Boss Undercover Series Bundle, page 28
“Hey!” she protested but was interrupted by the attack of his index finger pressing against her lips. Its initial touch was warm but soon eroded by the spots of electricity she felt lingering on the surface. It felt like a switch had turned on, and sure enough she was back under his influence. The suspense tormented her, and she wanted nothing more than to feel his lips. She was entirely under his control, helpless and useless to defend against anything unexpected.
“As I was saying…” His right brow rose mockingly. “I’d wish you shut it, darling.” His finger slowly moved away but teasingly trailed across the outer edges of her lips. “Because you’re wasting the time I have to rip off your skirt, then.” Zack paused as his other hand cupped her ass to bring her closer. “I could have you in this lift, right here, right now.” Claire let out a huge release of air, feeling dreadfully hot all at once, as if knives were attempting to penetrate through the lining of her stomach. But he didn’t stop there. “I do hope for your sake that you’re wearing what you’ve shown me, otherwise…you’ve got some explaining to do. And you won’t like it when I get mad, baby.”
“Oh, yeah?” Claire scoffed, as just for that second his hand that had cupped her ass slithered back. Muted like a television programme, he only nodded whilst his remaining hand on her cheek fell away. “And what you gonna do? Huh? Spank my ass till it’s red raw?” She stepped back with a challenging grin.
“That’s one way,” Zack agreed, pausing after what seemed an eternity. “Come closer.” He wriggled his forefinger back and forth like the Mexican wave. It was expected of her to follow, and at first Claire did not; she initially stepped back, shaking her head.
“Why?” she queried, narrowing her eyes at his suspicious demeanour.
“I want to talk to you, baby. Apologise. So come closer,” Zack encouraged, wriggling his forefinger again as he took the move to step slightly forward.
Claire’s tongue clicked the roof of her mouth as she hesitated yet again for what seemed the third time in the day. “Apologise?” she muttered. “Why can’t you tell me from where you’re standing, huh?”
“Because.” Zack sighed. “I can’t give you my present then.”
“Present?”
Zack nodded with exasperation, trying to persuade Claire to follow. “Another step,” he prompted. “Come on, baby.”
Claire took another step until finally Zack could clasp his arms around her body, bring her in tight, and laugh afterwards as his tongue slowly glided up her left cheek. “Ewww!” Claire protested, trying to remove herself from his secure grip. “What the fuck, Zack? That’s twice you’ve done that now! God, why are you so disgusting? You could have been licking a girl’s ass with that thing.”
“Only for you, darling.” Zack chuckled as he held her tight in his arms. “Now, why don’t you tell your Zack about how much you love him and that you forgive him for delaying dick o’clock?”
“Fuck you, Zack Chase. You’re the most audacious, narcissistic dickhead I’ve ever met! And you’re—”
The sentence could not be finished as Zack stole a kiss. His lips indulged in the taste of Claire, and sure enough, Claire came around, meeting his with her fiery attacks. Her hands raced through his hair, his hands grabbed and squeezed her ass, she kissed him there, and he kissed her here. It was a massive explosion of affection, so sexually arousing that Zack’s fella pressed firmly against her. The shortage of air seemed non-existent as neither took a second to stop and breathe.
Finally, Claire stopped to ask a question between mouthfuls of his tongue charging ahead. “Zack.” She gasped before his mouth consumed hers again. “Lift.” She could barely make a word.
His speed slowly crept down till his lips persisted, only to pepper the surface of her neck. His voice became a husky, erotic whisper. “You’re such a party-pooper. Fucking spoiling my fun.”
Claire giggled as she felt a breeze of air tickle beneath her chin. “And you’re a shit. But hey, what can we do?”
“Bitch.”
“Twat.”
“Ouch,” Zack said. “Zack’s really hurt. You gonna make him better?”
Claire rolled her eyes with dismay. “You sound like a four-year-old. And fuck no. If anything, you should be making it up to me. And besides, I’m not being the slut of the year by fucking in a lift shaft. So get this thing starting again. I’m hungry for—”
“Dick,” Zack finished it off for her. “You’re hungry for dick, I know, babe. But you’re just gonna have to wait till tonight for that. Gosh, you have no patience.” He sighed playfully as he rolled his eyes in return.
Claire smacked his arm. “You’re such an idiot. And yeah, you’re making up for it tonight. I want the works.”
“What are you? A car now?” Zack laughed despite her efforts to punch hard against his muscular frame. She frowned as his arm wrapped around her shoulder and his free hand punched the button again to push some juice back into the system. There was movement once again! As the lift began to descend towards the bottom floor, Claire couldn’t help but sigh with relief. So this was good news. Zack hadn’t gone off with another woman, nor had he vomited in pure revulsion over the photo. “You know, Claire, me and you are gonna have some fun,” Zack said aloud before kissing the top of her head.
***
CLAIRE
The feeling couldn’t be explained. It was like being given a maths question, and instead of having the motivation to figure it out, fifty percent of the time was spent contemplating over what was for dinner. No wonder Claire could be crap at maths sometimes; it just wasn’t her cup of tea. But back to this “feeling.” What was she supposed to do with it? Was she supposed to put it on a collar and walk it about? Flaunt it? Give it treats? It had to mean something. God, she knew exactly what it was. Warm, fuzzy, constant trial of the butterflies. Heck, she’d read enough romance literature to know what it meant. How could you deny it? You just couldn’t. God, she felt like she was in own damn novel sometimes. Claire legit was like ninety percent of the female characters in the books, the ones who, like her now, couldn’t decide what that “feeling” was. Well, she had news for them! She could at least admit it! Claire was in love with the guy. Wouldn’t go as far as admitting it aloud, but close enough to at least confer it in her head. At least her conscience didn’t argue back. Oh, wait. It did. For now, she’d have to come to terms with this “feeling,” knowing it was ultimately destruction. At the moment, you could call their relationship friends with benefits, but was that exactly what she wanted? Clearly not, otherwise she wouldn’t feel like she couldn’t breathe if he left her for even a second. God, this was all wrong. He probably doesn’t even feel the same, and here she was, heart beating like a drum solo every time those fingers or lips get a single touch. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Out of all the fish in the sea, why this guy? Okay, relax, chill, she told her mind, inwardly breathing to release the cluster. She would just have to play it cool.
Zack’s hand latched onto hers as they exited the lift, their fingers slipping easily through the gaps and entwining them physically and mentally. God, all she wanted to do was drag his ass home and let him work his magic. Fuck. Why? She asked herself that every day since the first time she allowed him to step foot into her apartment. She should have known; her conscience sang in her head. His hand squeezed hers encouragingly as they meandered through reception.
***
ZACK
“Hang on a second, babe. My phone’s ringing,” Zack said aloud, when he stopped merely a foot away from the revolving doors. Fishing his iPhone out from his trouser pocket, Zack accepted the call with a quick tap. “Yello?” It was a deliberate choice, as he couldn’t risk introducing Claire to the reality of his world. He was Zack Chase, hot boy next door, not Zack Benson, the billionaire playboy. Although he was starting to believe he wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t like he slept with a new woman every day. So he deserved some slack. Everyone’s eyes were still on his father, Elijah Benson. Heck, if his father were seen stepping foot into the firm, everyone would assume he’d never left it in the first place. That was the reality. He’d hoped it might have changed with Project 42, but it wasn’t likely after its failure.
“Mr. Benson,” the voice on the other end of the line said, instantly bringing him back down to earth. The soft, squeaky voice was familiar. “It’s Olivia, sir. I have had some news. I hired that company to do some digging, and they’ve found leaked emails shared between someone about Label Works to do with—”
“You have? Wait, I can’t—I mean.” Zack interrupted her, eager to hear the details but remaining professional, knowing he had another set of ears listening in. Claire, who was standing beside him, tugged gently on his hand, mouthing to ask who it was, but Zack dared not to answer as he continued to agree with the person on the phone. Another pause and finally he ended the call, and his sudden interest in Claire diminished.
“Who was that?” Claire asked, suspicious of why he had gone pale in the face and why he had no smug line to throw back at her. She expected him to say it was his booty-call, or some chick he was seeing later tonight as a joke, but instead his eyes remained off in the distance until eventually his hand subconsciously rubbed the left side of his jawline. “Turns out I’m needed. It was—was my mother. Needs me to come over,” he lied, with his eyes trailing around the room until they landed on Claire’s.
“Want me to come with?” she offered earnestly.
“No, no, no, it’s all right. Honestly. She’s fine,” Zack said, shaking his head. “Just gotta pick up some stuff. You go back home, babe. And I promise we’ll get back to what we started. Okay?” Reassuringly, his thumb caressed her cheek, and a grin appeared on his face. Claire’s eyes automatically closed. No one was about in the reception except the odd guy on his phone or a woman taking the last single trip to the toilets, so it wasn’t like it could have meant anything to anyone else.
“Okay, call me if you need anything. Don’t keep me waiting too long,” she teased. What an inconvenience that Olivia had to call and spoil his roundabout of fun. It was like an imaginary banner appeared above her head stating, “No fun for you,” or some pesky gigantic barrier had fell from the sky dividing the space between himself and Claire. Either way, it was annoying.
Zack followed Claire out of reception till they reached the end of the block paving and passed a wall of green, landscaped with pretty shrubs and small trees. Claire stopped, smiled, and lightly punched his shoulder as she said, “Well, catch you later, dickhead.”
He was completely convinced that he’d developed dimples since being under Claire’s radar, God, his cheeks had never spread that far apart since he received that flashy new bike for his twelfth birthday. “All right, chubby cheeks,” Zack remarked in return. She followed with a roll of her eyes, then she began to head off down the road towards their usual bus stop. Remaining a little longer than he needed to, it appeared as if he had been cast into stone by Medusa, and it took him a while to realise he needed to make a move.
Tracing his steps back inside, Zack was soon heading up to the top floor with sudden anticipation. His palms were sweating uncomfortably as he rubbed them together, and there was a line of sweat resting against his forehead. He wanted every damn detail, every name, anything that gave him what he wanted. He needed to expose the person who’d placed his project into jeopardy in the first place. At this point, his senses of loss, although inevitable, could be counterattacked at least by punishing those responsible for their actions.
Zack cleared his throat as he exited the lift onto the top floor, the interior before him classy with its gleaming marble black linoleum floors, the plain, expensive paintings hung on each of the wall, and the evident smell of success. Amongst the crowd of artists were his father’s vanity collection, his other painted portrait, a blue suit and smug expression making the anatomy of the cruel tyrant, and then the several photos of Elijah Benson shaking hands with leading foreign investors, partners, and government officials. And where was Zack among this? Absolutely nowhere. But in fairness, before Zack had wanted to change Bensons, his initial year in succession had been far from all seriousness. He’d seen it as a job to mess about with, to allow him to carry on with his playboy antics, leaving the place to run itself. Perhaps that was another reason his father wouldn’t take him so seriously? Another reason to keep the restraints in place? But even so, this was Elijah they were talking about. He never wanted to step down.
The hallway seemed to come to an end as Zack halted before the edge of Olivia’s polished, oval-shaped desk. She was surprised when he walked through the door. She quickly flipped the book she’d been reading shut.
“Mr. Benson, you’re here. I thought you were going to take longer than that to get here.” She faltered in her words at his towering frame ahead.
Zack nodded. “No, I was downstairs in reception when you called. I’m glad I was. Otherwise, it would have been more of a hassle attempting to get back through in that rush hour traffic. Shall we go speak in my office?”
“Of course,” she accepted, straightening her pair of purple reading glasses on the end of her nose and standing up. Olivia picked up her notepad, scooting from around her desk and following him into the room up straight ahead.
“So what did you find out?” Zack hastily said, sitting down in his chair and resting both elbows onto the desk.
“Well,” she started, anxiously sitting down and sliding her notebook onto her lap, “the guys I had working through communications in our network found suspicious emails communicating from within to whoever on the outside. They couldn’t pinpoint the IP addresses, but they were able to decrypt some of the emails shared between the two,” she explained, flipping over the pages as she read off the pad. “One read…” Her eyes scanning the paper made Zack’s shoulders tense all over. “Exactly briefing the person from the outside the plans for Project 42, giving them all the details you sent out to all departments, but mainly to marketing and sales. But our guys couldn’t locate the exact makeup of the—the code would seem to change each time, meaning I couldn’t tell you who conspired. But the men are continuing to work on it.” She closed the pad as she looked up.
“Shit.”
“Would you like me to try communicating with the council again?” she suggested, her freckled nose wrinkling as she sniffled. “I could try seeing if they’ll reconsider, or we could file lawsuits. More compensation for our loss of time?”
“No, it’s useless, Olivia, but I appreciate the thought. I…just can’t seem to wrap my head around this. Who would have emailed someone about it? It must be someone within the Sales and Marketing Department, just like how the last projects were fucked up. Maybe they’re emailing Label Works or—” Zack shook his head, disappointed. “I have no idea what to do, Olivia.” It was a confession more towards himself than anything.
And it was true. What could he do? He wasn’t even sure or if he needed to keep up this façade. The only thing stopping him now from dropping everything was Claire.
It was nearing seven o’clock, and Zack hadn’t moved from the chair in his office. He sat there, feeling dazed as he skimmed the end of his finger around the rim of the empty whiskey glass. What was he supposed to do? Someone was directly messing around with his business. He’d read through the printed copies of the emails exchanged, the few they’d managed to decrypt. Who was it? Graves? Whoever it was, they took orders from the other. They seemed wrapped up within the project. Maybe it was someone right underneath his nose?
***
CLAIRE
Claire felt a little miserable that she had to travel alone. The vacant chair next to her felt bare—even more so that it was disappointing every time she looked over, missing Zack’s presence beside her. At one point, she placed her bag there to enforce some sort of occupation. God, she was so pathetic. Claire was an independent, strong woman, and she didn’t rely on men…usually. Now, Zack’s world had raced into her own, and she found herself washed up on his shores like a mermaid beckoning for help.
Sure enough, her journey came to an end, and she was heading off the bus towards the block of apartments. In front, one of the neighbours was walking their small dog, its little legs bouncing with excitement at the sight of fresh-cut grass. But what instantly caught her attention and faltered her smile was the sight of Jason sitting on the front steps of the building, his arms resting on the knees, a sad look in his eyes.
“Jason?” She approached the steps, wondering what on earth he was doing there. He wiped his hands on his knees before pushing off them as he stood up. Not a single word left his mouth. “Do—do you want to come inside?” Her offer seemed appropriate for the odd situation. She’d thought he didn’t want to speak to her, that he wanted the space, so what was he doing here?
Jason shook his head, however. “No, I just want to say one thing before I head off.” Claire scanned the landscape for his car, noticing that it was parked in their residential car park. “I just want to know one thing, that’s all.” He held his hands in defence but refused to look her in the eyes.
She nodded.
Jason casually kicked the end of his polished work shoe into the pavement, running his hands through his hair as he attempted to speak. “I-I just want to know why.” He must have found the strength, because he looked her directly in the eyes. “Just—just,” he pleaded, clasping his hands together, wavering them forth and back in a sort of prayer, “just tell me the truth, and I—we can move on from this.”
“Jason.” Claire placed her hand on his shoulder. “Truth is, I didn’t fancy you. I liked you just as a friend. That’s what I thought the whole movies thing was. I didn’t know it was a date. But when I did, I was going to tell you but…” She swallowed as she dropped her hand away. “I was scared that my feelings for someone else were true, so I…played along, hoping that I would fall for you because you’re such a decent man.” She readied herself for his fury of anger or disgust. But instead he just nodded, closed his eyes, and said thank you.
