King (6 page)

He
kissed me deeply before gently pulling out, as my shaky feet found the floor.
We stood nose to nose, holding each other, breathing still ragged as we came
down from the incredible high and as I gazed into those beautiful sapphire
eyes, eclipsed by pools of black, my heart melted. Right until the second he
spoke. “That was incredible Smith” he smiled at me, the reversion to my surname,
reminding me all too soon why I’d spent two months trying to give Jason King a
very wide berth.

 
A dozen emotions raced through my brain as I
stood there staring, our lips only millimetres apart. “Thank you King, I no
longer feel in the least bit frustrated”. Physically I felt so
satisfied,
at least that part was true, reminding me never
again to go twelve months without any action. Now, all I had to do was extract
myself in the least mortifying way possible from this particular situation. I
bent to pick up my dress as he stepped backwards, raking his gaze over my
almost naked body as I pulled it on, wrapping it around me and tying it around
the waist. “Glad I no longer irritate you Smith” he grinned and I couldn’t help
but smile back. “Oh, I didn’t say that” I laughed, turning to open the handle
on the huge wooden door and making my way towards the elevator, feeling
slightly guilty as I noticed several shirt buttons scattered across the floor
where I’d pulled mercilessly at it in the frantic race to get him naked, and I
hoped he had a spare. I pressed the button for the elevator when I heard the
whistle behind me and turned to face him, as he lounged casually against the
door frame of his office, his glorious chest deliciously naked and hair sexily
ruffled as he dangled my damaged lace panties from an extended finger. “Keep
them” I grinned as the elevator arrived, sliding in and turning to hold his
stare as the doors slid shut.

I
almost skipped home, on cloud nine, elated and sated and revelling in the realisation
that Katie’s plan might have actually worked. Despite my general loathing of
the man, fucking him out of my system had been infinitely more enjoyable than
I’d envisaged. All I needed now was to find a plan to sort out the work
situation. Lying in my bed, staring at the ceiling after a long soak in a
beautiful peach scented bath, wondering how I could avoid Jason King, it came
to me.

Chapter
4

“I’m
not sure why you look so happy, I heard what the bastards did with the fashion pitch”
Katie said as we hit the kitchen for our morning coffee and I couldn’t resist
unleashing the shock factor. “I fucked King last night” I grinned as she
stopped dead, staring after me, her pretty face etched with pure unadulterated
surprise. “He was great and your plan worked. I’m going to see Alison as soon
as I’ve caffeinated myself to tell her to take me off all the leading accounts
for a while” I smiled, which did nothing to lessen the shock on her face. “You
can’t
Lotty
, you’ve worked so hard to get the prime
accounts” she gasped sympathetically. She more than anyone knew how hard I’d
fought Grayson and his old boys club to be taken seriously and worked my arse
off to pitch out of my skin until I was considered the best executive they had.
But the truth was, as long as I was pitching for the plum accounts, the ones
that won you awards and made you famous in the industry, I would be up against
Jason King, and I was keen to avoid him at all costs. That particular method of
working currently had me lingering in the middle of the executives sales
rankings and I wanted to be at the top. I knew my plan would mean working
harder than I’d ever worked before but if I was successful, it would keep Jason
King out of my hair, earn me significant commission and bounce me back to the
top of that sales table before anyone realised what I was up to.

Alison
wasn’t surprised to see me, but as I explained my plan she was undoubtedly
surprised as to why I was there. I imagined she was expecting a confrontation,
the kind she’d have had from Ian Anderson if they had taken one of his pitches
from him at the eleventh hour and given it to me when the hard work had been
done. She pushed her glasses to the bridge of her nose, eyeing me suspiciously,
blood red lips pursed. “Why Charlotte?” she quizzed as I smiled at her. “Look
Alison, Ian wants the big accounts, let him have them. All I’m asking for is
the small and medium accounts that we’re not currently taking and to have the
opportunity to run with them”. “You won’t win any awards for plugging
toothpicks and toilet cleaner” she said grimacing, pushing her tortoiseshell
designer glasses back into place. “Just give me the go ahead to try them out
Alison, income is income, sexy or not” I laughed as she nodded her head,
shooing me out of the office as her phone rang.

 
Katie was keen to get to the bottom of my
sudden professional change of direction and I ushered her into the boardroom to
give her the low down. I was definitely going to need her help and that of the
creative team, who I imagined would be far from happy. They didn’t want to
create ads for toothpicks any more than I did really. They wanted
Pharma
and Rolex and Castle vodka, big ticket items with
the budgets to match. Namely, all the ones I had recently lost. Perhaps I’d
leave them to Anderson, and pull in some of the juniors. Now there was a
thought.

“So
I’m bursting to know
Lotty
, how was he?” she grinned
as soon as I shut the door and I laughed as her comment caught me off guard.
“Exactly as you’d expect” I winked. “Did you go back to his?” she smiled,
biting her lip. A vague comment wouldn’t be enough, the girl wanted details and
I couldn’t blame her, I would be exactly the same. “I don’t think we’d have
made it” I laughed. “We were in the
cafe,
we only just
made it to his office. He was hot, he was good, very good in fact, and that’s
all you’re getting” I laughed as she squealed in frustration.
“Out of ten.
Body?” she persisted as I shook my head
laughing “Ten”. “Cock?” and I rolled my eyes.
“Eleven” I
said eventually as she pulled out her notebook, unable to wipe the look from
her face that told me she was beyond envious of my little tryst with the rather
large Jason King.

“So
what’s with the minor accounts?” she said, looking at me like I had lost my
mind. I smiled at her. “I’m languishing in the middle of the sales rankings
Katie, Grayson is losing faith,
Ian
Anderson is
telling anyone who’ll listen that I’ve lost the killer instinct and King has
outpitched me on everything but dog food lately. I need to keep myself under
the radar and win the accounts no one’s watching. I’ll have to work a lot
harder and pitch three times more often on average” I laughed as she rolled her
eyes. “Which means I’m going to have to work three times as hard” she sighed,
staring me out as I grinned at her nodding.

“I
still don’t really understand why
Lotty
?” she frowned
again, and I was hoping she’d share my enthusiasm when she heard my reasoning.
“King will win the fashion account, he knows the designer. Andersons wasting
his time, but he doesn’t know that, and I’d be grateful if you kept it to
yourself. While he’s tied up with that, he won’t be working on anything else
and neither will King. If I can do what I need to do, I’ll be back in with a
shot at Exec of the Year for the advertising awards. If I carry on like I am
now, I’ll be out of the running, and I can’t have King ruining the last twelve
months work just because he finds it amusing to get in my face. These accounts
will trickle in slowly and I imagine that by the time they all add up, Anderson
won’t be able to find an account big enough to trump me. King probably will,
but as long as I’m put forward as the Grayson representative, I’ll be happy
with that, and Ian will be eating his words”. “You devious bitch Charlotte” she
grinned, nodding her head “that plan might just work”. “It will if I can keep
enough secrecy around it. I need to buy some time Katie. Can you help me dig up
every minor account that’s languishing in the files and help me enlist some of
the junior creative’s?” She nodded enthusiastically and as we left the
boardroom we were giggling like schoolgirls. We were on a mission, and it felt
good.

“Take
your pick” she laughed at lunchtime, throwing a three page report on my desk as
I glanced down it, smiling up at her. “I’ll take the hover mower, the matches,
the
smartphone
app, the ice cream and aspirin for
now” I said, highlighting the report and downloading the details on to my
desktop. Can you tell the junior creative’s to get started and remind them its
top secret” I smiled at her.
“Will do.
I thought
they’d pull their faces but they’re buzzing about it. You know how it is, no
one pays them much attention,
they’ll
be leading on
their own accounts, which is a first for most of them. I think your plan could
be absolute genius” she laughed. “Tell them the drinks are on me tonight” I
smiled. “I wasn’t intending to risk the wine bar yet, but I need them on side
and I imagine getting them plastered on free drinks is as good a way as any to
go about doing it”. She gave me a knowing smile and went to work. I was still
at my desk when six o’ clock rolled around having made significant inroads into
three of the pitches. This was going to be tough and I prayed it was going to
be worth it. If nothing else, it had taken my mind off Jason King, realising
suddenly that I hadn’t heard from him, prick.

Katie
and the junior creative’s, were waiting for me in a large booth at the wine
bar, chattering excitedly about the design concepts and ideas they were working
on as I walked in and I noticed them whispering when anyone went by, just in
case the walls had ears. Katie had trained my little team well. “I’ll set up a
tab” I grinned, making my way over to the bar, noticing the brooding presence
of Jason King out of the corner of my eye. I decided ignoring him would be
childish and was secretly keen to see if our erotic tryst had mellowed him any.
I turned and smiled as he held my gaze, switching his attention from the slim
redhead who he’d no doubt been charming only seconds before, and who glowered
at me with a look that would curdle milk.

He
looked glorious, having discarded his jacket and signature tie, lounging
against the bar in a crisp white shirt, open at the collar as he grinned and
made his way over. “Where have you been Smith?” he smiled as I smiled back.
“Just been busy.
Why, did you miss me?” I said, turning to
the bartender to order two bottles of Chardonnay and opening a tab. He frowned
at me. “What are you working on? Ian doesn’t seem to know” he said, his mouth
set in a firm line as he gestured to my colleague who was socialising with his
group at the end of the bar.
“Nothing exciting.
Still reeling from losing the fashion account”.
His eyes
narrowed and by the way they were twinkling, I knew he wasn’t buying it. I had
to come up with something believable. If he turned his charm on the junior
creative’s, they wouldn’t stand a chance. Nor I suspected, would Katie. Hell,
even I might wobble, I laughed inwardly.

 
“It’s a government schools project. Its early
stages, unconfirmed, they’re trying to get some ideas together in case they get
the funding. That’s not even secured yet” I shrugged. “Ian says Alison’s gifted
him another major account”. I gazed up at him with deliberately sad eyes, a
look he returned with a genuinely concerned frown. “I don’t know” I said gazing
at the floor. I
was loving
my devious little plan, but
playing the victim was turning out to be infinitely more difficult than I
thought, and I actually felt bad for lying to him. God knows why, the man had
been the bane of my professional life for the last two months. I was saved by a
brief intervention from the redhead who came to enquire where her drink was,
her face like thunder as he gestured her away.

“About
what happened in my office Smith...” he started as I put my hand up to stop him
mid flow. Part of me was desperate to know what he was going to say, but there
was no way I was going down that road again.
Best to put an
end to it now.
“Don’t” I said simply, flushing lightly and deciding that
changing the subject would be my best bet. “Why is it Ian for Anderson, but
Smith for me?” His ensuing laugh and dazzling smile making my heart flip
involuntarily as visions of him fucking me against his office door burst into
my brain. “Don’t you like it?” he smirked, gorgeous full lips curving
annoyingly. The Jason King I knew and loathed was back I thought,
tutting
and shaking my head at him, returning to the booth,
armed with two bottles of wine and several glasses.

I pulled my
buzzing phone from my bag and read the text. I knew who it was from, I had
saved his number.

Frustrated Smith? I’ve got a cure for
that you seemed to like

I fired a
text back, glancing over my shoulder and slightly satisfied that my reply wiped
the smug smile from his face.

Use it on the
redhead,
she looks like she needs it

I warned
Katie and the junior creative’s who I absolutely adored, that under no
circumstances must they mention anything to King or Ian Anderson about what we
were up to, bringing them up to speed on the imaginary Government schools project.
“What shall we say if he asks us about the details?” said Sasha, a humorous
bright young graduate who had only just started. “You’re a creative, use your
imagination” I laughed as we chinked glasses and Katie grinned at me broadly.
“He hasn’t taken his eyes off you all night
Lotty
, I
think you’ve got him rattled” she laughed. “Well that would be a first, maybe I
should have lost my pants eight weeks ago” I whispered back as she raised her
eyebrows, across the table. “Lost them?” and I couldn’t help but laugh. She
could work it
out,
I wasn’t sharing that particular
detail. “Long story” I grinned taking a huge glug of Chardonnay and catching
the eye of a gorgeous almost stranger who had just walked in.