C.J. walked into the suite where the line of clerical assistants stood with documents to review and sign. Not without reading them first she told them before taking several of them off the top and heading to her office.
As she walked in, she saw that she wasn't alone. Sitting behind her desk was Delilah, wearing a smart business suit and her hair up in a coif. Not exactly what she expected but then the woman who was to have been Elizabeth's maid of honor had never been predictable.
"What are you doing here?"
Delilah just drummed her manicured fingers on the desk.
"I'm waiting to talk to you," she said, "What took you so long?"
C.J. wasn't going to tell her that she'd overslept and had raced to get showered and dressed, just grabbing some breakfast on the way out the door. She'd returned to her own house just blocks away from Matt's after convincing him she'd be just fine.
"I'm here, I'm very busy so if you have anything to say, you'd better hurry."
Delilah looked put out by that directive but stayed in the chair. C.J. knew she should just kick her ass out of the chair but a cat fight this early in the morning would mess up her clothes for the rest of the day.
No, she'd give her a few chances first.
"I'm here to ask you whether or not you've had a chance to talk to Matt…"
"About…"
"About renewing his engagement with Elizabeth," Delilah said, "They love each other underneath all this turmoil and they belong together."
C.J. folded her arms.
"How so?"
Delilah smiled, her eyes gleaming.
"Because they never would have broken up if it hadn't been for that misunderstanding," she said, "and it was really so silly."
"No actually it was Houston coming to his senses," C.J. said, "They really weren't suited for one another."
Delilah scoffed.
"How can you say that, they are both attractive, both have plenty of money and they did love each other."
"They broke off their engagement Delilah," C.J. said, "Usually that doesn't bode well for marriage."
Delilah waved her arm.
"Just a technicality," she said, "They needed time apart to figure out that they did want to get married."
That made no sense to C.J. but then that had proven to be par for the course with Delilah.
"He doesn't want to marry her."
Delilah frowned.
"How do you know that," she said, "Did he tell you?"
C.J. wanted to roll her eyes wondering how Delilah could ever be so obtuse. If she thought that Elizabeth would hook up with Matt again, it was wishful thinking.
"Yeah he did," she said, "over a couple dinners and plenty of scotch. Elizabeth really just needs to move on with her life and accept that Houston's not going to be a part of it."
Delilah looked at her very carefully almost if scrutinizing her. C.J. tried not to feel annoyed but the woman in front of her just drove her crazy. Why did she care so much that Elizabeth wound up married to Matt?
"Did you get him drunk and seduce him?"
C.J.'s eyes widened at the woman's audacity. She gritted her teeth and decided she'd had enough.
"You really need to get out of here," she said, "I need to get back to work."
Wrong answer or at least Delilah seemed to think so.
"Did you do it when he was vulnerable from a broken heart after the wedding got cancelled?"
She just glared at Delilah.
"'How dare you," she said, "Get your butt out of my chair right now and leave."
Delilah pursed her mouth.
"I must have hit a sore spot there," she said, "Well if you don't want to talk about how you bedded another woman's fiancé, I guess this conversation is over for now."
"Just get out."
Delilah got out of her chair and smiled widely at C.J..
"You know you'll never hold onto him," she said, "If he bedded you, it was on the rebound and he'll dump you so quickly."
C.J. didn't respond, it was all she could do not to roundhouse kick the woman out of the suite. But she had a lot of work to do and she didn't need Delilah taking up anymore of her time.
Delilah left and C.J. went back to reclaim her seat and facing a pile of paperwork in front of her, she started doing it.
Matt got off the phone with one of his corporate president Murray Chase puzzled. He had been told that Elizabeth and her shadow investor had tried to buy up more stock but had been thwarted.
A stop gap measure to keep her from trying to seize control of it away from him. He'd been lifting weights in the gym at the country club when he'd received the news and then had gotten on the phone with members of his executive board. He'd driven back to the office and parked in the garage before heading towards the elevator.
He'd been thinking about C.J. all day, about how he really needed to see her. She'd left him last night to head on to her own house and even though she lived close by, he hadn't been happy about it.
He didn't want her living apart from him and living alone, certainly not while she carried his baby. What if anything happened to them? But she'd been insisted that she would be fine.
Truth be told, he had really missed her in his bed and he'd lain back after she left, already missing her. He wanted to kiss her, to run his hands over her body and to sink his cock inside of her.
She'd just have to see that she needed to live with him and he hoped to find a way to convince her of that.
The elevator sounded and the doors opened. He looked up to see Elizabeth dressed up in a tight dress, accentuating her figure and how she looked at him.
She was definitely up to something.
"What brings you this way Elizabeth?"
She smiled and Matt became even more suspicious.
"I just thought I'd drop on over and tell you that I'm sorry if I sounded like I was going to force you to give me your company."
"Well isn't that what you're doing?"
She smiled demurely but he didn't buy it for an instant.
"Oh Matt, I think there's been a huge misunderstanding," she said, "I wasn't going to take away your company just to hurt you."
"But you're trying to take it away."
She shrugged.
"Yes maybe, but only if you don't marry me," she said, "I know that we called the wedding off…"
"We called the whole engagement off."
"Yes well, I think we both got a little too hasty with that," she said, "My taking your company gives you the chance to sit down and think about it a little bit until you reach the right decision."
"I'm not marrying you Elizabeth…"
She pouted at that but then the smile returned and that glint in her eyes that he didn't like. She sashayed inside the elevator to the buttons and then before he knew it, she pushed the emergency stop and it ground to a halt.
"Elizabeth, why did you do that?"
She stood in front of the button pad as if guarding it.
"I need to talk to you about this Matt."
His eyes turned steely.
"I need to get up to my suite," he said, "I have a lot of work to do and don't have time for any games."
Her brows arched.
"Who said anything about games," she said, "I meant what I said, you don't marry me and I'll take your company."
He sighed.
"Then take it," he said, "Like I told you, C.J. and I can start a brand new one and make it successful."
She chuckled mirthlessly.
"Oh Matt, that little tease, really you could do much better even in business."
Matt clenched his jaw.
"Don't talk about her like that."
She smiled widely.
"Or what Matt, I nearly have your company," she said, "and since you haven't liquefied much of your assets, about 95% of your wealth."
He thought about that, even with 5%, he'd more than get by until he could earn more capital but it'd make things harder for a while and with a baby coming…
No, he wasn't going to succumb to her extortion to get him to the altar. He just considered himself lucky that he hadn't actually gone through with the wedding, because then they'd be married.
At least he'd been spared that huge mistake but she did hold some cards now but only if he allowed it.
But she just looked at him and then she moved closer to him and placed her hands on his chest, and brushed her mouth over his, before he could say anything.
"Mmmm Matt…you remember what it was like?"
He pushed her away from him.
"I don't have to," he said, "We're not getting back together; you want my company you can try to take it."
She frowned apparently believing that he was supposed to agree to her plan and start preparing for the wedding. But he'd refused her even at the threat of losing his company. Well, maybe she'd apply the screws a little harder.
"I remember what it was like for us Matt," she said, "Making love at the Beverly Ventura hotel in the penthouse suite, it was so hot wasn't it?"
He sighed feeling her closing in on him again.
"I do remember believing it was special between us," he said, "but I obviously didn't really know you back then. But I know you now and what I see, I don't like."
Oh she didn't look too happy to hear that but what did she expect? That he'd run to the altar with her after she extorted him into it?
He reached behind her to press the elevator buttons and with a lurch, it started climbing up the shaft to his office.
"I think you'd better get off on the next floor."
She just looked at him and she pressed the right button and when the doors opened, she got off. But not without turning around to face him.
"This isn't over Matt," she said, "I will get what I want or I'll get your company. So you should think about that."
The doors closed and he breathed in relief that he had left her. But her threats had done more than irritate him. He wouldn't go broke if she took it away from him but he didn't want C.J. to worry about him providing for them, even though they hadn't really had that discussion yet.
The elevator doors opened again and he saw Delilah sitting there as if she were waiting.
"I'm not marrying Elizabeth," he said, "I just told her that on the elevator."
Delilah sniffed.
"I hope you've been thinking about it seriously," she said, "or she'll take it away from you."
Matt rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"If she wants to do that, she can do that but I'm not marrying her and that's final."
Delilah shook her head.
"Really Matt, could you do any better than her when it comes to who you'll be spending the rest of your life with?"
Matt smiled but only to himself. Yeah he thought so, after all he'd been thinking about her all day.
"Yes I know there's something better out there," he said, "the best women don't use extortion to get a groom."
Delilah seemed to shrug that off.
"Well, her style might have issues but her cause is pure," she said, "She just wants to build a life with you, what's so wrong with that?"
He didn't answer right away because it was too big of an answer.
"Delilah I'm very busy so maybe you should just leave."
She got up to head to the elevator.
"I was already told that by that assistant of yours."
"C.J.'s my associate," he said, "We started the company together. She's my equal partner."
"Well I thought she'd see reason and help me."
That riled him up.
"You did what?"
"She's got to know what's best for you is to be back with Elizabeth and married," Delilah said, "so why wouldn't she help me?
"But she didn't, did she?"
Delilah shook her head.
"No…she vetoed and then kicked me out."
Matt just looked at her intently.
"Leave her alone," he said, "She's not a part of this plan of yours and I've already told you I'm not going along with it."
Delilah just threw up her arms.
"Okay then, I can't be responsible for what Elizabeth will do."
He agreed.
"No you can't be but I'd stop encouraging her."
But Delilah didn't seem too thrilled about not doing that though when the elevator doors opened, she did get inside. Matt just shook his head and headed straight to check on C.J. to make sure she was okay.
That, and because his body missed hers so damn much, so he walked inside her office and shut the door behind him before she even looked up.
"No interruptions for an hour okay?"
She nodded.
"Come over here Matt."
She didn't need to ask twice.
The hour they spent in her office had been well spent and afterward while they readjusted their clothes, they kissed each other on the mouth unwilling to part.
She finally pulled away from him, out of breath.
"You really were all fired up Houston."
He fixed her collar for her, and he closed her eyes at the feel of his fingers brushing her skin. She still felt like a part of her sizzled even though they had both gotten what they needed.
And what she most definitely wanted.
It was times like these when she almost felt like weakening in her stance that she wanted to live on her own for at least a while longer. For some reason, sharing a house with him just made her feel like she'd lose some of the space she put between herself and others.
"You know I don't mean anything personal by it."
He looked into her eyes.
"About us not living together?"
She nodded.
"At least right now," she said, "There's so much I have to figure out for myself, about what happens next…now you're a huge part of that but I have to work my way there."
He didn't seem to understand at least not entirely and her heart sank. It had never been about hurting him or refusing his offer, just putting everything on hold pertaining to them until she thought it through some more. After all, the pregnancy hit her out of the blue. Totally unexpected and she had taken precautions to avoid it but she still failed all the tests anyway…and now her life changed forever even more than Matt's.
After all, the men didn't carry the babies until they were born inside of them. No matter where she went, she'd be pregnant. So many feelings rushed through her, many foreign to her some not including those about Matt. She knew that she loved him as her friend but had she been in love with him?
No, she thought they'd landed in bed together because he'd just broken his engagement to Elizabeth but she'd realized that the feelings had always been smoldering between them. So what did that mean for the two of them?
The baby could bring them closer together or send them apart depending on the decisions that they made.
He kissed her again as if he knew she needed it. She loved the way his mouth felt against hers, gentle yet possessive. Enough to curl her toes inside a second before sending a slow burn through her.
He threaded her hair with his fingers.
"You're so beautiful when we…"
She chuckled softly.
"So are you…I mean you're sexy."
He lit her mouth with another kiss and then she realized that they still had a firm to run.
"I'll see you later," she said, "You have that conference call with the assemblyman and his chief of staff."
He nodded.
"I'll see you for dinner tonight."
She folded her arms looking at him.
"You sure…?"
He smiled.
"Most definitely…"
She watched him go and sat at her desk. She still had a stack of paperwork to do and she still felt the imprint of what she and Matt had done on the desk, her body always simmered for a while after an interlude with him.
The stack would only get smaller if she started working on it so she picked up the first file and got her pen out to do notations. Focusing on her work proved to be a challenge and she had to smile. She'd spent years wondering whether or not Matt would look at her and see a lover as well as a friend.
Not that she didn't savor their friendship. It had seen them both through good times and bad, but she'd always wanted to get her hands on his body. She'd just never had an excuse to do that until after his engagement busted up.
Back during the bachelorette party when she'd seen Elizabeth fondling the exotic dancer, she'd just sighed, wondering if her friend knew that his fiancée had a wandering eye or at lease wandering hands. Elizabeth had drunk a bit of tequila but still that had been no excuse given that she was about to walk down the aisle with Matt.
Now Elizabeth had returned and she'd threatened Matt's firm saying that she could buy it away from him. C.J. knew that it hadn't been an idle threat no matter how Matt viewed it, the company had been vulnerable.
She didn't want him to lose what they'd worked so hard for the past years and she thought about what she could do to counter Elizabeth's plan. Matt would object if he knew she was even thinking about doing so, but she didn't care.
She knew she had to protect him.
Picking up the phone, she called an old friend, Cal to see if he'd be available to help out.
"What's up sugar?"
She grimaced at his choice of endearments but the man was all heart underneath his chauvinism.
"I've got a problem," she said, "You see Matt's ex, you know the woman he almost married but they broke up just before the wedding? She wants to buy his company out from under him if he doesn't agree to marry her."
"I thought you said they just broke up…"
"I did…but for some reason she popped up on the canvas again and says if he doesn't marry her, he'll lose his company."
Cal snorted.
"That's extortion, it's against the law."
She sighed.
"Yeah you'd think but Houston told her no way would he marry her," she said, "but Elizabeth's not taking no for an answer."
"You're worried about what might happen?"
"Yeah I am. Houston and I worked so hard to build our firm, too hard to stand by and watch some spoiled bitch come and take it away from us."
Cal laughed, heartily.
"That's the spirit," he said, "Okay so she stepped back on your turf and you want to reclaim it. Nothing wrong with that at all."
She bit her lip not ready to tell Cal that she'd gotten herself knocked up after the broken engagement and that Matt was the father. Some things just needed to be explained in just the right words and she didn't know how Cal would take her news.
He liked Matt just fine but would insist on her getting married to him to give her baby a name and a home. Some men were also too damn old fashioned.
"Are you free," she asked, "I have a plan I want to run past you."
He seemed a bit wary.
"Am I going to like the sound of it?"
"I think you will," she said, "We can meet at the restaurant by the marina."
He told her he'd be there in an hour and after she clicked off her phone, she decided to get some files done before she headed on out to meet him.
Matt sighed as he read the latest email from the legal division that they'd received notification from Elizabeth that she intended to buy more shares. He thought those efforts could be thwarted but would that be enough to discourage her?
Probably not.
But he really hadn't wanted to think about his vengeful former fiancée, he wanted to think about the mother of his child and how incredible it had been between them in her office. He intended to treat her to a special dinner, at the Hotel Buena Vista that stood on the beach and he'd reserve a suite for the two of them to enjoy.
That way she couldn't argue about not wanting to live with him, the suite would be neutral territory and most importantly it would come with a king sized bed for the two of them. Today's interlude in the office had been merely foreplay for what he planned for tonight.
He smiled until the phone rang and he picked it up discovering that the reporter at the Daily Mirror had discovered that his ex-fiancee planned to buy out his company. Matt hardly believed that would be news that people would be interested in reading about in the newspaper but apparently the editors of at least one of them believed him to be wrong.
"We've got photos of you and your fiancée at the wedding that never happened," the reporter said, "and some quotes from the maid of honor."
Matt sighed, so Delilah had something to do with why the reporter planned to do a spread on Elizabeth's plans to push him towards the altar by threatening his company. Then the reporter told him that the publication decided to put a romantic spin on the whole affair.
"Our readers will just be crazy when they read about how one woman's love for a man knows no bounds," the reporter said, "that she's willing to do whatever it takes to get a ring on his finger."
Matt just listened, not believing it though he knew he shouldn't be too surprised. After all the Daily Mirror focused its coverage on the more unseemly side of L.A. Apparently that involved his personal life this week.
"That's not what's happening at all," he said, "Elizabeth's trying to extort me to marry her by threatening my company."
The reporter chuckled.
"One woman's romance is another man's extortion plot," he said, "We'll let the readers decide."
"You'll do no such thing," Matt said, "You won't print the story unless you print the truth."
The reporter sighed.
"I think the editorial staff knows best about the truth," he said, "You're too emotionally involved in the situation to not have inherent bias."
Matt felt like that was the most stupid statement he had ever heard but he'd be damned if he'd be smeared in the press.
"I'll be down there and stop you even if I have to buy your paper."
The reporter went silent.
"I have the capital to own the Mirror by the end of the day…"
"I'm sure you do Mr. Houston," the reporter said, "but the story will still be reported and read by our audience."
Matt sighed, knowing that it'd take more than a day to secure the purchase of the newspaper and by then, it could have published a whole in depth series on his life. He looked at his watch and thought he'd have some time to discuss it with C.J. before they both left the office.
But when he remembered what she felt like in his embrace, he knew it could wait until tomorrow. All he could think about was seeing her again tonight.
"I'll talk to you later," the reporter said, "when it's time to interview you…you know to get your side of it."
"You really are planning on doing that rather than make up what I've said?"
The reporter said.
"Funny Mr. Houston but this is an ethical publication no matter what you believe," he said, "and it will be even if you do wind up owning it at the end of the week."
Matt clicked off the phone and just looked at the wall. He wondered what else Elizabeth and Delilah had up their sleeves and didn't think he'd have to wait long to find out.
Not that it mattered, he had no intention of walking down the aisle with his ex-fiancée no matter what.