Chapter 17 – Tag
SEVENTEEN
TAG
Two Days Later
I stopped at the door to the study and was about to knock, when I heard Sun’s voice just beyond the door.
Once the town had voted on the plan, Sunshine hadn’t wasted any time. She and Carter had been huddled together in the first floor study of the Lodge for the past few days dealing with all the financial stuff. Equity loans, liquidated savings. All stuff I knew nothing about.
Sunshine had moved in what little she’d brought with her from her mom’s house, to stay at the ranch, in a guest room upstairs. It was just easier, rather than commuting back and forth to her mom’s place. And the beds here, according to Sunshine, were much better.
It had been an effort on my part to give her the space she needed to work.
More of an effort than it should have been, if I was being honest with myself.
But, Ethan told me today that she wasn’t going to her room at night. She slept on the couch in the study. And she wasn’t eating regular meals.
The woman needed someone to take care of her, and I’d promised to be the guy to do that.
“I understand that,” she said, her voice raised enough that I could hear it through the door. “But, I need a few more days.”
There was no answer, just her voice again, which led me to conclude she was on the phone.
“Of course, I want to be partner, Jared. It’s what I’ve been working toward these last few years!”
Silence.
“No. My family tragedy has not made me over emotional. I’m simply expressing the fact that I’ve worked very hard for this firm for the past ten years. Asking for a few days while I deal with a personal family matter is not going to cripple the business.”
More silence.
“Yes, sir. Of course, sir. I’m sorry if you thought I was raising my voice. That was not my intention.”
Another beat.
“Yes. I understand. As soon as possible. I will.”
I waited a few seconds, then knocked on the door.
I heard her say something and just assumed the invitation.
When I opened the door, she was leaning against the front of the desk.
Her head was down, her thumb nail was firmly locked between her teeth, and her shoulders were hunched forward in a manner I didn’t like.
This wasn’t the woman from a few days ago, who stood outside the town hall for over three hours, explaining bitcoin to the citizens of Last Hope, who, having decided to trust her, were serious about her plan.
This woman looked defeated .
“Hey,” I said, softly. “I came to check on you.”
She twisted her head toward me, her sleek bob bouncing around her neck. She was back in her business clothes, which maybe helped to remind her she was a badass business woman, but I could say, definitively, I much preferred her look as a cowgirl.
“I’m good,” she insisted.
“Heard you talking on the phone,” I said. I wasn’t an eavesdropper by nature, but I wanted to let her know she had someone she could talk about her call with if she wanted to. “Sounded…tense.”
“Did I sound emotional to you?” she grilled me. “Hypersensitive?”
“No. You sounded like someone trying to explain why you needed to stay here and they weren’t taking it very well.”
“One of the partners. Jared Evanstone. He’s threatening my partnership if I’m not back by next week.”
“Can he do that?”
“No. That’s a decision that will be made by all of the partners, and, of course, the founder, Mr. Berkley, but I’m getting sick of them constantly using my promotion as a threat.”
I nodded and leaned my ass on the desk next to her. “Sounds like they’re jerking you around.”
“It’s the game,” she sighed. “It’s always been this way. Until you make it, you’re on the outside doing everything you can to prove you deserve to be on the inside. But, once you’re in…”
“Then you get to jerk the next guy around,” I surmised.
She puffed out a laugh. “Something like that. Still, as much as I want this, I have to remember I earned it. There’s a reason why they should make me a partner in the firm.”
“Damn straight.”
“I’ve made our clients sick money over the last ten years!”
“Hell, yeah, you did.”
“Other brokerages in New York would be lined up to hire me if I left.”
“There’s my girl,” I encouraged her.
“I’m not, though.”
“Not what?”
“Your girl,” she pointed out, defiant and slightly…pouty.
It sizzled in the air between us. Her frustration had a hungry edge and she wanted me to take care of it. I’d left her alone too long, whether she knew it or not, it was obvious.
I let my eyes drop to her breasts, then back up to her face, so she understood the nature of our conversation had changed.
“You’re my girl, if I tell you you’re my girl.”
Oh, her brown eyes flared, and I could see her thinking what I was thinking.
Lifting that tight skirt she wore up over her hips and bending her over that desk.
“We can’t…we can’t play here,” she said.
“Why not?” I pushed off the desk and walked over to the study door. Deliberately, I made sure she could see me locking it.
“Ethan and Harmony are home.”
“They’re in the family room watching Netflix with Bruce and Jenny. They won’t bother us.”
“But, what if they come to check on me and the door is locked?”
“Then they’ll walk away,” I said, as I walked back towards her, feeling like an animal with prey in sight .
“They’ll think we’re messing around!” she squeaked.
“We are messing around,” I said, as I pulled her skirt up over her knees and stepped in as far as I could. She was wearing a fancy, navy pin striped skirt with a blouse that buttoned up to her neck. No comfortable clothes for my girl when she was on the job.
I started unbuttoning her blouse and she reached up to slap my hand away.
“I have to work. I need to monitor the markets to see if there is any unusual activity I need to account for. These first days are crucial to see if my trends are holding.”
“You’ve been watching those markets around the clock,” I said.
There was no getting around it. I was worried about her.
Worried that she wasn’t sleeping or eating right.
Worried that collectively we’d put too much pressure on her plate.
If this crypto trick didn’t work, if the ranch failed because of that, it wasn’t going to sit easy with her.
I knew that about her, even if nobody else did.
She cared about this place and the people in it. More than she let on.
She was right. She wasn’t my girl. But, I told her I was going to take care of her while she was here, and that’s what I was going to do.
With an easy lift, I sat her ass on the desk.
“Here’s what’s going to happen, darlin. I’m going to fuck you fast and hard.
Because I respect that you don’t have a lot of play time in your schedule.
Then, I’m going to go to the kitchen and make you something to eat, because I suspect that if I asked you when the last time you ate was, I’d get an answer that wouldn’t make me very happy.
Then, you’re going to go upstairs and get in a comfortable bed for a solid night’s sleep.
You’ll tell me what I need to look at on the computer screen, so that if something strange happens, I can wake you up. ”
“You don’t-”
“What did I tell you?” I said, cutting her off. “While you’re here, I’m going to take care of you. You need to eat. You need to sleep.”
A playful smile teased her lips. “But, I don’t need to fuck?”
“Oh, no. That’s for me. Now, a few questions, baby. You on birth control?”
She nodded.
“You clean? Because I am. And I’ve decided I’d like to feel your snug, wet pussy wrapped around my dick. When I pump my cum inside you, I want you to feel it. You good with that, baby? Because I do have a condom if you need one.”
“You brought a condom with you?” she asked me, softly. Her eyes soft and round, on their way to being fuck drunk.
“Since that morning at the spa together, if I’m around you, I’m carrying a condom. Your choice. Wrapped or raw?”
She was silent and we both watched her fingers pull my shirt out of my jeans. When my shirt was free, she slid her hands up inside the cotton, her fingertips gently pressing into my stomach to test the strength of my muscles there.
I didn’t have a six pack. I didn’t spend time in a gym working to make my body look a certain way. My body was labor strong and that’s the way I needed it.
The way Sunshine sunk her fingers into the hair on my chest, she liked it enough for the both of us.
“You have to say the words, darlin. I need to have your consent.”
She shook her head and wouldn’t look at me. “I can’t say all that. ”
I wrapped my fingers around her chin and pushed her face up to meet mine. “Yes, you can. Just tell me what you want. Here, let me make this easier. Give me your hand.”
She held out her hand and I took it. Then I proceeded to unbutton my jeans and pull out what was now a significant erection. I was starting to put it together, that just talking about sex, telling her in advance what I was going to do to her, was its own form of foreplay.
Wrapping her soft, small hand around my shaft made me groan in the back of my throat. Her fingers were cool, but strong and I tilted my head back, letting the sensations have me.
“Stroke me, baby. Hard enough to work me up.”
She was tentative at first, but then she used her other hand and things started to get interesting.
“Wrapped or raw?”
“Raw,” she whispered.
“There, you see. That’s not so hard.”
I lifted her off the desk and set her on her feet. She looked like she wanted to get on her knees, but this time I wanted inside that sweet pussy, and I knew if she sucked me off, I wouldn’t last. I pushed her skirt up high over her hips. I heard something rip and she gasped.
“I’ll pay to fix it,” I said.
“I don’t care,” she breathed. I shoved her panties down her legs and over her sexy peep-toe shoes. She started to kick those shoes off, but I shook my head and grabbed her chin with my hand. “Leave them,” I said, and she nodded.
I lifted her bare ass back onto the desk and pushed her thighs apart with my hips.
“Unbutton that shirt, Sunshine.”