Pursued by Him (4 page)
I started to wonder whether I had upset Summer by not asking her to stay over the night I returned from California. I knew things had gotten tense when I mentioned the project in Japan, but I had thought things were smoothed over. I hadn’t spoken to her yesterday at all. We exchanged a few texts, but everything was very brief. Then, out of nowhere, she just stopped responding.
Thankfully this morning she sent me a text with a picture of herself in a sexy, blue dress. I couldn’t wait to see it when she arrived at the office this morning. I looked at my watch and smiled. She’d be here any minute and had already spent most of the morning day dreaming about her. I eased back into my chair and stared out of the window. Only a few more months of classes and the internships would be over. One of the last few interns would get a position in the company and the rest would end up with letters of recommendation. Those students could usually write their ticket anywhere. I smiled at the thought of Summer coming to work here. I’d get to see her every day, work closely with her. She seemed to have everything I could ever want in a woman and so much more.
“Wow, you look busy. Am I interrupting?” She giggled.
Summer stood in the doorway. Her royal blue dress looked better in person than I could have ever imagined. I hopped up and met her halfway into the office, immediately giving her a kiss on her perfectly painted lips. “You look amazing…and no, you aren’t interrupting.” I quickly moved past her and shut the door and then rejoined her for a follow up kiss, this one deeper and longer. “I’m glad you are here. I’ve been thinking about you. Is everything alright between us?”
Summer smiled and kissed me back. “Everything’s perfect.”
I pulled her closer as I ran my hands down her smooth dress, resting my hands on her ass and pulling her closer to me. I felt myself growing harder as our bodies pushed together tightly. “Good. I hadn’t heard from you most of yesterday. You seemed…distant.”
“I just had a lot going on.” Summer pulled away and glanced down towards the growing tightness in my pants and smiled. “I missed you…and that…” Her smile broadened as I attempted to pull her closer. “…but I actually do have some business questions for you…I’m working on something…”
I leaned in and kissed her neck. I couldn’t help myself. It had been a few days since we had really been together and I needed her, I wanted her, and everything else was an unwanted distraction. “Go ahead, ask away.” I chuckled as I continued to kiss her neck.
“Chase…” She giggled and pulled away again. “Can we focus…just for a minute?”
“Ok…one minute.” I laughed. I loved how playful I felt when I was around her. She always seemed to be able to bring something out in me that no one else had ever been able to do.
Summer took my seat behind the desk and motioned for me to sit in the guest chair as she smiled. “So Mr. Kerns, I’m curious, when you’re looking to invest in a company, what are some of the factors you consider before making your investment?”
“Mr. Kerns?” I laughed. “Well, I look at the company’s financials, I consider their product or services, competition, where they stand in the market. It’s really a combination of things.”
Summer began to rattle of questions and comments as if she were in a job interview. I sat and listened; impressed by how professional, smart and enthusiastic she was on the topic. She was determined to get the answers she was after and she looked sexy as hell doing it. I got up and walked around to the other side of the desk and sat on the edge, just in front of her as we continued to talk about investment strategies and business decisions. Instinctively I leaned over and kissed her mid-sentence. “Chase…what was that before?”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. Summer, you are just amazing. I’m so lucky to have you in my life…and I can tell you, you are going to be…no…you
are
one hell of a business woman.”
Summer blushed as she slowly stood in front of me and kissed me back. “Thank you…and thank you for your help. You have no idea how much it means to me.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and stared into my eyes. “I can’t wait to be able to work with you and show you what I’m really capable of.” She ran her hands down my shoulders and locked them around my waist, pulling me closer and tighter. I could feel myself growing hard again. I wanted her. She tossed her head back and rolled her eyes as the tone from her phone emerged from her purse. “Great timing.” She joked as she pulled out her phone and stared at it. “Oh crap…I forgot I was supposed to do this thing for Alyssa. I’m sorry, I have to run. Rain check?” She smiled.
I kissed her and smiled. “Sure.”
Summer grabbed her purse and dashed out of the office, leaving me standing alone and hard, wanting her. I plopped down in my chair and resumed staring out of the window as I had before she had arrived. The throbbing between my legs slowly subsided.
I stood in the elevator as my heart pounded, my phone still in my hand. I stared at the text from Brandon.
We need to meet. Now.
I didn’t know how I was going to do this. I felt terrible lying to Chase. He didn’t deserve this. I didn’t deserve this, but I had too much to lose. I knew what Brandon was capable of and I had not doubts that he would do everything he threatened. I closed my eyes and thought about my options.
I didn’t have any.
I texted back and waited.
Thirty minutes later I was sitting in the coffee shop across from Velocity Capital. I knew he chose that location on purpose. It was close enough to Chase that he could easily bump into me, or anyone else for that matter. I sat in the back corner and sipped my Chai Tea Latte as I kept my eye on the front door, waiting for
him
to walk back into my life. I wasn’t sure why, of all people, he had targeted me. Why would he ever think I would help him after all this time?
Brandon strutted through the coffee shop, his ragged backpack tossed over his shoulder, and took a seat across from me. “Thanks for meeting me.”
“You didn’t give me a choice.” I barked back.
Brandon laughed as he slid back in the hard wooden chair. “I was trying to be polite…but yeah…you didn’t have a choice.” He pulled out his laptop and a manila folder stuffed with papers. “This is for you. You’ll probably want to read through it a few times so you can get familiar with the company and what our product is. Don’t get caught up in the details. I can tell you exactly what to say.”
I snapped the stack of papers from his hand and gave him a snarl. “Let me guess…I don’t have a choice here either.” I dropped the folder on the table and opened it. An official looking document with a company logo across the front sat on the top of the stack. I continued flipping though the pages as he looked on. “You expect me to read all of this? Artificial Intelligence? Financial network monitoring? What the hell is all this?”
“See? You are already getting the gist. It’s nothing. Made up…but it looks good, doesn’t it? Good enough to get a few people to make some investments, especially when they see that Velocity Capital has made an investment.” Brandon leaned back and laughed. “I’m in a tight spot Summer. I need twenty-five thousand in the next few days. Make that happen. Bat those pretty blue eyes at your boyfriend like you use to do to me…and get me that money.”
Brandon quickly tapped at his laptop as he sneered, occasionally glancing over the top at me. I closed the folder and stood up. “Are we done? Maybe you should just ask me to get a bar of gold from Fort Knox. There is no way I can get that kind of money, period.”
“Check your phone.” Brandon chuckled.
I looked down at the text message from the unknown number, but it was obviously his. A screenshot of my university email was on the screen followed by my phone records and text messages. “You bastard.”
“It only gets worse Summer. Two days. Make it happen, or else.” Brandon closed his laptop and stuffed it into his bag. “I’ll be in touch. Have some good news for me.”
I landed back in the hard wooden seat as I watched him leave the coffee shop. I sent a text to Chase.
Dinner tonight?
I immediately received a response.
Of course. My place 7pm?
* * * *
I sat nervously on the edge of the stool as I watched Chase pour the contents of the large pot onto the plates. “You know, someday I’m going to have to cook for you. You do like macs-n-cheese, right?” I laughed.
“I do.” Chase grabbed the two bowls of pasta and slid up next to me at the table. “Sorry, it was a rough day at work and I didn’t get a chance to escape early. I was hoping to make something more elaborate and exquisite.”
“It’s perfect and much better than my macs-n-cheese for sure.” I took a sip from the glass of red wine on the table and took in a deep breath. I had been rehearsing all afternoon. “I was thinking maybe we could pick up from where we left off this afternoon.”
Chase’s eyes lit up as he smiled at me from across the table. “I was thinking the same thing. You left me…” Chase paused as his smile grew bigger, “Let’s just say you left me needing more.” He chuckled as he raised his eyebrows up and down, causing me to giggle.
“No! I meant our talk about investing.” I felt terrible for putting him off. I wanted him as much as he wanted me, but I couldn’t think about that right now. “So, who generally handles all that stuff at your company?”
“That’s always me. I never invest a dime without doing my research and knowing everything there is about a company. I just don’t throw my money away.”
My stomach sank as I sat at the bar. I’d lost my appetite as I thought about what I was attempting to do. I was no better than Brandon at the moment.
“Summer, I appreciate your interest in all of this, but what’s really going on?” Chase leaned forward and stared at me. His face just inches from mine.
“What do you mean? I’m just–”
“You’re stealing from me, aren’t you?”
My heart stopped beating for a moment as a cold wave of fear covered my body. “What? What do you mean, Chase I’d never–”
“Trying to steal all my good ideas? Are you thinking about opening up your own company and being my competitor?” Chase chuckled as he leaned in and kissed me on the lips. I sat there, unable to kiss him back or even respond. I simply stared. The blood had rushed from my face as I finally realized he was joking.
“Ha, yes. That’s exactly what I’m doing…” I took large swig of wine, followed by a bite of pasta from the bowl in front of me. “Actually, I have an old friend, we’ve known each other for awhile, and he asked me for some help with this company. He’s looking for investors. It’s actually a really good idea and he’s really trustworthy, and smart…he’s definitely smart…and he’s just not had a lot of luck trying to raise any capital and well…he came to me and–”
“Summer, take a breath!” Chase laughed. “Slow down. You’re going a mile a minute.”
I took a deep breath and another swig of wine and gave the speech I had rehearsed all afternoon. I knew every fake detail and every lie. I made every attempt to be convincing. After a couple more glasses of wine and dinner I had finished the story. I had done everything just as I had practiced. I sat in the chair, silent and stared at Chase. “Did I say that he’s really trustworthy?”
“Yes. You did mention that, at least five or six times. It sounds like a great opportunity.” Chase leaned back and placed his hands behind his head. “Do you think he’d be interested in me investing? I mean, if that isn’t a conflict between you and I.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I didn’t even have to ask. This seemed all too easy and I questioned whether Chase actually saw right through my story. “I…I don’t think it would be. If you think it sounds like a good investment.”
“Well, you talked so quickly, but you seem so passionate about it. I want to do this…for you. You really didn’t have to sell me on it, as long as you believe in it.” Chase leaned forward and grabbed my hand. “I trust your judgment.” My gut tightened as he said those words. “How much does he need?”
“I believe he said he was trying to raise…maybe twenty or twenty-five thousand …maybe. It seems like a lot, doesn’t it? He has a few people that are interested.”
I could feel my hands sweating as Chase held my hand and stared into my eyes. “Not really, to get started, that’s not much. Tell you what, I’ll have a check for you tomorrow for twenty-five thousand.” He raised my hand to his mouth and kissed it. “Now, can we stop the talk about work and get back to
real business
? How about we talk about dessert,
upstairs
.”
* * * *
Guilt cast a shadow over the evening as I lay in bed naked next to Chase. His light breathing barely audible over the pounding in my chest. I vaguely remembered us having sex just moments earlier. My mind had been fixated on my lies and deception. I was no better than the blackmailing bitch that was before me, Hannah. Chase had placed his faith and trust in me and tomorrow, I was going to pick up a check and deliver it to a person that only cared about himself. He didn’t care that he was going to ruin my life and that’s exactly what was going to happen the moment Chase found out the truth.
I stared up at the ceiling wondering whether there was ever going to be a way to get out of this mess. I glanced over at Chase as he slept. He was so perfect. I didn’t deserve him. He certainly didn’t deserve this or what I was about to do to him. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and sent Brandon a text.
Tomorrow.