“Hello, there,” she said to me, eyeing me from head to toe. I felt naked under her gaze. My face must have displayed the confusion and embarrassment I was feeling because she suddenly smiled and extended her hand to me.
“I’m Janet, Oscar’s mother,” she said, in a warm understanding voice.
“Kayla Edwards,” I said, shaking her hand. I hoped I didn’t come across as nervous as I actually was.
“Kayla Edwards…you work at the office, don’t you? My husband mentions your name all the time,” she said, sidestepping Oscar as she stood in front of me. She was wearing a pair of cream trousers and a black ruffled blouse. Her hair was neatly styled into a side chignon and she had expensive jewels on her neck and dangling from her ears.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m Mr. Connell’s PA,” I said, exchanging a look with Oscar. I could see that Janet was studying me closely, probably wondering what I was doing at her son’s apartment at this time of the night, and dressed like this.
“Oh well, come in then. We were just about to sit down for dinner. Maria has been very kind and cooked us up something.” Janet held the door open and I had no other choice but to follow her in. I avoided looking at Oscar, feeling the heat climb up the back of my neck.
“Mother, I’m sure Kayla has plans. Don’t force her to stay,” I heard Oscar say, but we had already walked into the living room, where Oscar’s father, Richard Connell was sitting.
“Oh, nonsense honey. Kayla will stay,” Janet said, walking over to her husband. Richard Connell stared at me, a slight look of surprise coloring his face.
“Good evening Mr. Connell,” I said. His face broke into a smile.
“How many times do I have to tell you, Kayla, stop working so hard. I hope Oscar isn’t pushing you too much,” he said, looking at his son as he entered the living room.
“Not at all Mr. Connell, I was just here to pick up a report and then I’ll be on my way,” I said, trying to smile as genuinely as possible.
“I’ll get that for you right away,” Oscar said and our eyes met. He looked truly apologetic, and I looked away from him.
“Oscar, Kayla should stay for dinner. It’s the least we can do. I apologize on my son’s behalf for making you come all the way for a piece of paper at this time of the night,” Janet interrupted him and turned to look at me, with kindly welcoming eyes.
“Yes, of course, Kayla, you have to stay,” Richard said and stood up from the couch.
“Now, Oscar, pour Kayla a glass of wine and the two of you join us in the dining room. Richard, come with me,” Janet said, leading her husband away.
Oscar and I stood staring at each other in silence till we heard the scraping of chairs in the dining room, telling us that they had sat down.
“I apologize, Kayla. They surprised me by showing up here.” Oscar took a few long strides towards me. I licked my lips and looked up at him. My heart was still racing. I couldn’t remember the last time I was this embarrassed.
His parents weren’t stupid, especially Janet wasn’t. The amount of cleavage my dress was revealing made it pretty clear why I was here. They were just being polite. I felt dirty and disgusted with myself. How could I have let this happen? My purpose with this deal was to use and throw away Oscar, not to make a fool of myself. Did they think I was stalking their son? That he was buying my body? Would they fire me from my job tomorrow morning?
“I have to go, I can’t stay,” I said in a whisper as he came closer to me.
“They’re sitting at the table, expecting you to join us for dinner. You can’t just leave now,” he said, pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He looked gorgeous, more casual than I had seen him before. A polo shirt and simple blue jeans. I wanted to see him naked, of course, feel those hands on my body, but my feelings of shame overrode my desire for him.
“I can’t sit there and pretend to eat, Sir,” I said, emphasizing the last word, reminding him of what our relationship truly was.
“Just pretend it’s a work dinner. My father used to be your boss, I’m sure you wouldn’t have been uncomfortable being invited to dinner with his family,” Oscar said, looking deep into my eyes.
“I can’t. Not dressed like this, not when they’ve just caught me out,” I said, intertwining my fingers and pulling them apart again. My shame was building up, I hoped I wouldn’t break into tears.
“Kayla, it’ll be fine. They’re not thinking anything of this. I know my parents.” His voice was soft and gentle, showing me a different side of himself. But I was grounded in my resolve. I wasn’t going to spend time with him in this kind of social setting. I had to avoid it at all costs.
“I don’t care what you think is going on. I can’t do it. This wasn’t a part of the deal so you can’t force me to do it,” I hissed at him through gritted teeth. His eyes widened and he looked like he was shocked that I would ever speak to him this way.
“I’m not forcing you to do anything, Kayla. They’re waiting for us to join them for dinner, that’s all,” he said, crossing his arms across his chest. He looked more sexy than ever and I wanted to pounce on him, rip his clothes apart and devour him.
“It’s not my problem, Sir. They are your parents. You deal with them the best way you can,” I snapped at him and brushed past him. He didn’t call out to me or follow me to the door.
I softly shut the door behind me and then I ran. Down the stairs, instead of taking the elevator and out of the front doors till the fresh night air gushed into my lungs.
I don’t know what I was running away from. Oscar might have been right. They might not have thought anything of it. But I couldn’t bear to handle the thought of what might happen if they did. What if I had walked into the same trap as my mother did? What if I was being judged for sleeping with my boss? What if I lost my job?
I walked all the way back home. It took me over an hour. I had kicked my heels off and walked in silence. It gave me time to think. Slowly, I was beginning to feel bad. I had abandoned Oscar in a sticky situation, left him to deal with the awkwardness of the circumstances. But the justification was that I did it to save my skin.
My emotions wobbled. One moment I was feeling sorry for my actions, the next I was trying to justify them. He deserved it. Men deserved it. He should have felt as uncomfortable as I was. But he was feeling uncomfortable, I had seen it in his eyes when he looked at me. Confident, suave, successful and handsome Oscar Connell, was uncomfortable and upset at what I was going through. He wanted to save my face in front of his parents. I hadn’t expected him to care. What I had expected from him was to throw me out of his house. But he didn’t, he was trying to convince me to stay for dinner. Why would he do that?
I pushed open the door of my apartment and sat in my tight leather dress on the couch in the dark. I felt lonely, and I wished Oscar was here with me.
I couldn’t claim I knew him. I knew nothing about his childhood, his likes and dislikes, his bad habits, how he liked his eggs or if he ever had any pets. What I did know was that he was strong, that he held me like he was afraid I was going to fall, that he felt responsible for my reputation, that he respected his parents, that he wanted to save his company from downfall, that he was scared and new to the business and that a lot of what the world saw of Oscar Connell was just a facade.
But I didn’t want to know anything else about him. That was not a part of the plan. The plan was going smoothly till I started thinking about him when he wasn’t there. I knew that he was going to stick to the contract; because I knew Oscar Connell kept his word.
Chapter Eight
Oscar
Handling my parents was the easy part. Handling my ego and my emotions; not so easy. I pushed open the door of my office, flung my briefcase on one of the leather armchairs tastefully arranged in the center of my office, and walked over to the windows behind my desk.
I was still angry. Not quite sure who I was angry at, though. Kayla maybe, for what she had said and how she had simply left. But what more could I
have expected from her? The terms of our deal were plain and simple, and she had stuck by them. How could I have expected her to play along with entertaining my parents? She must have been embarrassed. But I was angry nonetheless.
There was a knock on my door and I whipped around to see Jonathan entering my office.
“Morning Oscar,” he said. I hadn’t seen him in a few days, not since he had abandoned me and Marcia at the bar.
“Morning Jonathan,” I said curtly, keeping my hands firmly interlocked behind my back.
“What can I do for you?” I asked him as he shut the door behind him. He was grinning as usual and smoothened the few strands of pale hair that remained on top of his head.
“Nothing much. I was just checking in on you. I know you’ve sent me a report on your findings, but I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet,” he said, helping himself to a seat without me having offered it to him.
“I suggest you look at it soon, Jonathan, I need to get a few new regulations approved by the board and then hold a press conference. None of which I can do unless you approve them as well,” I said, annoyed that he hadn’t been doing his job. Here I was, working my ass off while he didn’t seem to be interested in saving the family firm.
“I’ll get around to it, Oscar. Jesus, now I can see how Marcia felt,” he said, crossing his legs and playing with the rings on his fingers.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, gripping the back of my chair with both my hands.
“When did you become like this, little brother? All serious? What happened to the guy I heard London stories about? Don’t take this job too seriously,” he said, in a patronizing tone. It was clear to see that Jonathan still believed that he knew more than me, that he was better at the job than I was. I took a deep breath, gripping the chair harder and clenching my jaw.
“Don’t you think we should take it seriously? Given that the company could go bankrupt in less than six months?” I asked, glaring straight into his eyes. It didn’t faze him, I was still his little brother.
“That won’t happen, Oscar. You know father has just been overreacting,” he responded with a laugh.
“I’ve looked at the numbers, Jonathan. It’s very likely to happen unless we think about a complete overhaul of our policies, which, as you will see, are outlined in my report.” I walked around the table to stand in front of him.
He remained silent for a few seconds, staring at me with a smile and a mocking gleam in his eyes.
“What’s the matter, Oscar? Has Kayla been yanking your chain too hard?” he asked in a low voice. There was a challenge in his voice that I recognized and I could feel my brain snap.
“What did you just say?” I heard myself blurt out. I hadn’t meant to overreact like that, but I could feel my fists balling up. Jonathan held up his hands in a defensive stance, the smile still on his face.
“Just commenting on the news that has been doing the rounds. Mother told me Kayla came to visit you at night, to pick up a report. I only put two and two together. Plus, you turned Marcia away. That never happens. You don’t refuse any woman who throws herself at you.” Jonathan was still smirking as he spoke.
I could feel my blood boiling.
“Shut up Jonathan,” I said through gritted teeth and he laughed.
“Is that the best you can do little brother?” he asked and I took a few steps towards him.
“Kayla is my PA. Don’t you talk about her like that again,” I said, glaring into his eyes. None of it bothered Jonathan. He had always been the kind of guy who was sure of himself, of his strength and power.
“Exactly, Oscar. She’s just your PA. Why do you care so much?” he asked, scratching the top of his hand. I could feel the ache in my jaw as I continued to grit my teeth. He was right, I didn’t know why this had angered me so much, but I couldn’t control it. I wanted to punch my brother, right in the face.
“I like people who work for me to be treated with respect,” I managed to say and Jonathan stood up from his chair.
“Easy there, little brother. If it wasn’t for father’s kind-heartedness, you wouldn’t even have a PA. You should be grateful that you have a job here, instead of trying to boss me around.” He stepped closer to me. He had to look up slightly to look into my face, but he wasn’t intimidated by his lack of height. He knew he could play me, manipulate me emotionally.
“I’m grateful to father for the opportunity. Not to you. Maybe if you’d done your job properly all these years, he wouldn’t have been forced to call me in to handle it,” I said, trying to calm myself down. Jonathan threw back his head and laughed.
“Sure, Oscar.” His voice changed suddenly. The threatening menace had disappeared and he had changed it to one of light-heartedness, so much so that I worried that I had been imagining his threat. Jonathan was very good at manipulating people. That was what he had done to Sandra as well.
“Don’t be such a lightweight, Jonathan,” I said, following him with my eyes as he walked away from me.
“I’m not. I understand that this is all new to you and it’s all gone to your head. You’ll get used to it. The power, the money, the responsibilities. Enjoy Kayla while she lasts, and let me know when you need a new one, little brother,” he said and turned to throw me a wink before walking out of the office.
I turned back to my desk, walked to the chair and sat down. My emotions were running wild, I couldn’t be sure of my actions anymore. What was Jonathan saying? Why didn’t he respect me? How could he treat me like a child still, after all the work I was putting in?
“Good morning Sir.” I heard Kayla’s voice. She had noiselessly entered my office and taken me by surprise. I needed some time to recover from my brother before I could deal with her.
“Morning,” I mumbled as she walked over to me with purpose.
“I have your schedule printed out for the day and I’ll type up your notes from yesterday,” she said, shuffling through the papers in her hands.
As always, Kayla looked beautiful in the mornings, a different kind of beautiful. Her hair was tied up like the previous night when she stormed out of my house. She was in her usual skirt suit and a green blouse. Her shoes were tall black stilettos that made her butt sway when she walked. Her makeup was minimal and she looked clean and fresh, like a breath of sweet spring air.
“Thanks, Kayla,” I managed to say, trying to avoid her eyes. I knew she didn’t want to talk about last night, so I tried to steer my mind off it. There were too many things to worry about anyway.
“Can I get you some coffee? Some donuts?” she asked, tucking in the papers under her arm. We looked at each other in silence for a few seconds and then I shook my head.
“No, I’m good, thank you,” I replied and she turned on her heels to go.
“Kayla, wait,” I blurted out and she stopped. I wasn’t sure where I was going with that, all I knew was that I didn’t want her to leave. I wanted to look at her just a little longer.
“About last night. I apologize again. You were right to leave, I shouldn’t have pressed you to stay.” The words came tumbling out of my mouth. I hadn’t intended on saying any of those things. She licked her lips and sighed.
“It’s forgotten now, Sir,” she said and we held each other’s gaze for a few moments. It was hard to imagine that a woman who could be so professional during the day could be so ravishing at night, without batting an eyelid. How did she do it?
“I hope this doesn’t affect our contract,” I asked and Kayla raised her eyebrows.
“Not for me. Not yet,” she said and looked away from me, down at the papers in her hands. Did I make her shy again? I stood up from my chair and tried to catch her gaze.
“Good, because that would be a shame. I wanted to rip that dress off of you, with my parents in the next room,” I said in a low voice and I watched her shift in her shoes. She refused to look me in the eye.
“We shouldn’t be discussing this in the office,” she said eyeing me with an embarras
sed look on her face.
“It’s my office and I get to say what I want. You’re free to leave if you like,” I said. It was amazing how just her presence had calmed me down. The rage and anger that had been coursing through my veins since the previous night, brought to its tipping point with my brother’s arrival, had all suddenly disappeared when Kayla walked in.
I wanted to keep her here with me. I didn’t necessarily want to talk about sex or her body. But there was nothing work-related to discuss. I wanted to keep hearing her voice nonetheless.
She looked up at me and met my gaze.
“I wore it because I knew you’d feel that way,” she murmured softly and I almost laughed at her shyness. I hadn’t expected her to be like that and it took me by delighted surprise.
I walked around the desk closer to her.
“When is my first meeting of the day?” I asked her and she looked at the printed schedule in her hand.
“In an hour,” she said and looked back at me, a glint of curiosity in her eyes. She was enjoying the idea. We had never done this here before, and I was glad to see that she was warming to the idea.
“Then we should get started immediately, shouldn’t we?” I said and she turned on her heels again.
My heart was beating out of my chest. That was the last thing I wanted, to scare her away. I regretted having suggested it. Had I mistaken the look in her eyes? Was she disgusted with me?
Kayla reached the door, turned the lock and then faced me again.
“Not a minute to waste,” she said and bit down on her lip. I reached for my tie and loosened it in one quick motion. I couldn’t wait to see her naked again.
Chapter Nine
Kayla
I had always wondered what he would feel like in the mornings. His clothes were freshly dry cleaned and ironed. His hair was neatly styled back, a few curls straying over his forehead. He smelt new and clean and masculine. I had daydreamed about him, only a few times, while he sat at meetings or called out notes to me. His jaw was set in a tight square line, his eyes were intense, professional. I had wondered what he would be like, naked, in my arms.
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