Twelve Days The Beginning

Chapter Four

Aware that she had been staring for an inordinate amount of time and now feeling ridiculously embarrassed, Elise finally drew her eyes back up to Vaughn’s face, slightly alarmed to find dark brown eyes regarding her with a somewhat amused expression. Trying to control a sudden hot flush, she moved further into the room so that she was standing directly in front of his desk.

All sense appeared to have left Elise the second that she walked in the door so she took a moment to mentally pull herself together and draw herself up to her full five foot and four inches. She knew that he was watching her every move and felt the heat of his gaze as it travelled down her height; taking in her small but ample curves, sweeping down the gentle slope of her belly, following on to her legs which today were encased in sheer black tights and finishing at her functional black heels. Her body burned with heat wherever his eyes lingered and she didn’t need to look to know the second that he had finished his scrutiny. His eyes took a leisurely route back up her body and then eventually connected with hers again, a heat flaring between them as bright blue met dark dark brown. Still neither of them had spoken.

Catching her thoughts before they became any more wayward, she opened her mouth to address him, only to be stopped abruptly by his smooth, husky tone. Having only heard him speak a few words last night and most of those slurred, she was pleasantly surprised to find his tone both warm and alluring. She began to imagine him in another time and place; whispering in her ear, telling her what he would like to do to her body, telling her that she was beautiful. A warm feeling passed through her, igniting goose bumps along the way and Elise was startled to realise that she was getting aroused, feeling a dampness beginning to pool in her panties. She also realised that she had not heard one thing that Vaughn had said.

As if aware that her thoughts had wandered yet again, Vaughn coughed to bring her back to the present and addressed her once more.

“Miss Grayson. What a pleasant surprise,” he commented innocently. “I wasn’t aware we had a meeting?”

A meeting? The nerve of the man. Not ten minutes ago, he had been propositioning her by e-mail and now he was suggesting that she needed permission to be in his office.

“A meeting? Hang on a minute...” she spluttered “What the hell are you talking about and what’s with this Miss Grayson business? How do you even know my last name?” She was starting to get angry now as more and more things didn’t make sense. “Last night you were Vaughn, a drunken letch, a new colleague and one that I was planning to avoid like the plague. Today you are Mr Vaughn Granger, Managing Director and sending me totally improper e-mails-not to mention taking advantage of Olivia. Excuse me if we don’t have a meeting, but I think that I need - no wait - deserve, an explanation.” Stopping, she watched and waited; waiting for him to say something, anything.



Vaughn continued to regard her steadily and appeared to show little emotion to her outburst. The seconds ticked by as he seemed to consider his answer and as Elise waited, the silence in the small office became heavier – charged.

Finally he spoke, breaking the atmosphere with his ridiculously sexy voice and Elise was glad that the silence had been eventually broken.

“Last night and this morning I am one and the same person,” he said “and the fact that you weren’t aware of my position within the Company is because no one at ground level was. Last night was an.....error of judgement. However, I have never taken advantage of anyone and I can assure you that last night, Olivia was more than happy to go along with my plans.” He paused, regarding her coolly now. “I have bought into the Company and am now in a position of some power. I know your last name because I employ you and, whilst I appreciate my appearance last night may have indicated to the contrary, I am not and never have been a letch, as you so delicately put it.”

“Unfortunately for you, perhaps,” he continued, “my new ‘power’ gives me the freedom to work wherever I choose in the company. Since I have always enjoyed the cut and thrust of the sales environment, I have decided to work out in the field, taking charge of the sales force at conferences and venues and picking up leads from ‘off site’, hence the title. My buy-in to the company has given me the largest single shareholding stake, which means that I am in a position of unquestionable seniority. Consequently for you, Miss Grayson, that means that I am now your boss.”

Elise took a moment to digest this information, trying to make sense of what was happening. With all the difficulties in her personal life, Cole and Andrews & Andrews had been the two things that she could count on to remain the same and now it seemed that this rug was being pulled out from underneath her. She could not continue to work the conferences and venues with this man - he was insufferable, arrogant, conceited and far too good looking for his own good. She knew his type; wealthy and beautiful, a player, love ‘em and leave ‘em. Olivia, it would seem, was already testament to that. She refused to consider why it should bother her so much; she just knew that no good could come of continuing this ‘game’. He held all the power and, whilst that rankled, she knew better than to take issue with it and decided that her only plan was to bow out gracefully. Well, as gracefully as Elise Geraldine Grayson ever bowed out of anything.

“Mr Granger,” - Two could play at this constant use of last names - “Whilst I don’t pretend to understand the intricacies of this situation and I am at a complete loss as to why someone with your ‘power’ would feel the need to get steaming drunk and prey on a young and innocent employee last night, I know that my...working.. for you will not play out well for either of us and I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that I will be speaking to Cole...um, Mr Andrews, to arrange to withdraw from the off-site sales team with immediate effect. There will be no need for us to maintain any type of relationship and therefore the fact that we don’t have a ‘meeting’ is entirely irrelevant!” There – that should make him realise that she wasn’t to be messed with. She would miss the conferences and off site work, no two ways about it, but she would not compromise her standards to work with someone who appeared to have so little regard for anyone else.



“Mmmm..” he responded, the glimmer of a smile hovering around his eyes, “You make your point well and whilst I must admit that your argument has its merits, my problem is this: Technically I am not only your boss, but I am also Cole Andrew’s boss which means I get to override any decisions he may deem suitable.” His eyes, now almost black, held her gaze steadily and she tried to hold her ground, refusing to be the one to break contact or show any weakness. “A decision involving you leaving the team is not one that I consider to be suitable and therefore I find myself already overriding any such scenario. You have been top seller for the past two months” he paused, allowing her to take on board the implication of his statement “Besides which, Miss Grayson, I find that I want you very much and I am not a man accustomed to being denied.” He delivered the last sentence completely deadpan although the heat beginning to reflect in his eyes belied the fact that he was unaffected.

There was an intensity to this man that both aroused and frightened Elise. He had no right to stake any claim over her, she was married, and she was totally sick and tired of people thinking that this made no difference whatsoever. However she couldn’t deny the feelings rushing through her body at the thought of being at the complete mercy of this stunning man.

Realising that she was in danger of losing ground, Elise physically backed up a little and strove to keep an evenness to her tone that she was far from feeling. “Mr Granger....Vaughn.....as I stated in my e-mails this morning, I am a married woman and as such, I am completely unavailable to be wanted by anyone other than my husband – let alone a drunken letch, with, it would seem, more money than sense.” She took a breath and then continued.

“I enjoy my job very much, particularly the conference and venues side of it, and so I will continue to work for you off site. I would however be grateful if you could refrain from e-mailing me again unless it is a work related matter. As such, perhaps we could just forget that this conversation ever took place.”

Satisfied and hoping that she had finally put him in his place, Elise turned for the door, anticipating that he would get the message and leave her the hell alone. Whilst she knew that some men enjoyed chasing unavailable women, she didn’t flatter herself that she was worthy of chasing in any way. Now she had outlined once and for all the obstacles that stood in his way, she felt sure that he would get the message and move on. Perhaps back to Olivia.

The problem was that she was undeniably attracted to him, big time, and if he decided to persist with his unwanted attentions then she wasn’t sure - given the state of her marriage - how long she would be able to hold him at bay. For her own sanity, she needed to make him understand that the two of them becoming in any way involved would only lead to heartache.

Suddenly an image of Olivia swam before her eyes and the fact that the other girl had not looked happy when she arrived this morning was testament to the damage that this man could do. She had no idea what had gone one between the two of them last night but, given that he was busily propositioning her this morning, it was relatively clear that Vaughn had already moved on and she most definitely did not need anybody that fickle in her life.

Elise had never been a one-night girl and there was absolutely no way that she would be making any exceptions for anyone. At all. Ever.



As she reached the door, she was surprised to feel the hairs on the back of her neck tingle in warning. Before she had a chance to process what this meant, two strong arms either side of her pinned her to the door and a hard body pressed into her back.

She shivered involuntarily as Vaughn’s ridiculously sexy voice rumbled against her ear, low and sinfully hot and, if she wasn’t mistaken, full of desire.

“Miss Grayson....” the way he said her name, the way he rounded the ‘g’ and slightly rolled the ‘r’ almost had her melting on the spot and she continued to hold onto the door, relying on its solidity to keep her upright. She really was in big trouble.

“You will be mine; that is a given. The sooner you give up the fight the better. However never let it be said that I don’t enjoy a good chase and never...” His arms moved infinitesimally, pulling her just that little bit closer. His breath was now hot and heavy in her ear and she could feel his arousal pressing into her back. “..Never underestimate me.”

Alarmed but ridiculously turned on, Elise found it even harder to stay upright as he continued to speak, his tone lower now and much more dangerous.

“With regards to your marital status, I don’t consider it to be an issue for three very good reasons.” He stopped for a second and briefly darted his tongue out to make contact with her ear lobe.

“Firstly, you use your maiden name of Grayson although I know that your married name is Breedon.” His tongue darted out again, punctuating the words.

“Secondly, your mother is noted as your next of kin on company records.” This time, his tongue and lips connected with her ear and he sucked lightly before delivering the final reason.

“And finally, Miss Grayson,” he brushed his fingers lightly against her left hand which was still holding the door knob, his tongue settling into the gap between her neck and shoulder and suckling gently,

“You do not appear to be wearing a wedding ring”.