Charlie Foxtrot (Book 2 of Love is War Series)

Chapter 8

Walking into the office the next day, Jim was surprised. There, standing close to a desk near Clay’s office and even before the workday had started, was Michael Bright, Clay’s half-brother. With eyebrows raised at the early hour and the brightness of Michael’s ready smile, he walked over, wondering what he could do for him. Clay wasn’t back from his business trip yet, so Jim had to wonder what was going on.

“Michael, what’s up? You here to see Clay?”

“Yeah, could’ve sworn he said he’d be back in town by now. Anything wrong?”

“Not that I know of, but you’d better ask Muse for any specifics. I’m sure she’s going to get on his case if he’s not back soon. I can handle s**t here for the most part, but if he’s gone another week, his wife might find fault with that.” He knew Muse was already missing him. Clay rarely went away, because he wasn’t a big fan of flying. Sailing was more his thing, and he often spent his weekends on The Gulf, sometimes alone, sometimes with Muse, and sometimes taking Jim and Marietta with him.

“Did you know he mentioned something about getting a yacht soon?”

Jim was surprised. “What? Since when?”

“Since getting married. I heard him talking on the phone with Muse about it. The boat he got is only good to handle a few people, and I know he wants a large family. So, he’s looking to upgrade his seafaring vessel. I think it’s a smart move. Easier to keep your kids corralled in a larger boat. I’d be scared shitless if—”

“Hi, can I help you?”

Jim did a doubletake and looked over to see Auden coming over from the elevator. She was looking bright-eyed and fresh as a daisy. He wondered what she was thinking, but she seemed to not see him clearly, or maybe was just ignoring him after the previous day.

The kiss they’d shared the afternoon before was something he’d thought a lot about since then. Warm and inviting, tasting like cool berries and so f*****g sweet. The way her hands rested on his chest, one cold and clutching at his shirt and chest, gently warming up to a normal temperature, the low little whimper she gave when he eventually rested his hand on the swell of her ass when he moved his head so he could kiss her deeper. Even the soft pants she tried to hide after the kiss was over, the dewy wet of her wide, gorgeous eyes staring up at him.

He had to admit just kissing had made him hard, and he’d fought with wanting to pull her onto his lap just so she could feel his hard c**k twitching against her p***y. Jim would have bet good money she was wet underneath her panties right then. He could almost convince himself he smelled her arousal.

After that, he knew he was f****d, because all he could do since then was think about that kiss and where it could have led to if they’d been alone. Ideally, he would have wanted them to be in his bed, every one of her fragrances, from p***y to perfume, scenting his sheets, but he would have sufficed with a rough f**k in the back of his car or in the small alcove by the smoothie store he’d spied on his way back to his vehicle. He was having to cover the hard length of his c**k with his briefcase as he left the area, relieved when he was finally in his car and out of sight. When he got home, he was still hard, and he made his way quietly to his room where he jerked off a few times before his erection finally went away.

And then again, a few hours later when he went to take off his shirt, he caught another rousing whiff of Auden, and it made him hard all over again. He decided to try and take a cold shower, because he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t chafe if he tried to rub one out this time. In the shower, however, his c**k decided it wasn’t going to listen and only got harder until even touching it to wash made him ache.

Fuck it, he’d muttered to himself before adding more shower gel stroking up and down. He was quick about it, aiming the tip of his d**k toward the drain when he knew he was going to come. He’d had to bite his lip to keep from calling out a name—or cursing it—and his breathing was heavy by the time he’d emptied out.

Now his groin was sore the next day, but he couldn’t help it when his d**k twitched to life as she came closer and the scent of her perfume engulfed him. It wasn’t that it was heavy. It was like he was more attuned to it now. Even some other blended smells matrixed to resemble her, he noticed.

Fuck f**k fuckity f**k…

If he could turn back time and take away a kiss, he might have just done that. Anything to un-remember what her touch felt like, what the silky smooth of her touch did to him—and how much he wanted to repeat that until he grew weary of it and moved on.

But he couldn’t. She was not someone he could have, as much as he ached for her. Yes, ached. He wanted to touch her so bad just now, possess her, claim, even if it was in front of someone she wouldn’t and couldn’t be interested in…

Her own cousin, Michael.

“Auden!”

Jim blinked over at Michael. He knew that they had met before a time or two as relatives, but he’d never seen them interact before. This was interesting, if nothing else.

And he thanked God it wasn’t the 1800s South where marrying your cousin wasn’t exactly considered incest. He was pretty certain that marrying your cousin was illegal in all states nowadays.

“Hey Michael, how have you been?” She focused on him. The only touch of something odd was the blush in the apples of her cheeks. Auden had never used much foundation, because her skin was fine already, so she never used much besides a little eyeliner, mascara, and some lipstick. It made her look fresh-faced and younger than her 24 years.

Jim was 30, almost as old as his best friend, and it wasn’t a huge deal dating someone six years his junior, but there was the fact that she was Marietta’s niece, along with being warned off by Clay. Those two things should have kept him from kissing her at the smoothie place, but he couldn’t help it, and planned out accordingly. Kiss her in public so it can’t go further. Simple. He just hadn’t known it would affect him this much.

He'd realized the week of his niece’s birthday that he was a little preoccupied with her. The women who resembled her, their scent, the way they walked—some of them had him comparing the two, even if it was only a single, small trait or gesture. So, he’d had to try and get it out of his head. It was like poking a wound just to see if it still hurt, only he figured that if he just went up and kissed her, he might find that there was no attraction, no sparks. He’d been very, very wrong and was now suffering from too much external stimulation in the small form of Auden, who was chatting with Michael about Clay’s whereabouts.

“Don’t know yet. He’ll either message Jim here, or Muse will let someone know, I suppose. I’m but a simple clerk who knows nothing and speaks even less.”

Michael snorted and patted her companionably on the shoulder. She was so small, it made her step forward a bit while she regained her balance. “Well, I just wanted to go over something with him because he said he needed help, but it can hold until he gets back. I don’t think it was anything pressing, but I was in the area on my way to meet with a client in an hour and figured I’d drop by in case he had the time. No biggie.” He looked over at Jim and nodded. “You’ll let him know I was around when he gets back?”

“Absolutely,” Jim guaranteed. “I think he’s supposed to be meeting with them today or tomorrow, but as soon as he’s back, I’ll have him contact you.” He looked around and decided to be hospitable. “Did you want a cup of coffee? I know you’re on your way to a client, but it’s no harm having a small cup on your way to them.”

“Sure.” Michael shrugged his shoulders and nodded down at Auden, who was only a foot away from Jim. “Nice to see you again, cousin. I hope to catch you around when Clay’s back in town.”

Auden stated the same as she started toward the supply closet, where Jim assumed she was going to grab some items for the day.

He guided Michael to the floor’s breakroom, where coffee was starting to perk in the pot. He opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a half-full container of creamer that he’d brought in last week from home. Jim turned to him and raised it. “Cream? I don’t drink milk unless I’m eating cereal, but we have regular sugar, some off-brand stuff that has a weird aftertaste, and then sucralose.”

“Sucralose? Like Splenda?”

Jim nodded his head and pointed off to one of the cabinets near the vending machine. “Yep. Over there in the far corner.”

“Excellent, and yeah, I’ll take some cream too. Not picky. Just don’t like the aftertaste you were talking about before.”

They both fixed themselves a cup of coffee in silence before they were sitting down in the small “quiet room” next to the breakroom. It was smaller and could only fit a few people. Most of the employees only used the breakroom for the meals and coffee, and the majority wanted to bring their steaming mugs back to their cubicles or desks and rarely sat in the breakroom. Since they felt they might be in the way, the two men had opted for the less-used room next door.

After a few sips of their cooling coffee, Michael opened his mouth. “Clay wanted me to look at his servers soon. He thinks they might be outdated or the software needs fixing, but I was wondering if he just needs an upgrade. You know anything about it?”

Jim shook his head. “I’m horrible with technology. Almost as bad as a boomer. I know how to use Microsoft Office Suite, my tablet, laptop, and PC, but besides those and my cell phone, I don’t want none of it. I still read a f*****g physical newspaper, still enjoy paperbacks or hardcovers when I can. It’s not the most convenient thing to haul around with you, but I like having those things in my hands.”

“I understand completely,” Michael obliged. “It’s like me with my clients’ issues. Some things I just have to see and handle to understand more.”

They talked quietly for a bit as they finished their coffee. There was silence for the last few minutes, and it only grew uncomfortable after Michael stood up from his seat abruptly and looked down at him before nodding. Jim stood up as well, but almost sat right back down after he heard the next thing his guest said.

“You two look cute together, by the way.”

“Uhm, what?” Jim was bowled over. He didn’t hear what he thought he heard now, did he?

“I’m saying you and Auden would make a cute couple. Oh, Clay and my mom would probably flip their wigs if you tried one on with her—I would too if you purposely hurt her—but I have a feeling they wouldn’t want to see you with her at all.”

Michael smiled and looked at Jim, an almost-wistful smile tipping his lips.

“I’m a little less of a tight-ass than Clay, and I haven’t known her as long as my mother has. If you do end up trying anything with her, make sure you’re serious and not just fooling around. Mom won’t f**k you up, but between Clay and I…”

He let that thought trail off before exiting the room and leaving Jim alone, his mouth agape.

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