C3 Chapter 03

Harry

I was hard as a rock when I leaned over to Gina and whispered that I remembered her from yesterday. She blushed, and that turned me on even more. I still couldn’t believe that she was the mysterious red-haired girl who I spotted last night in the crowd. That was a hell of a coincidence.

Normally I didn’t have to chase after women. There were always plenty who were interested, but Gina was one of a kind. She had a thick Scottish accent and typical Gaelic features. Her curly red hair was awesome, and she had tons of freckles on her face.

Typical maybe, but there was nothing ordinary about her, and normally I would have stayed away, but she was intriguing. All of a sudden, I wanted to know everything about her.

I was ready to forget about my business plan and just ask her out, but the voice of reason told me to take it easy.

“Yes, I did see you boxing yesterday. I was late and missed most of the match. My younger brother stood me up,” she explained with a bright smile.

She didn't seem to be intimidated enough to lose her focus. We just met, and I was already way too attracted to her. That didn’t happen to me often. And I knew that she felt it, too, and that was turning me on even more. I wished we could skip the business talk and just drive to my apartment.

I didn’t bloody want to use her, though, not in the way I’d used other women in the past. She seemed different, and I needed to step away from that guy who needed to keep having one-night stands in order to function.

“That’s even better. Please, where are my manners? Let’s sit down and discuss my plan,” I suggested and pulled the chair out for her. She gave me a warm but wary smile and sat down. I felt like I was losing my head, and I didn’t know anything about this woman. Last night I was pumped, then went home and had a few drinks. Who knew I would see her this morning, looking so fresh and beautiful?

“Mr. Davies mentioned you’re looking for someone to design your social media campaign for an app that you're just about to launch?” she asked, masking her nerves with a confident voice.

“I’m sorry to be so forward, but I’m sure we’ve met before. I just can’t remember from where,” I said, changing the subject.

“Dexter and Sasha’s engagement party. We were both there,” she said, pinning me down with her brown eyes. Now it seemed she was done being shy, acting like that earlier spark didn’t matter to her. I liked playing games with women, knowing they would end up in my bed sooner or later.

Dexter and Sasha had been married for a few years now. Dexter had decided to rent out his apartment, and they moved away from the complex where I lived. I couldn’t comprehend how I could have forgotten about sexy Gina Martinez. I remembered that party very well, and I recalled seeing her congratulating Sasha. I was drawn to her then, but I never followed it through, and that was a big mistake. Sasha had talked about Gina often enough to spark my interest, but this was around the time when I was dealing with Louisa.

Hell, my cock was now hard as a rock again, and my body revved with a wild energy that I could barely control. It was a joke, because no one, not even Louisa, ever made me feel this way before.

“Right, of course, you were there,” I replied and silence fell between us. It looked like Gina wasn’t planning to talk about anything except my campaign. She was being very professional.

The woman was also playing hard to get and that was all right with me. We were going to discuss the project, and then I was planning to drive all the way to Islington to see Dexter and find out what I could about Gina. It was crazy, but I already made up my mind—I wanted her. “And yes, I need someone who can get the word out. My brand is already very well established, but I’m hoping to reach out to a new audience. The profit margin can be huge, and I think with the right marketing ideas, I can do well.”

Gina stared at me for a brief moment with open curiosity. I already knew what was going on inside her head. She was trying to put pieces about me back together, to figure me out. Boxing wasn’t just my hobby, but I was slowly moving away from being a professional. All my life I had been trying to escape back to normality, and with the new business, I could finally achieve that goal.

Late nights, intense training sessions, and sleeping around with random women—I wanted all of it to be over. Now I was going to be just an ordinary guy.

“Yes, not a problem. I can draft a very detailed campaign. You have a lot of options. We just need to figure out the best approach.”

Gina continued to ask me all sorts of questions, and when I answered, she typed everything into her tablet. She seemed intelligent and full of beans. I kept watching the way she was biting her lips, the way she tucked a curl behind her ear. She was sexy as hell, and I kept getting distracted by her crazy red hair.

I became slightly concerned when she started checking her watch ten minutes into the meeting. Maybe I had failed to make an impression on her, and she wanted to cut it short.

“Miss Martinez, I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but you keep glancing at your watch. Am I keeping you away from something?” I asked, slightly annoyed. In the beginning, she was nervous and shocked, but now, she shifted her attitude to a slightly less enthusiastic one.

She threaded her fingers together and looked at me.

“No, it’s nothing. Mr. Davies insisted on me seeing you during my lunch break,” she replied with a smile.

“Right, let me take you down to the restaurant. You must be starving,” I said, getting up from the chair.

“Oh, no, no, that would be very inappropriate. I was supposed to meet someone for lunch, you see,” she said, and I instantly knew that she was taken. Of course, she was seeing her boyfriend for lunch, and Andrew forced her to have a meeting with me instead.

“Right, so let’s cut this short. We can meet tomorrow maybe, slightly later?” I suggested. “You may apologise to your boyfriend, Miss Martinez. I didn’t intend to keep you here so long.”

She looked confused, then, narrowing her gorgeous eyes at me. She crossed her legs under the table, and my cock stirred in my pants once again. Fuck, I needed to stop picturing riding her.

“Boyfriend?” she questioned me, still not getting my point.

“Yes, you mentioned that you arranged lunch with someone, so I presumed it was your boyfriend,” I said, making sure that I sounded believable. After Crystal, I wasn’t planning to get involved with a woman who was already taken.

She grinned and bit the top of her pen. That sent me to another planet, because I was instantly imagining her caressing my cock, running her tongue …

Enough. I needed to pull myself together and stop thinking about her as a sexual object. A son of a bitch like me didn’t deserve a woman like Gina. Maybe it was time to arrange another mixer party and find a model who wouldn’t make me think twice about fucking her brains out.

“No, it wasn’t a boyfriend. I’m too busy for a relationship, Mr. Erskine. I was meeting someone who was supposed to help me out with my business plan,” she explained.

“Business plan?”

“Yes, but let’s not talk about that. This has nothing to do with your proposal. It’s already too late anyway. The man probably left. Besides, there is a lot more that we have to discuss,” she said, indicating that she wasn’t ready to tell me any more about her business plan. What could it be? I was intrigued.

I was relieved she wasn’t tied to anyone, but she also said that she didn’t have time for relationship. All of a sudden, I wanted to know everything about this girl. Dexter was a family man now—too bad. Maybe it was time for an overdue visit after all.

Gina

I didn’t know how, but I managed to take control of the meeting. My hormones were raging, and I couldn’t stop picturing his perfect arse, but somehow, I managed to steer our conversation back to his project. Everything was going well until he brought up lunch.

Harry Erskine was Dexter Tyndall’s buddy. Sasha had told me about his mixer parties once, so I knew that the guy wasn’t serious about women. I shut him down pretty quickly when he started asking questions about my business, then carried on with the meeting.

The truth was, that I liked him. In fact, the desire burning down below was making it hard to concentrate on what I was supposed to be saying.

Deep down, I was furious with myself that my body was reacting in such a way. From a very early age, I learnt that men weren’t to be trusted. They all wanted to use me. I didn’t have time to worry about boyfriends. My siblings were much more important to me. Over the years I had dated a few times, but my life was complicated. No one was ever ready to commit to being part of my family.

Harry continued looking at my lips when I talked. Heat kept me immobile, but I was determined to stay on track, even though I was thinking about my meeting across the road. After half an hour, I told him what he could expect from my marketing proposal. This project was going to take a large chunk of my time, but it was my job. I had no other choice but to stay here at Digital Box until I could make enough money to support myself doing what I loved most: dancing on the pole.

“Well, that’s pretty much everything I need right now. I’ll be in touch again once I’ve laid out clear and detailed social media objectives,” I said, getting up. He buttoned his elegant suit jacket and smiled. Every time he smiled, something odd happened to my heart. My legs pumped with liquid heat, making my knees feeble and weak.

Get a grip, Gina. He is just a good-looking guy who fucked your boss’s wife. Nothing good will come of it.

“Excellent, I’ll be looking forward to your phone call, Miss Martinez,” he said, and then shook my hand again. Sparks of electricity ran down my thighs, and I tried to concentrate on my training routine instead, but that wasn’t quite working. However, I was planning to keep things between me and Mr. Erskine strictly professional.

“Nice meeting you, Mr. Erskine,” I muttered, grabbed my stuff, and hurried away back to my office.

I could tell he was watching me until I disappeared behind the door. Several moments later, I sat at my desk fanning myself with a stack of papers. My heart was pounding away, and it was official: I was drenched to the point that I felt uncomfortable.

My phone started vibrating, so I pressed the number to listen to the voicemail.

“Miss Martinez, Agatha assured me that you were worth my time. I hate wasting my valuable time. You should have let me know that you weren’t planning to show for lunch. I guess you won’t be needing my business help after all.”

My contact. Of course, he was pissed that I stood him up. I had been practising my perfect pitch the whole morning and Davies ruined it for me. Erskine could have seen anyone from the team.

I slammed my hand on my desk in anger, ready to go to Davies and let him know that his wife was cheating on him. I’d pay big money to see the look on his nasty face.

I got up and paced around my office, knowing I would need to start from scratch again. The business was generating some income. I had several women who wanted to get to the next level, even take part in some pole dancing competitions, but for that, I needed hard cash.

I grabbed my handbag and headed out to get some lunch, telling myself that I had to stay positive. I knew it was going to be a long day. The truth was, that I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about Harry Erskine until I had wild, adventurous sex with him, and it was clear that this wasn’t going to happen any time soon.