With that, he took my hand and the two of us left the dance floor. We made our way to the bar on the opposite side of the room. Carter ordered an Irish whiskey on the rocks and I had a glass of Ginger Ale. We'd hardly had a chance to say a cheers before a group of people swarmed around us. There were two women and two men in the group and they were all dressed to perfection. One of the men reached out and hook Carter's hand.
โMr. Winthrow,โ he said. โI can't tell you how happy I am to see you here tonight. I've tried countless times to schedule an appointment with you through your secretary, but you're so booked that it seems impossible.โ
Carter nodded. He took a sip from his drink and then casually set it on the bar. โI'm a very busy man. What can I help you with?โ
โI'm a venture capitalist,โ the man replied. โI've made millions investing in startups. I always thought that's the industry I wanted to be in. However, my wife here has researched you and your co
I was right. Being in Carter's limo put me at ease immediately. As I leaned against his solid frame, I knew that nothing could hurt me. Roger Delaney was nowhere near, and everything that had happened at that party could be left far behind. I closed my eyes as Carter began to talk on his phone. I could only hear Carter's end of it, but I understood it well enough. โYeah. Yeah, Steve. Listen, we've made enough money on New York Solar. Clear up any outstanding options we have on their company and any additional companies that have business with them. Yeah. Don't even wait until the morning. Yeah. Thanks.โ I didn't care what he was talking about. I was far too comfy leaning against him. Still, I was surprised when I felt him nudge me. The car was no longer moving, and we were parked outside a mansion. I inhaled sharply. The air smelled different here than it ever did in the city. โWhere are we?โ I asked. He smiled. โA little house I have upstate,โ he sai
The early morning sun had begun to peek through his curtains, sending a single ray of light into Carter's bedroom. It cut across my still naked body and its warmth radiated into me. I slowly opened my eyes and looked up. Carter glanced down and smiled as soon as he saw that I was awake. โHey, sleepy head,โ he said. โGood morning,โ I said, snuggling close to him. โYou didn't have to just lay here, you know? You could have gotten up if you were awake.โ Carter shrugged. โI just didn't want to wake you up. You looked so happy and content.โ โIamhappy and content,โ I said, pulling myself up so that our faces were aligned. โMe too,โ he said, then leaned in and gave me a peck on the lips. After breaking the kiss, I glanced over and looked at the clock on the wall. It was already nine in the morning. It had been a while since I'd slept in that late. I guessed that being with Carter made it so that I could fully relax and ge
Carter hung up the phone and slowly turned to face me. The normal relaxed and carefree expression on his face had changed after speaking to Lance. He now looked tense and stressed. I could see it not only in his face, but in his shoulders as well. โWhat was that all about?โ I asked. โIs everything okay?โ He shook his head. โIt doesn't sound like it.โ I crawled out from underneath the covers and sat next to Carter on the edge of the bed. He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close. His naked skin pressed against mine, and I snuggled into him, letting the warmth surround me. โWhat's going on, Carter?โ I asked. โThat was your friend at the SEC, right?โ โYeah, it was Lance,โ he said. โIt sounds like I've got a big fucking mess on my hands right now.โ โAre you in trouble?โ I pulled away a bit so that I could look at him. โI'm not exactly sure,โ he said. โSomething is going on with New York Solar. I'm not sure if it was Roger Del
His voice was soothing and I instantly felt at home. My worries seemed to dissolve in front of me. โGood morning,โ I said, with a giddy tone. โHow are you?โ โI guess I'll find out in a little bit,โ he said, with a chuckle. โHopefully I'm doing really well, but I won't know until I get to the office and sort all of this out.โ โYeah, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that whatever is going on will work itself out in the best way possible,โ I said. โSorry I cut our time short on Saturday morning,โ he said. โDon't be sorry,โ I said. โYou had a meeting to go to anyway. I completely understand.โ โYou're such a sweetheart,โ he said. โYou know, I missed you yesterday.โ I nearly dropped the phone out of shock, but managed to somehow keep it up against my ear. โYou, what?โ I asked. โI said I missed you,โ he replied casually. โI'd tried really hard to distract myself, but no matter what I did, I just kept thinking about you.โ
There was a lot on my mind as I took my seat in front of my desk. It was important that I didn't let get distracted, though. I needed to focus and get the work done that Carter had asked me to do. This seemed to be a time-sensitive task and I didn't have the luxury of being lazy. Okay, where to begin,I thought, turning on my computer. I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen while I waited for the computer to boot up. Just for the sake of formality, I wrote on the top of it, โFive reasons why we shorted the NYSC stocksโ. This particular scrap of notebook paper obviously wasn't something that Carter was going to take straight to court or anything, but putting a title on it made me at least feel like I'd gotten started on it. However, it only took me a few minutes to realize that the task wasn't going to be as easy as I'd hoped. Alright, number one,I thought.The first reason why we shorted the stocks is...
The moment the elevator doors opened up on the main floor, I could hear the sounds of the crowd coming from outside of the building. It was muffled, but still loud enough so that I knew that the media hadn't gone home yet. I stepped out and glanced toward the front. Carter's security guards now stood on the outside of the glass in an attempt to keep the media swarm out. It seemed like every journalist in town wanted to speak to Carter, despite the fact that Carter wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. Are they just going to spend the entire day out there?I thought.I think Carter was spot on when he referred to them as vultures. Jesus, they're relentless. I didn't stand there too long, though. After a moment of crowd watching, I turned and walked the opposite direction toward the cafeteria. It was officially called The Winthrow Cafe, but in all reality, it was more like a fancy variation of a school cafeteria. I'd never actually eate
After lunch, I came back to my desk a little more refreshed. The break had helped to clear my head, at least enough so that I felt I could finally finish the project I was working on. I sat down and grabbed my pen, ready to come up with two more ideas for Carter. I'd hardly touched the pen to the paper, though, before I heard a knocking on my office door. I let out a discouraged sigh, before calling out, โCome on in!โ Carter opened the door and stepped inside. My frustration turned to happiness, as soon as I laid eyes on him. โHey there,โ he said, with his boyish smile. He walked across the floor and circled around the desk. He leaned down to give me a kiss on the cheek. โYou're in a good mood,โ I said. โDid something happen? Please tell me the media left. Or did the SEC decide not to go through with the audit?โ Carter shrugged. โNeither of those things happened. In fact, there's more media outside than when we got here this morning and based
Driving up to the front entrance of a mall in the back of an eighty thousand dollar SUV with black tinted windows was definitely the thing to do if you wanted to garner stranger's attention. It seemed like every soccer mom that was out there glanced over at us as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. โCarter, I can just run in really quick if you don't want to be seen,โ I said. โYour face is all over the news right now and I'm assuming you don't want any extra attention.โ โIt's fine. I'll go with you,โ he said calmly. โBesides, I'm not going to let the damn media run my entire life. They've already taken over my building for the moment and I refuse to give them any more control than I have to. If I want to go shopping with my girl, then I'm going to do just that. Also, though, and more importantly, I kind of want to see you try on a swimsuit for me.โ โOh yeah?โ I asked, raising an eyebrow flirtatiously. โYes, please,โ he said, with a wink. D
Carter was still inside me as he began to stroke my hair. “So, you didn’t really tell me if you liked this bedroom.”“I do,” I said.“How would you like to share it with me?” he asked.I figured he would try to get me to move in with him. “Are you sure? That’s kind of a big step.”“So is having a baby,” he said.I thought about it. “I think I want to stay in my own apartment for now.”“Well, I can pay for it for now. That’s not a problem. But I’m going to want you to move in with me by the time the baby is born.”There he was with that patriarchal attitude again. “Or maybe I’ll spend my own money to live the same way I have been living, and you can just buy the baby some gold-plated diapers,” I said. I couldn’t help but overdo the sarcasm a little bit.He shrugged, then moved his hand to my shoulde
I hadn’t even begun to drink in the fact that Carter’s penthouse loft had a helipad before my breath being taken away by the sheer size of the apartment itself.“Carter, this is huge!” I said, looking around the place. There was a piano, a bar, and an entertainment center. That was just what I could see from the main entrance.“You want to see something else that’s huge?” he asked. I slapped his chest playfully, then moved to check out the rest of the apartment. He didn’t let me, though. He grabbed me by my waist and brought me in for a kiss.I squealed in surprise. “What’s that for?”“I know it’s been less than 24 hours since I last saw you, but I feel like so much has happened since then.” He kissed me again. “I found out I had a baby, I found out who the mole was in my company, I had my name dragged through the mud in all the tabloids-”“Carter,
The second I was in the door of the SEC headquarters, I went to a pay phone. I was surprised these things still existed.I copied a phone number from my cell phone and punched it in. It rang once before a gruff voice answered. “Who is this?” it asked me.“Carter, it’s me,” I said.He sounded relieved. “Jane. I’m glad it’s you. Somebody else got this phone number earlier and I was afraid they were calling again.” There was a pause. “Why aren’t you calling me from your own phone?”“I’m afraid it might have been tampered with,” I said. “That’s not important. What’s important is that I met with Delaney. Cindy is the mole in your organization. You have to monitor her access in general, but in specific, monitor any emails that you had with Greg about New York Solar.”“All emails are backed up on a weekly basis, and-”
โI didnโt think Iโd ever see you again,โ said Roger Delaney, President of New York Solar Company. I didnโt know how to respond to that. I just squirmed in my seat a little bit. He sighed. โLook, you came to me, and now youโre wasting my time. What is it that you want?โ I gulped. I really wasnโt cut out for this kind of confrontation. โI... Iโm pregnant,โ I managed to choke out. He rolled his eyes. โYes, I hear celebrations are in order. Did you want me to go to your baby shower or something?โ I looked down at my feet. I was so embarrassed right now that I thought I could pass out. But I had to keep going. I had to. This was the only way that I could keep Carter and support my baby. I looked back up at him. โIโve also been fired from Winthrow Financial.โ He snorted. โThatโs what happens when you deal with a snake like Winthrow. You end up knocked up, thrown out on your ass, and the subject of a government investigation on top of
I pulled up the text from Maddy again. Youโre on TMZ right now. I tried to put myself in Maddyโs shoes. Every new piece of information in this drama, from the boat ride to my firing to the pregnancy, she had found out by seeing it on TV. I had thought about telling her about the pregnancy a few times, and it had come up against last night, when formulating the plan. Who else did you tell about you being on the boat?Carter had asked last night. Nobody, except... Except my friend Maddy,I had replied. Somebodyโs leaking information to somebody, Jane. Somehow, the press or Roger Delaney keep knowing everything about us. Do you trust her? I did trust her. Even when Carter had suggested telling her about the pregnancy first, to see if she would leak it to the press or to Roger Delaney, the CEO of New York Solar Company. I was sure that it would just
I walked into the doctorโs office with a mixture of hope and dread. Hope because Iโd finally be able to share the news with somebody else that I was pregnant. Dread because of all the things that would follow. Still, I had to be brave. It was all part of the plan. I had promised Carter that Iโd go to the doctorโs office, and he got to pick the doctor. It still seemed a bit too patriarchal to me, but Iโd go with it for now. I hadnโt been to the doctor since I had moved to New York City. This doctorโs office was right between the building for Winthrow Financial and Times Square. I could only imagine what the rent was on a place like this. It was late, almost 8 PM, so I expected the office to be dark. It was lit up like it was open 24 hours a day. The receptionist area was like any other, but I could tell that it catered to a wealthier clientele than I was used to. Everything about it seemed to scream โboutiqueโ. I walked to the receptionist and gave her
My heart had been racing just a minute ago as Carter had pounded into my body. It had calmed down as we laid there in post-coital bliss, but now it was pounding so hard that I thought it would fly out of my chest.He laid there, looking at me like he didn’t understand what I said. My breathing had stopped and I found it even harder to speak than before, but I managed to repeat what I said. “I’m pregnant.”He swallowed. “Are you sure?”I nodded my head. “I took a pregnancy test.”I braced myself for his next questions.Are you sure it’s mine? Didn’t you say you were on birth control? Are you trying to trap me?I knew I had to give him a few minutes for this to sink in, and I vowed not to hold it against him that he had these questions.His hand moved to my tummy, touching me through the see-through fabric of the purple lingerie. Then he pushed the fabric up my body, press
After beckoning to Carter in my sexy purple lingerie, I didnโt expect to wait long after beckoning him for him to react. He didnโt disappoint me. He had his hands around me before I even got to the bed. I moaned as I felt his lips connect with my neck from behind. His hands grabbed my hips, roughly bringing my ass toward his crotch. I could feel him getting hard already. This would be our third time having sex in 24 hours, but he showed no signs of losing any of his stamina. He turned me around quickly and looked at my body. I could feel him appraising me, but I didnโt mind. His looks, always so intense, made me feel even more beautiful than his touches did. And, especially in this outfit, I knew heโd like what he saw. He licked his lips. โI knew this would look stellar on you,โ he said. His eyes moved up and down, but eventually settled on my chest. I smiled. The lacy fabric was just short of see-through, and I knew he could see my excited nipples poking thr
โItโs me. Open up.โ Part of me was excited that Carter actually came to see me. Part of me was still mad that he sent me home from work. Allof me didnโt want him to see the current state of my apartment. It was a mess. โWhy should I?โ I asked, quickly picking up a handful of dirty clothes and putting them in a hamper. โBecause I want to apologize. I tried to call, but you didnโt pick up. I really do have pizza.โ I smiled. I could use some pizza right about now. โShould you be seen with me right now?โ I asked as I sealed up the ice cream and put it back in the freezer. โUh, hello? I know you looked through the peephole. Didnโt you see my awesome disguise?โ I laughed. โA hat? Thatโs your disguise?โ โAnd a pizza. Donโt forget the pizza.โ My tummy rumbled, even though I had just been shoveling ice cream into it. โHow could I forget the pizza?โ โSo let me in before someone really does r