I wanted to be inside her. I wanted her to be satisfied and that was exactly what I had done. Now, as Louise’s body began to relax after her orgasm, I slipped my fingers out of her tight sweet pussy and I saw the look of confusion in her eyes.
I stepped away from her and adjusted my cufflinks. Louise fumbled quickly on the floor for her dress and started pulling it up her body. I could see that she was distressed and was already regretting her decision to invite me up to her apartment. I had given her the chance to change her mind and was relieved when she hadn’t. It would have been very difficult to stop once we had started this thing.
I turned away from her now, giving her some privacy to zip her dress back up. I could still feel the softness of her folds, the wetness of her pussy on my fingers. Her breasts had fit perfectly in the palms of my hands, and my cock was still throbbing in my pants. I had planned on taking her after she had orgasmed once. My cock was desperate to be inside her, but I could see that she had already changed her mind and I wasn’t going to ask her to do something she didn’t want to do.
I ran a hand dejectedly through my hair, trying to will my cock to behave in my pants. I heard her clear her throat and I turned to see her standing up, looking at me with fire in her eyes.
“This was a mistake,” were her first words.
Louise’s demeanor had changed completely. She was back to being herself. After drinks with Roger, she had softened. She had been laughing more and was definitely more comfortable around me. Now, after her orgasm, she was back to normal. She looked like she was ready to bite my head off if I didn’t get out of there soon.
I clenched my jaws and pushed my hands into the pockets of my pants. I was glad that I was fully dressed already. It would have been a way more awkward conversation if I was naked. “Okay,” I said and I held her gaze.
Louise’s cheeks were flushed and she looked away from me. I still wanted her. There was nothing this woman could do to make me want her less. Having my fingers inside her pussy wasn’t going to be enough. I wanted more, but she was closing the door on me.
“I didn’t plan this . . . I don’t want this to become a pattern,” Louise continued, but she was refusing to face me.
I breathed in deeply and nodded my head. She would have what she wanted. If she was going to push me away now, then that was the way it had to be. It didn’t matter how desperately I wanted her; I also respected her. “Yes, I agree. This was a mistake,” I said.
She snapped her head around to me, her eyes flashing fire. It was almost like she was surprised to hear me say those words. What did she expect? For me to fall on my knees and beg for her body?
“I should get going, let you rest. Hope you feel better soon,” I said and turned from her. Louise said nothing. She had the chance to stop me or say something all the way to the door, but I didn’t hear a peep from her.
At the door, I had to fight every urge to not turn and look at her. Instead, I opened it and walked through and gently shut it behind me. Out in the hallway, I needed a few moments to catch my breath.
My fantasy of having Louise Downing had partially come true. This was the closest I was ever going to get to have her, but this wasn’t enough. I wanted more. Did I want more than just sex?
I shook my head and bounded down the stairs. I wasn’t about to allow my mind to go there. I wasn’t going to let myself imagine what my life would look like if Louise was a permanent fixture in it. I didn’t do relationships. I didn’t know what feelings for a woman were. I had been perfectly content with my working relationship with women — seduce, fuck, move on. It had worked well for me till now.
Yet, as I got into my Porsche, I couldn’t help but steal a glance up at Louise’s window. The lights were on, the window was open, and her curtains fluttered in the breeze. I imagined her standing at the window, looking down at me with her large blue eyes.
Why was I so willing to sink into her? Why had I jumped at the opportunity of being alone with her? Why did I, her boss, allow her to talk to me the way she did?
I didn’t have the answers to those questions — or rather, I wasn’t going to admit the truth. I had feelings for Louise. I always had feelings for Louise. But having real feelings for a woman was a sign of cowardice, of weakness.
This poor Brooklyn kid would not be living in a penthouse in Manhattan and wouldn’t be the CEO of Prisma if he had allowed himself to get tangled up in things like emotions and relationships. Everything I had achieved, I did on my own without the burden of a woman holding me back. I wasn’t about to start now.
Chapter 11 - Louise
I twiddled my thumbs as I sat behind my desk, staring at the blank computer screen.
I had been sitting like this since I got to the office an hour ago, almost like I was paralyzed and I couldn’t move. My secretary, Dee, had brought me my morning coffee and the usual chocolate chip cookie for breakfast, but I hadn’t touched either of them yet.
I had no appetite – not when I knew that Jack was somewhere in the building. I knew he liked to get into work by eight, earlier than nearly everybody else in the office. In all likelihood, he was in his office on the top floor, just a floor above mine.
I sat stationary on my chair, trying to get myself to move and get started with the day. There was a lot to get done. Roger had asked for a detailed report on the kind of consultation we would provide for Medusa. They were a real estate agency, one of the biggest in the country, and giving them financial advice would require a whole team and a host of ideas.
We had decided over drinks that Jack and I were both supposed to work on it together. We needed this report to be error-free and bursting with attractive ideas. For that, we couldn’t simply rely on our teams. We were going to have to get hands-on about it. It was the only way to make Roger see that we were the best people for the job.
Today, however, in broad daylight, I was too afraid to take the elevator up to his office.
I could still feel his thick rough fingers inside my pussy, sliding in and out of my folds, his thumb on my clit, his other hand cupping and squeezing my breast. Jack Gowler had seen me naked. He had been between my thighs, he had ripped apart my panties. How much more personal and intimate could that experience have been? And the worst part was that my body still sizzled from the memory of it. It wasn’t enough, even though he had made me come. I stayed up all night in a feverish state — fantasizing about his body underneath those clothes, of seeing his cock for the first time, of having it inside me.
My pussy throbbed as I sat in my chair, trying to push those thoughts away. I was being truthful the previous night when I claimed that it had been a mistake. There couldn’t have been a bigger mistake.
I had slept with my boss. It didn’t matter that Jack and I had been in the same position professionally a week ago. Right now, he was the CEO of the company, and he was everybody’s boss. Which made me the naive idiot who had fallen for her boss’s charms.
It wasn’t just the fact that he was my boss. Jack Gowler was not the kind of man I could take home to my parents. What would Father say if he met Jack? He hated his guts already even before they’d met, all because Father didn’t consider him worthy for the position. Jack came from nothing. Jack was never going to be welcome in our house or accepted by my parents . . . But why was I even thinking about that?
Nothing had happened . . . It was nothing more than a moment of weakness with someone who was off limits. He had said it himself, had agreed with me that it was a mistake. So, clearly, Jack wasn’t considering what happened last night to mean anything other than a one-night stand.
I stood up from my chair with a jerk, feeling foolish.
What was wrong with me? We had kissed, he’d made me come . . . That was all. And here I was, thinking about how my family would never accept him! I was jumping the gun . . . based on what?
I started pacing the office. I could feel a film of sweat forming on my forehead as I tried to calm myself. I had to get back to normal. I needed to
focus on the Medusa account instead of daydreaming about Jack’s deep green eyes or his chiseled jaw or the force with which his fingers had thrust into me.
I squeezed my thighs together in the hopes that it would dull the throbbing of my pussy. That didn’t help either. I couldn’t get him out of my head. I kept recalling the look of concern in his eyes when he heard that I was ill. He was the one who had volunteered to drive me home. He had jumped at the invitation to come up to my apartment. Was that all just an act just to get into my pants?
I couldn’t put it past Jack. He had a reputation with women that he had proven to me. In fairness, he hadn’t led me on in any way. He had presented himself to me exactly the way he was known to be . . . and I had fallen for it. I couldn’t keep my hands off him.
The intercom started beeping on my desk, making me nearly jump out of my skin. I rushed to it, with my heart racing in my chest. It was Dee calling from her desk.
“Louise, Mr Gowler just called in to ask if you were in your office. He says that he needs to speak to you about Medusa?” Dee was her usual polite self, but I gulped. Jack wanted to see me. It couldn’t be avoided. He was my boss and he had every right to summon me to his office to discuss work.
It was just that I wasn’t sure how my body was going to react in his presence.
“Let him know that I’m on my way,” I told Dee and pressed down hard on the button to end the call. I felt like I was going to be drenched in sweat by the time I made my way to Jack’s office.
Chapter 12 - Jack
I needed to see Louise again because I’d fantasized about her all night. She was like a drug and I was an addict, and having her was a shock to the system. I needed another hit. Since I was the CEO of the company now, there was nothing stopping me from summoning her up to my office whenever I wanted.
But I couldn’t sit down. I was too jittery and agitated to do that, so when Louise eventually knocked on my door and stepped in, she found me pacing around my office with my hands clasped behind my back.
Seeing her again made me stand paralyzed to the spot. No woman had ever had this effect on me before; not even Louise. The kiss, my fingers in her pussy – those were the culprit. It felt like everything had changed and nothing was going to be the same again.
“You wanted to see me?” she said, shutting the door behind her. Louise seemed subdued. She wasn’t her usual fiery self. I could sense that she was having a hard time meeting my eyes. Her blue eyes had grown dark and deep, and they flitted around my office—almost like she was afraid of finding another redhead hidden behind my desk.
“Yes, about Roger Tracker and Medusa,” I replied and walked towards my chair.
“Oh,” she said, almost sounding disappointed. She was in a green dress today, formal and fashionable with long sleeves. Her heels were black stilettos and they sank into the carpet on my office floor as she took short strides towards my desk.
We both took a seat at the same time, and I picked up the Medusa file that was lying open on my desk.
The truth was that we had a lot of things related to Medusa to discuss, but I didn’t want to. Something crucial had happened between us the previous night, and that was all that was on my mind.
“Before we begin talking strategy, I just wanted to reassure you, Louise, that we don’t have to allow things to change between us,” I said and she finally met my eyes.
Her eyes were still narrowed; she still looked nervous. Her usual spunky wit was missing and, surprisingly, I missed it. Regardless of what happened between us, I didn’t want our relationship to change. I had always kind of enjoyed the hard time she gave me. It kept me on my feet. Strangely, it kept me motivated.
Louise gulped and nodded her head. “I agree,” she said.
“It was a mistake,” I added and she nodded her head again.
“Just a drunken mistake,” she said.
“Were you drunk?” I asked.
Louise’s eyes grew wide and she shook her head. “No, were you?” she asked.
I shook my head too. There were a few moments of silence between us and I took in a deep breath.
“So, it wasn’t exactly a drunken mistake then, was it?” I asked. Louise didn’t reply. “Anyway, the point is that it was a mistake and I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable working with me,” I said, peering at her. I was watching her every move. Did she even know how flawlessly beautiful she was? With her perfect breasts that fit in my palms, with her delicious glossy lips and her long pale legs?
Louise’s eyes sparkled as she faced me again. “I won’t feel uncomfortable if we talk about work,” she remarked. I saw a hint of her usual self and smiled.
“Steady on the whip there,” I joked and we smiled at each other —something we rarely did in the real world. Last night had been like a dream state – very far from reality – but today we were back here again.
“So, should we get down to business then?” she asked and I nodded and looked down at the file again.
“I would be happy to, but the thing is that I have a conference call in exactly twelve minutes,” I told her and Louise rolled her eyes.
“Of course you do,” she snapped and sat back in her chair. I couldn’t stop myself from grinning. It was good to have her back to her old self!
“Why don’t we postpone our business discussion until five?” I asked and she arched her brows.
“I am not going to another cocktail bar with you!” she snapped, but as much as she tried to pretend that she was annoyed, I could tell that she wasn’t. She was just trying to hide her amusement.
“Who said anything about a cocktail bar? We’ll just meet back here in the safe space of my office,” I assured her and Louise began to stand up.
“Fine. Five. I’ll be here. I hope you won’t have any other surprise conference calls then,” she replied as she began to walk to the door.
“I’ll clear my schedule for you,” I called after her but she didn’t reply.
I watched her leave my office, following the swinging movement of her hips with my eyes as she walked in her high heels. It was only after she had shut the door behind her that I felt like I could breathe again.
Why had I called her up to my office? Why was I making up random excuses just to talk to her? There was no way that she was going to let things go any further than they had already.
I should have been fucking a different woman just to get Louise Downing out of my head, but I couldn’t — I couldn’t think of anyone else now that I had a taste of her.
Chapter 13 - Louise
It was surprisingly easy working with Jack, and I wished that I had gotten over my initial impression of him and just given him a chance.
At five, I had arrived back up at Jack’s office, and since then, we had been sitting at his desk and discussing strategies for Medusa.
Eight years ago, when I’d first met Jack Gowler in these offices on a different floor, my reaction to him had been one of irritation. I had noticed his devastating good looks, of course. Those were hard to miss. I had also noticed the way women reacted to his presence and how men looked up to him.
To me, Jack Gowler had been nothing more than a lazy smooth talker who hoped that nobody would notice how bad he was at his job. Since then, I’d avoided every opportunity of working closely with him. Over the years, I realized that it was my own defense mechanism against his charms. The less I interacted with him, the less there was the chance of me falling for him.
Since we had spent the past few hours engaged in deep, serious conversation about Medusa, I was beginning to admit to myself that I had completely misjudged him. There was more to Jack than his dark slicked back hair and his taste in clothes and Rolexes – than his Porsche and his interest in redheads and skimpily clad supermodels.
The truth was that Jack Gowler was a fiercely good financier. He had a sharp mind and an acute sense of observation. His thoughts on Roger Tracker and his ideas on how to crack him were similar to mine. As time went on and the more we sp
oke, I discovered that our thought processes were actually quite similar. If I had just given him the chance earlier, we could have worked well together.
However, things were different. He had been in my apartment. He had kissed me and I had kissed him back. He had touched my pussy. I had come in his hand . . . Everything had changed. I was working with him on this deal because it was important, but I didn’t want to work with him again, no matter how well we clicked in business.
I had made the crucial mistake of sleeping with him. I had gone past the point of no return, and the only way back was by distancing myself from him.
Jack was looking at me while I went over the notes I had taken during the meeting. I could sense his eyes on me as I sat across from him, but I didn’t want to meet his sparkling green gaze. I didn’t want to be tempted.
His cellphone beeped and he reached into his pocket. Now that he was reading the text he’d received, I had the perfect opportunity to stare at him. His brows were crossed, his jaws were strong and masculine . . . I didn’t have to think too hard to imagine those lips on mine again. I could almost taste him.
Jack looked up suddenly and caught me staring. “What are you doing tonight?” he asked, catching me by surprise.
“N . . . nothing, w . . . why?” I stuttered, but he didn’t seem to take notice of it.
“Some of my buddies from my old neighborhood are drinking at a bar around the corner. You should join us,” he said and made to stand up.
I was surprisingly disappointed that the meeting was coming to an end. I had enjoyed talking to him even though I had tried to convince myself that I needed to stay away from him. “Oh, no. That’s okay. You should go ahead,” I said and looked at my watch. “Wow, look at the time! It’s nearly eight. I should get going,” I remarked and jumped out of my chair.
It didn’t feel like nearly three hours had passed already!
Hungry CEO Page 4
