Read Online Just One Night. Part 3 by Elle Casey - Free Book Online Page A

as the phone will allow. “William Stratford here. How may I help you, Miss. Jennifer Moorehouse?” It’s as though I’ve won a coup, finally getting her last name. It was silly of me to flirt during our last call and pretend I didn’t want it. I assume this is the woman who’s tied me in knots since the moment I met her on the phone. I’m nearly giddy with excitement.
    “Hi. I got your message.” Her voice is hesitant. Wary.
    It’s her! I shall have to be assertive, break down those barriers I sense in her tone. “Brilliant. Shall I set up a meeting?”
    “A meeting? Oh, right. For the proposal.”
    “Exactly. Does this evening suit? Six o’clock?”
    “Isn’t that a little late?”
    My diabolical plan to persuade her to dine with me after will only work if I can convince her this is my only free moment. “I’m quite busy during the afternoon, and mornings will not do. My assistant is a slave driver. She has me reading reports for hours before lunch.”
    I look over my shoulder to find Miss. Meechum staring at me. I pray her eyeballs are well attached, otherwise we could have problems with separation the way she’s ogling me so aggressively.
    “Okay. I guess six will be okay. I made a Powerpoint.”
    “Excellent. I shall have the projector ready.”
    There’s a silence long enough that I wonder if we’ve lost our connection.
    “I guess I’ll see you then.”
    “Yes, you most certainly will. I’m looking forward to it.”
    “You are?”
    I cannot understand why she finds this so unlikely, but her tone is unmistakable. “Of course.”
    “Okay. Well … goodbye … Mr. Stratford.”
    That can’t be a good sign, can it? Using family names? I’m tempted to remind her that I’ve had my tongue between her thighs so there’s no need for the formality, but instead, I say, “Please … call me William.”
    “Goodbye, William. See you later today.”
    “Until then.”
    The phone disconnects and I sigh with frustrated anticipation. I have no idea how I will get a single thing accomplished today until she arrives.
    “Wow, you really like her, don’t you?”
    I turn around to face the woman whose nose is way too big for her own good. “It’s a business meeting. Nothing more.”
    Miss Meechum snorts in a very unladylike fashion. “Yeah, right.”
    As I advance across the room to my chair, it crosses my mind that my relationship with Miss Meechum has shifted into something I would have liked to avoid, a special sort of familiarity that I’ve found usually breeds contempt among those forced to work together. But there’s nothing to do about it now. I’m in for a penny, in for a pound. I just hope I won’t live to regret it.
    Somehow, though, in this moment, knowing that I might get a third chance to have a single night with Miss Jennifer Moorehouse, I’m finding it hard to regret anything.

CHAPTER NINE
    Jennifer

    I RIDE THE ELEVATOR UP to the tenth floor, as nervous as I can possibly be, almost to the point of sweating. Please, God, don’t let me sweat! The energy pulsing through my body isn’t entirely professional, either. I can’t help but picture William touching me, the look of the top of his head as he’s burying his face between my legs, the way he makes me feel when he’s inside me…
    The elevator stops on the ninth floor and the doors open with a muted Ding! I start to smile at the fellow passenger getting on until I realize who it is.
    “Well, hello,” she says, as if she knows me. It’s the woman from the charity ball. The blonde.
    “Hi.” My face goes hot. “I’m sorry, I forgot your name.”
    She holds out her hand to shake mine after pressing the button to close the elevator doors. I notice she doesn’t select another floor for herself. “Ingrid. And you are …?”
    “Jennifer. I’m just going up to see Mr. Stratford.”
    Her smile is tight and her nostrils flare just the slightest bit. “Isn’t that nice.” I’m pretty sure she doesn’t mean it.
    We both