Tasty

11. Rebrand

REbrAND

Marlon.

I’m having a lot of impure thoughts about my friend’s daughter right now.

And that very friend won’t stop talking in my ear.

Not that I mind.

I hear him, I just ain’t listening the way I should be because my eyes are on her.

Aurora’s in her office across the hall, bent over her desk. She’s dressed different today.

Office appropriate. Professional.

Honestly, she looked better like this than in anything else she’s worn since she got here.

That assistant she hired without clearing it with me stood there flipping through her notes as she talked. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about but it didn’t matter. All the rush she came in with this morning let me know she has something up her sleeve for this board meeting.

“—you still there?” Dillon asks.

“Yeah,” I say, shifting in my seat. “I’m here.”

“So what do you think?”

“About?”

Dillon groaned. “The meeting, Wolf. My daughter’s plan? Are you even listening to me right now?”

“Yeah, yeah.” I tilted my head further as she reached across the desk for a pen, giving me a better view.

Snap out of it!

“I think it’s solid,” I offered.

He went quiet for a second. “…she still not talking to me?”

“She hasn’t mentioned you.”

“I see. Stubborn. Just like her mother.”

I didn’t respond to that. But it did cut every bit of lust out.

“Put her on the phone,” he demanded.

I looked at her again. She was mid-sentence, pointing at something on her screen, explaining it to that assistant.

She’s not gonna pick up no calls I send through.

“Hold up,” I stood, walking out my office and straight into hers.

Surprisingly Lavender, who I sent to pick up documents from the copy room fifteen minutes ago was sitting tucked away in the corner, out of my view from my office.

“You serious?”

She jumped up. “I’m sorry sir, Ms. Rodriguez asked for my help. She assured me it would only take five minutes.”

“I see.” This is the second time she took from me without asking. I turned to Aurora. “When you hired TaskRabbit you lost access to my assistant. If you needed her, you should’ve asked.”

She didn’t look up. “Marlon, I’m in the middle—”

“Phone,” I cut her off, holding it out. “Your dad.”

“I’m busy,” she said it very dismissively. Like I just interrupted something more important with bullshit.

I pressed the phone to my chest. “I wasn’t asking. Talk to your father.”

She looked up then. “Didn’t you hear me? I’m literally in the middle of something.”

Marlon. Don’t.

Do not pick this girl up and toss her on the table.

Do not fuck up her outfit the one time she dressed appropriately.

Do not rip her panties off and tie her hands behind her back.

Do not slap her while making her apologize over and over and over again.

Do not fuck her to the point were she can’t even walk or talk to give her lil’ presentation.

Let her live.

I held her gaze, giving her space to fix that tone. But she didn’t, so I moved close enough that she’s gotta straighten just to meet my eyes. My hand went up, gripped her ponytail, and pulled her upright. Not enough to hurt but enough to remind her who she’s talking to.

Her breath catches and that right there—

That’s a problem.

Because I feel it, I notice it, I crave it.

But I don’t let it show.

“Out,” I commanded, not taking my eyes off her.

The assistant moved quick but Lav was quicker. They both fought their way through the doorway before shutting it.

Now it was quiet.

I placed the phone in her hand. “Talk.”

She stared at me, curiosity in her eyes instead of fear.

Good. I don’t want you scared just yet.

Then she lifted the phone to her ear, “…hello?”

I kept my hand in her hair as she talked but my grip slackened.

My mind went blank as they talked. My focus instead being drawn to her collar bone, a delicate necklace rested there, crooked.

Then my eyes dropped to her cleavage, her breathing was uneven but light.

I watched her chest rise and fall, each breath making her hardened nipples brush against the fabric of her silk top.

She adjusted her top then, pulling it down a bit when she caught me looking and letting me know she knew exactly where my attention was.

She was clearly teasing me.

I looked away. I didn’t trust myself anymore.

Because every time she tests me, it gets harder to remember why it can’t.

And I need to remember that.

I have to.

Because the second I stop—

“Bye, Daddy.” Her voice pulled me back into the room.

She ended the call and held the phone out to me, but she didn’t move away.

“I’m getting turned on, Marley.”

I went still.

“What?”

She turned her head slightly, showing me my hand wasn’t in her hair anymore. It had shifted onto her scalp, moving and massaging without me thinking about it.

“See? I told you, you're always touching me.”

I pulled back immediately and met her eyes.

“My bad. You prepared for today?” I asked quickly moving past it.

She watched me for a second before answering. “I don’t know. I’m used to usually getting my way, but now I’m not so sure.”

“Yeah, well. This ain’t yo daddy house.”

She rolled her eyes. “I am well aware.”

I reached up and fixed her necklace, it had been bothering me since I noticed it earlier.

She stayed still while I did it.

“Are we ever gonna talk about what happened between us, Marley?” she asked.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“What’s it gonna accomplish?”

She tilted her head slightly. “For one, I might sleep better at night.”

“I won’t,” I said.

She looked me over slowly, then focused on my hairline.

“I can tell, them grays are coming in quick.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Yeah? Wonder where I got that from.”

“I can’t take all the credit.”

“You should. Nobody on the planet stresses me the way you do. I can’t wait to get rid of your ass.”

She grabbed my wrist and lowered it over her chest. “You sure?”

I pulled back like her skin was fire and she laughed like that shit’s funny.

“Rabbit…” I stared at my hand. “I’m trying real hard to keep myself together right now.”

Her expression didn’t change.

“I’m trying to keep your dignity intact too,” I continued. “Because if I lose control, it won’t end well for you. You walking a dangerous line.”

She held my gaze as if she heard every word and still didn’t give a fuck.

“Whatever you say…” Then she leaned in and nipped at my chin before stepping back.

Fuck.

I grabbed her by her hair before I thought about it, then pressed her back against the wall with my other hand braced on the side of her face, caging her in. My feet kicked her legs open for me to step between, hiking up her skirt.

She sucked in a breath, eyes wide for half a second before they settled.

She expected this. She wanted this.

“Fuck…” I muttered under my breath as I forced myself to step back, dragging a hand down my face.

“Sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “I just— I’m sorry.”

She laughed.

“Come on,” she said, fixing her clothes like nothing happened. “We got a meeting to go to.”

I shouldn’t be looking at her like this.

But she’s seated halfway down the table, laptop open, fingers moving fast across the keys as she takes notes.

She’s asking questions, following up and engaging.

Every time someone spoke, she leaned in just a little and I got a peak down her shirt. She really was a succubus, pulling information out of them instead of just receiving it.

And the room responded to that.

They didn’t realize it yet.

But they were and they loved it. She’s about to have her way with them and they’ll beg for more.

I rested my knuckle against my mouth, biting down.

My attention ain’t where it’s supposed to be and I could feel it.

That pull.

That urge to see how far she’d go if I let her.

“Ms. Rodriguez, you mentioned you had something to add?” one of the board members asked.

She looked up, calm painted her expression.

“I do,” she stood, turning her laptop slightly so the screen faced the table. “It’s an idea I wanna run by y’all if you don’t mind.”

The cute little slang made them relax even more.

To them, she wasn’t plotting, she was playing dress up in her daddy’s office.

Until she walked them through it. By the time they realized she put together a plan that made a lot of missed targets and sales opportunities obvious, effectively showing all their failures in this company, their bellies were too exposed.

They had walked into a lion's den with a rack of ribs.

Then she talked about the tasting events, the flow of the experience and the structure. She explained the benefit, including having the launch event being filmed by influencers to help with marketing and having business partners join in.

By the time she finished, there wasn’t a single gap in what she presented. It was solid. Better than solid. And when she stopped talking, the room went quiet.

She looked around, unimpressed.

“Now I know y’all didn’t make me waste my breath up here talking,” she said. “Speak up. Say what’s on your mind.”

Wyatt spoke first.

“I think it’s a great idea,” he added. “And you should definitely get started.”

I didn’t even realize he was in here. Aurora must’ve invited him and he was a jackass for coming, especially after our talk.

This ‘friendship’ they’ve developed was skating on my last nerve.

She nodded once. “Thank you, Wyatt. I’m glad I got some support. Anyone else?”

A board member cleared his throat before he tried to save his ass. “It’s just too risky right now. Where would we even get the staff for something like this?”

She didn’t miss a beat.

“We already have the staff,” she said. “Y’all been looking at cutting people to maintain the budget but this gives us a way to keep them and generate more revenue. I spoke with them. They want to stay. They believe in this company. If you give them the opportunity, they’ll step up.”

Murmurs filled the room. And then—like I knew they would—they looked at me.

Every last one of them.

Waiting for approval or direction.

Waiting for me to decide if it was worth listening to.