by J. P. Comeau
“It sparkles with your eyes, Ginger.”
“Jorge, you really shouldn’t have gotten me a diamond tennis bracelet! This must have cost you a fortune!”
He shrugged while reaching for my hand, then led me back onto the dance floor. “It’s the least I can do for my friend on such a special occasion. Besides, what else are diamond-broker friends good for?”
I giggled while resting my head on his shoulder, positioning it so that I had a perfect view of the tennis bracelet. It was easily the most beautiful piece of jewelry I had ever owned. But the more I stared at it, the more I understood it for what it most likely was: a way to win me over, either for dating or just sex.
I refuse to end up like Eva, sobbing uncontrollably over some guy.
So, I straightened my shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes. “Well, I can’t thank you enough, Jorge. It’ll go so well with some of my new work clothes. After being promoted, I figured it was a good excuse to go shopping.”
He picked up on what I was doing, which only seemed to excite him.
As I droned on about my career goals, the two of us spent the rest of the evening dancing around the ballroom. I tried to break away a few times to speak with family and friends, but Jorge was his usual magnetic self. Not once did he look at any of the other women, not even the ones who were wearing significantly more expensive dresses than myself. He planted all of his attention on me.
And that made him even more attractive.
By the time the party was over, I had both a strong buzz and sore feet. “Well, looks like I’m not driving home tonight.”
Jorge tilted his head as he wrapped his arm around my waist. “I’ll gladly drive you home, Ginger. Besides, we live at the same property, remember?”
By the time his Bentley pulled into our parking lot, my head was spinning like crazy, and I was riding a major high. The entire evening had been an enormous success. Guadalupe and Yuslan had pulled the party off without a hitch, and everyone seemed to have had a good time. Margo and Eva spent most of the evening discussing her upcoming wedding between Eva’s sobbing, and I had spent nearly all of it pressed up against Jorge.
He walked me to my condo and made sure that I got inside. And just as I was about to close the door, he brought my hand to his lips and kissed it. “I’ll call you Tuesday evening.”
All I could do was smile while shutting the door, and as it clicked shut, I realized my head was spinning even more so than before.
It must be from all of the champagne. Yeah, just too much champagne.
4
Jorge
Four Days Later
There were many perks to working from home: staying in my pajamas, not having to beat rush-hour traffic, and not having to smell other people’s food wafting from the break room. One of the worst culprits was my secretary. While she was a hard worker and one of the few employees I’d trust with my life, she ate fish nearly every damn day. Her excuse about the horrid smell of her microwaved salmon was its health benefits, but I was close to instituting a no-fish policy in the office.
That was what was running through my mind as I powered up my laptop, the only aroma being my Colombian coffee and a blueberry bagel. But my favorite benefit, however, was not having people know that I was at my desk. Whether it was in Antwerp or Miami, employees flooded my office within seconds of my sitting down. And nothing had been so crucial that my secretary couldn’t have taken care of it, had they only gone to her in the first place.
Once I logged onto the network, I groaned at the number next to my email icon: over a two-hundred messages were waiting for me. The only ones that actually got through to me were those that my assistants couldn’t handle since they had access to my primary account. My secondary email was so private that only a handful of people even knew of its existence.
I overheard some workman talking in the hall outside my door. They were repairing the pool nearby, which was fine by me. Working so many hours didn’t give me nearly enough time to go swimming, which was one of my favorite hobbies. And I couldn’t help but wonder what Ginger would look like in a sexy bikini, both of us drinking margaritas on the beach or beside the rooftop pool. The thought alone caused me to get a bit hard between my legs, so I shook my head and focused on work.
There was far too much on my plate to be getting sidetracked.
One of the organizations was the De Veers Diamond Group. I had inherited a part of it from my father, and it dealt with several diamond mines in Africa. My eyes gravitated to that email first. Since I had such a personal investment in it, I quickly read over their concerns.
Long story short, the miner’s union was demanding an increase in wages. The person who handled that for me was Ria, so I shot her a message on our interoffice communicator. Her status was available, and she usually replied quickly. But there was not even a peep from her that morning.
So, I pulled out my cell phone and sent her a text message. When several minutes passed and she still hadn’t gotten back to me, I grumbled to myself while calling her office phone, dreading her voice so early in the morning. It merely rang and rang, then went to her voicemail.
“Ria, it’s Jorge. I’m forwarding you an email from De Veers Diamond Group. It’s about the laborers working in the mines in Africa. They’re demanding an increase in wages, so please take care of it.”
I poured myself another cup of coffee while awaiting her response. In the past, she’d always been excited about talking with me.
Nothing.
So, I called her cell phone and, of course, got her voicemail.
“Ria, it’s Jorge. I find it hard to believe that you’re not available. Anyway, I just sent you an email from De Veers Diamond Group. Message or call me back to verify you’re taking care of it.”
My personal, vested interest in the diamond group was too big not to address the issue immediately. I stood to lose millions of dollars if it weren’t taken care of because those miners were paramount to our operation. So, when I hadn’t heard from her in over an hour, I sent my own damn reply authorizing her to start negotiations with their union leader ASAP. Then I spent the rest of the day wondering what the hell Ria was doing and praying the workers wouldn’t just walk out without agreeing to start negotiations.
I breathed a sigh of relief when, at fifteen minutes to five, De Veers emailed me back, confirming they agreed to continue mining operations while negotiations got underway.
Ria never got back to me.
Frustrated at my poor choice of ever sleeping with Ria, I poured myself a glass of pinot noir and thought about Gavin’s comments. I never wanted to admit it to him, but I really was concerned about all of that missing money. Since I was a billionaire, at first, I had just considered it chump change and shrugged it off. But if Ria were embezzling thousands of dollars—or more—it would only be a matter of time before she grew bigger balls and tried to take millions. And besides, embezzlement was a crime, and I didn’t want a criminal for a business partner.
After a turkey sandwich and baked potato, I decided to discuss it with Ginger.
“Hey,” her sweet voice said into the phone. “I just finished dinner. How was your day?”
“Pretty busy as usual. I just finished dinner too.”
“Anything exciting?”
I stared at the crumbs on my designer dinner plate. “Turkey, Swiss cheese, lettuce, bacon, and pesto on whole wheat. Oh, and a baked potato with butter and sour cream.”
“Someone’s getting all fancy.”
I chuckled while allowing her warm, velvety voice to calm my nerves. “Well, it would have tasted better if you were here.”
“Yeah, right. So, did anything big happen at work?”
I suddenly wondered if telling her about the whole Ria ordeal was a good idea.
She’s your friend, dammit, and friends help each other out.
“Funny you should mention that because I was asked to handle a situation at the diamond mines in Africa. But only because my busine
ss associate, who normally takes care of that stuff, was MIA.”
“You mean Ria?” Her voice tensed up when she said Ria’s name.
“Yeah, the same one I’ve, well, you know. I mean, not anymore. Anyway, I think Ria is avoiding me because I called it off with her. And to make matters worse, I also think she’s embezzling funds from our business.”
“Jorge, you can’t be serious! Embezzlement is a serious crime! Have you had anyone audit the books for you?”
Just ask her, dammit. The worst thing she can say is “no.”
“Actually, and I completely understand if you can’t or don’t want to, but—”
“I’ll gladly look over your books and do a quick audit,” she interjected.
I grinned from ear to ear. “Are you sure? I know it’s asking a lot of you, but it’s hard to find someone I can trust.”
“Don’t even worry about it. This is what I love to do.”
I eyed my laptop, wondering how long it’d take me to give her all of the documents. “Any chance you could come over tonight?”
“Since we’re literally neighbors, I can manage that. What time?”
“Now?”
“See you in five minutes.”
After quickly changing into a pair of khakis and a blue polo shirt, I grabbed another wine glass just as Ginger rang my doorbell. She was wearing a form-fitting, red halter dress, which showed off her curves while teasing me just enough about what was underneath. And the diamond tennis bracelet I had given her was sparkling on her wrist.
“Ginger, you look—I mean, come on in. I really appreciate your helping me out.”
“No problem.”
Her matter-of-fact attitude was the polar opposite of Ria’s, who never shied away from flirting with me. I was a man who appreciated the chase, and the more Ginger resisted me, the more I wanted her.
She’s just a friend.
“Why don’t you come into my office,” I said while pouring her a glass of wine.
She sat down across from me as I pulled up the necessary documents. “If it’s easier for you, you can just email them to me.”
“That’s probably a good idea, although I should forewarn you—it’s a lot. I need someone to go back to when Ria joined my business, so I’m afraid I’m asking too much of you.”
She waved her hands in the air at me. “I enjoy this kind of stuff, so I’m actually pretty excited to get started. Anything you want to tell me before I dig in?”
Yes, I want to tell you how sexy you are and that I need to be inside of you sooner rather than later.
“Only that she’s a conniving woman who I never should have gotten involved with.”
“Well, don’t be too hard on yourself. Based on what you’ve told me, it sounds like Ria was the one making all of the passes.”
“That’s true.”
Ginger took a long sip of her wine as a few awkward moments passed. Her eyes slowly moved up and down my body as I leaned back in my chair, and I realized that my erection was reasonably visible. Ginger looked at it, and I quickly sat back up, pulling myself forward so it was hidden under the desk. “I mean, can you blame her?”
I could feel my balls getting more cumbersome the longer she stared at me. “What do you mean?”
She gulped down the rest of her wine and rested the empty glass on my desk. Our eyes locked for a few minutes until I could no longer help myself. I allowed them to go farther south, toward her full, voluptuous breasts whose nipples were hardening underneath her dress. I licked my lips as Ginger slowly slid off one of the straps, allowing it to fall down to her left elbow.
And then she did the same to the right strap.
I remained silent while standing up, made my way over to her, and pressed my lips to hers without hesitation. We passionately kissed as she quickly slid off my polo, then ran her nails all along my chest. I picked her up, wrapping her legs around my waist, and then carried her into my bedroom. As she fell on top of my California king-sized fluffy white comforter, she shimmied out of her dress until she was only wearing a black G-string.
Within seconds I was naked, my hot, writhing body on top of hers as we rolled around. My erection pressed against Ginger's lace G-string until neither of us could take the heat. She grabbed my hand and used it to slide off her panties until her swollen pussy pushed up against my cock.
“Are you sure, Ginger?”
She nodded while shoving me onto my back, and then straddled my cock, sliding it all the way inside of her as both of us moaned with pleasure.
Being inside of Ginger was better than I could have ever imagined it’d be, her warm, velvet opening massaging my shaft as we rocked back and forth. She leaned forward, pressing her bosom against my chiseled abs while squeezing my shaft from within. Her skin was silky smooth and felt so soft against my rugged, rough hands.
“Oh, Jorge!”
“Ginger! I have to admit, I’ve been fantasizing about this.”
“Me too.”
Both of us closed our eyes as we made passionate love in my bedroom. Even though I’d developed a secret crush on her and suspected that she felt the same way about me, I still had reservations about having sex. But there we were, both of our bodies becoming one as we released a year’s worth of pent-up, sexual frustration.
Ginger flipped onto her back, allowing me to climb on top and plow deep inside of her. We remained focused on one another as I pumped away, sensing that our orgasms would coincide. We stared deeply into each other’s eyes as it happened, her legs shaking uncontrollably as my seed mixed with hers and became one.
I rolled over onto my back, the two of us panting heavily, gasping for air. The whole ordeal hadn’t lasted more than a few minutes. That didn’t sit well with me. “Ginger, I normally last a lot longer. Did you—”
“Yes, Jorge, that was unbelievable.” She was still struggling to catch her breath.
I wrapped my arms around her, realizing that no matter how hard we tried to fight it, our sexual chemistry was too strong to deny. And as someone who’d never been in a serious relationship before, that scared the shit out of me.
5
Ginger
My stomach growled louder as it got closer to noon. I was tempted to take an early lunch, but my workload was bigger than I’d anticipated. Doing the accounting for Lavender Dreams Spa was more intense than I’d expected, but at least I was in my own office with a breathtaking view of the ocean.
I opened my desk drawer, ransacking it for a protein bar of some kind. But all I could find was a package of crackers from the soup I’d had the other day. I made a mental note to put some snacks in my desk. And while I considered venturing out into the break room, knowing Guadalupe had probably brought in some of her baked goods, I decided against it. If I kept eating everything she baked, I’d go up a size and have to buy a new wardrobe.
That was exactly what I told Guadalupe every time she brought me one of her miniature cakes.
I turned around in my chair to look at the crystal-blue water and the waves crashing against the beach, thinking about how thankful I was for everything. I loved my job, where I lived, and had the best friends a girl could ask for. Thanks to careful planning, everything in my life was going in the right direction.
Plus, I got to have sex with Jorge last night.
I had told myself that I wouldn’t sleep with him, but who was I kidding. After a year’s worth of sexual tension building between us, it just seemed like the next step in our relationship. Especially, since he had broken things off with Ria.
Actually, Jorge had no reason to invite me over there for anything other than sex since he knew everything could be handled via email. That’s why it had taken me fifteen minutes instead of five to get to his place. I had ripped off my pajamas and chose the sexiest halter dress I owned. And I knew Jorge had been home all day, too, because his car had never left the parking lot. Which meant that he was probably working in pajamas too. But when I got there, he looked pulled together in that polo
and khakis.
He knew what he was doing.
I shook my head and went back to work, refusing to allow myself to get sidetracked. But every time I tried calculating numbers, all I could think about was how good it felt to have Jorge buried inside of me.
God, I could have fallen asleep in his arms.
By the time I looked up, it was five minutes to noon, Margo’s and Eva’s voices boomed down the hallway. I planned on picking up something from a drive-thru and eating it by the beach, but apparently, my best friends had other plans.
Margo popped her head into my office first. “Is it all right to come in? I have a surprise!”
“Of course, come on in. What’s the surprise?:”
Eva walked in behind her, carrying a large tray of sushi from our favorite Asian restaurant.
“The celebration continues with some California, cucumber, and dragon rolls! How about we eat outside today? The weather’s perfect, plus they’re working on the building across the street and the guys are hot,” Eva said.
We giggled as the three of us walked outside, sitting down on one of the many picnic benches next to the spa.
“There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of scenery while we eat, is there?” I asked.
Eva nodded toward the diamond tennis bracelet on my left hand. “Have you been wearing that since the party?”
“No, I take it off when I shower. Besides, Jorge probably spent a fortune on it and it is beautiful, so I don’t want to lose it.”
Margo winked at me while eating a cucumber roll. “Your wrist is glistening, and the smile on your face is telling. Did something happen between you two?”
My cheeks turned a deep shade of red, and I planned on chalking it up to the humidity. But even I wouldn’t have bought that lie. “I’m helping him out with his business, but I’d do that for any friend. Accounting stuff, nothing too exciting.”
Eva saw right through my lie too. “Tell us what happened, Ginger, and don’t skimp on the details!”
