Redemption (Complete)

2. The Game

"Bev, could you come in here for a moment?" Carl was in his office and had a stack of papers he needed to male available for the next Board of Directors meeting. He was trying to get rid of is secretary Bev for a little bit as she was making doe- eyes at him. Normally it didn't irritate him and he would mildly flirt, but the next director's meeting was a big one and he didn't need the added distraction.

Bev was wearing a tight pinstriped skirt and red blouse that dipped below her cleavage due to the fact she had the top four buttons undone. She made sure to bend over plenty of times to show off her ample bosom and it had grated on Carl's nerves instead of amused him today.

He blamed Aiden a little bit for his predicament. The man had bedded and impregnated his ex- secretary and while most of the office knew about Aiden and Constance and were either supportive or blase about it, it seemed to have amped up his own secretary's desire to be with him. Something she hadn't kept secret before became even more apparent as of late.

Bev had always been a flirt but she was also efficient in the office. At least until recently.

Carl had always liked the chase. Women who threw themselves at him, though it was fine sometimes, were a bit of a bore. Not that he didn't take advantage of those particular situations- after all, a man has needs.

What Carl didn't need though, was for his irritating secretary to start giving him bedroom eyes all hours of the work day. He didn't get the s**t done that he needed when he felt lasers boring holes into his body through the glass windows of his office. He was surprised the glass hadn't damn well melted as of yet.

"Yes Mr. Smith," Bev said, trying to add a sultry tone to her voice. "How many copies would you like?"

Carl stopped himself from rolling his eyes- just barely.

"Twenty copies and please sort and contain each in one of the clear plastic folders provided in the supply room," Carl told her shortly before bending back to his laptop and pretending to work on an email. Granted he should have been doing that very thing at this moment. He was horribly behind on correspondence, but he was afraid to send the emails he didn't want to deal with to Bev who would most likely find ways to ask him about what she should say in the mails. She knew damned well how to pen a letter and her sudden ignorance infuriated Carl. He would either handle it in a few minutes or simply work on it when he got home.

"That is all," Carl dismissed his secretary without looking at her as she had hesitated for long enough in his office.

Carlton had wished Constance would have come back to work for Kintech. He even would have offered her a job as his secretary, but Aiden seemed dead set on Constance staying at home while she dealt with the symptoms of her first pregnancy. The way Aiden spoke of it, it might be their only pregnancy. And Aiden, now that he was p***y- whipped for the first time in his thirty years, all of the sudden wanted a slew of children. He had certainly been looking into big enough houses for it.

Hell, at least Constance would have done the work Carl assigned efficiently without getting googly eyed and trying to affect her voice to sound sexy.

After Bev left, Carl worked on reaching out to the people in his emails and was down to only a few more to respond to when he heard his secretary's voice from down the hall. It was time to make his escape.

Walking out the front of his office, he called out to Bev.

"I'm heading out for a few minutes Miss Daniels," he called and grabbed his suit jacket to make as if he was going to leave the building. If she knew he was staying put in the building, he was afraid she might follow him. Best for her to think he truly was stepping out of the office instead of making his way to the break room. He knew his secretary's break schedule as well as his own and he had a good hour before she would make her way to the break room and grab another diet Coke. The woman lived on it the vile beverage.

He had left the main floor and walked into the bathroom to wash his hands and tidy up his mussed up hair when a voice from the break room took him by surprise. He was sure it wasn't one of his people that was talking and laughing in there and he was almost tempted to see who it was. But first, he wanted to wash up a bit and fix what he was sure was a rat's nest lying on top of his head.

He had been rifling his hair a bit more lately- well, ever since Aiden had taken a few months off to spend time with his woman in the mountains. Carl hadn't realized how much utter bullshit Aiden had had to deal with on a regular basis. True, Carl usually ran the Board of Directors meetings and such, but when Aiden had seen how much Carl could achieve when he put his mind to it, he had decided to reward him with more meaningful tasks instead of a raise, bonus or even a firm slap on the back with a 'good job' uttered to him. He supposed the man had had other things to think about at the time though and didn't fault him for it.

Carl made a mental note to ask about the aforementioned raise as he fixed the strands of hair that lay unattended on his head. Since he kept his hair somewhat short, there wasn't much to fix and he washed his hands in the sink thinking that he was glad he had not received the family gene that had made his father completely bald by the time he was thirty five. Then again, the said that gene was handed down on the mother's side. Luckily his mother's father still had a full head of wavy silver hair that he styled in an almost 50's looking coif.

Drying his hands, he left the men's bathroom and walked across to the kitchenette area that served as the break room. Aiden had recently replaced some of the older appliances with newer ones and gotten newer tables and chairs. They were more comfortable than the last ones and sometimes Carl would sit in there reading the newspaper or sipping coffee instead of doing the work that he was being paid for.

There was only one other person in the room and they were not exactly dressed for the office. He had to assume it was probably a visitor or maybe a daughter of one of the older staff.

The woman was at the sink looking down as Carl entered the room. Her long black hair covered a white blouse of some sort and purple pencil skirt that was way too short to be office material.

Stepping to the right of the woman, Carl began to brew another pot of coffee and scanned her with his eyes with his peripheral vision

Stepping to the right of the woman, Carl began to brew another pot of coffee and scanned her with his eyes with his peripheral vision. He only caught a profile of the girl, but it was enough to let him know that she was way too young to be working in this office.

Carl saw that she was steeping a teabag into a white mug and he wondered honestly who else in this office besides Harry actually drank the stuff. It was weak and vile to Carlton, who needed his early morning Starbucks like he needed the oxygen in his lungs to function properly.

"Tea, really?" he asked her with a raised brow.

She looked at him and Carl's breath caught. Her profile had done nothing to prepare him for the girl in front of him. Along with the raven black hair that reached her mid back, she had startling blue eyes. She looked familiar somehow, but Carl was so taken aback that he found his eyes wandering to her lips. They were full and unadorned by any color except for her natural one. She seemed to be only wearing a little bit of eye makeup and Carl was glad to see that her eyebrows were not overly plucked like some women's were. They made a woman look perpetually startled- not a very sought after look in his eyes. They accented her deep cerulean eyes perfectly.

"What's wrong with tea? The British drink it," she replied in a sweet tone of voice.

"The British also have horrible dentistry skills and a monarchy," he replied with a smirk.

"Well as you can see, my teeth are perfectly fine so I doubt that there is any correlation," She said this while smiling a megawatt smile so that all her pearly whites could be seen. If Carl hadn't been transfixed by her mouth before, this would have thrown him over the edge.

A devious smile played on Carl's lips as he watched the girl smile.

"I'm Carlton, Kitten- but you can call me Daddy any time you like," Carlton said, his lips coming up close and personal to the girl's ear.

"Hmmmph? Carlton Smith?" she asked, not letting his proximity get to her.

"The very same- you've heard of me?" Carl pondered.

"You could say that your reputation precedes you, Mr. Smith," the girl said. If it hadn't been for the fluttery tone of voice, Carl would have thought her invulnerable to his charms. He smirked a little bit at the fact he did indeed affect her.

"And your name, Gorgeous?" Carl asked, stepping back to give the girl a little breathing room.

"I don't know if I should tell you," she said with a frown. "Next, you'll be asking for my number and I have no intention of giving that out to you."

Carl was astonished and he let it show in his face for a moment.

"And why is that?"

"When I say your reputation precedes you, I meant your reputation as a womanizing, egotistical pussyhound that drops his pants for anything with a vagina."

The crass language that slipped from her mouth made Carl even more eager to bring the girl to her knees. Eventually.

"Well, you can't believe all the rumors you've heard," he told her. "Did these little birdies also tell you it was the best night of their lives? Or were they simply speaking out of jealousy that I hadn't yet f****d them into oblivion?" Carl exchanged crude words with crude words. This little girl could obviously take it.

"Though I've probably spoken to a few women who have had you in their bed, none of them mentioned such s****l prowess that they needed to parade it in front of me." The girl walked over towards the garbage to get rid of the sodden teabag. "That can only mean that either you are immemorable in bed or that your ego knows no bounds. You may be good or even great, but it's not something I wish to discuss. Stroking your ego is not something I would find diverting in any way. You obviously do that enough for yourself. No need for me to do it."

Carl's jaw ticked in irritation. He may not get her phone number today, but he was damned sure going to get it someday and teach the mouthy little thing what it feels like to be ruined for any other man.

"I don't need to stroke my own ego when the women screaming my name are doing it for me," Carl finally spoke. The tone was blunt and biting, but he still wanted the girl in his bed so he refrained from what he truly wanted to do- spank her ass, then kiss her until she forgot her own name. Or at least divulge it to him.

"Whatever gets you through the night, Carl," she spoke with a bit of venom. Her tone of voice was quite harsh, but Carl wondered if there wasn't just a hint of humor in her eyes. They were twinkling and he was sure she didn't mean half of what she said.

Well, she would learn the veracity behind his claims soon enough.

"Goodbye Carl," she threw out as she walked through the break room door.

She smiled as she walked, though Carl couldn't see it. Her father had warned her about Carlton Smith and his affection for women- many women. She was sure that she would never be one to fall into such a trap as the man would have laid out for her.

If he wanted her, he would have to play her game- and she was sure it was one he would never understand the rules to. Ever in this lifetime.