by Alexis Gold
Christina rolled her eyes; yeah, she couldn’t deny it.
“Well when you put it that way…maybe I shouldn’t be dating such an old man.” She stuck her tongue out at me and I bit it before she could pull the soft muscle back into her mouth.
“Hey…can we talk about today in the office?” Christina asked me tentatively and I looked down at her with a slightly wary expression.
I knew I had deeper feelings for her than I was willing to explore at the moment. I didn’t want to lose her, though, so if she wanted to talk about it then I would.
“Sure, I’m all yours.” I gave her my best adorable smile and she leaned back against the couch, her gaze intent on mine.
“I just want to know, how much I should be feeling for you right now…if we’re on the same page, that sort of thing.”
I nodded. I was pretty damn sure I was head over heels, but I knew she was slower to recognize how she felt.
“I…I don’t want to lose you, share you, or be away from you. So I guess that means I’m pretty wrapped up in you, Christina, if that’s not obvious enough.” I chuckled and she smiled.
“Yeah, it’s obvious. I…I feel exactly the same, but it scares me a little, you know?”
I shook my head; she shouldn’t be scared about anything. I took her hand in mine and then kissed her palm.
“Don’t let it, please, I won’t ever hurt you, I promise. It would kill me if I did, I just want to make you happy,” I said and Christina nodded. She sighed almost as if in relief and then pressed a soft kiss to my lips.
“Okay, so what are we having for dinner?” I had to laugh, she was a girl, but she didn’t really like talking about her feelings much, that was for sure.
“I’m not sure, we’d have to see what I have here. Would you like to make something together with me?” I asked her and she nodded eagerly.
Christina and I went down to the kitchen to make spaghetti and meatballs; we made the meatballs from scratch and everything turned out great.
The more and more Christina stayed over, the more I wanted to ask her to move in with me. I knew it was a bit soon, but I simply wanted to be with her as much as possible. She fell asleep in my arms again that night and I started thinking of ways to politely tell her that she was moving in with me.
The following morning Christina had to go into Six Fountain to fill out her new hire paperwork so that she could start working. I loved that she was excited for her new job. Christina promised to visit me at work after she was done at Six Fountain and then I headed off to work. I had to put on my game face to deal with everything that was going on with the investigation and our pending deal. Hopefully, Vanessa had gotten somewhere with the US Air Force.
“He’s here! Thank goodness, we need you to sign a bunch of stuff, Jeff, also Vanessa wants to see you in her office ASAP.”
I hurried into my office while Victor fell into step behind me. I listened to any updates he had for me and then took a look at the legal documents I had to sign and went through them with Victor. Just going through all of them took up half of my morning. Afterwards, I went to meet with Vanessa who had rather hopeful news to share with me.
“The Air Force is interested in buying in on a supplier contract with us…though it’s pending with the all clear concerning Ireland,” Vanessa said bluntly shortly after I walked into her office.
“That’s fine, it’ll harden the blow once it’s been proven that we’re clean and our deal with Ireland is corruption free.” I smiled at the thought of those Greywing bastards reading about our deal with USAF.
I sent a text to Victor, on a whim, to set up a lunch with the CEO of Greywing, Robert Kline. I wanted to talk to the man face to face and see why the hell he was interfering with Stargate’s business endeavors.
Victor sent back a strange text about my needing to take an early lunch. I called him and he answered on the second ring.
“What was that about lunch?” I asked and checked my watch, it was only eleven o’clock.
“Yes, you should go out for an early lunch.”
“Victor, we’re in the middle of an investigation and pending lawsuit, since when do I even eat lunch in tense situations like this?”
Something was up. Vanessa was looking at me curiously; she was wondering just as much as I was.
“Okay fine, forget the lunch. Just don’t come up to your office. There’s been a gas leak…you could die…”
I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily.
“Just tell me what the problem is, Victor,” I said impatiently.
There was a long silence on the other end of the line and I wondered if he had hung up the phone.
“It’s Roxanna. She’s here in your office waiting to speak with you.”
My eyebrows furrowed and I wondered what the fuck she was doing there.
“Why is she there?” I asked and glanced at Vanessa like she would know her face was a question mark and she waited to be informed of what was going on.
“Why the fuck should I know? She just showed up and breezed right in all, ‘I need to speak with Jeff, I’ll wait until he gets back,’ piece of work that one is,” Victor said.
He did not like Roxanna at all, especially not after how she left me. I had thought I really loved her and she simply up and decided she did not want me anymore.
“I’m coming up there,” I said on a heavy sigh. I hung up the phone on Victor, who was advising against it, and strode out of Vanessa’s office. I heard her pick up the phone, probably to call Victor and ask what the hell was going on. I tried to keep calm while on the elevator ride up to my office.
All I could think about was how much I wanted to kick Roxanna out and tell her not to bother me again. I kept that happy thought in mind as I made my way down the hall and to my office. I passed by Victor’s office and he was simply shaking his head at me while on the phone with Vanessa.
I strode into the office and there she was. Roxanna was beautiful. She always had been, she was tall with the perfect hourglass figure. She was slender, though, and had creamy alabaster skin. Her face was flawless and she had the biggest chocolate brown eyes. Her hair was the color of mahogany and fell in artful waves down her back and over her shoulders. I hated her for being there and bringing up memories of the past.
“Jeff! Look at you, sexy as usual, though you aren’t my little engineer anymore.” Roxanna smiled as if she was pleased to see me and strode over from her perch on my desk. She pulled me into a hug and kissed me lingeringly on the cheek. Why was she there? What was she after?
“Hey Roxanna…why the sudden visit?” I asked, my tone bored. Roxanna pouted and walked back to my desk so she could shimmy onto the edge and have a seat. She wore a form fitting black dress that stopped at her knees. Of course the damn thing rode up as she perched at the edge of my desk. She wore black heels with bright red bottoms.
“I’ve seen your pictures and have wondered how you’ve been…I also saw you decided to take on the responsibilities of running Stargate and not simply be one of its engineers.” Roxanna smiled almost smugly. I would bet much of what I held dear on the fact that she left me because I was getting paid as an engineer instead of as the boss.
“I needed to step up for the company and for my father, so I did. You would have known that if you stuck around long enough,” I said sarcastically. Roxanna neatly sidestepped my comment and leaned forward a fraction, clearly showing off her breasts.
“I’m sorry for the way I left, I was hoping we could maybe grab lunch together, or plan dinner to catch up.” She smiled at me hopefully, her expression deceptively innocent and shy. I knew what she was after, what she must have been after. My money.
“I can’t, I have a girlfriend,” I said. Roxanna simply pouted, not phased in the slightest by what I just shared.
“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind you catching up with an old friend,” she said. She was being persistent and I was getting tired of her game already. I walked over to the desk and sat down in my chair, re
ady to dismiss her.
“I have work to get back to, Roxanna. It’s been a lovely chat, but I don’t see us having lunch or dinner any time soon…or ever,” I made myself clear and Roxanna simply rolled her eyes, she was not to be deterred. She slid down from my desk and walked towards the door to leave. Before she did she glanced back at me and looked at me expectantly.
“Will you at least walk me out?” I sighed heavily and got up to walk her the ten fucking steps to the door. “Before I go…” Roxanna pulled out a business card from her small clutch purse with her name and number printed on it. I took it from her and she surprised me by leaning against me and pressing her lips to mine.
The few seconds of surprise would not let me function, until thoughts of Christina snapped me out of it and I placed my hands on Roxanna’s shoulders to push her away. Her hands came around me in an embrace and her lips moved against mine but I pushed on her shoulders and broke the kiss.
“Why would you do that?” I asked her, infuriated. I heard a hiccupped gasp and then my head swung towards the open door to my office, where Christina stood, looking absolutely amazing, though she was staring at me with nothing but hurt in her eyes.
“Shit, Christina, she’s nothing. She kissed me, I didn’t kiss her.” I walked over to her and she turned her head away from me as I reached her.
“I have to go…” she said and then quickly turned and hurried down the hall towards the elevators. Of course with Roxanna came fucking trouble. I hurried after Christina and managed to squeeze into the elevator with her alone. I pressed the stop button and Christina simply stared straight ahead at the metal doors, her arms crossed over her chest protectively.
“Christina, she just showed up at my office. I was kicking her out and she just fucking kissed me!” I said, my tone a little high pitched, but I needed Christina to understand I’d never hurt her like that, especially intentionally.
“That kiss didn’t look like it was just some girl throwing herself at you. You kissed her back, you two were in an embrace. Who is she?” Christina looked at me angrily and I could see tears threatening to fall. I cursed, this wasn’t what we needed right now, Christina had just finally opened herself up for me.
“I promise you, I didn’t kiss her back, Christina. She just showed up,” I pleaded with her and I saw her jaw clench as her eyes flashed with anger, confusion, and hurt.
“Who is she?” Christina asked me forcefully that time and I sighed heavily.
“Roxanna…”
Christina took the news like a blow to the chest. I saw it in her eyes. She closed them briefly and a tear escaped down her cheek, I went to wipe it away but Christina slapped my hand away from her.
“Don’t touch me. I can’t…I can’t compete with an ex. We’ve only been going out for a few days anyway …she can have you.”
Christina pushed the button for the elevator to continue its descent. I couldn’t think of anything to say to her and I knew that only made things worse. The elevator doors opened on the lobby level and Christina sent me one last hurt glance before she left.
My heart dropped through the floor and I wanted to scream with my frustration. How was I ever going to prove myself to Christina after that? All she would do now is convince herself that Roxanna is better for me than she is, when I barely felt for Roxanna half of what I felt for Christina; in fact nowhere near half. Roxanna was really just there from college. We were more friends than lovers.
I cursed and then ran after Christina, I caught her just before she got into her car. I reached for her arm and she wrenched it away from me. She was trying really hard not to cry and I hated that I did that to her.
“Leave me alone, Jeffrey,” she said angrily, her voice shaky from unshed tears. I shook my head and grabbed her keys from her hand so she couldn’t go anywhere.
“I promise you, Christina, Roxanna just showed up out of the blue. She saw some of my modeling pictures, saw that I was successful and all she is after is my money or status or what-the-hell-ever. Please, you have to believe me, I’d never do anything to hurt you.
I was kicking her out I swear and she just…” I sighed and tried to think of a way that I knew would fix things for sure. “She’s nothing to me, I feel nothing with her. It’s you I want, you all the time,” I said earnestly.
Christina’s head was down as she stared at the pavement of the sidewalk and listened to me.
Eventually, after moments of excruciating silence, Christina looked up with a wary expression. “You need to make sure she gets that, Jeffrey. I can’t handle it; you know I can’t. That was too far…I never want to see her around you again.”
Christina made herself very clear and I nodded. I was going to have Roxanna fucking thrown out of the building by security if that’s what Christina wanted.
“I swear you’ll never have to worry about her again. I’ll make sure she gets the picture and that will be the end of it,” I promised earnestly and Christina studied my gaze for a moment before she nodded slowly.
“Fine…” Christina reached for her keys, but I withheld them. I needed to make sure we were okay.
“Will I see you at home tonight?” I asked her anxiously.
She sighed and then nodded.
“Yeah…I’ll be there.”
Christina reached for the keys again and I leaned forward for a kiss from her. She dodged my lips and pointed to my mouth.
“Her lipstick is all over you…look, I’ll be home later; can I just have my keys please?”
Christina asked in annoyance. I gave her the keys, reluctantly, while I wiped Roxanna’s damn red lipstick off of my mouth.
“I will see you later then,” I said slowly and Christina nodded before she got into her car, started it up and pulled away. I sighed deeply and then went back up to my office where fucking Roxanna was still present.
“Well, she needed a lot of reassurance that’s for sure. You need someone stronger anyway, someone that can represent you and complement you, not someone that brings you stress and has you always running after her.” Roxanna tried to get in my head and I showed her the door.
“If you are not out of the building within ten minutes, I’m going to have security escort you out,” I said firmly.
Roxanna rolled her eyes and then walked down the hall that would lead her to the elevators without a second glance at me. Well shit, at least that bit of drama was fucking over.
Chapter8
Christina
As I drove to nowhere in particular, I simply couldn’t believe what I walked in on. It looked like two lovers in a passionate embrace to me. Plus, it was Roxanna, Jeffrey’s ex-girlfriend who he had loved once.
It wouldn’t be difficult for them to fall in love again…I didn’t even know why I gave Jeffrey a chance, either. I knew he was going to hurt me somewhere down the line and even though the kiss might not have been his fault, it still hurt like hell to see. Roxanna was gorgeous, like supermodel gorgeous and she was probably perfect for Jeffrey.
She was confident, she didn’t require any of the constant reassurance I needed from Jeffrey and she had been his at one point. How would I compete with that? I wouldn’t, I simply would not. I wasn’t stupid enough to put myself through that.
I took a deep breath and stopped driving around aimlessly. I decided to go home to my apartment and take a much needed nap. I hadn’t been getting as much sleep with Jeffrey the nights I slept over, which was every night so far. I also needed to try and recover from the entire Roxanna debacle. When I got home and locked myself inside, I went straight to bed and collapsed into a thankfully dreamless sleep.
When I woke up, it was darker than I expected it to be. I usually never took longer than one hour naps. I had no idea I had been that exhausted. I sat up, stretched and yawned before slowly getting out of bed.
My phone vibrated over on the coffee table and I went to check it. Of course it was Jeffrey messaging and calling me. It was six-thirty in the evening and he had probably just stepped out of h
is office to head home. I sighed and decided to simply send a text, I told him that I had stopped by my apartment and had fallen asleep, but that I was on my way to his place.
I wondered if I should even go. I realized today that I let myself get dazzled by Jeffrey, that I let myself start falling for him. I needed some separation from him, a break so that I could get my head on straight. Things had been moving really quickly ever since we started dating and it was proving to be particularly dangerous for my heart.
I sighed and texted Jeffrey that I was staying at my place for the night. Then I put my phone on silent so that I could ignore his calls and texts for the rest of the night. I really did need some alone time. I’d be starting work at Six Fountain the next day and I needed all my wits about me. I decided to order in some good pizza, have some wine with it, and take a nice bubble bath while I waited on the pie to get to my apartment.
