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“What we’re seeing is entirely predictable if you look at the broader scope of history.”
And macroeconomics—
“Really, you can’t make that kind of claim and still believe in the principles of capitalism. The consumers drive the market, and if they aren’t buying your product, you have to blame either the product or the marketing; not the consumer you haven’t reached out to.”
April had just thought of him as a trust fund playboy. And while he was that, he also knew about so much more than she had ever suspected. No wonder he was so incredibly arrogant. She wasn’t sure if that made him more intimidating or less.
Clicking on another video a few years prior from a visit to the White House, April tilted her head to the side and took in the snug cut of his suit and how easily he smiled when faced with the President.
No, no. It definitely made him more intimidating.
Chapter Four
Samson Bennett was many things. He was a financial genius. He was a world traveler. And, though only watchers of late night comedy shows really remembered this now, he was a passable actor. During college, he’d played a number of characters—Tybalt, Iago, El Pachuco—on the south lawn for appreciative young co-eds.
So pretending that he hadn’t been absolutely floored by April’s rebuff the other day was, in some respects, easy. He put on his stern “boss” face, managed his employees with fewer jokes and trips to the break room, and left his office each day determined to unwind in his lush apartment overlooking downtown and do it all again the next day. Scotch in hand, he loosened his belt and tried to drive thoughts of April from his mind. His mild interest with her was quickly becoming an obsession.
It was, perhaps, simply because she had laid out such a palpable barrier between them. Normally, the women who caught his interest were readily receptive to his advances. They didn’t lean into his attentions one moment and imply that he didn’t treat them like a person the
next.
The situation could possibly be explained by the fact that, as Lana had suggested, April really needed this job, but Samson had engaged in affairs with his employees before without any trouble. He and his current assistant Babette had dallied a bit back in Atlanta, and she didn’t seem bothered by her treatment. She’d even come out on top, having been offered a continued position as he built up these new business acquisitions.
Samson rose to refill his glass, then strolled around his den, unbuttoning his shirt with his free hand. April was a conundrum. He admired her intellect, but he really didn’t know much about her. Where had she come from? Somehow, the disparate images of April were beginning to blend together in his mind. He could see her before him, all pigtails and innocence, but now, her brow raised at him in challenge, her lips painted a demure mauve, and a slate gray skirt and matching suit jacket hugged her slim form.
Had he treated her more as an object than the dynamic woman she had become? Perhaps. He had approached her hiring as he would any other important acquisition. The blend of his personal interest with the professional may have colored his actions toward her.
He sat again, his hand moving lower to unbutton his trousers. He could imagine her slowly pulling out those girlish pigtails and shaking out her hair.
“Now the jacket,” he murmured, prevailing on his memory of how her breasts strained against the top buttons of her blouse when she first came in from the heat every morning. “Now the skirt.”
It dropped to the floor, revealing those long legs that had captured his imagination since the day April had moved in with his sister. April’s thighs were lusciously thick. Smooth, but muscular. She could probably open a beer between them.
His cock throbbed as he thought of her, moving toward him with her green eyes staring him down, her fingers releasing one button after another. He shuddered, anticipating how she would reach for him, straddle him, smirk as her breasts pressed down against him. That silky hair falling in his face and her powerful thighs squeezing against him.
“Mr. Bennett, do you have the guts to really use me?”
“Unnn…” Samson clenched his jaw. His hand moved in quick rhythmic jerks as he imagined what it would be like to sheath himself the hot, wet crevice between her amazing legs. Would her muscles be as well defined there? Would she know just how to squeeze, how to move?
With a guttural grunt, he came to his fantasy of April on top of him and he was left aching for more. He wanted her and needed her. Much more than he needed another employee to head up that team. No matter how talented she was, he had to admit that he was more committed to keeping her for himself than for the company. Until now, he had been skirting the line between acquisition and attraction. And if he didn’t play his hand very, very carefully, he would lose her in all aspects.
***
Of course, none of Samson’s deliberations had resulted in completely stopping his daily observations of her. He simply restricted them to meeting rooms where his business interests were at most risk. He adored how she conducted herself outside of his presence. April handled Hutchinson with such finesse that he had hopes her confidence would soon be so unassailable that Samson could have her lead projects.
As it was, she still stiffened slightly whenever she spotted him in the parking lot or around the building. That had to change. He had to gain her trust somehow.
“Sir?” Babette peeped. She had entered the office in that silent way of hers and stood there with her back arched and her low-cut blouse pushed out.
Samson looked up sternly. “Yes, Babette?”
She sighed, drew a lock of short, blonde hair behind her ear, and put a cup of hot coffee in front of him. “I brewed your coffee the way you asked, and—” she set down a file of papers, “—we need some signatures.”
“Got it.” Samson opened the file and looked for the little post-it arrows that Babette had placed on every important line. “How are you liking Houston, Babette?”
“It isn’t bad. I liked Atlanta better.” Babette straightened her back and leaned forward onto the edge of the desk. “Whenever we wanted to check things out downtown, we could just set out and walk.”
“Do you remember that Chinese place we went? They had such excellent wine.”
