Willow (5 page)

“
Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir. But the market has been—” Jared cut him off with a raised brow. “Of course,” William went on. “I’ll set you up for more of what you had in mind next week.”

“
This weekend if possible.” Jared walked out the front door and got into his car. He’d had enough.

Monday morning he was going to confront the woman and tell her she was fired and to fire that Talbor. It was the surest way of getting her out of his system. And his dreams. That made him think of the dream he’d had of her last night, the one where he’d done all sorts of decadent things to the lovely Miss James. Slamming his hand against the steering wheel, he growled in frustration. And when he got home, he was calling every woman on his phone and exorcising Willow from his mind. He was frustrated, that was all. He needed to get laid. Somehow, as he pulled into his driveway, he knew that wasn’t it at all.

~Chapter 5~

Willow was in the big office working when Thomas came and got her. He didn’t say much, which wasn’t anything unusual, but his facial expression said it all.

“
He didn’t mean to do it, boss. I think he being new and all…we can just fix it, right?”

She didn’t say anything. New meant Robert and as much as she wanted to avoid the man altogether, she had to go and see what she could fix. If she could. The break room in the office building that she was led to didn’t look all that bad at first glance. Then she saw what was going on.

The floor was to be tiled in white. No other colors were in the room, white walls, white counters and even white appliances, she’d been told. But there was a blue ribbon of tile all the way around the room a foot from any wall and six inches wide. And there in the corner about five feet from finishing was Robert.

“
Fuck.” She looked around the big room and tried to think.

She and Alexander had stayed up much too late talking last night. She hadn’t even gone to bed when he’d left her house at three-thirty. She had a pounding headache and she was hungry because she’d skipped lunch again. It was just after three in the afternoon on a Friday and she was supposed to leave at five to pick up her brother and drive to Virginia with him.

“
I read the wrong room. I didn’t think to ask. I just saw the layout and laid the tile for the suite on the upper level. I’ll pay for any changes.” Jared didn’t even look like he cared. In fact, if she was to guess, she’d say he was pissed…at her.

Willow pulled out her cell and punched in a few numbers. Well, she wasn’t any happier with him either. That almost kiss had been driving her insane for a week now and she wanted him off her site. When the phone was answered, she had to do a quick change in temperament or this was going to put her behind.

“
Hello, Snyder. It’s Will James at the—”

“
Ah my little builder, how is my building coming along? I went by there yesterday. It looks like you will be finished early.”

Snyder Polson was the one and only Polson Enterprises—the man who was going to be moving into this building. He had been very specific on what he’d wanted and until today, she’d been following it to the tee.

“
I fu…screwed up. Can you believe it? I was going along and laying that white tile we picked out and damned if I didn’t add color in that lower break room. I’m so sorry. You have no idea how stupid I feel. I was nearly finished when one of my men came in and showed me my mistake.” She closed her eyes when he didn’t say anything.

She saw Thomas leave the room and felt Jared walk up beside her. She turned her back to him and was pissed when he moved into her view again. When she tried to turn again, he stayed her with his hands on her arms. She covered the mouth piece with her hand.

“
This is so not the time to be fucking with me, Jared,” Willow whispered to him. “Get out of my sight or so—”

“
You were so close to being finished,” Snyder said with a bit of astonishment in his voice. “Please tell me you can take it up. I think you know how much I dislike color in my eating areas.”

She did, too. When they had had dinner a few months ago, she’d been amazed at the dining room in his house. The carpet, walls, table, and chairs had been a brilliant white. The flatware and even the plates had been the same non-color. When the food had arrived, she was surprised and pleased to see that it had color—absolutely no taste, but lots of color.

“
I know. I know. It makes for a clean palate.” She rolled her eyes when Jared grinned. “It will put me behind again…well, not behind, but not the two weeks early I was going for. I can’t tell you how sorry I am for this, Snyder. We’ll have to pull the flooring up and then reset the tile. The counters will have to be moved out again and—

“
All that? You can’t just, I don’t know, just pull up the color? What color is it anyway? Please tell me it’s not pink.”

“
No. Not pink. It’s a dark royal blue. Pull up the color, you say? No, I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that. It would make the room off balanced and the tile wouldn’t be lined up the way we discussed.” She closed her eyes when Jared moved to her face.

He was listening, she knew, and he was close. And when the hell had he become Jared and not Robert? When she tried to draw away, he wrapped his arm around her waist and held her to him. Not really touching, but close enough. She felt her body respond to his scent and his warmth.

“
I don’t know, Will. I was looking forward to getting in there early. You know how much we’re crammed into this building.” She didn’t point out that the one they were building was the same size. She could barely think. “And you say it’s in the employee break room and not the executive one, correct?”

She had to swallow three times before she could answer. And she was positive that both men could hear her heart pounding in her chest. She nearly groaned out loud when Jared…Robert nuzzled her neck and placed an open mouthed kiss over her beating pulse.

~o0o~

“
Answer him, Willow. He is giving you the okay.” Jared’s voice whispered in her ear, bringing his hot breath along the place on her neck where he’d kissed her.

“
Yes. Yes, the employees’ break room. I can’t tell you again how…please don’t.” The last was a plea to Jared. He had pulled her body flush with his and she could feel his cock hard against her belly.

“
Leave it, Willow. I think the employees might enjoy that bit of color to get out of this building and into a brand new one. Yes, color in there would be a wonderful idea. Thank you.”

She didn’t know if she answered Snyder, she wasn’t even sure if she had hung up, but Jared’s mouth over hers was suddenly all she could think about. And then she didn’t think at all.

~o0o~

Her body fit to his. Her mouth was sex and heat and spice all in one. When she dropped the phone on his foot, he cupped her ass and brought her body flush with his. Her soft folds cupped his cock tightly. When her arms came up and encircled his neck, he lifted her higher and her legs wrapped around his hips. Jared was dizzy with need. Taking the two steps to the wall seemed an eternity and when he had her there, he wanted to toss her to the floor and take her on the dusty tile and cardboard boxes.

Cupping her breast, he felt the pearled tip strain against her bra. Willow wound her fingers in his hair and held him to her as he made his way down her jaw to her neck where her throat met her shoulder. Nipping at it gently, he pressed his cock against her and rocked hard. Her answering moan nearly undid him. Shifting, he pressed her tighter against the wall and held her up while he lifted her shirt with his now freed hands. The need to taste her hot flesh made him clumsy and he simply lifted her bra out of the way when he couldn’t get the clasp undone.

“
Please, please, I need you. I want you now. Please, Jared, I need—”

The voices in the hall outside the room froze them both in place. Neither of them moved. His mouth was a mere inch from her nipple and her fingers tangled in his hair. He wondered if he could lick her, take the morsel into his mouth just once. Would he have time to savor her taste? No, he realized when the voices in the hall seemed to be moving closer to them. Regret burning in his veins, he stepped back from the wall quickly and dropped her to the floor, her feet touching just as the men sounded around the corner. His cock was straining at the zipper, need making him ache. Looking at her now, he nearly snarled at the unseen men and went back to where they were.

Her cheeks were flushed red and her lips, full anyway, were swollen and pink. There was a burn along her jaw where his whiskers had scraped her and there was a small bite mark, bright red where he’d nipped her. She was panting; her breath was coming out in hot, short bursts. He turned away from her to adjust his cock when three men walked in with boxes of white tile and mortar.

“
Hey, boss, you okay? You look like…well, I was gonna say like you was blushing, but that can’t be so. You can tell a dirtier joke than me.” Markus felt her forehead and then frowned. “You’re hot too. You ain’t coming down with something, are you? Bad time of year to get sick.”

Jared felt a laughter bubble up. Yes, she certainly was hot. He could vouch for that. He started to turn back to her while he pulled his shirt out of his pants to try and hide his arousal, but he heard her moving out the door.

“
The blue stays. I want this room finished before we leave tonight, guys. The appliances come on Monday and we need this ready.” he turned to face her fully now and she wouldn’t look at him. “Conley is in charge this weekend. If you guys have any issues, call him. I’m going to be out of town.”

Markus laughed at her retreating back. “Like we don’t know where she’s going. Seen that man drop her off this morning? Nice-looking feller. Hope the boss gets her whistle wet. Might make her in a better mood.”

The men moved off and Jared just stood there. It wasn’t until Conley came back in that he realized he hadn’t moved. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but he suddenly needed to get out of the room. Leaving the building, he headed for the trailer and was stopped by a new SUV pulling in next to it.

A tall man with dark hair and a suit got out and was walking to the door when Willow came out and threw herself into his arms. Jared watched as he picked her up and swung her around then set her down with a kiss to her lips. To the lips he’d just kissed, the ones he’d tasted and bitten. With a growl of frustration, he started forward only to be stopped by Talbor.

“
Didn’t I tell you she was a slut? She got herself a rich one it looks like. We all wondered how she could afford that big house and all those improvements going on. Heard tell she was sleeping with the man who we’re building this place for and that’s how she got the job for old man Stone.”

Jared turned and looked at Talbor. He knew the guy hated her. He didn’t understand it, but he knew it. But she had just saved the company a great deal of money by sweet talking a man that Jared knew could be ruthless when things didn’t go his way. Jared looked back at the vehicle as it pulled out of the lot. Willow James might not be sleeping with his dad, but she’d sure fallen into his arms quick enough. Going back into the building, he laid the rest of the tile.

He wasn’t sure when he noticed that the men were giving him a wide berth, but he was glad for it. At seven o’clock, he punched out at the time clock and went to his truck. He had two houses to look at this weekend and then on Monday morning he was firing Will James. She was not going to suck him in.

~Chapter 6~

“
I don’t know why I did it, but Christ, it was hot.” The drive to their parents’ house was filled with short silences and a lot of changing the subjects.

Alexander knew something was wrong with his sister and wondered if it had anything to do with the man that had been glaring at them when he’d picked her up. That was a man who was pissed and it didn’t take much to see why. He glanced over at Wills again and smiled at the dreamy look on her face and the bite mark on her throat that he knew hadn’t been there this morning when she left.

They’d been talking about her recent trip to the Sahara Desert. She’d gone there with a group to see the vastness of it, she’d said, and to get some tile that she wanted for her house. The trip had been a success all the way around.

The tile in the kitchen was perfect. The rich dark green matched the countertops perfectly and the white and green tile on the floor in alternating blocks made the kitchen seem warm and cozy. Alexander chuckled softly when he thought of the time she’d put into a room she never used. Willow couldn’t boil water without instructions and she would probably still screw it up.

“
What’s so funny?”

He looked over at his sister and smiled. “You are. Do you have any idea how beautiful you are? I’m betting you haven’t put on a dress since last fall when Sheila got married.”

She snorted. “If you remember correctly, I was the best man and I wore a tux. Why do you think I’m funny? Most people don’t even like me.”

He glanced over at her to see if she was kidding. It didn’t appear that she was. Alexander was surprised she thought that. His vibrant, loving, and kind sister couldn’t possibly be without friends. Taking a chance, he decided to go for broke. “What about that guy that was staring at us when we left? He looked like he wanted to murder me and then you.”

She looked thoughtful. “Talbor? I don’t doubt he wants me to keel over, but I don’t think he gives two shits about you. I mean, do you know him?”