Chapter 12
DEXTER
Dexter winced from sitting down too quickly. Simon had taken the punishment comment a bit too literally and fucked him into oblivion the night before.
“What’s his name?” asked Jason.
“Who?”
“Whoever bummed you into next week.”
He cracked up laughing. Oh, how he missed his friend.
“Just a bit of fun, you know. Cleaned out a few cobwebs.” The lie fell off his tongue with ease, which he didn’t like.
“I think you’re keeping something from me.”
“It’s nothing serious.”
Jason said nothing, which was unusual for him.
If there was a millisecond of silence, he usually felt compelled to fill it.
He wasn’t lying, though. It wasn’t serious with Simon, but God, did he want it to be.
How had this happened? A few months ago he couldn’t stand the guy, and now he was all Dexter thought about.
But Dexter wasn’t the sort of guy Simon Woods would be with seriously.
If Dexter said anything, he’d end it, thinking he was doing the kind thing. That was the sort of guy Simon was.
The weekend away suggestion had really thrown him.
Why had Simon asked for something like that?
It had caused Dexter’s imagination to run away with him, but when he’d thought about it, there was no way he wasn’t going.
This casual relationship would run its course at some point, so Dexter was going to take as much Simon as he could get until then.
It’s why he always made sure he had food ready to reheat when Simon came over.
Dexter would take as much time as Simon would give him.
“Tell me about your new job, mister CPO,” he said to Jason, changing the subject in the most unsubtle way based on the look he was getting.
“Going really well. My new boss is brilliant. A CEO who knows his own weaknesses and owns them. He’s not a people person, but he knows how important it is, so he basically gives me carte blanche to do what I want.
It’s only been six weeks, and I’ve already tapped him for an additional million quid in the budget, and he gave it to me. We have a lot of plans.”
“You’ll be winning one of those top CPOs under thirty awards.”
“If I win it in the next year.”
“Oh, yes. Next year, you’ll join us in the thirty column.”
“And a year later you’ll join Simon in the forty column.”
Dexter felt his face heat.
“I fucking knew it. There had to be a reason you were staying there.”
There was no point in denying it as he’d given himself away. Jason didn’t look angry or anything, which had to be a good thing. In fact, he was smiling.
“It’s not a good time to move jobs. It’s got nothing to do with him.”
“Are you sure about that?” asked Jason.
“Yeah. It’s just a casual thing. Neither of us wants anything serious.”
“I’m gonna need more details than that.”
“Like what?”
“Well, based on the way you sat down, he’s the top, which I got from his vibe anyway. I expect he likes to be in control during sex.”
Dexter snorted. Jason was too perceptive for his own good. Plus, before he’d met Patrick, he’d done a lot of research.
“Can we talk about something else?”
“Oh, wow.”
“What?”
“You’ve got feelings for him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s just good D.”
“How long?”
“I’m not answering that.”
“You shared very intimate details about the security guy in our building with the biceps and tattoos, who did not rail you then cuddle you after like you wanted.”
Dexter laughed. It was true. He’d been the one to do the railing.
Never judge a book and all that. Jason could be relentless when he wanted to be, but Dexter didn’t want to share what he was feeling.
It wasn’t reciprocated. There was no point in getting into it, as it would just make him feel shitty about the situation, and he wanted to enjoy this time with Simon for as long as he had it.
“How would you feel about coming to work for me?” asked Jason.
“What? Where has that come from?”
“I threw you a bone, given you looked desperate for a subject change.”
“What do you mean, come and work for you?”
“I’m building out my leadership team. You know I’ve already got Gabriel on board. Thank fuck he can start next week now his garden leave is done. Can you believe he asked for a week off for a holiday between that ending and starting with us?”
Dexter laughed. He could believe Gabriel doing that. He felt a pang of something to know that Jason and Gabriel would be working together again.
“Is your plan to poach all of Simon’s leadership team? Is this your revenge?”
Jason laughed. “Nothing of the sort. I just want the best for my team. Simon and I just clashed. He saw me as a threat. I saw him as a cunt. Shit happens. I’m over it now.”
Dexter couldn’t help laughing. He knew there was no malice in it from Jason, and to be fair, Simon did come across that way when he first started.
Dexter knew him better now, though. He knew the caring man Simon was, and why he was so good at his job.
Some people didn’t like that he was such a perfectionist, but his feedback was always thoughtful, and you produced a better piece of work because of it.
Besides, the perfectionist character trait had its benefits in the bedroom.
“I like the idea of the Three Queerketeers being back together again,” said Jason.
“That’s still going to be a thing, is it?”
“I need to sort a few things out first as recruitment is a mess. It sits with the HR business partners, so you would set up the function from scratch.”
That’s something he’d always wanted to do. It was the only thing in his career he hadn’t done. He’d transformed it several times, but to build it from scratch would be a new challenge. But he’d made a promise to Simon, and he wouldn’t break that.
“What’s going on here?” asked Jason, pointing his finger at Dexter’s face and moving it in a circle.
“I think I’m gonna stay where I am for now.”
“I can add thirty grand to your base.”
Fuck! “What are we talking about as a timeline?”
“Give me a month, and then I’ll be able to put an offer to you. You’ll have to meet some people first to check it’s right for you. Some of them are a bit quirky.”
“Like you?” he smiled.
“I’m unique, which is very different.”
They both laughed again. A month would get him past that weekend away with Simon. He could see how things were between them, and then decide if the opportunity with Jason was something he wanted to pursue. He had time on his hands, and he intended to spend most of it naked with Simon.
It had been two weeks since they’d fucked, and Dexter was climbing the walls.
The shit had hit the fan with Natasha. After the negative reviews online, another four appeared, then they had six grievances from within her team and a slew of resignations.
Simon was under pressure from the CEO to get Natasha out of the business quickly and quietly, whilst also keeping costs to a minimum.
Dealing with crap like that was another reason why Dexter had no desire to be a CPO.
Simon had been in constant meetings well into the night as he dealt with getting rid of an executive member. Not a simple thing to do. Especially one who had been around for a while and was well respected in the industry. It was her own team who couldn’t stand her.
“Do you think you’ll be involved in hiring her replacement?” asked Harriet.
“Who?”
He guessed who she was talking about, but they were in an open-plan office, and she should know better.
“You know who I’m talking about.”
“We shouldn’t really talk about this here.”
“Let’s grab a coffee, then.”
He looked at his watch. It was twenty minutes before his next meeting, but Simon had a gap between meetings of only fifteen minutes, and Dexter wanted to ask him to come over tonight, even if he’d be late.
Dexter had a lasagne at home ready to reheat.
Even if he had no energy to fuck, he could just feed him.
Dexter couldn’t think of an excuse not to go with Harriet, though, so hopefully he’d see Simon at some other point today.
Harriet paid for their coffees. It was her turn. They worked well together, but he knew little about her outside of work. People had the right to their privacy, but for someone who wasn’t forthcoming about herself, she asked a lot of questions.
“Are you looking forward to the CPO summit next week?” she asked.
He nodded as he sipped his coffee. Dexter was very much looking forward to that, but not for the reasons she suspected.
Hopefully, all this shit with Natasha would have been dealt with by then.
He didn’t want to imagine going to the summit on his own, but if Simon couldn’t go, it would arouse suspicion if he pulled out as well.
“I didn’t even know you wanted to be a CPO,” she said.
“Anything’s possible. It’s good to keep your options open.”
“Oh, you seriously might want to be CPO. I thought they were just doing it as a reward because you’ve been here the longest.”
He wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he just shrugged. He didn’t want to talk about the summit. Some sessions looked interesting, but he was mostly looking forward to getting railed for four consecutive nights. And he’d get to sleep in a bed with Simon. He couldn’t wait.
“What are you smiling about?” she asked.
“Oh, just remembering a joke Jason told me.”
“How is Jason? I heard he’s a CPO now.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m surprised they aren’t pushing his restrictive covenant about Gabriel going there as well.”
“Gabriel resigned before Jason even got that job. It would be very hard to connect the two.”
“Is that why he’s not come for you yet? Can’t brush that one off on a technicality, can he?”
She was watching him intently. It felt like he was under a microscope? Did she know something? No, there was nothing to know. He had spoken to Jason briefly, but no job existed yet, so there was nothing for him to hide from her.
“I’m happy where I am.”
“For now?”
“Well, we could all say that.”
“Very true,” she said, with a giggle that felt forced.