“The point is that I was the only one she could turn to. Besides, we ran into each other by accident. I had no idea I was going to see her today.”
“Uh huh,” Jane said, folding her arms across her chest. The kimono-style top she was wearing left very little to the imagination, and the pushup bra she had on underneath it ensured that her cleavage was practically touching her chin. I remembered the first time I’d gotten a glimpse of those beautiful breasts. It was funny how I couldn’t give two shits about them now. “You could have told me, you know.”
“Jane,” I said as calmly as I could, “I know you have expectations of what this… thing we had going on between us was. But you aren’t my girlfriend. We ended this. I don’t owe you anything.”
“See,” she said, taking a step toward me, “that’s where you’re wrong…”
I stepped back into the wall as Jane approached, sliding her body up against mine like a cat in heat. I could feel her taut stomach stretching over my abs as she purred, one hand sliding up over my shoulder as the other delved down between my legs.
“Jane,” I started, but she cut me off.
“Shh. Easy there, big guy. You’ve had a rough day. Family drama. I get it.” She rubbed me through my slacks, and for a moment, a ripple of pleasure pulsed through me. “You’ve had all kinds of unexpected things happen to you today. How about we make this one a good one?”
She began working my belt, trying to slip the tongue through the buckle. Despite my own desires—or lack thereof—I could feel myself hardening at her touch. Jane could feel it, too. She had that look in her eye, that smugness that always came over her face when she knew she had won.
Except she hadn’t won. Not this time. And as she tried to tug my pants down past my waist, I grabbed her arms again and gently pushed her away. “Stop. Christ, what were you going to do, blow me right here in the hallway?”
Jane licked her lips and grinned. “If that’s what you want…”
“It’s not,” I said. “This isn’t something you can fix by putting my cock in your mouth…” I let her go and set about fixing my zipper. “We’re not doing this anymore.”
She stared. “What does that mean?”
“It means that you showed up in my house uninvited, harassed my housekeeper, and then interrogated me about what I was doing with my sister. You’re not my girlfriend, Jane. You’re not even my fuck buddy. You’re my personal assistant. This is wildly inappropriate, and I think you should leave.”
Jane looked at me for a long time, a longer amount of time than I was comfortable with. Every second that ticked by, the air in the hall seemed to become thicker, colder, like the intensity of her glare was sapping the life right out of me. I was sure I’d find the house plants wilting later when I walked into the living room.
But I held her gaze. Maddy was right. Jane had crossed a line—again—and things weren’t going to get any better until I stood my ground.
“Fine,” she said. I hated that word, especially coming from her mouth. “I’m not your girlfriend. Whatever. I’m just the girl you fuck at your desk when you’re having a bad day, I guess.”
“You drugged my coffee and handcuffed me to the chair!” I shouted indignantly. Sure, I’d hired her because I wanted to get into her skirt, but the way it happened wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.
“I didn’t hear you complaining,” she replied, the anger evident as she turned away.
She was right, I hadn’t complained at the time. Hell, I’d liked it. Jane was nuts, but she breathed a little excitement into my life. Trouble is, she didn’t understand boundaries and her ever-escalating sexual escapades had started to become even more dangerous. Sooner or later, our little office romance was going to bite me in the ass. I was trying to put an end to it for good reasons.
She walked back into the kitchen, grabbed her purse off the back of one of the kitchen island chairs, and came storming back down the hall toward me. The sounds her heels made on the tiled floor were like bones snapping. They gave me the shivers.
She swept past me and toward the foyer, but not before calling over her shoulder, “I guess you’re only worried about being inappropriate when there’s other people around, because when we’re alone, stuffing your dick in my mouth is totally fine!”
“Not when I catch you hiding under my desk right before a regional board meeting!”
“You could have stopped me,” Jane said.
“I am stopping you Jane, we’re not doing this again. This is over. This has been over for weeks and the sooner you get that through your head, the better. I don’t want you in my house, I don’t want you in my bed, and I don’t want you in my fucking office. We’re done Jane. Don’t bother coming to work tomorrow, I’ll mail you a severance package.”
Maddy’s words were echoing in my head as I put the nail in this relationship. She was right, if I was going to end this I couldn’t leave a shred of hope… even if it hurt.
“You’re not going to fuck me, and now you’re firing me? We’ll see about that,” Jane said coldly, slamming the door behind her and ending any chance at getting the last word on the matter. The sonic boom she left behind mingled with her words as they echoed through my house.
I sighed, rubbing my face with my hands. “She’s insane,” I mumbled, trying to make my dick forget about the warmth of her hands, the gentle press of her chest against mine. “She’s utterly fucking insane.”
“You’re telling me,” Carla said, and I looked up to see her standing in the archway to the kitchen down the hall. “If I’d known what I was getting into, I would have never opened the door.”
“Sorry, Carla,” I said. “I had no idea. It won’t happen again.”
She eyed me harshly. “She’s really not your girlfriend?”
“No,” I answered with a rueful laugh. “Dear God, no.”
She nodded slowly. “Hm. Better figure out some way to let her know that. She don’t seem to listen so good.”
“Thanks, Carla,” I said, listening as her footfalls took her back to the stove.
I took a detour into the living room, grabbed a bottle of vermouth from behind the bar, and made myself a martini, but all the alcohol in the world couldn’t drown the sick feeling Jane had left me with that evening. Things were getting worse between us. She was pushing even harder for us to legitimize things, and in a way that reminded me of Fatal Attraction, or for that matter, Misery.
I shuddered at the thought and took another swig. As good as that veal Marsala had smelled on my way in, my stomach turned now at knowing that Jane had had a hand in it.
It was time for Jane to go. I needed Madison to take me up on my offer, and I needed her to do it soon.
I thought all weekend about Preston’s offer. Fran
kly, it seemed too good to be true, but who was I to judge? I had an unhealthy view on all things family-oriented, to the point where a simple kindness might seem like a set up to me. I knew I needed to be more trusting about this, especially given the direness of my situation, and in the end, I caved.
Saturday afternoon, I sent Preston a text. I used the number he’d left me on the card, though I didn’t know if that phone was for business or personal use. He didn’t respond right away, and maybe he wouldn’t until Monday morning. Still, he’d told me to show up when I was ready, and I believed in making a good first impression, even for my stepbrother.