Insufferable Proximity (39 page)

“Mr. King.” she nodded curtly, her poker face in place.

“Ms. Deville.” he said formally and to Heaven’s surprise sat in the chair across from her desk, “it’s been hard to get a moment alone with you, it seems my brother has decided to take my father’s instructions to heart.”

“And what instructions are those?” she asked.

“To end the feud between the two of you.”

“It’s a combined effort.” she was not sure why she had divulged that information and noticed the shock on Ian’s face. She watched as he quickly controlled his emotions, and attempted to smile.

“That’s wise, but do be careful with him.”

“I’m always careful.”

“Julian is winning, if it continues this way, he will become partner.” he rose from the chair like a true king, “don’t let his niceties distract you, you have worked too hard to lose to him now.” with that said, he left her office, the door closing silently behind him.

Heaven was no fool, she knew Ian didn’t care who won, so long as it was not Julian. Ian was sneaky and overly calculated and she was beginning to trust him less and less.

***

Julian and Heaven sat at the round iron table on the large suspended porch outside his bedroom. Heaven had changed out of her work clothes and into a lemon colored tube dress that hugged her curves in a sensual way that drove Julian nuts. She wanted to dine on the side balcony for dinner, he agreed it was a good idea and wheeled a large tray of food upstairs for them.

It had been a crazy week for her so far and her nerves were still on edge. Her stomach was still in knots and she was unable to eat much, so she lounged in the chair instead, sipping on red wine. Julian on the other hand seemed completely at ease, he was on his second plate of food and looked like he might go for thirds. She felt herself begin to relax as she listened to the soothing beat of the song on the radio, trying not to think about the fact that she could possibly loose the position she wanted most. When Julian was finally done eating, he poured a large glass of wine and turned to her, his eyes suddenly going cold.

“Were you going to tell me Ian was in your office today?” he asked.

“Eventually.”

“Why was he there?” he had watched his brother leave her office and had been consumed with fury ever since, he knew what his brother was capable of and was not comfortable with him being around Heaven anymore.

“He noticed that we’re getting along,” she took another sip of the chilled wine, the conversation with Ian still not settling well with her.

“Did he?”

“He did, he believes you took your fathers advice about a truce between us. He told me it was a wise decision, but to be careful.”

“Careful of what?”

“Of you, he said you’re winning the position.” she admitted.

“And what do you think?”

“I think your brother is very sneaky.”

“He always has been.” Julian admitted.

“You should be careful with him.”

“I always Am.” he leaned over and pulled her chair closer to his, “but I want you to be careful as well and try to avoid him whenever possible.”

“I agree, although I do think he’s right on one level, I am distracted and I do need to fight harder if I want to be partner.”

“How do you intend to fight harder?”

“I could always work harder or I could try and take you to my state of distraction, just to level the playing field.”

“Heaven you have distracted me from all of my duties for over three years now.”

“You’re confusing distraction with irritation.”

“No I’m not, you irritated me as well, but you distracted me above all. Every time we argued, I couldn’t stop myself from mentally stripping you naked, and when we weren’t arguing I was imagining what was under those horrible suits. I also wondered if you were as fierce in bed as you were in your daily life.”

“Really?” she scoffed in disbelief, “all I could think about was arsenic in your coffee.”

“I thought about that too, but mostly I thought about having sex you.”

“And now that you have?”

“You’ve exceeded all my wildest expectations and I am even more distracted for it. It’s no wonder my brother noticed, there is no way I can act like I hate you now.”

“Well I think you should try."

“Why would I do that?”

“Because we
are
way too obvious, I think we should stage a fake fight or some type of argument.” she suggested with the shrug of her shoulders. Julian just looked at her for a moment, not the least bit interested in the idea.

“No.” he objected.

“I think we should, it makes sense and that way no one will suspect anything.”

“No, out of the question.” he said.

“Julian, be reasonable and just think about it for a minute.”

“I’m done fighting with you for now! Trust me Heaven, we will be fighting again soon enough, let me enjoy this while I can.”

“I don’t think we’ll fight again.”

“We will.”

“I was thinking things would be easier for us at work after the contract.”

“Nothing will ever be easy between us and now it’s going to be worse than before.” he spoke with an honesty that was unsettling to her.

“It doesn’t have to be worse, we can come to some sort of truce, right?”

“Only if that truce means that we continue to have sex.”

“There’s no way I can do that.”

“And there’s no way I can stop wanting you, it will take everything inside of me to keep my hands off you.” he reached over to grab the front of her dress, pulling her closer until she was at the edge of her seat. “And I still make no guarantee that I won’t try something with you.”

“You better not, once the contact is over, it’s over.”

“And how do you plan on stopping me?” he yanked down the front of her dress, watching her breasts bounce with the force.

“I don’t know.” she whispered, knowing it would be a dilemma.

“Are you even going to want to stop me?” he asked bending closer to her, his lips inches from hers. Heaven looked down at his full lips for a moment, feeling herself being drawn to them.

“I don’t know.” her breathy words were almost a soft cry. Julian grinned before capturing her mouth and rocked her senses with a passionate kiss. He wanted to express what his words could not and she knew by the end of that kiss exactly how he felt. He pulled back staring at her as she sat breathlessly across from him, then without another word she jumped up from her chair and straddled his lap, grabbing his head and continued that kiss.

***

“We should have called-in today.” Julian frowned, after an amazing night with Heaven, work was the last place he wanted to be this morning.

“Well, we’re here now, so let’s just go get it over with.” she understood his frustration, she was exhausted too. They had been up until the wee hours of the morning and she too could use a few more hours of sleep.

“Let me just touch you real quick.” Julian unhooked her seatbelt.

“We are in the parking lot at our job, no way.”

“But you know that no one will ever see us here.” he said looking around the well secluded parking spot.

“No.” she whispered but leaned into kiss him, which surprised the hell out of him. “If you wait until we get back home, I’ll make sure it’s ten times better.”

“It couldn’t possibly get any better than it already is.”

“Not even if I’m a little more open?”

“You’ll never be open about it.”

“I could be.” she shrugged her shoulders. Julian felt the pre-ejaculation begin to seep from his erection at just the thought of her being more open and willing with their sex. “Maybe you should just wait and then you’ll be able to see.”

“That is probably the one and only thing in this world that I would be willing to wait for.” he spoke with honesty and an underlying eagerness.

“good, then it’s settled.” she kissed him again, sliding her hand down his chest, not sure what was coming over her and unable to comprehend what she was feeling, she decided to just let it flow. “I’ll see you upstairs.” she finished then got out of the car. Julian held his erection as he watched her lush ass sway back and forth with each step she took.

Julian had decided it would be best to take a trip to the coffee shop farther down the block, he needed a little time to get himself together before he entered the office. The way he was feeling right now, he would undoubtedly drag Heaven into his office and have his way with her until he felt a little better. Doing so would only destroy the wonderful evening she had planned for them. He wanted her willing, he wanted her to openly enjoy herself and participate.

“Well hello King.” he turned to see a woman who looked familiar to him, “it’s me Sally, remember from the picnic last fall.”

“Sure, how are you?” he asked

“I’m doing much better now that you’re here.” she took a step closer, “are you busy right now? Maybe we could go somewhere and talk.” her words were full of innuendos.

“No, I’m late for work as it is.” he grabbed his cup of coffee, nodded curtly and left the coffee shop. He walked back to his office, his mind so focused on Heaven he was oblivious to everything else around him. The moment he stepped through the door, his secretary, Mrs. Cooke ran up to him.

“Your father has called like thirty times trying to get a hold of you.”

“Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know but he said it was urgent he speak to you and to send you to see him immediately.”

“Alright,” he passed is secretary his briefcase and his cup of coffee, “Thank you Mrs. Cooke.” he finished before walking straight to his father’s office.

***

Ayden sat at his desk, his hands folded on top of the thick manila envelope that had been waiting on his desk when he arrived for work this morning. He had found a few similar looking packages recently, all marked anonymous. He knew what it was before he opened it, over the past year his son Julian’s escapades had been captured on film and always managed to find their way to Ayden’s desk. He wasn’t surprised to receive a new package, and he definitely wasn’t surprised to see Julian was unable to keep his promise of no sex on the firm’s property, in all honesty he had expected as much. he was sure his son had tried to keep his promise, but unfortunately Julian‘s libido had control of his brain and good sense most of the time.

However, what had surprised Ayden was Julian’s current partner in the new pictures. He had come to think of Ms. Deville as the daughter he never had but had always wanted. She was fierce, competitive and unbelievably intelligent, the kind of daughter any father would be proud of. The girl was a force to be reckoned with and he saw so many good things coming in her future. Ayden had been training the girl personally, since she started at the firm, he had taught her things he would only teach a family member, he refused to loose such a valuable employee as well as someone he considered family.

Unfortunately nothing ever lasted with Julian, he had never been able to commit to any relationship and it always ended the same. Ayden had seen firsthand the damage his son was capable of when it came to the opposite sex, he had witnessed countless women begging at Julian’s feet, refusing to let go of him and accept the separation he had so callously demanded. Ayden had witnessed heartbreak on a level that could be considered inhumane and that was not something he wanted Heaven to ever have to go through.

However, history always repeated itself with his son, which meant that whatever was brewing between Julian and Heaven would inevitably come to an end. Ayden could only pray that she was smart enough to keep her wits about her and not let her feelings for Julian ruin her good judgment. He knew he would have to handle this situation very carefully, he did not want to embarrass her any more than the circumstances itself would. Finding out the specific details of their relationship would just have to wait for the time being, right now he needed to focus on the identity of the culprit behind the camcorder filming them.

Ayden felt the bile in the back of his throat rise at just the thought of them being secretly followed. They completely unaware that there was someone lurking around in the shadows, waiting to catch them make a mistake and then exploiting them for it. At this point, everyone was a suspect, even his own son Ian, who would have the most to gain if Julian should fail.

To be honest he had an office full of potential suspects and an abundance of circumstantial evidence, but nothing solid enough for even a clue. It would be hard to find the culprit, considering Julian’s extensive history with women and the trail of broken hearts. Not to mention Julian’s own condescending and cocky demeanor that had rubbed many people the wrong way.

It literally could have been anyone.

In all truthfulness, Ayden was most angry with himself for not taking it more seriously when the damming evidence against his son first found its way to his desk. He should have suspected it to be more than some scorned woman trying to get back at him and started investigating immediately.

Ayden felt another chill creep down his back at the thought of some unknown predator lurking outside of his son’s office and photographing him and Heaven while they were in a compromising situation. He was debating the next plan of action when Julian stormed into his office, in his usual manner, slamming the door behind him.