“Mom,” I started, wanting to stop her where she was, but not getting very far.
“No. You’re going to let me finish. There have been problems between you and Merry since the day she started working here, and I don’t understand how we got here. A fling? Really Quentin? With an employee?”
“A fling that didn’t go anywhere,” I reminded her.
“Do you really think that makes a difference? If anything, that makes it worse,” she said.
“How could that make it worse?” I asked.
“You slept with an employee, Quentin. You are in a position of power. That creates a dynamic that should never be taken advantage of. Especially if it’s just something you’re going to throw by the wayside because you didn’t think it was going to go anywhere. That could be disastrous. She could quit, and nobody here wants that. I don’t know what’s going through your head or what you’re doing to her head by toying with her like this, but you better figure it out. And do it fast before you lose her.”
There was really nothing I could say. Arguing with her wouldn’t do any good, and neither would trying to defend myself. I nodded and took my lecture, then left work, not even bothering to stop by the garage. Hearing my mother talk about ‘losing’ Merry had hit me in the gut in a way I didn’t like. I knew she meant from a work standpoint, but my damn heart was already feeling something different.
28
Merry
I needed a break. That might have been a tremendous understatement. I needed to get the hell out of the office and away from every person who was staring at me and all the questions they thought were fair game but were definitely not. As soon as I started working at the Freeman Racing complex, I felt the bond of the small group. Like Quentin had said, it was like a family, and there were major benefits to that. I felt welcomed and supported, I didn’t have to worry about maintaining a strictly professional attitude all the time. I didn’t have to wear pantyhose to work. That was one of my favorites. But now I knew the downside.
Apparently, the price of getting to work in the tight-knit environment meant being up for conversation whenever something interesting happened. That conversation quickly turned to gossip, and it burned through the complex so fast it would have devastated Smokey the Bear. And that was exactly what had happened with Quentin’s and my fling. News of us hooking up spread through everybody who worked for the company so fast when I got to work, Glenda was already bubbling over with questions. It didn’t seem to strike her as odd or inappropriate at all to try to glean every little detail out of me.
I wasn’t sharing. They might have invited me into the grapevine, but I wasn’t having any of it. The point of us saying we had a fling that didn’t work out was to keep everybody from making too much of a big deal out of it. Clearly that didn’t work out. We’d managed to start everybody chatting like old women in the hair salon, and by lunch I was just waiting for the complex to churn out their own tabloid just so we could be splashed on the cover.
It wasn’t malicious. At least, it didn’t feel that way. They weren’t judging or criticizing, or even teasing. It was a lot of curiosity and intrigue, but it was too much. It had all gotten way too big, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I needed air and I slipped out of the office to try to steal a few minutes to myself.
My favorite tree was appealing, but it was too out in the open. I didn’t want to be sitting there and have someone else who hadn’t already gotten their words in to stumble on me and decide I was open season because I was away from my office. Wanting to make sure I was as alone as possible, I headed further into the complex, toward the pond I’d seen on my first day. The thought of sitting there looking out over the water and enjoying some calm sounded amazing. Maybe I would even get to see the family of ducks that sometimes splashed around there.
As I went past the test track and approached the pond, though, I realized it was a bad idea. I wasn’t going to be as alone as I wanted to be. But I didn’t get the chance to change my mind and turn away. I was already caught.
Of course he was there. Of course Quentin would think to escape and go to the exact same place I’d thought of. And of course, he somehow sensed I was there and turned around before I could retreat.
He was sitting on a small bench close to the edge of the water, looking out over the pond just like I’d planned on doing. I paused when I saw him, wanting to backtrack and disappear back across the grounds. The last thing I needed right then was for somebody to see us out there in the secluded corner of the property and fuel even more murmurs about us. But I didn’t get the chance. Before I could even take a step back, Quentin glanced back over his shoulder and saw me.
“Hey,” he said. “Trying to hide out, too?”
I let out a short laugh. “Something like that.”
He gestured to the empty spot beside him on the bench.
“Care to join me?” he asked. “We can hide out together.”
Sighing, I walked over to the bench and sat down. At least I’d have someone to talk to that wasn’t going to grill me for details about the ‘fling.’ He already knew the details. He was there for them. All of them.
“So, today has been fun,” I said after a few seconds of silence.
“Something like that,” he said.
“How’s Darren?” I asked.
“Better,” he told me.
We struggled through stilted small talk; the conversation made all the more awkward by my realization of my feelings for him. As much as I wanted to be alone when I got out of the office, and as unhappy as I was initially to see Quentin sitting on the bench, the longer I sat there, the more I realized I was glad he was there. Even with the strange tension and the awkwardness, having him close to me warmed me. The draw to him was stronger now, and no matter what was going on, I wanted him there.
Quentin shifted beside me, and I turned, thinking he might be getting up to leave. Instead, I saw his hand up, reaching out to touch my arm. Without a second thought, I slid across the bench toward him, sighing and melting into his touch.
Our lips met and we stayed there for a moment, basking in the touch of our mouths, the heat of each other’s breath and taste of our tongues as they explored. I found myself grasping the sides of his face, pulling him into me, wanting to press myself into him, to feel his body mold around mine and know I was his and he was mine. I turned my body toward him, and his arm scooped around me, pulling me tightly against him. My breath rose and fell in hitches, the thrill of excitement and passion and taboo, being outside, just beyond the view of the complex, hidden by the small line of trees and the hill leading to the track.
A deep moan came from somewhere in his chest, and I melted into him. The sound of his voice, the hunger and desire in it, was like velvet, and I let it wrap around me, fill my ears with it and let it ring inside my head. I wanted that moan to be the only thing I heard for the rest of my life. It said so much without words. I opened my eyes and pulled back to take him in. His eyes burned into mine, and a rush of adrenaline filled me. I suddenly didn’t give a fuck about anything but this moment, right here, right now. I could tell he felt it, too, and his hand slipped under my ass and pulled me onto his lap.
I straddled him, my dress flowing down over his legs, and I could feel the thick rod of his hard cock straining against the zipper of his pants. Our lips met again, and I ground my hips down, swiveling them and letting him brush against my core and feel how hot and wet my panties were. Another groan rumbled from his chest, and I caught it in my mouth, wanting to swallow it and let it fill my belly with his passion. His hands ran up my back, clutching at me, touching me everywhere his fingers would land, and then they dropped down to slide under my dress. Our tongues lashed at each other as his fingers dug into my ass, pulling me down into him so I could experience how hard he was for me. I felt like I was going to hyperventilate in my excitement and made myself breathe deeper.
Before I could try to move away and gather my bearings, one hand slid over my panties an
d touched me. All thought of trying to wiggle away left me, and I arched myself toward his touch. Fingers pulled aside the cotton, and his thumb pressed into my clit. He rotated it, circling around and teasing it open. I put a hand over my mouth to muffle a cry as a sudden, powerful orgasm rushed over me just at the touch of his fingers on me. I grasped the back of the bench to hold myself up as my body shook.
I needed him inside of me. As I came down off the wave of the powerful and surprisingly quick climax, I reached down between my legs to pull open his pants. Memories of my office when his cock was the only thing outside of his clothes thrilled me, no matter how much I wanted to strip him naked and lick every inch of his body. His zipper came down, and I unbuttoned his pants to get more access. He was long, and thick and throbbing with a need for my touch. I wrapped my fingers around it and stroked, enjoying the feeling of it pulsing in my grip. I looked back up into his eyes, and a grin spread across his face before his head leaned back to focus on the touch.
Pressing my knees down into the bench and sitting up on them, I guided the head of his cock to my opening and let it slide along the folds. He groaned as I pressed him into my clit and covered him with my wetness, making him slick and ready. I adjusted so the head was at my entrance and slowly slid down onto him. I couldn’t help but cry out a little as he filled me, and his hand reached up to cup over my mouth. Something about him silencing me made it even hotter, and I groaned louder as I pushed down onto his cock. I waited as my pussy adjusted to his fullness, and a moan escaped me before I sat down completely and he pushed against my walls, bringing me pleasure in the pain of my stretching around him.
His hands cupped my ass and helped guide me into a rhythm on him. I scanned the top of the hill behind us to make sure we were still alone and was thankful for the distance from the track. I wasn’t entirely sure I would have stopped even if I had seen someone. My need for him was all-encompassing. I rolled my hips, riding him and reveling in the feeling of him sliding out and then back deeper into my pussy. One arm wrapped around his neck, and he pulled down on the collar of my dress until one breast was exposed. Pushing away the cup of the bra, he latched his mouth around my nipple and suckled on me as I increased the speed.
My eyes were closed as I let him fill me and I focused on the ecstasy of his cock. I knew we didn’t have long, not out here in the open, and I went faster, wanting to make him come as fast and hard as possible. I wanted to feel his body clench and shake and hear the roar of his climax in my ear like I had heard in my office. I was slamming onto him now, letting him guide me with his grip as he pulled me up and down, harder and faster. I was getting dizzy with stimulation and reached one hand down between my legs. I was close again, and I wanted him to feel the full measure of my orgasm on his cock. I wanted him to feel my body pulse and squeeze around him and let him know that his body created that ecstasy.
I touched my clit with one finger but felt it brushed away by his hand. A thumb pressed into me, and our lips crushed into one another again. I took control of the rhythm and made deeper, longer strokes, letting his hand rub my clit until I felt the powerful wave crashing over me again. My body locked up around him as I came, and I arched back, letting him take my breast into his mouth again as I climaxed hard.
I rocked a few more times, letting my body come down slowly from the orgasm, and looked into his eyes. There was still hunger there, and I wanted to please him. I wanted to feel his orgasm and know it was my body that gave it to him. I shuffled off him, letting his cock slide out of me, and settled beside him. He turned like he was going to face me, but I pushed him back. My hand reached down and clasped the base of his cock, and I kissed him deeply.
When our lips parted, I lowered my head into his lap. I had longed to take him into my mouth since I had seen his long thick cock the first time. Flicking my tongue over the head, I adjusted so that I could massage his balls underneath with one hand and stroke him into my mouth with the other. His moans above me told me that he was close already, and I slid him into my mouth as fully as I could take him. Tasting the juices of our combined bodies was sweet and sticky and warm, and I let my tongue ride down the underside of his cock, swirling as I rose back up toward the head.
I bobbed on him for a few moments, letting my hand stroke and twist with my mouth, my other hand gently but firmly massaging his orbs underneath. I felt one hand reach into my dress and wrap around my breast and the other fill with my hair. His groans were getting more desperate, faster. I knew he was about to climax, and I turned enough so that I could make eye contact again. His mouth was open as he prepared for his orgasm, and I let him guide me up and down.
He pulled me up, wrapping his fingers around my waist and pulling me back into his lap. He slid into me easily, and I rocked into his body again. He clasped my ass and pulled me, increasing my rhythm to a frenzied pace. It only took seconds before his body stiffened, and I clutched around him. My body responded with a third explosive climax as he exploded into me, and I milked him empty with my throbbing pussy. Finally, he relaxed, and I crumpled into him, letting him slide out of me.
29
Quentin
Just like the first time, as soon as we were done, reality seemed to hit both of us. It was like we got so completely wrapped up in each other and our primal need for one another, we forgot we existed in the real world we weren’t the only ones there. But when we were done, it crashed in around us and we had to deal with the consequences. The first of which was awkwardness and embarrassment as we scrambled to make ourselves presentable again. The last time at least we were inside. It was her office, which was wrong on its own set of levels, but at least we weren’t out in the open and potentially exposed to anybody who happened to come by. Now we were outside, and both of us rushed to smooth out our clothing and right ourselves.
I tried to look at Merry, to see what she might be thinking, but she wouldn’t look me directly in the eye as she adjusted her clothes and put them back in place as fast as she could. When she was put together again, she looked at me. The expression in her eyes was something I didn’t think I would ever be able to put behind me. I didn’t even know what it was. Emotions and thought processes were hard to read, like a storm swirling within her. There had to be something I could say. I had to be able to diffuse the situation, but there was no chance. She brushed her hand back through her hair and looked over her shoulder across the complex.
“I have to get back,” she said. “I didn’t really expect to be gone this long, and there are some things I need to do.”
“Merry,” I said, taking a step toward her. “We can’t just walk away from each other.”
“I’m sorry. I’m expecting a call, and I really don’t want to miss it,” she said.
It was a weak excuse, completely nonsensical in the situation. But it was obvious she was searching for anything she could find to disengage herself from the circumstances, from me. She was so uncomfortable she wanted to get away from me as fast as she possibly could and would use any excuse that popped into her mind. Before I could say anything else to her, she turned and hurried away. I stood there by the bench, trying to wrap my head around what just happened.
How could I let that happen? How could I do it again? After everything I’d thought through, all the conversations, all the guilty feelings. After struggling through conversations with her and forcing myself to accept there couldn’t be anything between us because it was just too much. And yet somehow, I had so little thought and control I ended up right there all over again. Only this time, it was worse. Much worse.
I wanted her. That wasn’t even a question. I’d come to accept that and figured it was just going to be something that existed somewhere in the back of my mind until it fizzled out. Or it wouldn’t, and I’d just have to deal with it for as long as we worked together. Either way, wanting her and actually going after her were two different things. I definitely wanted to have her again, but outside on a bench? At work… again? How was it possible I could lose s
o much control over myself and my own responsibility that I let myself do that? What made it worse was that look in her eyes. The way she looked at me as she hastily got dressed and right before she ran off. It told me this wasn’t something we’d be able to just brush off again.
By the time I got back home, I kind of wanted to kick my own ass. That about summed up how I was feeling about myself and my decision making. If I knew anyone else who slept with their much-younger employee not only once, but twice, and after they talked through it and knew it was a bad thing, my first thought would be to smack some sense into them. It only seemed appropriate now. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to have the effect I was going for, and no matter how much I tried to convince him, Cole just wasn’t into the idea of doing me a solid and giving me a nice square kick in the ass. His explanation had something to do with us being grown men and the time he spent in Tibet, but I didn’t care. I felt like shit and just wanted it to be over.
I got in the shower and stood under the water that was so hot it stung my skin. Turning the showerhead to a pulse setting, I hung my head down and let the streams pound down onto my neck and shoulders to try to loosen the muscles up. It felt like they were all tied in knots, and I couldn’t get them to relax. The water helped, not just in tenderizing me like a steak, but also in filling my head with sound so I could ignore all the thoughts rushing through it for a little while.
When the water ran cold, I got out and stood in front of the foggy mirror. As the fog cleared and I was able to look at my reflection, I considered it carefully. I was never one of those people to spend much time staring into mirrors and contemplating myself. A quick glance at my reflection in the morning to confirm my clothes went together and my hair was straight was all I needed to get me through the day. But that evening, I forced myself to stand there and have a long, hard think session about what I was seeing.
Millionaire Boss: A Secret Baby Romance (Freeman Brothers Book 1) Page 15
