Next to You (15 page)

“Ahh. I guess I see why.”

Zee studied the photo for a long minute, then slid it back. “You look happy. He looks terrified.”

“That’s about where we left it, yeah.”

“He must be good in bed.”

Zee laughed as Phlox’s pale skin flushed a deep crimson red.

“Hey, no shame in that,” Zee added.

Phlox was quiet as she took another look at the photo before dropping her purse back into her bag.

“It’s more than that, though. Isn’t it?”

Phlox nodded, running her hand through her hair. “And I don’t know why. I don’t know why I like him. Because it probably is just sex to him. You know, a woman shows up and throws herself at you—and she happens to be your employer—what man is going to say no to that?”

“You threw yourself at him? I’m trying to picture that.”

“He has all kinds of issues about his face, and then I made the stupid mistake of inviting him to be my date at your mother’s premiere.”

“And?”

“He said ‘no.’ He said any photo of us would be captioned 'beauty and the beast.’”

“Maybe he’ll come around.”

Phlox pushed a pile of rice around her plate with a chopstick. “I doubt it.” She sighed. “He took me to meet his brother’s family in Boston, which seemed like a good sign. But they were totally floored to see him show up with a woman. So that’s probably a bad sign. He doesn’t have a lot of experience with serious relationships and neither do I.”

“Well as long as he doesn’t screw around with our business, like my asshole so-called boyfriend did.” Zee had only picked at her food, too. She began clearing the table. “You would never let a man lie to you like that.”

P
hlox unlocked
the door to her condo and dropped her purse on the sofa. No sooner had the bag hit the cushion than her phone pinged with another text. It was a photo of Jared’s bare chest, taken in a mirror.
I’m sexting you,
he wrote. She smiled and tapped the screen to call him back.

“Hey,” she said softly when he picked up.

“Hey you. How are things going?”

“As well as they can, I guess. We’re making some headway. Our award nomination was withdrawn though.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I wish I were still in Connecticut.”

“I wish you were too. I’d cook you dinner, pour you some wine, then run you a nice relaxing bath.”

“Mmm. What else?”

“I’d wash every inch of your skin until you’re nice and clean. Then I’d get you dirty again.”

She remembered their earlier night in the tub. Yeah, that had been dirty all right.

“Are we about to have phone sex?” she asked

“Maybe.”

“I’m a phone sex virgin,” she added.

“Me too.”

“What are you wearing?” She pictured him in the apron and bowtie.

“Just sweats,” Jared answered.

“What color sweats?”

“Grey.”

“Anything beneath the sweats?”

“Let me check.” There was a beat of silence. “Nope. Nothing.”

She laughed. It felt like the first time in twenty-four hours that she hadn’t been frowning.

“What are you really doing?” she asked. “Watching tv?”

“I’m lying in bed, touching myself and thinking about you.”

Phlox was suddenly flushed and hot. “We really are having phone sex, aren’t we?”

“Yup. Do you want me to tell you what I’m thinking about doing to you?”

“Please.”

“First, I would kiss you. We would just make out for a long time.”

“That’s all?”

“We’re just getting started, you know. I like to kiss you, Phlox. You make all these little noises. I like that. And I like the way you start to squirm in my arms.”

“My body has a mind of its own around you.”

“I like your body’s mind. Once I’ve gotten you all hot and bothered and squirmy, I’d slide my hands beneath your shirt.”

She looked down at herself. She was still wearing her suit from work. Switching the phone from hand to hand, she wriggled out of the jacket.

“Phlox? Are you still there?”

“I’m here. I just took off my jacket.”

“Wait. Are you wearing a suit? A business suit?”

“I am. I always wear a suit to the office.”

Jared groaned. “I’ve never seen you in a suit. Pants or a skirt?”

“Skirt.”

“Heels?”

“Yeah. Pumps.”

“What color is the suit?”

She laughed. “Black. Black suit and black pumps. I thought we were having phone sex here, not playing twenty questions.”

“We
are
having phone sex. I’m just revising my scenario, that’s all. What are you wearing underneath the jacket? One of those little blouses with the tiny straps?”

“Yes. A mint green silk camisole. A little lace around the top.”

There was silence on the other end, except for some suspiciously heavy breathing.

“What are you doing to me over there now?” she asked quietly.

“It’s not what I’m doing to you. It’s what you’re doing to me.”

“What am
I
doing, then?”

“You’re performing a sexy little strip tease, taking off that prim and proper business attire.”

She laughed again. “Oh am I?”

“Oh yeah. You’re unzipping your skirt, then you turn around and let it drop to the floor.”

Phlox put her phone on speaker and set it down on the floor.

“What are you doing?” Jared asked.

“Unzipping my skirt.” She let the fabric fall to the floor right next to the phone.

Jared moaned. “I can so see that.”

“Oh yeah? Now I’m wearing just the camisole and a pair of matching lace panties. Can you see that?”

“Clearly.”

“Hmm. I think I’ll leave these on for awhile. I can be your sexy secretary.”

“I think I prefer you as my sexy boss. When you were on the phone last night, talking to your partner … god, that was so damn sexy. I don’t know what it is about a woman talking business …”

“Well, I’ll be on CNBC and Fox Business tomorrow if you want to watch me talk business some more.”

He groaned. “You’re killing me here, Phlox.”

“You’re weird, Jared, you know that? I would think you’d be more turned on if I were knee-deep in mud and planting tomatoes or something.”

“You’re smart, sweetheart. That’s incredibly sexy to me.”

Sweetheart.
A smile graced her lips at the sound of that word. No one had ever called her “sweetheart” before or told her she was “incredibly sexy.” They had to find a way to make this work. She was in too deep here to give this up, to give up Jared.

“Tell me what you did today,” he said.

“Besides miss you?” She picked up the phone and pressed it to her ear, then stretched out on the sofa in her underwear and heels. “I talked to the factory and read the results of the lab reports. Everyone suspects that Zee’s boyfriend—well, ex-boyfriend now, obviously—added carbolic acid to the manufacturing line. The factory is reviewing security footage to see if they can determine where he did it. Dermatologists use the stuff when they do chemical peels, so people will recover from it. It’s just not pleasant, especially if you weren’t planning for it.”

Jared was quiet on the other end. She’d probably put him to sleep.

“You don’t want to hear all this,” she said. “It’ll be boring to you.”

“I want to know what you do all day when you’re not baking muffins in Connecticut.”

She crossed her ankles and took a deep breath. “All right, but I’m warning you. It’s not that fascinating. I spent the rest of the day fielding calls from reporters. Our communications director normally handles media relations but when something like this happens, people need to hear it from the top. After that, I had dinner with Zee at her place. That’s why I didn’t answer your text right away.”

“That’s okay. I just wanted you to know I was thinking about you.”

“Actually, your text got me in trouble. I told her it was a joke from my brother and when I wouldn’t show her the joke, she texted my brother. Of course, he told her he hadn’t sent me anything. I’m a terrible liar.”

“Yeah, I can see how that would be. You don’t exactly have a poker face.”

“I showed her that picture we took at your brother’s. The selfie.”

“Did she turn to stone?”

“She said I looked happy.” Phlox waited for some reaction on Jared’s end but he remained stonily silent. “Men don’t usually make me happy, Jared. Hopeful, frustrated, sad, lonely, heartbroken—lots of other things. But not usually happy.”

Still he said nothing.

“I don’t want to talk about my day,” she said after a few minutes more of silence. She wasn’t even sure he was still on the line.

“What would you like to talk about?” he said, finally.

“What I’d do to you if you were here right now.”

“And that is?”

“I’d want to check out your assets.” If he liked business-talk, she’d give him business-talk.

“My assets are now fully on display.”

Her body grew hot at the thought of Jared in the nude, lying on his bed.

“I’d would need to make sure your stock is, uh, on the rise before I invest.”

“Oh, it’s on the rise. I can document that.”

“And, uh, I might need to do a SWOT analysis. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.”

“You’re my weakness, Phlox. Is that going to be a problem?”

“Probably not. Depends on the size of the potential market. I’d have to explore that.”

He moaned faintly on the other end. Phlox smiled. She liked knowing she could turn him on like this, even long distance.

“The market is getting bigger by the minute. As long as there aren’t any serious barriers to entry.”

Phlox closed her eyes and slipped a hand inside her panties. “Jared,” she whispered.

“What’s your investment philosophy, Phlox? I would need to know that we’re aligned that way.”

Her hips were rocking gently beneath her hand. “I like to put my money where my mouth is. So I would align my mouth … with your business …” Her train of thought was fading fast.

There was nothing but Jared’s breathing on the other end, until she heard a tiny “Fuck. Phlox.” She listened to him breath heavily for several minutes. When his breathing was under control again, he said, “I think you just triggered the market circuit breaker.”

Phlox began to wonder how on earth Jared knew what a market circuit breaker was but the thought was interrupted by her own orgasm. He listened to her come, whispering softly in her ear.

“I love you, Phlox. You know that, right? Whatever else, I love you.”

Phlox’s body lay limp on the sofa. She was spent, physically and emotionally, overwhelmed by his words.
I love you.
He hadn’t said that last night, even after she had ventured out onto that limb herself.

“Are you okay over there?” he asked.

“Mm-hmm. I think so. Maybe. How about you?”

“Definitely a level three halt on my end.”

A level three halt was the most serious circuit breaker on the stock exchange, suspending trading to prevent a crash. He must know that from Jake, she thought, or else he watches a lot of television during the day. What else would he do on rainy days in Connecticut?

“You’re a Maria Bartiromo groupie, aren’t you?” she joked.

“I’m a Phlox Miller groupie. But you should get some sleep now. I’ll see you on tv tomorrow, sweetheart.”

W
hen Jared woke
the next morning, his sweat pants were on the floor. He hadn’t dreamed that, after all. He and Phlox did have phone sex last night. Damn, that had been hot. Not as good as the real thing but better than plain old self abuse. He loved it when she went all CNBC on him.

He showered, dressed and made coffee. All with a stupid-ass grin on his face.
You have enough money to be happy.
No offense to his brother, but it was a woman who was making him happy—not money. It was as simple as that.

And as utterly, heartbreakingly complicated.

He turned on the television and clicked through to the business channels while his coffee brewed. He wanted to see Phlox in the business world, in her element. He wanted to see her being smart and successful and kick-ass awesome. Jake had stopped asking him years ago whether he missed that world. For a long time, he didn’t. Building Accendo had been all-consuming and exhausting. Selling it even more so. But now … yeah, he missed adult conversations and the competition. Missed the thrill of winning.

He wanted to impress Phlox, too. He wanted to be more than just a caretaker to her, but he couldn’t do that without showing himself to be a liar as well. How the hell had he backed himself into this fucking corner?

He poured himself a cup of coffee, drank it scorching and black, then poured another.

“After the break, we have Phlox Miller, president of Phlox Beauty, with us to discuss their recent product recall. Don’t go away,” the newscaster intoned.

Jared guzzled coffee while he waited. Damn, commercial breaks were long. Then there she was—in an expensive-looking dark green suit, her hair straight and tucked behind her ears. She looked like the president of a company, he thought, albeit a young one. Like he had been. His heart went out to her. He knew exactly what it felt like to be in the hot seat with reporters, with investors, with bankers. To feel the weight of an entire company on your shoulders—employees who depended on you to pay their mortgage, feed their children, care for ailing parents.

He wished he could be there for her. Wished he was waiting in the green room with her. He would straighten her jacket, tell her she looked lovely, tell her she was going to do great. He could offer her business advice and his contacts.

She looked calm and composed, though, even without him. Who was he kidding? She and her partner had built a successful business without his help. It was presumptuous of him to think he had something to offer her.

“So Ms. Miller,” the interviewer began. Jared had seen this guy on television a million times but today was the first day he had ever actively disliked him. “As of yesterday, six hundred and eighty-one people have been burned by your A2Z Cream.”

“The last count, as of this morning, is eight hundred and twelve.”

Jared’s eyes widened along with the interviewer’s.
Wow.
Most people would have let the smaller number stand, but Phlox came out swinging.

“We are encouraging everyone who has had an adverse reaction to the product to contact us immediately,” she continued. “We are covering medical expenses in full for all affected customers. We expect to have all of the contaminated batch of product out of the distribution stream by close of business today.”

Covering medical expenses … that was going to be a lot of money.

“So you suspect the product was tampered with in your manufacturing facility?”

“Yes, we believe that was what happened. Law enforcement is involved in that investigation. I need to stress, however, that it was only the A2Z Cream produced during that one week that was contaminated. Customers can compare the date and product number on their packaging to the information listed on our web site to see if they have purchased an affected bottle. Customers may return
any
bottle of the product, regardless of the date of manufacture, for a full refund if they wish.”

“How many units of your A2Z Cream have been sold to date?”

Idiot.
She’s not going to reveal sales figures, Jared thought.

“Since the product’s launch back in April, we’ve sold just under 25,000 units. Mind you, this is a completely custom product so it’s not something customers can walk into a store and walk out with the same day. It’s ordered directly from us and formulated per each customer’s specs.”

“You got some flack when it launched, didn’t you? For attempting this custom manufacturing and direct distribution. Do you think you’ll continue it?”

“I think we will. Overall, women were responding well to the opportunity to get all the functionality they wanted in a single product. Retailers were skeptical at first but the kiosks worked flawlessly so they’re making money without having to stock inventory.”