But I didn’t because my dick was deflating within her and I had a condom to dispose of. I gently eased out from under her, my cock actually feeling a little overused when it slipped free, and I quietly made my way into the bathroom to flush the rubber.

After a quick brushing of my teeth, I looked into the mirror and found that the man looking back at me didn’t quite appear to be a confirmed bachelor anymore. No, tonight he had asked a woman to stay on in an indefinite basis in his house. Tonight, Beck North entered into his first true relationship with a woman, and if the quality of the orgasms that were had tonight are any indication of what’s to come between us, I have to think it was a brilliant fucking decision on my part to invite Sela all the way in.

I padded back into the bedroom, turning the bathroom light off behind me. My first instinct was to slip into bed, roll Sela onto her side, and cuddle into her. I think they call it spooning.

Instead, I found myself inching toward her on my back, then I was pulling her back on top of me once I got settled. She let out a cute little moan, buried her face in my neck, and threaded her legs through mine. My arms came around her lower back and I held her tight against me. I had no problem falling asleep with her pinning me like that to the mattress.

This is a nice way to wake up, and if I had the time to do so, I’d slip my hand down over Sela’s ass and play with her pussy for a bit until she woke up. But I don’t have time, because I have to meet JT in an hour and a half and I want to get in before he does to get my thoughts in order.

Regretfully, I slip out from underneath Sela. She stirs, mutters a sleepy “Good Morning,” and then rolls away from me. I smile, bend over, and kiss her on the back of the head before pulling the covers up over her.

Then I head into the bathroom to shower and get ready to take on my business partner in what will ultimately be a bitter grudge match between us.

—
I’m surprised when I get into the office at 7:30 a.m. that JT is already standing outside my office door and waiting for me. He holds a Styrofoam cup of coffee in one hand and a newspaper in the other. I’m also surprised to find him showered and fresh-looking without a hint of red in his eyes. I’m thinking extra squirts of Visine went into his appearance, and I know without a doubt this is carefully orchestrated by JT so that he isn’t defending himself from a position of too much weakness.

He’s showing me that he can present himself properly when warranted.

“Good morning,” he says in an uncharacteristically humble voice, and it catches me off guard. I expected him to come out swinging with his first words.

“Morning,” I say as I unlock my office door and turn on the lights. I walk directly to the minifridge hidden under the built-in liquor bar and pull out a bottle of mineral water. “Want one?”

“Nah, man,” he says as he sits on the couch and tosses the paper down beside his thigh.

Twisting the cap off the bottle, I take a small sip as I observe JT sitting there, looking at me with clear and regretful eyes. I’m not even ashamed of myself that I think this is part of an act because he knows he’s passed the point of no return with me. At this moment, he’s going to do some hardcore scrambling to save himself.

I walk over to the chair that sits opposite of him, remembering all too clearly sitting here a little over six months ago looking at a woman who had been roughed up by JT. It appears I prevented that from happening again last night, but how many didn’t I save?

Now the shame hits me and I square my shoulders with resolve. “This ends today, JT.”

I brace, wait for him to go ballistic, but he merely nods in understanding. In a calm, assured voice, he says, “You’re right. It ends today.”

I blink in disbelief, but my defenses come snapping quickly back into place. “Tell me what you mean by that.”

“It means I’ve got to get myself under control. I’ve forgotten how to be a businessman and have gotten sucked into the celebrity of all of this shit. The partying…the women…the drugs and booze…it’s not who I really am. I got off track and now I’m ready to get back on track.”

Well shit. I didn’t expect this. I had sort of hoped that with the incriminating evidence of last night, I’d have the upper hand on JT and could use it to force him out. I figured he’d never admit to any wrongdoing, try to assure me that I was overreacting, and then we’d have a massive fight about the company.

I’m not fucking prepared for him to get all mature on me right now.

“I’m not sure I can trust you to do that,” I tell him coldly, and once again, expect that to really piss him off.

“I get that,” he says solemnly. “All I can do is ask you to give me another chance. I’m asking you to call on the years of friendship and everything we’ve been through. I’m asking you to consider everything we’ve got riding on this company, and even though I’ve been a complete tool for quite awhile now, at least admit that when I’m on my game I’m really important to our success.”

Fuck…all true.

My fingers involuntarily come to my temples and I rub at the headache that’s forming. I wince, look up at him skeptically. “JT…I caught you drugging a woman last night. That’s fucking against the law.”

“She agreed to it,” JT says quietly while pinning me with a direct stare.

I physically reel backward from his proclamation. “She what?”

“She agreed to it,” he says simply and humbly. He’s not gloating…just merely stating the fact. “We had a written agreement. It was a fantasy of hers, I guess. I can get you a copy Monday morning, but that woman wanted to wake up the next morning used and abused. She thought the aspect of not remembering what happened would be exciting. Figured she could fantasize about what might have happened.”

“What the fuck?” I mutter as my eyes cut over to the glass floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the Financial District, which is quiet on this Sunday morning.

“It’s true,” JT says quietly, and my gaze slides back to him. “I might be a douche on most days and cross a lot of fucked-up boundaries, but you know me, Beck. I wouldn’t hurt a woman like that.”

Christ…he looks sincere. Sounds sincere too, but I also know JT is slick and charming when he wants to be. I have no clue if I’m being hoodwinked or not, and now all of my resolve to wrest the company away from him is crumbling. I make another attempt to poke at the merits of what he’s telling me.