Insufferable Proximity 2 (23 page)

“Ms. Deville, do you have a moment?”

“Sure,” she nodded civilly.

“I never got a chance to thank you properly for suggesting I keep Miss Gray as my secretary. She is a very intelligent woman.”

“Of course,” she nodded.

“She’s an absolute joy and the hardest working secretary I’ve ever had.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“I would love to take you to lunch and show you my appreciation.”

“She’s busy,” Julian said as he walked up behind Heaven. He put his hand possessively on Heaven’s hip while looking directly into Clive’s eyes.

“Of course; another time then,” Clive answered, not taking his eyes off Heaven.

“No, there won’t be another time; she’s a very busy girl.” Julian was being civil, but he felt his anger sparking. There was something about the new guy that he didn’t like.

“I understand,” Clive nodded before he walked away.

“Good,” Julian replied. Clive was new to the firm and had no idea about their relationship. Since he was a co-worker, Julian would give him the benefit of the doubt. He would have a talk with Clive and set him straight.

Julian led Heaven into her office.

“I want to go get some food; I’m starving, and I know you are too,” Heaven said once they were inside.

“What was that about?” Julian asked, standing inches from her.

“What was what about?”

“Don’t play coy—answer me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she frowned, putting her hand on her hip.

“Why the fuck was he asking you to lunch?”

“He just wanted to thank me.”

“Thank you for what?”

“For recommending that he keep Gloria Gray on as his secretary.”

“When did you make that recommendation?”

“I called him right after your father hired him.”

“You called him?” Julian barked, and Heaven could almost see the steam coming out of his ears.

“Yes, I didn’t want Gloria to lose her job.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you spoke to him? Why would you keep that a secret?” He suddenly thought of all the times he’d hidden information from women. It had only been done in deceit. He had never withheld information from Heaven, so why would she do that to him? Was she being deceitful?

‘She’s too brutally honest to be deceitful,
he thought, reminding himself whom he was dealing with.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t think it was important.”

“It is important.”

“Fine.”

“No more private conversations with Mr. Baker. Don’t push me on this. We’ll talk about it more when we get home.” He turned to leave.

“Where are you going?”

“To my office,” he barked as he neared the door.

“What about lunch?”

“I’ve lost my appetite,’ he finished with a look of disgust before he left her office.

Heaven stood baffled, looking at the closed door.

“What the hell just happened?” she whispered to herself.

She stood there dumbfounded for a moment before she walked next door to Julian’s office.

“I’m not waiting until we get home; I want to talk about this now.” She walked over to sit on his desk—preventing him from doing anything other than talking to her.

“I don’t like that you kept that phone call from me.”

“I’m sorry. If I knew that it was going to bother you, I wouldn’t have called him at all. I would have just relayed the message through your father.”

“I like that idea. From now on, relay all messages to Mr. Baker through my father. Or me. I don’t want you talking to him.”

“But he’s a co-worker.” She was having déjà vu, remembering when he made the same demand about Gavin Grant.

“I know…I don’t care,” he said bluntly.

“You’re being irrational.”

“I know…I don’t care,” he repeated in the same fashion.

“Fine, have it your way,” she shrugged. She had no reason to talk to Clive. Even if she weren’t with Julian, she would still ignore Clive like she did everyone else.

“And I want your shirt buttoned at all times. If I catch him looking at your chest again, I’m liable to pluck his eyes out,” he instructed as he buttoned her shirt to the top, “I’m starting to miss those constricting corsets.”

***

The prison was currently in a state of silent battle. To the people on the outside, it looked like a normal prison, but the people on the inside knew what that silence meant. There had been a war brewing between the prisoners before Gavin arrived. The war had slowly escalated, and now it involved the officers. It was like a heightened game of chess, both sides making moves according to their situation.

Gavin lay on his bed listening to two other prisoners discuss their plan to take down one of the officers. Gavin couldn’t stand the condescending guard either. The guard and his brother treated them like filthy animals. Despite his distaste for the macho guard, Gavin considered
using the information. When the time was right, that information could prove to be invaluable.

The Coffee Incident

Julian looked at the bedroom clock, to see that it read 5:00 am. He turned back to see that Heaven was still fast asleep; she was facing him, but the cover was blocking part of her face. He moved the cover and pushed a dark lock of hair from her face, and took the time just to watch her as she slept. Her breasts rose with each breath, the soft tips reaching out for him. He slid the blanket from her body and sat up to get a better view.

He realized that he was blessed. He finally knew what he wanted, and he had something to strive for. He was no longer running around like a melted brain zombie with a hard dick—fucking anything that moaned. However, with love came other emotions he was having trouble containing. He was learning that jealousy was a very powerful emotion, and was having more trouble controlling that than his libido.

There was no way in hell that he would allow someone like Clive Baker to come in and try to sweep Heaven off her feet. Although he knew how loyal Heaven was, it was her inexperience that made him worry. Did she think about what sex would be like with someone else? Did she wonder? He’d yet to meet a faithful woman. His mother turned cheating into a game. But Heaven was nothing like his mother. He immediately put it from his mind and continued in his exploration. He slid his fingertips across her shoulder, down her arm, to creep across her breast.

“I’m a lucky man,” he whispered to himself as he slid back to lie beside her. He continued to trail his hand down to her sex. He touched her mound and smiled when she sighed in her sleep, then bent his head to run his tongue across her soft nipple before taking it into his mouth. Her body was responding rapidly, and he knew she was beginning to wake up.

Julian toyed with her opening, slipping just the tip of his finger in, and watched her eyes flutter open as she moaned softly. Heaven slid her hand between her legs and covered his hand. She pushed his hand tightly against her sex. He pushed his finger in to the hilt, and she cried out. He withdrew his finger before pushing it back in. She arched her back as she continued to hold his hand. With her breasts thrust high, he sucked the tip deeper into his mouth. She wrapped her other arm around his head, holding him closer. He lightly bit the tip in response, and began to rub her clit with his thumb as she began to pant.

“Oh god, I’m going to come,” she cried as he increased the pressure.

He held her tightly as her orgasm barreled through her. She arched deeper and spread her legs wider as it burst upon her. She clamped her legs together, locking his hand in place. He stopped toying with her clit, but waited until her body settled down before he withdrew his finger. Then he lazily circled his tongue across her nipple for a moment before pulling back. He put his finger in his mouth and sucked it off as he propped himself up on his elbow.

“Good morning,” he whispered before kissing her lips.

“Good morning,” she whispered against his lips. “I wish we could stay like this all day.”

“We can this weekend.”

“I can’t wait until the weekend comes.”

“I can’t wait to see how many times I can make you come this weekend,” he said with a grin.

“Let’s stay in this bed all weekend.”

“All weekend?”

“Yes; we can even take our meals here.”

“I love that idea,” he nuzzled his mouth against her neck, “but now, we must get ready for work.”

“Damn,” Heaven sighed before she kissed him.

***

Heaven walked into her office, to see a fresh cup of coffee on her desk. She knew it wasn’t from her secretary, who was late this morning and had arrived at the same time as Heaven. She walked over to her desk and saw the little card stuck to the coffee cup.

Sorry we never got a chance to do lunch. The least I could do is buy you a cup of coffee after such an excellent recommendation. Miss Gloria Gray is exceptional, and it’s a pleasure to have her as my secretary.

Thank you again,

Clive

Heaven smiled softly, satisfied that they were both happy. She tossed the note in the garbage and headed towards the bathroom, poured the coffee down the sink and tossed the cup in the trash. After that whole episode with Gavin Grant, Heaven wasn’t comfortable drinking beverages prepared by her co-workers. Besides, Julian had insisted they stop for coffee again that morning, so she’d had plenty.

***

“Hi, Ms. Deville,” Clive smiled.

“Oh, hello Mr. Baker.”

“I just wanted to make sure you got your coffee. I wasn’t sure how you liked it, so I put the cream and sugar on the side; I did notice that you liked a lot of cream and sugar, so I brought you plenty.”

“Thank you, but that wasn’t necessary.”

“I just wanted to show my appreciation. Gloria Grant is wonderful as well as dutiful.”

“Well, thank you again,” Heaven replied before she turned to see Julian.

Clive smiled like an eager child. “I just can’t thank you enough.”

“Why are you so eager to show her your appreciation?” Julian asked Clive, his eyes blazing with anger. As he walked towards them, he’d seen Clive’s eyes dart to Heaven’s chest. After Baker’s comment about the sugar, Julian realized that he was paying entirely too much attention to Heaven.

“Miss Grant is the best secretary I’ve had. My last secretary stole money from me, and the one before her never worked. Let’s just say that it’s a breath of fresh air to have her assisting me. I wanted to thank Ms. Deville for making my life so much easier. The coffee was a mere token of my appreciation,” Clive explained.

“That’s enough appreciation.” Julian’s voice was deep and laced with a subtle hostility. He was flabbergasted that Clive had brought Heaven coffee. Not to mention the fact that Heaven hadn’t mentioned it. He felt his jealousy soar with his rage. He wanted to shake Clive Baker and shove his fist into his face.

He wanted to shove something else in Heaven…

“I understand,” Clive nodded sympathetically.

It took everything in Julian’s power to prevent him from slamming Clive against the wall. Instead, he turned and led Heaven into her office.

“Wait here,” he demanded before he left.

Julian went straight to Clive’s office; he needed to nip this in the bud right now. He didn’t wait for his secretary to announce him, instead knocking directly on the door.

“Come in,” Clive called out and Julian let himself in.

“Stop buying my fiancée coffee,” Julian warned him.

“I was just trying to say thank you.”

“You said thank you—that was enough. The coffee was overkill as far as I’m concerned.”

“I was just trying to be friendly.”

“Being too friendly can be hazardous; you should watch your step.”

“Maybe you should be having this conversation with her,” Clive said in a suggestive way.

“What are you implying?” Julian took a step closer to Clive.

“Nothing, I just meant that…she’s the one who called me. I was only trying to be friendly in return. I’m new here; being friendly is a good way to make new friends.”

“She’s not going to be your friend, get that through your head.”

“Look, I understand where you’re coming from, but it’s not my fault that your girlfriend calls other men without your knowledge.” He tried to appear sympathetic, but Julian could see the game that he was trying to run.

“We all work together, and it’s best to keep things civil. With that being said—if you buy her another cup of coffee, I’ll break your fucking fingers,” Julian threatened as he continued to glare at Clive.

“Whoa—are you threatening me?”

“Yes.” Julian continued to stare at Clive for a moment, waiting for him to object. Clive responded in silence, so Julian shook his head in disgust before he left.

***

“Are you on your way to lunch?” Gloria asked Ian as they walked towards the elevator.