Magic Man
An Older Woman Younger Man Romance
Matilda Martel
Copyright © 2019 by Matilda Martel
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover design by: Matilda Martel
Created with Vellum
For Becky, who demanded over Chinese food that for once, I write an older woman younger man story.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue- Three months later
Epilogue - Seven Years Later
About the Author
Also by Matilda Martel
Chapter 1
Kendra
“Do you know what they call him?” Della wags her eyebrows as she spots the new Vice-President of Engineering. Logan Byrne has been with the company for years, but since his promotion, every female between the ages of twenty and fifty working on the 23rd floor weaves an extra hour of grooming into her routine.
“Good morning, Ms. Emmerich. I’ll have that new software installed later today.” He catches me as we pass his office. Although I can’t see them, I sense all the women behind me and possibly a few men, have stopped what they’re doing to ogle the man in front of me.
“Logan, please call me Kendra. And why are you installing it? You’re a VP. Something like that can be done by one of your guys, can’t it?” As I speak, I hold in my giggle as I watch Della try to stifle the goofiest smile.
She’s so pathetic.
“Normally it could, but since it’s your computer and you have sensitive information, I feel more comfortable if I do it.” He nods and waits for me to give him a sign of approval.
“Oh, okay. I just don’t want you to do grunt work. You’re an executive now, Logan. You earned it.” I tap his bicep and shudder silently when I get a feel of the guns he’s hiding under his dress shirt.
Goddamn, that’s hard.
“Thanks, but it’s no big deal. I’ll have it back to you at the end of the day.”
As he steps back into his office, everyone behind me returns to work in unison. This always happens. Poor Logan. And now the nickname.
“So, have you heard?” Della pushes the down button and we wait for this impossibly slow elevator.
“Yes... you don’t need to repeat it.”
“Magic man. Get it? Magic hands, mister fix-it, and I’m guessing he’s hiding a few other magical talents.” She winks as if she’s being subtle.
“Are you calling him a wizard?” I chuckle while we weave through the crowd exiting the car.
“Kendra Emmerich, don’t even try to deny it. You think he’s hot. You’d have to be dead not to appreciate that man’s broad shoulders, that huge chest, those big brown eyes, that ass, that beautiful face and those fucking arms that you unnecessarily touched. Don’t think I didn’t notice!” Della chides and I shrug, unwilling to defend myself.
“Hush up. I’m the president and this is some type of harassment I’m sure. We shouldn’t be sexualizing a male employee. He graduated from MIT and he’s the youngest VP, which he earned on his merits alone. Thank you very much. You shouldn’t be calling him that. It’s offensive.” As much as I want to be professional, I can’t help but laugh to myself.
Magic man, huh?
“Your Dad is the one who gave him the nickname!”
I cringe. “He doesn’t know that song. Stop encouraging him. He thinks he’s being clever. I’ll speak to him later.”
Della and I jump in the backseat, careful not to hold up traffic and she instructs the driver to head to my attorney’s office.
This will be brutal. After ten years of marriage, this bastard wanted a quickie divorce, and I gladly gave it to him. There was no sense in holding it up. For what? To work things out? To make him see the error of his ways?
No. All that went out the window the minute he told me he knocked up a woman twelve years younger than me, twenty-five years younger than him and walked out the door. Some things are unforgivable. I don’t care if I never imagined growing old with anyone else. Maybe, I didn’t plan on being single at thirty-seven, but I’ll make my own way. I’ll forge a new path for myself and like a phoenix, I’ll rise from these ashes stronger than ever.
Holy shit, you sound insane.
It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. Nothing but work. Marrying Baker might be the dumbest thing I ever did, but I followed it with one of the smartest. He wanted me to work for him. He knew my Dad needed me to stay on and help him run, EmmerTech, but he tried to guilt me to come work for his flailing company. I declined. It would have been a step down and no one wants to work for her husband.
Ever since my big brother, Kaleb, left the company in his early twenties to pursue his dream of becoming a chef, I’m the only one Dad can lean on. It’s okay, I like this job and I’m damn good at it. I’ve taken this company further than we ever projected and sometimes I think my success and Baker’s own failures drove his poor, fragile, pathetic ego to seek comfort in the arms of a woman who was less accomplished and more accommodating. So be it. Ten years down the freaking toilet. Marriages end all the time.
So why am I so rattled? Why do I dread seeing him again? Because that mother fucker humiliated me. He could have left me years ago if he was unhappy. I suggested counseling, but he wouldn’t hear of it. When I couldn’t conceive, I suggested IVF, but he assured me he was more than happy without children. It didn’t seem to matter that I wanted a family. He insisted he was getting older and wouldn’t have the energy or patience required to raise babies into adulthood at his age. But when this came out, when a bubbly redhead named Phoebe, pregnant with his baby, paid me a visit, he blamed me for being infertile.
Un-fucking-believable.
“Are you ready? Deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. You look fucking gorgeous! I die of jealousy every single day. That shit-ass, piece of filth just turned fifty. She can keep his old balls. Kendra freaking Emmerich is here to kick ass and screw taking names. Who wants to keep track of everyone they annihilate? Not you!” Della gives me a pep talk on the way upstairs. She’s just a kid, only two years out of college, but she is one hell of an assistant.
As she reaches for the door, Gregory, the senior partner walks out to greet me. He has bad news. Baker isn’t coming.
“I don’t understand. Everything is settled. I came here to sign papers, Greg.” I clutch Della’s forearm, steadying myself.
“We’re on it, Kendra. Baker’s attorney called thirty minutes ago and informed us his client is unhappy with the settlement. He wants the house in Greenwich. He insists you’ve come out with far more and he wants things to be made fair.”
My brain explodes and for a few seconds I’m certain I see the fire burning through my retinas. “What? What?! Has he lost his goddamn mind?”
Della takes over. “I’ll get her back to the office. What are you going to do about this? She and Mr. Emmerich will expect details as soon as possible.”
“We’re on it. A junior partner took the call, and I was so astounded, I called to verify their position. It’s asinine. I get the impression his attorney agrees with us, but Baker believes you’ll give in.” Gregory looks away,
furrowing his brow.
“Don’t worry. We’ve taken steps to retaliate. He committed adultery and his fiancée is carrying the proof of it. Adulterers don’t get to make demands.”
Stumbling back to the car, I struggle to hold in my tears. I just want this to be over.
I can’t move on until this is over.
Chapter 2
Logan
Kendra Isabella Emmerich, what is your password? A favorite pet? No. Too busy for those. It can’t be her ex-husband. Everyone knows she hates him. Her mother, her father, the year she was born, not the last four digits of her social security number. Bingo. Personal email.
I scroll through some family photos. She’s deleted the ones with her ex. She used to have a few files dedicated to Baker Nelson. That’s such a stupid name. Many times, I came close to deleting them myself. It would have been easy to blame their disappearance on a virus. Fortunately, now I won’t have to do anything so unpleasant.
Good. Time to move on to greener pastures, doll.
As smart as she is, she doesn’t know very much about computers. I could have easily installed the new software without seizing control of her laptop for a whole day, but I’m dying to do some digging. She’s divorced now. Well, almost. According to her calendar, she’s on her way to her attorney’s office now.
This promotion couldn’t have come at a better time. My new office is only four doors away from hers and now that she’s single, she and I work well into the evening. She works too much. I’ll need to change that soon. She needs to slow down and stop avoiding the world just because that asshole left her for someone else. He never deserved her, and I know he never made her truly happy. Those types are all the same. All they care about is themselves. If he hadn’t left now, he would have left some day. She’s still young. There are still plenty of good years. Better years than she’s ever known.
I’ll make her happy. That’s what I’m meant to do. I know it.
She could do worse. Sure, she could probably do better. Kendra is drop-dead gorgeous, sweet, smart, kind, with perfect little curves, and long legs I’m dying to feel wrapped around my head. Jesus, that girl drives me crazy. So many nights, I’ve fantasized about sinking my mouth between those thighs, sucking her clit and making her howl my name as she drips honey on my tongue.
Admittedly, I have a problem.
But this isn’t going away. Too much time has gone by and this only gets worse every year. The first time we met, I was a seventeen-year-old high school student, and I’d just been awarded a full scholarship to MIT by the Emmerich Foundation. She couldn’t have been more than twenty-six. Long dark hair, soft green eyes and that body... I couldn’t believe women like her existed off the pages of a magazine. She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen and no one else has ever come close.
I thought it was just a phase, a crush guys get when they see a hot, older woman who’s virtually unattainable. Maybe, if I’d forgotten her during college. I tried. Believe me, I tried to stop thinking about her. It wasn’t fun spending day after day, year after year biding my time until I could come back to New York and apply with Emmertech.
I haven’t enjoyed pushing everyone away because I couldn’t get Kendra out of my mind. And I don’t need to tell you the hell it’s been watching her with some asshole who never appreciated the glorious woman by his side. No, I’ve waited long enough to make this happen and I can’t wait any longer.
It’s not going away. Screw timing. Kendra is for me and our time is now.
Chapter 3
Kendra
“He’s not getting away with this, Sweetheart. Gregory and the boys are going to rip his balls off and shove them down his throat.” Daddy is livid. Pacing aimlessly around my office, he can’t stop ranting and promising unmitigated bloodshed.
“Settle down. No one’s balls need to be handled or ripped. Greg will take care of this the way all attorneys deal with cheating husbands who are too stupid to ask for a pre-nuptial agreement before they begin their adulterous trysts. I am well in my rights to sue for half his business. I invested money in it over the years and unlike this company, Baker’s is under his name. I made no attempts before because it’s my belief it’s under water, but I can take my part, the good part and sell it to someone he hates. Fuck, I’ll give it away.” I cross my arms in defiance and stare out the window.
That filthy, no-good, lying, sack-of-shit thinks he’s still dealing with the woman he left, the woman he broke. Well, she doesn’t exist anymore. Forget shoving those balls down his throat. I’ll just crush them.
Does that sound bitter? Well, I’m not bitter. I’m just pissed.
He could have left me. Some marriages don’t work out. I get it. People promise forever but what’s forever? Things change. I get it. But he couldn’t be a man and bow out gracefully. He couldn’t come to me and tell me he wasn’t happy, wish me well and end things amicably. Maybe I would have cried a bit, but I don’t want to be with a man who doesn’t love me anymore. And who am I kidding? I wasn’t happy anyway. If he had done right by his wife of ten years and shown me the fucking respect I deserve, I would have had an easier time with this divorce.
But he couldn’t do that. He wanted to blame me. He wanted to be the good guy who had been saddled with the barren wife. Instead of being a gentleman, he tried to make me feel inadequate and now he’s having his own family. We never even tried fertility treatments. According to him, these things happen on their own, or they aren’t meant to happen. Now, I feel cheated. It’s not something I share with just anyone, but I wanted babies. I wanted a family.
I don’t remember a time when I didn’t.
It doesn't matter. We don’t always get what we want. I am the president of a Fortune 500 company and when Daddy retires, I’ll take it over. Maybe I won’t have real babies, but this company is my baby. I’ve helped my father expand it from our start in San Francisco to this international powerhouse. Since I became President, we’ve grown our profit margin far beyond anyone’s predictions. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. It’s been hard work and now that Baker is out of the picture, I can devote even more time to making this company bigger than ever. This will be my legacy.
“Sweetheart? Come to dinner with us tonight. Kaleb and Sofia invited us over to their place. I don’t want you working late again.” Daddy gives me a hug, sighing with sorrow as he pulls me into his embrace.
Hold it together. Don’t you dare cry in your office.
I want to say no, but the worried look in his eyes tugs my heartstrings. This has been hard on him, too. He introduced me to Baker, and I know he feels responsible. I’m not sure why. He certainly didn’t encourage me to marry him. But Dad is Dad and he can’t help himself.
Nodding, I duck my head with defeat and agree. “I have things to finish up here. I’m waiting for Logan to return my laptop. After I get through some emails, I’ll head home, then head over.”
As if he’s heard his cue, Logan steps through the door a second later. Knocking on the frame, he alerts us of his presence. In typical fashion, Dad is elated. He’s so weird.
“Magic man! Come on in!”
I freeze, glance at Logan and mouth the words, “I am so sorry.”
He smiles and high fives my father who for some reason finds Logan endlessly fascinating. He’s the son he never had. Except, he does have a son. He’s got my brother, Kaleb.
Smiling awkwardly, I pull my Dad over.
“Please stop calling him that. It’s offensive, Daddy. That’s the name of a dirty song from the seventies.” I cough and bite my lip, thoroughly humiliated.
“No. He knows what I mean! He’s got great hands.”
“Daddy!” I shriek with mortification.
“Kendra. Get your head out of the gutter. Logan fixed my favorite chair. You know, the one I didn’t want to throw away because they don’t make them anymore? Well, he made it better than ever. And he’s the only one who ever knows how to install the apps on my phone the way I like them.
”
Della laughs. Logan stays silent in deference to my father and I want to disappear. I want to tell him to stop going to the Vice-President of Engineering to help him install his new apps, but Logan steps forward, breaking the awkward tension by handing over my laptop.
“It’s ready. Let me know if it gives you any problems.”
Greedily snatching it, I ask him to come around to my desk and show me what he’s done. I’m horrible with these things. Once I get the hang of it, I’m good to go, but whenever something new comes around, I always spend days getting adjusted. At least, I did before Logan. He’s excellent at simplifying things.
Squatting next to me, he shows me the updates he installed. Daddy leaves, making me promise I won’t miss dinner. Della stands close by, gushing like a teenager until a phone call makes her dart away and I’m left all alone... with Logan. The Magic Man.
Damn, he smells good.
Chapter 4
Logan
I watch her perfectly manicured hands enter the commands into the keyboard. Her tapered fingers tap each button gently and I swallow hard, thinking about taking each one into my mouth. This is the closest we’ve ever been, but it’s not nearly close enough.
I can do the tutorial in five minutes, but I make it more complicated. Pulling a chair up, I tell her what each program does, and she listens, gazing up at me with those big green eyes, fluttering her long dark lashes, unaware of all the terrible things I’m thinking of to keep my erection at bay.
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