Assets (Balance Sheet #1)

by Shannon Dermott

  “Sorry,” I said, and couldn’t stop myself from glancing over at Kalen. He was focused on his date once again, seemingly not noticing me at all. But he must have. He didn’t seem surprised to find me in the hall. It was almost as if he was waiting for me.

  Taking a page out of his playbook, I focused back on my date, praying not to ruin the rest of the night. Yet I was unable not to think about Kalen’s demand that I not let my date touch me.

  By the end of dessert, I was back to myself. My date had been about to give me a taste of his chocolate cake served with pears and cranberry sorbet when a clatter had everyone looking around. One of the servers had dropped silver probably intended for a nearby cleared table. Then I caught Kalen’s murderous stare at me. That’s when I noticed my date’s hand covering mine.

  Unable to stop myself, I pulled my hand free. Using that hand, I pushed back my hair in order to temper down my date’s confused expression. I was letting Kalen get to me. He had no right to dictate if another man could touch me. Still, I placed my hands in my lap and smiled at the guy across the table from me.

  Dessert complete and gone, bill paid, we stood to leave. My stockbroker helped me out of my chair and I noticed Kalen still at his table. There was no way around. We had to pass by him. I felt my date’s hand touch the fabric of my outfit at my lower back in a gentlemanly way to guide me out of the room. And he would have as he was closing the distance. Kalen stood just as we were passing, wedging himself between us. “Oh sorry,” he said. His accent was utterly sexy and sounded totally unremorseful. I turned back in time for Kalen to bend down quickly and whisper, “If he touches you again, he’ll lose a hand.”

  Open mouthed, I watch Kalen not miss a beat and help his “business associate” out of her chair. I quickly turned back as my date’s hand was poised to touch me. I moved at a respectably quick pace. Nothing would happen if he couldn’t see.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The alarm blared, reminding me that I had a job. Getting out of bed wasn’t easy because I’d stayed up late giving Lizzy the blow by blow of what happened with Kalen. However, it was the first day of my new assignment and I would be meeting my team, so I pushed thoughts of him and his damn sexiness to the back of my brain. First impressions could never be taken back. I couldn’t afford to be late.

  Part of the reason for my haste would be my subway ride to work. Unlike Lizzy, I was from a very humble background and couldn’t afford drivers to get me where I was going. And cab rides were expensive and wouldn’t guarantee you would arrive on time.

  After coffee and a bagel, I found myself sitting on the train after just barely making it through the closing door. Luck was on my side that morning and I was happy to find that the car wasn’t overly crowded. I knew my destination already as I had done all the necessary background work on the client. Independence, which was mandated in order to perform an audit, had me research the CEO and Board of Directors to ensure that I didn’t know anyone on a personal level like an uncle or aunt. The CEO was a stern-looking man who reminded me a lot of Ted, Lizzy’s father. He was all grey but handsome and imposing. The Board was composed of an older, hardened crew of people with long and impressive resumes.

  Ready as I’d ever be, I thought. I would not only meet my workmates for the first time, I would be meeting the team of internal accountants and auditors for the company that hired us to perform the audit. As auditors, we would be performing tests and verification of information to certify that the financial statements were presented fairly according to the laws of our nation.

  It was strange to be working in New York. It hadn’t been the plan. After graduation, I’d taken a job with a prestigious accounting firm in Boston, where I’d gone to college. Scott had proposed on bended knee at graduation in front of our family and friends. I’d accepted because I thought I loved him. It wasn’t for his money, which wasn’t at the level of Lizzy’s family fortune, but he was still very well off. We had clicked from our first meeting. He’d graduated from law school and I with my bachelor’s degree. We’d been together for three years. And it was expected. My father hadn’t been happy, but he hadn’t been very happy about my choice of college. My mother, however, was my rock and cheerleader.

  After my acceptance, Scott had wanted me to live with him right away. I wanted to live on my own. I was getting married in months and had never lived by myself, having had Lizzy for a roommate all four years of college. Plus, I hadn’t expected his proposal and had already secured my own place prior to graduation. So, I moved in.

  It wasn’t until we’d set New Year’s Eve as our wedding date that things had changed. It had taken until early December, but Scott had convinced me that it didn’t make sense for us to live apart. He used his lawyerly skill to get me out of my lease, and in two weeks I’d packed and moved in with him, leaving much of my stuff in storage. Between work and keeping Scott happy, I hadn’t fully unpacked when I found out the truth.

  It was all so random. I was reading over work e-mails in his, no, our office, or so I thought, when a call erupted from his phone, which he’d left on the desk near me to take a shower. I wasn’t nosy by nature, but the sudden noise from the phone had me looking when a picture of an attractive blonde with abundant cleavage popped onto the screen. His choice in women shouldn’t have surprised me. Scott was a breast man. But the picture caught my attention. Stupidly, I thought it was not a real girl but wallpaper at first. Scott could be such a guy in that respect. However, a text message appeared. And human curiosity had me look. It read something like she couldn’t wait to wrap her mouth around his dick in thirty minutes.

  With calm I didn’t know I could possess in such a situation, I was quiet and not argumentative when Scott came into the office, hair damp from the shower and smelling of his favorite cologne. “I’ll be back later, babe. Sorry about dinner,” he’d said.

  My performance was Oscar worthy. Looking up into his eyes, I’d asked, “Who are you meeting?”

  “You know, the guys.” He began rattling off names I was familiar with from his office. “It’s a difficult case and something important has come up we need to discuss right away.”

  Nodding, I let him kiss me quickly on the lips before he departed, plucking his phone up from the table.

  As soon as he’d left, I wiped my mouth to get rid of his filthy, lying germs. Then, I’d made my first call to Lizzy, asking if I could come stay with her. She’d agreed, warning me that I would explain all when I got there. My second call had been to my immediate supervisor, Ellen. With tears that threatened but never fell, I’d explained my sticky situation only after I’d resigned over the phone. She’d explained that, of course our firm had an office in New York and she would see about transferring me there. In the meantime, she’d assign me to an audit in NYC at the first of the year because I was an asset to the firm and she didn’t want to lose me.

  So thanks to her, I was standing in front of Aztec Winters, a multi-international conglomerate company, privately held. After passing through security feeling like I’d had a pat down, I was given a badge that held a picture of my face. Then, I was herded into a conference room on the twentieth floor along with my team.

  There was a baby-faced guy would didn’t look older than me but had a presence that said he was the team lead when he stood up. “Bailey,” he said.

  Taking his hand in a firm two-pump handshake, I said, “Yes,” looking around to see that, although I was on time, I was the final member to show up.

  “Kevin,” he said introducing himself, taking that opportunity to look me over in a way that felt just the other side of being professional. It left me uneasy because I had no intention of dating on the job. “And this is Anna,” he said pointing to a small Asian girl who looked like she knew her way around. Pointing to a caramel skinned guy who was very attractive, he said, “Jim.”

  After the round of introductions, Kevin didn’t do anything else to make me feel like he was interested. So I thought maybe I’d read him wrong. After
more small talk while we waited for the meeting to start, I found out that I wasn’t the greenest member of the team. Jim and Anna had only started in August, which meant I was senior to them, which was odd. It was only a few minutes more before the Aztec team of accountants came in for another round of introductions, and it was determined that none of us knew each other with the exception of Kevin. He was the only member of the team who’d been on the audit the year before.

  Once the pleasantries were done, we were rounded up and taken to a small, cramped conference room on the fourteenth floor where we would spend the next three months, if we were lucky, before we would be assigned to another client.

  Although I wasn’t the grunt, Kevin assigned me to look over cash. I had to get confirmations from the bank to ensure that what was on their balance sheet matched what the bank reported. But it wasn’t that simple. I had to review each bank reconciliation for each of the over one hundred accounts this company had. Joy, I thought as I got down to business.

  It was a productive day with a quick lunch. When Kevin announced we would stop for the day, I noticed it was seven and my body tightened with anticipation. Was I really going to go meet Kalen for dinner?

  When the team asked if I wanted to join them for a bite to eat, I found myself saying no. I could hardly believe it when my arm rose at the curb to catch a cab. I wasn’t broke, but I was saving money to hopefully get my own place. Lizzy was fine with me staying there, but a part of me wanted to be on my own. So being frugal was important. Still, I wouldn’t make it across town on the train and have enough time to get ready for dinner. I’d have to go dressed as I was. And apparently, mind made up, that’s what I was going to do.

  Lucky me, a cab stopped. I gave out the name of the restaurant and hadn’t given the address before the cabbie pushed forward. The restaurant was kind of famous. Several TV shows and movies had been filmed there, so it wasn’t unheard of that the cabbie knew the place by name. However, my cab ride proved unpredictable. With a backup, an accident, and general traffic, I made it to the club three minutes after eight. Paying the cabbie quickly, I was ushered into the place by the doorman and standing at the hostess station at five minutes past.

  “I have a dinner reservation with,” I paused, realizing now that I didn’t have Kalen’s last name. This place was the kind that required men to wear jackets, and jeans and sneakers weren’t allowed. I’d look foolish not to know my date’s name.

  “Miss Bailey,” the guy behind the podium said.

  “Yes, how’d you know?” I asked for the second time.

  “The gentleman said that when the most beautiful woman with red hair walked in the door, her name would be Bailey and to bring her right up.”

  Flattered into speechlessness, I followed him up to the third floor and stopped dead in my tracks when we stepped into a private dining room with only one table and one man who filled the room like no other.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Even seeing him for the third time, I was taken aback by just how beautiful he was. On top of that, not in my four-inch heels, I got a view of just how tall he was.

  Unable to hold his smoldering stare, I took in the room. It was classically appointed with crown molding and expensive drapes that framed a view of the park. The lighting came from an overhead chandelier and wall sconces. The place could be a dining room in Lizzy’s parents’ house and felt just as intimate.

  “You’re wearing pants,” he said, looking annoyed.

  Startled, I turned to see that the host was gone and we were alone with the door closed. I looked down to see that I did in fact have pants on. I knew this, but he had a way of making me senseless and confused.

  “Yes,” I said, not sure what the problem was. If he only knew what a small victory it was to wear pants and loosen a little more the hold the community where I’d grown up had over me.

  “Next time wear a skirt,” he commanded, and I was jarred back to reality.

  “Excuse me,” I said, mustering all the incredulity I could in the face of such a gorgeous man. Surely, I’d misheard him. One, he said ‘next time’ as if it were a foregone conclusion that there would be one. Two, he’d told me what to wear like I was a possession he could control.

  He walked over to me causing me to expel my breath. My body involuntarily shivered when his hand took mine. Bringing it to his lips, a jolt of lust coursed from my arm up to my shoulder, down my center to explode at my core. “I’ve been thinking about touching you for the last twenty-four hours, and you hide yourself under this fabric where I cannot reach your skin.”

  Before I could balk at his words, even though they only added to my quick fantasy about his being in me, the waiter walked in with a bottle of wine. The poor guy looked more flustered than me. The sexual tension was thick and the waiter looked unsure of whether he was about to get a tongue lashing for interrupting what surely looked like an imitate moment.

  Kalen, never releasing my hand, guided me to the table and pulled my chair out. Decorum dictated that I sit. Feeling like a fish out of water, I sat. Kalen took his seat across from me, never taking his eyes off me as the waiter approached. True to his words from yesterday, he gave his full and undivided attention to me. It made me feel important and, funny enough, appreciated. Suddenly, the idea of wearing a skirt was very appealing.

  “Your wine sir,” the waiter said, managing only to sound slightly nervous. Kalen leaned back and allowed the young man to pour the wine into the waiting goblet. Not even a fourth of the way full, Kalen picked it up, swirling it around before putting the glass to his lips. His movements were all sexual in nature even though outwardly no one would ever excuse him of such. Was it just me? Had our first encounter made me sexualize everything he did?

  Nodding to the waiter, Kalen turned his attention back on me. The guy finished pouring Kalen’s glass, and then moved to mine before leaving.

  When I looked around for the menu, thinking the waiter had obviously made a mistake, Kalen said, “I took the liberty of ordering when you were late.”

  Feeling chastised even though his tone had remained calm and pleasant the whole time, I blurted, “I was five minutes late. Well within the limits of polite society. Plus, it wasn’t my fault. There was an accident and traffic,” I blurted.

  Cutting my blathering off, he said, “In my business, five minutes is a lifetime.”

  Feeling off balance and more unnerved than ever in the presence of this man, I said, feeling like a petulant child, “And what is it that you do?”

  “Rule the world,” he said, with a hint of amusement.

  Before I could counter his words for their arrogance, a team arrived with our first course. The plate before me smelled heavenly and my stomach churned in anticipation, reminding me of my meager lunch.

  Taking the first bite, his expression dared me to say something instead of eating. But when that bite touched his lips, I swore his expression looked orgasmic and I had to taste the food to see if it was as good as it looked.

  Divine, it was, and I ate, unable to decide if I’d ever had something so good. It was like that commercial, finger-licking good. And I wanted to lick mine and then his. Instead, I finished my food without any more conversation.

  As if he plucked the thought from my brain, he said, “If you lick your lips one more time, I will take you on this table instead of waiting until I get you home on my bed.”

  He couldn’t have timed his statement any better. Protest again was stifled on my tongue at the appearance of bus boys who removed our empty plates from the table as if they had cameras to watch and wait for our silverware to be put down. Looking up, I searched for tiny cameras to see if I could find them until they left after using what looked like a knife of some sort to gather any wayward crumbles off the white tablecloth.

  When the choreographed team left, I spewed the first words off my tongue. “And what makes you think I’ll be going home with you?”

  Arching a brow, his green eyes bore into mine. “Lass, your arousal i
s apparent on your pretty little face. You’re flush with desire and my dick is hard enough to cut diamonds. Dunno pretend that you don’t want to fuck me as much as I want to fuck you.”

  Opening my mouth to gasp at the frankness of his words, waiters appeared with the main course and I was thunderstruck into silence, again.

  With mixed emotions, I ate the food placed in front of me that I hadn’t ordered. I wanted to dislike his choices, but the food was just as amazing, if not more, as the first course had been. I warred with wanting to moan at the taste and spit it out in protest. This man had ruled my every movement since I got here and I’d let him. I finished my food because it wasn’t the chef’s fault that I’d chosen to have dinner with an egomaniac. But he wasn’t getting me in bed that night. I wouldn’t go to his place no matter how much my body was against my brain.

  He’d finish eating several bites before I had. When I swallowed my last, the tension in my body and the need for him had me seeking space away from him. I needed to get my wits about me. Scooting back, I was out of my seat before he could ask where I was going. “I need to go to the restroom,” I said, my head slightly turned in his direction enough not to be rude.

  I didn’t make it very far before he pressed me into the wall. He was a mountain of a man with a very large erection from what I felt covered my back. “Lass, I need dessert before you go,” his brogue was so pronounced it rolled off his tongue like he’d stepped out of one of the historical romance novels I fancied reading.

  His hands expertly unzipped the front of my black slacks, slipped underneath the boy shorts I wore and hit home already slick with wetness. The moan I’d been holding from first coming into his presence escaped me. While he moved in and out of me, exciting me beyond reason, he nibbled at my neck. The dueling sensations were almost too much for me.