Falling for Mr. Corporate
Corporate Pride Series
Book 1
I’d like to dedicate this book to Gianni’s Firsts. These are the individuals belonging to my Facebook closed group who discovered my work and chose to be the first followers. I never planned to release this book, at least not yet, but Mark, your enthusiasm when reading my sample chapters was the inspiration I needed to share this story with the world. You inspired a whole new series, the Corporate Pride series. I love you guys.
Mark
Nicholas
Cara
Rita
Debbie
Jay
Tina
Brittany
Jessica
Rob
I hated camping
I knew I shouldn’t have gone
But, I was glad I went
I found out what a piece of work my boyfriend was around his friends
I also met Tate, a loner who had made the woods his home
When we met, his gun was aimed at me
But he couldn’t fool me
At least not for long
I saw the heat in his eyes
Saw the way he watched me
It was instant attraction
The kind that couldn’t be ignored
For with the same mouth he used to tell me to get off his land
His kisses told me to stay
But we were from two different worlds
Could this city boy get the mountain man?
Falling for Mr. Corporate is a steamy MM contemporary romance novella with HFN ending. It is a 20k word prequel of the upcoming full-length novel, My Dear Mr. Corporate. It is the first book in the Corporate Pride series.
Chapter One
Anger and disappointment coursed through me at the three men who were laughing. I was the only person in the group who didn’t find their jokes funny. I wasn’t a sadist and wasn’t about to help them to have fun at my expense, simply because they thought I wasn’t man enough in these woods.
We were grown ass men and not five-year-olds. Their childish jokes and labeling me a sissy wouldn’t have bothered me so much. I’d endured enough of it through my school years. College had been a better reprieve for me and I had grown out the teasing. Even then, it did have its moments to annoy the shit out of me. And today it did.
Still, I was used to being made fun of because I was gay. Being gay was one aspect of them making fun of me, especially because I didn’t hide it. Worse than being gay for them, was me being gay and effeminate. Apparently, it was effeminate to not be so much into drinking beers and participating in the gaudy conversation about smashing women in such crude terms that made my stomach crawl. As much as I wasn’t attracted to women, hearing them being talked about in such terms was distasteful.
I glared at my supposed-to-be boyfriend and my boss, Keith Eardley who should have had my back. When I’d turned down the offer of going backpacking through the woods with his college friends, he’d guilt-tripped me into changing my mind. Usually, there were the four of them, best friends who made this trip a yearly tradition but, one of the group members had fallen ill. I was a hasty addition to the group because Keith had insisted there should be four of us to keep the camaraderie and balance.
I was hopeless with these adventure-type activities. Hiking was not my thing. Neither was playing sports since they didn’t consider tennis to be a sport. They were all into football which I didn’t get— a bunch of men jumping onto each other when sex wasn’t involved. I cringed every time Keith cajoled until I caved in and watched a game with him.
“Come on, Bryan, it was just a joke,” Keith said, still wearing that stupid grin on his face.
I glared at him because he was the one who had insisted I hike with them. For him to treat me this way was unacceptable. A lot of things he had been doing of late was unacceptable. Like when he hired me to be his Personal Assistant at work. I’d thought he had hired me because he saw my potential and drive. He’d promoted me alright, right into his bed.
No one knew he was gay. He had this decent cover-up going on. When he’d started hitting on me, brushing my ass and touching me inappropriately, I had been surprised. And I could usually spot a gay man a mile away. To have him join in the gay jokes with his buddies was just cruel when he was as into men as I was. But because he was bigger, thicker and could hunt, shoot and drink several cans of beer and still walk straight, he was able to get away from being made fun of.
Keith didn’t like to hear the term gay being applied to him. He was in denial because he was never a bottom. He felt that only those who ever received was truly gay. Once his views had started revealing itself into our six-month-old relationship, I’d been having second thoughts about us.
I wasn’t in love with him because he wasn’t an easy man to love. What he was doing now, for instance, was not loveable at all. He just wanted to fuck and the fact that I was always willing in his bed was enough for him. I didn’t care how good the sex was though, this was the final straw. I’d had it with Keith Eardley and I was no longer putting up with his bullshit when I deserved so much more. I hadn’t come out of the closet to let another man try to stifle who I was.
Without a word to him, I stalked off toward my tent, the same tent Keith had slipped into last night. As soon as his friends were sleeping he had headed my way for me to blow him. Erecting the tent had been another source of their laughter, as I’d struggled through reading the instruction manual, while they laughed and had theirs up in a jiffy, without reading the guide.
I didn’t care to pack up the tent as I would have no use for it in the future. I simply retrieved my backpack and crawled out.
“Come on Bree Bree,” Keith’s friend Lance jeered at me. “Can’t you take a joke? We just want to make a proper man out of you.”
“Fuck you,” I told him defiantly. I was pissed that grown men were acting in such a disgusting and childish manner. When kids could be excused for their cruelty out of ignorance, these grown ass men should know better.
He stopped laughing, his eyes narrowing as he stood to approach me. He was a big and burly man with a face full of beard and a beer gut. I was sure he could knock me down the mountain since I was slimly built, but at this point, I didn’t care. I was hurt and felt betrayed by Keith.
“What did you say to me?” he growled, walking closer. I took a step back and Keith finally stopped laughing, seeing how serious the situation was about to get.
“Come on, Lance, he didn’t mean it,” Keith stated, trying to pacify the situation. “He’s just upset. Let him cool off.”
Shaking my head in disbelief, I stalked off blindly in a rage of angry tears. I set off in a hasty retreat, not caring that it was my first time in the woods and I could get lost. All I wanted to be was as far away from these men as possible.
As soon as I was down the mountain and arrived at Keith’s house, I would clear out all my things. I bet his friends didn’t know I’d been living with Keith for two weeks now. He’d persuaded me to move in with him when my lease was up. I had allowed myself to be talked out of renewing my lease, willing to give us a shot.
In part, it was my fault. I should have seen all the warning signs except that I’d been dazzled that I would be on the arms of Keith Eardley. The only time I ever ended up in his arms was when we were alone. I’d thought to give him some time to acknowledge us but now I refused to be his dirty little secret anymore.
He also had the ability to get abusive, although he’d never lashed out at me with anything more than words. But I’d sensed the anger in him before, if he thought another man was flirting with me. I usually laughed it off but this time, he’d gone too far. In my estimate, since he knew what h
e had and didn’t want to lose me, he should be treating me differently.
I was five feet nine inches with blond hair and blue eyes. I wasn’t one to brag but I’d been flirted with a time or two. I’d been called pretty before, and I didn’t take offense. People could say what they wanted to. I only cared when the people who were supposed to be close to me, joined them.
I’d never felt such mix-up of emotions in my life since I left high school. I never thought that at twenty-two I would be defending myself for being gay. I didn’t see anyone defending themselves for being straight or having to explain it.
“Bryan, wait! Bryan!”
At the sound of Keith’s voice, I trudged on faster, already a little out of breath and wondering if I would even make it off this damn mountain. The people on TV always made hiking seem so easy.
“Jesus Christ Bryan, will you slow down!” Keith demanded and reached for my arm to jerk me to a stop.
I pulled my arm away from him. “Leave me alone.”
“You’re sulking,” he complained. “Why are you leaving mad?”
“Because you brought me here under false pretenses!” I snapped at him and turned around, so we were looking each other straight in the face.
“How’d you figure that?” he returned with as much anger as frustration.
“You never told me you were bringing me on this little hike of yours so you could all make me the butt of your jokes!”
“You are not the butt of all our jokes.”
“Oh yes, that’s right,” I clarified, rolling my eyes. “Only like ninety percent of it. What happened to you telling me, it didn’t matter if I didn’t know the first thing about being in a forest, that you’d be there for me?”
“I am here for you. I came after you, didn’t I?”
He grabbed me by the front of my shirt and pulled me into him, clamping his mouth onto mine. Suckered for a minute, I kissed him back, moaning at the feel of his hands running over the front of my jeans. Before my senses returned and I pulled myself away.
“I can’t do this anymore,” I told him. “I won’t be the person you get to use as you see fit. I’ll be packing up my stuff as soon as I get out of this hellhole and back to your condo.”
“Come on, Bryan, don’t do this.”
“It’s over between us, Keith,” I started off again, with him and this experience behind me.
“Like hell it is,” he spat and grabbed me by the arm again, this time so hard it hurt. “This isn’t over until I say so. Get your ass back up at the camp.”
“Go to hell!” I pushed against him for him to let me go and when he did, I started running.
“You’ll never make it off this mountain without me,” he shouted at me. “I’ll give you until nightfall to find your way back to camp.”
Chapter Two
Shit. I was hopelessly lost. I’d been traveling for over an hour and the thickness of the trees hadn’t become any less dense. I had tried retracing my steps twice and nothing. My heart was beating furiously in my chest and I was fighting hard to keep frustrated tears at bay. My watch no longer worked which meant I couldn’t even tell the bloody time.
At one point, I’d tried making my way back to Keith and the camp but, that had proven futile too. All around me were trees and rocks. Each step I took reminded me how much I hated nature which was quite dumb, but I was miserable and sweaty from my futile trek. Occasionally I’d spot an animal, a deer and furry creatures scurrying into the groves of bushes but, not one living soul.
I refused to get hysterical about the prospect of running into a more dangerous animal, like a bear. I hadn’t even thought to take a shotgun with me. I hated shotguns and didn’t even know how to use one. Since I should have been with Keith, and never anticipated being on my own, I hadn’t seen it as necessary.
I walked carefully, trying to make sense of the trees but everything seemed to look alike. I was walking for about another hour when I spotted a track, like someone traveled there often and had left their mark. Feeling more energized, although I was sweaty and needed a bath, I followed the dirt track. Something had to be up ahead for this path to be so used.
When I cleared the trees and found a sprawling log cabin nestled in the woods, with trees providing the perfect cover-up for whoever it was that wished to remain undisturbed. I was so overjoyed I could cry. My legs were tired, and my throat was parched. All I wanted was a drink of water and directions to the main road. Once on the main road, my phone would work again so I could call a cab company and arrange a ride.
I was almost at the steps of the porch that led to the log cabin, when I heard the unmistakable cock of a gun.
“What the hell are you doing on my property?”
I turned around slowly with my hands in the air, my heart pounding in my chest. I was praying that whoever it was, living in these woods alone, they would listen first and shoot after. Or none at all.
“Please don’t shoot,” I stated, turning around. I stared at the man who was standing in front of me. He looked menacing. A hulk of a man. He was tall, a couple inches over six feet and I was five eight. His skin was bronze where it had been kissed by the sun. He had long, lustrous, black hair that extended past his shoulders and a full growth of beard that covered the lower portion of his face.
Something about the man hit me straight in the gut which it shouldn’t. Looking at him in his jeans, boots and, T-shirt, from which his muscles bulged, I knew he was a man just like Keith and his friends. His biceps were circled with black hieroglyphic tattoos. He looked earthy and raw, fitting right in with his surroundings. I did not.
“Don’t shoot,” I croaked when I realized I had been admiring a man holding a gun against me, instead of pleading for my life. “I-I didn’t mean to trespass. I got lost and I’m trying to find my way back to the main road.”
He didn’t seem to hear me as his gun shifted to a better aim. My mouth went dry and my eyes closed when I heard the loud explosion. I heard the cry of a wounded animal and spun around to find a coyote had dropped to the ground behind me. The blood made me feel weak in the knees. It became even more pressing for me to leave the woods by nightfall, knowing what was lurking around.
“Jesus!” I cried and walked backward. “Thanks.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” the bearded man responded. “Just figured it would be less of a mess burying an animal than a human.”
His harsh words made me swallow. There was so much viciousness in him. This was exactly what I was avoiding. Best not to get entangled with a man like this at all.
“Look, I’m just trying to get to the main road,” I told him, wiping my sweaty forehead with the back of my hand. “Can you point me in the right direction?”
He looked me over before responding, which made me blush like the night I’d lost my virginity. I knew what he saw, and it didn’t usually bother me but now I felt myself becoming defensive as I prepared for a sexist comment. I was wearing a pair of Royal Robbins hiking shorts in burgundy and a black shirt tucked in.
His gaze covered me from my feet to my head of blond hair and I picked up a strange vibe from him. Was that interest in his eyes? Before I could decide, he schooled his features.
“It’s going to rain,” he remarked. “You’ll never beat it down the mountain.”
I glanced up at the clear sky then back at him dubiously. “I’ll take my chances. Just want to get out of this hellhole.”
“If that’s how you felt, what the hell are you doing here in the first place?” he snapped.
I flushed at his angry tone. “Look, I didn’t mean to insult your home. Can you just point me in the right direction and I’ll get out of your hair?”
God, his long black hair was gorgeous. I imagined plunging my fingers into the thick mass while he was kissing me. Shit, I really need to get my head examined. No way am I going to dump Keith for his idea of being macho and run into the arms of the most macho man I’d ever seen.
“Fine,” he stated, his baritone
lower than mine and deep. He pointed me in the right direction and I almost missed half of what he said because I was busy looking at him, wondering how it felt to kiss a bearded man.
“I’d advise against it though,” he cautioned. “As I said, it’s going to rain soon and it gets pretty bad fast.”
“Thanks,” I told him and headed in the direction he had pointed out. I had to get away from him, from this mountain and back to my regular corporate lifestyle.
Chapter Three
“What the hell!” I exclaimed as the first drop of rain landed on my nose. Where the hell had that come from? Remembering mountain man’s words that it was going to rain, I paused uncertainly and stared up at the sky. I was astonished to see the dark clouds moving fast. I’d been walking some twenty minutes to half an hour, trying to get to the main road. Now I suspected I was in between and as the heavens opened and torrents poured, I wasn’t sure which direction to head anymore.
Seeing a copse of bushes that looked thick enough to shelter me from the rain pummeling my skin, I set off at a dead run.
“Argh!” I cried out in pain as I tripped over a vine camouflaged by the fallen leaves. I hit the ground hard, stunned between having the wind knocked out of me and the pain shooting up my ankle.
“Dammit!” I groaned as I tried to get up but couldn’t stand on my right foot. I was soaked through from the icy tentacles of the rain. I started crawling on my knees towards the clump of bushes at the same time, strong arms wrapped around me and lifted me, as though I weighed no more than a baby. Although I hadn’t checked in a while, I was sure I was a good hundred and fifty pounds at least.
The rain made it hard for me to see my savior but, I didn’t need to see him to know who he was. How had he found me and why was he here? He was a long way from his cabin.
He brought me towards the bushes that I had been heading for and dumped me on my ass in the thickets. He pressed himself into the tight confines of the bushes too and we were mostly sheltered from the brutal rainfall. The clump of bushes was tightly packed together to provide proper shelter from the harsh element but, I found myself too close to mountain man with no means to escape the effect he had on me. Sitting so close to him just made me realize how big he was. Instead of alarming me, it was a little comforting.
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