And I could never let the argument die without the last word.
“Exactly, we were kids. We have no idea what was going on between them. We know Dad can be a dick. How do we know he wasn’t a dick to her?”
“Whatever, man, I don’t feel like doing this right now,” Gage said. He kicked at a half-empty paint can on the floor between us. “Do you like the office space or not?”
Before I could try to bring our conversation back to our mom, there was a light tap on the open door.
“Excuse me,” a familiar voice said. A voice that could bring me to my knees. “I need to speak with you. Both of you, actually.”
Maryellen’s tone had us exchanging a glance as we followed her back to his office on the other side of the building. As we sat, I noticed Maryellen made sure not to look my way. She sat upright, with her legs bent under her chair and her skirt pulled below her knees, hands folded neatly in her lap.
No one in this place knew what those hands of hers were capable of.
How firm her grip could get around my dick. Or how well they slid up and down my shaft. She knew exactly how to use them to bring me to the edge, and keep me there, not letting me come, as she squeezed my balls and the head almost to the point of pain.
“I’ve got some bad news,” she said.
That broke me out of my horny trance.
Both our heads snapped in her direction as we waited for her to continue.
She looked directly at me when she did.
“Simon quit.”
OK, that did suck. But there were worse things in life than losing an assistant. Her tone made it seem like someone died.
“Fuck,” Gage said. He jumped from his chair and paced the room as his hands went through his perfectly coiffed hair.
Maybe I wasn’t truly understanding the gravity of the situation.
“Can’t we just find someone else?” I asked.
They both turned and looked at me. Gage ignored my question while continuing to talk to Maryellen. I mean, I know she’s his assistant, but I’m co-CEO and his brother.
“Why? What happened? Can we make him a better offer?” Gage asked.
She shook her head.
“He and his boyfriend are moving out of New York. He got another job in Chicago already.”
A frustrated sigh came from Gage as he stared out his window. I turned to Maryellen, and all I could see in my mind was that other guy’s hand on her cheek last night as I rounded the corner. It took my breath away when I saw him tucking her hair inside her hood, such an intimate gesture. The caveman in me wanted to bum-rush the guy to the ground and claim her as mine right there in the middle of the street.
But she wasn’t mine. Not anymore. She made that very clear a few months ago.
When I thought about it, I didn’t think we were ever reallytogether. We hooked up a couple times, went out a couple other times. We connected on a deep level. She knew things about me even my own brother didn’t. And now I had the urge to pull her up and push her against the wall.
I knew the news about Simon should concern me more, and it was problematic that it didn’t. However, she was all I could think about.
“Chase,” she said. “Simon was important to you, to us. He helped make everything…work.”
I knew what she was trying to say. And it pissed me off.
“I have an idea,” Gage said. “While we’re looking and interviewing, and since our offices will be on the same floor by next week, Maryellen, you can help us both until we hire someone.”
“What?” she cried out. “Gage, that’s not feasible.”
“Yeah, no, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said in agreement. That got me a sharp look from her, which I didn’t quite understand.
