Driven by Desire (7 page)

“Hhmmm. Name please.”

“Marcus.” Even as Tanya said his name, it felt like she was saying it for the first time despite the many times it rolled off her tongue during their two nights together.

“
The
Marcus?” Zaira screamed. “Oh. My. Goodness.”

Tanya’s heart thumped. “Wait a minute! You know him?”

“Veronica was going over the guest list just last week when I was doing their business taxes. He was on there. I had no idea that Leroy went to school with him until she told me.”

She sat down on the bed, a lump suddenly forming in her throat. She hoped to goodness that she hadn’
t slept with the same man as Zaira. “How do you know him? Please don’t tell me you’ve fucked him.”

Zaira burst out laughing. “No!
I wish.
If you’re talking about who I think…”

“I doubt it.
I hope not.”

“Okay. What else do you know of him? The Marcus I’m talking about is the new CEO of Svelte. My father just hired him about a month ago.
That’s why I was surprised to see him on the guest list. Apparently he has ties to Atlanta.”

Tanya gasped. “Hold on a moment.” She
jumped up again, and raced to her purse. She dumped the contents out in search of the business card he’d given her right after the kiss at the airport. More concerned with how good his lips had tasted, she’d tucked it down into her purse and hadn’t even taken a look at it. Her heart raced frantically, as the cream colored card with raised black lettering came into view on the coffee table. She turned it over, and she literally felt the blood rush up to her face. Her heart began to thump wildly.

Marcus
Brooks. CEO. Svelte Technologies.

“
Tanya? You still there?” Zaira’s voice was faint on the other end. “You can call me back at lunch if you need to.”

“Yeah,” she mumbled, her fingers trembled as she held the card.

“You’re usually at the coffee shop in the mall by now. I had no idea you were still in bed,” Zaira said. “Call me at lunch, okay?”

“Yeah.”

Once the call disconnected, Tanya swallowed hard. Reality had literally hit her in the gut.

Marcus
Brooks was just the type of man she’d vowed never to date again courtesy of her ex. Men with money, fortune, and power who thought they could just run all over women and discard them as they saw fit when the next opportunity came along.

Marcus’
career status wasn’t the only thing that had her head reeling in shock.

Her ex, Justin, had just resigned from his position in the accounting department of Svelte Technologies a little over eight months ago to become a stock broker
in New York.

She’
d fucked the CEO of the company where her ex used to work.

She didn’t know why this had her feeling sick to the stomach.
Maybe the feeling would pass, but one thing was certain…

There was no way that she would have her heart run through again by a man who only cared about climbing the corporate ladder.

***

A couple days passed and Marcus
Brooks had already left two voicemails on her cell phone. One was to inquire about whether she made it back home safely, and the other was to express his concerns about why she hadn’t called him as promised.

Tanya went about her day working at the
high-end Meridian Goldsmiths jewelry store in the mall, physically but not mentally present. She had an exam tomorrow for her psychology class that she hadn’t even studied for. Every time she picked up the book, her fling with Marcus and the shock of who he was had diverted her attention.

Was his bad boy demeanor all a front? He’d said he belonged to some motorcycle club. How could he be the CEO of a multimillion
dollar company, yet exude such a rebellious nature. Who was he exactly?

Tanya
juggled the cell phone in her palm, contemplating what she would say to Marcus before she keyed his personal cell number written on the back of the business card with shaky fingers.

She owed him at least a call. Just to reiterate that all she’d really wanted was the sex.

“Tanya?” he answered on the third ring.

“How did you know it was me?”

“I have caller ID. I missed your voice. How’ve you been, beautiful?”

“I got your message.
And yes, I’ve made it back safely. I wasn’t feeling up to par over the last couple days which is why I didn’t call.”

“What’s wrong?” He sounded concerned.

She swallowed. “I…ah…just the stress of the job and going to school. And other things?”

“Right. You did tell me that you were working on your graduate degree. There are many ways to relieve stress…”

“Look, Marcus.” She decided to cut to the chase before he got any ideas. Or before she gave into his charm and took him up on anymore offers. He was off limits because of who he was…and she was not about to give into his smooth-talking ass again because she couldn’t control herself. “I kind of wish we hadn’t done that thing back in Ocho Rios.”

There was a long pause on the other end. “That thing?”

“Yes. We fucked. Or do you not even remember? I was acting in desperation, I admit. My recent breakup with my ex and the stress of finding a real job hit me all at once. I needed relief.”

“
And you know that I was more than willing and happy to give you relief, but fucking was not all we did.”

“
Yes, but it was what we agreed on doing with each other.”

“Excuse me for a moment, Tanya,
” he said softly, and then there was a muffled voice on the other end of Marcus’s line. A soft, sweet voice that could not have belonged to a man. “Schedule it for two p.m.” The woman spoke again, but Tanya couldn’t make out the words.

“I—” Marcus began.

“Look, if you’re busy, I’ll let you go.” It was obvious he had plenty of other women to entertain him.

“No, I’ve been waiting days for you to call me,” he said. “I was just finishing up a conference and walking back to my office when you called.”

“I’m sorry to bother you at work,” she said.

After all, he was the CEO of one of the most prestigious companies in the U.S.,
top 25 places to work in Atlanta, and known for beating out their competition on many projects. Mr. Wright, Zaira’s father, had been a well-known investor before he founded Svelte Technologies. In addition to owning the company, he also sat on the board as President.

It was a s
mall world, and there was no way that Tanya would risk everyone discovering that she’d slept with two men already at that company.

“We
might have agreed to have sex, but as I told you before, I want to do so much more with you.”

She swallowed. “It won’t happen.”

He chuckled nervously. “Did I do something?”

“I’m not interested in anything serious right now. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“Okay, okay. I get it. We’ll do whatever you want. If you just want sex from me, I’ll be that guy. I just want to see you again. I think that if we get to know each other more, you’d understand that I’m not just—”

Heat rose to her neck in aggravation. “Is that all you think about? Really?”

“Um…I’m a little confused here. You just told me you wanted sex and nothing serious.”

Tanya exhaled deeply. “That’s not what I meant.”

There wasn’t really much she could say. If she told him the real reason she never wanted to see him again, he’d know who she was right away. That her ex once worked under Mr. Wright, his current boss.

“Thank you for an awesome time in Ocho Rios. It was all that I called to say.”

“Tanya…”

“I have to go.”
She disconnected the call before he could even convince her to change her mind.

Three days later…

“It’s been ages since we went out dancing,” Zaira said, twirling her straw around her mocha Frappuccino. “We’ve gotta go clubbing this weekend. How about it?”

“You know I still have finals next week,” Tanya said. “Plus we get a big shipment in three days at the store and Zachary wants me to start staying later to do inventory.”

Zaira sucked her teeth and pouted. “You’re a workaholic.”

Tanya laughed. “Who me? I know you aren’t talking.
Zaira Wright
. The woman who holds down
two
jobs and still finds time to party hard like its 2999 or something.”

They were having lunch at a deli across the street from Zaira’s accounting firm. Over a week had passed since she last talked to her best friend on the phone. And finally she had been able to share the details of the Vanessa’s extravagant wedding.

“I’m only helping my father out until he finds Bane’s replacement. I seem to be the only one in that department who worked alongside Banes enough to know the ins and outs.” Zaira sighed. “I hope to God Dad finds my replacement before month end. I want nothing to do with those uptight bitches in the accounting department during crunch time.”

Zaira
had interned with Banes, the prior CFO of Svelte Technologies, for about eight months while in her last year of studies before finding a job at an independent accounting firm. She could’ve probably stepped into the CFO role if she wanted to, but Zaira had told her many times before that despite her father’s many offers, she had no desire to work for Svelte under family. She wanted to make a name for herself.

“I feel you on that one.” Tanya nodded. “When I used to visit to take Justin his lunch, all they ever seemed to do was gossip and fuss among each other.”

“Since Marcus took the reigns as CEO, there has been major changes. I don’t know what he did or told the staff, but he put a stop to all that quickly. I’m only in there three hours a day, but you better bet his entire crew are always sitting at their desks, noses stuck in file folders or eyes glued to computer screens. He must have cracked the fucking whip on their asses.”

Tanya swallowed on the mention of Marcus’ name. The man she’d dumped before she even had him. “That sounds interesting and good for the company.”

Zaira dug into her purse, took out a small compact mirror, and began applying more lip gloss. “Dad couldn’t have picked a better CEO. He’s not even been there a year yet and Svelte’s bottom line has soured. I’ve seen the financial statements. Not only that, I spoke with some people in the sales department last week, and they’re bringing in accounts like crazy.”

“Sounds like Svelte is really moving on up.”

“Speaking of…have you spoken with Justin since he left?”

She shrugged. “I don’t take his calls
anymore. I actually lost count of the number of voicemails he’s left. At least two or three a week now.”

“Wow. I bet he wishes he never left Svelte and he probably wants you
back.”

Tanya shook her head. “No, he made it clear that money and social status is worth more than having a real woman.”

“Too bad.” Zaira moved her empty cup to the side. “Sounds like you’re completely over him, which is good. We’ll have more free time now that you’re graduating soon. We need to get out more.”

“Agreed.”

“And don’t just say it either,” her friend warned, narrowing her eyes. “You know I’ll come drag you out of your house.”

“Like you somehow did today?”

“Yeah…oh—” Zaira’s gaze became looked on something behind her. “Speaking of the devil. Don’t turn around now, but I think he is headed this way.”

“He? Who?”

“Ladies,” Marcus familiar voice greeted them from behind Tanya. “May I join you?”

Tanya’s blood rushed
rapidly as he came into view all decked out in business attire. Freshly dry-cleaned black slacks. Formal business shirt. A royal blue tie.

“Of course!” Zaira smiled brightly.

“Hello, Tanya,” he said, as he sat down, placing a brown bag on the table.

“Hello, Marcus,
” Tanya said, trying to keep her cool, although her heart was racing.

“Oh!” Zaira’s hand flew to her mout
h and her eyes were wide in revelation and then wider still in shock. “I understand now.” Her lips spread in a grin.

It was evident
Zaira had figured out that the Marcus from Ocho Rios was the Marcus sitting here now, new CEO of Svelte Technologies. The man that had used his hands to bring Tanya pleasure dozens of times also used the same hands to crack the whip on the employees at her father’s company.

Marcus remo
ved his sandwich from the bag and unwrapped it on the table. “It’s a nice afternoon to enjoy lunch outside on the patio. I would have taken my sandwich back to my office, but I couldn’t resist the view here.”

He stole a glance at Tanya, and she quickly diverte
d her gaze.