LOCKE
It wasimpossible to conduct an interview with a director of compliance candidate when all I could think about was the way Jett’s fingers had tasted in my mouth as he’d sucked me off last night.
When we’d returned to the room after our swim, I’d stroked us both off in the shower. It hadn’t taken much more than a heavy petting session under the hot spray before we both came over my fist and the shower floor.
Jett had settled himself in my bed before I’d finished brushing my teeth, which had prevented any awkward moment of my having to either man up and ask him to join me or let him return to his own room.
Which was why, when I’d woken hard and aching in the middle of the night, he’d been there to suck my cock. It had been dirty as fuck but had ended sweetly with him sneaking off to the kitchen and returning with the chocolate cake we’d never gotten to after the swim.
“… golf with Declan Hayward recently, and he said Truett Moore recommended…” The man droned on, dropping as many names as possible to impress me.
You want to impress me? Tell me how you’ll do the fucking job, not who you’re privileged enough to share a club membership with.
“I believe that’s all we need for now,” I said, trying not to sound as judgmental as I felt. “Minerva will keep you updated on next steps. Thank you.”
After ending the video call, I started a new one with my assistant.
“I already know what you’re going to say,” Minnie said as soon as her face popped up on the screen. “But remember, you got mad at me for cherry-picking candidates last time.”
I glared at her, ignoring her cute, familiar face and the new bangs I was still getting used to. “If this was my punishment, be assured, it worked.”
She shrugged and grinned. “You should be more aware of all the ways in which I seek to carry your burdens, Maris. And be more grateful.”
Minerva Willis and I had known each other for twenty years. Her father had been my grandfather’s driver, and he’d had Minnie in the car or at the house with him enough for the two of us to become friends. When it had come time to hire an assistant, my grandfather had sat me down and discussed that almost nothing else mattered in the role more than trust and discretion.
It had been a no-brainer. There was no one outside my family I trusted more than Minnie. And since she’d already been working a few years by then as an admin at our office in Jersey City, she was also experienced. She was as much of a workaholic as I was, going even further in taking continuing education classes whenever she had time. When I’d taken over Maris Holdings in December, it had meant a life-changing promotion for her as well.
Thank god it hadn’t resulted in her treating me any differently than she had when she’d been a sassy eight-year-old.
“I’m grateful, Min. Keep the riffraff away. Forget what I said about cherry-picking. Please only send me the best cherries from now on.”
“My pick is Carina Bouchard from KLX. I’ll set it up for later today if possible. How’s it going there? Is everything ready for the tournament?”
I nodded, feeling a pinch of guilty regret that she couldn’t ever know the truth behind the Paxis Council. “Yeah. All good.”
She tilted her head. “And your new mistress is handling it all?”
I felt a cold flush roll over my skin like a rogue tide. “My what?”
“My replacement. Your new assistant. Gotta say, I’m a little jealous.”
I tried blowing out a breath of relief without changing my expression. Minnie was still pissed I hadn’t brought her. “Don’t be. He’s annoyed to be doing menial tasks. The man’s a diva.”
She knew I was teasing. “Where’d you find him anyway?”
“I told you, I met him in a bar a while back, then ran into him on that flight from Atlanta. He was looking for work. I needed someone friendly and gregarious for a short-term gig, so I figured it was a win-win.”
“You really need to leave the hiring to me. Straight talk, Locke, he does not sound like a cherry.”
I held in a laugh and hoped my face wasn’t turning red. “No. No, he’s not a cherry.”
“I could have picked you a cherry for that job, too.” She sniffed. I didn’t mind it when she was territorial, but in this case, it was a subject that needed to be closed.
“This is a personal event, Min. You know that. It’s not Maris stuff. Besides, you have enough on your plate as it is.”
“Speaking of my not needing to sully myself with your personal nonsense… Willow’s been trying to get ahold of you,” she said, giving me a pointed look. “Want me to forward her to Mr. Davis? Let him handle your personal business?”
Before I could call her out on her petty jealousy, Jett came wandering into the suite, sweaty in running clothes and with the tinny sound of bass-beat music coming from his earbuds. He moved past me into his bedroom as if I wasn’t even there.
