TWELVE
HEATH
I’ve never been so hard in my life, but in a way, it’s not the worst thing I’ve ever felt. Being without Meadow was worse, so I welcome the pain of wanting her. After her spanking, we ate lunch and then I forced myself to keep my hands off of her so that she could finish working the rest of the day.
It didn’t help that I decided to work in the conference room too so I could watch her every movement. When her fingers went to her lips and she stared out the window, I knew she was remembering my face between her legs. It made me want to crawl under the desk and eat her pussy all over again, but I had to maintain control.
Having Meadow so close but yet so far for all these years has driven me to the edge of madness, and now that I’ve had a taste, I’m a junkie. Can a man live on pussy alone? I bet I could on hers.
She looks at me over the top of her laptop, and I wonder if she’s having the same thoughts. Then she winks at me and goes back to her screen, and I clench my fists under the table. The little minx is taunting me.
The next thing I see is when she puts the end of her pen to her mouth. It lingers there for a long moment as she rubs it across her full lips and then sucks it into her mouth.
I cough so loudly that even Craig looks up from his laptop and offers to get me some water. I wave him off as I scowl at Meadow, who looks as innocent as fresh fallen snow.
I’m going to make her pay for that later, and she damn well knows it. God, I can’t wait to have her in my bed.
“Excuse me.” There’s a knock at the door, and I look up along with Craig and Meadow. “Hey Heath, I was wondering if I could get a word?”
“Sure, Jinx, come on in.” I stand from the table as he comes into the room, and he smiles politely.
“Sorry to interrupt.”
“Not at all. Let me introduce you, this is Meadow and Craig. They’re doing some personal accounting for Mace and me.” This is the lie we agreed to tell if anyone else in the company asked about the strangers in the conference room.
“Oh, I didn’t realize you needed extra,” he teases, and I see him glance down at the folders on the desk.
Luckily nothing is labeled or contains any sensitive information. There’s just notes on things they’ve found and where to go back and check if they have more questions. Meadow has a system for this so that if anyone got a hold of her notes, there wouldn’t be a breach of confidentiality.
“You know how it is with taxes. There’s always more to be paid,” I joke, but when he smiles, it doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Could I speak to you in private?” He glances down at the table again, and I nod.
“Sure, let’s step out in the hall.”
Once we’re alone, Jinx looks around again and then leans close to me. “This might be nothing, but since you’ve got strangers looking into your business, you might want to know that someone has accessed my files.”
“Really?” I say, not giving anything away. Nelly told me that Jinx was their biggest concern, and now she’s planted the seed of doubt in me. Jinx has been with our family for decades, so he can’t be the source of the embezzlement. He just can’t. Right?
“Listen, I love you and Mace like my own children, and I would never want to see you get taken advantage of.” He places his hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “I’d hate for someone to try and create conflict between us.”
“What do you mean?” The way he’s saying this concerns me because it’s not like him.
“Nothing, nothing at all. All I’m saying is that you know how it is in our social circle. People see what they can’t have, and then suddenly there’s conflict where there was none before.” He says this evenly and with compassion, but it doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t feel like Jinx.
“Has someone been creating conflict for you? You know you can always talk to me.”
“No, it’s not me.” He shakes his head. “You and Mace are young, and you have to be careful who you trust. Maybe we don’t need so many prying eyes around here anymore.”
I’m silent as I process what he’s saying, and I’m wondering if he’s figured out what Meadow and Craig are really doing here, or worse, if he’s discovered who Nelly is.
“Your father only needed me and a secretary to make this place successful. I just don’t want you and your brother to get in over your heads, that’s all. There’s a lot of people who would take advantage of you or, for example, they could even use me as a means to bring you down.”
“We’d never let anything come between the company and those that are loyal to it,” I say and then give his shoulder a squeeze the same as he did mine. I might not tell him exactly what he wants to hear, but this whole conversation has me thinking that maybe Nelly sees something we don’t.
“Well, good to hear.” Again his smile doesn’t touch his eyes. “I better be off; I’ve got to get packed.”
“Heading out of town?” I don’t remember him saying anything about an upcoming vacation. If anything, Jinx never takes time off of work.
“Of course you do. I told you Sarah and I are celebrating our fiftieth wedding anniversary.” He doesn’t give me a chance to answer as he begins to talk rapidly. “Anyway, we’re heading out the day after tomorrow, and we’ll be gone for a nice stretch, but don’t worry, I’ve taken care of everything. See you when we get back,” he calls out as he makes his way back to his office.
“See you,” I say, but Jinx doesn't look back and instead just waves over his shoulder.
I shove my hands in my slacks as I walk slowly back to the conference room. The entire exchange felt weird and disconnected, and Jinx was so unlike himself.
Could the oldest and most loyal employee really be the one screwing the company over? And will anyone be able to uncover it in time?
As I step back into the conference room, Meadow is packing her bag. When she looks up at me, I see the way her lips part and her eyes move up and down my body hungrily. All thoughts of the conversation with Jinx disappear from my brain as I decide that tonight Meadow is coming home with me. Possibly for good.