Just Go (2 page)

I grin slyly, biting my bottom lip and look at him in the rearview mirror. I don’t have to be anywhere for a few hours....

“No. Last guy of your dad’s you messed around with was out of a job so fast he couldn’t see straight. You’re hot as hell though, don’t get me wrong.” He mumbles something else and I laugh.

“I know, Joe, I’m just giving you crap. I felt terrible after, oh... what’s his face?” I hold back a laugh. Not only can I not remember his name, but he was probably the worst partner I’ve ever had. Well, second to worst.

“Ted. His name was Ted,” Joe clips as he heads back to my apartment. He didn’t need to ask. He was already instructed by my father where to take me.

Pulling up under the awning, Joe helps me out and kisses me on the cheek. I get goose bumps from the connection. I’ve always had a little thing for Joe, ever since he started working for my dad a few years back. He’s only three years older than me, and as far as I know, he doesn’t have a girlfriend or wife. He’s been hands-off since Ted was fired, but before that we had our fun. The cheek kiss just reminds me that I’m a free woman and can do whomever I want. Other than Joe, of course.

“It was nice seeing you, Annaliese,” he whispers in my ear as his hand gently slides down my arm before walking back to the driver’s side and slipping into the car.

I stand in the entryway of the apartment for a second longer, in shock that something that innocent could have me in such a needy state, but Joe’s always been like that for me. If he didn’t work for my father, if he wasn’t such an honorable man, I would have tried much harder to have him by now. Especially since I know he’d be amazing in bed.

Not quite as amazing as last night, but pretty damn close.

I walk inside and head up to our apartment. Gabby has
Yuna
blaring through the apartment and incense is burning in the living room. I’m a country girl at heart, but I love her eclectic self. I grab a water bottle and head to my room noticing the door hanger on her bedroom door knob. I smile and look at the time. 2 pm.

Nice, Gab
.

Shaking my head, I throw on my headphones so I don’t have to listen to her sex noises and get to work on job applications.

Three hours later and I’ve submitted to everywhere that’s accepting applications, but I have no clue if anyone is actually going to contact me. I stand and stretch, looking over at my bed and smiling. It’s still unmade from last night. I’m sure his scent will still be on my sheets, on my pillow, if I walk over and sniff them. I’m not that girl, though. I don’t need to obsess like this. I need to find someone else to wash the memory of last night out of my head.

Gab knocks at my door and I yell for her to open it. She comes in and plops down on my bed, already dressed to go out tonight.

“How was your afternoon?” I smile at her and walk into my closet, trying to decide what I’m wearing tonight.

“Meh. Rachel’s good, but she just likes to receive. It gets tiring at times.” Gabby sighs and lays back on my bed, rolling over to smell the pillows I was just staring at. “Good God, woman. Who was in here last night? He smells amazing!” She laughs and throws the pillow at me.

The whiff of air from the pillow hits my nose and I breathe in his scent. Immediately, heat rushes between my legs and I’m reminded of everything we did together last night. It was so hot. So uninhibited.

“No clue. He was gone this morning. Jesus, Gab. He was amazing,” I shake my head to try and clear the memories and go back to picking out an outfit.

We’re going to a hibachi restaurant tonight, then hitting up a club downtown, so my dress needs to be versatile. I pick out a white and blue polka-dot dress and smile, remembering when I used to wear it all the time because Rob thought it looked sexy on me.

Win
.

I’m going for it. I need to look sexy tonight if I’m going to find someone to wash last night's memories out of my head.

“Damn, woman. You sure know how to rock the dresses lately, don’t you?” Gab sits up on her elbows and raises an eyebrow at me. I laugh and look down, enjoying the dress a little more than I used to.

“Yeah, apparently.” I smile and start messing with my hair, leaving it curled and straightening my side-swept bangs.

“Wear my red heels!” Gabby yells as she hops up and runs to her room.

Gabby is a free-love type of girl, or at least she likes to let people think that way about her. I feel like we’ve been friends forever, but it’s only been a few years. Her first time being drunk about me, she propositioned me to have sex with her. I declined, but somehow that just made our friendship stronger. I don’t swing that way, but she does, and then some. Men and women alike make it into her bed, sometimes at the same time. She’s definitely the more adventurous between the two of us, but I’m working my way up there. Last night, one man; tonight, a different one.

That’s the plan.

She runs back into the room and hands me her bright red heels.

“I’m gonna kill myself in these,” I shake my head and push the heels away. They’re beautiful, and I know they cost her a fortune, but I can’t do it. I won’t be the one to break her most expensive pair of shoes.

“You won’t kill yourself. Just hang on to me all night,” she grins devilishly and I laugh.

“If I have my way, Gab, I’ll be hanging on to someone with a little less vag and a lot more dick.”

“Ha! Oh, girl, that’s fantastic. Then you definitely need these. Your legs rock and these will be the icing on the cake.” She pushes them back in front of me and leaves to get her purse.

I shake my head and smile, slipping on the bright, shiny red heels that do, indeed, make my legs look fantastic. All those ballet lessons as a kid plus the hours a week at the gym helped perfect my legs, which I would say are my best asset. I pose in the mirror a few times and smile at what I see. Gab walks back into the room and whistles at me.

“Hot shit, you look great. Let’s get moving before I change my mind and try to seduce you myself again.” She winks and starts to leave the room.

“Funny. Now stop and help me with these bangs,” I whine as I try to make them fall correctly. She grabs the straightener, a brush, and some spray, and within a few minutes they look perfect. How she always does it is beyond me. I can never get them to look that good.

Walking to the elevator, I pull my taxi app up on my replacement phone that Gab lent me and summon the closest taxi to take us to dinner. Sure I have a car, but drinking and driving is on my never-in-a-million-years list. As is asking my dad for a car unless it’s incredibly necessary, like it was today. These heels are like walking on stilts; I’ll be lucky if I make it through tonight in one piece.

We arrive about ten minutes early for our reservations and Gabby hits up the bar while I stand and wait. She’s on her way back when I see her stop to talk to someone, holding my drink in one hand and sipping on hers in the other. I groan inwardly when I realize I’m going to have to walk over there if I want to start on my drink before the ice starts to water it down.

Moving slowly, I try to be as gentle with my steps as I can. Stepping to the side so an elderly woman can pass by, my heel hits a crack in the tile and my leg twists as I lose my balance.

Great, Annie. Perfect.

I go down, grasping for anything and everything possible to save me from hitting the floor. Everything is played out in slow motion in front of me as I fall to my embarrassing demise. I hear people around me gasp, a few chuckles, I swear I hear a camera shutter sound from someone’s phone.

Fan-freaking-tastic
.

Landing on my ass with a very ladylike ‘oomph’, I try and regain composure before standing back up on these death traps. My leg is a little sore but I’m more worried about walking away from this experience with the tiniest bit of pride that I have left. I can’t look around me for fear that everyone will be staring at me, so I stand up and reach down to put my shoe back on correctly.

As soon as I finish fixing my shoes, I stand tall and start to walk away from this nightmare, but instead, end up slamming my body into a very hard male chest. A very good smelling, tall and well-built, male chest.

Awesome, Ann. Freaking great job bringing the sexy tonight.

I slowly and embarrassingly bring my eyes up to meet his, to apologize to the nice man that I just plowed into for being so clumsy, when I meet his face. His surprised face. He’s not just any incredibly delicious smelling man. I know that smell. He’s the man that sexed me up last night with earth shattering orgasms from the best sex of my life and has been invading my thoughts all day today.

It’s the guy from last night and I’ve just run straight into his rock solid body. Holy shit.

I take a breath before apologizing and quickly walking away, noticing the black haired beauty on his arm and the intense stare I’m receiving from her. Oh my God. His smell is ten times better in person, those dark eyes are ten times more intense than in my memory, and his gaze doesn’t leave mine as I walk away.

Chapter 2

Adam

“That’s it, baby. All the way back,” I moan as her mouth wraps around me and her blue eyes gaze up at me. My hand goes to the back of her head to guide her while I let my head fall back to my chair and close my eyes, picturing the one thing I haven’t been able to get out of my mind all day.

Fucking Vick Ryder’s daughter.

This girl’s only been interning here for a week and I’ve already got her under my thumb so she’s great for a quick stress reliever before a big meeting, but Jesus if I can’t help picturing Vick’s fucking daughter from last night every time I close my eyes. When I close my eyes while this Wendy girl is sucking me off, I see Annaliese.

Jesus, even her name. Annaliese. Those eyes. Those legs. Her ass. Fuck. I can’t stop thinking about her. The more I imagine what she let me do to her last night, the harder I get. Wendy’s hand cups my balls and all I can do is imagine Annaliese’s hands doing the same.

“Jesus,” I gasp as she starts sucking harder, and it’s all I can do not to yell out Annaliese’s name.

She moans as she takes me as deep as she can go, and I lose it
.

Fuck!

“Mmm... yummy,” she says as she smiles and smacks her lips from swallowing my orgasm. Wiping her mouth, she stands and smiles at me.

I try and smile at her but that comment and the bright orange fingernail polish really has me turned off to this girl. She’s a decent lay and can suck dick like no other, but God she’s annoying.

“I gotta get to my meeting. Thanks. You can see yourself out,” I say impassively as I clean myself up and start to fix my suit.

I can see her pouting at me but the minute the door opens and Benton walks in, she scurries out like a lost and injured puppy. That’s one more employee I’ll need to be replacing. No doubt she’ll be turning in her notice today.

“For real, man? What’s that? Three this week already?” he asks as he relaxes on the couch in front of my desk while I adjust my shirt and throw on my suit jacket.

“Fuck off. You look like shit, man,” I throw at him but he ignores me and rubs his jaw.

“For real, though. You’re getting more now than ever before. Divorce looks good on you, A-Team.”

“Funny. I’ll say the same thing when Carly finally leaves your ass,” I joke with him. Everyone knows if there’s one couple that will never break up, its Benton and Carly. They just mesh and it’s sickening how perfect they are for each other.

“Yeah, laugh now. One day you’ll find your Carly.”

“Not even looking, bro. Let’s get moving. The meeting can’t start without us there,” I say and slap him on the back as we walk out of my office. He winces and I remember the bruise on his back he got last night.

Shit. This can’t last. Carly won’t go for it.

I see Wendy crying to my assistant, and I’m fairly certain she’s shooting daggers at me right now, but I smile and nod as we walk by. I can’t take drama. That’s why I pay my assistant, Reese, the big bucks. She can handle anything for me. She filters out the bullshit and leaves me with the important stuff. Wendy is most definitely not ‘important stuff’.

This meeting today. This meeting is important stuff.

It’s not a business meeting per se, though on paper it looks just like any other company meeting. It’s one that I’ve been looking forward to for a week now, and I don’t typically look forward to meetings. I have more important shit to do with my time. That is, until last night. Last night I put my livelihood in danger by sleeping with the one girl in the city that is so painfully out of reach my balls hurt the entire way home this morning.

“You cool with sitting in on this?” I ask Benton as we approach the double door on the top floor of my building.

“Why wouldn’t I be? Just another A-Team meeting.” He sighs and grins. “How much you going in for this time?”

“He has me for one K already. I’m thinking about upping it. Double or nothing. I’ve heard the guy tomorrow night is on fire lately, but my guy’s better.” I slap his shoulder and he nods with a knowing smile.

“Let’s do this shit. You know me, dude, I’m in.”

“Alright,” I sigh and let him enter me.

To everyone on the outside, this looks like a meeting between a chauffeur service and a high-profile businessman who needs our services.

Those of us on the inside know what it really is though.

“Mr. Callahan. I’d expected you to be on time this time,” Vick grins slimly as he stands to shake my hand.

Vick Ryder is just about the most two-faced son of a bitch out there. On the outside, he’s the typical family man. Poor guy lost his daughter in an accident when she was just a kid so the whole city rallied around him and his business. What they didn’t know was that they were also rallying around him building up his second career. The real moneymaker. The reason we sit here in this room right now.

“Please, call me Adam, Vick. We’ve known each other for too long to use such formal names,” I say keeping my formal tone to the meeting but trying to keep it as informal as possible.

I’ve got so much money I don’t know what to do with it. I’ve always been a risk taker, a rule breaker. Even when I was a kid I was betting on games or throwing money away on stupid gambles. This is just another game that keeps my mind busy and my wallet constantly fluctuating. I’d never bet so much that losing would hurt me, but I like taking chances, definitely.

“Well, Adam. I’m sure you know why we are here today?”

“Absolutely. You have my fighter wrapped up so tight he can’t perform properly. You really need to stop spreading these men out so thin, Vick.”

“Ah, you’ve noticed. Well, he’s had some... eyes... lately for my daughter. That dinner last week… he couldn’t take his eyes off her. No one touches my daughter. He needs to learn that lesson, Adam.”

“I can assure you, he’s a happily married man. He only has eyes for his own wife.” Fuck, I should’ve been the one going to that dinner. Then none of us would be in the mess we’re in today.

“Ah, Adam. I’ve seen too many married men sway from their wives.” His eyes pin Benton and I could beat the shit out of him right now. Benton knows better than to eye other women, especially Vicks daughter. Luckily, he also knows how to keep his mouth shut.

“No one touches my daughter, Adam,” he growls, his eyes move to mine. “No one.”

I try to calm my heart rate, try to form words, but I can’t. I can’t fucking believe I fucked his only daughter. His only child. I’m not normally one to get scared or nervous around people. Vick Ryder is the exception to that rule though. He’s killed men for less than what I did, I’m sure of it.  Especially when he’s staring at me so menacingly. Like he knows where I was last night.

Shit. What in the hell am I going to do?

“Right, Mr. Ryder. I think what Adam means is that he just wants to make sure things are still going well with the deal.” Benton clears his throat to try and get me out of my funk that has set in since Vick glared at me.

“Ah, the deal. Yes, so you’re still in for a grand?” he smiles at me and I smile back carefully.

“I’d be in for two if you promise to stop fighting him every other night. He needs recoup time. I’m not one to throw my money away, Vick.”

“No one ever said you were a stupid man, Adam.” He’s eyeing me like he knows more. Maybe it’s just because I can’t get his daughter and her perfect ass out of my mind, but I feel like he knows what we did last night. She definitely wouldn’t have told him about it because I’m sure he’d be a lot more angry about things right now had she told him. Hell, I’m sure there’s a lot of shit that girl hides from her daddy.

“You put two grand down and I’ll move him to every four days. I can’t promise it’ll stick, but as long as he keeps his eyes and hands to himself, I’m golden.” His eyes flick over to Benton then back to me.

I look over at him and his jaw is tight but he’s positive about this. Benton isn’t one to back out of a deal, and with the adoption process almost complete he’s not about to stop this now. He needs all the money he can get.

“Fine. Deal.”

Benton’s nodding his head, his eyes squared in on Vick and the man sitting next to him.

The man he’s fighting in just a few hours.

He’s sizing him up. Looking for something that’ll help him win tonight.

“Great. See you two tonight,” he says and then nods before standing to leave. Turning back as he walks out the door, he smiles a genuine smile. “Oh! I forgot to tell you! My baby girl took her test today finally. One step closer to changing the world.”

He’s beaming proudly. I clam up the minute I hear him mention her, and Benton has to clear his throat to get me to function properly.

“Oh, that’s right. I remember you mentioning that. Well, I hope it all goes well for her,” I say and stand.

“Yes.” His eyes narrow at me then he shakes his head and leaves the room, the other man following behind him.

“So....” Benton starts in but I don’t wait to hear what he has to say.

I need to fuck someone else. Apparently the three days I went without fucking someone did a number on my emotions, since I can’t get this chick, the only one in the city that I shouldn’t have fucked, out of my mind.

Leaving the room, I hear Benton yell for me but I can’t talk about it. If anyone knows I did Vick Ryder’s daughter, I’m a dead man. Or at least I’ll wish I were dead. Vick isn’t a very forgiving man when it comes to his little girl. He’s a proud and overbearing asshole who has fired some of the best men he’s ever had working for him over mere rumors. Granted, knowing his daughter like I now do, I would put money on those rumors being true.

“Hey, dude. What the hell was that all about?” Benton enters my office without announcing himself, as usual. I sigh and push the button on my intercom.

“Reese, hold all calls,” I demand, then freeze all my lines and darken the glass around my office. Benton eyes me suspiciously and crosses his arms.

“You know as well as I do that man isn’t the most trustworthy of men.” I try and play off the fact that the majority of our meeting I was trying to hide the fact that I slept with the man’s daughter a few hours ago, but Benton isn’t fooled.

“Bullshit. We’ve met with him plenty of times in the past few years and you’ve never seemed so bothered during a meeting. Don’t screw this up, A-Team,” he grinds out and I shake my head.

“You need to leave, Benton,” I say sternly, nodding at the door.

We’ve been business partners ever since he started fighting. There’s only been a handful of times that we haven’t seen eye to eye, and this is about to be one of them if he keeps this up. No way am I telling him about last night. No way.

“Have it your way, man. You’re gonna explode one day from keeping all of that inside.” He walks towards the door and turns before he leaves, “See ya tonight, A.”

“Wouldn’t miss it, B,” I answer, then sigh and lean back in my chair as the door closes.

It’s been almost 14 hours since my encounter with Annaliese, but it feels like I can still smell her on my skin. Like I can close my eyes and reach out and touch her firm skin, her rounded ass. And damn, those legs. It pisses me off that I can’t get her out of my mind. I feel like I no longer have control over my thoughts, of my feelings. I need to find something to get my mind off her.

I need to find someone to screw.

Reese is informed, curtly, to hold everything for the rest of the day. I need some time out of this stuffy office. They can deal without me for the rest of the day.

Just as I close my car door, I cringe as my phone starts to ring.

“Shit,” I curse as I pull it out from my jacket pocket and look at the screen. I don’t notice the number so I answer with caution.

Being Adam Callahan can get a little tricky at times. 

“This is Adam,” I say into the phone then wait to hear nothing from the other end. “Hello?”

“You know he has to lose tonight, right?” the voice on the other end growls through the phone.

“I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong number,” I say keeping my voice calm and collected. Who the fuck is this, and how do they know about tonight?

“Mr. Callahan. I most definitely do not have the wrong number. Remember what I said, for the good of all involved.”

The phone line goes silent and the call ends.

What the fuck?

I sigh and turn off my phone, tossing it aside and starting my car. I love this car. An Aston Martin DB9. My first purchase once the Open-View deal went through. She’s my baby. The only one I’ll probably ever have. Pitch black paint, dark leather interior, the seat hugs me softly. She’s perfect.

As I pull out of my parking spot, I make my way into midday Chicago traffic, cursing at the cabs cutting in and out of lanes. Public transportation is nice and all, but they don’t have to be such terrible drivers. This is how I met Vick in the first place. Living in Chicago can get hectic, and at times it’s easier not to have to drive places. His business was brought to my attention and I started using his driving services for all publicity events. Everywhere I’d rather not have to park my own car.