Chapter 21 Damian
Damian
Faint laughter filters through the closed door of the marketing office.
Brielle has been working there all morning. I know, because I’ve looked for her in the accounting office several times already.
I push the door open, and all three heads turn my way.
“Mr. Edgerton, hi,” Trent says, his eyes wide with surprise.
“Trent, Danielle, Brielle,” I greet them, my gaze lingering a moment longer on Brielle. “Where are you with the Cardinal West marketing plan?”
“We’ve made great progress working with the research team and Brielle’s impressive research skills herself,” Danielle says with a smile at Brielle.
Her cheeks subtly pink with the praise as she brushes a lock of hair behind her ear.
Trent presents the storyboard, schedule, and timeline for each of the various marketing platforms and content strategies. They have a lot more done than I was expecting, and I like what I’m seeing overall, but something is missing.
“Where is the familial element where history is repeating itself throughout the generations?” I ask.
It’s one of the concepts that Brielle came up with during our weekend retreat.
I know Leon and Pam both liked that idea, and if done right, I think it could have the impact we need on some of the amateur tours marketed as quality family time and bonding experiences.
“We decided to scrap that idea since it didn’t really fit with the rest of the theme we’ve crafted,” Trent says.
“Unscrap it.”
“Yes, sir,” he says quickly, looking at Danielle with a question in his eyes.
“Brielle,” I call, louder than expected.
She looks up at me with no emotion or recognition.
Even though I’m doing the same to her, it still irks me that she can pretend she didn’t have my cock buried deep inside of her less than a week ago.
“How are things going? Are you liking this side of the business, now that you’ve had a chance to experience it? ”
“Absolutely. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Trent and Danielle have been great, taking me under their wings to show me the ropes.” She smiles brightly.
“Good. Don’t be afraid to speak up to get your voice heard.”
“Oh, I have no problem being loud,” she says innocently.
And they call me the devil.
I haven’t seen her once today.
I tap my pen on the desk, click open my email, and then minimize it again, my fingers dancing along the tops of my keyboard.
I had an important client meeting first thing this morning at their office, which means I got to work late. Brielle was already here, along with everyone else on staff. I sat behind my desk in my office with the door open, waiting for her to walk by just so I could get a glimpse, but nothing yet.
After two long days away, the need to see her again eats at me.
Fuck it. I am past the point of pretending that I don’t have a visceral need to see her, but I’m not going to sit down and examine my feelings about it. It is what it is.
I make my way into the accounting office, where Rui, Erica, and Brielle all have their heads in their computers, silently listening to their own music through their earbuds.
Brielle’s head bobs, her lips moving along with the lyrics of the song as she types away at her keyboard.
The top she’s wearing looks like it’s made of spandex.
It starts at her collarbone, covering every inch of her skin, but is molded to the curves of her body.
It reminds me of the pink dress she wore and how good it looked on her, and off her.
“Good morning, Mr. Edgerton,” Brielle says, the first to notice me standing there. Her color looks a little paler than usual. I make a mental note to get the lights in the office switched out to the ones that mimic sunlight. Better for long days spent indoors.
“Morning, sir,” Rui adds.
“How are we looking for the end-of-month reports?” I ask.
March doesn’t end until next week, and Rui’s eyes grow wide fear.
“I know I’m early. I just want to know how we’re trending, not final results,” I assure him.
“Um, right. Ah…” He gathers the papers in front of him, frantically looking through the numbers.
“Everything is on track to beat prior month and prior year, as long as spending doesn’t spike in this upcoming week.
We do have an accrual on the books for the quarterly bonuses, and since those are not yet finalized, it would be considered another risk.
But overall, we seem to be in good shape with a dozen new clients added to the portfolio this month and accounts receivable keeping everyone current on payments,” Brielle says.
Rui may not know how to find his way out of a paper bag when he gets flustered, but he’s a damn good hiring manager. Brielle is smart, prepared, articulate, resourceful. I could put her in any department in this company, and I have no doubt that she would outperform every single person there.
And when her gaze travels the length of my body before quickly snapping back up to my lips, I feel even more grateful for Rui’s hiring sense.
I leave with a nod of appreciation, but I can’t tell if I feel better or worse now. It’s like the small hit satisfied my basest need to see her but left me wanting so much more.
Long, dark brown waves travel past my open door. It takes everything in me not to look up.
We’ve been back in town for two weeks, and not a day goes by, not even an hour, that I don’t think about that night. Brielle has taken over my mind, and I don’t know how to shake her. So I have resolved to keep my distance instead.
Maybe if I can’t smell her floral scent or see the lightly dotted freckles on her nose or those hypnotizing cornflower irises, I’ll actually be able to get some work done around here. Doubtful based on the experience of the past two weeks, but it’s all I have.
With a frustrated groan, I push my chair back and get to my feet, stalking out of my office, coincidentally in the same direction Brielle was just heading.
“Mr. Edgerton, have you signed the contract for the Backwater Group yet?” Louisa asks as soon as I step out of my office.
“Not yet,” I grumble.
“They’ve been waiting for it…” She trails off when I level a hard look at her. Her eyes narrow as she glares right back at me.
“I said I would get to it, and I will.”
“Great. I’ll be waiting right here for it.”
I stride past her with a shake of my head and turn into the kitchen area.
Brielle stands over the trash can, peeling an orange. I rove over her body, her round ass displayed to perfection in a pair of tight-fitting pants. She is usually dressed more professionally, not that it matters to me.
“Are leggings allowed in our dress code,” I whisper, getting close enough to her without making a sound. She jumps out of her skin and turns, spinning to check the doorway before turning to me with a scowl.
“Don’t do that,” she hisses, glancing at the door again. “What are you doing here?”
My hand aches to grab her jaw and bring my lips to hers, claiming her for anyone, everyone, or no one to see. Doesn’t matter to me.
But I don’t.
I back away from her like I promised myself I would and open the fridge. “This is my business, remember? I can be anywhere I want. And right now, I want a protein smoothie.”
“And yesterday, you wanted to check in with the monthly financials a week before the end of the month?” She pops an orange slice into her mouth as she stares at me with a soft smile, daring me to deny it.
“Yes. I could be asking for weekly updates or, better yet, daily. Maybe I’ll start doing just that.”
“That’s fine. I’m sure Rui or Erica can gather that information for you. I have to split my time between accounting and marketing, so I may or may not be in there when you request the information.”
“And maybe I’ll need an update on the Cardinal West account, as well,” I tell her, leaning back onto the counter casually. “I have to stay on top of things, Brielle… as you know.”
“Hmm, yeah, maybe I know something about you being on top of… things.” She sucks another orange slice into her mouth, sliding it past her lips as she vacuums her cheek, hollowing them out.
My gaze is transfixed on her, my body responding like every cell is joining together and calling her name.
“Well, that smoothie isn’t going to make itself, boss. ”
And with that, she turns and walks to the doorway.
“Leave the orange,” I say. My voice is low so that it doesn’t carry, but loud enough for her to hear.
Her feet stumble, and she stops in her tracks.
Her blue eyes turn to me with confusion.
“You eat that orange like that in front of anyone else, and I’ll be forced to fire every fucking person who dares to watch. ”
“Simmer down, Satan. It’s just an orange.” She rolls her eyes and takes another slice, popping it into her mouth like she wasn’t using it as an imitation cock a second ago, and walks out the door—taking the orange with her.
“Fuck,” I grumble under my breath. That woman gets under my skin and into my head faster than lightning.
Who am I kidding? She burrowed her way under there weeks ago and never left.
I’m frustrated with her, with myself, with my traitorous body’s reaction to her.
I slam the vegetables down on the counter as I pull them from the refrigerator.
I reach into the fridge without looking to grab the almond milk just as the door slams closed on my arm, forcing me to drop the milk.
The carton drops to the ground and explodes all over my shoes.
“Shit,” I yell, pulling my arm out.
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry, Mr. Edgerton. I thought you were done in there,” Devin says, looking at the mess by my feet.
“Next time, ask,” I spit out, moving to get some paper towels to deal with this.
“I’ve got it. I can do that.” Devin hurries to pull the paper towels from my hands. He must read the anger on my face because he shoves the paper towels back at me with yet another apology.