Endless Obsession

I forgot Eric and I had plans to go over the newest spyware. That means my nightly stalking will be put on hold until later tonight. I grip the edge of my desk to keep myself from throwing something. The number one thing I don’t like is having my plans change when it comes to her. I have a routine, and fuck anyone if they try to deter me from it. At least I know she’s not going on a date tonight. I not only control who she meets from that fucking dating site, but also how often she does.

“Yes,” I tell Eric, barely keeping it from coming out in a hiss.

Silver Technologies specializes in monitoring its client’s networks, implementing security standards, and installing data protection systems so outside forces can’t break in and steal vital information. The security systems we design and use have never been broken into. That’s why we are so well sought-after. Depending on what the client’s budget is, depends on how extensive the service is and the software we provide. Eric has been with me almost since the beginning and has become a close friend. He’s one of my top software designers. Although he’s one of the best, all designs go through me, where I tweak them and make them unhackable.

Yes, I provide protection against people like me. I may protect others against the thieves that hack computers for a living, but that doesn’t keep me from doing it myself. Call me a hypocrite and see if I care. Knowing how people break into computers and learning it at a young age makes me good at what I do. I don’t use the information I uncover for personal gain, or rather, I don’t anymore. I use it to better my business, except in the case of Poppy. I’ll use every damn trick I know to get what I want from her.

I was eight years old when I hacked into my first computer, my school’s computer. My teacher gave me a C in math, and I didn’t like it. I was already good at computers, and after hours of playing around, I broke into their system and changed my C to an A. No one was none the wiser. From there, my curiosity of internet security systems grew, and so did my hacking skills. Before I started Silver Technologies, I was breaking into some of the tightest security systems in the world, and I was never even close to being caught. After years of using others to gain what I wanted, I decided to work from the other side and started designing my own internet security software. I had money from my ill-gotten gains and Silver Technologies was created. Now, after fifteen years, we’re at the top of the ladder in internet security.

I clear my head of my current thoughts and look back to Eric, who’s still standing in my doorway.

“Email me the updated designs and projection reports. Be here in an hour.”

He nods and closes the door behind him, and my thoughts immediately drift back to Poppy. When she told me earlier that she didn’t sleep well the night before, I wanted to ask for more details, but I held back. I’ve never gotten personal with Poppy because I don’t need to. I damn near know everything about her already. To do so now would seem strange. While she sat across from my desk, writing down the tasks I gave her, my eyes kept flickering back to her. She was oblivious to my constant stares, her nose buried in the notepad on her lap. It’s hard to concentrate when she’s around, but in order to keep up the ruse, I force myself, when all I want to do is lay her out on my desk and feast away at her body.

I can tell I make her nervous, something I find highly arousing. She tries to hide it, but I know better. The way her breath hitches a fraction when she’s around me, or how her nipples peek through her top at me when I look at her. She bites her lip when she’s nervous and rubs her pointer finger and thumb together. Sometimes, I’ll look at her and catch her watching me. Her face turns a lovely shade of pink, and seeing that pink blush turns my dick to stone every time. I want to see her entire body flush like that.

My cell phone chirps on my desk, and I glance down at it. Mom appears on the screen. I grab the slim device, slide my finger across the screen to accept and put it to my ear.

“Hello, Mom.”

“Asher, honey, how are you?”

I close the program I was using when Poppy knocked to let me know she was leaving and lean back in my chair with both elbows resting on the arms. If I know my mom, I may be here for a while.

“I’m good. Nothing new. How are you and Dad?”

“Your dad and I are fine. I’m putting together a dinner in a few weeks, and I was hoping you could attend. Nothing big, just a few friends.”

I rub my fingers along my temple, feeling a headache coming on. I know what she’s trying to do. She’s been doing it for years now, and each and every time she’s failed.

“Is this another attempt at setting me up?” I ask. I can’t help the irritation in my voice. I love my mom, and I know she means well, but her attempts at marrying me off to some random woman she knows through friends is getting quite tiresome.

“Asher. Please, honey. I know you’ll like this girl. I’ve had lunch with her a few times and she’s very intelligent and sweet. Can you—”

I cut her off before she can start in on why this girl and I would be perfect for each other. I’ve heard it all a hundred times and do not need to hear it again.

“Mom, no.” My tone brooks no argument. Normally, I wouldn’t dare speak to her with such a tone, but this shit has got to stop. You’d think she’d get a clue after the first fifty failed attempts.

“Me and your dad aren’t getting any younger here, Asher. I want grandkids.”

“You’ve got grandkids,” I remind her.

“I do, and I love them dearly, but I want grandkids from all my kids before I go.”

I sigh as I lean up, bringing my elbows down on my desk. Glancing down, I see the monthly bill from Everly’s Flower Shop. I have a standing tab with them that I pay monthly. When Poppy didn’t show at her normal time for work this morning, anxiety started snaking its way into my system. She’s never late—she’s normally early. I’m always the first person here in the mornings and she shows up about forty-five minutes after me. Those times are the hardest because we’re here alone, and she knows I’m here with her. But when she was late this morning, I about tore my office apart. I didn’t realize how much I needed to see her until she wasn’t there to be seen.

I pulled the feed up on my computer and saw her scrambling around her house in a hurry. That alone was what kept me sane, knowing she was okay, just appearing to be running late. My eyes stayed locked on the screen until she finally left the house. I closed the program, immediately pulled up the tracking app I have on my phone for the tracking device I have on her car and watched as the little dot moved across the screen, showing she was on her way here. It was only when she pulled into the garage that the unease started to settle. I like order and I like control. For Poppy’s schedule to change and me not made aware of it beforehand is something I obviously don’t handle well.

“Asher, honey, are you still there?” My mom’s voice pulls me back to the present.

“I’m here. Email me the details and I’ll be there, but you need to either tell this girl not to come or let her know I’m not interested. Enjoy the grandkids you’ve got. I’ll give you some when I find the right person, and not someone you find for me.”

“I just want to see you happy, honey. Your sister’s found hers and so has your brother. The way you’re going, you’ll never get yours.”

“I get it, Mom, I really do, and I love you for wanting that for me, but you’ve got to stop this. I’m happy in my life right now. If and when I find someone, it will be on my terms. It’s me that has to live with that person. Don’t you think I have the right to pick her?” I don’t give her time to answer before I say, “I have to go. Eric should be in any minute to go over a few things. I’ll see you next week.”

“Wait,” she says hurriedly, before I get a chance to hang up. “There’s another reason I called.”