AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Seventeen
Clark
I could hear what my staff members were saying, but I was only half listening. There was a heavy guilt weighing on me. Jerry had stressed that I needed to be honest and clear with PJ about where we were heading. Instead, we’d spent our last night together pleasuring each other. I didn’t have any regrets about that, but she deserved more.
It wasn’t as though I hadn’t tried talking to PJ. But each time I brought up the subject of heading back to Boston, she distracted me with the sweet taste of her lips. How was a man supposed to think clearly when a gorgeous naked woman was climbing all over him? Hell, when she took my cock into her mouth, I could barely remember my own name, never mind why I was leaving.
Damn. I miss her already.
“Would you like us to move forward with that acquisition?” Jackson, my right-hand man, asked.
Fuck. What is he talking about?
I wasn’t going to admit I had been zoning out. “Why don’t we have a separate meeting regarding that?”
Jackson nodded. “I’ll email you the details ahead of time so you can review.”
I trusted Jackson, but final purchasing decisions were ultimately my responsibility. It was my money, and I wanted to be certain of my investment. My father always taught us that no one would ever protect our interests better than us. He was right. It was my future I was building.
A future I wish PJ could be a part of.
The meeting felt like it was going on too long. “You gentlemen can return to what you are working on. If I have any questions, I’ll reach out to you.”
They had all worked for me long enough to know that meant I didn’t want to be disturbed. I left the conference room and strode toward my office. No one was foolish enough to talk about my lack of participation this morning. They all valued their high-paying positions.
Even before I reached my office, my cell phone chimed. It was Jerry.
LUNCH?
Good try, Jerry. But I don’t want to talk about it.
CAN’T. I’M BUSY.
That should’ve been the end of it. Normally it would’ve been. But instead he called my phone. “Do you understand the meaning of ‘busy’?” I asked.
“You mean like when you were too busy to tell PJ how you feel?”
How the hell do you know?
“Jerry, I know you’re trying to be helpful, but this isn’t the time. I just got back to the office, and I have catching up to do.” I’m distracted as fuck already. I don’t need you adding to it.
Sharply, Jerry said, “I’m trying to make sure you don’t fuck up your one chance at being happy.”
I had no idea why he thought he could bark at me like that, especially about something that was none of his business. Keep your cool. “What makes you think I’m not happy?”
Part of me regretted getting roped into this conversation, but then again, I wanted to hear what he had to say.
“In all our lives, you’ve never once called and asked any of us for advice. Well, not on anything important. You’ve even kept your business dealings to yourself. Since you reached out to me about PJ, I have to assume you’re facing the same internal battle that we’ve all been through.”
“And which battle is that?” I questioned. “The one about whether or not I should hang up on you?”
He ignored my sarcasm. “Whether everything you’ve worked your ass for matters if the one you love isn’t there to share it,” he stated.
“I never said I love PJ.” I’d been thinking about that four-letter word for the past few days. I’d looked up the meaning several times, and yet the only thing I’d learned is that the word is overused. People throw it out there for everything. Why use it to describe how you feel about a woman if it is the same word you’d use to describe your shoes, or favorite dessert?
My feelings for PJ were intense. They were beyond anything I’d ever experienced in my life. And if PJ were to ask me, I’d tell her the universe hadn’t created a word yet to express what she means to me.
She’s more than just my love, she’s becoming the oxygen for my soul.
