Detour to her Billionaire Page 4

  Damn it, even the memory of her tenacious independence was riling me up. And to have tamed that independence, even if only for a while, was the kind of challenge I ran after. I would have liked to have woken her up with my mouth on her clit, my fingers in her pussy, taking the time to enjoy tasting her release the way I had craved last night. My hand dropped to my slowly returning erection, and I envisioned her returning the favor, that steel will softened by my attentions, her red, kiss-roughened lips circling my girth as she took me prettily all the way to the back of her throat.

  That got me up and going quickly. I tugged at my balls as I pulled on my shaft with long strokes, attempting to imitate my fantasy. My hand was too dry. A little spit smoothed the way, and soon I was back in the middle of it, watching my cock move in and out of Mae's mouth, her pace quickening as the pressure built, energy curling into a frantic ball deep on my groin until I exploded, cum shooting up my chest and lightning bolts racing down every limb.

  Why had she scurried away so fast? It was only eight in the morning. I felt a curious sense of disappointment finding Mae gone, though. The odd sense that things hadn’t gone to plan lingered with me as I showered and then checked out. My car was still in Nick's parking lot, unmolested. Not that I expected anything different.

  I thought about looking up one of Gracie's other kids, not that I was close to any of them, and asking who Mae was and how I could get in touch with her, but I discarded the thought. What will be, will be.

  Still, there might be a way I could run a background check on her, just to see where she lived now. I discarded that thought too. Clearly, Mae wasn't interested. I knew myself well enough to trust she had enjoyed herself, but she clearly hasn't been interested in anything more than a night. Part of me wanted to keep pushing until I found her. Another or part of me wanted to jump in my car and drive as fast away from this hellhole as I could, no matter what treasures it held...

  I couldn’t help but look for her in the empty streets of town as I left, even though I knew I wouldn't find her. It was time to say goodbye to this town for good. Now that Gracie was gone, I had no other reason to return. I wished Mae the best. She'd escape this town easily with her drive and spunk. A buried part of me whispered that it wished I could see it.

  Mae

  Pushing a cart filled with far more products than I needed, I snuck the box into it, beneath the bread and cereal. I might be an adult, but some things were not meant to be announced across the universe or even the grocery aisle. That little box held answers I didn’t want to know, yet needed so very desperately. The one time in my life I let go and followed my wants instead of my map, it resulted in stealth shopping, late at night, in the hopes that one of the five people I knew in this city didn’t see the reality of my life.

  Sneaking out of that motel room seemed a good idea at the time. We weren’t forever or even for a while, so why ruin it with false promises and the awkward exchange of numbers? At least that was what I rationalized at the time. Two and a half months later, I would do anything to know who Matt was.

  I asked around, but no one seemed to know where he was or what he was up too, if they knew him at all. I even looked up businesses he might own, but none of the Matthews that came up were even close to being him. The embarrassing part was that all of this was before I knew I might actually need to get ahold of him. I just wanted to see him again. How pathetic I turned out to be all because of some kind words, a heck of a lot of heat, and a connection that was probably not even real.

  It was only two weeks after our time together when my life finally began to piece together. I somehow managed to get my dream job, only five hours from my sister. They even paid for relocation expenses. I might have a cubical in the least visible part of the company, but I was doing something I loved and getting paid well for it. Thank goodness for that because if the little box in my cart told me what I was sure it would, I was going to need every blessed penny.

  I piled things onto the conveyor belt, cussing the broken down self-check area. The last I wanted was for someone to interact with me as I bought it. I felt like a teenager buying her first tampons, although this was worse because this was from a choice I made, a bad one. Even though I hadn’t, really. We had been safe. And there was no part of me that was going to bash myself for choosing to enjoy the physical company of Matt. I wasn’t living in a time where virginity held a woman’s worth, and I refused to subject myself to guilt over it.

  “ID, please,” the cashier asked, a young man of freaking course. Kill me now.

  “For… for what?” I stammered as I pulled it out. No wonder pregnancy tests were stolen more often than purchased. I was kind of wishing I’d gone that route by this point.

  “For this.” He held up a bottle of kombucha, a bewildered look on his face.

  Who knew my love of the refreshing tea beverage would be the catalyst for my death by embarrassment. Wait? Why were they even carding me? Crap, maybe it was on the not to drink while pregnant list. If I even was. Denial wasn’t going to make it less true. If I was. I put research kombucha on my list of things to do.

  I whipped out my driver’s license, swearing off the drink. He punched in my birthdate and handed it back to me as he grabbed the next thing on the belt, my pregnancy test. He met my eyes briefly before scanning it and moving on, never again looking me in the eye. It was probably more my reaction to his simple question than the actual test, or so I tried to convince myself.

  Matt

  "Mr. Dahl?” My personal aide buzzed me on his intercom, startling me from my thoughts. "You asked me to remind you that you have the department meeting in ten minutes."

  I leaned forward to press the button to respond. "Thank you, Cheryl." I stood to stretch and straightened my suit coat. It wasn't uncommon for tech CEOs like myself to take a much more casual approach these days, wearing shorts and flip flops, even pajama pants, in to the office, but that had never sat well with me. When I put on his suit each morning, it was like I was donning armor, preparing myself for the day to come. Style, or lack of it, was both a reflection of who you were and a reminder of what you aspired to be. And I had never aspired to be a beach bum hippie type, which is what the shirts and flip flops ensemble represented to me. I didn't care how much those guys made; I was focused on building myself as much as I was focused on building my business.

  I was grateful for Cheryl's reminder. I'd been lost in thoughts of her again. When I'd discovered Mae missing that morning, I had taken it in stride, or so I thought. But on the drive back, my brain insisted on dwelling on it. It was common courtesy to at least leave a note. Maybe it was being back in that town, dredging up the childhood memories and feelings of abandonment, but by the time I'd reached the city, I was burning with indignation and a desire to turn right back around, track Mae down, and make her explain herself.

  I knew that was crazy, though. It had been a one-night stand. I couldn't expect her to take my personal hang ups into account. We'd had a good night, a really hot, sexy night, and if she didn't want to ruin it with morning after chit chat, I should be thanking her.

  I started making my way to the developers' floor. It would be nice if I could address all of IT at once, but the developers were, as far as I was concerned, the heart and soul of the company. I didn't do much development these days, but that was where I had started, building this company from the ground up. Now, I had teams for sales, teams for research, teams for operations. It was hard to believe that this had all started as a one man operation.

  I nodded to each person I passed, greeting them by name when I could. And that was most people. I made it a point of pride that I could identify any person who had been with the company six months or more by name and position. So it didn't surprise me when I exited the elevator and instantly recognized the woman walking past, her skirt long enough to cover all the basics, but short enough to keep it interesting. What did surprise me was who it was. But I'd recognize those curves anywhere. They'd been staring in my dream ever
y night since I'd met her.

  "Mae?"

  At the sound of her name, she stopped and turned, a look of confusion on her face. But if I had any questions about whether she would remember me, they were gone once her eyes met mine. She recognized me all right.

  "What in the world are you doing here?" I asked.

  "I work here," she said, and that damn determination that originally drew me to her flashed across her face. "I told you, I make my own way."

  "That was what, three months ago?" Two months, twenty days, to be exact, but who's counting? I told myself it was because it was Gracie's funeral, that's why I remembered the date so clearly. I knew I was full of shit.

  She tossed her hair with a triumphant smile. "You actually gave me the idea. I researched paid internships, and here I am." Another look crossed her face. I wasn't sure what it was, what it meant, and before I could dig in, it was gone, and her expression was guarded. "What are you doing here?" she asked suspiciously.

  "I... have some business here." I had told her I owned a software consulting firm, right? I knew I had, because I had offered her a job. But clearly I hadn't told her anything else about it, or she might have connected my company to me. I don't know why I didn't just come out with the full truth right there. I knew I wanted to crack open that emotional armor that had just slammed down between us, and hiding who I was wasn't going to help. She'd find out soon enough. I was surprised we hadn't run into each other yet as it was.

  I couldn't help myself. I stepped close to her. She stepped back, but I followed. I had to ask her. "Why did you leave without saying goodbye?"

  Her lip trembled, and I couldn't help but think how bitable it looked.

  "It was just a thing, Matt. Just a night."

  Something in her eyes said it had been more than that. But if she had thought of me the way I had been thinking of her, why was she holding back now?

  "It would have been nice to see you again," I said simply.

  She looked like she was at a loss for words, and then shrugged. "I'd love to have answers for you, Matt, but I don't right now. I… I can't talk. I have to get to a meeting."

  Without saying goodbye, she turned and walked away. I took the opportunity to enjoy the view as I followed her. I didn't know how this happened, because if her name had crossed my desk in the new hire information I would have noticed, but if she was headed where I thought she was heading, this department meeting had just gotten much more interesting.

  Mae

  Pull it together. Pull it together. Pull it together. I splashed the cold water on my face for the fourth time, grateful that I had opted out of make-up today. Crap, he saw me without make-up. Which shouldn’t be a concern considering the bun in my oven.

  What was he doing here? I raked my brain for any recollection of gossip about a visiting CEO and came up blank. I’d only been here a couple of weeks, but from what I could tell, if a fancy, schmancy CEO was stopping by our department, we were usually given the heads up. According to my department head, Francine, it was so we stopped slacking. No one slacked in our department as far as I could tell. I got the impression it was so we dressed the part because casual Friday tended to seep into all of the days of the week. We were the behind the scenes people, so jeans and leggings usually were fine.

  Grabbing a paper towel, I patted my face dry before glancing at the time. Great. I was five minutes late for the department meeting with my new boss, Montgomery Dahl. That was the last thing I needed. It was bad enough they were going to figure out before long that I had a six-week maternity leave with my name on it. That was going to go over well. I shook my head, needing to clear that thought and reminding myself that it would all work out. It had to. I was no longer in this alone. I had a little one on the way who was going to rely on me for everything.

  Throwing the paper in the trash, I took a deep breath and schooled my face. I couldn’t let him frazzle me. I would attend my meeting and then find him. He needed to know about the baby. This was not the reconnection I wanted when I first looked for him. That had been more about the guilt I had for leaving and the completely irrational sense of missing him that overwhelmed me from time to time. Must be the pregnancy hormones. That’s a thing. Right?

  First things first, I needed to get to my meeting. If I were lucky, they might be dawdling and drinking coffee instead of making a start. A handful of steps and a turn around the corner stole that last bit of hope from me. The door was shut. Stopping briefly at the door, I decided going in was better than knocking first and twisted the handle before inching it over.

  The voice that filled the air as the seal of the door broke shook me to my core. It was Matt. My Matt. The father of my baby, our baby. What was he doing here? His voice stopped as the door fully opened. My cubicle mates and Francine were now staring at me as Matt continued to speak, breaking long enough to tell me to take a seat.

  He was saying something about new technologies and that was all I got from his talk. My brain was buzzing a mile a minute, my eyes glued to his mouth, wanting him to be speaking to me, only me, kissing me, heck, a little nibble would be nice too. After what seemed like a couple of minutes, but the clock indicated was actually an hour, the people around me started to stand and I slammed into reality.

  Suck. I missed the entire thing. Why was Matt here and why was he the only one speaking?

  “Do not think your tardiness went unnoticed, Ms. Gomez,” Francine announced a little louder than necessary.

  “I apologize. I was in the restroom.” Great. Now everyone still in the room thought I was having gastrointestinal issues. Not that I cared what they thought, except for Matt. The last thing I wanted him thinking about was me on the toilet.

  “Make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Who was I? I didn’t “yes ma’am, no sir” people. It wasn’t even regional here, so I couldn’t use that as an excuse. I needed to get out of here before I made an even bigger fool of myself, if that were possible.

  I started to rise when a hand on my shoulder stilled my movement.

  “Ms. Gomez. If you don’t mind, I would like to start with you, since you are still here. Is that fine with you, Francine?” First what? Crap. He probably spoke ad nauseum on the topic while I was zoned out. I needed to get a grip and fast.

  “Absolutely, Mr. Dahl. If I were to pick one of our best new recruits, she’d make the short list, her out-of-character tardiness notwithstanding.” She made her way out the door, closing it behind her. We were alone. This is what I had been wanting for so long, but now that I was here and there was a baby. The conversations I ran through my head no longer fit. So much for mapping out things.

  “Matt, what are you really doing here?” So much for looking professional. Now that I was starting to adjust to the notion that I found him, I needed to know all the answers. I didn’t even know all the questions yet, but the answers were like the air that I breathed, a necessity for life.

  “Did you listen to my speech at all?” He sat across from me, shaking his head slightly. Was he amused by my pathetic listening skills or was that pride that he stole my brain? At least it wasn’t anger. I couldn’t take anger. Not now. Not when we had who knew how long together before he needed to leave and go who knew where.

  “I tried,” I confessed.

  “So that’s a no?” Oh yeah, he was amused. There were worse things.

  “That’s an I was in shock to see you.” Shocked, excited, terrified, amazed, grateful. The words to describe my feelings were as varied as they were plentiful.

  “Did you think you could work here and not run into me?”

  “I thought… you owned your own business… I didn’t know your worked at Dahl Tech.” Had he lied to me? It was a one night stand, so deceit was probably the norm. But I thought we had a real connection, and the thought he might’ve been deceptive to get into my pants had an uneasy feeling settling into my gut.

  “I think we need to start at the beginning.” He stood, walke
d around the table and offered me his hand in a formal manner. “I’m Montgomery Dahl, and you are?”

  “Gertrude Mae Gomez,” I squeaked out as he took my hand, squeezing it instead of pumping it in a handshake.

  “And you go by Mae because…?” His thumb swiped across the back of my hand sending messages to the rest of my body. Crap on a cracker. He was my boss. He was my freaking boss. Sure, he had offered me a job that night, but hormones were flailing and he was mostly joking, or so I thought, or at least rationalized at the time. But now, now I was working for him. And from the looks of it, he was as out of the loop about it as I was.

  “Gertrude. My name is Gertrude and you have to ask?” I teased, glad he still held my hand as he sat beside me. “Is Matt your middle name too?”

  “No. Gracie gave me the nickname.”

  “You look like a Matt,” I offered. He was hot enough to pull off a Montgomery, but changing it would’ve been my first choice too, especially as a child. Heck, I still hated Gertrude, and in theory it was a name you grew into. I still call lie on that one.

  “And you look remarkably like the woman who ran out on me without a word.” And there was the hint of anger I’d been expecting. Well-deserved anger at that.

  Matt

  What was it about this woman that made me lose my cool? I put on my boss face. "Anyway, Ms. Gomez, why don't you come with me and we can get started?"

  The idea to meet with all the new hires had been a spur of the moment inspiration. I needed to capture Mae's attention, and if I wasn't singling her out, how could she argue? The downside was that I would have to have one on ones with at least six other new employees, but really, that wasn't that big of a downside. The reason I didn't make an effort to get to know most people until they'd been with the company for at least six months was that we saw the highest turnover in that time span. It was all about the worth of the investment.