“I’ll see you at my place at eight on Friday. I’ll send a car,” I said.
I turned the doorknob and walked out of her office, shutting the door behind me before she could say a word back to me. As the door shut, I heard her let out a deep sigh, and I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. I had really gotten to her, and I found that this game was even more fun than the first one had been. I knew I wasn’t keeping my promise to respect her wishes for a professional relationship, but who was I kidding? I wanted her, and now that she was playing hard to get, I wanted her even more. She acted like she wanted a professional relationship, but that was her way of trying to protect herself and her job. She wanted me around as much as I wanted her around, and it wasn’t some big secret. She was terrible at hiding that fact, and though it was endearing, I was going to show her that she may think she was in charge, but that was only because I let her be. I was taking back the ball this time, and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. In fact, I wasn’t even going to let her answer.
I walked down the hall and to the elevator, going to check on the other departments to see how they were doing. As soon as the elevator doors shut, I let out a deep breath, realizing that I was more brazen than I ever thought I could be. This old man still had it, and I wanted to use it on Ava. I didn’t care that my fear of commitment was slapping me in the forehead. I just wanted to make sure Ava didn’t go running off. I did my rounds and came back downstairs, looking over at Ava’s closed door and chuckling to myself as I walked over to my secretary’s desk. She had a couple new messages for me, so I went into my office and returned the important phone calls. Everyone seemed to need something from me that day. No matter what the issue was, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ava, and I didn’t mind it at all.
When I got off the last call, I leaned back in my chair, opening my email to send responses back that I had neglected to address that morning. As the email loaded, I leaned my head back in my chair and laughed to myself. This was fun, at least it was for now. I had no intention of letting this carry on forever, but I also had no intention of letting Ava go. I opened my eyes and leaned forward, looking at the new messages in my inbox. Suddenly, I froze, staring at a message from Ava’s father, Dean. My mouse hovered over the message for several seconds and fear bubbled up in my stomach. What if he had found out about Ava? That couldn’t be it. I was pretty sure if he found out about Ava, he wouldn’t be sending an email. He would be stomping through the office raising hell and dragging her out of there like a twelve-year-old caught sneaking out. I clicked on the message and began to read.
Tanner,
It was offsetting to see you at the polo match after so many years, and my actions toward you may have been unwarranted. I’d like to sit down with you, talk about everything. There is no reason to spend our lives angry at one another. If you are free tonight, pick a place and just let me know when and where and I’ll be there.
Dean
I sat back in my chair, at a loss for what to say or do. Dean seemed like he was reaching out, wanting to smash decades of animosity and anger. He had been my best friend for many years, and I loved him like a brother. This email must have taken him a lot to write, knowing how stubborn he was. I couldn’t pass this opportunity by, even if it meant upsetting Ava. I was going to go to dinner with Dean and at least hear him out, and I would tell her the next day, making sure to calm her fears.
I looked up several restaurants, not used to picking places that weren’t for romantic reasons. I didn’t want to romance Dean. I wanted to have a nice dinner, but make the situation comfortable and inviting. Fine dining was off the table. I knew how much he hated fine dining. He may be an extremely wealthy man, but when it came to food, he liked meat and potatoes. I called up the local steakhouse, Chima, and made a reservation for the two of us. I made sure the table was somewhere relatively private and comfortable, so we could talk openly without having to worry about other people listening in. I also wanted to make sure we had some sort of privacy, so if things got heated, there wasn’t some huge scene to be made.
When I finished up the reservations, I took a deep breath, the reality of the situation hitting me like a ton of bricks. I didn’t know what made him change his mind, but part of me was excited, while the other part of me was terrified he was going to find out Ava. She was deadly serious about not letting her father know, especially if he was in the mindset of hating my guts like he had been for a couple of decades. I typed out a reply and read it to myself several times before hitting send.
Dean,
It’s good to hear from you, and I agree, life is too short to bicker like we did at the polo match. I let my irritation and anger get the best of me as well. I made reservations at Chima at eight tonight. I put them under both of our names, so if you get there before me, you can grab a drink. I look forward to talking.
Tanner
It seemed good enough, giving him the boost I knew he was looking for from my apology and being open to talking through our issues. For some reason, there was this weight lifted from my shoulders that I didn’t even realize was there. For the first time since Dean and I went our separate ways, I felt okay with my company, okay with everything I had sacrificed, and didn’t feel angry about anything from the past. It was amazing what one little email could really do. I didn’t want to get my hopes up because there was a good chance we would leave this dinner in a huff, never talking again. But there was also a chance we could leave with a fresh start. That would be good for me, for Dean, and for Ava, because she could finally come clean and not feel so bad about lying to her father. It was an all-around good idea to go to this dinner, and hopefully, it would turn out as good as I felt.
Chapter 14
Ava
Talk about frustrating. I had spent the rest of work the day before stewing in my own irritation because Tanner had made plans for dinner on Friday and given me absolutely no choice in the matter. I was supposed to be in charge of all of this. I was supposed to be the one who called the shots when it came to us having any kind of relationship beyond a professional one. However, I couldn’t deny that I found his arrogance almost sexy. I lay in bed that night thinking about how mad I wanted to be, but I couldn’t deny I was extremely turned on. So, turned on, that I considered calling him, but I turned over and forced myself to sleep instead.
When I woke up, I was groggy and frustrated, more sexually frustrated than anything else. I took a hot shower to wake up and got ready for the day. I wondered what crazy things this day would bring, especially since I couldn’t seem to go even an hour without some kind of drama. When I got to the building, I climbed into the elevator and leaned back against the wall. Before the doors could shut, Tanner shoved his arm i
n and climbed inside next to me, breathing heavily as if he’d made a run for it. I cleared my throat and smiled at him, moving over to the corner and leaning back. I didn’t want to make a big deal about him being there with me, but his cologne smelled so damn good.
Instantly, I could feel desire start to raise up to my chest. I crossed my legs at the ankle, feeling the heat coursing between my legs. It was raining outside, and Tanner had water dripping down his neck. I followed as a drop moved from the edge of his hair and slid slowly down his smooth, tanned skin, falling beneath his collar. I imagined it continuing down his large muscled back, his shoulders flexing as it tickled his skin. I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath, leaning back and trying to ignore the fact that I wanted to hit the stop button and fuck him on the elevator. Instead, I ran the pictures of our meeting the other day through my mind to remind myself how cold and collected he could be. Before I could get through them all, I sensed him scoot closer to me. I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was staring at my face, his back pressed against the elevator as well. He looked like he wanted to say something, but I thought if I opened my mouth, he wouldn’t hear anything more than my lust for him and that had to stay buried deep inside of me.
“I have something to tell you,” he said, looking down. “I met with your father for dinner last night.”
“What?” My eyes got bigger and I stood up, all lust completely washing out of my system. “Wait, you did what? Say that again, please.”
“Your father sent me an email yesterday,” he explained. “He apologized for our fight at the polo match and wanted to meet so we could talk. I agreed. It was so good, Ava. We talked through everything that happened between us for the last ten years. We talked about the split of the business, our animosity, our anger, and the fact that we always considered each other family. It was like a weight off both of our shoulders.”
“Did you tell him I work for you?”
I was stunned and confused, and I barely knew what to say. That was something he should have told me about. What if he felt so comfortable, he told my father about us, about me, about everything? I couldn’t believe I was standing there having this conversation with him. So much for a morning without any damn drama. It was like I was a pawn in this whole situation and what happened to me made no difference to Tanner. He was looking out for himself at every pass, completely oblivious to how things would affect me.
I put my face in my hands and groaned, not wanting to hear whatever answer he had. My life was beginning to crumble around me and I was given no choice in any of it. Maybe I should have taken the job in Sweden I was offered instead of this one. Maybe I had made the wrong choice in all of it.
“Of course not,” he said, turning to me. “That isn’t my business to tell him, but now it might be easier for you. I thought maybe if your father and I were back on good terms, then you could let him know everything and stop feeling guilty for lying to him. I know how much that bothers you.”
“You want me to tell him I’ve been lying to him this whole time?” I started to get angry. “You want me to tell my father that I betrayed his trust and on top of it all, I was fucking you? Are you out of your goddamned mind? You didn’t think that this was something you might should have warned me about? Like maybe sent me a message or walked across the hall and told me you were having dinner with my father, so I could be prepared. It’s like you don’t ever use your damn brain unless it has to do with business. Lord, this is a mess.”
“No,” he said shaking his head confused. “I mean, don’t tell him then. I thought it would be a good way to have a clean start. I don’t mean to hurt your father. I mean to take some stress off you.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “I know you didn’t mean any harm, but damn, this just makes everything more complicated, and it adds you to the mix. You just rekindled your friendship with my dad, and now you are going to start it off by keeping something from him.”