Beyond Ruin (5 page)

Joe pushed back from the edge of the tub and stood, taking his shirt off with both hands in one swift motion. His naked chest was a slick washboard of abs on top of abs. She watched, body tingling with impatience as he stripped from the rest of his clothing before climbing in next to her, displaced water lapping over the edge of the tub and onto the floor. A muscular arm wrapped around her torso, pulling her in close until their lips were entwined again. His arousal pressed into her stomach, firm and ready.

"Turn around." His voice was gruff, heavy with need. She turned, and followed further as he sat in the warm water, her legs folding at his thighs as she straddled him. Thick hands slipped across her damp body, moving from breast to stomach and in between her thighs as his lips kissed mindlessly at her neck and shoulders.

Using the leverage provided by her legs Natalie lifted her hips and arched her back, ready to receive him. Joe slid one hand down her hips from her stomach until his fingers were within the delicate softness between her thighs while the other hand gripped at the base of his shaft, guiding it up as she lowered herself down.

His fingers caressed her clit as he took her inch by inch, filling her until she was flush against his thighs. Her mouth opened to quietly expel the moan that rose up from her throat. She arched her back and encircled her arms around his neck, her breasts spilling into his waiting and open hands. A whisper of a growl blew at her neck as he kneaded the pillowy mounds. Her body fell with graceful ease back onto his chest as he reclined against the head of the bathtub.

"You like that?" he breathed into her ear as he rocked his pelvis, his fullness moving against her insides.

"Don't stop." Natalie arched and lifted in tandem with his movements, losing herself in sensation as his fingers roamed her body, squeezing and rubbing and fingering without discrimination.

The relief of having fullness inside her was nearly too much, and with each thrust she cried in delirious joy, her muscles already contracting in micro spasms of electric ecstasy. Broken waves of warm water swept in and over her body like the tide as he moved beneath her, thrusting and pumping as though on the arduous journey to make her body implode from sensation.

Her hips moved frantically, grinding onto him as she climbed towards impending climax. When it happened it was instant. Time momentarily slowed to a standstill, then exploded in ripples of tormenting pleasure that wracked her body's muscles as though they were charged with electric current. A few more thrusts and Joe was following, his erection throbbing hypnotically inside her tender walls. He panted at her ear as he stilled, her own body falling limp atop him as her orgasm flushed her body with molten warmth.

Joe wrapped his arms around her torso and held her as their breathing quieted to a silence softer than the sound of the bath water calming from undulating waves to tepid stillness. The sudsy bubbles had dissipated, leaving them in clear water.

"Christ," he swore, laughter following the epithet. "I think I have a new appreciation for bathtubs."

Natalie gripped the sides of the tub and pulled herself up to a squatting position and turned to face him. She was weak with exhaustion down to her bones, but didn't mind the feeling. The release had quieted something inside of her that had been festering all evening, and she was grateful for the reprieve. Her eyes glanced down at his midsection where he was still partially erect; he was big even then, and she wouldn't be surprised to find herself sore in the morning.

"This doesn't have to change anything between us," she said, her eyes climbing up his heaving chest to his eyes.

"Agreed."

"And we should just keep this between us. Especially if it happens again."

"Do you want it to happen again?"

Natalie stood and climbed gracefully from the tub, steadying her balance as droplets of water fell from her body to the marbled ground.

"Red?" he asked as she wrapped a towel around her body. She turned and regarded him coolly, lips pursed and eyes considerate. She leaned over the edge of the tub and met his lips with a sweet kiss. When he responded she deepened the kiss, sweeping her tongue against his in one long lap before pulling away.

"Good night, Joe.”

"Morning, Buddy." James kissed the top of Frankie's head before sitting down at the dining table for breakfast.

"Morning, Daddy. Caroline made banana pancakes."

"I can see that. It smells good in here. Where is Caroline?" He glanced around and into the kitchen before stabbing a few pancakes with a fork and piling them onto a plate.

"She went to get coffee."

"Ah. So your aunt Audra sent me a message this morning telling me that I am to bring you to work with me today?" He stuffed a forkful of pancake in his mouth and looked quizzically at his daughter, who looked characteristically preoccupied with her iPad.

Frankie nodded. "To help her run the company."

"And here I thought that was
my
job."

"She said you might not fire anyone if I'm there."

"Did she?" he asked between clenched teeth. "Tell me," he started, leaning in so he was more on Frankie's level. She turned to look up at him, brown eyes big and receptive. "Do you think it's right to continue to employ someone who isn't doing their job effectively?"

Frankie's nose and eyes scrunched together as she considered the question. It softened his heart to see her giving serious consideration to the question. He often found her older-than-her-years disposition to be somewhat humorous, but more than anything he was proud of her for it. Most children her age were picking their noses and eating dirt. Frankie was like an adult trapped inside a child's body.

"No," she decided after her moment of thought. "Not if there is someone who could do the job better."

"My thoughts exactly!"

"Is there someone better?"

James chewed on another bite of breakfast. An image of Natalie came to mind. He used to look forward to her scheduled visits to Fitson, especially because it meant they didn't have to work so hard at hiding the fact that they were in a relationship. Once Ivy took over the account that was the end of their visits. And shortly after that the end of their relationship entirely.

"There always is," he answered. "So what else has Audra offered or promised to you? Your own office?"

"No!" Frankie's cheeks squished her face as she giggled.

"A car?"

"You're so silly, Daddy."

He wrapped a free arm around her small waist and pulled her in close to place another kiss atop her head. "Yeah, I know. If it gets too boring we can ask Caroline to take you to a movie or something."

As if on cue Caroline strode through the penthouse doors, a magazine tucked under one arm and coffee cup in hand. "You two talking about me behind my back?"

"I was just telling Frankie that if we asked you very nicely you might come pick her up at work today and take her somewhere more interesting."

"Shouldn't you at least wait until she's ten before using her as child labor?" she asked through a smirk as she sat opposite him at the table.

"Tell that to your niece," he quipped.

"I think MOCA had a new exhibit open this week?" Caroline offered.

"Maybe tomorrow," Frankie politely declined. "Natalie said Audra and I could come by to have gelato at the new office."

James' fork fell from his hand and landed with a loud clatter on his plate. Both Caroline and Frankie whipped their heads in his direction at the loud and abrupt sound. James picked up the utensil and tried to pass the whole thing off as a non-event. Inside, however, his heart was racing.

"When did you talk to Natalie?" he asked, his tone measured so as to not give anything away.

"Last night on the plane," Frankie replied nonchalantly.

James glanced up at Caroline, who was suddenly immersed deep within the pages of her magazine. She hadn't mentioned seeing Natalie when she picked up Frankie.

He had no idea that Natalie was even in New York, let alone that she was in contact with Audra of all people. To the best of his knowledge they weren't even friends, so how the hell were they flying together on the same private plane with his daughter? Audra made no mention of Natalie before she left for New York the previous morning.

It had been months since he last saw or even spoke to Natalie. Had Audra been in contact with her the whole time? He could barely imagine the two of them as friends. Natalie was too sweet for the sharp as nails, takes-no-prisoners Audra. He needed answers.

"Go get ready," he said as he rustled his fingers through Frankie's already disheveled bed hair. "We've got a busy day ahead of us."

"So where are we with
The Gentleman's Show
?" Natalie looked up across the dining table to Joe, a pen in her hand poised and ready to jot down notes on the pad of paper sitting next to her laptop. They each anchored either end of the table with Quinn, Shane - the assistant she stole from her days at Brighton New Media - and an intern named Lorelai rounding out three of the other chairs. They always worked family style at the table, volleying questions and ideas across the space. There were no cubicles or desks, nothing that reeked of a corporate atmosphere. They were a small team that managed big business from the luxurious comforts of the penthouse condominium that Natalie, Joe and Quinn all called home. It was a risk to blend home life with the professional, but one that so far was paying off, even if Natalie had been gone the last few weeks.

"I spoke with Harry Brucker last night," Joe began, looking up from his side of the table. "He wants us to come out to Vegas for our next monthly meeting so we can help oversee the auditions for new dancers. I think it could be a great marketing opportunity."

A light flickered on inside Natalie. "We should document it. Post to Instagram, tweet the things we can't photograph... I like it."

"I'll leave that to you," Joe laughed.

"So who do we want to take? Quinn?" Like she even needed to ask. Quinn already had a sly smile playing on her lips. "Okay then," she laughed. "Shane? Lorelai? Interested in going and helping out behind the scenes?"

Lorelai, a full time student at UCLA with a penchant for black even on the warmest of days, nodded her head coolly. "If it doesn't interfere too much with school then count me in."

"Count me out, unfortunately," Shane sighed. "My landlord is raising the rent once my lease is up and I have to find a new place to move."

Natalie could sympathize. It wasn't long ago that she was just like Shane and Lorelai, muddling through post-grad life on a budget. She was grateful to have left those days behind her.

"Let's book a suite somewhere," she said as she mentally catalogued the best hotels along the Strip.

"How about a suite at Eden? I'm sure Audra could hook you up with that," Quinn suggested, her voice a trill away from sing-song. Natalie shot her a glance and was about to retaliate when Joe interrupted.

"Given the bombshell you dropped on me last night, Red, I'm sure Audra would be more than accommodating."

Quinn's face scrunched in on itself, her eyes darting between Joe and Natalie. "You told him?"

"Of course she told me," Joe laughed. "It's not like it could stay a secret for very long. Not to mention it's going to change the face of this agency forever."

Natalie held her hands up to quiet the two of them before they realized they were talking about entirely different subjects. "Well since the subject of Audra has been brought up I suppose I should announce the big news." She cast a conspiratorial look at Quinn before continuing. "Audra Robertson has hired us to represent The Golden Palm."

"You're joking!"

"What's The Golden Palm?"

"Is that a hotel?"

It was difficult to tell who said what when they all spoke at the same time. "We will all need to sign confidentiality agreements before I can tell you specifically what The Golden Palm is," she explained to the confused faces before her; Joe was positively gleaming. "What I can tell you is that The Golden Palm is the one property belonging to Fitson that, until yesterday, had zero representation. It's their ten year anniversary in December and they want to do something big to celebrate."

"That's not going to piss anyone off at Brighton New Media?" Shane asked.

Natalie thought back to the conversation between Audra and Frankie in the airplane the night before. There was tension in the air between Fitson and Brighton, particularly between James and Brighton. She wouldn't be surprised if he was going to be seeking new representation, and soon.

"If it does it's not our concern. We're a small but competent agency, and a woman like Audra Robertson wouldn't have hired us if she didn't think we could do the job spectacularly well. And speaking of Audra," Natalie continued as she consulted her watch, "she'll be coming by this afternoon with Frankie for gelato." She watched as Joe's expression softened at the mention of Frankie, his cheeks spreading into a smile. "You two can go home early for the day," she said specifically to Shane and Lorelai. "We'll work out all the details and go over everything in our Monday morning meeting."

Natalie consulted her notes after the staff meeting concluded, transferring handwritten reminders about scheduling into the calendar on her laptop. The work load of co-running her own business was already seeping into her off-work hours, but she didn't mind. The busier she kept herself the better she felt. It was as if she had become addicted to work over the past few months, always looking for something more or extra to do. After all, the busier she kept her mind, the fewer opportunities it had to dwell on her personal life.

It wasn't until she got up to get coffee that she realized she was alone in the great room.

"Quinn?" she called out as she picked up a K-Cup from the dispenser and popped it into the single cup coffee machine.

"She and Lorelai went to go pick up the gelato," Joe answered as he emerged from the pantry at her left, a box of clear plastic cutlery and a bag of napkins in each hand.

"Shane?"

"Downstairs for his twenty minute smoke-and-call-his-boyfriend break."

They worked around each other in a few moments of relative silence, Natalie attending to her fresh cup of coffee while Joe set out the cutlery and dishes for their Friday gelato tradition.

"So," he began once everything was spread out in an organized fashion across the marble expanse of the kitchen island. "How does it feel to be home again?"

"It feels better than I left it," she answered with a smile, coffee cup pressed against her lips.

"We should all do something tonight to celebrate the new account."

"Like what?"

Joe shrugged noncommittally. "Dinner. Drinks. Dancing?"

"Definitely dinner and drinks. Dancing? You'd have a better chance convincing Quinn," she laughed.

"It'll be fine. We'll get table service, you can relax and watch us dance."

"How fun," she mused before taking another sip. "All right, sounds good. I'm sure Quinn will have some fabulous place to recommend."

"Then it's settled." Joe fished his phone from his pocket and checked the screen. "I've got a call to make. I'll join everyone for gelato in a few minutes."

Natalie had barely a moment to settle back down at her computer before the front door burst open with a joyous mixture of chatter and laughter. She looked up just in time to see Frankie headed her way, followed closely by Audra, Quinn and Lorelai.

"Natalie!" Frankie called out with so much exuberance it filled Natalie's chest like a balloon being inflated.

"Hey there!" Natalie picked up Frankie and hugged her to her side, balancing the girl's weight on one hip. "How was your first day of work?"

"She actually fired someone!" Audra said as though not even she believed the words coming out of her mouth.

"No way!" Natalie tried to suppress the laughter that threatened to burst through her lips at the thought of a little girl actually firing someone. "You?" she asked pointedly, though with a tone of humor. "Sweet, intelligent and lovable Frankie actually fired a Fitson employee?"

"Actually, she fired Brighton New Media."

Every head in the room turned at once to the new figure standing in the doorway, a figure Natalie could place anywhere. Tall and lean, his custom tailored suit hugging the musculature of his body in all the right places. The subtle accent in his voice. And a face so disgustingly handsome it was sometimes difficult to look at, like trying to stare at the sun. There standing in the vestibule of her office, her new home, was the one and only man she'd ever fallen in love with.