Tattooed Moon (23 page)

She could see in the man’s eyes he was going through a great internal debate. Perhaps he contemplated lying about it, or maybe even downplaying it, but she thought better of that when the light went out of his eyes and his shoulders slumped. She recalled, during one of their very first conversations, he hinted at things being overwhelming. Now, the truth had been unfolded.

“Yeah, it’s true.” He took his seat as well as a sip of his tea. He took yet another, swallowing a bit harder, as if it were hard liquor. “This isn’t my strong suit. It’s not that I couldn’t do it. I just don’t want to, and now, things have gotten out of control.”

“I see.” She picked more papers out of the pile and studied them. “Okay, let me see what system you are using.”

He nudged his computer in her direction. “This is the spreadsheet that Angela has been entering everything in.”

“But you have no actual tracking system, like Quickbooks or something of that nature?”

Milan pulled the computer even closer and pushed the down arrow. She frowned as she surveyed the situation.

“No Quickbooks. It didn’t seem very user-friendly. This way was just easier. I understand Excel.”

“But your business needs
more
than this, Julian.” She continued to read. “Look, right here alone.” She pointed at the computer screen. “This one week, you’ve had fourteen new customers within a three day span. You need to be able to effectively follow up with the customers, offer them promotions, discounts, all of that, so that they’ll be even more inclined to come back to you. Look, once you get used to a tracking system, it won’t seem so bad.”

“But that’s not accounting, you’re talking marketing.”

“In this case, Julian, they are one and the same. If you’re accounting record tracking improves, so will your marketing because you’ll be able to actually see who and what you are dealing with. You can target certain customers for specific promotions, thus, becoming more effective. You can even do things like send them holiday cards or birthday discounts online via a marketing promotion that also includes a 10% off coupon code for return customers. There are all sorts of things you can do that you aren’t currently doing because you are barraged with too much information that isn’t accounted for. These campaigns can work themselves; you can have Angela do it at certain intervals, it would be easy, or you could hire a marketing firm.”

Julian sighed, shoved his tea out of the way and hit his forehead on the damn table in dramatic exasperation.

Milan couldn’t help but laugh. She gently rubbed his back. “Well, at least you have someone that will set this all up for you. Give me what you have and in a few weeks, I will have everything organized and resolved. Then, I will train you and Angela on it. Deal?” She stood, took her purse and looked down at him, the pitiful thing that he was. “I want you to email me every single spreadsheet that Angela is working on by tomorrow morning. Give me some help loading this stuff to my car.”

“Where are you parked?” he mumbled, raising his head, still nursing a ‘woe is me’ expression. “If it’s far, I’ll put it all in bags and folders for you.” He sounded so sad, so she tried to not laugh. “Oh, and thank you…” he added, finally making eye contact as he got to his feet.

She took a sip of her tea and set the mug back down. She was prepared to leave, but he stood in her way, blocking her. She tried going around him, and he repeated his performance, causing them to get into an awkward dance.

“What are you doing?” She smiled.

He grabbed her around the waist, looked briefly into her eyes and kissed her, ran his lips real slow over hers,

Once…

Twice…

…and a bit more.

He pushed his tongue inside of her mouth and gripped the back of her head, his fingers spread firm and far apart across her crown. She gasped with pleasure so he kept on until he had her backed against the wall. Her purse abruptly fell from her shoulder on to the floor as he practically swallowed her whole. With urgent motions, he pulled at her blouse, lifting it up as he stared at her with a dazed, yet seductive look in his eyes. He ran his large hands roughly across her breasts until he plucked them out from their red, silky confines. Then his face disappeared between her mounds, her flesh warmed by his touch as he slicked his tongue over her erect nipples, soon engulfing them one at a time into his hot, wet mouth.

“Mmmmm….” she moaned as she ran her fingers through his hair, trying desperately to not unravel his sloppy chignon. All the while, his hands spread heat over her exposed flesh from the waist up. She gasped for air as he kept her pinned to that wall. The water cooler juddered and bubbled when he gripped the top of her black and white pinstripe pants and brushed against it. He quickly unfastened them, the zipper soon to follow. “We…can’t…do this here.” She moaned.

“Yes we can. I’m the boss.”

He undid his jeans and plunged his pants and briefs down past his ass, exposing a rigid cock aimed right at her zone. She sucked in air as she glared down at it, her pussy tightening and swelling with moisture at the sight. As if on cue, she spread her thighs, inviting him inside, and drifted into an abyss of lust. But instead of doing what she expected, Julian fell to his knees and looked at her pussy as if he were in love with it, and buried his wet mouth between her legs before she could form a coherent thought, causing her to buck against the wall. He lapped at her, squeezed her ass cheeks tight in his grip, focused diligently on her. Every so often he looked up at her with bright blue eyes, and moaned deeply into her sweetness.

“Ahhh…Oh God…” How much more could she take?

He worked his tongue from side to side, until he zoned in on her clit, completely melting her until she was no more.

“Ohhh! Ahhhh…shit!” She tried to watch her voice, for surely it carried and would draw attention, but the orgasm felt so rich and delicious, she could barely contain herself.

Obviously quite pleased with himself from his smug expression, he got to his feet, grabbed her hips and kissed her. She whimpered against his lips when he spread her legs wider and suddenly pushed upward, deeply lunging inside of her…fast, aggressive, hard and needy…

“Uhhhhh….” He moaned in her ear, his thrusts urgent as he churned into her. “Uhhhh!”

Milan threw her head back, her arms outstretched against the wall as he kept her pinned there, taking her body for his own desires and needs. It never felt so right to be so used…

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, felt the contorting muscles of his back under the fabric of his light blue shirt. His moans were music to her ears as he took her, without reservation.
Who cares if I’m late to work? This is what I live for, what I crave…

“Uhhhh!” He shuddered and paused, then resumed his thrusts, keeping her so close to him, his gaze hooked with hers, hands gripping her ass cheeks and holding her up. Pelvic spasms rolled deep within her, making her feet muscles flex. He dragged his lips slowly up and down her neck as she lost more and more of her self-control. The world around her grew fuzzy…the tattoo table blurred; the small chair with the wheels seemed to be moving back and forth like a ship rocking about upon turbulent waters. The artwork slanted and she felt underwater, a mere dash upon an abstract painting.

“Ahhhhh!” Her nails dug into his neck. “Ahhhhh!”

He stifled her cries with a kiss, pressing his mouth hard against her own, swallowing her voice as he slicked his tongue between her lips, and plunged even further inside of her.

“Uhhh!”

Warm, masculine hands gripped her tighter as he anchored her just so, pushing and thrusting rapidly until he cried out…

She stood listless, her orgasm subsiding as his began.

“Uhhhh…Uh!” He squeezed her to him, a faraway look in his eyes as he poured his essence within her. She felt the tingle of his deep exhales on her hair as he slowly released her from the wall. Moments later they dressed, observing one another, their eyes yelling loud and clear, ‘We both want more…’

A soft knock sounded at the door. They both heard it, but instead of answering it, they gravitated back towards one another. His unbuttoned pants pressed into her groin, the cold, silver button pushing against her pelvis as he landed another kiss across her lips.

Another knock…

“In a minute!” he called out, then turned his attention back to her. “So, do you have to leave right now?” He winked, a crooked grin on his face that betrayed his wish she’d stay a bit longer.

“You went from not wanting me to come help you, to wanting me to stay.”

“I
always
want you to stay…” He reached down and buttoned his pants.

“And I wish I could.” She sighed, eyeing her cell phone that lay on the table as her pussy throbbed from his recent visitation.

“Why don’t you just work here, for me?” he teased as he wrapped his arms around her waist and rubbed his nose against hers.

“Mmmm hmmm.” She smirked, begrudgingly wriggling away from his grasp. She seized her purse, trying desperately to ignore the continuous warm pulsing between her thighs.

Damn, I can still feel him inside me. It’s like he never left… Gonna be walking funny all day…

The smirk grew into a grin and though she tried to hide it, she failed. He took her by the hand and led her out of the room, letting her off the hook.

“Everyone,” he called out to his employees. All eyes lifted to him, including those of the customers. “This is Milan. She’s my girlfriend, as most of you already knew, but the news is, she is going to help me with some business matters. That means some things are about to change, for the better.”

Milan looked at him closely, and though he sounded strong and assured, she knew it took a lot for him to declare such a thing. Not the ‘girlfriend’ part—but the part where he admitted accepting her much needed assistance.

Angela stood from her chair and clapped, causing laughter and more applause.

“Yes!” the young lady exclaimed. “We are
finally
going to get some professionalism around here!”

“What are you tryna say?!” Julian turned and glared at her, pretending to be deeply offended. “I
am
a damn professional!” He pointed to his chest emphatically, a smile so wide it lit up the room.

Angela smirked and rolled her eyes, then returned to her seat to answer the phone. A few minutes later, Milan’s car was full of paperwork in tubs and bags that Angela happily helped load inside. Milan waved goodbye to both of them, and concentrated particularly on Julian in her rear view mirror.

Damn, my man is just beautiful in so many ways…

The man’s sloppy bun was so sexy, and fit him so well. His strong arms flexed a bit as he shoved his hands in his jeans pockets, his feet far apart in a cowboy stance. Her hero…her hippy bad ass with a healing hand…

She realized something at that pivotal moment, as the man grew smaller and smaller in the mirror, but larger and larger in her heart…

She loved him
deeply…

‡

“Y
ou’re late!” Martin
yelled.

“I know. I had to take care of some things.” Milan huffed as she strolled past him, a bit of pep in her hippity hop step.