She was beautiful, and I wanted her.
And always get what I want.
Melody walked her to the conference room, and Lucy look
ed around the floor, clearly impressed with what she saw. It stroked my ego, and my chest inflated with pride. I pulled at the collar of my shirt, sweating. It was suddenly hot in here. I loosened my tie, but still never took my eyes off the screen as Melody opened the large conference room doors. Lucy looked around again, and it made me lean closer to the screen.
“What are you looking for, baby?” I asked her, hoping she could hear me.
When she didn’t find it, she seemed disappointed and gave Melody a tight smile before vanishing into the room.
Where she waited for me. I licked my lips and ran my fingers through my hair at the same time. Something about this girl set me off in ways I didn’t understand. Maybe I just needed to fuck her, get her out of my system, but a voice in the back of my head told me that wouldn’t be enough.
It would never be enough when it came to Lucy.
I stepped away from the screen when I couldn’t see her anymore, and I didn’t like that. There weren’t cameras in the conference rooms, and now I regretted that decision. What if something happened to her while she waited for me? Choked on water? Tripped over one of the chairs? I pressed the button on the desk phone. “Barbara. Reach out to the company that installed the cameras. I want them in all conference rooms and elevators. No questions.”
“Yes, Mr. Stoneridge. Right away,” her old voice trembled.
I let go of the button, breathing a little easier, but I knew the only way my lungs would be satisfied was if I went into that conference room myself, so my eyes were on her. I took her file from my desk, her picture still stained from my come, and I grabbed my coffee mug, hoping it made me look a little more presentable and approachable.
People liked people who drank coffee.
Taking a deep breath, I cracked my neck and took the first step toward what felt like the rest of my life, which scared the shit out of me. I wasn’t ready to settle down, but I wasn’t ready for her to settle down with anyone that wasn’t me.
Selfish?
Yeah, but I didn’t give a damn.
All my give a damn’s stopped existing when Lucy came into life.
“They want to know when you want them to come install the cameras, Mr. Stoneridge?” Barbara caught me on my way to the conference room.
I closed my eyes, annoyed at being interrupted on my way to Lucy. She was alone and needed me. “As soon as possible, Barbara,” I said through clenched teeth. Ten seconds I’d never get back. Ten seconds I could have been closer to Lucy.
She narrowed her eyes at me when she saw my annoyance. Barbara placed her palm over the bottom of the phone and steeled her shoulders. “You may be my boss, but you aren’t any older than my grandchildren. I’m not afraid to give you a whooping, Mr. Stoneridge. Don’t test me.”
Her sass made me chuckle, relieving the tension in my body. “Sorry, Barbara. It’s been a bad day.” It had been a great day, but she didn’t need to know the details. Barbara wasn’t interested in hearing about how I yearned for the woman waiting for me to interview her, that she had invaded my dreams, my conscience, my soul.
My father would laugh at me right now. Being flustered and in a slight panic over a woman was not the Stoneridge way. I wasn’t what my father thought I’d be. I was supposed to be the next in line to take over the company, which in a way I still was just because of my last name, but a Stoneridge had never been an actual architect. When I showed the talent of a designer, while it benefited my father, he was afraid of what others would think about his son not being CEO material, but the person that made the buildings.
He called it a slap in the face as he sipped the finest whiskey. He said he was proud of me, but he would never boast about it in public. Godrick Stoneridge II was one of the coldest people I had ever come across, and how my mother put up with him was something I’d never grasp. Maybe that was why I never believed in love.
Love was a hoax.
A fairytale.
Love was the disguise, the mask, the veil, over lust. Once that was removed, people fucked.
And I really, really loved fucking.
I stared at the closed doors, the dark wood hiding the most perfect woman I had ever seen. My cock was half-hard and keeping it from going to full mast was taking so much will, it nearly made me dizzy. My palm hit the door as images of Lucy and I bombarded my mind. I really needed to get my shit together before I walked in there.
What the fuck was wrong with me? None of this made sense, and I didn’t understand why Lucy affected me. It pissed me off. I almost didn’t want to go inside.
Almost.
With a sweaty palm, I grabbed the gold handle of the door and pulled it open, revealing the light yellow walls of the conference room and big windows that overlooked the city. The mahogany table was long and wide, with twenty leather chairs surrounding it. The air shifted as soon as I stepped inside. A sweet scent hit my nose, Lucy’s perfume. It wasn’t too strong or heavy, but it smelled like wildflowers after a rainstorm. It was a scent I’d remember for the rest of my life.