Mrs R (Mrs R & Mr V #1) (29 page)

“Neanderthal” she huffed under her
breath, but remembering her manners and the fact that he did actually run the
company whether she liked it or not, Rachel politely asked him to sit down and
make himself comfortable.

Glaring at her Joe glanced around
her office then calmly lowered his big body into her couch. He flipped the door
closed and Rachel padded across the carpet in her bare feet to sit in Nate’s
chair putting the barrier of his desk between them. Her shoes lay abandoned in
the middle of the floor but she had more important things to worry about; like
how hulkalicious was sprawled lazily on her couch when a second ago she was
sure he was going to pounce on her. Honestly, she was turned on by the
aggression and power that radiated off him. She would love to see him lose
control but guessed it took a lot more than a few snide comments from the likes
of her.

“I think we got off on the wrong
foot” he began, one hand playing with his beard. He was sat in the middle of
the cushions with his other arm across the back of the sofa; his feet were flat
on the floor with his long legs spread wide in distinctly masculine pose. Only
the tick in his jaw gave away the fact that he was attempting to control his
temper.

“Maybe I was a little hasty in
assuming you wanted to have sex with me. I mean throwing yourself on top of me
one day and then performing an erotic sex act in front of me Saturday night,
might have lead me to falsely believe you wanted me. Normally, most women
aren’t so subtle.” He paused for effect.

“Is there a point to this
facetious monologue or are you just determined to humiliate me further?” Rachel
glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest. She knew this just made her
cleavage more visible but she needed the protection of the ‘back off’ body
language.

“Oh Rachel, I’ve only just got
started. That’s what I came to inform you. Genesis is a waste of time, energy
and most importantly money. I’m not approving it until you prove to me
otherwise. I operate on results not for sexual favours.”

“Don’t threaten me Joe. I’m sorry
if you got the wrong idea, but honey, it wasn’t even you I was thinking about.”
She gave him a sorry little look shaking her head conjuring up Luc in her mind
for a much need confidence boost. “And if it’s a challenge you’re looking for,
you should know I don’t like to lose once I’ve set my sights on something.
Genesis is not a futile venture nor I am doing this for some romantic gesture
to honour my dead husband. Nate had a great and noble idea and he deserves
someone to follow through on it.”

“And that would be you?
Riggghhht…….” Joe made a pffft sound and heaved himself off the couch. Hitching
up his trousers, Rachel threw him a look of disdain. “Don’t let the door hit
you on the way out,” she muttered as she started tapping away at her keyboard.

He didn’t seem to be moving.

“What’s in there?” Rachel raised
her head to see Joe gesturing towards her bathroom.

“That’s the loo, Joe.”

“Mind if I take a piss?”

“Seriously? Don’t you have someone
to do that for you?”

Joe stomped into her bathroom
purposely leaving the door wide open and although she couldn’t see him, Rachel
could certainly hear him.

“You’re disgusting,” she snapped
in his direction to be gifted with a grunt followed by the flush of the loo and
running water. She couldn’t fault his hygiene at least but she did feel like
he’d invaded her personal space long enough.

“Are you quite finished?” she
demanded. “As you so delicately pointed out, I have a lot of work to do.”

Joe stood in the doorway of her bathroom
leaning against the architrave with his arms crossed over his massive chest.
She noticed how his jacket stretched deliciously over his shoulders and
swallowed several times in order to get her focus back on what he was saying.
“Don’t think this is going to be easy, Rachel. If you are doing this I need
updates on all your cases before you even think about going to court. And I
want your hours documented and justified. Is that clear?”

“As crystal.”

Joe cocked his head at her in the
way she was already familiar with when he was thinking about saying something
but holding back. It was totally infuriating, and intense, and it made her
pussy clench and her juices flow. She could feel her damp knickers against her
crotch and she squirmed in her chair. Her nipples were pebbled against the cups
of her bra and she really needed the man to leave immediately before she ended
up doing something foolish again.

“Hmmm, we’ll see” he challenged as
he strolled out of her office.

Slumping into her chair, Rachel
breathed a huge sigh of relief as she watched Joe leave. Her heart was still
racing and she poured herself some water to ease her parched throat. She was
confused and horny and angry all because of a pig headed, arrogant ogre who
thought he was something special.

“Fucking twat! He’s left the tap
dripping. I know you did that on purpose.” Rachel mumbled angrily as she
crossed her office to her bathroom. One look and she screeched “wanker” in the
general direction of Joe’s office. He’d left the toilet seat up; dripped soap
all over the basin and thrown the towel on the floor.
 
“That’s just rude” she huffed tidying
up. And his cologne lingered in the small room. Rachel scrunched up her nose
even though the smell was divine.

Just because her body betrayed her
every time he got close, her mind didn’t need to have a meltdown too. Joe
didn’t realise but he would soon – Rachel was all about reverse
psychology. “He thinks I’m not up to the task, but I am.” Shrugging off her
jacket, she slid back onto her chair and tucking her legs under her, Rachel
stepped up her research and set about choosing her first case.

**********

Joe stormed back to his office
throwing his jacket on to the back of his chair; he rolled his shirt sleeves up
and logged on to his PC. This space was no longer recognisable as Nate’s room.
He had removed every trace of his predecessor in order to start afresh with new
ideas and goals. He couldn’t fathom that he’d been foiled on his first day by a
woman. Rachel had gotten under his skin for many reasons but he couldn’t be
distracted now; he had to prove to the people of Gyles Bishop that he was a
worthy replacement for their beloved Nate Renton. It was an issue of his that
he battled everyday in the States working in the shadows of his illustrious father
and older brother. His reputation as the black sheep of the family and as a
playboy meant he had to work doubly hard for the respect of the business
community. His results should have spoken for themselves but his family never
gave him the credit he deserved and he was sick of it. A move to London
screamed of opportunity and he studied hard for a whole year to familiarise
himself with the British legal system – he still had to take a few exams
to pass the UK bar but he knew he’d ace them; his intelligence was a natural
gift and his recall was legendary among his peers.

Attention to detail was his secret
weapon, although this morning it could have easily been his downfall.

This was his second chance to
claim the success he strived for based solely on his skills as a lawyer and not
his family name. Joseph William Mason the Third was determined to earn his
reputation in London as a winner and not a sinner, and that was why he needed
to ignore Rachel Renton, as she was a whole heap of trouble as far as he was
concerned.

“Tell that to your dick” he
berated himself rearranging his semi hard cock in his trousers. God she was
feisty and not at all a pushover as he had originally suspected. That only
served to make her more fucking attractive as far as Joe was concerned; beauty
and brains; she nearly had him nearly coming in his shorts only minutes ago
giving him lip in defence of Genesis. Little did she know he’d already
dismissed the project entirely until her passion convinced him it may have some
merit if only to keep her down the hall for a little longer.

“God you’re an asshole” Joe sighed
as his dick twitched again at the memory of standing in her little bathroom.

He’d held her towel to his face
and breathed in the scent of her, reminding him of her hot sweaty body lying on
top of him after she caused him to fall off the treadmill. He laughed at the
image now although he didn’t think it so funny at the time, and he still had an
almighty bruise on his butt.

And the way she behaved all sassy
in the boardroom earlier, not even fazed by their most bizarre situation had
Joe groaning in defeat. Locking himself in his own rather more luxurious
bathroom feeling like a horny teenager, Joe relieved himself efficiently in
order to try and concentrate on something other than the feisty brunette making
his life a misery on his first bloody day. “God, she’s infuriating,” he thought
as he came into his fist hard and fast.

**********

CHAPTER 15

Avoiding Joe was becoming a full
time occupation requiring a great deal of skill. Timing her visits to the gym
so that she didn’t run into him again, literally, was tricky but Rachel managed
to maintain some kind of regime. Building stamina was kind of a priority with
her and running afforded her the time to process the million and one different
ideas zinging around her head. She continued her daily workouts without once
having seen Joe there.

She’d be lying if she didn’t
secretly admit to wanting to see the man in action again. He haunted her bloody
dreams and she’d had to replace the batteries in her vibrator after it cut out
on her in a rather crucial moment of self pleasuring that was becoming all too
routine. Rachel was convinced she’d become a sex addict since Luc had reignited
her libido with a vengeance. Vigorous, outrageous, incredible sex with the man
boy god had left her wanting and Joe seemed to be what her body yearned for
even though her head was screaming no. Nate had kept her satisfied for many
years; their sex life was healthy and frequent but it had become familiar and
lacked excitement. Now that she had experienced another lover, Rachel realised
there was more to sex than just an orgasm. The anticipation; the flirting; the
games and the fun were all relatively new to her and she’d enjoyed learning
this with Luc who’d been generous and patient with her. Once she’d shed her
inhibitions their affair became passionate and spontaneous and bloody
exhilarating; a rush to the senses that Rachel craved constantly these days.
She supposed it was because there was no prospect of her meeting anyone right
now as her work kept her busy during the week, and at the weekends she either
saw family or married friends.

The fixation with Joe was merely
due to the proximity of the man she guessed. He was the only male in the office
under 60 and available, and the fact that he looked like an A list Hollywood
heartthrob with the accent to match didn’t help. He featured in her fantasies
and catching glimpses of him about the office simply fuelled her infatuation.
However, he hated her and his reputation in New York according to the many
gossip sites she’d obsessed over on the Internet, was for dating young, blonde
women who all looked like supermodels. Google images gifted her with photos of
him with many different dates so he was obviously a love ‘em and leave ’em type
of guy. “A real Prince Charming” she’d remarked snidely while saving one
particularly stunning picture of him posing in a tuxedo on the red carpet at
some New York Film premiere.

Joe Mason aside, Rachel was mostly
quite contented. She was enthralled with her work and now that she had
familiarised herself with Genesis, was even more motivated to secure a future for
it to be sponsored by Gyles Bishop.

There were so many cases that
needed attention but she didn’t want to rush into anything unprepared; the
consequences could be disastrous and the responsibility she felt for these
clients weighed heavily on her conscience, Finally opting to represent a London
based charity called Home Free, that provided shelter for victims of domestic
violence, Rachel dedicated every minute she could to their case. The council
was threatening to close them down as they had been approached by a developer
to purchase the land to build a fancy hotel on the plot. The shelter was
actually a big old house in Mayfair of all places that had been bequeathed to
them in the will of a woman who lived her whole married life in peril of her
husband’s temper. It was only when he died that she dare seek the help of the
charity in question and she spent the last few years of her own life as their
patron and fund raiser.