Inked

“I have the tickets for you already. You leave later today.”

“Oh right.” My eyes open wide. “That soon? Okay, fair enough. I can go now. Do I need anything?”

“It isn’t a long flight. You will be there and back in a day. You don’t need anything. Just you.”

I rise into a standing position and straighten my tie, nodding to myself. I’m determined to make this work.

I sit across in another conference room table in another office in another state, smiling at the older woman in front of me. I have the paperwork sitting on the table, waiting for her to sign it, but she’s running her eyes up and down me as if she’s sizing me up. I guess if she was expecting my father, this must be a surprise.

“Thank you for meeting with me, I really appreciate it,” I say again. “I’m happy to get this deal done.”

“The deal isn’t done yet,” she says, shocking me. “There is something else that needs to happen first.”

“Oh.” My blood runs cold. I don’t know if I can handle more. I’m usually good at being charming, and talking my way out of anything, but I wasn’t expecting to deal with anything else today. “I see. What’s that?”

She leans across the table with a twisted smile in her face, and all of a sudden, I get a chill. This is why she wanted everyone else out of the room. She wants something else to happen between us.

“I want me and you to connect in another way.” She winks at me. “If you know, what I mean?”

Of course I knows what she means, I’m not an idiot, and it disgusts me. She wants me to fuck her for the deal to go through… what is that about? Although… isn’t that a bit of what I did to Lexi? I told her that I would pay her double the salary, knowing that she desperately needed the job and the cash, if she was willing to perform sexual favors. I don’t know if I thought that I would go through with it at the time, but I have, so I am no better.

Fuck, I really am no better. I feel like shit about myself. In that interview, Lexi must have felt a bit like I do right now. She only agreed because she needs the money for some reason, and I would only agree to make this deal go through because I want my father to be proud of me for making this work.

Although what if this is a trap set by him? He could be getting this woman to hit on me to see if I really have changed? But he also might kick my ass for fucking up a deal that’s supposed to be done. I really don’t know what the hell is going on here, and I don’t like it one bit. I stare at this woman, wondering what she expects me to say. Does she really want me to lie her across the desk and fuck her? Is that for real?

“Are… are you serious?” I gasp out in the end. “This is a joke, isn’t it? You are kidding?”

She leans back in her chair and smirks at me. “Do I look like I’m kidding to you?”

I actually consider it. I don’t see that I really have any other choice, I need to think about it. For the sake of the company and my future, but I really don’t want to. I don’t feel like I can degrade myself like that for my father’s approval. Plus, now I feel utterly dreadful for what I’ve done to Lexi and I can’t really focus on anything else. Even if this means that the deal doesn’t go through, I need to get the hell out of here.

“I can’t agree to that,” I tell her with a shake to the head. “I’m sorry, I’m just here for the deal.”

“You are Isaac, aren’t you? Because I have heard that you’re wild. I might not be the sort of woman that you normally go for, but I can assure you that you will have a good time with me.”

“That isn’t it, I just don’t want to do business that way…”

“Do you have a wife? A girlfriend? There has to be some reason why you’re saying no.”

Instantly, Lexi comes to my mind, even though she isn’t any of those things. Not even close, which is a shame, because we have such a powerful sexual chemistry, and I like her as a person as well. Maybe if I had allowed things to happen n

aturally, then we could be in a good place now, but I had to be an idiot, didn’t I? I had to mess around and try to get a rise out of her, for my own satisfaction.

“Judging by the look on your face, it seems like you don’t have a girlfriend,” she continues. “So, I don’t see what the issue is. Even if you have something a little complicated, nothing is set in stone.”

“It doesn’t have anything to do with whether I have a girlfriend or not. This isn’t how I do business.”

She leans forwards, the tips of her ears going red as she grows angry and probably embarrassed too. I spot a vein in the middle of her forehead, popping furiously. “I will tell your father about this.”

“You will tell him that I didn’t want to sleep with you for a deal? He might be happy about that…”

“I know how much you want to impress him, it’s written all over your face, and I will tell him that you fucked up here. He barely trusts you, am I right about that? It’s why he did most of the work before you arrived. Plus, it’s no secret that he isn’t a fan of your behavior. It doesn’t matter what I tell him. I can make anything up and he will believe me. He’ll certainly pick my story over yours.”

“This is blackmail. Do you see that? You don’t really want our meeting to go that way, do you?”

She smirks not looking bothered at all. She is ruthless! “It’s up to you to decide how this will go.”

I hate being torn, I despise the fact that I’m even considering this, but I don’t have a choice. I need to think about my future and where it will lead. I need to worry about what will happen to Lexi if this deal falls through. This was supposed to be my ace card, the moment that I had something to defend Lexi’s position, but at this rate, I will have nothing at all, and she will lose her job. Whatever mysterious reason she needs it for will be gone.