Ask Me Something (The Something Series Book 2) (28 page)

Brian walked her
out, and I let out the breath I’d been holding, careful not to vent or show any
of my emotions in front of my staff.

“Did it dawn on
anyone else that she has an issue with women?” Logan said the minute the door
closed.

Charlie nodded
and then looked toward me. “Definitely.”

I didn’t have
the luxury of commiserating with my staff. “It would appear so, but it doesn’t
matter. The client is always right even when she’s not. Thanks for your work
today, gentlemen. Charlie, I trust you can book the studio and get the
photographer lined up. Logan, I’d like for you to bring me competitive samples
over the last year. We need to ensure we aren’t doing something that’s already
been done.”

They both nodded
and got back to their tasks while Nancy came in. She started cleaning up the
conference room and asked, “How did it go?”

“Okay, all
things considered. Thanks for getting Vanessa her tea and setting this up,
Nancy.” I needed to retreat to my office to regroup after hearing Brian had met
her for drinks and also regarding the earlier call.

“Sasha, you know
I have your back, right?” the older woman said, surprising me.

I looked at her
a moment and saw loyalty. Something that I’d never thought I’d rate in her
book. “That means a lot, Nancy. Thank you.” It was nice to hear that someone
did.

She nodded
curtly and proceeded to go on with her chore.

***

After returning
to my office, I sank into my chair and wasn’t surprised when Brian came through
my door a couple minutes later.

“What did you
think about the presentation and her reaction?” I preempted anything else he
might have wanted to say with a business-only tactic. It was the safe zone and
one I intended to stay in until I could calm my heart rate.

He took a seat
and regarded me cautiously, obviously not expecting that I’d start off with
this question. “I think it went better than expected. Good call bringing Logan
and Charlie in.”

“Yes, well, it
appears she is much more open to my ideas when presented by them as opposed to by
me.”

“It’s nothing to
take personally. Maybe she truly didn’t like the radio idea.”

“Maybe next time
you two have drinks you can pick her brain about why.”

He muttered a
curse. “That’s what I wanted to discuss with you before the meeting. Look, she
called about eight o’clock last night, saying she had something to discuss. She
asked that I meet her for a drink.”

“Let me guess. It
was geographically convenient to meet her at her hotel.”

“Are you pissed
off professionally or personally?”

“It’s nice that
you can draw the lines when it’s convenient for you. Let’s go with the
professional line first, shall we? How do you think any one of your vice presidents
would feel to know that you got a call from the client on their account and had
a drink with said client without them being in attendance or being informed of
such a meeting? Do you think that they might be the slightest bit peeved and
feel like, oh, I don’t know, you left them out?”

A muscle in his
cheek throbbed, clearly showing he was getting annoyed. “I would think that
most of the other VP’s would understand that I’m here to make the client happy,
and that we’re on the same team. I’m good at my job for a reason, which
includes holding the client’s hand or helping you out when it comes to customer
relations. And I’d hope none of them would make it personal.”

“You mean the
way you might take it personally if I were to have dinner with Logan?”

“You’re the one
that pointed out we couldn’t have rules when it came to clients or co-workers
and I agreed it was an unreasonable expectation. If you needed to have dinner
with Logan for a professional reason, I may not like it, but I’d trust you.”

I didn’t like
that he had a point. “But I would at least tell you about it.”

He ran a hand
over his face. “I’m telling you now. And it was only drinks to discuss the
client budget and the fact that they may be looking at raising it.”

“Vanessa doesn’t
have that kind of authorization, which only proves it was an excuse to see you.
Bottom line is that you left my place last night to go have drinks with another
woman who’d like to sleep with you. Who also happens to be my very difficult
client who’d like nothing more than to cut me out completely from being her
contact.”

“Ask yourself
this question: if she’d called Josh and he’d met her for drinks in order to put
the client first, would you be as upset?”

I hated the fact
that my answer was no. Shit, maybe my personal feelings were clouding my
professional judgement. “You didn’t mention you were traveling to Dubai next
week.”

He sighed. “I
had a meeting with Josh this morning, which is where the travel got brought up.
That’s why I was too late to tell you this morning.”

“I warned you
after the Jamie thing that I don’t like having things kept from me.” Under my
desk, my fingernails bit into the palms of my hands, trying to keep me calm.
The fact that I’d received the call about my birth mother this morning wasn’t
helping my mental state regarding this conversation. I’d been so convinced I
was in the right, that his reasonable explanations were throwing me.

“I didn’t mean
to keep things from you Sasha. It was business and I made a decision.”

“So you think I’m
overreacting?”

He took a moment
before responding. “I think if the positions were reversed and I’d heard about a
similar situation in the conference room like you did, I would’ve been pissed off
too. I’m sorry it came out that way. I did have every intention of telling you.
And any of the VPs would be irritated to find out that their client called me
and not them. But I would hope they and you understand why I had to go.” His
voice was quiet but sincere.

I looked at the
time and realized I had a conference call in twenty minutes for which I needed to
prepare. “I appreciate your apology and I do believe you were going to tell me.
I’ll need to get over it.” Then something dawned on me. “Wait, if it’s true that
you found out you’re traveling this morning from Josh, then how did Vanessa
know about it?”

“Of course, it’s
true,” he said exasperated that I was questioning his honesty. “The reason she
knew is because when we walked into the meeting together this morning, she
wanted to know if I was heading back to Charlotte afterwards. I told her I was
traveling internationally instead.”

“Oh, sorry.” My
day was packed, and I couldn’t afford to let this eat at me any longer
especially since I wasn’t thinking rationally. “When are you going?”

“I’m leaving in the
next thirty minutes for the airport to get back to Charlotte. I didn’t want to
get lumped into a flight with Vanessa. That’s why I told her I was flying
directly to Dubai.”

I stood quiet
appreciating that he’d done so.

He continued. “I
won’t be back until the middle of next week. Look, I’m not trying cut you out.
The only thing Vanessa and I discussed was the budget and phase two, with the
television campaign. I was with her a half hour because I thought it was an
excuse to get together and hope for something personal. I had texted Josh ahead
of time to call and interrupt just in case.”

I hated hearing
this and had to reach down deep to move on from it and trust him. The fact that
he’d preempted the meeting with a rescue call gave me some satisfaction. “Okay.
I’ll keep you updated on the shoot next week.”

He looked
relieved for the change in conversation. “Good. Are you coming down to
Charlotte the weekend after next?”

I shook my head.
“My parents’ fortieth anniversary party is that Saturday. I’ll be home in
Beaufort, but I could come down the following weekend.”

“We have a two-week
rule.” His voice was quiet.

“You’re out of
town this weekend, and I’m out of town the following one. You need to be more
flexible.” Great, now my agitation was back.

“You could
invite me to the party.”

Whoa. I was
stunned. We didn’t do family things together. “You want to go to the party with
me?”

He shrugged.
“Why not?”

I could think of
a lot of reasons, one of which was that I need more than five minutes to get
over him meeting Vanessa last night. “What would we tell everyone?”

“We could simply
say that I’m your date for the party. If they ask, we met at work and are
friends. We wouldn’t be lying.”

“I didn’t RSVP
to bring someone.” I knew the moment it left my mouth it was the lamest excuse
in the book.

He arched a
brow. “If you’re going to come up with a bogus reason, you should try harder
for a good one. I’ll leave you to your conference call. Keep me updated on the
campaign.” The intensity in his look let me know he was annoyed.

Well, I was,
too. “All right. Safe travels.”

He stood up and
crossed over toward me and then stopped.

I waited for him
to come closer for a kiss or something, but when he didn’t, vast disappointment
hit me. Considering I’d practically jumped down his throat the last time we’d
crossed a personal boundary in this office, I knew I couldn’t have it both ways.

“You know I’ll
miss you.” His face softened, but his clenched fists appeared to signify that
he wanted to reach out but wouldn’t.

“I, um—I’m
certain we’ll talk.” Damn my awkwardness. I would miss him too, even if I
couldn’t bring myself to verbalize that yet.

He looked
wounded for a moment, then was back to
nothing bothers me
Brian. “Sure,
I’ll call you, or you can call me. Bye.” With one last look, he left out my
door.

I let out the
breath I’d been holding and thought about the idea of bringing a man home to
meet my family. It was something I hadn’t done since high school, and it
intimidated the shit out of me. Then again, the thought of having someone there
on my side was appealing.

Shaking myself
mentally, I brought up my calendar. My work day was absolutely packed, and I
didn’t have the luxury of dealing with the personal aspect of my life. Some
might call it avoidance; I called it my only way of coping when emotions
threatened to overwhelm me.

After leaving
the office early on Friday, I flew down to my home town for my parents’
anniversary party, scheduled for the next day.

I’d talked to
Brian a couple of times over the last ten days, while he’d been in Dubai and
then London, but the majority of our conversations had been work related. He
hadn’t brought up coming into town this weekend for the party, and I assumed he
must’ve changed his mind. Of course, he could’ve been waiting for me actually to
invite him, but I’d chickened out every time I’d thought about it.

He most likely
thought my silence on the subject had something to do with residual anger over
the Vanessa situation, but the truth was that home represented a place where I
felt vulnerable. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to have the two worlds collide
and chance he might find out about my traumatic past. Of course, as far as my
family or anyone else knew, my first panic attack had been a one-time reaction
brought on my shocking confrontation with my birth mother. At least, that’s
what I hoped they still thought. I was proud of myself for not asking Nancy if
the attorney who’d left the message about my birth mother had called again. I
didn’t need that shit clouding my mind. The past needed to stay there.

Pulling into the
driveway of my parents’ house, I sighed at the sight of my sister’s mini-van
with the stick figure family on the back window. It was a comical reminder: I
wasn’t in Manhattan any longer.

Lugging my
suitcase inside, I was surprised to see Addison sitting at the counter in the
kitchen on a stool—without the kids. I smiled and hugged my mom while she
prepped dinner across from Addison.

“Hi, Sasha
Jayne, how was your flight?”

“Good, Mom,
thanks. Hi, Addison.”

My sister looked
up from her notebook and offered me a little wave of acknowledgement. It was
the first time we’d seen one another since our Christmas incident. “We have
fifty-four people coming tomorrow and I didn’t get your RSVP. I guess you
assumed I’d know it was only you?”

Instead of
bothering with a response to her bitchy greeting, I rolled my eyes and walked
into the living room, satisfied to hear my mom giving her a lecture behind me.
I leaned in and gave my father a hug in his La-Z-Boy recliner.

“Hi, Daddy.”

“Hi, darlin’.
Nice to see you. How was the flight?”

“Good thanks.
I’m heading up to put my stuff in my room, then I’ll be down to visit.”

“All right, baby
girl,” he said, going back to his paper.

After closing
the door to my room, I immediately dialed Brian’s number. I wondered if it was
too late to invite him for tomorrow’s party. Or if he’d still want to even
come.

“Hi, stranger,”
he greeted, picking up on the first ring.

“Hi, yourself.
Are you back home?”

“No. How about
you? Are you at your parents’ place in Beaufort?”

I tried to hide
my disappointment that he was traveling. What did I expect when I hadn’t
extended an invitation to come here? “Yeah, just got in.”

A knock startled
me.

“Hold on.” I
said, opening the door.

Addison stood
there. “Hey, Sasha, I didn’t mean—” she began, only to see me on the phone and
stop. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize. I’ll, um, talk to you later maybe.” She
turned suddenly and was back down the stairs before I could even respond.

“Okay…” I shook
my head, wondering if my mom had sent her up here to give an apology. I shut
the door again and took a seat on the bed. “Sorry about that. Um, we didn’t get
around to talking about this weekend.” I wished more than anything I could see
him.

“I didn’t get
the impression you’d want me there the last we spoke.”

“You’re right.
And it’s unreasonable to bring it up on the day before.”

“Let me ask you
something. If it was possible, would you want me there now?”

I didn’t
hesitate. “Yes, but if you’re out of town, it’s last minute …”

“I’m at the Harbor
Inn in town.”

“Wait. What? In
this town?”

He chuckled.
“It’s been almost two weeks, and I wanted to see you. If you don’t want me to
come to the party, I’ll understand. But I didn’t like the way we left things.”

Raw need coursed
through me. “Do you, um, want me to come by tonight?” Get a grip. Why was I
asking so nervously? Clearly, the man was here to see me.

“Of course, but
I know you’re with your family.”

I was halfway
tempted to ask him to come over for dinner tonight, but I didn’t think I should
see him for the first time in two weeks with my mom and dad watching.
Self-preservation. I didn’t want to jump on him in front of my family. “My
parents go to bed early. I could be by about nine o’clock?”

I could
practically feel his smile through the phone. “I’m in room two fifteen.”

***

Luckily, Addison
was gone by the time I came back downstairs. I contemplated calling her to add
my plus one but preferred to piss her off by bringing him to the party tomorrow
without a RSVP. It was passive-aggressive, but what the hell. She brought it
out in me.

I ate dinner
with my parents and practically had to shove my mom out of the kitchen in order
to wash the dishes. She was one of those women who didn’t know what to do with
herself if she wasn’t taking care of others. I smiled, peeking into the living
room to see her kissing my father’s cheek. Now there was a love story, and
tomorrow would mark forty years of it.

As they were
about to retire for the evening, I let them know that I’d be out late and not
to wait up. If they thought it odd, they didn’t comment. After all I was
thirty-two years old. What were they going to do, impose a curfew?

Wired by the
time I drove the few blocks over to the hotel, I fought my nerves while
knocking on Brian’s hotel room door.

He opened it,
and my mouth went dry. He stood there in nothing but a pair of pajama bottoms slung
low on his hips. Had I forgotten how unbelievably hot he was?

He chuckled. “Is
my body all you want me for?”

“Mm, you do have
a pretty face, too.” I met his eyes and let the door close.

The moment it
clicked, we were all over one another with hot, hard, and relentless kisses. Pushing
my back against the wall, he pinned my hips with his own.

Pulling away
reluctantly, he gave me a slow, lazy smile, running his fingers down the side
of my breasts. I shivered with his touch. “You have too many clothes on,” he
murmured, unbuttoning my blouse and then sliding my jeans down. “There, now,
that’s better.”

I was on fire
everywhere. His hands held my face, and the desire reflected in his eyes
matched what I was feeling.

He nibbled my
bottom lip while unclasping my bra, letting it fall to the floor. Between the kisses
down my neck, he stopped at the sweet spot behind my ear. “I take it you’re no
longer angry with me about the Vanessa business?”

I let out a
little sigh. “No, I get it. I don’t like it but you’re right. If she’d called
Josh, we’d both be irritated, but it’s the client’s right to do so. And I do
trust you. But I can’t stand to have things kept from me. I’d rather be pissed
because of something you tell me rather than learn about it from someone else.”

“I’ll try better
next time.” He kissed me deeply and then pulled back, naked desire evident on
his face. “But right now I’m going to have you against this wall.” His hands
worked down my panties with his mouth diving straight for my throbbing sex.

This was the
side of Brian I’d come to know. The one in charge in the bedroom who would take
me any way he wanted without apology. The moment he touched me, we were back on
familiar territory with all previous irritation forgotten.

“Open your legs
gorgeous. I’ll be down here awhile.”

Absolute need
hit me when his slight stubble grazed my inner thigh. I clenched with
expectation, leaning my full weight against the wall lest my legs give out on
me completely.

His hot breath
was against my cleft and I weaved my fingers in his hair, pressing him into me
further. I shivered when he inhaled deeply.

“I love your
pussy, especially your scent. It’s like a drug for me, and your body is my
addiction.”

He buried his
face in my center with a vengeance, his hands gripping my hips and pulling me
into him. I moaned, unprepared for the full assault when his fingers delved
deep inside of me and worked me in tandem with his mouth.

I climaxed
before I could even fully comprehend all of the sensations he was inflicting on
me. I was lost and completely at his mercy.

His tongue
lapped up the evidence of my need, feeding on it as though it was the best
thing he’d ever tasted. The image had me completely undone. In that moment, I
realized I had no reservations with this man. He could do whatever he wanted to
with my body. I trusted him that much.

As I came down
from my climax, he rose, kissing me with the taste of my arousal fresh on his
lips. It was beyond erotic. He shed his pants quickly, then his hands gripped my
backside, lifting me up, enabling me to wrap my legs around his waist. He
thrust hard into me with delicious precision. The angle against the hard
surface afforded him the ability to bring me quickly to another orgasm as he
hit a spot that only he’d ever discovered. Plunging one last time, he threw his
head back groaning with his own release while pinning me completely against the
wall with his weight.

We stayed there
while we caught our breath. He then carried me over to the bed, not breaking
contact before starting again.

Evidently, we wouldn’t
be getting much sleep tonight.

***

The next
afternoon, I dressed in a beautiful coral-colored, cotton eyelet spring dress
with a sweetheart neckline and long, flowing skirt. A nude belt cinched my
waist and I complemented it with the same color wedges. It was a soft look for
me and a complete Coastal North Carolina type dress. I wondered what Brian
would think. Considering I was lucky to have the ability to walk today after
last night, he’d probably think it a miracle to see me upright.

After picking up
the cake, I drove over to the country club to deliver it precisely one hour
before the party, as instructed. I tried to help my sister set up, but after an
hour of listening to her sniping and with people starting to arrive, I was relieved
to go pick up my date.

I parked in
front of Brian’s hotel and walked into the lobby. He was there waiting, and I
took a moment to appreciate how very handsome he was. He glanced in my
direction and then did a double take. His slow smile and head-to-toe assessment
made me flush with delight.

“I’m sorry, I’m expecting
Sasha-B-Fierce who wears pencil skirts and four-inch killer heels. Have you
seen her?”

I swatted at his
arm, pleased when he kissed my cheek.

“You look
beautiful,” he whispered in my ear. Then he took my hand, holding it on the way
out to the car.

“Thank you. And
stop looking so surprised at the way I’m dressed. It’s my parents’ anniversary
party at a country club in front of a lot of people I went to church with
growing up. I couldn’t very well wear fishnet stockings and stilettos.”

His brows shot
up with that visual. When we got into the car, his hand skimmed up my thigh. “Great,
now I’m having a church girl gone naughty fantasy in my head.”

I chuckled. “You
clean up nicely, too, Bri.” He was dressed in a classic gray suit with a crisp
white shirt that made me want to wear it and nothing else some morning.

His fingers
danced up my thigh, and I smiled.

“Ask me
something,” I requested, watching his grin and then enjoying the intake of his
breath the moment he realized I was going commando.

“Why, Sasha
Jayne Brooks, are you not wearing any panties?”

The way he said
it in his drawl made me giggle.

“Why, I declare,
you’re full of surprises. I think I’ll be scoping out a coat closet when we get
there,” he threatened.

I shook my head.
“No way. What part of
country club
and
people I went to church with
don’t you understand?”

His hand crept
up under my dress again with his fingers finding my bare center.

I gasped in
pleasure. You’d think after last night I would have calmed the ache. Instead, his
mere touch inflamed me.

“Let me get this
straight. You can go without panties, but I have to behave? Interesting.”

I tossed him a
wicked smile. “Maybe I want you thinking about it during the party.”

He smirked. “Oh,
believe me, I will. And I’ll behave but only because I’ve got plans for you
later. Now ask me something.”

“Are you nervous
to meet my family?” I found myself slightly disappointed when his fingers
retreated back into his lap.

“Not at all. You
know I don’t get uneasy meeting anyone. I’m a people person.”