Mark ordered between kisses.
He let go of her enough to curl his fingers under the hem of it instead, pulling it off over her head and tossing it to the side. A minute later her bra followed, and then his own shirt was being yanked off in her hands, and they were pressed together, skin to skin.
“You really know how to celebrate,” Erica laughed into his mouth.
Mark didn’t answer. He gave her a little push, and she fell back onto the bed as the end of it caught her behind the knees. Her eyes met his, and he smiled at her once before he let his gaze roam her body, taking in the rise and fall of her chest with her breath, and her long, bare legs under the short skirt.
“You know what,” he said, pitching his voice low. “On second thought…”
He caught her around the hips and gently flipped her over, dragging her back so that she was on her hands and knees. She moaned and rocked back against him, and he didn’t waste time getting anything all the way off, just pulled her panties down her thighs and flipped the back of her skirt up, unfastening his own pants and shoving them down his hips just enough to give himself room.
When he slid into her, Erica hissed his name between her teeth, hips already rolling to meet his first thrust.
“Like that?” he growled, pulling her to meet him with hands still wrapped around her hips. He could feel the press of the bone against his palms.
“Fuck,” she breathed. “Yes. Fuck yes, Mark. Come on.”
That was all the answer he needed to pick up the pace. Neither of them was in any mood to take it slow. The exhilaration of victory was still racing in his blood, and he knew Erica must feel the same, could feel it in the way that she moved against him, hard and hungry.
There wasn’t much space for talking. He leaned down, pressing his lips to one shoulder, and then to the other, scattering kisses across soft skin, then biting down just hard enough to leave a mark behind. Erica moaned and gasped. Her fingers were curled in the sheets so tightly that he could see her knuckles going white with the strain of it.
“How long are you going to last, baby?”
She shook her head, panting out a laugh. “N-Not long.”
He wasn’t going to last long either, not with her writhing so enthusiastically under him. Mark reached under her with one hand and trailed his fingers up her sternum to cup one of her breasts in his hand, stroking his thumb over the nipple until her back arched into the touch. He gave it one last little tug and moved on to the other side, working it the same way, enjoying the ragged sound of her breathing.
“Mark,” she said, low and urgent. “Mark.”
The hand that had been teasing her breasts slid down, and he pressed his thumb against her clit, just enough friction for her to rock against with the motion of their bodies. She made a desperate sound in the back of her throat, and her hips moved faster against his own. Needier. Mark met her pace, and felt his own orgasm building, pulling his body tight.
“Come on,” he growled. “Come for me.”
She shuddered, and tensed, and then he felt it rushing through her, and he followed her over the edge, pleasure exploding through him. Lights danced behind his closed eyelids, and fire sang through his nerves.
Both of them slumped to the mattress, Matt’s legs threatening to stop holding him up. He pulled out, and dropped onto the bed on his back, and Erica rolled over to stretch out along his side. For a long minute they lay like that, getting their breath back. Mark’s heart slowly stopped beating so loudly in his ears. He felt her shift, probably kicking her underwear the rest of the way off, and then she went still again, just breathing.
“Wow,” he said finally.
“Yeah,” Erica breathed. “That was… Wow,” she said, like she couldn’t think of a word that would describe it better.
“You know,” Mark laughed, “I always thought those movies or TV shows where the couple collapse back into bed to talk about how amazing their experience was had really stupid dialogue, but now I think they were just accurately reflecting the vocabulary someone who’s just had really good sex is capable of.”
“You seem to have recovered,” she pointed out.
Mark rolled over enough to look down at her, splaying one hand across her hip. He thought about making another joke, something to make her laugh again, but there were other words rising in his throat.
“I’m glad you stayed,” he said finally. “After that night with the sprinklers a couple weeks ago.”
She smiled. “You know something? So am I.”
Her hand curled around the back of his neck and dragged him down into a long, slow kiss that Mark took thorough advantage of. When they drew back, they were both breathing a little heavier again.
“I used to think Alex was lucky,” Mark said, lying back again and pulling Erica with him so that she could lay her head again
st his shoulder, her breasts pressed against his side. “But now I think I might be luckier.”
He didn’t turn to look at her, but he could hear the raised eyebrow in her voice. “Is that so?”
“It is,” Mark said, tipping his head to the side enough that he could see the top of her head. “I’ve got one of the best golf instructors in the state, who also just happens to be incredibly hot, and in my bed. And we’ve just had amazing sex. I think I’m doing pretty well.”
Erica laughed. “That is true, I suppose. Although, if I were you I wouldn’t get cocky just yet, Mr. Lucky.”
“Who said anything about cocky?” Mark protested. His hand slid down, curling around her leg and dragging it up over his own so that he could slip his fingers between her thighs from the back, stroke just the tips along her still wet sex. “I don’t think I said anything about taking it for granted,” he continued, rubbing back and forth. “Did I?”
Her hips rolled into the touch, rocking her against his thigh, and she shook her head. “No,” she answered. “No, I guess you didn’t.”
The words trailed off into a quiet moan, and Mark smiled.
“See?”
He rolled them so that she was stretched out on her back, and then he leaned down over her, resting his weight on his forearms. She rocked up, trying to get some friction, but he didn’t let her have any.
“Mark,” she said.
“Hmm?”
It wasn’t really a question, and he didn’t wait for her answer, just tipped his head down so that he could draw one of her nipples between his teeth, flicking his tongue over the sensitive, peaked little bud. Erica shifted under him, wanting, and he resisted the urge to smile. One of his hands found her other nipple, and he teased them both while she moaned and reached for him, tangling her fingers in his hair and rocking her hips.
He played until she was making constant soft sounds, alternating back and forth between mouth and fingers on each side. Tomorrow, when she dressed, she would feel the way that he’d touched her, and she’d think about him all day while her sensitive nipples rubbed against her bra.
