Keep It Together

chapter Ten

Amber picked up her wineglass. “You’re going back to Savannah? So soon?” She took a sip but kept her gaze fixed on him. Colt struggled not to squirm under her unblinking stare. In business, it worked well and kept her at the top of her profession as a corporate powerhouse. In personal matters, though, Colt didn’t like that look directed at him.

“Yes.” He kept his voice steady. “Tomorrow afternoon. After the board meeting.”

“Does she know?”

“No.” Colt had told Amber about his feelings for Chrissie not long after the wedding didn’t go through, and when he returned from Savannah a little less than three weeks ago, he’d told her over breakfast that he intended a lot more with Chrissie than dating.

“And what about Russ? Did you tell him yet? That you hope to marry her?”

“No. I plan to tell him when I get there. He’ll be my first stop. Then her.”

“She may say no.”

“She may.” But he doubted it. Late nights into the wee hours of the morning, they would talk and often end up with her calling out his name in an orgasm. Neither one could seem to control themselves, and that was fine by him. She was eager and willing and playful; he’d never been with anyone like that. It was addictive, and she was intoxicating.

“And if she does?”

“Then I’ll have to keep at it until I wear her down and she says yes.”

“I don’t know what it’s like to be that sure of someone.”

“You’ve been married for ten years, Am.”

“I know, but there’s something different with you and how you feel about Chrissie than me and my marriage. It’s not the same.”

“It can’t be, no. We’re two different people and need two different things out of a relationship. I need the romance and lust. You need the risk and high-powered, movers and shakers lifestyle. You and Russ are more alike than you and I. Just goes to show you both have more of Dad in you than me.” Though he certainly didn’t have any of his mother in him either.

“True. I once thought that perhaps I should have been the one to run the company because I had that cutthroat attitude which you lack. I wasn’t wrong, you know.” She smiled at him. “You’re skill is with people, and while with the cookie company, it works for you and the people there. Fisher Holdings works better with me in charge.”

“Nice to know you had faith in me,” he commented with no small amount of sarcasm. He always appreciated Amber’s honesty, no matter how pointed it was. And when she was right, she was right.

“I’ve always had faith in you. You have been able to win over people in a way that would never work for me. You’re the right one for the Corners Cookies, and I know you’ll be able to win Chrissie over too. She won’t stand a chance. Now”—she finished off her wine and signaled for the check—“what are you planning for the store? When are you going to start setting it up?”

“Ever the business woman, Am.”

“Business never stops, Colt, because the world never stops. So?”

Colt conceded. “After she agrees to marry me. I need to start looking into some local bakers and restaurant supply companies. Aiming for spring/summer next year.”

“Probably a good idea. It’ll draw some definite interest among tourists. Hopefully the other businesses won’t think we’re encroaching on their market. Not yet at least.”

“There’s my ruthless sister,” he praised with a grin.

“Business is business, big brother. You can’t let it get too personal. At least I can’t.” She held up the check. “I’ve got this. I’ll see you at the meeting in the morning.”

Colt nodded and leaned down to place a kiss on her cheek after he got up. They’d arrived separately as usual when they met for dinner. During business hours, Amber was all business and had never taken a lunch hour. Colt admired that. He’d wished at times he could be more like her in that respect, but he knew it would never suit his personality.

And when it came to Chrissie, he was going to have to be the very best of himself. He would win her over. He didn’t doubt that. Could he win her over in his time frame? That was something he wasn’t sure about.

He slid down into the seat of his Corvette and started the engine. She’d be at work for another couple of hours, and he had work to do before tomorrow’s meeting. He positioned his headset in his ear just the same and pressed the number on his cell phone that would dial hers.

Voice mail picked up on her end as he’d expected. When the beep sounded in his ear, he left her a message, short but sweet. “Hey, baby. I know you’re working hard but wanted you to be certain that I’m thinking of you. I just had dinner with Amber. She says hello. I have a meeting first thing tomorrow and will talk to you soon after.”

He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about marriage to Chrissie for six months, but it had been front and center in his head since he saw her, talked with her, bedded her.

Spending time with her only confirmed that she fit him. They were both solid people on their own, and together would be incredible. He was good at reading people, good at connecting, good at seeing through and into people. It’s what made him excellent at his job. He had heart, he had compassion, and because Chrissie had those things too…

He was planning to marry the woman his brother jilted. How would Russ take it? Would he be angry? Colt supposed he couldn’t blame Russ for any upset his brother might feel. He certainly hadn’t expected any of the emotions that slammed into him the night he met Chrissie. When Colt first saw her, he’d experienced some sort of electric current zing through his system. When he touched her, when he shook her hand and looked at her mouth and saw the smile in her eyes, he knew she was the one for him. It was one of those instantaneous fairy-tale moments that no one usually believes in. He hadn’t ever cared about love one way or the other until he met her. Only then she’d been engaged to his brother, and there was nothing he could do about it. Helplessness had never been one of Colt’s strong suits, but he had been faced with the biggest helpless situation he could ever imagine.

Colt had been irked when Russ hadn’t shown up at the church. When Amber had come to tell him where exactly Russ was, he wanted to know how Russ could do such a thing. His thoughts about Chrissie being free hadn’t entered his head until the next day when she’d commented that she probably should have married him instead.

Russ would be the wild card in all this, though. If Russ had issues with Colt marrying Chrissie, then he’d just have to convince Russ to think differently.

Since he’d been back in Houston, Colt and Chrissie hadn’t gone a day without talking at least once. They’d texted most days as well. Every hour he spent away from her, states and days away from her, irritated him. He wanted to be with her, within minutes of being able to touch her.

The elevator ride to the top floor of the Corners’ high-rise office building was slow and uneventful. He stepped out of the car into the penthouse. The panoramic view of the city below was beautiful and one he’d loved since moving in, but after being in the country and inside Chrissie’s home, for the short amount of time he’d spent there, the penthouse seemed cold and detached.

Her house looked and felt lived in. It was homey. Just like she was, and it was more than that with her. He felt it. Her lifestyle was different, welcoming. It was a true opposites-attract match. That’s the only explanation Colt could come up with for his strong desire for her.

She was relaxed; he was fast-paced and ever changing. She was finding herself and loving life, and he was found and fascinated by slowing down, taking life easy, day by day. God, he was so in love with her.

It was rare for him, but he flopped down on the couch. It was leather and not very giving and didn’t conform to his body. Chrissie’s couch would. They could flop down together. They could cuddle and sink into the cushions.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Tomorrow was going to be a long day of meetings and travel. There was also a ring to buy.

His breathing slowed, and he drifted off. The next thing he knew it was morning, his alarm was beeping from somewhere inside the cavernous apartment, and he had a crick in his neck. He definitely hoped Chrissie’s couch would be more comfortable. Not that he planned to be sleeping on it for longer than the occasional nap.

She’d sent him a good-night text, but he’d never heard the small ringtone that he used for text notifications. His brother had called as well and left a voice mail saying that he’d be able to meet for an early dinner, that he’d have to be on the road to Macon before too late.

The scent of coffee beckoned from the kitchen, and he got up to answer the siren’s call. He also needed to call a siren.

“Hello,” said the sleepy voice on the other end.

“I’m sorry to wake you up.”

“If you were sorry, you’d have checked the clock before calling me this early.”

Rustling came through the phone line, and Colt imagined her shifting in bed, stretching, rolling over. “I am sorry to wake you, but I’m not sorry to hear your voice this early.”

“Yeah. Whatever.”

“You weren’t this grumpy the morning after.”

“I had sex to wake me up that day, and it wasn’t six in the morning.”

“Both true.”

“What time do you get in today?”

“Ah, so you do remember. Five. I’m having dinner with Russ while you’re at work tonight.”

“Of course I remember. Will I see you tomorrow? I have to close.”

“I’m hoping to see you later tonight and tomorrow, definitely.”

“Is it weird, Colt?” she asked on a sigh. “That I want you so much?”

Colt smiled and sipped at his coffee. “It better not be considering I want you just as much.”

“Do you think it’s more than just… I can’t believe I’m going to ask this, but do you think it’s more than just sex and the forbidden aspect?”

“What’s forbidden about it? We’re both single. And yes, I do think it’s much more than just sex.”

“You’re a coffee guy, and I’m a tea girl. It feels as though we’re having an affair behind Russ’s back even though we’re not. You know, the forbiddens,” she whispered.

“I do know. We’re not having an affair behind his back. He knows how tightly you’ve got me wrapped around your trigger finger. And while I do understand and accept, for now, that you don’t like coffee, I’m going to work on getting you converted.”

“But I love tea. That has to count.”

“Sweet iced tea most certainly does not count. We’ll discuss this one later.”

“Hmm. Okay.”

“Good girl. I like that willing attitude.”

“What about Russ, though?”

“Baby, he’s fine with it. I promise. He knows we’re much better suited than you and he were. He’s said as much. I’ll call you later.”

“I’ll try to be more awake.”

Colt laughed and finished off his coffee before heading into the shower. Opening the store in Savannah was a big step, but the board was in favor of moving into storefronts just as they had been in agreement with moving into online sales several years earlier. There was money to be made in retail bakeries. They were a cottage industry, profitable, and if they used whole, unprocessed, no-additive ingredients, they were even more profitable. Add in the promises of gluten free, nut free, and vegan, and there was a whole well of money to be made.

The flagship store would put him close to Chrissie. If he had to narrow what he wanted down to just one thing, that was it. He wanted to be close to her. Okay, so maybe not just close to her. It was really more like beside her, over her, under her, inside her.

And just like that, he was hard and aching.

When it came to thoughts of her, no matter how innocent they started out, they always ended up on the naughty side. He wanted to be in bed with her every chance he got and even when there wasn’t a chance. He grinned. He was the controlled businessman. He was quick with a smile, easy to get along with, but he was put together and serious. Except when it came to Chrissie.

With her, he was a puddle. He was full of adolescent giddiness just thinking about her. He was the horny teenager who couldn’t wait to see and touch the girl of his dreams so he could feel that rush again.

Stepping into the shower and standing under the hot spray of water didn’t do anything to curb his need. There were only two things that would do that. One of those options wasn’t available to him at the moment, so masturbation it would be. Without it, he wouldn’t be able to get through his meeting.

One hand wrapped around his dick, one braced on the black marble wall, he lowered his head and closed his eyes. Water sluiced down his shoulders and back, and his palm was slick against his cock as he jacked off with singular purpose.

Horny teenager, indeed. He couldn’t stop thinking of the way Chrissie’s hips fit against him. He couldn’t stop thinking about how she mewled and whimpered as he ate at her p-ssy the first time, sucking on her through the lace of her panties. He couldn’t get it out of his head, the way she felt, how she closed around him when he slid inside her. She was made for him. No doubt in his mind. Her body molded to his. Her scent drifted inside him, and every time he inhaled, he could still smell her.

The feel of his own hand was nothing compared to the feel of her fingers, her mouth, her cunt. He could only imagine the tightness of her ass when he got inside it.

Anal was such an incredible high. He loved the way a woman’s ass could choke down on him, and Chrissie had such a beautiful one. Full and round. The idea of spanking her bottom while f*cking it…

Cum splashed against the marble wall and slid down the drain. Rope after rope until he was spent, his legs threatening to give out, his skin sensitive where he stroked.

He washed his hand and finished off his shower. He’d mentioned anal sex to Chrissie their one night together, and she had seemed curious, intrigued. He intended to test that curiosity when he saw her later tonight. If his instincts about her were correct, she’d come to love it and crave it just as much as he did.

Dressed in his best suit, charcoal to match his hair with that brilliant blue tie that Amber said drew attention to his eyes, Colt grabbed his phone and his keys from the counter. With any luck, the next time he walked through the door of his penthouse, he’d be officially engaged.

He checked his watch as he stepped into the elevator. The board would be assembled by now. Amber would be going over the sales figures for the store in Savannah one final time; then he would make his presentation of how he saw things being put into action.

He’d install a handpicked management and marketing team on-site for the foreseeable future. He knew it was possible that he was overdoing it with high-level staff, but those he had asked to make the trip, to invest some personal time in Savannah and to meet customers face-to-face, had been thrilled. Everyone in the company was just as willing as Colt was to do whatever was necessary to do to make Corners Cookies a success in this new venture.

Since Colt had taken over the company, he’d visited every department, learned everything from the ground up. He spent time learning how to bake and package the cookies, examined the distribution channels, talked to the marketing people, got into the nuts and bolts of the business from the beginning to the present. He wanted and needed to know all the ins and outs. It was the only way he could present any new ideas that would hopefully turn Corners Cookies back into the powerhouse it had once been.

He would make sure this worked. He would be as hands on as anyone else and if that meant he had to get his hands dirty cleaning and painting the storefront or wake up at the crack of dawn to go in and bake the cookies himself, he would. This was his baby, and it was beyond important to him.

All his notes were in his phone, and he could call up any figures or documentation he needed and upload it to the company server, but that’s not how he generally conducted these meetings. He was, as Amber pointed out, personable and good with people. He connected and created bonds, relationships, something he could comment on or ask about to let them know they were more than just people who worked for him. That was his gift, his talent.

The smile on his face was natural and open when he walked into the conference room. It was barely seven in the morning, but this wasn’t the only meeting he had before he could leave for Savannah and Chrissie.

What would she think of him if she could see him in his business element? He was casual and relaxed, and he spoke with confidence because he believed in the company, in the changes he’d helped instill and that would be taking place for years to come. If Corners Cookies was to make it another twenty or thirty years, then change had to be undertaken.

“Do you think we will ever have one of these meetings when the sun is up in the sky rather than still trying to decide if it wants to rise for us or not?”

Colt heard the question asked by one of the senior members of the board and laughed. At least they were in a decent mood. “Good morning, everyone.”