by Lexy Timms
He picked me up off the bed and pinned me to the wall. His hips snapped against mine as I clung to his body. I buried my face into his neck, gasping for air and begging for more. I adored the feeling of him within me and the electricity that coursed through my veins as my blood rushed through my ears.
He pulled me from the wall and tossed my body onto the bed. I caught myself with my hands but not before my hips were thrust into the air. He plunged into me from behind, not allowing me to stop and take any breath before he fucked me senseless. His hips snapped against mine so hard, his balls were slapping against my skin.
“Jimmy. Jimmy. Holy... I... don’t stop. I’ve wait—oh... Right there. Right there. Right there, Jimmy. Please!”
I could hear him grunting as he bent over my body, hovering above me like an animal in heat. I looked up into the window and saw his reflection, the way his face was twisted with pleasure. His lips fell to my skin as he pounded against me, building that fire behind my abs that threatened to burst forth. His lips kissed each divot of my spine as his hands held me to him, fucking me senseless as my pussy throbbed around his cock.
“I feel you, Ashley. All of you. Let go. Give into me. I know you can.”
His encouragement sent me spiraling as my toes began to curl. I fisted the sheets of his bed and moaned out into the room, my pussy clamping down on him. I felt his movements stuttering against me as my jaw unhinged. I choked out my moans and wrapped my feet around his legs, pulling him to me as he collapsed.
His sweating chest hit my back and the two of us plummeted to the bed, his cock sliding from me and pumping his come onto the sheets of his bed.
His hands slid down my arms, lacing our fingers together at the end. I relished the feeling of him blanketing me, coating me in his warmth as my head undulated with relaxation. I hadn’t felt this good in a long time, not since the night we had shared together. There were things that compared. Like my promotion or finding out he’d ended things with Nina.
But nothing quite compared to this.
Nothing compared to the feeling of electric pleasure coursing through my skin.
Jimmy kissed my shoulder before he slid from me and pulled me into his embrace. He wiggled us out of the wet spot and held me close to him, my leg tossed over his body. I laid my cheek against his chest and listened to his heartbeat, rapid and strong, racing with the exertion it had taken to please me.
I kissed his racing heart and watched as his skin puckered again with arousal.
“You could stay, if you wanted,” Jimmy said.
“I know,” I said. “But I can’t.”
“Still worried about Nina?” he asked.
“Actually, no. But I have to take my mother to a doctor’s appointment in the morning. Well, I want to. I don’t have to take her, but I want to take her.”
“I understand,” he said. “I’d never keep you from something like that, but just so you know, I’d take you wherever you needed to go.”
“Thanks, Jimmy. I really do appreciate it.”
I felt his hand running through the tendrils of my hair. His touch was soft, which was a stark contrast to the animal I’d experienced only moments before. I sighed against his skin, relishing the moment before I had to break it.
“You never told me why your mom fell that day,” Jimmy said.
“I told you. She took a fall,” I said.
“What caused the fall?”
I sighed as I closed my eyes, my brain paying attention to Jimmy’s hand and how rhythmically he stroked my hair, how strong his heartbeat was, how comforting his body felt against mine, and how steadfast his strength felt.
He was breaking down my walls, and I didn’t know how to stop it.
“My mother has Alzheimer’s,” I said.
“I’m so sorry,” Jimmy said.
“She’s had it for a few years now, about six.”
I felt his grasp tighten around me, and I snuggled tighter into the side of his body. I wanted his comfort, and I’d never experienced that before. I was used to standing on my own and receiving pity from no one.
But I enjoyed him comforting me. His hand stroked up and down my back, and his lips connected with my forehead.
It was like he wanted to hear about this part of my life.
“I took care of her in my childhood apartment for a while, but it became too much,” I said. “Her memory got worse, and her lucid moments got shorter. I couldn’t hold down the job I had at your company and still take care of her.”
“So you put her in a home,” Jimmy said.
“Not just any home. The best nursing home in Miami, but even with her being on Medicaid, it’s got a hefty premium each month. I saved everything I could from my job to pay for it.”
I felt him pull me closer as my buried my face into his neck.
“You’re a good daughter, Ashley,” he said.
“I don’t feel like it some days. It’s why I want to take her to these doctor’s appointments. Her lucid moments are so few and far between, I don’t want to risk not being there for one of them. I don’t want to risk her being lucid and not seeing me there, thinking I abandoned her or something.”
“You have nothing to explain to me,” he said. “But thank you for talking about it. You know you can put her on your insurance, right?”
“What?” I asked.
“If you can prove you pay at least fifty percent of her bills—and it sounds like you pay almost all of them—she can go on your insurance through the company.”
“She can?” I asked.
“Yep. She’ll still keep her Medicaid, and the company’s policy should cover any holes in her plan.”
“Are you serious, Jimmy?”
I looked into his eyes before I thrust my lips to his. I had landed in this promotion so quickly, I hadn’t stopped to consider how my benefits had changed, how my health insurance had changed, and how my retirement fund was going to benefit from all this. His hand tangled in my hair, and my body rolled on top of his. I felt tears crest my eyes as he pulled my lips away, our eyes connecting as tears dripping down my cheeks.
“You have those benefits through the company, but you also have me. If there’s anything I can do to make your mother comfortable and to make any of this easier for you, all you have to do is ask,” Jimmy said.
“You have no idea what you’ve just done,” I said breathlessly. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. It’s a perk that comes with the health benefits of corporate. My hope one day is to make that kind of health insurance available to the rest of the company.”
“You’re a good man,” I said.
“And you’re a good woman, Ashley. And a good daughter. And a hell of an accountant.”
Our foreheads connected as a small smile crossed my cheeks.
“I should get going if I’m going to get rest for tomorrow,” I said.
“Sure there’s nothing I can do to convince you to stay?”
“We’ll work our way toward it,” I said.
“That’s all I can ever ask of you.”
I slid from his body and began putting my clothes on. Jimmy was already on the phone with someone, talking them through the change in my health insurance. I shook my head as I pulled my shirt back on, my eyes raking up and down his naked form.
He really was a beautiful man.
“Once you get back from taking your mother to the doctor, some papers will be on your desk for you to sign. Look them over, sign them, and get them to HR. They’ll push the necessary changes through, and your mother should be covered through us by the end of the week.”
“Thank you,” I said. “From the bottom of my heart.”
“Let’s just say you owe me a dinner.”
He winked at me, and I felt my cheeks blush. He pulled on his pants and walked me to his door. He gave me one last kiss good night before I pulled out my phone, ready to summon a car from Uber.
But his hand came down on mine, and he covered the screen of my cell
phone.
“Did you think I wouldn’t get you home?” Jimmy asked.
“You mean you’re going to drive me home like this?” I asked.
“Not necessarily. If I drive you home, you might not get to sleep after all. I know my limits, and you test them every day. But my driver’s waiting for you downstairs out front. He’ll be ready to take you anywhere you want to go.”
“That’s really not necessary. I can just call—”
“I love that you fight me on these things, but let this be one you give me without a fight. I want to make sure you get home safely. Your car’s still at work, and he’ll see to it you get there and get in without being disturbed.
I smiled up at Jimmy, blushing as his thumb stroked my cheek.
“You better go before I don’t let you,” he said.
“I don’t think you have that kind of power over me.”
His eyes darkened as his hand wrapped around to the back of my neck. He tightened his grip, and I sighed, my body instantly caving to him. I cursed myself as my eyes fluttered open, and I found that shit-eating grin on his cheeks.
“Good night, Miss Ternbeau.”
And I walked with weakened knees all the way to the elevator.
Chapter 5
Jimmy
“To new ventures,” Ross said.
“To new ventures,” I said.
I clinked my glass bottle with Ross before the two of us settled back. Ashley had taken off the rest of the day at work to be with her mother after her doctor’s appointment. I wasn't sure what had spawned the change in her decision, but it didn’t matter. She sounded okay, and she said she didn’t need anything, so I needed to take her word at that. I was more than happy to give her the time off to spend with her mother, especially if her mother was having a good day.
I couldn’t imagine watching someone I loved waste away like that.
“Thanks for inviting me out,” I said.
“I don’t usually see you drinking beers,” Ross said. “Good day?”
“Very good day. Guess who’s coming into town?” I asked.
“Let me guess. Markus.”
“Hell, yeah, Markus. He flies in tomorrow, and we’re supposed to be getting drinks.”
“It’s about time he came in. He’s been gone for a while.”
“A little over a year, despite the money he still invests.”
“He planning on making a stop by the company?” he asked.
“I’m sure he will. He’s flying in on business of his own, so I don’t know what his exact schedule is, but Markus has never been the kind of man to drop in unannounced.”
“Oh, no. Markus enjoys the pomp and circumstance.”
“Can’t fault the man for that, especially after his divorce.”
“Yes. Learn from that man’s mistakes,” Ross said.
“Hence why Nina is gone.”
“I’d like to think I had something to do with that, but I’ll take it,” he said.
“To Markus coming into town and regaling us with whatever insane stories he has for us this time,” I said.
But before Ross could cheer Markus’s temporary homecoming, the news station on the television caught my attention.
“Is that you?” Ross asked.
“What the fuck is my picture doing on the news?” I asked.
“Bartender. Can you turn that up?” he asked.
I felt my stomach hit my toes as my Twitter feed popped up on the news.
“Sources say Jimmy Sheldon, founder and CEO of Big Steps, has been bribing followers on his social media pages. The accusations state that Mr. Sheldon has been shelling out his own money to get people to favor and buy his product. I’m sure his competitors won’t be happy when they find out Mr. Sheldon is being accused of undercutting the competition.”
“What the fuck is that?” I asked. “Ross, did you know something about this?”
“This has Nina written all over it,” Ross said.
“That little—”
“Watch it. People are staring,” he said.
I looked around the bar and found everyone’s eyes geared toward me. We had to get out of there. I had to instate damage control. I threw back the rest of my beer while Ross threw some money onto our table, and then the two of us started for our car. We hopped in just as my cell phone rang, and I didn’t have to look at the screen to know who was calling.
“Have you seen the news?” Ashley said.
“Just saw it. In a bar full of people,” I said.
“You know who this is, right?” she asked.
“It’s Nina,” Ross said.
“Ross is with you? Good. The two of you need to get back to the office and start coordinating a plan of attack,” Ashley said.
“You sound like my public relations correspondent,” I said.
“Have you called her? Sherry, right?” she asked.
“Yep. Ross is calling Sherry right now,” I said.
I shot Ross a look, and he dug out his phone, placing the phone call to say she should get into the office immediately.
“Does this claim have any merit?” Ashley asked.
“Of course not,” I said. “Nina’s only trying to hurt me. She’s mad, and instead of taking the loss and making her own way in life, she’s choosing the revenge route.”
“Do I need to be worried?” she asked.
“No. The last person she’ll touch is you. I won’t allow it. That woman will go down in history if she tries to mess with you.”
“If she’s trying to hurt you, she could come after me.”
“I don’t care what she does, but you need to understand she won’t do that. She knows me better than that. She knows you’re off-limits. I’ll bring everything down on her head in a heartbeat if she comes at you,” I said. “What I did in the restaurant that night was kind. Calm. Like flicking an ant off a sofa cushion.”
“Jimmy, I know you’re upset, but try to think about this logically. If she’s trying to ruin your image, she might not have any issues exposing the arrangement you had with her.”
Ashley had a point, and it was a point I couldn’t ignore.
“Nina has to accept that we’re over. Part of me thinks maybe she’s acting this way because she did develop feelings, but the feelings weren’t reciprocated. No matter where this is coming from, Nina has to accept that our arrangement-slash-relationship is over,” I said.
“I told you we needed to be worried about her,” she said.
“And now we have reason to worry. I’ll be on my guard, but you shouldn’t be. I want to be with you, and that means protecting you if necessary. You will be okay. Do you hear me?”
“I do. I hear you. Just think about coming clean.”
“What?” I asked.
“About your arrangement with Nina. Think about coming clean, telling the public the truth. It’s going to be easier to come back from that than it will be if she reveals it.”
“Telling the public the truth would be annihilation, Ashley.”
“But then you could tell them about how you wanted to be with me. It’s the story of a cold-hearted businessman who morphed into a man who wanted to find something real. The crowd likes those kinds of stories, and it isn’t far from the truth.”
“Should I hire you as my PR representative as well?” I asked.
“Hardly. But it’s simple fact. She can’t use anything against you that you expose yourself. Own up to what the relationship was, and be honest about why you decided to end it. You take her biggest weapon away, and she looks like the spiteful gold digger.”
“I have to say, I’m enjoying this side of you. How’s your mother?” I asked.
“She had a really good day today. Thank you for giving me the day off with her.”
“I told you, you already had it. You were the one choosing to come to work.”
“Whatever. Anyway, get off here and go fix your world. Think about what I said. I’ll support you in whatever decision you make, but Nina isn’
t to be messed with. She’s making good on that threat of making you pay. This is serious.”
“I know. I hear you. I gotta go. Ross is trying to tell me something,” I said.
“See you in the morning, Jimmy.”
“See you then, Ashley.”
“I got Sherry on the line. She’s arranging a press conference for tomorrow,” Ross said.
“Good. Okay. Tell her to prepare the press conference for first thing in the morning. I’m releasing all my social media streams and private messages for the public and potential clients to scour. We’re going to investigate this claim and figure out who made it, though we pretty much know who did. Once we can prove it, though, we’re suing.”
“Do you want to tell the public that?”
“Yes,” I said. “Tell Sherry.”
“So, we aren’t running with Ashley’s plan?” he asked.
“While it’s a good plan, it’s suicide, and if this isn’t Nina for some weird reason, the last thing I want is to start a war with that woman. We figure out the truth, and then we sue like any other company would do. Ashley’s plan, while creative, is too shortsighted, and we don’t have enough information to throw ourselves into that fire safely yet.”
“Okay. I’ll let Sherry know,” Ross said.
Chapter 6
Ashley
I watched from the sidelines as the press conference was about to begin. I kept chewing on my nails as I scanned the crowd for Nina. There were so many people here waiting for Jimmy’s statement. The outrage had grown overnight to a point where people were picketing outside of his headquarters. In this current social climate, things like this were taken very seriously. Part of me was hoping he wouldn’t use my tactic. What he needed was to put up a strong front, to take charge of this situation and try to calm the public about his business dealings, not going around revealing his personal life and opening himself up to danger.
Part of me had suggested that for selfish reasons. Jimmy and I were dating officially but not openly. His and Nina’s breakup still hadn’t been reported to the news, so for all intents and purposes, the two of them were still together. The moment I hung up the phone with him last night, I felt sick to my stomach with guilt at how I was right and how I had allowed my jealousy to somehow creep into the picture.
