Bereft - Jennifer Foor Page 0,37

in the conference room.

I sat patiently, trying not to picture him naked between my legs. As the thought slipped through my mind, I felt warmth rushing over my body. Then I saw him entering the room, his grandfather following behind him. While Charles was all smiles, Chad seemed to be annoyed. He gave me a once over, while his grandfather came over to kiss me on the cheek. “Rachel, it’s good to see you. Chad says you have something you want to talk to me about. I can already tell it’s going to be a good idea since it’s coming from you.”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence. Why don’t you let me go over some things? I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve invited Joe Chambers and Kathryn Reston to join us in a bit, provided you want to proceed. We need to act fast, and I’ll explain why.”

Chad still hadn’t said anything. I stood and slid a folder in his direction. He was sitting opposite of me, playing with his phone, as if I was taking away from something.

I tried to ignore him and focus on Charles. I knew how much he loved his company, so the idea of salvaging it would delight him. While I ran through my ideas Chad remained silent. He didn’t comment or take notes like I would have. As a matter of fact, he was acting as if he wasn’t even in the room with us. At one point he was clearly watching a video on his phone, smiling as something funny happened.

It made no sense to me, but I knew I had to stop worrying about it so much. I knew last night had been a mistake, but I refused to regret it. My painful life needed reprieve and I’d found it with him. So what if he was younger. I didn’t care. He was safe, and good at it. I enjoyed it immensely.

Finally, after going through the entire presentation, Charles clapped his hands together. “I think we’ve got a good plan, Rachel. I didn’t think you’d want to take on such a large project, or else I would have suggested it before. I knew I was going to be retiring, and without Chad there wouldn’t be anyone willing to put in the time to keep the agency going. This pleases me.”

“Good.” I turned my attention to Chad. “How do you feel about it?”

He never looked up. “I told you last night it was a great idea.”

That was all he would say.

Charles and I had some small talk while we waited for the two individuals to join us. Chad stayed in the room, but said little about anything. He got up and made a few calls in between. I kept looking at him, hoping for a single sign of him glancing in my direction. It happened once for a brief second. My heart began to pound in my chest. I felt butterflies in the pit of my stomach and rush of flashbacks to our rendezvous.

We spent three hours that afternoon strategizing and filling out paperwork for tax purposes to open a new separate entity of the existing company. After the attorney and accountant had what they needed, they left the room. Charles walked them out, leaving me alone in the room with Chad. He was still in the chair across from me. “I think it went well.”

“Yep. Congratulations.” He stood, placing both hands flat on the table. “I need to get out of here. Next time I suggest you bring your phone with you. You never know when someone is trying to get your attention.” He winked and turned to leave the room.

I couldn’t run out of there fast enough to fetch my phone and look at it. I don’t know what I expected. I figured he was sending me notes about his feelings regarding the plan, but it wasn’t anything like that.

The first message was sent as soon as I’d arrived at the office.

I thought we talked about you staying home. – Chad

The next message was sent before the meeting.

You sneaky woman. I’m going to have to punish you for keeping this meeting from me. – Chad

Are you wearing panties? – Chad

On a scale of one to ten, how bad do you want me to fuck you again? – Chad

There was one last message, sent just seconds before I’d picked up my phone.

I can still taste you on my lips. I couldn’t pay attention in that conference room, because I kept picturing