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Because you’re in love with her.
No. You’re in lust with her. Get it straight.
You sure about that?
“You’ve gone quiet on me, Joar.” Clover pats my hand, which is resting on the console between us, like I’m her old chum.
I shift in my seat to face her. “I talk too much sometimes. I’m enjoying being present in this moment with you.”
Her entire demeanor softens altogether. I’m trying hard to be vulnerable. To break down enough barriers tonight so she’ll at least consider spending time together.
“I’ve been hard on you.” She hooks her index finger with mine. “For good reason. I’m hurt. Angry. I felt such a connection with you that night, it crushed me when I learned you weren’t who you said you were. When I found out you manipulated me so deftly. It brought up all sorts of bad shit.”
I feel a shift between us. A bit of trust restored. A tentative truce. I don’t want to fuck this up.
So, I take this opportunity to come clean. “Let me start at the beginning so you can understand my perspective at the time.”
She bites her lip. “Okay.” Nods for me to go ahead.
“Your ex-husband was my college roommate. We have a bad history, which I’ll get to in a bit.” I wiggle our locked fingers. “Jacoby International, my company, has been acquiring media-related companies for many years, including agencies like Eminence. I’ve had my eye on his operations for years and waited for the perfect time to take over. The Kircher poker situation gave me the opportunity to not only take his company but to ruin him. That’s the truth. He was stealing from his clients and it infuriated me.”
Clover’s brows knit as she thinks about what I said. From her expression, it seems fairly clear she had no idea of why I’d been involved. “God…”
“I admit it—I jumped to the wrong conclusions about you. Figured you were in on it with him. Maybe even introduced him to Kircher, considering your past connection,” I confess sheepishly. “Now, of course, I know the truth. I didn’t do enough homework then. Let some of my old biases creep in. For that, I’m deeply sorry.”
She winces. Shakes her head sadly as my words sink in further. “You need to tell me more about this history with Harrison.” She turns in her seat to face me.
I look out over the city, recollecting the worst and scariest time of my life. In great detail, I tell her about my time at Yale with Harrison. How he nearly cost me my entire future without remorse. How that incident gave me the drive to create my empire from nothing.
“Joar, I didn’t know any of that. I wish you’d said something. If we had this conversation that night in the elevator…” She looks sad as she repeats my earlier thought. “…It would have saved me—both of us—a lot of…”
“We were caught up in the moment. It didn’t even occur to me. I was so lost in your beautiful body,” I remind her. “I was in a different headspace.”
“Yeah. You thought I was a monster and you fucked me anyway.” Clover closes her eyes. Processes.
She looks serene.
So, so beautiful.
I lean over and whisper, “I’m sorry. For the record, I realized how wrong I was about you within the first hour. Everything we shared in there meant the world to me. Everything.”
A tear trickles down her face. She wipes it away. Shuts her eyes. “Harrison swept me off my feet at a vulnerable time in my life. We had an uneventful marriage, but I always thought love would conquer all. I was so naïve. Essentially, I supported his career by giving up mine and he betrayed me with my best friend. I hate what he did to me. Everything I’d sacrificed as a young woman to find success was in vain. Ten wasted years.” She looks up at me. “But, to hear the extent of the hurt he inflicted on others? It’s beyond devastating.”
“He’s a selfish prick,” I can’t help but state the obvious. “He always was.”
Her eyes blink open. “Yes. Unfortunately, selfish pricks are what I’m used to. Harrison felt familiar, so I gravitated toward him. The things I endured on the set of Hawaiian High—the barbs about my weight, my castmate committing suicide, being alone with no protection from my family. I grew up too fast. He was my safety net, or so I thought. Do you see why I can’t ever go back to that place?”
Clover’s fingers thread with mine. I lean over and press my lips to hers. Our kiss is sweet. Restorative. I pull away because we have more to talk about before things go further. “I can’t change who I am, Clover. I’m the CEO of the second-biggest media company in the world. I started it from scratch. I’ve seen your interviews. I know you’re afraid of powerful men—for good reason…”
“And you’re the most powerful man of them all.” She shakes her head. “You scare me.”
I rest my forehead against hers. “I know, but I won’t hurt you again.”
“Don’t make any promises, Joar.” Clover’s breath hitches. “This attraction between us is…powerful. Intoxicating. I have the feeling if I get too lost in you I’ll drown.”
I pepper her lips with tiny kisses of encouragement. Hope. “I won’t let you. I’m not those men. Not by a long shot.”
“I need to feel your cock inside me again,” Clover murmurs against the corner of my mouth, shocking me to the core. “I want another round of what happened in the elevator.”
