The Billionaire’s Tenacious Boss (The Maxfield Brothers Series Book 1)

by Leslie North

  It was all Angie could do not to roll her eyes. She’d done enough research to know that Garret and Stephen weren’t all that close. She wouldn’t be here if she suspected that Garret wouldn’t roll right over Stephen if he felt it would help him.

  “Mr. Maxfield. Will you please assure Mr. Snyder that your relationship isn’t compromised if Duncan Enterprises is awarded the job?”

  Stephen nodded. “I’m fine with this. Let’s just sign the paperwork.”

  Angie tried to send him a questioning look. Why was he in such a hurry? “Okay. Is there anything else you need from us, Mr. Snyder?”

  Garret shrugged and scribbled something on a piece of paper. “I do have one more question for Stephen.” He smiled. “I hope you don’t mind. It’s been a while since we spoke. I’m really not certain you remember the last time that we were face to face. It’s a bit hazy for me as well. There was quite a bit of alcohol involved.”

  “Mr. Snyder, I’m not sure what is going on here, but I would really like for things to stay on track. Business only, if you don’t mind,” Angie said as she jumped into the conversation. Things were getting off track, and she saw that they might be headed down an unprofessional path.

  “Just a minute, Ms. Lopez. I promise this won’t take long.” Garret cocked his head and smiled. “Stephen. Do you remember?”

  There was a pause. “I do,” he said finally.

  “And you still called me. That takes balls. You’re putting a lot of trust in me.”

  “And have I made a mistake?”

  “I expected you earlier this morning. You didn’t show. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something going on that I needed to know.”

  Stephen shrugged. “I left a message with your receptionist. I ended up having to take a later plane.”

  For a moment, the two men did nothing but stare at each other. Finally, Angie had enough. “Gentleman. This is not a cockfight. If you’re not going to whip it out, then we need to get back to business. So whatever you guys had going on needs to wait for another day. Now, if I’m not mistaken, Mr. Snyder has a job for us to complete. What is the estimate that Duncan has bid for the job?”

  Garret slid the paper across the desk. When she looked at the numbers, her heart began to race.

  “Problem, Angie?” Stephen asked.

  “Problem?” She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. “Stephen, this is huge. We take this job, and we’re well on our way to making Construction profitable again!” She felt a surge of excitement as she stared at Garret. “Yes. We will definitely do this job.”

  “You know, Ms. Lopez, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone so passionate about a job. It will be a pleasure to work with you.” He stood and held out his hands. “I’ll get the paperwork in order this afternoon, and we can sign the contracts in the morning.”

  Angie practically beamed as she shook his hand.

  “Stephen,” Garret said more softly. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “Me too.” The two men shook hands before Stephen walked Angie out of the room. As soon as they were in the lobby, she whirled on him.

  “I thought you were upset about the plane mix-up because you couldn’t be with me. But you had planned on getting to the office before me. Why?”

  “I knew how much money Duncan Enterprises would make from this job. I wanted to hash out the details with Snyder before you got here so that you couldn’t back out of it.”

  She stared at him. “You don’t trust me.”

  “Angie, someone is deliberately strangling Duncan Enterprises. I needed to know for sure that it wasn’t you. You would have done the exact same thing if you were in my shoes.”

  “If it wasn’t for me, this deal might not have even gone through. Whatever personal history you had with Garret nearly ruined this whole thing. So maybe instead of trying to seduce information out of me, next time you ask?” she hissed as she whirled around and stomped out.

  He didn’t immediately follow her. She seethed all the way back to the hotel. It was obvious what he’d been doing this whole time. He’s been trying to butter her up to find out if she was the one damaging Duncan Enterprises. And that was ridiculous. Why would she want to hurt the company she was slated to take over?

  That, of course, didn’t hurt nearly as much as the idea that Stephen didn’t really care for her. It had all been an act, and she’d almost fallen for it.

  “Are you done jumping to conclusions?”

  She whirled around. “How did you get in here? You know what? It doesn’t even matter, I don’t care. Get out.”

  Instead of leaving, he stepped in and closed the door. “Not until you listen to me.”

  “I don’t care about anything that comes out of your mouth. You care about your father’s company? Fine. Guess what? I do as well. But I don’t walk all over people to get what I want.”

  He grabbed her by the hands and walked her backwards until her back hit the wall. “You think I tried to seduce information out of you? Have I ever once asked you anything suspicious when we were alone? Did it ever feel like I was interrogating you?”

  Rolling her eyes, she tried to tug her hands out of his grasp. “Biding your time, I’m sure.”

  “No. I wasn’t. As you can see from today’s meeting, I didn’t need to seduce anything out of you. I just needed to put you in a situation and test your reaction. That’s good business. For the record, I have always trusted you. But the other people didn’t.”

  “Let me go,” she pleaded.

  “No. Not until we’re done talking. You have a nasty habit of walking away. So you’re going to stay right here until we both have what we want.” He stepped closer to her, and her body couldn’t help but respond. Pressing her back to the wall, she tried to ignore the urge she had to lean forward and taste him.

  “You’ve made your point.”

  “Oh, I haven’t even gotten close to my point. I’m making sure that when I get to my point, you aren’t second-guessing me,” he whispered.

  She needed to get away from him before she did something she knew she would regret in the morning. Her heart was pounding, and desire was surging through her body. “Then tell me your point and let me go.”

  “You would not be pissed about me trying to seduce information out of you unless you felt something for me. Because you’re just as mad at yourself as you are at me. So tell me the truth, Angie. What do you want from me?”

  “What’s Garret’s issue with you?” she asked instead.

  “Angie…”

  “Answer the question,” she snapped.

  He stared at her for a moment. His hands loosened around hers as his thumb stroked over the edge of her skin. Although his touch was soft, there was something dangerously seductive about the way he made her skin tingle.

  “I had a deal with Garret on a job about three years ago. Duncan went behind my back and beat my offer by thousands, so Garret broke his deal with me and signed with Duncan Enterprises. I was livid. Duncan had stolen every long-term job from me for a year, and I took it personally. I hunted Garret down at his favorite bar and smeared his name. And, for good measure, I told him and everyone else who was listening, that his wife was banging their next-door neighbor. I was beyond drunk, and there were some physical altercations.”

  “He could have had you arrested,” she whispered.

  “Yes, he could have. But he didn’t, because deep down he realized what he’d done to me. So when I asked him for his help, he agreed. His company can afford it, and he owed me a favor.” Stephen stepped even closer and his mouth hovered above hers. “But he could have done the exact same to me today. I think he’d planned on it. But you turned it around. Now answer my question.”

  Question? He’d asked her a question? He was standing far too close, and she couldn’t think. “Um,” she said helplessly as she stared at his lips.

  “What do you want from me?”

  What did she want? Her head spun, and she couldn’t ev
en begin to formulate the words. Instead, she finally gave into her desire and leaned forward to kiss him. As their lips touched, fire shot through her. He immediately let go of her wrists and circled her waist, and her hands combed through his hair.

  She couldn’t get enough of him. His mouth worked over hers desperately as they grew more and more urgent. Finally, when she was getting too dizzy to stand, he broke away and stared at her. “Good answer,” he said in a strangled voice. Without a warning, he scooped her up and carried her to the bed.

  As she sank into the mattress, his body covered her and his mouth descended again. She moaned as every ounce of logic disappeared. She should not be in bed, literally, with a Maxfield. Having to deal with Duncan on a daily basis was bad enough, but mixing business with pleasure was bad news, and she knew it.

  But she couldn’t stop it as she wrapped her legs around him and sought relief from the ache within her. She couldn’t help it when her hands reached under his shirt to splay across his warm skin. And she couldn’t help but urge him on when his hands reached down to hike up her skirt.

  “Hurry,” she gasped. Her body was on fire, and she thought she’d go insane if she didn’t get what she wanted.

  Reaching down, she unsnapped his pants and reached inside. With a hiss of his breath, he jumped and grabbed her hands. “Christ, Angie, if you do that, I won’t last. It’s early, baby. We have all night.”

  No, they didn’t. If she stopped for even one moment, all those logical thoughts, all those doubts would come creeping back in. She needed to ease the ache now. And when he released her hands, she dove right back in to find what she was looking for.

  “Dammit,” he muttered when she wrapped her fingers around him. He was hot and hard as he pulsated in her palms. Suddenly, he was just as urgent as she was. Lifting his body off hers, they both struggled to get his pants right off. He pulled at her shirt until the buttons popped off, and she stripped his shirt over his head. As he freed her from her bra and leaned down to cover one of her nipples with his mouth, she cried out.

  The tension inside her built as he slid that hot tongue over her erect point. “Please,” she begged him. “Please, I need more.”

  Groaning, he shoved her skirt all the way up to her waist and pulled down her panties. She was wet and ready when he slid a finger inside her, and when his thumb circled around her bud, she nearly fell apart.

  “No,” she said as she pulled his hand away. “You. I need it to be with you. Please.”

  “Angie, are you sure? Please, baby. I need you to be sure.”

  “I’m sure,” she whispered as she looked into those beautiful blue eyes. And then, before she could even take another breath, he slid into her.

  As he filled and stretched her, she cried out and dug her nails into his back. “Shit, Angie,” he whispered as he froze. “You’re so tight, baby.”

  “It’s been a while,” she said softly.

  “God.” He inhaled a ragged breath and rested his forehead on hers. “I would have taken more time if I had known.”

  “It’s fine. I’m fine,” she said as she wiggled under him.

  “Christ. Stop that,” he ordered as he closed his eyes. Smiling wickedly, she moved her hips again to take him even deeper. They both moaned.

  “I told you. I’m fine. Now give me what I want.”

  “Your wish is my command,” he said as he sank into her. Everything about him felt absolutely perfect, and soon there weren’t any coherent thoughts. She could only focus on him.

  Her body was slick with sweat as she moved under him, and soon she felt like she was going to explode. “Stephen,” she whispered. “Oh God, Stephen!” Her back bowed as she finally shattered beneath him.

  He cupped her head and muted her moans with his kiss. And when he lifted her knee and took himself home, he broke their kiss, and it was her name on his lips.

  And there was nothing sweeter.

  12

  Angie woke up the next morning and stretched. When a hand fell over her stomach, she tensed. She was naked, and that hand definitely belonged to Stephen Maxfield. Immediately, memories of everything they did flashed into her mind, and she winced.

  Obviously, they had needed to blow off some steam. She had been pent up about the deal with Garret, and no doubt, he had felt the same. Last night was good. Better than good. They would go to the meeting feeling relaxed and confident.

  “The wheels in your head are so loud that they could wake the dead,” Stephen murmured. “I don’t suppose we could have a quickie before we have to talk about last night?”

  Angie couldn’t help but laugh as she rolled over in bed to face him. “As much fun as that sounds, I need to shower and get ready before the meeting. So I guess there won’t be any talking either.”

  He looked almost innocent as he blinked sleepily at her. “No talking?” he asked suspiciously.

  “No talking,” she said as she pushed herself up and wrapped the sheet around her. As she swung her feet around and tried to get up, he tugged on the sheet and she tumbled back on the bed.

  “Stephen!” She couldn’t hold back a giggle.

  He growled as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “I know that you are dying to talk,” he whispered in her ear. “So we’re not leaving until you tell me what’s happening in that mind of yours.”

  She sighed as she snuggled into his arms. “Okay. If you insist.”

  “Oh, I insist.” He nuzzled her neck, and she tried to focus on the logic and not what he was doing to her body. Again.

  “I was thinking that we’re both single, consenting adults with a lot going on. Last night was fun. We got to blow off some steam, and I wouldn’t say no to another couple of rounds with you. But I don’t think we should overthink this.”

  His hands stopped their exploration for a minute, and she held her breath. If he pressed the issue, her defenses might crumble. “So only fun?” he whispered.

  “Only fun,” she confirmed, but she held her breath.

  “Can that ‘only fun’ continue right now?” he asked as he went back to stroking her skin.

  She shivered in his arms and smiled. “I told you, we have things to do,” she laughed. Immediately, the laughter turned husky and something suspiciously like a moan as his fingers found her sweet spot.

  Sliding her arms up over her head, she pressed her cheek against his while her hips pressed against his invading fingers. His other hand slid around her waist and settled possessively on her stomach making it difficult for her to rock her hips.

  Grumbling in frustration, she nipped at his chin causing him to pull his fingers free as he made a tut-tut noise. With both hands splayed across her torso, he dragged her farther back on the bed and she ended up lying sprawled across him, the sheet now hopelessly wrapped around her like a cocoon.

  Snorting in amusement, she lifted her head to look at him. “So, now what, big guy? I’m stuck here.”

  Giving her a mischievous smile, he rolled her on the bed and she found herself looking up at him as he continued to grin at her. Nipping at her nose, he grabbed her wrists before she could touch him and pinned them between them by leaning heavily against her.

  With his legs straddling her thighs, he licked her face making her yelp in outrage as she turned her head to avoid his tongue. Her intended response was nothing more than a gasp when his lips found her neck, settling on a sensitive spot.

  Shifting his weight he began to unwrap her from the sheet slowly, pausing every time she attempted to hurry him along. This calm, controlled side of him was doing things to her making her desperately wish that her legs were free so she could wrap them around his waist and pull him inside her.

  Once he bared her breasts, he lavished attention on them dragging moans from her as she once again tried to touch him. Holding her wrists, he drew them over her head and tucked them under her pillow before returning to his unwrapping.

  Grabbing tightly to the pillow, Angie clung to it watching his intent expre
ssion as his hands lovingly freed her from the sheet as though she were some sort of prized gift.

  She was trembling by the time he finished, her body alive like never before as she finally was allowed to touch him and wrapped herself around him as he drove himself into her. Calling out his name, she held tightly to him as he brought her to orgasm again and again before his own body tightened, releasing his with a shout.

  Luckily, they were able to reschedule their meeting with Garret for later that morning.

  “You know, when I said I wanted a vacation, I didn’t mean right away,” Angie told him as she stepped out of the airport.

  Stephen laughed and put his arm around her. “It’s not a vacation. Duncan Enterprises has some investors in New York, so I figured we’d stop by before we went home.”

  She raised her head and gave him a suspicious look. “Flying literally across the country isn’t exactly ‘stopping by’.”

  Stephen laughed as he flagged down a taxi. He had hoped that if he could wrap things up with the investors and bankers early enough, he could take Angie out for a nice romantic dinner. This whole sleeping-together-for-kicks thing was fine, but it wasn’t going to fly for too much longer.

  “Relax. You’ll be back in your cozy office before you can say paperwork and whiskey,” he said as he kissed her head.

  “Whiskey?” she asked weakly.

  “Oh what?” He gave her what he hoped was a charming look. “Was I not supposed to know about your whiskey thing?”

  “Hey! A taxi!” Angie pushed him towards the car.

  He opened the door and waited for her to get in. With a frown, he cocked his head and looked back into the airport. For a moment, he thought he saw someone who looked oddly familiar, but that couldn’t possibly be right. Shrugging, he ducked into the cab and pulled out his phone. “Smile,” he said as he gave her a quick kiss. “You’re in the Big Apple.”