I Hate, I Bake, and I Don’t Date! by Alina Jacobs

49

Beck

Iwasn’t in a great mood that Monday morning. I’d stopped by the office after leaving Svensson Investment where I had to listen to Greg give a two-hour presentation on his great plan to best Belle.

Owen grabbed me as soon as I walked into my office. Tess wasn’t there. I glared at her desk. I suddenly needed her around me.

“You just missed her,” Owen said, following my gaze. “She was heading to the elevator.”

Dammit. The last place I wanted to be right now was the office. I had wanted a repeat of Friday night over the weekend, but Tess had rebuffed me, saying she was busy.

“I need to talk to you.” Owen shut the door. “Dude, what the hell is your brother doing with my sister?”

I leaned against my desk. “Look, Owen, I’m sorry. I can’t control Greg. He’s obsessed.”

“What’s he planning?” Owen tilted his head slightly.

“I don’t know,” I lied. Owen was my friend, but Greg was my brother. Svenssons stuck together. Also, Owen might get mad at me, but Greg would skin me alive.

Owen scowled.

“He’s not going to hurt her,” I assured Owen, “if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Owen tipped back his head and laughed. “I was more concerned for Greg. My sister raised me. When I got a B in math one time because I was cocky and wasn’t doing my homework, she glued all of my stuff to the ceiling. Including the chair. I had to live like that for a month and spent my weekends carefully using solvent to clean all the adhesive off. Greg’s going to be the one to get raked over the coals.”

“Greg is evil,” I argued.

“Yeah, but Belle is mean. Which is worse.” He smirked. “I’m selling tickets to the fireworks.”

As if.

“I just thought I’d warn you,” he said over his shoulder as he left.

Owen seemed to have an outsized opinion of Belle. It was understandable. She was his older sister. But Greg’s plan was already in motion, and it was foolproof.

There was a knock on the door. Cressida poked her head in.

“Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you about a problem employee,” she said.

I did not want to deal with her. “Can you talk to Walker? He’s the COO.”

“It’s about Tess, so I thought I should come to you first since she is your assistant,” Cressida said coyly.

I was immediately on guard. “What about her?”

Cressida set a binder labeled Employee Handbook on my desk and opened it to a page entitled “Workplace Relationships.”

“It’s against the employee code for a superior to conduct a relationship with their employee,” Cressida said. “It is a legal issue, and it is my duty as HR to tell you to stop.”

I grounded my teeth.

She was right of course. But I couldn’t give up Tess. Besides, I still needed her around to be my fake girlfriend. I had to keep my sisters. But if I fired Tess, what if she got so mad that she just left? She had done that before.

Fuck.

I rubbed my jaw. “I’ll handle it, just give me some time.”

“If you’re concerned about Tess having an irrational reaction,” Cressida said, picking up the binder and closing it with a snap, “I’m happy to take her place. Ethel likes me, and clearly, I could be a great mother to your sisters. What do you say to a little upgrade, hm?”

I gave Cressida a cold look. “Speaking of illegal workplace romances.”

“Obviously, if we started dating, I would resign from my position,” she assured me.

“Cressida,” I said.

She batted her eyes at me.

“Even if Tess buys a one-way ticket to Japan when I tell her she’s going to lose her job, there is no way in hell I’m dating you. You will never be my girlfriend. You will never be my wife. Excuse me for being so blunt, but I do feel the need to make that quite clear. Do you understand? If that’s going to be a problem, then we’ll find a new HR director.”

Cressida’s nostrils flared, and her mouth pressed in a thin line. “Crystal clear,” she said and walked stiffly out of the office.

I leaned back in my chair and pinched the bridge of my nose.

How was it only Monday and yet the week was already shitty? And Tess was still nowhere to be found.

I took the elevator down to the lobby. It was too early for my afternoon tea, but I felt like I needed something to calm down.

Tess would be the perfect way to relax.

I was going to have to fire her. She was going to hate me.

My assistant was sitting at one of the small metal café tables in the lobby by the Sparrow and Thyme Bistro.

Just seeing her made the tension lift from my shoulders. I walked behind her, wrapped an arm around her, and pressed a kiss to her neck.

“Oh shit!” she yelled, jumping up. She accidentally hit the fork that was on the plate of pasta she was eating, and it went flying, spattering her and me with noodles, cheese sauce, and red sausage.

“Oh fuck,” she said, turning around slowly.

“Who else did you think was going around kissing you?” I demanded.

“Dude, we live in Manhattan. There are all sorts of crazy people out there. On the plus side,” she added, standing up, her tongue darting out to lick my cheek. “You are looking extremely tasty today!” She looked down. “Oh no! It’s all over your suit. Guess I shouldn’t have had that third helping.”

“Especially since a lot of it’s on my clothes,” I growled.

“You should have an extra suit here at the office,” Tess told me, “but I need to go home and change.”

“I’ll come too. It wouldn’t be all that gentlemanly to make you go by yourself.”

We walked into the condo.The moment the door was closed, she turned and started unbuttoning her shirt.

The sight sent an immediate zing of excitement down to my cock, and I found that I was starting to get hard. “What are you doing?”

“What, this?” She looked up at me, all false innocence. “I wanted to put my clothes in the wash. You don’t mind, do you?”

I grinned an answer and sat on the couch, my legs spread wide open so she could see my growing bulge. “Please, continue.”

“I like it when a man says please,” Tess murmured as she opened the rest of her blouse to show a lacy bra underneath. I already loved the look of her tits, but there was something delicious about seeing them all perked up in a layer of lace.

Then Tess reached to the side to the zip of her skirt. Once it was down, the fabric slid off the curves of her hips to puddle to the floor.

She stood before me in only that damn lacey bra and a matching pair of panties. Deliberately, she cocked a hip, eyeing my very obvious erection. It was everything I could do not to unzip and give myself a hand while she was putting on her show.

“You like what you see?” she asked, coy.

“You know I do. Come here.” I patted my lap invitingly.

Tess pretended to pout. “But I need to throw my clothes in the washing machine.”

I rose to my feet, going to her. “You can do that after.” Then I pulled her into my arms and kissed her.

She didn’t even pretend to resist. Lifting her mouth to mine, she melted against me, all softness and skin. I clutched her hard and then turned to push her to the couch.

She landed with a little laugh… a laugh which cut off into an appreciative growl when I pulled out a condom from my pocket.

“Turn around,” I said roughly as I unwrapped the condom from the foil. “Lose the panties.”

The lacy fabric came down, and she turned, revealing her supple, beautiful ass in all her glory.

I couldn’t take it anymore. Rolling on the condom, I positioned myself behind her. Tess was bracing against the cushioned arm of the couch. She needed all she could get because I entered her hard, taking her pussy from behind.

She moaned low, bowing her head and lowering her back to stick her ass up higher—giving me all the access that I needed.

I gripped her hips and took her hard and rough. My hips snapped quickly, striking spots that made her squeal one moment and moan the next.

Fuck… she was so tight, so hot. I knew this already, but it surprised me every time.

Gripping her hips, I pulled her up just a little more so I could fuck her with abandon.

“Beck!” she moaned, her only warning before her tight pussy clenched and unclenched around me. She was coming.

It was too much. My own pleasure drove me forward, slamming into her before I came as well.

As the last of the orgasm passed, I slumped over her.

It was scary how quickly I had become addicted to her.