His wife jerks, before her face screws up like she just smelled something bad. “Do you want your daughter to look frumpy and lumpy, right next to you when you win your campaign? The photos will be all over the news.”
Michaels exhales. “Correct. You are right, as always.” He glances at his watch, standing up. “Time for us to leave.” He throws me a look. “Help us with our bags to the car?”
“Certainly,” I retort and we leave the office and I quickly glance at Meadow’s closed door. Soon it will be just me and her, but I am determined to keep my hands away from my boss’s daughter. She would recoil from them anyway, wouldn’t be able to stand the abrasive texture of my skin against hers...
Outside, the sun is about to go down and I load their luggage into the back and all three of them get in, with Harris at the steering wheel.
Standing on the courtyard with my hands behind my back, I watch the car drive off before disappearing behind the large oaks.
As soon as they leave, tension melts away from my shoulders and I remove my tie, opening up a couple of buttons in my shirt. Rolling my neck from side to side, I listen to it crack and I crack my knuckles, one by one.
Feels good that they’re gone. Now I don’t have to pretend as much to be something I’m not and I take a deep breath, inhaling the rich folk’s air. Not quite like the wild but it’ll have to do. Making my way back to the grand house, I try to ignore that need in me that pulls me back to nature.
I suppose I could go there for a couple of days, since I don’ have any work to do. But the need to stay and make sure that Meadow is safe is stronger. Somehow that prissy, little brat has made me care for her.
And with her vile parents gone, it’s just going to be the two of us in that house. All alone and for the first time, I realize that I’m going to have her all to myself.
3
Meadow
Standing in my room as the sun is about to set, I twirl in front of my bodylength mirror, critically inspecting my push up, midi-cup bra. Compared with my tiny thong, I’m showing way too much skin and I decide to put on a transparent shirt over for a little more coverage.
I suppose that’s better and I apply some lip balm to make my mouth look more kissable, despite having no plans on kissing but I want to look good in front of the camera. And I want things to look natural and not like I planned the whole thing and I ruffle my hair up.
There...it already looks more authentic like this and inwardly I grin. My father is going to lose his marbles...
I’m tempted to rub my hands together in glee but instead I walk over to my balcony, looking over the grounds and wait. I perk my ears when I hear grunting.
“Fuck...ah, that’s sharp...ouch, fuck that hurt. This better be worth it.”
Raising my brows, I shake my head and cross my arms. I don’t even know what his name is, Jory maybe or Cory and I decide to go with Jory. I picked him up at the shopping mall earlier today, gave him my address and told him to climb in through my window at exactly this time.
When he finally clumsily lands on my balcony, he throws back his blonde hair and he looks like a farm boy but the cocky expression on his face reveals he’s a rich kid just like me.
“Heck...” he says with bulging eyes, “you look...”
“Stunning, I know,” I say in a bored voice because I don’t need compliments from him. “Let’s get this over with.”
“A girl who knows what she wants,” he grins, his smile chewing gum commercial approved. “I like it.”
Rolling my eyes, I walk over to my bed and sit on the edge. I’m going to have to ask the help to change the sheets later and I lean back on my hands, automatically closing my legs as if my brain is forgetting why I’m doing this.
“Fuck, I can’t believe what’s happening right now,” Jory says, tugging at his belt, “I’ve read about you, lil momma and I can’t believe I’m going to bone you.”
In response I give him a cool smile. See, that’s where he’s wrong. We’re not going to be intimate. All I need him for is to take some photos of us together and stay in bed with me, long enough for my father to enter and see that once more I’m not behaving the way he wants me to behave.
Personally I don’t care about my reputation. But my family cares about it. More than they care about me. More than they cared about Melody. Sometimes I even have the feeling, they wouldn’t mind finding out that I’m lying dead in a ditch somewhere as long as I don’t bring any shame upon the Michaels name anymore.
Moving his hands to take off his clothes, I stop him, “Leave them on. Let’s go slow. “
“As long as we’re doing it,” he guffaws, brushing his hair off his face, “This is my lucky day.” He puckers his mouth, going in for a kiss and I snap,
“No kissing. Not on the mouth.”
“On the kitty cat then?” he says in excitement but he is definitely not going there and I lean back on my pillows, making sure his phone is near. He rolls on top of me and I’m already annoyed by his overwhelming cologne. For some reason I’ve always preferred the smell of clean sweat and hard work on a man. Why, is a mystery to me, since I rarely come across males who smell that way.
The only one close to that would have to be Dom...My eyes flare.Don’t think about Dom now! I have a job to do.