by May Sage
She didn’t ask whether he was qualified for the job. Firstly, she’d heard plenty about the young lawyer who’d opened his own practice right after taking the bar, and turned it into the best firm of corporate lawyers within just half a dozen years. He’d bulldozed his way in by taking impossible cases, and winning them.
Plus, if memory served, she recalled that Bryant had interned in the UK branch of Croft Advertising as an undergrad. He’d know what to do. James wouldn’t have considered him if he didn’t.
“That’s fantastic. I’m so happy for you.”
She got up, and circled her desk to go hug James. It had been a long time since she’d seen him smile like that.
“So, when is the prodigal brother coming over?”
“Next week. He has a mess to sort out back on the other side of the pond. Five years ago, he brought in a very, very successful lawyer as a partner. She bought in with a million, cash, and Bryant gave her a twenty-five percent share. I have twenty-five percent, as I invested when he started, and he owns fifty percent.”
“So,” she guessed, “now he’s trying to get another partner in to replace him, and they want twenty-five, which would mean he wouldn’t have a majority share over his own company.” She had to frown. “Not very smart of him. He should have given her twenty-four percent, if that. Most partners get five shares or so.”
“He was young, had just passed the bar, and, at the time, he and Naomi were together, so it didn’t seem like too much of a gamble. But things have become… complicated between them. We’ve decided I’ll sell him my share, but he has to finalize everything from where he is.”
Tori nodded. “I’m just so glad for you, James. I can’t wait to meet Bryant.”
Decisions
Bryant felt like the last fortnight had anal fucked him without even applying any lube. Everyone had fought him at every corner.
Given the fact that their office was a battlefield, where each employee was forced to choose between Team Bryant and Team Naomi, he had actually been naive enough to think that his business partner would have appreciated his bowing out. No such luck. Appreciating anything wasn’t in Naomi’s nature. He should have realized that by now.
They’d had a good thing, once, a long time ago. Bryant did like his women clever - Naomi was that, and then some. Her fucking perfect figure didn’t hurt either. But of course, she’d eventually wanted a ring – understandably, they’d been together long enough and it was the logical next step. The issue was that by then, he’d gotten to know her enough to decide that there was no way he’d submit himself to a lifetime under her clutches. He didn’t much care for being manipulated and guilt-tripped on a regular basis. Naomi didn’t ask for what she wanted, she made him hand it over. She didn’t discuss issues, she presented her case with enough evidence to nail her opponent, even when it was just about deciding who was cooking dinner. He could appreciate that sort of temperament in business, but he didn’t want it in his life.
Instead of breaking up like grown-ups, they’d dragged their issues to work. The last two years had been a nightmare. He would miss London, he’d miss the house where he’d grown up, he’d miss the housekeeper and the valet who’d raised him, he’d miss being a couple of hours’ plane ride away from most major European cities, but he sure as fuck was happy to be out of his law firm now. He would even have completely pulled the plug and sold his share to Naomi, if he hadn’t known for a fact that she’d use her new power to immediately terminate the employment of half their staff. She’d also take a company bearing his name in a direction he couldn’t condone. He was a corporate lawyer, true, but he’d always taken fair cases. Helping a billion dollar corporation gain a few billion dollars from another billion dollar corporation, that sort of thing. That was all part of the game. Naomi didn’t see a problem with helping giants crush old ladies under their talons.
After that huge pile of crap – days when his shoulders and neck just wouldn’t stop tensing, nights when he’d exerted himself hours upon hours at the gym in an attempt to tame his frustration, he’d believed it would have taken weed, hypnosis, or hours of fucking to get better. Turns out, he didn’t need any of that. All it took was seeing Tori’s expression when he walked in to make him break into a smile.
Poor woman.
She’d been standing one step behind James, next to a bunch of sharply dressed employees who all had at least a dozen years on her. Yet, she stood out as the one no one should mess with. Immaculate, with a black pencil dress zipping at the front, the soft wavy hair pulled back in a severe bun, her signature dark purple lipstick on her lips, she was a freaking goddess.
Well, until she lifted her head and caught a glimpse of him. Then, she was just a poor gal on her ass, after tripping over nothing. So much for being born in Louboutin, luv, he wanted to say, because his first instincts told him to tease her. He knew just how welcome that remark would have been in the present company, though, so he opted for a more appropriate response. Before anyone else moved, Bryant took a couple of steps, stood right in front of her, and extended a hand to help her back on her feet.
Her eyes widened in her pretty face and her luscious mouth hung open like she’d just seen a ghost. At long length, she took his hand, and let him pull her up. He could tell she did it reluctantly, though.
Bryant just kept on smiling, the last fortnight dissolving into nothing. Who cared about his issues in London? He was here now. Ready to start a new chapter in his life.
A chapter that may very well include Tori Brown. Especially since he hadn’t expected her to look so damn adorable when she was caught off guard. He relished it, guessing that it wasn’t often that anyone managed to surprise her.
“Careful, luv,” he whispered, straining to stop himself from taking those lips, now they were so close to his.
He stepped back, and tore his gaze away from her, with difficulty.
“Brother,” he greeted James with a simple nod. He’d seen him at dinner the previous evening. “I see you’ve rounded up a welcome party.”
“That I did. Everyone, here’s my brother, Bryant, your new CEO as of this morning. Bryant, you’ve met Henry, Jo, and Gabe a couple of weeks back.”
He shook their hands, and James now indicated a tall guy with Asian features. “This is Jeremy Anderson, our IT guru.” Then, he herded him towards a pretty, short, brown lady with crazy curls, and named her, “Laura Wakefield, the head of HR.” Thomas Frederickson, head designer, was a typical boy next door. Jana Vanderbilt caught his attention. “Jana is the most senior account manager now that Adrian left us,” his brother said.
Jana was elegant and severe, two things that he had no problem with, but he recognized the way her lips curled. She emanated a superior air, and he didn’t sense a friendly vibe from her.
Great. She was that manager. The one who inherently believed she was too good to work here, and, as she consented to put up with them, she was, therefore, in charge.
He’d come across for plenty of Janas in his time, male and female, older and younger. It never ended well. They behaved with their superiors, but with their subordinates it was another matter altogether. Bryant decided to keep an eye on her and hope for the best, for now. There was a chance he could have misread her.
Yeah, right. How often does that happen?
They exchanged pleasantries. Jana was courteous and smiled, although it didn’t reach her cold eyes.
“Well I, for one, am glad I’ll be working alongside someone with your expertise,” he lied, and the harpy almost smiled.
Then, finally, James moved along.
“You’ve heard of my Tori,” he said, now turning to the object of Bryant’s fantasies.
She’d closed her mouth, and her pretty eyes were practically narrowed to slits now. She was pissed. Of course she was. She liked being in control at work, and he’d messed with that. In her mind, she’d had a one-night stand with a stranger she would never meet again. Now, she learned he was her godfather’s brother.
He lifted a brow, genuinely impressed, and also felt a little ashamed of himself, because, if he was entirely honest, he hadn’t expected that. She was smart, sassy, funny, and she definitely looked the part of a kick-ass professional, but all that didn’t necessarily equate to being great at your job.
But apparently she was, and in a cutthroat business like that? It meant she took her position very seriously, and worked long hours, completely focused on her goals.
It meant she was like him.
Shit.
That changed things.
He’s gone down that road once. He and Naomi had brought their personal affairs to work and he knew where that had led them. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, do that here, at his brother’s firm.
So, what now?
He had to leave her alone, he realized. Ignore their crazy ass chemistry and the fact that just seeing her was enough to make him smile.
It would pass. It had to.
“Impressive,” he acknowledged out loud.
“Not as much as it sounds. As everyone here will tell you, I’m friends with the fiancée of one of the CEOs I brought in. The others run in the same circle - once I had an in, I capitalized on it.”
He genuinely loved that she’d just come out and said it right away.
“I see.”
He kept it at that, although he wanted to turn around to the rest of the team and demand to know, “And is everyone here going through their acquaintances to get deals, at the risk of affecting their personal relationships?” But he didn’t. This was day one of him running Croft Advertising. He couldn’t afford to mess that up, for her or for him. Announcing to the world that he was in her corner wasn’t going to do her any favors.
He turned to the HR lady, giving her all of his attention, paying no mind to Tori. “Ms. Wakefield.” He started to head towards the elevators, and the small party followed suit. “If you would be so kind as to email the account coordinators, managers, consultants, and the designers, and ask them to meet me in an available conference room tomorrow at ten. Get my secretary… I have a secretary, right?”
“An executive assistant, yes. He’s been very efficient for me; he’ll be a good fit.”
“Perfect. Ask him to have brunch ready for all of us. I won’t have the time to read up on everything you’re all up to by then, but I want to hear progress and suggestions. We’ll set up weekly meetings going forward.”
If the expressions of the people around him were any indication, this wasn’t how the company operated. Whatever. It had worked well at his law firm, and he didn’t see why he couldn’t do it here.
Some of his new colleagues looked impressed, others, concerned. He was a wild card, shaking things up already, and people rarely liked change.
James smiled like Christmas was coming early.
Well, he had given him a job. It wasn’t like him to halfass it.
“Let’s get this show on the road.”
The Wolf
At first, she was just stunned. Completely shocked, unable to believe her eyes. That passed pretty quickly, and, instead, she gave in to pure, unadorned fury.
He’d played her. He’d known he was going to be part of the company where she worked, he’d known who she was, and he hadn’t cared. Hadn’t cared about the risk to her career, about making things awkward with James, who was practically part of her family.
Bryant Croft was lucky she didn’t have a superman laser vision right about now. Still, it didn’t stop her from glaring at his annoying, smug smirk and wishing she could burn holes in his shiny suit. She was shaking with rage.
Tori considered just calling in sick and hiding under her covers with a tub of ice cream, pretending today was just a nightmare. Everything would be back to normal in the morning. And she would have done just that, if she didn’t think that the asshole wouldn’t have guessed that she was running.
So, she stayed put, burying herself under a pile of work to ignore the mess unfolding in the real world.
It was lunchtime when she saw an opportunity. Bryant was right in front of her, flirting with a temp in front of the copy room. How cliché. And infuriating. The temp had dropped some papers, and he couldn’t help her gather them without shooting her compliments and panty-melting smiles, apparently.
How had she fallen for that? She was boiling.
Eventually, he detached himself from the girl and carried on walking down the corridor, towards Tori. It was now or never. The temp had gone into the copy room, so they were alone.
Bryant stopped in front of her, and started talking, but Tori just grabbed him by his collar, and dragged him to the closest conference room, locking it behind them.
“How dare you!” she yelled. She might also have growled.
She was certain she had the upper hand right now. This was her two minutes, today. She was just about to tell him what an ass he was, and that she wanted nothing to do with him – ever again.
Right before another word crossed her lips, though, he leaned in to her, closing the distance between them, and, inconveniently, she got a whiff of his bewitching scent. Her brain betrayed her, replaying some of the things that had occurred the last time he’d stood so close to her. Her body was more embarrassing yet. Now she was boiling in a very different sense of the term, her pussy responding to his proximity by getting hot, and moistening for him. Fuck. What was wrong with her!
“How dare I, what, darling?” he asked, tilting his head, still fucking smirking.
“You lied to me. You’re Bryant Croft! If I’d known, I would never…”
“Hey, let’s rewind for two seconds, there,” he chuckled. “Two weeks ago, we met at a party, we hit it off, and we fucked. I didn’t ask for your name – because I knew it – and I didn’t give you mine, because I assumed you knew it, too. Besides, it’s Bryant Parker. I dropped the Croft as soon as I was legally able to.”
She kept on glaring because, damn him, he had a point. She hadn’t asked his name. She’d thought she’d heard Parker - now, he’d explained why. Even if she’d heard Bryant Parker, it probably wouldn’t have made her jump to Bryant Croft. He was very different to James’ blond hair and blue eyes. Bryant was dark haired, with deep hazel eyes designed to hypnotize anyone who looked at him for too long. He also was much younger; closer to her age, which only served to accentuate their differences. Now she paid attention, though, she recognized that the two brothers had common features: their square jaws, the overall shape of their faces. Damn it. Damn him.
“I’m sorry you were taken aback, Tori,” Bryant said, almost sounding sincere, but his maddening smirk betrayed him. “Still, I don’t see why it’s problematic. We’ve had sex, and we’re going to work together. No big deal. We’re both adults. I’m confident we can forget about it and remain professional.”
He was saying all the right things; in fact, exactly what she’d planned to tell him once she was done shouting at him. The problem was, he was saying them while being close enough for her to feel his body heat, and her gaze had somehow zoomed in on his lips.
Her heart beat fast, hot waves of lust burned her insides.
Bryant stared at her in silence, his expression mirroring hers.
Then, he laughed, and stepped away.
“We have a lot of chemistry, Victoria Brown. In other circumstances, I would have loved to explore it further. But, oh well.”
And on that note, he unlocked the door, and went on his way, leaving her alone in the empty conference room, seething, and turned on.
She was seething and turned on the next morning, too, as she watched him play the room. He was good. The laziest employees couldn’t wait to start working after he’d made them all feel special. Like their ideas were pure genius. He spoke casually, openly, hands in his pockets, the top buttons of his shirt undone, and people respon
ded to it.
It was probably because she’d done the same for the last few years, but Tori recognized his stance. He was posturing. Doing the exact opposite of her, in fact. She’d hardened herself up, making sure that her clothing and attitude kept people on their toes. Bryant was a hard-ass, almost a slave driver, but he kept his sharp, tailored suit a little messed up, and made sure his body language gave every indication that he was relaxed.
In short, he was an office wolf in a sheep’s clothing, and the flock was falling for it.
That didn’t piss her off too much. Okay, so having to admit that he was great at his job was a hard pill to swallow. She hadn’t really wanted him to fail, but couldn’t he have been average or something? Was it too much to ask? But, no, Bryant Parker wasn’t one to settle for average – at anything.
The worst thing, though, was that within days, every single female employee – young or old, single or married – had changed their wardrobe, amped up their makeup, and practiced eyelash batting. Everyone, except Tori.
Lexi also stopped fawning over him once Tori explained the situation.
“I get it. You called dibs. No more giggling or playing with my hair when he talks to me, even if it kills me.”
“I didn’t call dibs,” she’d hissed. “I called I’m probably going to murder him and end up needing your help to hide the body.”
Lexi had rolled her eyes, but, more importantly, she’d made a considerable effort to ignore him. For that, Tori would forever be grateful.
Everything he did made her grind her teeth. The flirting – with everyone. The fact that everyone flirted back. The fact that he also didn’t exclude her from that rule – she’d never risen to the occasion, responding to everything he said professionally, without giving him the satisfaction of seeing her expression betray any emotion. But he often came by her office, trying to make her take the bait, until the day she caved. Sort of.
