Mid Life Love (13 page)

C
laire

“Claire, is
there a directors’ meeting today?”

“No. I don’t
think so.”
I
texted Jonathan back.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m one
hundred percent sure. We’re only working with the beta team today.”

There definitely
was
a directors’ meeting today, but I didn’t want to tell him that. The
last time we were together in his office, he’d mentioned wanting to have sex in
the conference room right after a meeting.

I thought that
was way too risky and way too bold. I was still trying to get over the
‘relaxation room’ incident and I didn’t want to do anything that could get us
caught by my coworkers.

“Claire, could
you help me set up for our meeting today?” Mr. Barnes handed me a box of poster
boards. “We’re going to keep things simple today and use these.”

I wasn’t sure if
it was because I’d been spending so much time with him on our latest campaigns,
or if constant sex with Jonathan made me more tolerant of people, but Mr.
Barnes was becoming less annoying by the day. He was still overly enthusiastic
and in need of severe “diversity training,” but for the first time in all my
years at Statham Industries, I was learning to appreciate him.

I carried the
posters into the conference room and saw that Jonathan was sitting alone at the
table.

“Good afternoon,
Miss Gracen. I hope I’m not too early for the
directors’ meeting
today.”

“Not at all.”
Mr. Barnes came in after me. “You’re right on time. We’re going to start in
about ten minutes.”

Shit...

Jonathan smiled
and leaned back in his chair. “Mr. Barnes, just out of curiosity, was this
meeting planned or did you spontaneously decide to have it a few minutes ago?”

“Oh no, it’s
been planned for about three months now. We always meet on Thursdays whenever
we get a memo about a new product.”

“Thanks for
telling me that.” Jonathan gave me one of his lusty smiles. “I’ll have to keep
that in mind from now on.” 

I turned away
from him and started setting up the poster boards for the brainstorming
session. I could feel him watching me—making my body react against my will. As
other people began to fill the room, I took a seat at the end of the table. Far
away from him.

I thought he
would text me during the meeting, so I kept checking my phone, but it never
vibrated. In fact, he never even looked my way.

When the meeting
was over, he began chatting with Mr. Barnes so I plotted my escape. I said
goodbye to a few directors, gathered up the poster boards, and left the room.

I didn’t want to
take the elevators—Jonathan could definitely get to me in there, so I walked
down ten flights of steps to get back to my office.

I unlocked the
door and hit the lights, exhaling. Then I turned around and saw him sitting at
my desk, grinning.

I don’t have to
explain myself to you...

I set the box of
posters on my cabinet and started organizing my files, acting like he wasn’t in
the room. As I was alphabetizing my associates’ letters, I felt him wrapping
his arms around me.

“You lied to
me.” He sounded amused.

“So?”

He loosened his
grip and spun me around. “So?”

“Yes...
So
?”

He looked at me
for a long time, letting his eyes roam over my body. He took several steps
towards me, backing me against the wall.

“I’m going to
make you regret that when you least expect it.” He kissed my lips. “I’ll see
you this afternoon.”

––––––––

D
on’t call
him....Don’t call him...

It was midnight.
I was lying in bed, counting the number of cracks in my ceiling, trying to keep
my mind off Jonathan.

I’d tried my
best to resist liking him, but I couldn’t help it. We’d been having sex for
almost two months, talking on the phone every now and then, and texting each
other at work. Yet, it wasn’t those things that made my heart flutter; it was
the small intimate things he did.

Since I refused
to eat lunch with him, he had whatever I wanted delivered to my office and called
me during my break so that we could “technically” eat lunch together.

He insisted on
kissing me before and after sex—not the hungry, savage,
‘devouring-you-right-now’ kisses; the sensual, open-mouthed,
‘I-can’t-get-enough-of-you’ kisses. He called me “beautiful” every chance he
could, and he always asked me out on a date, even though I turned him down
every time.

I wasn’t foolish
enough to believe that our affair would last, it was only temporary—a
meaningless fling. It was only a matter of time before a younger woman, a woman
who would immediately say
yes
to going out with him, would catch his
eye.

I couldn’t deny
that I was enjoying the newfound attention and the undeniable ego boost, but I
was hoping he would find someone else soon. I needed to come back to my senses
and stop behaving like some sex-crazed teenager.

Stop thinking
about him, Claire. Stop thinking about—

My phone rang.
Him
.

I didn’t let it
ring more than once before answering it. “Hello?”

“Hello, Claire.
You’re up late tonight.”

“I have to be.
I’m in the middle of doing some very important—”

“You’re in bed
aren’t you?”

Ugh.
“Yes...”

He laughed. “And
the lies just keep coming, don’t they? Don’t even think I’ve forgotten about
your
first
lie. I’m still going to get you back for that.”

My heart skipped
a beat. “What are you doing?”

“I’m still at
the office. I think I’m going to have to spend the night here. It’s been a busy
week and I can’t keep up with all the paperwork.”

“More
contracts?”

“Exactly. When a
company’s about to go public, everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon. It’s a
good thing for us economically, but it’s extremely stressful.”

“I can’t
imagine...I’m sure you’ll—”

“You should come
over.”

“What? I don’t
think so. This afternoon was
more
than enough. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“We don’t have
to have sex, Claire. We can just talk.”

“Talk?”

“Yes. What we’re
doing right now, except in person.”

“Um...No thanks.
That’s a forty minute drive for me so—”

“My driver is
outside your house with a town car.”

What!

I jumped out of
bed and peered through my blinds. Sure enough, there was a driver standing in
front of a black luxury car.

“What’s your
next excuse? And don’t say your daughters because you told me last week that
they drive themselves to work on the weekends.”

“I...”

“You know you
want to
come
—no pun intended.”

Damnit...
“I’ll have to
think about it for a while and get back to you.”

“See you soon.”
He laughed and hung up.

I rushed into my
bathroom and brushed a light layer of foundation on my face. I threw on a pair
of black slacks and a purple blouse and headed outside.

“Good evening,
Miss Gracen.” The driver greeted me as I approached the car.

His driver knows
my name?

“Good evening.
Thank you for the ride...”

“Anything for
Mr. Statham,” he said as he shut my door.

As the car sped
through the city, I realized how beautiful San Francisco was at night—all the
lights from the downtown skyline were shining brightly and most of the streets
were clear.

The car came to
a stop forty minutes later and I heard the driver say, “We’ve arrived Mr. Statham...Yes,
of course.”

He stepped out
of the car and walked around to my door. “This way, Miss Gracen.” Holding out
his arm, he walked me into the basement of Statham Industries. He led me over
to the private elevator and hit “JS.”

As we rode to
the top floor, he kept his eyes forward and I could see him slightly smiling.

When the doors
slid open, Jonathan was standing in front of me wearing a muscle shirt and
work-out pants. It looked like he’d just taken a shower; his hair was still wet
and I could see small damp traces on his shirt.

Why does he
always look so good?

“Thank you,
Greg.” Jonathan reached for my hand and walked me into his office. “Would you
like something to drink, Claire?”

“No thank you...Is
your driver always at your beck and call?”

“
Several
people are always at my beck and call.” He smiled. “I would’ve come with him to
pick you up, but I promised we wouldn’t have sex, so I thought staying here was
the better decision.”

“You honestly
think I would’ve had sex with you while
your driver
was in the car with
us?”

He didn’t
answer. He just looked at me and smirked.

“Come with me.
I’m doing my work in here.” He motioned for me to follow him through three
different doors, into an elegant living room that looked like it belonged in a
mansion—not a corporate office.

“This is a
well-designed room...”

“A rare
compliment. I’ll have to type that up and get it framed.” He looked over my
clothes. “Is that what you normally wear to sleep?”

“Why does it
matter? I’m not here to spend the night. I’m just here to—”

“Wait here.” He
disappeared into a side room and came back minutes later. “You can wear these.”
He handed me a pair of red flannel pants and a black muscle shirt.

“You keep a
stash of clothes for all your sleepovers with female employees?”

“Claire, Claire,
Claire...” He sighed. “Number one, they’re
my
pajamas and I’ve never
shared them with anyone before. Number two,
you
are my first sleepover
guest at corporate.
Period
. And number three, I told you that we weren’t
going to have sex tonight, but if you keep up your sarcasm, you’ll be bent over
my desk in a matter of seconds.”

I bit my lip to
prevent myself from smiling. “Where’s your bathroom?”

“Down the hall
and to the right.”

I walked away
and locked myself into the most opulent bathroom I’d ever seen. It was
huge
:
There was a marbled Jacuzzi in the corner, a glass shower that took up half the
room, and double sinks with shiny golden fixtures that reflected against the
wall length mirrors.

When I stepped
back into the living room, the couch had been transformed into a bed and
Jonathan was tossing pillows onto it.

“Do you stay
late often?” I asked.

“I try not to. I
prefer to be at home, but days like this force me to every now and then.”

“Interesting...Can
your driver take me back home in an hour?”

He rolled his
eyes. “Get in the bed, Claire.”

“Not until you
answer me.” I mocked his voice. “Or are you the only one who doesn’t have to
answer questions?”

He walked over
and scooped me into his arms. “Exactly,” he said as he tossed me onto the bed.
“The remote is on the coffee table to your left. I’m going to read the rest of
this document and then I’ll join you.”

I wasn’t sure
why my heart started dancing at his last words—‘
I’ll join you
’—but I
didn’t try to stop it this time. I watched him walk over to his desk and pick
up a folder; he was soon lost in whatever he was reading.

I flipped
through the channels and settled on a home renovation show. The hosts were
gutting a fifties’ style galley kitchen and transforming it into a more modern
one—complete with an island, a breakfast bar, and granite countertops.

While I admired
their effort, I hated that they were taking so much of the home’s original
character away; they could’ve at least saved the cabinets and refurbished
them. 

“This is the
best show you could find?” Jonathan slid into bed facing me.

“I love these
shows. Those designers are living my dream.”

“So why are you
working
here
? Why not quit and pursue what you really want to do?”

“Do you know
what the word ‘
debt
’ means?”

He pulled me
close. “I wasn’t always rich...I’m just wondering why you’ve been in marketing so
long if it isn’t what you really want to do.”

“My dreams had
to be put on hold once I had kids...It wasn’t about
me
anymore. I had to
do what was best for them. And I—”

Do not do
this...Do not open up...This is not what you want...

“I just had to
do what was best for them.” I sighed. “Do you have any children? Siblings?”

“I think you
would know if I had kids by now...” He sounded confused. “I do have a little
sister though.”

“Oh...I had a
sister once. Does your sister work here with you?”

“No, she’s in
grad school in Memphis.” He pulled me even closer so that I was nuzzled against
his chest. “Were you sleeping when I called you earlier?”

“What do you
mean, ‘was I sleeping’?”

“Were you
sleeping
or were you thinking about something?”

“Yes. I was
thinking
about
sleeping
.”

He laughed.
“What time do you have to get up in the morning?”

“Eight...Are we
really about to go to sleep together? You’re not going to try to do anything?”

He stared at me
for several seconds, looking like he wanted to say something, something witty.
Instead he planted a soft kiss on my lips and turned off the lights.

He rolled me
over so my back was against his chest, and then he held me in his arms.

––––––––

I
woke up
entwined in Jonathan’s arms and noticed that he was watching me.