“Maybe I was a little hasty in assuming you wanted to have sex with me. I mean throwing yourself on top of me one day and then performing an erotic sex act in front of me Saturday night, might have lead me to falsely believe you wanted me. Normally, most women aren’t so subtle.” He paused for effect.
“Is there a point to this facetious monologue or are you just determined to humiliate me further?” Rachel glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest. She knew this just made her cleavage more visible but she needed the protection of the ‘back off’ body language.
“Oh Rachel, I’ve only just got started. That’s what I came to inform you. Genesis is a waste of time, energy and most importantly money. I’m not approving it until you prove to me otherwise. I operate on results not for sexual favours.”
“Don’t threaten me Joe. I’m sorry if you got the wrong idea, but honey, it wasn’t even you I was thinking about.” She gave him a sorry little look shaking her head conjuring up Luc in her mind for a much need confidence boost. “And if it’s a challenge you’re looking for, you should know I don’t like to lose once I’ve set my sights on something. Genesis is not a futile venture nor I am doing this for some romantic gesture to honour my dead husband. Nate had a great and noble idea and he deserves someone to follow through on it.”
“And that would be you? Riggghhht…….” Joe made a pffft sound and heaved himself off the couch. Hitching up his trousers, Rachel threw him a look of disdain. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” she muttered as she started tapping away at her keyboard.
He didn’t seem to be moving.
“What’s in there?” Rachel raised her head to see Joe gesturing towards her bathroom.
“That’s the loo, Joe.”
“Mind if I take a piss?”
“Seriously? Don’t you have someone to do that for you?”
Joe stomped into her bathroom purposely leaving the door wide open and although she couldn’t see him, Rachel could certainly hear him.
“You’re disgusting,” she snapped in his direction to be gifted with a grunt followed by the flush of the loo and running water. She couldn’t fault his hygiene at least but she did feel like he’d invaded her personal space long enough.
“Are you quite finished?” she demanded. “As you so delicately pointed out, I have a lot of work to do.”
Joe stood in the doorway of her bathroom leaning against the architrave with his arms crossed over his massive chest. She noticed how his jacket stretched deliciously over his shoulders and swallowed several times in order to get her focus back on what he was saying. “Don’t think this is going to be easy, Rachel. If you are doing this I need updates on all your cases before you even think about going to court. And I want your hours documented and justified. Is that clear?”
“As crystal.”
Joe cocked his head at her in the way she was already familiar with when he was thinking about saying something but holding back. It was totally infuriating, and intense, and it made her pussy clench and her juices flow. She could feel her damp knickers against her crotch and she squirmed in her chair. Her nipples were pebbled against the cups of her bra and she really needed the man to leave immediately before she ended up doing something foolish again.
“Hmmm, we’ll see” he challenged as he strolled out of her office.
Slumping into her chair, Rachel breathed a huge sigh of relief as she watched Joe leave. Her heart was still racing and she poured herself some water to ease her parched throat. She was confused and horny and angry all because of a pig headed, arrogant ogre who thought he was something special.
“Fucking twat! He’s left the tap dripping. I know you did that on purpose.” Rachel mumbled angrily as she crossed her office to her bathroom. One look and she screeched “wanker” in the general direction of Joe’s office. He’d left the toilet seat up; dripped soap all over the basin and thrown the towel on the floor. “That’s just rude” she huffed tidying up. And his cologne lingered in the small room. Rachel scrunched up her nose even though the smell was divine.
Just because her body betrayed her every time he got close, her mind didn’t need to have a meltdown too. Joe didn’t realise but he would soon – Rachel was all about reverse psychology. “He thinks I’m not up to the task, but I am.” Shrugging off her jacket, she slid back onto her chair and tucking her legs under her, Rachel stepped up her research and set about choosing her first case.
**********
Joe stormed back to his office throwing his jacket on to the back of his chair; he rolled his shirt sleeves up and logged on to his PC. This space was no longer recognisable as Nate’s room. He had removed every trace of his predecessor in order to start afresh with new ideas and goals. He couldn’t fathom that he’d been foiled on his first day by a woman. Rachel had gotten under his skin for many reasons but he couldn’t be distracted now; he had to prove to the people of Gyles Bishop that he was a worthy replacement for their beloved Nate Renton. It was an issue of his that he battled everyday in the States working in the shadows of his illustrious father and older brother. His reputation as the black sheep of the family and as a playboy meant he had to work doubly hard for the respect of the business community. His results should have spoken for themselves but his family never gave him the credit he deserved and he was sick of it. A move to London screamed of opportunity and he studied hard for a whole year to familiarise himself with the British legal system – he still had to take a few exams to pass the UK bar but he knew he’d ace them; his intelligence was a natural gift and his recall was legendary among his peers.
Attention to detail was his secret weapon, although this morning it could have easily been his downfall.
This was his second chance to claim the success he strived for based solely on his skills as a lawyer and not his family name. Joseph William Mason the Third was determined to earn his reputation in London as a winner and not a sinner, and that was why he needed to ignore Rachel Renton, as she was a whole heap of trouble as far as he was concerned.
“Tell that to your dick” he berated himself rearranging his semi hard cock in his trousers. God she was feisty and not at all a pushover as he had originally suspected. That only served to make her more fucking attractive as far as Joe was concerned; beauty and brains; she nearly had him nearly coming in his shorts only minutes ago giving him lip in defence of Genesis. Little did she know he’d already dismissed the project entirely until her passion convinced him it may have some merit if only to keep her down the hall for a little longer.
“God you’re an asshole” Joe sighed as his dick twitched again at the memory of standing in her little bathroom.
He’d held her towel to his face and breathed in the scent of her, reminding him of her hot sweaty body lying on top of him after she caused him to fall off the treadmill. He laughed at the image now although he didn’t think it so funny at the time, and he still had an almighty bruise on his butt.
And the way she behaved all sassy in the boardroom earlier, not even fazed by their most bizarre situation had Joe groaning in defeat. Locking himself in his own rather more luxurious bathroom feeling like a horny teenager, Joe relieved himself efficiently in order to try and concentrate on something other than the feisty brunette making his life a misery on his first bloody day. “God, she’s infuriating,” he thought as he came into his fist hard and fast.
**********
CHAPTER 15
Avoiding Joe was becoming a full time occupation requiring a great deal of skill. Timing her visits to the gym so that she didn’t run into him again, literally, was tricky but Rachel managed to maintain some kind of regime. Building stamina was kind of a priority with her and running afforded her the time to process the million and one different ideas zinging around her head. She continued her daily workouts without once having seen Joe there.
She’d be lying if she didn’t secretly admit to wanting to see the man in action again. He haunted her bloody dreams and she’d had to replace th
e batteries in her vibrator after it cut out on her in a rather crucial moment of self pleasuring that was becoming all too routine. Rachel was convinced she’d become a sex addict since Luc had reignited her libido with a vengeance. Vigorous, outrageous, incredible sex with the man boy god had left her wanting and Joe seemed to be what her body yearned for even though her head was screaming no. Nate had kept her satisfied for many years; their sex life was healthy and frequent but it had become familiar and lacked excitement. Now that she had experienced another lover, Rachel realised there was more to sex than just an orgasm. The anticipation; the flirting; the games and the fun were all relatively new to her and she’d enjoyed learning this with Luc who’d been generous and patient with her. Once she’d shed her inhibitions their affair became passionate and spontaneous and bloody exhilarating; a rush to the senses that Rachel craved constantly these days. She supposed it was because there was no prospect of her meeting anyone right now as her work kept her busy during the week, and at the weekends she either saw family or married friends.
The fixation with Joe was merely due to the proximity of the man she guessed. He was the only male in the office under 60 and available, and the fact that he looked like an A list Hollywood heartthrob with the accent to match didn’t help. He featured in her fantasies and catching glimpses of him about the office simply fuelled her infatuation. However, he hated her and his reputation in New York according to the many gossip sites she’d obsessed over on the Internet, was for dating young, blonde women who all looked like supermodels. Google images gifted her with photos of him with many different dates so he was obviously a love ‘em and leave ’em type of guy. “A real Prince Charming” she’d remarked snidely while saving one particularly stunning picture of him posing in a tuxedo on the red carpet at some New York Film premiere.
Joe Mason aside, Rachel was mostly quite contented. She was enthralled with her work and now that she had familiarised herself with Genesis, was even more motivated to secure a future for it to be sponsored by Gyles Bishop.
There were so many cases that needed attention but she didn’t want to rush into anything unprepared; the consequences could be disastrous and the responsibility she felt for these clients weighed heavily on her conscience, Finally opting to represent a London based charity called Home Free, that provided shelter for victims of domestic violence, Rachel dedicated every minute she could to their case. The council was threatening to close them down as they had been approached by a developer to purchase the land to build a fancy hotel on the plot. The shelter was actually a big old house in Mayfair of all places that had been bequeathed to them in the will of a woman who lived her whole married life in peril of her husband’s temper. It was only when he died that she dare seek the help of the charity in question and she spent the last few years of her own life as their patron and fund raiser.
Without her support, the status of the charity lost its high profile and now it was struggling to survive financially. The building was in a state of disrepair and what little funding they got from the government went on food and provisions for the people who lived in the shelter. There was no way Home Free would be able to afford decent legal representation and if they were shut down many of their residents would lose the sanctuary they sought there. Rachel had met with the charity head a few times to prepare and she was putting together her case for the court hearing next week. The next step would be to run it past Joe. “Oh well” thought Rachel, “no time like the present.”
Rachel buzzed through to Angela using the loudspeaker option on her desk phone.
“Hey Rachel how can I help you?” Angela’s chirpy disposition never failed to make Rachel smile.
“I need to see Joe –is he free today?”
“Hold on let me ask him.” The mellow hold music played for a minute until she came back to Rachel. “Umm, he said to go in straight away.”
“Sorry Angela, can you ask him to come here please. It would be more convenient.”
Rachel was reluctant to go to Joe’s office. She didn’t want to see the changes he had made to Nate’s former room. It was still painful for her. Joe wasn’t known for his sensitive nature by any means and her resolve to act like a professional around him at all times could be compromised by her emotional response to seeing him in Nate’s space.
“Seriously, Rachel? I’m not sure Joe’s up for being summoned.”
“Just ask him please Angela; I have all the files to show him here at my disposal, and some extra stuff on my PC.”
“Ok crazy lady; hold on a mo” Angela put Rachel on hold again; the mellow music came back on and she hummed along with a familiar tune until the peace was shattered by a toe curling, knicker wetting drawl that filled her room and left her blushing,
“If you want me Rachel, you need to come see me. That’s the only way it’s gonna work. I thought I’d made that quite clear. I have a few minutes free now; I’ll be waiting for you.”
The man was totally fucking infuriating.
“Ok Joe, I hear you. I’ll be right there.” Rachel replied sweetly having absolutely no intention of doing any such thing. She wasn’t some needy little intern wandering around with her tongue hanging out begging for the all powerful CEO to grace her with a minute of his precious time.
Taking her phone off the hook so it would sound like she was engaged if he tried to call her, Rachel clicked into her email inbox and started to reply to some of the more urgent ones. Several minutes later she conceded that with a racing pulse and a thumping heart, she couldn’t concentrate properly. Her mind kept flipping back to Joe and how he was probably plotting her demise. Rachel correctly guessed he was not a man used to being left hanging and she regretted her flippant reaction berating herself for once again putting her own feelings before the importance of Genesis.
A notification message popped up on her screen from Angela.
“MAN UP DARLING – CEO IS ON HIS WAY OVER!!!”
“Shit, shit, shit!” Rachel jumped up to retrieve her nude Laboutins from under her coffee table and managed to knock several files on to the floor. “Fuck it!” she cursed dropping to all fours to gather the scattered papers, and of course that’s exactly where Joe found her when he entered her office; on the carpet with her arse in the air.
“Nice view.”
Tempted to tell the idiot where to shove his sarcastic remarks, Rachel refrained as she refused to be drawn into another futile bickering session. Looking over her shoulder at him she was even more incensed to find him gazing out her window and not eyeing up her assets. “Really, he wants to play games?” Rachel was no amateur, she’d raised two extremely wilful daughters and could banter all day long if he wanted, but she thought a different approach might aggravate him more.
Rachel flashed a full on mega watt smile at him and greeted him in a voice all sugar candy coated, “Oh hello Joe, be a dear and give me a hand with these could you?”
Joe glared at her, his grey eyes narrowing and his jaw muscles clenching furiously. He looked like he was about to explode as he deliberately and slowly told her in no uncertain terms.
“My office. Five minutes. No second chances.” Then he turned on his heel and left.
Rachel sighed at his retreating form; the man filled out a suit quite spectacularly. She tried really hard to stay angry at him, but honestly she was now terribly nervous. Added to the reluctance of going to Nate’s old office, she realised her foolishness may have jeopardised any opportunity for Genesis to be taken seriously.
**********
Joe was fuming. Not only did the little witch wind him up until he wanted to kill her slowly and painfully but the last thing he had expected was to find her on the floor, doggy style with her skirt stretched tight over her arse that was suggestively wiggling in his direction asking to be spanked for leaving him rock hard again in the middle of the day. He was a hair’s breath away from hauling her up against the door of her office and kissing that smart mouth till it was too numb and swollen to speak through. T
hankfully, his big head took control of his little head and he managed to walk away in time.
Rachel Renton was fast becoming the bane of his life and he couldn’t figure out what to do about her. She was creating a kink in his carefully laid plans, which he couldn’t permit; Genesis was going to have to be terminated and her along with it. He’d just wait for her to fail miserably, and by all accounts her lack of experience should seal that deal sooner rather than later, and then he’d call it a day.
Joe removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. His suit was three pieced; he preferred not to wear a jacket as it felt too confining even though he paid a small fortune to have them made to measure. Instead he wore a waistcoat that fitted taut across his body but left his shoulders and arms free to move without any restraint. Joe wasn’t an overly vain man but he liked to create a lasting impression and he knew this was a look that worked well for him.
Mrs R (Mrs R & Mr V #1) Page 22
