Misguided Heart (5 page)

Sloan
and I didn’t end up leaving the office until a bit after one in the morning. We said our good-byes after he walked me to my car in the parking garage. I watched, baffled as he walked away. This man had a way with my insides that made my heart and some other important body parts feel giddy. I drove the 20.2 miles it took me to get home in complete and utter bliss. I pulled into my garage and sighed knowing that I wouldn’t be seeing Sloan for at least eight more hours.

I swung open the door to my house and was greeted by my number one guy, my bulldog Bugsy. We quickly grabbed some water and ran up the eighteen stairs to my bedroom. I threw my clothes across my room and fell onto my 600 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets.
We snuggled up in close proximity and off to sleep we went.

My dreamless night led into a sleepless morning as the sun poking through my curtains, stung my eyelids like acid on bare skin. I immediately rolled over and tried to shut out the blazing heat berating my face. I groaned knowing that I didn’t want to emerge from my soft comfortable confines of my king sized bed, but I rolled over and checked my alarm clock anyway. Oh man, it was seven already and I slowly realized
, that I was going to be a tad bit late to the office today.

I threw myself into a quick shower and drank only one cup of coffee, unlike my usual three, before heading out for work. It was your typical hot and sticky mid May day. The weather forecast predicted it to be a record breaking one hundred and twelve degrees and I was thankful that my old Honda Accord’s air conditioner was still sticking through it with me. It was definitely shaping up to be a poolside afternoon. The drive was extra long and tedious, but I eventually made it and I didn’t even care that
I was over thirty minutes late.

As I pulled into the parking garage
, I could smell the faint aroma of smoke coming through my vents. I glanced around the garage to see if there were any cars smoking around me, when I suddenly felt extremely hot air spraying onto my skin.

I immediately reached for the temperature gauge and turned of
f all the controls, when sparks suddenly began shooting straight out of the hood of my car. I turned into my space, turned off the ignition, pulled out my keys and ran the ten feet to the nearest elevators. I rummaged through my purse to find my cell phone to call 911. My voice raised a few octaves as the operator asked what my emergency was, and I could barely catch my breath to let her know that my car was on fire in an underground parking garage. I was now in full-fledged panic mode. Of course this all happened, just after I was singing the praises of the cute little piece of shit.

Ten minutes later the fire trucks with sirens blaring were at my aide
, extinguishing the small fire, that eventually had consumed my whole car. Almost everyone in the building had come down to see what the commotion was, and when they found out it was me, eyes were rolling from here to Baghdad. I tended to be a bit of a klutz around the office and in life.

After the fire was completely extinguished and the smoke had settled, the patient firemen called a tow truck to take my car to the wrecking yard up the street. They explained to me that there was faulty wiring from some work that had been done to the air conditioner in the past. Chalk one up to the ex-boyfriend who thought he was a mechanic. I gathered what I had out of my trunk and headed inside to work.

What a day, oh what a day. Now I have to go buy a new car. Shit! This wouldn’t have been such a big deal, hell most people would be elated to go car shopping, but when I found out about my promotion, I had gone and bought a house. Making two major purchases in one month does not a good decision make.

Annie was impatiently waiting for me outside of my office when I came sauntering up. “Good morning Ms. Boyd.” She half smiled.

I wondered if she had even heard about the fire or not. “Good morning Annie. Did you get any sleep last night?” At this point I didn’t really care, but I was fairly good at faking emotion.

“I did, thank you for asking. Here are your messages and Mr. Holden, the older Holden, has asked for you to meet him in the conference room in fifteen minutes. Would you like me to get you some coffee?”

Why did he want to meet with me I wondered? “Only if you can hook it up in an IV.” I giggled as her brows arched in confusion. “That was a joke Annie. Yes a cup of coffee would be fantastic, but make it snappy if Jim is waiting for me.”

I slipped into my office and tossed my belonging aside on the small leather couch in the corner. I quickly read my messages and checked the whole five emails I had waiting for me, all before Annie showed up with my coffee. “Thanks Annie. Hold my calls please until I get back.”

I staggered into the conference room a moment later, coffee in hand. “Good morning Mr. Holden, how are you?” I smiled.

“I’m doing well Ms. Boyd, thank you for asking. And you?”

Did I really have to answer? “I have been better Sir, but no complaints.” How soon can I get out of here was all I could think, as I fidgeted in my chair.

“I heard about your car this morning. That is just terrible. I have a proposition for you though, one I think you might like. I have decided that I would like to give you a bonus, let’s call it a promotion bonus, in the form of a new car. How does that sound to you?” Chagrin spread across his face.

“Mr. Holden, I don’t think I could accept that.”

“Well, of course you can young lady; this is not up for discussion. I am telling you I am giving you a car.”

“Well, thank you Mr. Holden, but you really don’t have to do this.” I said confused.

“I know I don’t have to.
Ms. Boyd, you have a strong work ethic and you bring a great deal of success to this company and I would like to show you my appreciation. Now Sloan is going to take you down to the dealership in about a half hour. You choose whatever you think suits you best and it will be done.” He began to stand up.

“Sir, will I make the payments to you?” I questioned.

“No, no payments. It will go on the companies account. It’s on me. The only stipulation is that if you ever leave the company, the car will come back to me.” He turned and began walking out of the conference room.

I reached for words, but was at a loss, so I half screamed. “Thank you Mr. Holden.” My face flushed bright red and I twirled in my chair while doing a smaller version of my happy dance. I was getting a new car and I didn’t have to pay a dime for it.

Score!

Sloan

I never expected the scene that played out before me in my office today. I had definitely underestimated Aston and her willingness to get what she wants. She was invading my every thought lately, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was just the need of getting what I couldn’t have?

Visions of her long lean, tanned legs kept replaying in my mind. It was her own little version of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, but man her legs were far sexier than Sharon’s. It was getting harder to not want to know every little thing she was doing.

What the fuck?

I knew what I was going to have to do, to get her alone. I wasn’t the type of guy to date. Fuck, I didn’t even really know the meaning of the word. But something told me, she wasn’t the type of girl to just sleep with someone she has never been out with. A small part of me wondered if she was secretly a little freak? I could see it in her gaze every now and
then; there was a freaky little seductress in her.

A wicked grin spread across my face as I thought of all the naughty things we could do together. I was willing to put in a little bit of work, but not too much. If this was going to be a “chase me” type of game, I would be out, quick.

I thought of my little devious plan to ask her out, while visions of bending her over my desk took over my every thought. I summoned Ariel, my assistant, into my office and proceeded to tell her to ask Ms. Boyd’s assistant when Ms. Boyd would be available for a “meeting.” I let out a chuckle when I spoke the word meeting. I knew exactly what this was; I was just hoping that she didn’t read too much into it.

I ended up staying later than usual tonight, and I thought I was the only one in the office, until I glanced down the hall. Apparently, Ms. Boyd had some work to catch up on.
I tried to just keep walking past her office, but something inside of me stopped me outside her office door. I wasn’t going to knock, I swear it, but my hand was already knocking before I could stop it.

Fuck!

When she opened her door, my mouth went dry. She looked even more beautiful than she had earlier today. Her hair was now all down, and cascading down her back, barely skimming the top of her ass. She barely wore any makeup, but the little bit she had on was now almost gone. Her flushed cheeks made me smile and I couldn’t help but want to invite myself in.

Luckily, when I mentioned takeout she had already ordered some. I was famished and now I had an excuse to be around her, without looking like a stalker. I didn’t want to look like an asshole, so I offered to help her get through some manuscripts while I ate. Man, I did
not miss being an editor one god damned bit. I definitely would never complain about my cushy job ever again. Okay, well at least not anymore tonight.

The sexual energy in the air was thick and smoldering. Something about this woman had me wanting her, bad!
After a long and awkward silence, I decided to finally ask her about the “meeting” my assistant was supposed to tell her about. The minute the words left my mouth, I instantly regretted them. She got really quiet and started to fidget. Now, from what I knew of her so far, this was extremely unlike her. Just then realization dawned on me, I
did
have an effect on her and I liked it.

A short while later, she was finally agreeing to go with me. I don’t know exactly what it was
, but being in this close proximity and hearing her laugh, was making my dick twitch. The more we talked, the more I was fighting the urge to rip off every last piece of clothing she had on. I had glanced down at my watch quite a few times, wondering what time it was. When I checked the last time, I realized it was almost one in the morning. I for one wasn’t tired, but I could tell she was starting to fade.

I waited for her to gather her things and then I walked down to the parking garage with her. I knew that tonight wouldn’t lead to anything, but a small part of me wished it would. It had been far too long since I had indulged in someone, but for some reason
, my dick wanted this woman.

Damn it!

I quickly parted ways with her and headed over to my car. I know it was an asshole move, but I didn’t even wait to see if she got out of the garage okay. Once my tires hit the main road leading to the freeway, I started cussing myself out. I must have looked like a lunatic, because the car full of girls next to me stopped at the red light, were hysterically laughing. I shot them a quick grin as the light turned green, and hauled ass home.

When I woke up the next morning, I was still in my suit and hanging halfway off of my couch. I groaned as I searched for my phone to check the time. It was a quarter after seven.

Shit!

I ran up the stairs as fast as my feet would allow and threw on a new suit. I was already fifteen minutes late and I couldn’t afford for it to be any more than a half an hour; which meant I had to hurry my ass up. I didn’t bother changing the white
dress shirt I had on underneath. I just hoped nobody would notice. As I ran back downstairs, I quickly grabbed my keys and ran out the front door, locking it behind me.

When I approached the office, I noticed a fire truck and some extra commotion but ignored it and went straight to the elevator. I knew I was going to hear it from my father, and I really wasn’t looking forward to it. I half ran out of the eleva
tor once it reached the twentieth floor and booked it down the long hallway to my office. When I opened the door and entered, my father sat in my chair giving me the evil eye.

Damn it!

“Dad look, I know I’m late but,”

His hand flew up in front of his face, faster than I could get the next few words out. “Sloan, I don’t have time to listen to your pathetic excuse this morning. I’m sure I can guess why you were late. I have something I need you to do for me. Ms. Boyd’s car caught on fire in the underground garage this morning. I am going to offer to get her a new one that is reliable. She’s been with this company long enough, and I know she isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. All I need from you is to take her down to the dealership, let her pick out whatever she pleases and then sign for it. Do you think you can manage that?”

Dick!

“Sure, Sir.” Knowing her personality, I knew my father was going to have a hell of a time getting her to accept such an extravagant present. That was my father though, always thinking he can buy whomever he wanted.

Stupid old man!

My father stood, exiting my office seconds later without another word. I simply rolled my eyes and threw myself down into my chair, spinning around like a young child. I swear one day I was going to have to hurt that man. I stopped myself on the last spin and smiled. Today I wasn’t going to need some shitty excuse to be around her. I stood up, straightening my suit and made my way out to her office.