Craving Kismet

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

Ashley made his graceful exit from the gala after midnight, and even then, Keith shot him a disapproving look. Ashley didn’t care. After a night of bullshitting clients and sweet-talking their wives, he just wanted a stiff drink. Or two. He loved his job, and he knew he did it well, but he had never enjoyed all the extracurricular activities—the parties, the dinners, the afternoon drinks, the golfing. God, the golfing.

Now safe in his apartment, Ashley loosened his tie and poured a whiskey, watching the subtle interplay of light against the glass and amber liquid. Of course, the party hadn’t been all bad. For a few seconds, buried in the thousands of minutes of drudgery, his smile had been genuine. Who would have thought that he’d find an actual person at the firm’s big event? Somebody with an actual smile, actual grace, and if he didn’t miss his guess, actual real t**s.

Jenny. He liked that name. He liked the girl that went with that name. Hell, he even liked the guy that went with the girl, and that was the b***h of the situation. Ashley didn’t care if she was engaged, married, single, or just casually dating some guy; when he saw somebody he wanted, he acted on it. The questions of morality weren’t a big concern to him. It wasn’t his problem if some women were easily charmed to his bed.

And Jenny would be no different. Except, he liked Bryan. They weren’t friends. They were barely associates, but they would be working together for a long time, and he was a good kid. Bright. Willing to work. Eager to please. And apparently, had exceptional taste in women.

Ashley downed the drink, frustrated. If she had been with somebody else, he would have made his play, and she would have left with him. She had been wavering, thrown a bit when he handed her his card. He had knocked her off-center and off her guard, and what was the good of that if he didn’t capitalize on it? But she was interested in him.

He was so certain of that fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Would she have let him f**k her? Yes. Sooner or later. In his office. It might have taken a bit of seduction and time, maybe a few more drinks, but she would have submitted to him, while her date waited for her downstairs. And when she returned to Bryan, there would have been no doubt about where she had been and what she had been doing.

It wasn’t just a twinge of conscience that kept him from making his fantasy a reality. There would be larger implications, problems. Seducing Jenny under Bryan’s nose might conceivably cost the firm thousands of dollars and start a ripple effect that Ashley didn’t even want to think about. Then no amount of bullshitting or sweet-talking would save his ass. So Bryan Gillis’s fiancée was firmly off-limits. Completely. He shouldn’t even think about her.

He couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Not even a little bit.

Ashley tried to think about the important people he had met, offered his card to, flirted with, charmed. He tried to think about new business, old business, follow-up calls, the influx of social invitations he was expecting now, the woman he actually took to the party and…he kept seeing Jenny’s smile.

Fuck, she would have gone with him if he asked. He knew it. And even if she hadn’t left with him, she would have wanted to. And that want would have been an obvious, hot light that would shine in her eyes…

Ripple effect. Thousands of dollars. Bad news.

Maybe he could think about her a little bit.

As soon as he undressed, he settled on his bed with a stiff drink and a bottle of lotion. He coated his palm and slowly slicked the lotion down his shaft, idly thinking of their last exchange. He didn’t know if she would call him, but he knew if she did, he’d come running. The thought of hearing her husky voice on the phone, asking for him, made his c**k jerk. Sighing, he leaned back on the bed, gripping the base of his shaft with the other hand…