Page 17 of The Butterfly Effect
I sighed and crossed my arms. “How long are you going to keep that up?”
For a moment, I let her play dumb, pretending she didn’t know what I was talking about. I allowed her to be sly by calling me Mr. Carlisle now, mostly because later, I’d have her yelling my first name instead. “I’m just trying to be professional.” Her voice, lower and sweetly husky, was laden with temptation.
“Professional… you would call the way you rode my leg in publicprofessional, hmm?” Her jaw dropped, and then she narrowed her eyes. I couldn’t resist the chuckle that broke from my chest.
A deep blush painted her neck and cheeks. The way she fidgeted with her legs suggested that if I slipped my hand up her skirt, I would find the thin layer of lace she called underwear wet. She gnawed at the inside of her lip. “That’s not fair,” she said, her voice breathless. “Would you rather I call you Will? Something casual.” She raised her eyebrow, knowing she was pushing my buttons.
My core filled with the familiar warmth of arousal, and my dick twitched slightly. I chose not to address her choice of nickname, hoping it wouldn’t stick, but wondering at the same time how it would sound as a moan.
“Not fair?” I sat forward in my seat, placing my arms on my desk. “You didn’t seem so worried about fair when you made yourself come apart in the front seat of my car, baby.” I winked at her, and she gasped.
“I’m not your baby.” She crossed her arms, her legs still fidgeting. For a second, I considered crossing my desk and settling myself between those smooth, pale legs. Would she let me, and if so, would I be able to get her to cry out my name in my less-than-soundproof office? Before I could rise from my seat and move towards her, she spoke again. “I only came in here to tell you I got a call from Great Lakes, and they want to meet with us on Wednesday afternoon. They’ll be here at three.”
She left the invitation and the door to my office open as she stormed out. At her desk, she collapsed into her chair. By the way she moved her hands in wild gestures, I gathered she was telling her friends some version of what had just happened. I doubted she would tell them every detail.
* * *
I left my office in the afternoon to speak to Jared about his account. As he filled me in on the details at his desk, Sandra made her way to Julianna’s, the tension in her body language almost making the ground beneath her shake with each step. She clenched her jaw until she cleared her throat when Julianna didn’t look up.
“You seem awfully chummy with the new CEO. One might think you were crossing a few lines, wouldn’t you think?”
Julianna pursed her lips and took a sip from the mug on her desk, a slow and controlled delay to her response. “Awfully bold of you to suggest I’m just trying to fuck my way to the top, all things considered…” The way she gestured back to Sandra carried implications, only confirmed by her reaction.
It took most of my self-control not to laugh when she said it, and Jared looked at me expectantly, waiting for my response to his work. I refocused my attention on the task at hand, ignoring the spat between the women behind me, but as I spoke, there were comebacks from both Julianna and Sandra.
“Sandra, back up and walk away. This conversation is over.” Julianna’s voice was stern and loud enough to silence the rest of the office.
People turned in their direction, me included, and I closed the distance between us, clapping my hands slowly as I did. Sandra blushed a deep burgundy, but Julianna’s face was already red, her eyes burning and casting an infuriated stare at her manager.
“I believe the two of you have put on enough of a show, don’t you think?” I shot a warning glance at the pair.
Sandra started to speak before I put my hand up to silence her. Julianna fumed, her breathing heavy and her hands clenched into fists at her sides, while Sandra was nervous and fidgety in my presence. The forward, confrontational woman she was towards Julianna moments before had all but disappeared.
“I’m calling it a day.” Julianna theatrically checked her watch before grabbing her phone and bag and storming towards the door to the stairway, not bothering to look back before the door slammed behind her. Her temper tended to get the best of her on her bad days, but I liked watching her buttons get pushed. I liked watching her stomp out the door more.
I turned to walk back to my office, ignoring the quick, gossipy murmur of voices. “So unprofessional,” Sandra muttered loudly enough to be heard above the hum. Shock crossed her face when I whipped back around to face her.
“I thought I made it clear that this display was done.” At my raised voice, the room fell quiet again, the noise only picking back up when I shut the door to my office behind me.
I tugged at my neckline,having settled on wearing a pair of high-waisted red pants with a black turtleneck sweater and black heeled boots after feeling overly exposed at the last meeting. I looked like an elementary school librarian the week before Christmas break, and my last glance in the mirror at lunch when I’d pulled my hair up into a tight bun settled some of the nerves in my stomach.
When Sandra walked into the conference room with the Great Lakes Brewing team, I stood from my desk and moved to join them. Butterflies fluttered through me when I still hadn’t seen William return from his lunch meeting. It wasn’t that I needed him, but in a room full of men, especially these men, they’d be more likely to go for the deal sooner if he backed my idea. Especially since Sandra wasn’t likely to do so, and she definitely wasn’t leaving me in the conference room without some sort of supervision.
The door made a clear click when I shut it, drawing attention in my direction. “Good afternoon. It’s great to see you all again.” I moved casually to one of two open seats and sat, pulling myself closer to the table while the men took turns saying hello.
Four sets of eyes were on me as I spoke. I was powerful and in control of the room as I explained our preliminary proposal, the confidence I’d always wished for thick in my voice. Then the door opened, and the strong scent of cinnamon floated towards me as William moved to the open seat beside me.
“I apologize for my tardiness. Gentlemen, good to see you.”
Suddenly I wasn’t the most commanding presence in the room, and William had drawn even my attention to him. He looked good, dressed in an expensive navy suit with a white shirt and tie, the same thing he’d been wearing the night I’d met him. It was the kind of look that demanded he was in charge, and for a second, I wanted to think about following his commands again. Even the men in the room understood the position of power William carried, straightening their spines as he got settled.
I lightly cleared my voice, drawing the attention of the meeting back to me. “I was just filling them in on our social media strategy when you joined us.” I was probably the only one in the room that caught the slight narrowing of his eyes. Knowing he hadn’t yet reviewed the new social media plan Sasha had put together after he ripped into her last week, he wouldn’t be happy I was presenting it to his most important client.
“We think it’s really great,” Roger spoke up, drawing William’s darkening gaze away from me. He winked at me, a messy stray curl falling across his forehead.
I nodded a thank-you for his approval, ignoring the wink and the look he gave me after. “The key is going to be getting on top of it and really attacking the plan before the distribution of product expands,” I explained.
“I wouldn’t mind having you on top.” Roger cocked his head to the side, half speaking only to himself. William stiffened slightly in the seat next to me, but the look on his face showed he was unfazed. I imagined he was used to working with this kind of man. A man’s man.
