He's So Bad (12 page)

Carter squeezed her eyes shut. Her sinuses swelled. She didn’t know if she wanted to cry from relief or anger. She was mad at herself for not confronting Tyler. If she had said something to him, maybe she wouldn’t have had to sleep in the office for the last three days—and even that was a choice. She could’ve afforded a hotel room or to rent another place. Perhaps her choice was indicative of how her life felt at the moment, as if she were stuck in purgatory.

She hadn’t ever been happy at Kennedy Creative. She was weary of San Francisco. Five months ago, she’d applied for a job in Washington, DC. She sent a follow-up email a day before Robert Tango took over Kennedy Creative, and last week, they finally got back to her. Before she was put out of her apartment, she’d had a videoconference interview with Stuart Bettie, the chief architect at Metropolis.

Yesterday, when she had returned to the apartment to get her mail, she saw a letter from Metropolis. She opened it fully expecting it to say, “Thank you for interviewing but no thanks.” Instead, the letter articulated how they’d made every effort to contact her but the number on her resume was no longer active. Carter had changed her number after she broke up with Tyler because he called almost every day to check on her. They had a strange relationship, but she didn’t want the man who’d left her twice for the same crazy bitch to keep calling her. Somehow he had gotten her new number and was back to calling her at least three times a week.

However, in the letter from Metropolis, Stuart Bettie had offered her the job and asked to hear back from her by next Friday. Instead of jumping in celebration, Carter had clutched her heart, feeling anxiety. Working for Robert Tango was exciting. He’d changed the entire company for the better in a matter of months. But not even the raise, job promotion, or lusting after his sexiness made her want to stay in San Francisco for another year. She would choose to stay if Robert became her lover, but how long would that last?

When Robert had announced the four-day weekend yesterday morning, her heart sank. She thought she would have to wait until Wednesday morning to see him again. But then he asked her up to his house. That was the second strike of luck she’d had in a long time. The job offer from Metropolis was the first strike.

“I don’t know, Tyler. I’ll call you later.” Carter didn’t want anything or anyone to get in the way of her plans to be intimate with Robert that weekend, and forgiving Tyler just might do the trick.

“When’s later?” he asked.

“I don’t know. It’s just—I have to go.”

“Where are you staying?”

“With a friend,” she said.

“You don’t have any friends.”

Tyler wasn’t being malicious. She didn’t have one female friend in San Francisco. The women in the office were so competitive and snooty. She was hard-pressed to find one single woman her age in San Francisco, and most of the married or dating women didn’t want her around their significant other. She wasn’t a Jezebel, but Carter figured they didn’t want their men beating off to the image of her naked or something. Sometimes she found herself hating the whole damn human race.

Robert returned carrying a large white envelope that one would keep photos in. The jovial expression that he scurried out of the garage with was gone.

“I have to go,” Carter said and ended the call. She knew Tyler would call right back, so she turned off her phone. “Is everything okay?”

“You know what? How about we make this a true relaxing weekend and hang around here? I haven’t shown you my secret hideaway.” It appeared as if Robert was trying to banish his stressful expression with a smile, but it didn’t work.

“Sure.” Carter was so confused about why their plans had to change so abruptly, and she suspected it had something to do with the envelope in his hand.

I
’m working
to contain my anger. I want to implode, but I promised Carter a relaxing and fun weekend, and hell if I’m going to let what I found on my front step get in the way of giving her that. She’s behind me as we walk through the garden and past a wooden gate to a detached structure made of texture glass. I glance behind me to see Carter’s reaction to the building. She’s frowning and looking at my feet.

I stop to face her. “Hey, why the worry?”

She shrugs. “It just seems like this is all so sudden.”

I look at the sky. “It stopped raining, but it’ll be starting again. I want this to be a relaxing weekend like I promised.”

“I consider looking at homes in San Francisco relaxing.”

“Not more relaxing than this.” I nod at my private oasis. I take the key out of my pocket and open the door. We walk alongside my Olympic-sized pool. “It’s heating,” I say.

She’s looking at the envelope in my hand. “You want to go swimming?”

I tuck the envelope under my arm. “I’m just going to put this up.”

“What is that?”

“Just some business that came up.”

“Oh…” she says.

I point at two doors at the opposite end of the pool. “There are swimsuits in the women’s room.”

Carter’s lips part as if she has something to say but changes her mind. I would prompt her to speak her mind, but I’m eager to make a phone call.

I take steps backward. “I’ll be back shortly.” I hurry out to avoid answering the perplexed look on her face.

By the time I make it to my office, I’m more pissed than I was two minutes ago. I empty the contents of the envelope on my desk. There are three photos. One is of me walking with my arm around Carter and her head on my shoulder. The anonymous sender captioned it “After Hours Fraternizing.” The second and third pictures are of Carter and me in my rental car parked in front of the hotel. Whoever took the photo must’ve done so from the lobby. The shots are pretty creative. In both, I’m leaning across Carter’s seat to tell the valet that I’m checking out, but the photos make it appear as if she and I are kissing. The two photos are captioned, “Caught in the Act.” There’s no return address, only a note that threatens to expose me as a philandering CEO if I don’t leave Carter alone. The sender is giving me five days to comply. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out who’s behind all of this.

I dial Grace. I tap my fingers against the desk, waiting for her to answer. The call goes to voicemail.

“What a way to get my attention. You want your meeting? Let’s have one. 558 Leaf Court Drive. Be there at eight o’clock Tuesday morning.”

I feel like throwing the phone at the wall after I hang up. I fucked up big-time. Carter should not be here. I weigh wanting to fuck her against the need to redefine myself. One greatly outweighs the other.

As soon as I stand, my cell phone chimes with a new message. I pick it up and look at the screen. The message is from Grace, and it simply says, “K.” I sniff disdainfully. I haven’t known her to be so casual about the vile shit she does. She’ll never have a thing to do with Kennedy Creative once I get done with her.

I feel as if I’m in complete control of my libido when I make it back out to the pool. Despite her earlier trepidation, Carter has made herself comfortable in the warm water. She’s wearing a white bathing suit and swim cap. I watch her swim a lap, and when she touches the wall, she wipes the water out of her eyes and looks at me with a smile.

“Is it warm?” I ask.

“Nice and toasty. It sure did warm up fast.”

I walk over to her and squat at the pool edge. “I had an eighty-thousand-dollar heating system installed.”

She snickers. “Rich people’s solutions.”

I wink. “And now you get to swim in a rich man’s pool.”

I can tell by the look in her eyes that she wants to do more than swim in my pool. She wants my dick to swim inside her hot pool of sweetness. The temptation to fuck her is back with a vengeance—especially since the pussy is warmer after a woman takes a swim.

“What are you thinking?” she asks.

I’ve learned that Carter is pretty perceptive. I stand. “I’m thinking I’d better get into the pool or you’re going to use all the warm water.”

She smiles weakly. “That’s not what you were thinking.”

I grin flirtatiously. “Not all of it, but I do want to hurry up and join you.”

Carter lets go of the edge and treads water. “And then you’ll tell me all of it?”

I head to the men’s changing room. “We’ll talk!”

“I can’t wait!”

I hear her beating the water as she swims before I enter the changing room. I take off my clothes, put on a pair of swimming trunks, and go dive into the pool. The warm water is refreshing. Carter’s in the middle of another lap. I swim a lap, passing her at a safe distance. I make it to the end of the pool before she does. Since she’s breathing heavily and has been at it longer than I have, I swim toward her. Surprisingly, she passes me again. When I make it to the spot she just left, Carter’s already holding on to the edge. She’s breathing heavily but smiling victoriously.

I laugh. “Are you that competitive?”

She shrugs coyly while breathing heavily. “I can’t help myself when it comes to you. Meet me in the middle?”

“Is this a trick?” I ask.

“No,” she says flirtatiously.

I take her at her word and swim to the middle of the pool. We arrive at the same time and tread water.

“You like playing games?” I ask.

She’s still grinning. “Not really.”

“So what have I done to put you in such a playful mood?”

She dips into the water then comes back up. “It’s what you haven’t done.” Her hand squeezes my dick.

I feel the blood drain from my face. My dick is growing, so I remove the culprit. “I can’t.”

She flexes her eyebrows. “Why not?”

I must admit that up until this very moment, I was confused about how I saw Carter. She definitely has the figure of a woman, including squeezable tits and ass. I admire that she’s a damn good architect. I credit her proficiency to natural talent, but I’ve seen her read design and architecture books as if they were novels, which means she’s well studied. I can see why guys like Tyler, Matt, and a half a dozen other men in the company grow boners whenever she walks into the room. She walks her hot ass into the building every morning, paying no one any mind, sits in her chair, and gets right to work. That ritual of hers makes her mysterious. Right now, she’s a beautiful young woman who’s not used to waiting so long for a guy to pounce on her.

“You’re my employee,” I say.

“I knew you long before I became your employee.”

Shit. I have to remind myself of what’s important here. I sink into the water and come back up. It’s way too warm to cool my lust.

I dip my head toward the edge of the pool. “Follow me.”

I don’t have to guess whether or not she obeys. I climb out of the swimming pool, and Carter’s right behind me. I sit on one of the long chairs, and she sits beside me. I let my dick inform on me. It’s hard and long, and she can’t take her eyes off my rod.

“As you can see, I want you bad.”

Carter shoots to her feet. “Then take me.”

She steps out of her wet bathing suit. I’m mesmerized by her nakedness.

I take her by the hand. “I’m flattered that you want to give yourself to me.”

“But…”

“Just sit.”

She picks her bathing suit up off the ground and uses the wet garment to cover herself.

I push the suit down so that I can see her body. “Don’t be ashamed. I want you. Why wouldn’t I? You’re hot.” I take a long sigh. “But, Carter, I have fucking issues. If I fuck you, I don’t know what will happen to me.”

She frowns. “You’re not making any sense.”

“You know those rumors you heard about me before I came on board?”

She shrugs. I take that as a yes.

“They’re true. I fucked more than half of the women in my other company. And do you know why Vince doesn’t talk to me anymore?”

She shakes her head.

“His girlfriend worked for our company, and eventually I fucked her too.”

“Oh.” She finally has a reaction to something I said. “Well, that explains it.”

“Explains what?”

“Allie has been trying to figure out why Vince broke up with his girlfriend and started dating that model.”

Now I’m the one who’s taken aback. “What model?”

Carter snaps her fingers as she tries to recall the name. “Oh, it’s Cindy O’Lay.”

“Vince is dating her?” I sound more disgusted than I am. I’m just surprised. I never thought he’d leave Maggie for anyone, not even Cleopatra resurrected from the dead.

“Yes. Allie, Maddie, and Lexie…” Carter ruffles her eyebrows. “Those names make them sound like the queens of the WASPs that they are.”

I chuckle. “They are the queens of the WASPs.”

She grins appreciatively. “They hated Vince’s girlfriend, but they hate Cindy O’Lay even more. I think it’s because she has more hair and is skinnier than they are.”

I laugh, but it’s not enough to take the stiff out of my dick.

Carter shakes her head and rolls her eyes. The thought of her cousins has put her in a cynical mood. “I heard they tried to pawn him off on Emily Callahan of all people.”

I lift a finger. “I fucked her too.”

Her eyes widen. “No fucking way.”

“I bet you don’t want to fuck the same guy who fucked his way through all of Vince’s girlfriends and half of his female employees.”

Carter drops her swimsuit back on the ground and gets comfortable in her chair. “Well, now that you put it like that…”

She’s joking, but I can tell by her demeanor that I finally got through to her.

“I have one thing in this fucking world that I want right now.”

She looks me square in the eyes. “What’s that?”

“I want Vince to forgive me, but I need more than his forgiveness. I need him to trust me, and I need to know he can trust me.”

We stare into each other’s eyes. Finally I can articulate what I’ve been feeling ever since Vince decided to have nothing more to do with me. Carter holds out her hand. I put my hand on top of hers. Our fingers curl around each other’s, and we sit in silence for a long time.

“Robert, are you still asleep?” Carter says.

I’m groggy, but I can focus on her pretty face. “No.”

She checks her watch. “We must’ve fallen asleep two hours ago.”

“We had an eventful morning.” I’m mostly referring to those fucking pictures Grace dropped on my porch.

“Well…” Carter stands. She’s still naked, and my dick springs back to life. “A few laps should wake me up.” She dives into the pool.

I watch her swim from one end of the pool to the other. She swims four laps then clings to the edge to catch her breath.

“You’re in great shape,” I say.

She pushes herself out of the water and sits on the edge. “I used to compete in high school. The old girl isn’t what she used to be.”

I laugh. “You’re only twenty-five.”

“Who said I was twenty-five?”

“You alluded to it.”

“No,
you
alluded to it. I never confirmed or denied it.” She shakes her head. “I’ll always be younger than what I really am to you. But just so you can stop guessing, I’m twenty-six.”

I smile at her. There’s no need to point out that there isn’t much of a difference between twenty-five and twenty-six. I join her for some laps. I fool around and push her in the pool, then she pushes me. I’m having a good time dunking her head in the water. She wraps me up around the waist and tries to pull me underwater.

Suddenly, I lose my head and guide her in front of me. Before I know it, I have her pinned against the edge of the swimming pool. My tongue is in her mouth, and my dick is rubbing against her pussy.

I pull my mouth off hers. “Shit. No.” My heart is beating a mile a minute.

Carter holds me tighter. “Robert, if you bang it, you don’t have to buy it.”

It takes a second for me to understand what she means by that. Basically, if I fuck her, then it doesn’t have to be the start of some great and meaningful relationship. I just remember how sweet her mouth tasted and how soft her lips were. I kiss her again. My dick begs me to let him inside her pussy.

I drop my face to end the kiss. “I’ve done enough banging without buying.”

She’s breathing heavily while pelting my forehead and cheeks with kisses. I’m used to women being hot for me to fuck them once I get them to this point. This entire situation is my fucking fault. I call on help from my intuition. Suddenly I hear Maggie say, “Robert is a lost soul only because Vince has done a mighty fine job of enabling him.”

I take Carter’s hand off my dick. “We can’t.”

She frowns then pulls away from me. “Okay.” Her voice cracks.

“Listen…” I say.

She swims to the opposite side of the pool, and I swim after her. Carter makes it to the steps. I grab hold of her before she can take both feet out of the pool. Her body is so soft and cool, which means her insides are warm. I just want to plunge into her hot depths.

“It’s okay,” she says. “I’ll get over it.”

I spin her around. We lock eyes. I make a split-second decision and kiss her sweet mouth. Our tongues roll round each other. Her hard nipples poke my chest. I’m so hard that I’m going to explode.

“Shit,” I mutter and lift her all the way off the steps and carry her to solid ground.

Then I lift her legs up and around my waist. Carter’s moaning and whimpering. I’ve never been with a woman this eager. She sucks the skin of my neck between her teeth. It feels so damn sensual. There’s no way we’ll make it back to the house, so I carry her into the men’s changing room. Carter sucks on my nipples as I lay her on the massage bed. My dick is so hard that it’s plastered against my stomach. I pull down my swimming trunks.

Carter’s eyes grow wide at the sight of my fat dick. “Shit, you’re huge.”

She sits up, wraps her warm and clammy hand around my cock, and shifts it up and down. I close my eyes to feel the blood flood my shaft. Then a wet, warm mouth surrounds it. I make the mistake of looking down to see her mouth fuck my dick. I quickly shut my eyes and concentrate on not coming.