The Negotiation Read online

  “Thank you. Now that you’ve had the grand tour, how about some dinner?”

  “Sounds great. I’m starving. By the way, who is that man in your kitchen?” I asked as I followed him downstairs.

  “That’s Terrance and he’s my personal chef.”

  “You have your own chef?”

  “Yes, and a housekeeper that comes and cleans twice a week.”

  “Do you think that I could borrow them some time?”

  He laughed. “We’ll see.”

  We took our seats in the dining room and Terrance brought out delicious-looking salads made up of mixed greens, cucumbers, walnuts, dried cherries, and tomatoes drizzled with a rose champagne dressing. After pouring us each a glass of wine, he retreated back into the kitchen.

  “Did you have a good week since the last time we saw each other?” I asked.

  “I did. It was a busy one with back-to-back meetings every day, but overall, it was good. How about yours?”

  “It was okay. I’m developing an online fashion boutique. I pretty much have everything squared away except a warehouse. I’ve been looking all week and I finally found one, but I’m afraid the rent is too high.”

  “How much is it per square foot?” he asked.

  “Twenty dollars for the first year.”

  “What’s the square footage?”

  “Twenty thousand square feet.”

  “That does seem awful high. He really should only be charging about fifteen dollars a square foot.”

  “I’ll find the right place. It may take a while, but I’ll find it. I don’t give up on something I want.”

  “I like your confidence.” He grinned.

  “How was your dinner that night at Gramercy Tavern?” I asked as Terrance set my plate down in front of me.

  “It was good.”

  “Your date was very pretty.”

  “She wasn’t my date. She’s my sister’s best friend and I asked her for help in planning a surprise birthday party for her.”

  “Oh. Wait a minute. You and your sister already had your birthdays.”

  “I know. She’s worked so hard over the past couple of years getting her Ph.D. and she had to work a double shift on our birthday. So, as far as I’m concerned, she deserves a party.”

  A warm feeling grew inside me at the sweetness of this man.

  “That’s really sweet of you, Jackson.”

  “By the way, I know you weren’t on a date with that guy.”

  “Yes I was.” I took a sip of wine.

  “No you weren’t. I saw you when I walked into the restaurant and I saw him and the other girl give each other a kiss. Why did you lie?”

  Shit.

  “To be honest, I don’t know why I said it. Maybe because I felt odd being there without a date. Then I saw you had a date and I just wanted you to think I was cool and had a date.”

  “Just for the record, I already think you’re cool.” He smirked.

  After dinner, we took the bottle of wine and our glasses and went out on the terrace and took seats in the lounge chairs that faced Manhattan. It was getting dark and the city was brightly lit up.

  “I can see why you love it out here. It’s beautiful and relaxing.” I lay back in the chair with my glass of wine.

  Chapter 14

  Jackson

  “Did your mother ever tell you the reason she was against relationships?” I asked as I glanced over at her.

  “No. I asked her once and she just said it was how she felt. She wouldn’t give any explanation.”

  “That’s odd, because usually people feel that way from an experience. Like me and Jules. We grew up in an environment that showed us that two people can never be together very long. Someone must have hurt her deeply at some point in her life to make her feel that way. Maybe your father?”

  “I don’t know. According to her, she didn’t even know who my father was. But sometimes I got the feeling she was lying,” she spoke with a sadness in her voice.

  “Come here.” I held out my hand to her.

  She took hold of my hand, got up from her seat, sat on my lap, and wrapped her arms around my neck.

  “Do your parents live in New York?” she asked.

  “My mother lives here and my father lives in Chicago. He isn’t there much, though. He and Katerina travel ten months out of the year.”

  “Wow. Where do they go?”

  “All over the world. You name it and he’s been there.”

  “So maybe wife number five is a keeper?” She grinned.

  “Who knows? They’ve been married five years, the same as my mother. But Jules told me that she and husband number four are having some issues.”

  “You have had a lot of step mommies and daddies.” She laughed.

  “I have, haven’t I?” I smirked.

  Feeling her hot ass on my lap was causing my cock to rise and I couldn’t wait any longer to get her into my bed.

  “Do you feel that?” I asked with a smile.

  “Of course I do, and I think it’s time to put it to good use.”

  Wrapping my hand around the nape of her neck, I devoured her mouth while my other hand grabbed her breast.

  “Can anyone see us up here?” she asked.

  “Unfortunately, yes. So we better head into the bedroom if we’re going to continue this.”

  After she climbed off my lap, I took hold of her hand and led her to my bedroom. My hands slipped under the straps of her dress as I pulled it down off her body, took a step back, and stared at the perfection before me.

  “Just stand there and let me look at you,” I spoke as I slid my shirt off and then took down my pants.

  Her top teeth slid across her bottom lip as I took down my underwear and her eyes diverted straight to my hard cock.

  “I want that beautiful mouth wrapped around me,” I spoke as I slowly moved towards her.

  She reached back and unhooked her bra, tossed it to the floor, and got down on her knees in front of me, wrapping her sensuous lips around my cock. My fingers tangled through her hair as she slowly took her time, licking and sucking like no one else ever had before.

  “Fuck, Emily,” I panted as the buildup came. “Don’t stop. My God, don’t stop.”

  Moans escaped me with each stroke of her tongue and I was ready to explode.

  “I’m going to come.” I tried to pull myself out of her mouth, but her lips were like a vacuum around me. “Jesus Christ, Emily.” I strained as I exploded.

  Pulling away, she stood up and her eyes burned into mine as she swallowed. I’d never felt a rush go through my body the way it did at that moment. I grabbed her and threw her down on the bed, ripped her panties in half, and tossed them to the side. When I plunged in my finger, she gasped as well as I did, feeling the incredible wetness that shrouded her. Our lips tangled for a few moments until I broke our kiss and let them roam to her breasts, licking and sucking her hardened nipples. Sexy light moans escaped her lips as I placed my thumb on her clit and rubbed it in tiny circles, driving her wild as her body squirmed in excitement. The moment she orgasmed, my mouth traveled down her torso and over her sensitive area, absorbing the sweetness of her pleasure.

  I couldn’t wait anymore. I needed to be inside her. Reaching over to my nightstand, I pulled the drawer open and took out a condom. As I was rolling it on, she climbed under the sheet and held it up as I hovered over her and thrust inside her with force. Her back arched and a whimper of ecstasy escaped her. I thrust hard and fast, in and out for a few moments until I climbed off of her and rolled her on her stomach. Her arms extended above her head as I lay on top of her, interlacing our fingers while I took her from behind. The pleasure that poured from her was astounding as her body trembled underneath mine. Placing my hands on the bed on each side of her, I lifted myself up and thrust deep, with long hard strokes, and in a matter of minutes, we both came at the same time.

  Lowering my head, I softly kissed her back as I regained my breath and rolled off of her.
After removing the condom, I set it down on the nightstand and wrapped my arm around her, pulling her close to me as her head lay on my chest.

  “Have I worn you out?” I asked.

  “Yes, Mr. Caine. You have completely worn me out.” She smiled as she lifted her head and looked up at me. “But in a good way. My body thanks you.”

  “And my cock thanks you as well.” I smirked. “Do you want to go home?”

  “No.”

  “Good. I wasn’t about to let you leave anyway. Sweet dreams, Emily.” I kissed the top of her head.

  “Good night, Jackson.”

  The next morning, I opened my eyes when the alarm went off and Emily was still in the same position as she was last night. As I reached over and shut the alarm off, she stirred.

  “What time is it?” she asked in a sleepy voice.

  “Six a.m. I need to shower before heading to the office. Go back to sleep for a while.”

  She stretched her body and let out a long yawn.

  “If you insist. But wake me up in an hour.”

  “Will do.” I smiled as I kissed her shoulder.

  Chapter 15

  Emily

  When I strolled into the shop around nine thirty, Katie was already there, even though she didn’t have to be until ten.

  “You’re early,” I spoke.

  “And you’re glowing.” She smirked. “I take it last night went well.”

  Setting my purse behind the counter, I gave her a smile.

  “It went very well. I really like hanging out with him.”

  “You mean having sex with him,” she spoke.

  “That too, but I like being around him. He’s a great guy. Do you know what he’s doing?”

  “What?”

  “He’s throwing his sister a surprise birthday party because she had to work a double shift on their birthday and he said she deserved one.”

  “Damn. He is a nice guy. Wait a minute.” She glared at me. “You’re falling for him.”

  I let out a light laugh. “I am not. I do like him, though, and I enjoy his company. We’re friends and that’s it.”

  “Friends with benefits.” She smirked.

  “So what? A lot of people have friends with benefits.”

  “And what if he has more friends with benefits?”

  “I don’t think he does, but if he did, what could I do about that? We aren’t in a re—” I stuttered.

  “A relationship? Come on, Emily, you can say the word.”

  I wasn’t talking about this anymore with her, so I changed the subject.

  “How are you and Alex doing?”

  “We’re good.”

  “Has he gotten the results back from the bar exam yet?”

  “Not yet. But I’m sure he passed. So how did you and Jackson leave things this morning?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Did you kiss goodbye? Did he say he’d call you? Did you set up another date?”

  “He did kiss me goodbye. He didn’t say he’d call and we have not set up another date.” I walked into the backroom and she followed.

  “So you just have to sit and wait around to see if he shows up again or what?”

  “I guess so. Anyway, I got an email this morning from some guy from Match. He wants to meet. He’s a gynecologist, divorced for two years, thirty-two years old, and no kids.”

  “Are you going to meet him?”

  “Probably not. I’m not ready to deal with all the man drama again.”

  Her eyes narrowed at me for a moment.

  “Are you sure it’s not because of Jackson?”

  “Trust me. It’s not because of Jackson. Speaking of gynecology, I have an appointment today at one o’clock.”

  “For?” she asked.

  “Refill on my pills and exam.”

  “Better you than me. I hate going there.”

  I laughed as I walked to the front of the store, unlocked the door, and opened for business.

  ****

  When I walked into Dr. Grey’s office, Noreen, the receptionist, informed me that Dr. Grey was at the hospital delivering a baby, so his associate, Dr. Williams, would be performing my exam. I wasn’t sure if I was comfortable with that since I had never met him.

  “I didn’t know Dr. Grey had an associate,” I spoke.

  “He just brought Dr. Williams on three months ago.”

  “I see. Okay then.” I smiled as I took a seat in the waiting area.

  I really had no choice. I was down to my last pill and I needed the refill ASAP. I wasn’t about to compromise my birth control because Dr. Grey was off delivering a baby.

  “Emily.” The nurse opened the door with a smile.

  Getting up from my chair, I followed her into room three, set down my purse, and climbed on the table.

  “So, you’re here for your exam and a refill on birth control pills. Correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did the front desk tell you that Dr. Williams will be performing your exam today?”

  “Yes.”

  “Great. You’ll like him. He’s very nice and very good looking.” She smiled. “You can go ahead and put on this gown and he’ll be in shortly. He’s just finishing up with another patient.”

  “Thank you.” I took the gown from her.

  After stripping out of my clothes, I climbed back on the table and looked around the room as I nervously waited for Dr. Williams to come in. It didn’t matter how many times I’d been here; I was still always nervous. And now to find out he was good looking made it worse.

  There was a light knock on the door and a man’s voice asked if it was okay to come in.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  When the door opened and Dr. Williams walked in, I gasped. Shit. Shit. Shit. He was young, hot, and he was going to be checking out my private parts.

  “Hi, I’m Dr. Williams.” He grinned and then took a step back and narrowed his eye at me. A sick feeling formed in the pit of my stomach. “You look very familiar. Have we met before?”

  “No. I don’t think so.”

  Trust me, if I would have met him before, I would have remembered unless it was one drunken night. He stood about six feet tall, tanned skin, short black perfectly styled hair, and bright blue eyes.

  “I swear I’ve seen you before.” He looked down at my chart and then back up at me. “Well, this is awkward.”

  “What’s awkward?” I asked with a nervousness so deep I felt like I could vomit at any moment.

  “I do believe I sent you an email asking you to go out.”

  “Oh hell no. You’re the Match guy?”

  “Yes.” He nervously laughed.

  “You’re right. This is awkward. You do realize that we can’t go out now, right? Because you’re going to be all down there, in my personal space, checking me out, and it’s just weird.”

  “I agree. It’s nice to meet you, Emily, even if it is under these circumstances.”

  “Nice to meet you too, Dr. Williams.” I bit down on my bottom lip.

  “Are you having any problems that I should know about?”

  “No.”

  “And you’re sexually active?” he asked in a professional manner.

  “Umm. Yes.”

  He gave me a small smile. “I’ll go call in the nurse and we’ll get started.”

  I wasn’t sure if I could go through with this. He was too handsome. At least Dr. Grey was an old man. To think, I could have gone on a date with him. Dr. Williams and the nurse walked into the room and I lay down on the table with my feet in the stirrups.

  “Are you okay?” he asked as he approached me.

  “I’m fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

  He talked to me throughout the exam as if we were on a date. Asking me questions about my job and my hobbies. Once the exam was over, he helped me up and wrote out a script for my birth control pills. Suddenly, I had a thought.

  “Dr. Williams? How would you like to go on a double date?”

>   He looked up from his script pad and arched his brow.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I know someone who I think you would really like. She’s fun, driven, successful, and she’s gorgeous.”

  “Now you have me intrigued. Is she a friend of yours?”

  “Yes, and her name is Evelyn. She’s a fashion designer.”

  “And you wouldn’t feel awkward, considering I just gave you an exam?”

  “Nah. I’d be fine with it as long as you would?”

  He shrugged. “Sure. I’d like to meet Evelyn.”

  “Great.” I smiled as I got up from the table, reached in my purse, and pulled out my phone. “Give me your number.”

  After he rattled it off and I typed it in my phone, I set it up for Friday night at seven o’clock.

  “I’ll text you the restaurant when I figure it out.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll put it in my calendar.” He grinned as he handed me my script. “Have a good day, Miss Wade, and I look forward to Friday night.”

  “You too, Dr. Williams.”

  Before walking out the door, he turned and looked at me. “It’s Dylan.”

  Chapter 16

  Emily

  After I left the doctor’s office, I decided to call Jackson to make sure he was available Friday night.

  “Hello there, Miss Wade.”

  “Hello, Jackson. Are you available Friday night?”

  “Let me check my calendar. As of now, I’m free. Did you want to do something?”

  “Yes. I would like to have dinner with you.”

  “Just dinner?”

  I rolled my eyes and smiled at the same time.

  “Actually, it would be a double date. I’m setting Evelyn up with someone.”

  “Sounds fun. Count me in.”

  “Great. Friday night at seven o’clock.”

  “Which restaurant?” he asked.

  “I haven’t decided yet. Do you have any suggestions?”

  “How about Per Se?”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Shall I pick you up?”

  “Evelyn will be with me.”

  “Then I’ll pick both of you up. Give me your address.”

  “425 East 82nd Street, Apartment 5B.”

  “I look forward to our date, Miss Wade.”