Intractable Souls : Book 1 of the Bound for Ireland Series (55 page)

Ethan has never felt uncomfortable in this
type of situation before but this is something he definitely
doesn’t want to do. All he wants to do is to go home to Olivia and
finish what they started in the stairwell. He runs his fingers
through his hair and steps away from her.

“Miss Daniels, could you please excuse John
and I for a moment while we check the schedule for this evening?
You can just wait here in my office, please make yourself
comfortable.”

She grins. “Certainly, and call me Stacey,
please.”

John opens the door and closes it behind
them as they step into the hall. “In your office.” Ethan directs.
Shannon is startled when the door swings open and she sees the look
of distress on Ethan’s face. He drops heavily into one of the
chairs as John sits beside him with his phone in his hand and his
schedule open just to humor him. “Ethan you know there is nothing
on the schedule tonight right? You had me clear it earlier.”

Ethan rubs his hand on his forehead and then
drags his hand down over his face. “Fuck, I know.”

“What’s going on?” Shannon asks curiously,
when Ethan leans his elbows on the edge of the desk and then rests
his head in his hands.

John looks up at her. “Miss Daniels would
like Ethan to accompany her tonight for a night on the town.”

“Is that a bad thing? I thought you two
entertained clients all the time?” She looks puzzled.

With Ethan still struggling with his
thoughts, John continues to field Shannon’s questions.

“Well, yes we do. But Miss Daniels has
suggested that it would be wise for Ethan to ‘entertain’ her this
evening as she has some leverage over the decision on whether they
do business with us or not.”

“OOOH!” Now she gets it.

Ethan lifts his head in disgust. “She
expects me to prostitute myself out in return for her approval on
our business proposal.”

Now this is interesting. John leans back in
the chair and stretches out his legs before crossing them at the
ankles. “So let me ask you a question, my friend. You’ve never had
a problem with doing this in the past.” He watches, as Ethan grows
more uncomfortable. “In fact you’ve always rather enjoyed it.
Stacey Daniels is an extremely sexy and desirable woman.” Shannon
raises an unimpressed eyebrow at John’s assessment.

Ethan had barely noticed her beauty. She was
young and blonde and very well put together. The fact that her legs
seemed to go on forever was the only thing that caught his
attention but other than that he really felt no attraction to her.
Where exactly is John going with this? Ethan stares straight ahead
clenching his jaw.

“So what’s changed Ethan?” John presses him
for an answer as if he just read his thoughts.

Ethan looks over at him, surprised that he
even has to ask him that question. “You know damn well what’s
changed, McCabe…Christ.” He shakes his head at his audacity.
“Olivia. Olivia has changed everything.”

John grins. “I expected that’s what you’d
say.”

“So then why are you being such a dick?” He
shoots him an extremely aggravated look.

“Because I wondered if you knew the reason
why. So it’s simple then… go in there and tell her no. Tell her
that you are madly in love with a beautiful woman and that you
won’t compromise that for a business deal. Whatever happens…
happens. Worst case scenario, you don’t get the business.”

If it was only that simple but it’s not,
this is a HUGE business deal. He shakes his head no and looks back
and forth between John and Shannon. “Other options?”

Shannon leans forward. “What about accepting
her invitation but inviting Olivia to join you?”

“Even better.” John interrupts. “Shannon and
I will join you as well. Then you can tell her that we already had
plans for this evening and invite her to join us.”

“I like that idea better. Call Scott and get
him to round up a few of the guys from soccer. Get a few drinks
into those boys and they should keep her and her friends
‘entertained’ for the evening.” Something on his phone momentarily
distracts him. “Let’s have dinner at that British pub beside the
hotel I just invested in. It’s close. Get the guys to meet us there
around 8pm; there is plenty of stuff to do to distract them. I’d
like to avoid clubbing afterwards if I can. ”He looks at his watch.
“John, can you make the arrangements, get Stacey’s contact info,
and then let her know what the plans are? I have to meet with Mike
Johnson in a few minutes in the conference room.”

John starts to grin. “You just don’t want to
go back in your office.”

“You’ve got that right. First the pregnancy
and now this. I’m afraid to go back into that office ever
again.”

He looks terrified and it amuses John. “What
about Olivia?”

“I’ll call her on my way to the conference
room. I’ll see if she can swing around, grab me a change of
clothes, and meet me here around 6:30ish. Lets plan on dinner
around 7?” Ethan is half way out the door and on his way down the
hall with his phone in his hand, trying to get away before John
makes him deal with Stacey himself.

Ethan holds his phone to his ear and walks
slowly as it rings. He laughs when she answers.

“Trouble Maker here! How can I help
you?”

“Hey beautiful, I need a favor.” He says,
chuckling.

Olivia smiles. “Hmm, I’m not sure if I’m up
to doing favors. I’ve had a very stressful day.“ There is a teasing
element in her voice that he has come to recognize, and he knows
that she’s messing with him.

“That’s a shame. Do you want to tell me
about it?” On his way past Mike’s office he stops at the door and
waits until he gets his attention. When Mike looks up he holds up
his hand flashing his five fingers at him three times and mouths.
“Give me 15 minutes.” Mike Nods and Ethan continues towards the
conference room and closes the door.

“It was horrible.” She jests. “I was held
captive in a stairwell by a sex craved lunatic.”

Spinning the conference room chair to face
the window so he can see the city horizon, Ethan leans back
listening intently. Smiling. The playfulness in her tone makes him
crave her with an overwhelming selfishness that doesn’t want to
share her with anyone else tonight.

“It sounds horrible.” Amusement is heavy in
his voice. He plays along, thinking about those few brief moments
where he held her captive and the intense feelings she stirred in
him.

“It was!” Her voice exaggerated. “He touched
me in very inappropriate places.” She imagines what this
conversation must be doing to him right now and smiles wickedly at
how she fully intends to continue despite of it.

“I’ll kill him for touching you.” Ethan
says, playing at being her protector. Though he’s not really
playing, he would do anything to keep her safe.

“He held me against the wall so I couldn’t
move and then rubbed himself against me, it was absolutely awful.”
She sits sideways on the couch lifting her feet up onto the cushion
and gets comfortable.

“Sounds like it, baby.” Watching the dotted
traffic move slowly through the city, he tries to distract himself
from the state of semi arousal in his pants.

“Can you believe that he was actually going
to rip my panties so he could get to my naughty parts?” She says,
holding back her laughter.

“Bastard!” He adds, as he loses the battle
and begins to harden. His eyes watch the doorway hoping no one
enters until he can get himself under control.

“So I was thinking…” She pauses, clears her
throat, and then tries to sound sincere. “I was thinking that I
should take the stairs more often.”

There is a brief pause as Ethan processes
her joke and then starts to chuckle. “Promise me that you’ll never
take the stairs without me.”

“Oh, I promise.” She breathes into the phone
trying to control her heightening arousal as she considers just how
close she was to being fucked in that stairwell.

“Jesus, stop it. I can’t think straight when
your voice gets like that.”

“Like what?” She pretends that using her
best phone sex voice wasn’t intentional.

“All warm and soft, like you’re purring.”
His voice is low and lustful. “Shit, I’m so screwed. I have a
meeting in a few minutes and now all I can think about is all the
different ways I’m going to fuck you.”

She wonders if it’s wrong that she’s pleased
about having such a powerful affect on him. His words are usually
so sweet, carefully orchestrated to be romantic with precision
timing. Today is different; his words are raw and unfiltered. The
way he speaks so blatantly about his sexual desires is such a total
turn on, leading her mind to wander all sorts of directions.

“Jesus, I need you to do something for me
and I don’t have much time to explain.”

“Ok, sure. What’s up?” She forces herself to
focus.

“I really hope you don’t have plans
tonight.” He suddenly realizes that she might and that would not be
a good thing.

She snickers. “Like that has ever made a
difference to you.”

He laughs. “True, but do you?”

Her voice gets a little more serious. “No,
other than hoping that you would find a reason to stop by and
finish what you started. I’m feeling a little... um... err...
restless.”

Ethan lets out a loud sigh. Proof of his
disappointment. “Something has come up. I have a client that I need
to entertain tonight.”

“Oh, well that’s ok. I can always just… take
care of things myself. It’s not like I haven’t done it for the past
three years.” She’s still teasing him, but she’s not sure if he’ll
take it that way. She’s starting to predict his behavior a little
too well.

He jumps to his feet alarmed at her
suggestion. “OH HELL NO! You will NOT touch yourself. Absolutely
NOT!” He says with punctuated force.

“Whaaaat?” She’s shocked at his comment and
her jaw drops. He can’t honestly think that he can tell her what
she can and can’t do with her own body? “SERIOUSLY DUDE?”

“YES, I’m very serious! You won’t ever touch
yourself for pleasure again, unless ‘ I ‘ instruct you to do so.”
He paces back and forth in front of the window. She starts to
protest and he cuts her off short. “I’m sorry baby, but you’ll just
have to stay frustrated until I can look after you myself.” He says
it with enough authority that she thinks twice about defying him.
There would be hell to pay if he ever found out. Still, she has to
bite her tongue to stop from arguing for the rights to her own
body.

A sudden look of confusion washes over his
face and he scratches his head. “Wait… did you just call me
Dude?”

Olivia holds back as long as she can and
then finally she bursts out laughing, no longer able to contain it.
Ethan is only mildly amused but he starts to laugh himself,
thankful for the break in the tension. Time is running out and he
needs to have this conversation. “Olivia, I want you to come
downtown and join us tonight for dinner.”

“US?” She asks curiously.

“Yes. You, I, and Stacey Daniels… my client.
John and Shannon are going to join us as well. I know you’ve
probably just got home and it’s a long way back into the city… but
I need you to be there, baby. Will you come?”

She doesn’t need much coaxing. She’s not
going to pass up on the opportunity to see the great Ethan
O’Connell schmooze a business client, since she’s been quite
curious about what that entails. Especially with the female
clientele. “Sure.” She answers enthusiastically. “What should I
wear?”

“Nothing formal. Whatever you’re comfortable
in. Would you mind going by and grabbing me some clothes to change
into and then meeting me here at work so I can change first?”

“No, I don’t mind but how am I going to get
into your house?”

“Go get the key chain I gave you.”

Reaching for her purse, she digs through the
accumulative junk in it, and takes it out when she finally comes
across it.

“Ok, I’ve got it, why?”

“Obviously the key fob is for the
Challenger. Do you see the single key with the green marker on it?
That’s the key to my house.”

Olivia’s heart races as she stares at it,
feeling very overwhelmed by the gesture. “You gave me a key to your
house?” She asks, only a little louder than a whisper.

“Well, yeah. Of course.” It seemed like a
very natural thing to do and he’s not sure why she sounds almost
sad. He’ll have to ask her about it later, right now he needs to
get back to work. “Take a cab into the office ok? I’ll bring you
home later.”

“No, it’s ok. I’d rather drive.”

“Is there any point in me insisting you take
a cab? “ He asks, aggravated that she’s always fighting him.

“Nope, so don’t even bother. Is there
something in particular you want me to bring you?”

Jeans and a casual shirt. You decide.” He
likes the idea of her picking out his clothes. It’s something a
real girlfriend would do, one that’s in his life because they’re
interested in looking after him and his needs. Most of the women in
his life were only there because he demanded exclusivity while they
were spending time with him, none of them would ever venture to
engage in any domestic duties. It was beneath them. So his personal
errands et cetera would fall on John. Regardless, he would always
provide generously for the woman who was sharing his bed. He always
has. But now, now he wants a woman who is in love with him for what
he has in his heart, not in his bank account or in his pants. He
has never truly felt like he’s had that before and never really
cared until he laid eyes on Olivia.

“Ok.” She pauses. “Is it safe for me to come
up to the office?” She snickers, remembering how angry she was at
Hannah earlier.

“There will be nobody here but you and me. I
promise.” The door opens and Mike walks in. “I have to go now. I’ll
see you soon. Text me when you’re almost here and I’ll meet you
downstairs.”