**********
CHAPTER 14
Sitting in her office effectively hiding from the rest of the staff until the ‘Welcome’ meeting, Rachel attempted to calm her nerves. She debated long and hard whether she should make herself known to Joe Mason prior to the meeting but figured he couldn’t do much to her in a room full of people, and a small part of her still held out hope that he wouldn’t recognise her. After all, dressed for business in killer Armani with her hair in a neat bun, was a complete contrast to how she looked in the gym.
Butterflies fluttered in her tummy as the clock crept around to 10am. Angela rapped sharply on her door.
“It’s time to go Rachel. Wait; are you nervous?” Angela stood with both hands on her hips studying Rachel carefully.
“God Angela, I’m a wreck. I really need Joe to approve on the Genesis project. I Googled him and it seems like he’s a man that usually gets his way.”
“Hmmm, and the fact that he’s a 6 foot plus, hunkalicious Yank, has nothing to do with it?” Angela’s eyes narrowed. “Anyway – I’m sure you’ll find a way to convince him to let you move forward with Genesis. Your legs look amazing in those heels by the way, and that dress fits like a wet dream. Honey; use what God gave you if it works!”
Rachel laughed and the knot of tension in her shoulders eased a little. “Angela; you are a gem. Come on then – lead me to my fate.” She shrugged on her jacket; rolled her shoulders; added a touch more lip-gloss and followed Angela down the hall to the boardroom.
Some of the senior executive team were blocking up the doorway and Rachel lingered behind them. She figured that they could shield her from Joe’s direct eye line and she could study the man in action before he spotted her. Angela made sure Rachel hadn’t bolted before she winked at her and blew a kiss in her direction and swayed off back to Reception with a big smile on her face.
“Rachel, my dear.” Benjamin Pierce moved through the crowd to greet her. “You’re looking marvellous today. Working obviously suits you.” Rachel hung back making Ben come to her; she had glimpsed Joe at the head of the table and her insides were flipping around preventing all coherent thought let alone conversation. The man was absolutely devastating and Rachel felt winded by the severity of her physical reaction towards him. Having seen him in lycra and then in next to nothing she was more than familiar with his incredible physique, but the way he wore a suit was simply ridiculous. It had to be bespoke – there was no way an off the rack would fit properly. And it was three pieces. Who the hell wore a waistcoat anymore – that was just too over the top. She could just make out a check to the dark grey material offset perfectly by a crisp white shirt and grey tie to match. The jacket was done up over his broad chest and shoulders but the perfect fit only highlighted the muscles underneath. It was indeed a power suit and Rachel had no doubt he had worn it for impact and right now that impact was hitting her between the legs in a delicious pool of heat.
“For the love of god, not now!” Rachel cursed herself. Ben’s head whipped up in surprise at her outburst. “Oh gosh not you Ben; I’m so sorry. A lot on my mind.” She touched Ben on the arm to reassure him and he smiled in understanding, “This mustn’t be easy for you seeing someone take Nate’s place. But he would be so proud of you for carrying on his work. It was his dream, as you know. Joe will come around, I’m sure.”
Rachel felt a little colour rise in her cheeks. Nate had been in her thoughts all weekend but it had been Joe in her dreams and guilt washed over her in waves. Concentrating on giving the meeting 100% of her attention she focused on listening to Ben introduce Joe Mason as the new CEO.
“We are all delighted that you have joined us from the Big Apple. I speak on behalf of all the staff here at Gyles Bishop when I say we are very excited to have you on board; at our helm as it were. Your reputation is excellent and everyone’s keen to get to know you.”
Joe stood looking at Ben, his hands in his pockets looking relaxed and confident. He had plastered a smile on his face but Rachel could tell even at a distance it wasn’t his natural demeanour. There was a tension around his eyes and he occasionally played with his beard, which she thought could be a habit designed to keep him focussed. It was driving her nuts watching his long fingers stroking his face. Truthfully, it made her mouth water and her fingers itch to touch the silky strands covering his strong jawline. His lips looked as soft as they had felt against her neck the other night and her pussy tingled with the memory.
Ben continued “You have a hard act to follow Joe; Nate Renton was an hugely popular CEO before you and he had a lot of innovative ideas we hope to move forward with. In fact we are fortunate to have his wife Rachel on staff working with us now. Rachel?”
“Oh no; oh Ben, no” Rachel screamed in her head. Instead knowing she had finally reached the point of no return, Rachel straightened her back and puffed out her chest and with a beatific smile on her face moved though the crowd to emerge in front of Joe.
“Mr Mason; it’s a pleasure to meet you at last.”
Turning his body to meet her with his hand poised to shake hers, Joe’s smile died as he instantly recognised Rachel. She saw his body stiffen and the bunch of muscles tightening under the fabric of his jacket looked lethal to her. She was instantly wet as his naked self flashed in her mind and her pulse raced making her mildly breathy.
Recovering quickly like the true professional he was, Joe plastered a sympathetic look on his face and took her hand in his gripping firmly. “Mrs Renton,” he dragged her name out slightly, “Rachel isn’t it?” he squeezed her hand slightly imperceptible to all but her leaving her in no doubt he knew exactly who she was.
Just then Rachel didn’t know whether she wanted to knee him in the bollocks for looking so smug or leap on him and shove her tongue down his throat. “Shit, I am in so much trouble” she sighed to herself.
“I’m glad we’ve finally been introduced.” He raised an eyebrow at her and she coughed at the ambiguity of his words. Clearly no one else would have any knowledge of their previous encounters. Still holding her hand he turned to face her full on dipping his head slightly so that only she could see his grey eyes had turned to liquid steel and Rachel shifted uncomfortably at the cold glint in his expression. She tried to pull her hand away but he didn’t budge.
“Please accept my sincere sympathies on the loss of your husband.”
“Th th thank you.” Rachel croaked pathetically expecting Joe to release her hand – he did but not before pulling her forward very slightly causing her to stumble in her heels. Shooting out his arm to steady her Rachel glared at him but refrained from saying anything in front of the rest of the senior staff. Biting her lip she dug her fingers hard into his arm but of course the idiot didn’t flinch, merely smirked and turned back to Ben effectively ending their little silent battle of wills.
“Colleagues,” Joe addressed the room, “please take a seat and let me introduce myself to you all properly.”
Grabbing the chair directly in front of Joe, Rachel decided a little payback was in order and waited until she caught his eye to cross her legs exposing as much thigh as she could without causing the older executives to have heart failure.
“Ha!” Rachel mentally high fived herself when one of Joe’s magnificent eyebrows raised a fraction as his jaw muscles clenched under his beard. Wiggling her butt in the chair to get comfy Rachel clasped her hands in her lap and patiently waited for Joe to begin. The raging throb of her clit was madly distracting but she thought she was doing a pretty good job of hiding it.
**********
“Jesus, fuck, she is killing me!” Joe was on the cusp of chucking everyone but her out of the room and using the boardroom table for much more entertaining and satisfying purposes involving the little bitch with her hem line considerably higher than it was now.
“What an annoying little prick tease this woman was turning out to be,” he thought, as if he hadn’t been hard for her since Saturday night. And then she walks into his boardroom
all cool and fucking sexy hot in bloody Armani!
Aesthetically, Rachel was everything he looked for in woman; sophisticated and sexy. She was naturally beautiful; he hated all that botox shit; a few lines and wrinkles added character and spoke of life experience. She was older than he usually went for but look where that had gotten him; precisely nowhere, or to be more exact, in London on his own thousands of miles from his kids. Her legs were shapely and plenty long enough to fit round his waist. He noticed this again because Rachel had chosen to place her self directly in his line of sight and her skirt had ridden to an indecent level exposing the creamy flesh of her thighs. Being that she was in the front row at the head of the table twisted round to face him, he was the only one left guessing if she was actually wearing any panties.
Joe admired the outfit she had worn and appreciated the way it clung to her curves. He didn’t need to imagine what she felt like, or what she smelled like or what she looked like goddamn naked because it was all imprinted in his head and senses from their previous two encounters. No question she affected him physically, but until today he had thought she was some ditzy broad and a complete klutz, not a bloody executive at Gyles Bishop for fuck’s sake.
Joe narrowed his eyes at her as he prepared to speak to the group he would be managing. Rachel’s lips twitched and she uncrossed her legs very deliberately, shifted back in her seat and crossed them over again. It was no Sharon Stone moment but enough to make his cock jerk in his suit pants.
Obviously Saturday night’s little charade in the steam room had been a set up but she’d bottled it at the last minute. She had known who he was all along and clearly thought she could manipulate him with her impressive tits and perfect shaped arse. Joe was not so easily swayed, even if his dick protested otherwise. She wanted Genesis, she was going to have to work bloody hard to get it. He knew all about her husband and his crusade to ‘give back.’ Rachel had a battle on her hands if she thought he was about to relent just because he wanted to fuck her; there was no room for sentiment in business.
Refusing to be ruffled by Rachel Renton any longer, Joe turned on the charm and seduced his team with dry American wit; extensive knowledge of the British justice system, and plenty of promising plans for the future. Whilst he didn’t buy into the typical over the top enthusiastic American attitude of the power of positive thinking, he was very motivational in his approach. At the end of his speech there was a lot of clapping and good cheer and everyone shook his hand muttering their devotion etc etc. Joe wasn’t much of a people person; he did what was necessary to be a crowd pleaser and get people on board, then he left it to the managers to liaise.
The room emptied swiftly, but from where Rachel was situated she had to wait for everyone else to exit before her.
“Mrs Renton, a moment please.”
Joe’s deep command stalled her leaving. He indicated that she should sit back down, however he remained standing. A classic power move. Rachel scowled feeling like a naughty schoolgirl being held back after class. Joe stood a few feet away checking his phone and she couldn’t help fidget as the last of her colleagues left the room.
“Well – at last we are alone.” There was no humour in his voice and Rachel’s nerves bubbled in her throat.
“Not for the first time.” The words just slipped out and Rachel clamped a hand over her mouth shocked at her flippant response. What was it with this guy that riled her so much? Giving herself a stern pep talk, she began over.
“I apologise, that was crass of me. This isn’t a situation I ever predicted. Do you want me to explain?” Rachel looked up at him deciding she wasn’t going to be intimidated. She didn’t look away as he exhaled loudly.
“Is that a British thing or a Rachel thing? Why not just explain – don’t bloody ask first!” He ran his a hand through his thick dark hair reminding Rachel how Luc used to do the same thing when he got frustrated with her.
“There’s no need to get shouty. Sit down; you’re making me dizzy pacing up and down. You’ll wear the carpet out.”
Joe froze on the spot looking at her like she had two heads. She was crazy, that had to be the reason for all this nonsense. He tried another approach.
“Mrs Renton…”
“Oh it’s Rachel please. I told Angela last week it makes me think my mother in law is here when I hear Mrs Renton. And believe me you wouldn’t want her here, as much as I love her, she’s nuts.”
“Shut up Rachel; stop talking; he’s looking at you funny.” Her brain was screaming; her thoughts were all over the place. Apparently, she couldn’t string a coherent sentence together when Joe Mason was in her dancing space. And why did he have to smell so divine; it was too distracting.
“Er, Rachel. I have no idea what you just said, but could you just be quiet a moment and listen. That means no speaking. “
Rachel nodded clamping her mouth shut.
“Obviously you knew who I was before I knew who you were. If you think for one minute that shoving your tits in my face is going to get your precious little project off the ground, then you don’t know the first thing about me sweetheart. Now, I think it’s best if you hand over the files to my assistant and go back to your lunch dates and Bridge games and forget all about your futile attempts at succeeding in the big leagues.”
Oh Rachel was seething now. Who the bloody hell did he think he was talking to? The temptation to get all up in his face and wipe that gorgeous grin to kingdom come was extremely tempting, but Rachel would not give Joe the satisfaction of losing her temper over a few stupid comments.
She stood smoothing down her dress; pushing afore mentioned tits in his direction. Taking a minute to compose herself she looked him straight in the eye and smiled. In the plummy tones she usually reserved for court, and in her most patronising manner she smiled at him all teeth and false pleasantry, she spoke quietly and deliberately so that he had to lean in a little to hear her properly.
“Mr Mason; Joe isn’t it? When you decide to get over yourself and speak to me like an adult and not some ignorant oik from across the water, perhaps we can discuss how you can contribute to Genesis in a productive and beneficial way. At which time you may liaise with Angela as to my availability.”
Rachel flicked her tongue across her lips and turning her back on him strode towards the door. Looking over her shoulder at him she noticed he was still staring at her with a look of total disbelief; his mouth hanging open.
“Catching flies Joe?” she taunted as the heavy door closed behind her.
**********
In less than 10 seconds Rachel’s nerves gave out and kicking off her shoes she legged it back to the sanctity of her office. Slamming the door shut she sagged against it in relief, glad to have escaped with her dignity in tact this time. The only way she could deal with Joe Mason right now was to put a little distance between them and throw herself into her work. However, judging by the way he was now situated outside her office rapping lightly on her door, Joe had a different plan altogether.
“Mrs Renton, please can I come in? I have something I wish to discuss further with you?” Oh he sounded so cool and polite; very convincing to anyone who may be watching.
“Go away!” she hissed at him quietly enough so only he could hear. The last thing she wanted was to be the source of office gossip.
“Thank you, I’m coming in” and just like that Joe pushed the door open easily even though she was leaning up against it. Evidently, those muscles weren’t just for show.
“Neanderthal” she huffed under her breath, but remembering her manners and the fact that he did actually run the company whether she liked it or not, Rachel politely asked him to sit down and make himself comfortable.
Glaring at her Joe glanced around her office then calmly lowered his big body into her couch. He flipped the door closed and Rachel padded across the carpet in her bare feet to sit in Nate’s chair putting the barrier of his desk between them. Her shoes lay abandoned in the middle of the floor but she had more importa
nt things to worry about; like how hulkalicious was sprawled lazily on her couch when a second ago she was sure he was going to pounce on her. Honestly, she was turned on by the aggression and power that radiated off him. She would love to see him lose control but guessed it took a lot more than a few snide comments from the likes of her.
“I think we got off on the wrong foot” he began, one hand playing with his beard. He was sat in the middle of the cushions with his other arm across the back of the sofa; his feet were flat on the floor with his long legs spread wide in distinctly masculine pose. Only the tick in his jaw gave away the fact that he was attempting to control his temper.
Mrs R (Mrs R & Mr V #1) Page 21
