Playing with Power - Book 4: New Adult Office Romance Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Excerpt

  Playing with Power

  Book 4

  Adele Huxley

  This book is work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. This book contains sexually explicit material and is intended for readers 18 years or older.

  Copyright © 2014 by Adele Huxley

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages embodied in critical articles or in a review.

  All requests should be forwarded to: [email protected]

  Sign up for the Adele Huxley Newsletter! Get updates about upcoming titles, latest news, and steamy one-off releases!

  www.AdeleHuxley.com

  The complete Playing with Power Series for sale on Amazon!

  Playing with Power - Book 1

  Playing with Power - Book 2

  Playing with Power - Book 3

  Playing with Power - Book 4

  Playing with Power - Book 5

  ● ● ●

  Prologue

  (No Subject)

  From: LKemp

  Sent: Mon, Sep 1, 2014 at 3:41 PM

  To: LDeWitt

  Ummm, what the fuck was that??? Would you like to tell me why Sahra Gilson is sitting in the conference room right now? She claims she’s here because of some hot tip you gave her? We LITERALLY just had a conversation about not keeping things from each other. I’d call you right now but I’ve already run out of work once today for this sort of bullshit and I’m gonna start to look like a lunatic if keep it up.

  What did you tell her?

  (No Subject)

  From: LDeWitt

  Sent: Mon, Sep 1, 2014 at 4:01 PM

  To: LKemp

  Sahra’s there?? I had no idea she’d move this quickly.

  Fast explanation: I bumped into her last week and in an impulsive moment, I mentioned I was still talking with you...StyleSpur business of course. I don’t know why I did it, I never normally talk business with her but there was something satisfying in watching her squirm over your apparent success. Something she said sparked an idea and I figured if we could get Morowitz interested we might be able to speed “Operation Parker” along. I didn’t even think I’d need to tell you about it yet. She’s a hungry one...

  I hate that I’m always apologizing to you...

  (No Subject)

  From: LKemp

  Sent: Mon, Sep 1, 2014 at 4:19 PM

  To: LDeWitt

  You’ve just made my life 10 times more complicated than it had to be. She is going to be ALL OVER ME while she’s here. They’re already talking about doing code reviews and I just know that’s going to fall back on me. Plus, she wants to go out for drinks later which means I can’t go back to the office to help out the guys after work like I wanted.

  Honestly Landon, if you just kept me in the loop you wouldn’t have to apologize all the time. It wouldn’t be so mad if you hadn’t already done this to me this morning! I’ve had a real up and down day...if it weren’t for the seed money coming in, I’d be hitting the bottle right about now.

  (No Subject)

  From: LDeWitt

  Sent: Mon, Sep 1, 2014 at 4:57 PM

  To: LKemp

  Fair enough. Ignoring today, this will work in our favor, I promise you.

  I forgot to ask earlier, but would you be able to fly out this weekend to meet with the angel investor? No big thing, you can stay with me in the city, I’ll arrange the flights.

  Again, I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how much stress you’re under and I hate to be the cause of any of it. I’ll make it up to you with riches and success. ;)

  1.

  Learn to keep people dependent on you

  To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you. - The 48 Laws of Power

  Lauren rolled onto her back, propping the pillows behind her head before returning her attention to the phone. She’d been stuck on this puzzle for over a week and it was driving her crazy. She just couldn’t manage to find the right combination to unlock all the blocks and refused to look online for a cheat. The frustration she felt with the game nearly equaled the frustration she felt in her life, but at least in the game she had the opportunity to start over and try again. With a sigh, she dropped the phone to her chest. Her eyes fell to the suitcase in the corner and she ran through the her mental checklist one last time.

  I’ve got clothes for a business meeting, a dinner out, and every day stuff. Should I pack a swimsuit in case we go up to Sonoma? Probably not. I’m only going to be there for a weekend. I just have to remember to email Dennis from the airport before I take off. God, I’m so tired. I wish he’d hurry up in there...

  She’d tossed and turned in bed unable to fall asleep, just waiting for Nick to come in and wake her up. He’d only just gotten home from work, half drunk and wide awake. He’d been talking up a storm until she’d begged him to get ready for bed. The shower came to life in the bathroom and Lauren breathed a sigh of relief. She’d hoped they’d have more time together before leaving for the weekend but apparently he’d had a really busy Thursday night. Nearly 2 a.m., Lauren groaned at the thought of having to be at the airport by 7 a.m. Hopefully I can sleep on the plane. Of course I’m not flying business class this time, so who knows?

  As she relaxed against the pillows, her eyelids started to droop, the delicious temptation of sleep winning over her desire to beat the game. The white noise of the shower paired with Nick’s happy humming was enough to lull her mostly to sleep until the buzz of a phone jerked her awake. Blinking sleep away, she checked the phone on her chest but found no message or alert. Double checking that Nick was still in the shower, she glanced at her secret phone but again came up empty handed. Must’ve just imagined it. I’m always feeling phantom buzzes. No sooner had she finished that thought then Nick’s phone lit up on the bedside table beside her. Lauren grabbed it, seeing the first part of a text from someone labeled “R.”

  You absolutely drove me crazy tonight! I can’t wait for...

  The text preview cut off. Heart pounding in her chest, her fatigue instantly disappeared and she was dimly aware of a dull ringing in her ears. She attempted to read the rest of the text only to be blocked by his newly installed passcode.

  “Fucking hell,” she muttered gripping the phone in her fist. Nick had become increasingly protective of his phone recently. While she initially believed his excuses, which were ever changing, it had become a real marked change in his behavior. It felt like every couple minutes he was secretly smiling into the phone, strategically sitting so she couldn’t see what he was doing. He just about jump
ed out of his skin whenever she crept up behind him. When she’d finally confronted him about it, he replied he was only playing games or reading Reddit. Leaving it on the side table unattended was a rare lapse in security.

  Lauren had never been the jealous type but she also wasn’t an idiot. After surprising Nick at work the week before plus everything Ali had told her, she’d be stupid to not suspect something was going on behind her back. Their relationship had been so tumultuous recently she’d just decided to let it go. This was too much. She couldn’t ignore this. Doing everything in her power to remain calm, she waited until she heard the shower stop. She shook off the thought that it might be better to hold off having this conversation until next Monday when she was back from San Francisco. I won’t be able to concentrate on anything if this is hanging over my head for too long.

  Nick stepped out of the bathroom, coils of steam rolling along the ceiling behind him. The white towel wrapped around his waist was too small to completely cover him, a wide triangular gap revealed his thigh. Looking at him, Lauren felt a surge of possessiveness. The idea of another woman touching him, flirting with him, made her feel an animalistic desire to fight for him. Considering everything they’d been through recently, the sensation surprised her.

  Keeping her expression as still as possible, she chose her words carefully. “You got a text.”

  “Oh yeah?” He tried very hard to look casual but his expression faltered. His eyes darted to the side table, suddenly alarmed when he realized she was holding his phone. Stepping his foot on an open dresser drawer, he turned his back as he toweled off.

  “Yeah, the vibration woke me up so I grabbed it thinking it was mine. Someone named ‘R’ wrote you. You might want to read it before we continue this conversation.” Her tone was quiet, almost emotionless. She held out the phone for him to retrieve.

  Looking like a guilty puppy, he took it from her hand. As he read the text she kept her eyes glued to his face, scanning for any hint of emotion. The used car salesman smile he gave her made her inwardly cringe. He dropped the phone to the bed and said, “That’s nothing. I can explain.”

  “Yeah? I think you should explain. Why is Rose texting you something like that at two o’clock in the morning? Maybe you can start with why she’s saved as just ‘R’ and not by her real name? Or maybe you can start with why your phone is constantly locked now? Why it’s always attached to you like you sprouted a new arm or something?” As tired as she was, it was nearly impossible for Lauren to keep a real lid on her anger. She legitimately wanted to have a calm conversation but found herself already escalating.

  “I know how it looks but I swear it’s innocent. So tonight, things got a little rowdy. We started playing a game of Truth or Dare, not me and her,” he corrected quickly, “a bunch of us at the bar. Someone dared me to work the entire night without my shirt or shorts on. So the whole night I was just in my underwear. That’s what Rose was talking about. Nothing happened between us or anything.”

  “Right...cause that doesn’t really match what Ali’s been telling me. Apparently, the nights I’m working late, Rose is always there and apparently the nights Rose is there, you two look like a couple of lovebirds.” Fighting back tears, Lauren tried desperately to hold it together. Confronting him was supposed to make her feel better, not worse. Right now she just felt like the world’s biggest loser.

  Nick groaned, a patronizing smile spreading across his face. “Oh come on, you’re going to believe her? You know how dramatic she is.”

  “Nick, she has pictures,” Lauren lied, however his reaction was all the proof she needed.

  He sat on the edge of the bed, the towel loosely draped over his lap and reached for her hand. As if something poisonous were about to touch her, she wrenched it away. “I’ve wanted to talk to you about this for a while,” he said. Nick shifted, pulling his knee up onto the bed so he could face her. “It started a little while ago. She’s been coming to the Pony for a few months now but we only started talking after you and I had that fight. Don’t worry, nothing’s happened.”

  “The fact that you feel the need to say that makes it obvious I should be worried.” She felt nauseous. She couldn’t believe they were having this conversation and just before she was leaving for a few days.

  “I know. Really, there’s nothing to be worried about. I was stupid and lonely and hurt. She was just someone who I started talking to after our fight and it turned into something more than it should’ve. I should’ve shut it down immediately but I...I don’t know. I was weak. I liked the attention.” He looked so sincere, so desperate to convince her he was telling the truth.

  “It’s been nearly two months since that fight. You’ve had two months to shut it down and judging by that text, you haven’t. Let me ask you this,” she said crossing her arms. “If you saw me behaving the same way you’ve been behaving, how would you feel?”

  A flash of anger sharpened his blue eyes but he quickly brought it under control. “I suppose I wouldn’t be very happy,” he replied in a clipped tone.

  “Not very happy? You wouldn’t be fucking furious that some random was texting me in the middle of the night after watching me work topless? Does she even know you have a girlfriend? Oh wait, yes, she fucking does. You even had the balls to introduce us like nothing was going on. So that tells me she doesn’t care you have a girlfriend and apparently you don’t care much either.” Lauren rubbed her eyes out of frustration and exhaustion. “If you want to fool around with her, go ahead. Just have the decency to break up with me first. I think you owe me at least that much.”

  His mouth worked as if searching for the right thing to say but nothing emerged. She hated how hurt he looked, how his pain tugged so effortlessly on her heartstrings.

  “Lauren, I—”

  “I know,” she said quietly. “Let’s just skip over all this drama, okay? I’m way too tired. It’s late, I have to get up early. Let’s pretend I believe nothing happened and I’m going to trust you to figure out what it is you want. Whatever. Just please don’t screw around behind my back. I don’t care if you sleep here or on the sofa, but I’m going to sleep.”

  The blankets pulled tight to her chin, her body balled up and tense in bed, Lauren tried to calm down. Her heart felt like it was thumping against her ribcage and if she hadn’t been so weary, she would’ve unleashed every terrible thing that came into her mind. Nick sat quietly on the edge of bed for several minutes before turning off the light and laying down beside her. As he settled in, she shrank away, unwilling to give him any piece of her.

  Eight hours later, Lauren gazed longingly at the dingy blue curtain blocking her from a world of comfort and sleep. That and a few hundred dollars. I wish I was sitting in business class right now, she thought. Stuck in the center seat in the middle of the plane, Lauren couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so physically uncomfortable. A sweet old man sat in the seat to her right, fast asleep and eerily quiet. A middle-aged black woman with no sense of personal space sat to her left. Trying to not nudge either of them, she reached below her seat and pulled out her laptop, her only solace for the next couple hours.

  September 5th

  According to the flight stats on the screen in front of me I have over three hours of flight time remaining until we touch down at SFO. Considering there’s no way in hell I’m going to get any sleep, I might as well take some time to organize my thoughts.

  Got into another huge, ridiculous argument with Nick last night. How many times have I had to say that now? It’s funny...we never fight. For years we never had an argument that lasted more than an hour or two, so maybe we just making up for lost time. I know there’s something more between him and Rose than he’s letting on. I hate the fact he’s lying to my face but I realized if I’d seen a text like that on his phone a few months ago I would’ve blown up. Now? What’s the point? To be fair, I was shaking with anger at first but half way through the conversation I just felt, I don’t know...apathetic. What does that mean
? I’m so tired of fighting.

  What makes it so much worse is this past week had been really good, better than we’ve had for a long time honestly. We’ve been having fun together, texting all the time, spending every night together. It’s felt normal. Hell, we’ve even been bantering back and forth about getting married and wedding plans. Nothing serious, just running jokes about ugly bridesmaid dresses and what kind of hat my mom would wear. But now I find out that he’s actually been stringing this girl along on the side, or worse, and what am I supposed to think? Ali warned me and I saw it with my own eyes, I just chose to trust him. I can’t believe he’s keeping stuff like that from me.

  And yes, I know how hypocritical that sounds coming from me but my secrets aren’t selfish. What happened with Landon is completely in the past now and for the other stuff, I have my reasons. I can’t jeopardize anything, as much as I want to tell all my friends and family about MyBFC, I can’t!

  I have a business, holy shit...sorry, sometimes it just hits me. I have my own business. Sure, I don’t have any clients and the software isn’t fully finished but I have an investor...and a partner. Landon sent over proofs for our business cards last night. Lauren Kemp, CEO. Landon DeWitt, COO. We haven’t spoken much since Monday when he told me about the funding, so I expect this weekend is going to be packed.

  As happy as I am to have his help, Mr. DeWitt isn’t exactly topping my list of favorite people right now either. That stunt he pulled with Sahra was too much and worse yet, I don’t think he realizes how dangerous it was. He doesn’t know Parker like I do. It wouldn’t take much for him to put all these little pieces together. When I walked into the room and saw him and Sahra talking I thought that was it. I’d figured she’d flown to New York to rat me out, Parker knew everything I’d been working on, the little game I’ve been playing with Landon against StyleSpur. It was only sheer luck and Sahra’s big mouth that I figured it all out before I ruined everything.