by Mia Ford
“Okay, Beverley, you just need to calm down. The reality is that you’ve signed the company over to me, and I just came here to have a friendly chat with my future employees,” he said and it looked like he was having fun. I felt so foolish for letting my defenses down, for even entertaining the idea that he might have genuinely wanted the best for my company. When the reality was that it was still a competition for him. The sex was another one of his victory points.
“You don’t need to tell me what to do, and you need to leave my office now. I’m still the proprietor of this office space and I’m asking you to go,” I said, trying to sound calmer. I didn’t want to give everyone the impression that I was losing my mind.
“I think we should give you guys some privacy,” Sasha spoke up, while Grant and I continued to stare at each other.
“We don’t need any privacy, Sasha. Mr Jennings is just leaving,” I said and crossed my arms over my chest.
Sasha, John and Susan filed out nonetheless. They didn’t just go into one of the other rooms; they left the office. Grant was still looking at me, while I stood with my back straight and my chin jutting out. I was ashamed at myself for waking up this morning and trusting him and I was angry with him at the same time. I wasn’t exactly sure what he had done wrong, but I knew he had pissed me off.
When the office door closed, Grant let out a sigh.
“You have to leave,” I said, gritting my teeth and he shook his head.
“I don’t have to do anything. I did nothing wrong. You’ve signed over your company, your product and your employees to me, Beverley,” he said and I rolled my eyes.
“And you’re enjoying it aren’t you?” I snapped and Grant got closer to me, quickly, and I took in a sharp breath. Having him close to me again was a mistake. My body reacted very differently to him than my mind did.
“I have not enjoyed a single moment of it, except when we’re both naked,” he said and a smile was forming on his face.
Chapter 20
Grant
I was standing very close to her, close enough to make the loose strands of golden hair on her face blow with my breath. She looked like she couldn’t believe what I had just said to her.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to say to me,” she said, looking offended. I smiled at her, and her eyes only grew wider.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” I said and she rolled her eyes.
“Okay, the sex is good. What has that got to do with anything else?” she snapped and I took in a deep breath. I wanted to kiss her again. I couldn’t bear to see her so mad at me again.
“That has everything to do with this,” I said.
“Why you’re buying my company?” she asked, looking confused and I nearly laughed. Was it so unbelievable to her that I might want to be with her?
“Yeah, why I’m buying your company and why I’m here,” I told her and she licked her lips.
“You’re buying my company because you wanted to have sex with me? Wow. You’ve got a lot of money to spare, Grant,” she said and this time I really did laugh.
“No, that’s only partially true. I do believe you have a brilliant product and I also didn’t want some other company to buy you out, who wouldn’t keep your work alive,” I explained and Beverley fell silent. She had her nose crinkled and her eyes narrowed. She was thinking about what I’d said and it appeared that she was still in disbelief.
“You’ve said all this before, and yet you turned up here today trying to prove your authority over my employees,” she said and I noticed that her voice had become a little quiet. I took in a deep breath and nodded my head.
“You’re right. I was being malicious. Coming her and inducting your employees was overstepping on my part. I suppose I wanted to assert some of my authority,” I told her and Beverly clenched her jaw.
“Why?” she asked and I shook my head. I didn’t know how to explain it to her, without also confessing everything.
“Because I was trying to pin you down. I want you to come and work with me, and you somehow keep slipping away,” I said in a calm voice. Her eyes still looked too large for her face, she couldn’t quite put two and two together yet.
“Pin me down? Why? I don’t understand what you have to gain from all this,” she said and I shrugged my shoulders.
“I told you I care for your company and your work. I would benefit from your expertise at my company,” I said and she glared at me with her squinted eyes.
“That’s it? You want my expertise so you come here trying to strong-arm me into submission?” she said and I remained silent. I wanted her to do the math but it was looking like I would have to spell it out for her after all. She still had no idea how I felt about her.
“Yeah, that and also because I wanted to keep seeing you. I suppose after our little rendezvous at the bar, I figured there would be no other way to get your attention other than to piss you off,” I said and Beverley gulped.
The expression on her face was changing now, her shoulders were relaxing.
“You wanted to keep seeing me?” she said, repeating my words and I cleared my throat nervously. I couldn’t remember the last time I had said those words to a girl before. I wasn’t sure what the consequences of that would be, especially with Beverley Wade.
“So, it is just about the sex,” she said and I clenched my jaw.
“It’s more than just about the sex,” I blurted out and her eyes widened again.
We were looking at each other silently. Maybe it was starting to make sense to her now, or maybe it wasn’t; but I didn’t want to take a chance.
“Since college I’ve wanted us to be friends, to get to know each other,” I told her and she took in a deep breath.
“We were competitors in college,” she said and I shook my head.
“You competed with me. I didn’t want that,” I told her and Beverley stepped towards me. Our faces were now only inches away, and if I wanted; I could have just leaned in and kissed her.
“So, what did you want? Your friends made fun of me, you kept your distance…how did you even dream of being my friend?” she asked and I shrugged my shoulders.
“The heart wants what the heart wants,” I said and there was deathly silence again. She was weighing out those words. I had got the heart involved in our midst now and I knew that was a heavy word. Beverley gulped as she stared up at me. Her face was ruddy, her cheeks were flushed and I was so close to simply pulling her into my arms and pressing our bodies together.
“I…I didn’t want to compete with you, Grant,” she said and those words came as a relief to me. I never doubted that she thrived on that competition. I had been so convinced that she despised me that I hadn’t thought about whether she was hiding her true feelings from me as well.
“I wanted us to get to know each other as well,” she said with fumbling words.
Despite myself, I smiled and Beverley bit down on her lip. We were standing close together, her back to the wall, studying each others faces.
“We can start now,” I said and lowered my face towards her, bringing my lips close to hers. In a flash, she had thrown her arms around my neck and drawn me close to her.
“You’re right, being naked together is a lot of fun,” she said and we were kissing.
Chapter 21
Beverley
This time when we kissed it was a hungry one. With our lips pressed together, I had already started unbuttoning his shirt. I had been angry with me, absolutely enraged only a few minutes ago and now I was ripping his shirt off his chest.
Grant’s hands reached for my blouse and he had started untucking the blouse out of my pants. I gasped and he grunted as his hands reached beneath my blouse, up my belly and to my breasts.
I pushed him away from me and Grant stumbled back. It was unreal. We were in my office. In the reception room where anyone could walk in, and we glared at each other silently for a few more seconds. I didn’t know if I forgave him yet, if I believed th
e things he had said to me. But in that moment, I didn’t care any more. I wanted his body.
I slid my blouse off and flung it to the floor and Grant followed suit. He took off his shirt and we lunged at each other again. His mouth was on my neck, tracing a wet line with his tongue while I dug my nails into his back. I had to keep my eyes pressed shut while I enjoyed the sensation of his mouth on my skin.
He had found the space between my breasts, and with his teeth he tugged at the lace of my bra. I gasped again, when he pulled my bra down and my breasts were exposed to the cool air of the room. Grant was staring at me, at my stiff pink nipples and slowly he lowered his head again.
I didn’t think it would be that explosive, but Grant’s mouth on my nipple made me weak in the knees. I was clinging on to him, clutching his arms while he sucked. My fingers weaved through his dark hair as I bit down on my lip. His rough beard was scratching against the tender skin of my breasts and I could feel myself getting wet.
I pressed my legs together, to control the sensation he had started but soon enough with his mouth still on my nipple, Grant’s hand made its way between my thighs. Through the fabric of my pants he had started stroking me. He knew I was wet already and he suddenly broke away from my breast.
“I’ve wanted you for so long, Beverley,” he said in a gruff voice. Grant’s eyes had glazed over and he didn’t stop stroking me. I was afraid of coming too soon but he had made me feel things I had never felt before, not even with him.
“I’ve wanted you all my life,” I murmured and he suddenly straightened up. With his hands on my hips he pulled down my pants so that now only his own pants and my lace underwear parted us. Gently, with his hand on my waist, he led me towards the red couch in the corner of the reception room.
I did as he asked and when he reached the couch, he whipped me around. I had to bite down on my lip again to stop myself from crying out.
Grant was behind me and I could hear his belt coming off. Then he slid down his pants and his boxers and he did the same with my underwear.
“Beverley, you’re going to be mine today,” he said and I felt his arm wind around me, across my breasts while he pulled me closer to him. My thighs were quivering, I was desperate for his cock which I could now feel against my butt.
Keeping me in position, pressed up against his chest, Grant bent me forward. I reached out my hands and held on to the arms of the couch for support while Grant adjusted himself behind me. His arms had wound around my belly now and I felt the pressure of his cock against my wet throbbing core.
“Grant please, don’t make me beg,” I cried and he thrust himself in. I wasn’t expecting it and I gasped when I felt his cock slide into me with one quick push. Grant was inside me again and I moaned. He wasn’t going to give me time to recuperate, instead he started pumping into me.
I held on to the couch while he held on to me, riding into me from behind. I could feel his bigness inside me, stretching me tightly as he stroked me there. Over and over again till I felt weak in my knees again. I cried out his name as he pushed me closer to the edge.
“Come for me,” I heard him say as he thrust repeatedly in a quick rhythmic motion. I could feel the strength in his arms as he held me in position. He wasn’t going to stop till I released and I wasn’t going to hold back for much longer either.
My orgasm shook me and I moaned loudly, and in the next instance I felt him release as well. Grant grunted repeatedly as he came and I smiled as I felt him reel from the pleasure of his orgasm. We had come together, again and I could feel the throbbing inside me where his cock had stroked.
Grant’s hands were tight on my waist as he emptied his seed into me. I was choked up with the pleasure he had given me and my body was still quivering from the force of my orgasm. My heels were starting to hurt my feet and all I wanted to do was lie down.
It wasn’t till several minutes later, when neither of us had said a word that Grant finally began to pull himself out. I felt an instant panic that it was over. That we had solved nothing, and that things would go back to being the way they were.
When I turned I found him still standing naked behind me. A smile was forming on his face.
“Now that it’s out of the way, can we just sit down and talk to each other, Beverley?” he said and I gulped. I couldn’t believe this was real and it had all actually happened.
Chapter 22
Grant
Beverley and I put our clothes back on, exchanging glances the whole time.
“Do you maybe want to come into my office?” she asked, in a voice that had softened. Her cheeks were flushed and she shied from looking directly in my eyes.
“Yeah, we should probably do that,” I said and placed a hand on her warm waist as she led me towards her office. We had been naked for too long and it felt strange to be back to being clothed again, but Beverley was delicious to look at no matter what. I already wanted more.
We entered a small office space and she walked around her desk to sit down, facing the multiple computer screens in front of her. In silence, I took the chair across from her and sat down.
“So…” she began, looking about her nervously and I cleared my throat. I wanted to jump in and confess everything before she had a chance to change her mind again.
“Look, I meant every word I said. In college I wanted to get to know you and we didn’t have an opportunity to, so I want to take the time to do so now,” I said and realized that my words had come blurting out. Beverley looked surprised to hear me say them and she straightened herself and licked her lips.
“I wouldn’t have thought that you even saw me, back in college,” she said and I smiled and shook my head.
“You misjudged me, Beverley. You thought I was competing with you or that I was like all the other guys I hung out with. Well, you were wrong,” I told her and she looked at me with her large green eyes. Her face had softened, she wasn’t as defensive against me any more.
“You didn’t give me any reason to doubt my judgement,” she said.
“What? Because I dated cheerleaders?” I asked with a laugh and she shrugged her shoulders.
“Yeah, too many of them. And now, after we’ve been out of college…you’ve had the reputation for dating models and actresses. Nobody would have thought that you could be attracted to someone like me,” she said. She was still nervous, but that could be because of how she was laying her heart bare.
I leaned towards her desk, still on my chair and arched an eyebrow at her.
“You mean someone attractive, and intelligent and successful like you? Yeah, sure, what’s there to like,” I said and finally, Beverley was smiling. Just a soft grin that made the sides of her lips rise up but that was enough. She had no idea how I truly felt about her and it was baffling that she thought so little of herself.
“Well, one thing I’m not is successful. At least not as compared to you or what I thought I’d be able to achieve,” she said and I shook my head.
“You’re wrong, Beverley. You focused on your product, on your technical skills while I spent time on my business, to finding investors. Which is why I think that we’d make a great team,” I said and looked deep into her eyes. I wanted her to see me, to truly see me and trust me.
“So, you do want me to come and work with you?” she asked and I nodded.
“Yes, I do. We just have to find a way to make this work on both a professional and personal level,” I told her and she was blushing again.
We were looking at each other, till she drew her gaze away from me and tucked in some of her hair behind her ears.
“I never thought that someone like you could like me. Not in this way at least…like actually be attracted to me,” she said and I stood up from my chair and walked over to her. Beverley craned her neck to look up at me and I pressed my forefinger on her lips.
“I don’t want you to talk that way, Beverley, please. You don’t know how special you are. What you do to me and how you’ve always inspired me to work
harder. I’ve always wanted to live up to you. This was never a competition for me, rather I wanted to prove myself to you,” I said and she stood up from her chair.
Silently, she placed her head on my shirt. A few buttons were missing now, from the force with which she had ripped my shirt off my body earlier. I cradled her in my arms and swung her gently from side to side. I had never experienced this raw tenderness before, this feeling of being able to hold a woman in my arms and not worry about what she wanted from me. I was willing to give Beverley whatever she wanted.
Her arms had wound around my mid-riff as she pressed herself closer to me. We had been standing there like that for a relatively long time. I could sense that she was thinking as well, just like my own mind was racing with thoughts. Finally, she raised her head and looked up at me.
I smiled when I saw her face, still ruddy on the cheeks but bright and excited. For the first time, Beverley looked truly happy and I couldn’t believe that I’d caused it.
“When can I start?” she asked and I smiled wide.
“So you’ve accepted my offer?” I said and she nodded her head.
“I want to work with you and I want to be with you, Grant,” she added in a quiet voice and I lowered my face to kiss her on her lips again.
Chapter 23
Beverley
Eight months later
I didn’t walk to work any more, so when I looked at my watch and it was seven already; I wondered where Grant was. We usually left the office together. We worked on different floors. I had my office space with Susan, John and Sasha while he still worked from his own. Usually at six thirty, Grant buzzed me on the intercom and asked me what time I would be finished. This evening, he hadn’t and I pressed the button to reach him.
