Lust (8 page)

Sure, I would go home and cry my eyes out until the morning,
but not now, not in front of him. Men like him feed off of
other people’s weaknesses, and I was not going to give him that
or any other satisfaction.

“Pat, look at me. As a dear friend, I thank you for all you’ve
done and all you have taught me. You deserve some R & R

and some enjoyment. Congratulations. As your employee, I am
saddened for myself and for the others to have to endure this
loss of such an amazing, intelligent, and kind boss. The good
thing is I’m only losing a boss, not the friend, which warms my
heart. It’s OK. We are OK. Hey, look, I expected much worse,
so there is no reason for anyone to be upset, right?”

Even I almost believed myself. I was good; I was real good.

I could flip the switch so quick and so well no one knew the
torment I was really feeling inside.

“Right, and I know Mr. Mason well. He will do right by all
of you and make this company even more than it is. And you,
you, my dear, will keep climbing that ladder. You will do that
for me, OK?” The tension in Pat’s eyes eased now, and his gaze
turned from sad to hopeful.

“Absolutely. I will work hard for your company always.” I
was saying exactly what he wanted to hear and not what I actually
felt. But just as Pat couldn’t hurt me, I couldn’t hurt him
either.

“OK, so are we good now?” The words were rudely interjected
by this prick who I would now call Boss.

“Yes, of course. We were never…not good, especially Pat
and I.” I knew that making him understand that my loyalties
and hard work were all for Pat and his company and not Mr.

Mason; that would sting him. And by his expression, I could
tell I had succeeded. Point for Eva…one to zero!

“Well, I can only hope that we will eventually share the
same ‘goodness.’ Wouldn’t you agree, Ms. Chase?”

Shit! Point for Mason. He knew my game…one to one!

“But of course,” I responded. But the reassurance I gave
was seeping with sarcasm
Pat, stood first and then helped me out of my seat. It was late
and there was nothing else to say. Not only was the conversation
painful but it was a lost battle. Pat was leaving the company, Mr.

Mason was taking over and I would be known as the slut who
threw herself at a man she barely knew. My mind spun as we
walked in single file out of the lounge and into reality. Pat’s car
was parked in the front of the lounge. The driver made his way
around to where we stood with Pat and opened the car, ready to
escort him away from me.

“Pat, you take care of yourself, please. I won’t accept anything
less, or I’ll call Kathy myself. Do you hear me?” Like a
mother to a child, I spoke to him in the most endearing way. It
was natural with Pat, and it’s what he deserved.

“You will be at the twins’ birthday in two weeks, won’t
you? I won’t take no for an answer, and you know neither will
Kathy or the kids!”

I started closer to him when Pat leapt forward and embraced
me lovingly. Holding back the tears, I held the notion
that I would indeed see him soon, “I wouldn’t miss it for the
world; you know that.”

Pat slid into the back seat of the black town car and waved
solemnly, “Get home safe Eva. See you soon”

My wave held no strength and my smile; no joy but I said
good-bye and hid all the sadness that I could. I turned to
walk down the block. But directly in front of me, I found the
muscles—or, I mean, Mr. Mason. God, he smelled good; it was
Burberry. Ugh, I love Burberry, damn it.

“My apologies. Have a good evening, Mr. Mason. I look
forward to working with you.”

“Uh, Ms. Chase, I need a moment before you depart.”

He was giving an order. I just stood there. I didn’t take
orders from him. Who the hell was he? He was no one until
tomorrow morning. He moved closer to me, and I could feel
my stomach tighten. He was surely going to say something
embarrassing or threatening to me.

“I just wanted to bring you up to speed so that you are
prepared for the morning. Actually, from what I’ve gathered,
you are very perceptive, yet you didn’t seem to notice
that Kelly did not join us this evening as she was previously
scheduled to.”

Now he was smirking. It was evil though, like he held so
many secrets behind those closed lips, which, by the way, were
very pink and plump, and they looked soft…

Cut the shit! What’s with you! Scolding myself once more,
I tried focusing on what he was saying rather than what he
looked like.

“Mrs. Levine is no longer with PHI. And before you start
trying to compile an elaborate story of how, what, where, and
when, let me just tell you, since you’ve already alluded to
the fact that you don’t like secrets and you also don’t like not
knowing.”

What, was he keeping a journal of everything I said? A
checklist of my likes and dislikes? And who the hell was he to
have a predetermined assumption that I would create an elaborate—
OK, so he was right, but…damn him!

“We have confirmation and proof that Mrs. Levine—
Kelly—was getting kickbacks from other firms. She was sending
them project plans and projections—your plans and projections,
to be exact. She was selling them as her own, and that’s
why we lost roughly five of the multibillion dollar deals this
year alone.”

What. The. Fuck?

“I can read the shock in your expression. Mr. Watson felt
the same. We let her go quietly. That’s why no one saw her after
this morning. And we are going to go through legal channels
to handle things with the firms she sold our info to.”

I could not believe what I was listening to. What world was
this? I turned my head to look down the road, the same road
that carried the car that Pat was riding in. He was my friend
and protector. None of this kind of stuff happened when Pat was
here, and now, now everything was falling apart. I was in an unknown
world filled with deception and loss, everything I hated.

“Ms. Chase, I am finding this quiet, introverted side of you
very strange.” His words broke off as I opened my mouth to
speak. He stared at me intently, and that made me uncomfortable.

I felt small and I did not like that! I knew what he was
hinting at, but I wasn’t going to feed his fire.

“No, no. I’m just trying to take this all in. It is a lot of information
to gain in one day. Very disturbing, but no, we don’t want
those types of people working with us.” I emphasized my words to
clear up any misconceptions he had about being part of the “us.”

He was an outsider, someone who flipped my world upside down
and inside out and not in a good way, or at least not today.

So, aside from his unique good looks and amazing scent, he
had nothing to say that I wanted to hear; not now that he was
my boss and I was utterly humiliated.

“It has been a long day. So if you will excuse me, Mr. Mason,
I will head home now.” I attempted to take half a step and was
stopped.

“I will drive you,” said Mason.

Why was he ordering me around again? His words sounded
calm and sincere but commanding. He knew me for a second,
and he was already treating me like a child. This was not going
to work. “No, thank you. I have things to do. Have a good
evening.”

But he wasn’t accepting my dismissals. “Eva…” I gasped
as my name slipped between his plush pillowed lips. “Why are
you running from me as if you don’t know me?”

And there it was. It hadn’t taken him long to throw it in
my face, but I was going to have to face it. “Excuse me? I’m not
running, and I don’t know you. Look, if you have something
to say, say it to me now because as of tomorrow morning, I
won’t be able to defend myself as verbally as I can right now. So
please, come out with it.”

He inched closer to me, causing me to step back until I
reached the side of the car that was stopping me from going
farther. “Well, Eva, I have to be the luckiest man alive; that is
the second most amazing offer I’ve received from you in just
three days.”

Confused and taken aback, my eyebrows arched, and I
straightened my shoulders. “I don’t know what you are talking
about. What offer? What was the first offer?”

He pulled both hands out of his pockets and pressed his
palms on both sides of my head against the car. He towered
over me, and his strength shown through his suit. “I know you
were drunk, but could you have possibly forgotten?”

I just looked at him as he spoke close to my lips. My back
arched, pushing my chest up involuntarily. His very presence
drew my body to him; there was an unspoken command that
my body reacted to.

“Well, let me refresh your memory. During your birthday
celebration, you fell into my lap, and as you propositioned to rip
my clothes off and ride my cock, well…” He paused. Moving
his hands to the small of my back, he pulled me forward into
his now hard erection.

My eyes fluttered shut for an instant as I recalled the dreams
and visions I had had all weekend of his cock, and there it was,
pressing into me.

“…you gave me the hardest, most painful, and exciting
erection I’ve ever had the pleasure of having—in my life. And
now here we are. Fate has brought us together again.”

And that’s when reality jolted my little daydream.

I pushed him off of me and regained my senses. “Since you
were so kind to recap my unfortunate night, let me ask you, did
you know who I was? Is that why you were there? Were you
stalking me? How and why are you involved with Pat?”

Exhaling purposely, he leaned up against the car door and
crossed his arms over his chest as I moved away. “Well, you have
many questions, don’t you? Let’s see now. I went to the bar for
a drink after meeting with Pat to discuss all of this. I, like you,
am concerned for Pat’s best interests. All of this took me by surprise,
so I needed a drink. I went to a bar because that’s where
they serve drinks. I did know who you were, but only because I
heard a few girls talking about you. I obviously have a roster of
employees, and I realized that we would in fact meet up again.”

It was all a bit clearer to me now. I remembered him saying
in the car, I don’t want you to do anything that you’ll regret on
Monday morning. “Monday morning. You said I would regret it
on Monday morning. You knew. Why wouldn’t you just tell
me instead of allowing me to make a fool out of myself?”

“I wasn’t trying to do anything of the sort, Eva.” He
went to grab my hands, but I threw them up to back him off.

“Seriously? Now you are scared of me? You had no problem
telling me you wanted to fuck me, allowing me to take you
home and put you into bed. That didn’t scare you, now did it?”

He was right. I was being a hypocrite, but my sheer lust for
him had turned into disgust. He was ruining the best thing in
my life—my career—and no sex could make up for that.

He opened the car door and motioned for me to get in. “I’m
driving you.”

His commands would have worked forty-eight hours ago,
but they wouldn’t work now.

“See you in the office…boss.” I turned my back and disappeared
into the dark city streets.

CHAPTER FIVE

As I walked away into the Manhattan streets, I knew he watched
me. I felt his eyes on my spine. I had no idea how long he stood
there and stared, but I could feel the energy he gave off. As
I turned the corner onto Fifty-Fourth Street, I had to stop. I
propped myself on the brick of the first storefront building I
came to, buried my face in my hands, and sobbed. It felt good,
so good to cry and get it out.