Beg for It (18 page)

“And you
wanted
to see me again.”

“Yes. More than that, I wanted
you
to see
me
.” He cleared his throat, wishing it was as easy now as it had been back then to give up to her. “I wanted to show you that I’d been right to leave. If I’d stayed in Lancaster, I would never have become what I am today.”

Corinne tilted her head to look him over. “You wanted to prove that I’d been wrong to ask you to stay.”

“I wanted you to see how wrong you’d been not to want to come with me,” he said.

“Because now you have money and power,” Corinne replied quietly. “As though any of that ever mattered to me.”

She’d always been able to read him. Hearing her say it shamed him, but he lifted his chin anyway, not wanting to show it. Her smile struck him right between the eyes.

She shrugged. “You wanted to show me up and prove a point by coming back here, and you also wanted to show me up and prove a point by making me run those ridiculous reports. Well, are you happy about it now? Do you think you got what you wanted? I am impressed, by the way, with everything you’ve accomplished. But I always knew you would make something of yourself. Even if you didn’t think I did, I always knew.”

As a younger man, he’d taken a lot of comfort from relying on her to guide him. His indiscretions had been minor. Her disciplines as much a game as anything they’d done. He didn’t forget, though, how it had felt to trust her, to know that whatever she was asking of him, he would be able to provide. He’d learned not to need that guidance from someone else, but he’d never forgotten how it had felt to have it.

“This is stupid,” Reese complains. Pen in his hand. Paper in front of him.

Corinne has demanded he write lines.

“You’re a procrastinator,” she tells him calmly from her place at the kitchen sink where she’s peeling potatoes for dinner, a job he was supposed to do but had left so long that she’d lost her patience with him. “If I ask you to do something, I need to know you’ll do it. If you tell someone you’re going to, you need to make sure you do. What good is your word if you don’t keep it?”

He writes the first line,
I will not leave my chores undone.

“Writing lines isn’t going to make a difference, Corinne.”

“No, edging your cock won’t make a difference in this, because you like that,” comes the retort. She turns, peeler in hand. “After the two hundredth line, when your hand is cramping and you’re sure you can’t do another one, maybe you’ll remember the next time to keep your word.”

“This is ridiculous!” He writes another line.

She laughs. “Yes, it is.”

He does it anyway. When he has finished, she rubs his sore hand with warm oil and blows him, off and on, for an hour or so. That is a different sort of punishment and torture, but it is not discipline.

They both know the difference.

“Did you?” Corinne asked again. “Get what you wanted?”

He cleared his throat and looked at the desk, then back at her, amused to see that she was blushing a little. “Yes.”

“It’s been a very long time since I did anything like that. Actually, I’ve never done anything like
that
.” She smoothed her skirt over her knees.

They stared at each other for a few minutes in silence, but it wasn’t awkward. If anything, sitting quietly in her presence reminded him strongly of when they’d been together, when they’d needed no words. When simply being with each other was enough.

“The night you came to my house…”

She smiled. “Yeah?”

“Did you mean what you said?”

Corinne looked scared for a moment. Then slowly, she nodded. “Yes. I did. Everything. Did you?”

“Yes.”

She looked down for a second, and when she looked up, the smile was back, this time with a glimmer of tears in her gaze. “Things are not the same as they were back then. I’m not the same person.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to be.”

“You,” she said firmly, “are not the same person.”

“I hope not.” Reese inched a bit closer, not reaching for her, though he wanted to.

Corinne cleared her throat. “You were very clear when we met in the restaurant that first day to talk about the offer. You are not my boy.”

“I was being a dick—”

“No,” she interrupted. “No. You were right. You are not my boy, and I don’t want you to be.”

His stomach twisted. Shit. All this, and he’d made an ass of himself for nothing. He could buy and sell a company, but he couldn’t buy or sell her.

“I don’t want a boy,” Corinne continued. “I want a man. Someone strong. Capable. Mature. Willing to be a partner. I have a life and responsibilities and children now. They’re my priority. And as much as I love fucking you, I have to put my kids first.”

“I understand.” He did reach for her hand this time, linking her fingers in his. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“So if you just want to fuck around—”

Reese shook his head. “No, Corinne.”

She cleared her throat. Then nodded once, carefully. Her fingers tightened around his. “We have to set some ground rules.”

He leaned to offer his mouth to hers, waiting for her to take it. “I love ground rules.”

“Mmmm.” She brushed his lips with hers, not pulling away but not letting the kiss deepen, either. When he tugged her hand, she moved onto his lap, her skirt too tight to allow her to straddle him, so she sat sideways. “I think the first rule should be, no fooling around at work.”

“That’s a terrible rule.”

When she took his lower lip between her teeth, nipping, Reese groaned, already getting hard again. His balls still ached from unreleased arousal.

She didn’t let go. The sting increased, though she stopped just before it would’ve become actual pain. She knew him. After all this time, she still knew him.

Her tongue flicked over the sore spot. “Are you going to argue with me about everything?”

“Not about everything. No.”

She laughed with a hitch in her voice and put her arms around him to tuck her face against the side of his neck. She spoke into his ear, soft feathering brushes of her lips on his skin making him shiver. “I’d like to do it right this time around.”

He hesitated, then pushed her back enough so he could look at her face. Reese brushed a strand of hair off her face. “What was so wrong about how we were, before?”

“Obviously something, since we broke up.” She shifted on his lap, easing the pressure on his growing erection.

He nuzzled her neck, loving the way it made her sigh and arch to give him better access. “You think we need something more formal? A…hell, a contract or something?”

She laughed again, this time pushing him away to get a good look at his face. “Oh, my. That sounds formal.”

“People do it. They lay it all out, get it notarized, the works.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Get out of here. That serious?”

“They do. It’s usually a master/slave sort of thing, laying out the exact details and responsibilities…” He broke off at the sight of her expression. “What? No?”

“I thought that was something in books. Not for real life.”

“One of the businesses I own is a travel company that caters to people in the lifestyle, planning vacations that incorporate kink.” Reese shrugged. “There are lots of things in books that really happen.”

“Pony stables?” Corinne whispered, looking both gleeful and horrified.

Reese snorted laughter, surprised she knew about stuff like that but realizing he shouldn’t be. “Oh, yeah. For sure.”

“Oh my God.”

“Do you want that?”

Shit.
There were a lot of things he’d be willing to do for her, but being a pony was absolutely going to stretch his comfort zone. Relieved when she burst into laughter, he took the chance to kiss her again.

“As much as I’d like to take you for a ride, no. I don’t want you to be a pony. And I don’t think we need a notarized contract. I mean, what are we talking about?” Her laughter eased, and she gave him a serious look. “I told you, if you just want to fuck—”

“No. That’s not it. I’d like to see you.”

“You do see me,” she whispered and rocked a little against his cock.

Reese drew in a breath. “I want to see you, Corinne. Like dating. Like a relationship.”

“Monogamous?”

“Yes.” He paused. “Unless you want to see other people.”

“Like I said, Reese, my kids are my priority. I don’t really have time to go dating all over the place.” Corinne smoothed her hand over his cheek to cup his chin.

His eyes went instantly heavy lidded at the embrace. “I like kids.”

Her grip tightened until his eyes opened. “I haven’t brought anyone around to meet my kids.”

“I’ve met at least one already,” he pointed out.

“That was different. You were my boss. Not my boyfriend.”

Heat crept up inside him at the way she said boyfriend. They sat quietly for another few seconds as she let go of his chin to cup his cheek. She kissed him lightly. Tenderly.

“We can try it,” she said against his mouth. “This. Us.”

“No contract?”

“No contract,” she said. “But I think I’ll make you a list.”

Reese grinned. “That’s okay. I like lists.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

There’d been a few hours of homework, then some TV, and now bedtime was looming. Peyton had already disappeared into her room, presumably to get on her laptop with friends in the last few minutes before she was supposed to go to sleep, but Tyler was procrastinating.

“C’mon, buddy. You were supposed to be finished with this before TV.” Corinne scrubbed at her eyes, sleepy and more than a little irritated. “How long have you known you had to do this project?”

Tyler gave her a look that reminded her far too uncomfortably of the one his father used to give her when he was trying to keep the truth from her. “Well, I just remembered about it.”

“Uh-huh. And you didn’t work on it at all at your dad’s?”

He gave her another guilty look. “Dad said it was okay, I’d have enough time to do it later. We were going to the movies.”

Corinne frowned. “You’re supposed to do your homework first, Tyler. Before anything else.”

“Nobody else had any,” he protested. “They’d have had to wait for me, and Dad said it wasn’t fair that everyone should suffer!”

Corinne bit her tongue to keep herself from blurting out exactly how unfair it was that now she was going to be suffering because she had to oversee this busywork project that her kid really should’ve finished days ago but didn’t because his father was too selfish to give up an afternoon of fun. She sighed and flipped through the packet of information. At least she didn’t have to help him make a diorama. With a quick glance at the clock, she sighed.

“Okay, let’s get working on this. I’m tired and want to take a bath.”

“I can help him with it.” This came from Caitlyn, who stood in the kitchen doorway with a plate of leftover pasta in her hand. “I’m super good at doing last minute projects.”

Corinne laughed. “Auntie Caitlyn’s the queen of procrastination.”

Tyler frowned, looking back and forth between them. “Okay…”

“Relax, kid. We’ll get your project underway. Let’s go.” Caitlyn settled at the table with her dinner.

The three of them worked for a bit, Tyler typing up notes based on things Caitlyn pulled from the textbook while Corinne checked off the list of items he needed to include. When Corinne’s cell phone rang from where she’d been charging it on the counter, she glanced up but didn’t answer it. She caught Tyler and Caitlyn sharing a glance though.

“What?” Corinne asked, frowning.

Tyler shrugged. “You should answer that, it might be your boyfriend.”

Corinne’s eyebrows rose. “Who says I have a boyfriend?”

By the way Tyler looked at his aunt, Corinne figured it out easily enough. Her sister shrugged, giving Corinne a look of exaggerated innocence. Corinne sighed.

“Me and Peyton don’t care, Mom.”

Corinne carefully kept her voice neutral. “So you’ve talked about it, huh?”

“Sure. I mean, you and Dad got divorced and he got a new wife. If you have a boyfriend who’s nice to you that’s okay.” Tyler paused. “And to us too.”

“I wouldn’t be with someone who wasn’t nice to you, kiddo.”

Tyler gave Caitlyn another look. “Auntie says he’s loaded. Do you think he’ll buy me a new—”

“He’s not going to buy you anything,” Corinne interrupted sternly. “That’s rude.”

“Yeah, he’s her boyfriend, not an ATM!” Caitlyn waggled her brows, making Tyler laugh.

Corinne gave them both a look that did nothing to stop the giggling. “I’m glad you’re both amused.”