Chapter 19
Jennie
"I can't believe how beautiful it is here," I murmur as I sip my wine. I'm still in my swimsuit from earlier, but my feet are propped up on the balcony edge as I stare out into the ocean without a care in the world. This was supposed to be work, but for the past four days, we've done nothing but play.
"It sure is," Lisa replies, her voice husky.
When I turn to look at her, I find her staring. My body begins to heat from the inside out. We've been seeing each other in some capacity for a little over a week now. She's such a whirlwind that I lose all sense of time and reality. It feels like much longer.
"I always dreamed of having a place like this. A place to take my family one day. A place where the mother was involved and the father wasn't a giant asshole. A place where the kids would look forward to visiting every summer." She threads her fingers behind her head as she stares off into the ocean. Her dark hair is messy and flutters in the wind. "Now I own such a place."
"That you do," I tell her, a hint of dreaminess in my voice.
She turns her heated, intense gaze on me. "All I need is the family."
Once again, my throat and cheeks heat. When she says these powerful things to me, I just fall deeper in a hole that she's dug for me. I just hope she doesn't bury me one day.
"One day maybe you will," I offer and gulp down the rest of my wine.
"Come here."
She pats her thigh and flashes me a grin that looks entirely too good on her. She remains fit and has a young, vulnerable edge about her that I find myself drawn to. Her intensity, though, is that of an ancient god. Unwavering and dominant.
I stand from the lounge chair and then straddle her lap. She's only wearing a pair of swim trunks so the moment I sit on her, her hard length presses against the place I want her most.
"I want to make this our thing," she says, as she reaches behind me to tug at the string of my bikini top. The material slinks away from my breasts. "This"—she motions at the resort and to the beach—"should be our thing."
Her words.
Her implications.
They're all too much.
Desperately, I cling to them. For so long, I've craved just what she's offering. But it doesn't seem real. A fairytale. A dream that she's woven for me while she fucks me beyond sanity. What happens when it all goes up in a poof of smoke? Where does that leave me?
"You do realize you only figured out I exist a week ago. Now you're ready to impregnate me and run off into the sunset. You don't live in the real world." This is why they call her Mad Man. "We're just having fun."
Her eyes darken as she tugs the upper string behind my neck. My top falls between us baring me to her. "I live in the world I create," she tells me, her words fiery with need. "And in my world, it's you and me."
I bite on my bottom lip and regard the beautiful woman. Was this how it was with Kai in the beginning? I don't remember him being this dedicated or consumed. Intense and possessive, yes. But never…sweet and passionate. Lisa is just…different.
"We're moving way too fast," I try, though the fight is gone the moment she tugs my bikini bottoms to the side and slides the tip of her finger along my clit.
She leans forward to capture my breast between her teeth. Her eyes lift to find mine. They're blazing with emotions I want to peel back and discover. Truth is, I love the way she looks at me as though I'm the only thing in her life that matters. With her tongue darting across my flesh and her teeth biting into me, I'm overcome with need. She's never looked hotter than she does in this moment, with her messy hair and wild eyes. Her finger expertly strokes me to the point I'm practically dripping with desire.
"Oh, God…" I whimper.
She suckles away the pain from her bite and then breathes against me. "Tell me what I need to hear."
I grip her hair and tilt my head back. The balcony is private considering it's the penthouse suite, so I throw caution to the wind and let myself free.
"I'm yours," I tell her as I rock against her finger that massages me only from the outside despite my need to have her on the inside.
"Tell me this is more than fun," she growls, nipping at my skin. "Tell me this is our world and you want it just as much as I do."
When she talks to me like this, I lose all sense of right and wrong. There is no reality with her.
"Yes," I assure her, my body quivering with pleasure. "Our world."
Her finger speeds up its motion until I lose it. The world darkens around me as an explosive orgasm surges through me, obliterating every nerve ending in my body. I'm still shuddering when she pulls her hand from my bottoms to tug her cock from her trunks. Once it's out and standing upright between us, she lifts my hips and once again pushes my bikini bottoms to the side. This time, she impales me with her cock. Her hands on my hips control our rhythm. All I can do is latch my lips to her and enjoy the ride.
Our kiss is all consuming and powerful.
We kiss as though the other holds the key to our future and happiness.
I'd be a liar if I said I didn't want what Lisa is offering. I'm dying to let her suck me into her storm and never let go. When she owns me from the inside, the answer is always yes.
"That's it, baby," she groans against my mouth. "Take this thick cock because it belongs to you."
Damn her and her crazy dirty talk that drives me wild.
Like the good girl I am, I ride her as if I own her. I use her cock to pull out the pleasure I crave and need. Arching my back, I position myself so she hits me against my G-spot. Zings of bliss pulsate through me.
"Beg me to come inside you, Jennie. Fucking beg me to put a baby inside you," she snarls, her teeth nipping at my breasts. "Beg me."
Her words are insane. A game of pretend. Apparently, I like these games.
"Yes," I plead. "I want it. I want all of it."
"You're going to carry my kid in your sexy little stomach, aren't you?" she demands.
"Mmmhmmm."
"Say the words, Jennie."
"I want your baby."
She nips at me again. "We're going to be a family. Promise me."
"Yes," I whine as my body tightens with another impending orgasm. "I promise."
The moment my climax shudders through me, she loses control. Her bite on my breast feels as though she broke the skin, but I don't even care because her heat surges inside of me carrying with it all of her promises.
I'm so fucked in the head by this woman.
She's going to tear my world apart. Deep down, I know this. I can feel it down to my toes.
And yet…
"Don't break me," I beg, my lips finding the shell of her ear. "Please don't break me."
She hugs me tight and growls her fierce proclamation that I want to believe so badly. "I won't break you. Fucking never."
~
"In two months, I have to go to Hong Kong for business," Lisa says, her finger tracing softly up and down my bare stomach in the dark.
"I'm jealous," I tease and smile.
"I want you to come with me," she tells me with a chuckle. "You're the VP, after all."
I stiffen. "I won't be working for you then. I only have one week left."
Her hand stops moving and I'm glad I can't see her expression. "But I thought…"
"That just because we're seeing each other right now that I'd give up my prior commitments?"
She pulls away and flips on the lamp. When she turns back, her nostrils flare with anger. "I promoted you. I assumed you were staying."
The money is way better than what Sean is offering.
And I'd be doing what I know.
But I'd be spending every waking moment with Lisa's undivided attention on me. What happens when this blazing flame of hers flickers out? Will I be cast aside and forgotten again? If so, and I chose to stay at Manoban, I'd have passed up an opportunity for a career change.
"Lisa," I start but am interrupted when she jerks out of the bed.
"I need to make a phone call," she growls before slamming the bedroom door.
I sit up and bring the sheet up over my bare breast. She did not take that well at all. Butterflies take flight in my belly as my nerves threaten to consume me. I snag my phone from the end table and text Sean.
Me: Everything still a go?
Despite it being close to midnight, he responds.
Sean: I thought you'd changed your mind. You know, after all that happened. Then you never responded. Is everything okay?
My mind has been distracted the past week, but I didn't think I'd ignored any of his messages.
Me: Everything is fine. Looking forward to starting up soon.
He responds back immediately.
Sean: Oh good! I'm counting down. If you want to drop by one day on your lunch, I'll show you where your office will be. We can have lunch in my office.
Me: I'll let you know a day I'm free. Talk soon.
I try not to watch the clock but seconds turn into minutes and then minutes turn into hours. Lisa hasn't returned. I'm just drifting off when I hear the lamp being turned off and the bed sinking down with her weight. She curls her body around mine and hugs me to her. I feel like we've just had our first fight. It's not hard to see her point. She's promoted me and fired several employees because of how they treated me. We're sleeping together and spend every waking moment with one another. I can see how she'd assume I was staying.
But…
I can't risk everything on a week's worth of her attention.
"I'm sorry," she murmurs against my ear, her thumb running circles around my belly button.
When I pretend to be asleep, she relaxes and kisses me softly on my head. Tears well in my eyes because Kai was never affectionate like this. It makes me feel guilty for even comparing her to my psycho ex.
Her breathing evens out. As warm as she feels curled up against me, I think we need space. I'm losing sight of myself by getting swept up in her. I can't go through what I went through with Kai again. I'm not mentally capable.
Tomorrow I'm going to try and untangle myself from Lisa Manoban.
Until then, I'll stay warm in her arms for one more night.
~
"Congratulations," a lady named Deb chirps when she passes by my desk. "What an achievement."
I smile until she walks off. What the hell is everyone congratulating me for? She's at least the fifth person to do so today. I thought my promotion was old news. My eyes skip over to Lisa's door, but it's closed. After the weirdness of Saturday at the resort, she brought me home Sunday where she dropped me off. I didn't invite her inside to stay. The drive home was polite but mostly quiet. I could practically see the gears turning in her head, but she was careful not to say anything to spook me further.
And, boy, am I spooked.
I've made one horrible decision after the other since I put my notice in.
My phone buzzes and I'm surprised to see it's Gwen.
Gwen: Hey girl! We should do lunch one day. I wanted to apologize in person for how I behaved last week.
When I think of Gwen and Lisa's mom's house, I shudder. She was a nice woman but she was definitely a little spacey. I was glad when Lisa told me she'd arranged for her to go to an assisted living home. It was Gwen who went with her and got it all set up, but she's the one who found the top of the line facility and shelled out the money for it. Once she's settled, Lisa said she's going to pay some people to come in and go through the house. She'd confided in me that she hoped she could get Gwen to clean up her mess too but she was only dealing with one problem at a time.
Me: It was fine. You were stressed. Lunch sounds great.
"Congratulations, Letty," another person chirps as they pass by my desk. "Front page. Unbelievable."
This grabs my attention. "Excuse me? What are you talking about?"
The guy slaps the New York Times down on my desk. On the front page is my face. I blink once in shock. Then, I blink once more as horror sets in. My age. My location. My entire damn name. All splashed across the front page. The article goes on to not only talk about my promotion for one of the biggest acquisition firms in the country but also talks about my overcoming sexual harassment and breaking through the glass ceiling. But it's what's at the end of the article that has my blood running cold.
Manoban Subsidiaries bought Slante Mortgages.
One simple sentence, stuck in at the end.
But it has me seeing red. So much so, that it overshadows for the moment that my anonymity is gone. I snatch the paper up and stalk over to Lisa's door. When I charge inside and slam the door behind me, I find her sitting at her desk with her fingers steepled as if she was waiting for me. Even Bambam wears an expectant look.
"How could you?" I seethe, my tone low and deadly.
Her gaze is sharp as she skims over my blouse and skirt before roaming back up to my eyes. "How could I what?"
I slam the newspaper down on her desk. "Do you know what you've done?" My voice is shrill.
"That was me, actually," Bambam pipes up. "I contacted my buddy at The Times and told him the story."
"You don't know what you've done," I tell him, a slight quiver in my voice. When I think of Kai seeing the paper and knowing where I am, my knees buckle and I crash up against the desk. Bambam tries to right me but Lisa has already come around the desk. I'm dragged into her powerful grip.
Her scent.
Her touch.
Her overpowering presence.
I fall victim to her gentle touch for a moment and let her protect me from the repercussions. But just for a moment. Then, the fury sets in.
"You didn't want me to leave so you bought Slante Mortgages?" I screech.
She rubs my back. "There's more to the story that you don't know."
"So. Tell. Me." I lift my chin and glare at her.
Her jaw ticks and she nods at Bambam who slips out of the office without another word. Then, her features soften as she regards me. I try to wriggle away but her grip tightens.
"Sean has a bad history," she grits out, anger morphing her features.
"A bad history for what?!"
"For fucking his employees." Her words are snarled out, jealousy clinging to each one.
I scoff. "You fuck your employees."
This earns me a growl. "No, I just fuck you."
Embarrassment causes my neck to heat. This poor guy just lost his company because my girlfriend is jealous and doesn't want me to quit? Unbelievable.
"That was his company," I mutter, disgust seeping in my tone. "You just made a few phone calls and bought his company out from under him?"
"I hardly call twenty million a bad deal. I doubled his asking price." Her voice is smug and it irritates me.
"When?" I hiss. "When did you do this? After our fight on Saturday?"
Her features harden. "He was pleased with my offer. After I dropped you off, I met with him and our lawyers. Everything went smoothly. This morning, the wire transfer went through. He's staying on to manage, though. But…"
She doesn't have to say it.
I know.
"But the caveat was he couldn't have me."
She has the sense to look shameful. "Jennie."
"No," I murmur. "All of that is horrible, and I'm furious with you. But splashing my face and name all over the front page of the country's biggest paper when you know I'm hiding from my psychotic and abusive ex? That's unforgivable." This time when I push away, she releases me. She looks wounded.
"You don't understand—"
"Apparently not." I choke back tears. "I'm taking the day off. I'm not feeling well."
She sees through my lie but gives me a clipped nod. "Let me drive you home at least."
I shake my head and hold my hands up. "You've done enough."