Striving for Perfection (Striving Series Book 2)

by Mooney, B. L.

  Deb was an intern with the local news station and assisted during their interview of him in prison. She and Craig started a friendship through letters, which developed into much more than friendship for Deb. Once he was out of prison, she tried to start up the relationship she thought she had with him, but he only wanted Drew back.

  I’ll never forget the night I got the call that Craig had held the two of them hostage in Drew’s apartment. Or the fact Deb ended up killing him with his own gun, and then tried to kill herself. I looked over to my mother and wondered if our family was ever going to be the same again.

  “Hey.” Drew bumped me with her hip. “What’s going through that head of yours?”

  “Huh?” I waved her off before unbuttoning my jacket. “Nothing. What’s going on here?” I put my jacket on the back of the kitchen chair. “Is there anything I can help with?”

  “Drew’s learning how to cook.” My mother was beaming.

  “Gloria, I know how to cook.” Drew started to defend herself. “I just don’t know how to do it well.”

  “If anyone can teach you, it’s Mom.”

  “Well, I think everything is under control here for the moment. I’m just going to go change the clothes in the wash. I’ll be right back.”

  Drew and I watched as my mother left the room. The second she was gone, we both started talking. I laughed. “We really need to get together soon.”

  “Yeah, we do. I want to know about this new job.”

  “It’s just taking pictures.” I shrugged and looked in the pots on the stove.

  “Your mom has already told me that much. What’s the big mystery about it?”

  “There’s no mystery on my end. I’m taking photos to show the character of some buildings, but it isn’t supposed to be public knowledge. You know, business stuff.”

  The truth was I didn’t want to tell her I was working with Carl. She had a past with him and dated him and my brother at the same time. I never fully understood how far their relationship went or why she chose Dennis over him, but it wasn’t my business to ask.

  “Ah, yes, business stuff.” She chuckled as she turned back to the stove.

  “I could ask you a few things, too. Why are you asking for cooking lessons? There’s nothing wrong with your cooking.”

  She looked back to the door and turned to me. “I miss Gloria.”

  I nodded. “I do, too.” My phone started ringing. “Sorry.” It was Carl’s number. “Um, business stuff. I’ll be right back.”

  I went around to the hall to answer. “Hello?”

  “Rachael?” Amy was on the other end.

  “Hi, Amy.” I smiled. “How are you today?”

  “I’m okay. I wanted to call and say thank you for the pictures you made for me. My favorite was the sparkles.”

  “That was my favorite, too.” I leaned against the wall. “I’m so happy you like them. I gave your dad the grown up ones, but I wanted you to have the fun ones. Are you going to put them up or do you have an album to put them in?”

  “Dad said he’s going to help me with that later. I’m sorry it took me a couple of days to call to say thank you.”

  “Oh, that’s okay. I’m just glad you like them.”

  “When can we do the princess pictures?”

  “We can do it just as soon as you have a dress, sweets.”

  “Dad took me shopping for one yesterday. It’s coming in a couple of weeks.”

  “Well then, in couple of weeks it is. Tell your dad to schedule it, and I’ll be there.”

  “Thanks, Rachael. Here’s Dad.”

  “Oh, no. I don’t—”

  “You don’t want to talk to me?” Carl’s smirk could be heard through the phone.

  “I really don’t have anything to say, and I’m busy.”

  “I have things to say. I wanted to talk to you before you started on that list.”

  “Too late.” I stood up straight again. “I’ve already handled the first place of business and I’ll have the photos emailed to you sometime tomorrow.”

  “How did you get in?”

  “They have doors, Carl. You open them and walk through.”

  “What did you tell them, Rachael?” His voice wasn’t quite angry, but it was firm as if he was getting ready to scold a child.

  “Don’t worry, your secret is safe. Goodbye.” I hung up and sighed. My phone started ringing again. I turned it off.

  “So, Carl, huh?” Drew stepped around the corner and crossed her arms. “He’s the business stuff?”

  I shrugged as if her finding out didn’t bother me. “Something like that.” I started to pick up the stuff I had placed in the hall when I first walked in.

  “How does Amy fit into this?”

  I put my camera bag on my shoulder and looked at her. “I took family photos for them. You know Carl wouldn’t just let anyone near his daughter and she’d been asking for them. So . . .” I shrugged.

  “I’m glad you’re taking pictures again, but please be careful. Once he gets Amy involved, you need to watch yourself.” She reached out and squeezed my hand before heading back into the kitchen. I took my stuff to my room.

  I was sitting at my desk looking over the hundreds of photos I had taken of the hotel trying to decide whether to take a break or push through. I was only supposed to be getting the files I forgot when I decided to work from home, but when I put in the flash drive to save them, the file with the hotel photos caught my eye. I always took too many photos. It’s easier to take more than you need than try to capture the perfect shot with just a few clicks of the camera. I was startled when my door flew open and slammed shut.

  I stood. “Carl, what the fuck has gotten into you?”

  He stormed across the office and put both fists on my desk, leaning into my face. “I won’t be hung up on again. Is that clear?”

  “Oh, did someone get his feelings hurt?” I lifted my hand to pat his face.

  He snatched it and pulled me closer to him, almost dragging me across the desk. “Watch yourself and that mouth of yours while you’re at it.”

  I wrenched my hand free and got even closer to his face. “The next time I touch your face, it will be to slap it. The next time you touch me, I’ll kill you.” I tilted my head to the side and smiled, batting my eyelashes at him. I sat down. “If you’re finished, you can go fuck off.” I motioned for him to leave.

  He came around the desk and turned my chair to him. He pinned me in as he put a hand on each armrest and leaned in to whisper in my ear. “You’ve begged for my touch before. You’ll beg for it again.”

  I sat up slightly, barely pressing my lips to his ear. “In. Your. Dreams.” I sat back and raised my eyebrows when he didn’t back up.

  It took him a moment to weigh his options and decide retreating was best. He slowly stood up straight and buttoned his jacket as he rounded the corner of the desk. “What did you say to Richard?”

  I pulled my chair up to the desk and started to look at the photos again. “Who?”

  “You know damn well who I’m talking about. How did you get the photos?”

  I sat back in the chair, keeping my elbows on the armrests, and linked my fingers in front of me. “I told him I was trying to get a show in an art gallery and I was building my portfolio. I didn’t mention you or your precious company.”

  “Hmm.” He sat in the chair across from me. “That’s actually not bad.”

  “Well, you didn’t give me any direction, so I went on my own.”

  “For the record, I never expected you to come up with the plan.”

  “No,” I said as I leaned back in to look through the photos again, “you had expected me to come to you and ask you what to do.” I looked up at him. “I don’t need saving.”

  “You’re independent, strong, and confident. I’ll give you that, but you most certainly need saving.” He stood. “When can I expect the photos?”

  “What the fuck do you think I need saving from?”

  He walked
to the door and straightened his tie. “The photos? When will I have them?”

  I clicked a few times on the computer and pulled out the flash drive. “These?”

  He started to walk toward me with his hand out. I pulled on the collar of my shirt, hovering the flash drive over the opening. He stopped. “Do you really think that will keep me from getting the photos?”

  “What do you think I need saving from?” I waved the flash drive.

  “Yourself, of course.”

  I dropped it down my shirt. It landed in my bra. “Get out.”

  “Don’t be unreasonable.” He walked up to the desk. “I will get them from you.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and held on tight. “You’re not getting these until you explain what you meant.”

  He shook his head. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. It’s your choice.”

  “The choice is yours.” We each stood our ground, sizing the other up. If he went for the flash drive, I wasn’t sure how I would’ve stopped him, but I had to find a way. He wasn’t going to get the best of me. No one would ever again.

  He walked to the door, and I thought he was going to leave, but he locked it instead. I swallowed. He turned and smirked. “I choose the fun way.”

  “That isn’t an option.” I gripped my arms tighter.

  “Oh, it’s always an option.”

  “You had your chance at fun with me and threw it away.”

  He stopped. “You took it away.”

  “I felt cheap and used. That wasn’t a feeling I enjoyed and it isn’t a feeling you’ll ever make me feel again.”

  “If I remember correctly, you came to me that night. You came to me in almost nothing but a raincoat begging me for sex.” He ran his hand through his hair. “How exactly did I make you feel cheap and used?”

  “By hiding me!”

  I untied the raincoat and let it hang open showing the black lace, barely there lingerie I wore. I took advantage of his brief moment of weakness and stepped up into the doorway with him, barely pressing my lips to his. “There’s a lot more of me that needs to be worked on, but we can start with my mouth.”

  He slipped his hands under the coat setting my skin on fire everywhere he touched. He pulled me into the house and kicked the door shut with his foot. I jumped up and wrapped my legs around him grinding into what was quickly becoming an erection under me. He slammed me into the wall.

  “Take me to your bedroom.”

  “No time.” He sucked hard on my neck, and I didn’t care if I had high school marks the next morning.

  I tried to reach in between us to unbuckle his belt and he took both of my hands and pressed them against the wall above my head. This caused my barely contained breasts to almost pop out of my bra. He took one hand and freed both breasts, hoisting them up with the bra. He started sucking on my nipple as he took my hand and raised it above my head again, pressing me harder into the wall.

  “Carl.” I moaned. “Please, I need you to take me upstairs.”

  “I can’t wait that long.” He let go of my hands and they immediately went to his hair, holding him closer to me as he continued to suck. He walked into the front room and suddenly bent over. We both landed on his sofa. The unexpected drop made me laugh. “I’ll make it up to you.”

  I put my hands on his face and made him look at me. “Make what up to me?”

  “This.” He looked at the sofa. “It isn’t what I envisioned for our first time, but I just can’t wait.”

  He smacked my legs to get me to let go and stood to start unbuckling his belt. I sat up and helped him unfasten his pants. I’d felt him many times through our teasing, but I’d never seen what Carl was actually made of. I was about to find out.

  “Daddy!” Amy cried from upstairs.

  “Fuck!” He took my hand out of his pants and fastened them quickly. “I’m on my way, baby!” He reached over and threw the throw that was on the back of the sofa over my head. “Don’t move.”

  I waited a couple of seconds to make sure he had made it up the stairs before I came out from under the throw. I sat there stunned. I readjusted the girls to contain them in the bra again and shook my head. I brushed my hair out of my face that had been messed up either by our make out session or the blanket and stood, securing the raincoat around my waist. I walked out with my head held as high as I could manage. I wouldn’t be hidden.

  I put my body into as tight of a ball as possible when Carl got behind me. Every time he tried to get into my shirt, I jabbed his ribs with my elbow. Every once in a while he would get his hands in between my arms and squeeze my breasts. It was when his hand roamed lower between my legs that I’d had enough. I stomped on his foot and elbowed his gut.

  “For crying out loud, Rachael! Give it to me!”

  “No!” I fought him even harder until he backed away.

  We both stood catching our breaths. “You are impossible.” He had his hands on his hips as he walked to the door.

  “Me? You’re the one trying to cop a feel during our scuffle.”

  “I was trying to see if I could feel it in your bra.”

  I tilted my head and scowled at him. “My bra is up here.” I pointed to the girls.

  The smirk that started to spread across his face told me he knew exactly what he had done. “Hey, you can’t expect a man to wrap himself around you and not try to take advantage.”

  I sat at my desk and wiped away dust that wasn’t there. “No one takes advantage of me.”

  He looked thoughtful for a moment as his eyes squinted a little. “You win this round, Rach.” He reached for the door. “Watch out for round two.”

  I stopped him before he touched the door. “Carl.” He turned as I reached into my desk drawer and pulled out the right flash drive. I tossed it to him.

  He was stunned and fumbled, but caught it. “What’s in your bra?”

  I shook my head. “My copy of the photos. It’s just a small lesson, Carl. You won’t get anything from me until I’m ready to give it.”

  He stood there longer than I wanted him to, but I refused to look up at him to see what he was doing. I wanted to act as if his presence hadn’t bothered me. I wasn’t going to keep that hidden for long. He started to walk toward me.

  “Let’s start over. There shouldn’t be hostility. We’re adults and things didn’t work out for us personally, but I really believe we could work well together.”

  I stopped moving the mouse, but I didn’t look up at him. “Just forget everything?” I shook my head. “I don’t think I can do that.” I went back to work.

  Carl reached down and covered my hand with his. “Then how about a truce?”

  I looked at his hand covering mine until he removed it. “Fine.” I looked up to him. “But keep your hands to yourself.”

  He held his hands up in mock surrender and smiled. “You make that kind of difficult, but I’ll try.”

  “You’ll do more than try if you want to keep all of your appendages.” I looked him right in the eyes. “And don’t underestimate me.” I went back to work. “Follow those two rules and we’ll be fine.”

  He looked at the flash drive still in his other hand and nodded. “No touching and don’t underestimate you. Anything else?”

  “That’s all for now.”

  “Hey, are you looking at the photos now?” He started to come around the desk.

  “No, Carl. Those are in my bra.” I swiveled in the chair to face him.

  “Here, use mine. I really want to look at these, and I have a ton of meetings when I go back.” He held out his flash drive as I reached up to take it. He grabbed my hand, yanking me out of my chair. Before I could stop him, both of my hands were behind my back with one of his hands holding them together.

  “Carl! Let me go.”

  He tossed his flash drive on the desk and ran his hand through his hair. He smiled. “That was easier than I thought.”

  I tried to break free, but his hand only got tighter. “You wil
l regret this.”

  “Maybe, but it will be worth it.” He moved his hand up to the top button on my blouse. I closed my eyes as he started to unfasten them. He stopped on the third one and I looked at him again. “Keep your eyes open or it’s going to take even longer.”

  I whispered, “What are you doing, Carl?”

  “Helping you out.”

  He continued to the last button above my slacks. He spread my shirt open, grazing my belly with his fingers. I hated how much I still wanted him. I hated that I was thankful for him holding my hands or I would’ve attacked him on my desk. He started at my belly button and slid his fingers up toward my breasts. If he reached them, it would be over and I would beg him to fuck me. I started fighting harder this time, breaking one hand free.

  “Whoa!” He grabbed my hand and placed it behind my back. It caused him to get closer to my face, but at least he wasn’t touching more than my hands. “I’m just trying to help you.” He looked at my bra and smiled. “Red is my favorite color. Thank you for wearing it today.”

  My eyes went wide as I watched him lower his head to my breasts. I swore I would never allow myself to get mixed up with this man again and yet, that was exactly what was going to happen. I felt his tongue against my skin and tried not to react. I closed my eyes when I felt his teeth graze me.

  I opened my eyes when I felt him stand. Between his teeth, he had the flash drive I’d hidden in my bra. He bent over and let it drop to the desk. He turned back to me with a devilish look and smiled. He looked back down to my breasts and licked his lips.

  “Don’t you dare.”

  He looked in my eyes and smiled. “You enjoyed that.”

  “I’m going to enjoy killing you much, much more.”

  He looked at my breasts again. “Well, your nipples don’t lie.”

  “I need to button up. Please let me go.”

  “See, asking nicely will get you—” He let go, and I slapped him across the face.