Chris was left dumbfounded next to his car. That wink sent an electric shock down his body, landing right on his crotch. He shifted his weight, suddenly uncomfortable in his tight jeans. Shit. What the fuck was that?
He tried to replay the scene of their encounter to understand how things so indisputably fled his control. The goal was easy: meet the woman, get his ring back, make her feel sorry for her petty existence. The final result was her number saved on his contact list and a semi-hard cock.
That last part wasn't his fault. The woman was a damn seductress, standing there with her sports clothes and messy after-practice hair. She was clearly coming from training, but he could just as easily imagine it as her after-sex look. And then she spoke with that silky voice and winked with those deep blue eyes just to throw him off. Fucking nightmare.
After the initial daze cleared, he got inside the car and drove home. He was horrified by his own behavior and needed to figure a way to get the control back. They would meet again the next day, which meant he still had one last chance to show her where she belonged.
He saw her bag on the passenger seat and almost threw it out the window, thinking how weak he had been to just offer it in return for the ring. He tried to think of possible punishments, but all he could come up with was either too harsh – he wasn't a monster, after all – or too light. That perfect middle ground was still escaping his grip.
Tuesday morning was rough. Every day in the office was somewhat rough these days, but that was worse. He had a major meeting with the board of directors and was dreading the presentation on his plans for the company as the new managing director.
Before it began, his mind wandered back to his time in business school, where he loved to present ideas for his teachers and classmates. It was all very theoretical, with no real company at stake, but he always took it seriously and was praised by his professors.
He remembered fondly the exhibition of his final project, when he designed from scratch a sustainable energy company focused on solar power. He was particularly proud of its focus on rentability and profit prospects, a theme underexplored by the field at that time. It was open to an external audience and he even got a job offer by an interested businessman. Unfortunately, his path within his father's company was already set by that time.
Unlike that presentation, his father would be present for this one. His presence alone imposed an aura of inadequacy in the room, making him doubt his whole plan regardless of the effort he put into it. It was almost pathetic how Chris could project natural authority over any audience he spoke to, except when it came to Mr. Edgar Wright.
Either way, he delivered the speech he had planned and answered all the questions from the board without hesitation. After the meeting, all the directors congratulated him again on the job and the plan, boosting his confidence in the future. The few that had given him an odd look the day before were more docile after the display of his skills, which was one of his goals with the meeting.
His father remained seated while everyone else left, and after a couple of minutes, it was just the two of them.
“Christopher, a word” He didn't take his eyes off the paper, but Chris was used to it by now. The man had two settings while in the office: piercing stare or blunt indifference.
“Yes, Edgar” He had a hard time adjusting from dad, to father, to Edgar while growing up. The last one began after he joined the company, in order to keep things professional between them. Now, Chris didn't know if he could ever go back to calling him anything else
“About your speech” He braced for impact. “It was fine. You should work on your posture. You can't look them in the eye as if they were your equals, it allows for questions where there should have been none”
“Understood” It was better than he expected, perhaps he was in a good mood. He prepared to leave, considering his father's dismissive look, but then the man switched to an intense gaze that froze Chris on his spot.
“Another thing before you leave” He paused, building a thick layer of anticipation in the room.
“Yes?”
“Your mother mentioned there is a woman. I expect to see her on our family holiday on the island”
Fucking hell, now he was thoroughly screwed.
“Of course, she will be there” Why in the name of baby Jesus did he say that?
“Fine. You are dismissed”
After over an hour of inner debate, he was still void of ideas. The family vacation was on thanksgiving, meaning he had barely a month to find someone to bring. The loss of a whole month to figure it out and the fact he would have to bring her to a four-day trip messed up with his plans, and he was seriously considering getting an escort.
After giving it some thought, he scratched that idea, knowing his mother would spot her a mile away. She had a keen eye for that kind of trouble, which was probably a necessary ability to sustain his parents' marriage.
Hoping the answer would present itself, he went back to girlfriend searching through his contacts, playing Match Game with the names. Ananda. Best friend's cousin. Courtney. Blonde from that shady bar. Gaby. Ex-secretary with sexy glasses. Katya. Russian student, eager for some cultural interchange. Kiara. Fuck.
He kept staring at her name, recalling the moment she turned around to shout it to him. It was flashing vividly in his mind, alongside some of the few other memories he had of her. Especially that sinful body rolling down the drapes back at the party, looking at him in search of his soul.
Then, out of nowhere, he had a lightbulb moment. A perfect idea, falling onto his lap like Newton's apple fell on his head or whatever happened on that story. Bottom line was, he knew exactly what to do to solve both his problems.
Kiara felt like she was heading straight to a prisoner exchange that sunny Tuesday afternoon. A ring for a bag. Surprisingly, she was feeling more excited about it than scared. Their last encounter was interesting, to say the least. She had a blast seeing that bulked man caving to her, giving her phone back and getting nothing in return. She was hoping to get that thrilling sensation again. It felt like those times in her childhood when she took her father's weapon from its not-carefully-enough hidden spot and just held it in her hands, hoping the man didn't wake up from his lazy Sunday naps. They had agreed to meet in the same spot as last
Kiara was taken into custody by a surprisingly gentle officer, who didn’t even cuff her to take her in. When she virtually told Chris to shove his crazy deal up his ass, she knew he’d make good on his word, but was kind of hoping he didn’t. Despite the thrill that came by standing up to that man, she was absolutely terrified.Having grown up around police stations, she thought it might be easier to face the whole going to jail procedure. But she was never on the perpetrator’s side of the table and it wasn’t the same station she used to know like the back of her hand. It was a whole different feeling. To make thin
The public defender assigned to handle Kiara’s case was sketchy, to say the least. She disliked him immediately but was unwilling to pay for a lawyer for something so petty, as the charge’s name suggested. It was not even considered a felony. It was classified as a misdemeanor, whatever the hell that meant. Those were the terms that shady lawyer was telling her non-stop for the last half an hour, making her head throb with a crushing headache. It was worsened by the fact she couldn’t speak her mind to the man, who insisted she called him Greg instead of Gregory. “Gregory,
“What now?” She demanded. Chris watched her turn around rolling her eyes and was glad to hear the annoyance in her voice. She was incredibly underdressed for a day in court but still had been more comfortable in that room than the four men in suits. He was utterly delighted when his move threw her off and hoped to leverage it now that the legal part was over. “We need to sort the payment out” He didn’t try to hide the amusement in his voice, and it did the trick. Her eyes squinted into thin lines and… did she bare her teeth? Oh god, that was perfect. He almost wished she would growl.
Kiara sat at her small kitchen table literally bumping her head into the wood. Several times. Why the hell did she agree to spend four days in a fucking island with loaded snobs she knew nothing about? Of course, she didn’t know exactly what she signed up for before she accepted his offer, but she knew it came from the guy who sent her to fucking jail and said yes anyway. And based on what? A hunch. Something so intangible and arbitrary she would
That woman was sent straight from hell to make his life miserable. She was progressively becoming his least favorite person to be around, earning several points at that race by causing him a hard-on in the middle of his favorite restaurant. This time, unfortunately, he couldn’t say it was entirely her fault. He asked her to dress nice, and she kind of did with that blue dress and heels, and then said he’d fuck her. It was not the first time he’d been so blunt, but it usually caused the woman to blush and change the subject. Not that incarnated devil. Oh no, she had to look him right in the eye and make the promise they neve
Kiara was, to put it in simple terms, dodging Chris. She did not want to go to his apartment, so during the following weeks, she craftily made him believe she was too busy. Luckily for her, his work actually seemed to be chaotic during that period. He had no idea how flexible her schedule was, but she wasn’t about to tell him she spent his only available hours binge-watching Netflix. Sooner than she expected, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was there, and she saw herself preparing a small bag of clothes for the trip. A quick call to Michael was enough to clear her performances for the long weekend and she was ready to go. Against her
Kiara was not one to panic, so she didn't. Instead, she appointed Batman as her therapy dog during the flight. She was not completely new to flying, but private jets were way out of her league and it was throwing her off a bit. There was some comfort in knowing you will die with a bunch of other people on a commercial flight if something goes wrong. Flying private didn't give her that. Chris told her it would be just the two of them because his parents decided to fly earlier. He didn't get into the details, but she understood it had something to do with flying with the dog. Go figure. Either way, the flight was only three hours long and she could handle herself.