by Lainey Fox
He admired the way her sweat covered skin glistened in the light. She was flushed and glowing with satisfaction. She was smiling, her eyes heavy lidded and sleepy.
"Mmm," Tara said, stretching against the crisp sheets, her breasts rising beautifully as she arched her back. Daniel reached over and lazily tweaked her nipple.
"I could use a drink now," he remarked, sitting up against the head board. "You make a man dry out, baby."
"Hmm. Maybe we should start bringing water along with us."
Daniel laughed. "I need something a little stronger than water. Caffeine, if you've got it."
"Me, too. Hold on a sec." She stood up, slipping into her short silk robe. She left the room, returning in minutes with sodas. She handed him one, then opened her own.
They drank in silence. Sam watched for some form of intimacy between them, but they made no move to cuddle or pet each other.
"Can I ask you something?" Daniel said, suddenly. "It's about work, but I'm coming up blank on some stuff."
"Did you talk to Sam?"
"Not yet. I did some investigating on my own, but I need to run something by you before I go any further."
Tara looked concerned, but she nodded. "Okay. I'll help if I can, but all that lawyer stuff is Sam's thing. I'm just the lipstick lady."
Daniel chuckled. "You're more than the lipstick lady. You're the sexy lipstick lady."
"Sure." Tara rolled her eyes. "What's up?"
"It's about the Pyles. You know Isabelle pretty well, right?"
Tara laughed, but Daniel waved his hand, showing her he was serious. She sighed.
"Yes, I've known Isabelle since college. We talk through Facebook, maybe a few text messages now and then. She wasn't always this annoying, but we were never all that close, either."
"Why not?"
Tara shrugged. "We talk now because our husbands work together, but we've always been on different paths. Even in college, I was on the business and marketing path, she was on the husband path."
"The what?" Daniel asked, looking at her for clarification.
"The husband path. You know, the girls that major in something like art history until they meet their husband. Isabelle met Anthony in our third year. They got married, she dropped out to follow him to law school."
"Is she the type to, say, maybe pressure her husband to make more money?" Daniel asked, watching Tara's face for a reaction.
She immediately shook her head. "No way. Her family is loaded. If she needed money, all she has to do is call her father. If Isabelle pushes Anthony for anything, it's his time."
"His time?"
"Her dad was, is, a workaholic. He wasn't around much when she was a child. I think there must have been a few other women, because her mother left him when Isabelle was little. Isabelle was more or less raised by the housekeeper. She wanted a family, like what you see on tv. As nerve grating as her pregnancy quest was, it didn't surprise me much. She wanted the husband, the kids, suburbia. You know, the whole minivan mommy thing."
Daniel thought about that for a few minutes. He took a long drink from the bottle of soft drink, staring off at something in space.
"Is everything okay, Daniel?" Tara asked, concern obvious in her voice.
"No, but it's a work thing. I'll have to talk to Sam later."
"Come to dinner," Tara invited. "I'll get some steak, we'll all have a good meal, then I'll disappear after we eat so you two can talk man stuff before dessert."
"That would be great, actually," Daniel said, surprised. "I'd rather talk to Sam away from work. I don't want other people listening in."
"I figured," she replied. "So, now that we have that covered, you need to take yourself home so I can run to the grocery store."
"Do you and Sam talk about work?" Daniel asked, suddenly curious, as he was heading towards the bathroom.
She shrugged. "We do, but we both deal with confidential information. Believe it or not, the formulas for my cosmetics are patented. We talk in a lot of broad terms."
"Broad terms?"
"We know the other person will listen and not push for details we can't give. If there's a problem, it usually has nothing to do with confidential information. It usually has to do with how that information is being handled. We aren't that crazy professional couple that only talks about our work."
"Must be nice," Daniel remarked, pulling on his shorts.
"It is," Tara said, simply. She turned on the shower and stepped under the spray. She was out in under two minutes. Daniel sat on the bed, watching her as she slipped into one of those voluminous maxi dresses that women liked and men hated.
"I'll walk you out," Tara said, and they left the room together, still not touching.
Sam waited until he heard both cars leave before he left the closet and went to retrieve his car. His cell phone chirped with a text message from Daniel.
Talked to your wife. She invited me to dinner. Need to talk to you.
Sam smiled as he sent back a thumbs-up. To give credit where it was due, Daniel wasn't lying. He had talked to Tara earlier.
Sam wondered what had Daniel so upset that he needed to arrange a private talk. He imagined it had to do with the Englewood case, but he didn't want to think about it on a Saturday.
Chapter 3
Sam and Daniel sat in the living room, sipping the brandy Tara had poured for them before she silently retreated. Sam knew she'd gone to her desk upstairs to finish paperwork, but Daniel seemed concerned.
"I didn't mean to run her out of her own living room," he said, "But I do need to talk to you."
"Don't worry about her. She'll give us our privacy for a while, then serve dessert. Tara knows how business works."
Daniel nodded and took another sip. He seemed to be fortifying himself for the conversation.
"You handled the Englewood account before he died, right?" Daniel asked.
"I did. Anthony filled in once or twice, but it was mostly my account. Why?"
Daniel took a deep breath. "There's some money missing. I checked the figures six times. It's not a lot, a few thousand here and there, but it's increased in the past six months."
Sam looked at him for a full thirty seconds before he answered. "You think someone at the firm is taking the money?"
"It would be easy enough. I checked the amounts for the past ten years. While Mr. Englewood was alive, the discrepancies were very small, just a few hundred here and there. His accountant caught the withdrawals. I talked to him Tuesday, he said Mr. Englewood just shrugged it off as cash withdrawals he'd forgotten about."
"When you're a billionaire, what's a few hundred?" Sam muttered, almost to himself.
Daniel nodded. "Exactly. Thing is, after he died, there were two big amounts taken. One for a hundred thousand, another for fifty grand, within two days."
"Why didn't the accountant raise the red flag?"
"Burial expenses, hospice fees, ect. A lot of stuff was coming out of those accounts. I got the accountant to send me a list of everything. In ten years, nearly three hundred thousand has been withdrawn and unaccounted for."
"Jesus!" Sam sputtered, taking a hard swallow of brandy. "Why?"
Daniel shook his head. "I've only been here a few months. I have to report this, so we can clear the firm of any wrong doing."
"But you think it's someone in the firm?" Sam asked, getting up to refill their glasses.
Daniel sighed. For the first time since Sam had met him, he looked drained.
"I don't want to think it's someone in the firm, but Englewood wasn't known for giving out charitable donations without getting a receipt for his taxes. We have access, his accountant, and his secretary. That's it."
"A hacker would just clean him out," Sam mused. "So it has to be someone with ten years of access."
"Not necessarily," Daniel replied, looking more drawn as he spoke. "The accountant said the little amounts can't be investigated, because Englewood knew about them and shrugged them off. It's the hundred and fifty
thousand taken after his death that will be investigated."
Sam sat back down and looked Daniel in the eye. "Do you think I did it?"
"No. I looked at your credit report, your assets. You and Tara live within your means, pay your taxes. I'll admit, I was looking at Anthony for it. I asked Tara about Isabelle earlier, thinking that she might demand a higher lifestyle."
"I could have told you that Isabelle is a major pain in the ass but she isn't a social climber."
"I wanted a woman's opinion. You know, in case something had ever been said in those girl talks women are always having."
Sam laughed. "And now? Anthony looking good for it?"
Daniel shook his head. "Anthony is drowning in debt. That alone clears him. Wouldn't he live a little better with that kind of money? He's behind on his house payments, his car is ten years old. He's pawned the title on it twice. You, on the other hand, are current on everything, with moderate debt."
"You investigated me that closely?" Sam asked, shocked at the intrusion.
Daniel nodded without embarrassment. "I'll go to the senior partners Monday, Sam. We're all suspects, man. You, me, Anthony, our assistants, our secretaries."
"Good grief," Sam breathed. "This could be huge."
"It is huge," Daniel corrected him. "You don't know how badly I want this to be a simple accounting error. I just know it's not."
Sam looked up and saw Tara coming down the stairs. She paused and tilted her head, questioning. He nodded and smiled.
"I'll get that chocolate torte," she told them, brightly, heading towards the kitchen.
Daniel turned to Sam, smiling again. "That is so cool."
"What?" Sam asked.
Daniel laughed, easing some of the tension etched on his face. "You two don't even realize it."
"Realize what?"
"How in sync you are. I've been watching you two and all your little silent communications. I don't think my ex and I ever understood each other like that. Not even when we were screaming at each other."
Sam thought that was an odd comment, considering that Daniel had spent the afternoon incredibly in sync with Tara, but he let it go. After all, he'd often thought that he and Tara were a good match.
Chapter 4
Tara was going out of her mind. She had been in meetings all day. Her newest lipgloss was selling out as fast as she could have it shipped out. She had two new interns that had lost three invoices and an elderly secretary that was out with a kidney stone.
With new products always being introduced, she had a backlog of emails that had to be answered, both from developers and customers. She needed to look over the latest samples to be sent to her representatives. She had a million papers to read and sign.
There was so much to do that she didn't even think about going home at five. She stripped off her heels and hose and was working in her bare feet, padding between the store room and the office. She had four computer screens pulled up for reference. She was determined to at least make a dent in the mountain of work before calling it a day.
She'd called Sam to tell him she was working late. She wasn't surprised to see him come into her office with a pizza and a bottle of wine.
"I know you haven't eaten," he told her, setting the box on the conference table. "Any chance you could take a break?"
"Yes," she said, blowing out a breath and coming to the table. "Are you just now getting off work?"
Sam nodded and opened the box. "We're pretty stressed. I don't know what's going to happen. We've gone over every inch of Englewood's finances. i still have other clients to deal with, too."
"We're some busy people," Tara agreed, biting into her slice of pizza. The flavors exploded in her mouth.
"This is so good," she said, taking a sip of the wine he had poured in two coffee mugs.
"Fine china," he agreed. "Brings out the true flavor."
They ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Sam refilled her wine and passed her a handful of paper towels.
"Thanks," she said. "This was perfect. I needed to eat something."
"Me, too. These hours are why young people look old before their time."
"That's why I carry a whole line of anti aging products," she replied, looking at the paperwork on her desk.
"You going to stay a while?" he asked, following her gaze.
She shrugged. "I need to but I probably can't go much further. I keep fantasying about a bubble bath and bed."
Sam laughed. "I know the feeling. Work is killing me."
"I'd offer to rub your shoulders, but you have to rub mine," she said.
"New kind of sixty nine?" he teased.
She laughed. "Something new, keeps it spicy."
Sam laughed with her. He couldn't help but admire her, even now, when she was tired and a little undone.
She'd left her blazer on the desk chair and was working in a blue silk blouse and cream colored skirt. Her heels and nylons were in a heap by her desk. Her hair was falling out of it's tight chignon.
"You're gorgeous," Sam told her.
She looked shocked, but pleased. She leaned over and kissed him. "Thanks, Sam. I feel like an old woman tonight."
"You don't look like an old woman," he assured her, taking her in his arms. "You don't feel like an old woman, either."
She was surprised, but pleased, when he kissed her again. She pulled him tighter against her, feeling the familiar shape of him against her. He pulled the pins out of her hair, running his fingers through the curling mass.
He probed her mouth with his tongue, unbuttoning her blouse as he did so. He felt her lips curve against his mouth as she undid his trousers. He gave a little sound of pleasure as she wrapped her hand around his dick and began to gently stroke him.
He made no protest when she pushed him into the chair and knelt before him. He gasped as she licked the head before taking him in her mouth, sucking him deep.
He watched her, with her beautiful mouth on him, her hair falling down, her eyes closed as she continued to pleasure him. He moved his hips a little, fucking her lips as she began to move her head, going up and down on him, keeping the pressure of her suction even.
"I need your pussy," he gasped, pulling her to her feet. He yanked her skirt over her waist and bent her over the table. He shoved her panties out of the way and buried himself in her. She was moaning and rocking back into him, encouraging him on.
He looked down at the two creamy buttocks. He gave her a light smack and grabbed her hips, plunging inside of her.
He thought of how it looked when she'd been riding Daniel. It drove him harder, somehow. The image of her little body straining to take in the other man's big black cock filled his mind.
He'd never been more turned on in his life. She was responding to him, bringing her ass higher to give him a better angle. He laughed out loud as he thrust into her again and again, listening to her moan as he filled her up.
It meant everything to him when he felt her tighten around him. It was a victory when he heard the sound of her release.
For the first time in a very long time, he felt like a man.
Chapter 5
The senior partners had called the meeting early. Sam knew it was a power play. He'd done it himself before. He, Anthony, and Daniel were called into the conference room.
"There is going to be a thorough investigation," the oldest partner told them. "This is a serious charge."
One of the other partners added, "Of course the authorities have been called in. You will be expected to cooperate fully with the investigation."
"In the mean time, you will be put on leave until this situation is cleared up."
Sam was not surprised by the announcement. Glancing at Daniel, he saw that he wasn't shocked, either. He looked grim, but he nodded his acceptance.
Anthony, however, looked outraged. "But how will I pay my bills if I'm not working?"
Sam was startled by the angry outburst. He took a closer look at him, a bit taken back by what he s
aw. Anthony looked shabby, like he hadn't been taking care of himself. His scalp showed through his thinning hair. His suit looked a little roomy, as though he'd lost weight.
"You'll still receive your base pay," Daniel assured him, taking charge of the situation. The partners were looking at Anthony as though he was a mad man.
