22
THE LIST CAME in, one item at a time, via text message.
Drop off dry-cleaning.
Pick up eggs, bread and milk.
Mail birthday package to your mother.
And the last one, his favourite, the one that made him grin, then shift in his office chair to ease the sudden pressure:
Think about eating my pussy until I can’t even speak.
God, he loved that woman. Brandon shut down his computer and gathered up the armful of dry-cleaning he’d earlier hung on the back of his door. He’d already taken care of the birthday package and he’d stop at the store on the way home for the few groceries. He’d probably pick up some takeout Chinese, too, so neither of them would have to cook dinner or wash dishes.
Who wanted to waste time in the kitchen when he could be spending the night with his face between her thighs?
Just before he flipped off the light and shut his office door, his phone rang. It was the trill of an inner-site call, which meant it was probably someone with a fire to put out. But damn it, it was already past five, he’d taken care of everything that needed to be done, and he was tired. Yet with a sigh, Brandon answered anyway.
‘Hi, Brandon. This is Ed Daniels.’
Ed Daniels from Corporate, Brandon’s boss. Hell, Brandon’s boss’s boss. ‘Hi, Mr Daniels. What can I do for you?’
‘I’m sorry to catch you so late.’
‘Not a problem,’ Brandon said, just barely gritting his teeth. He doubted Ed gave a rat’s ass how late he was keeping him. Ed probably had nice, boring wife who wasn’t waiting with a blindfold and a belt.
‘I’m sure you’ve heard about the recent restructuring in our national hospitality division.’
‘Yes, sir, I have.’ Brandon sat heavily, chest going tight. He was about to get laid off, just months before his wedding.
‘I’m not sure if you’ve heard about Chaz leaving us?’
Chaz Solone, one of the three heads of the Tri-County division. Brandon’s boss. ‘No, actually, I haven’t.’
‘Well, he is.’ Ed offered no explanation. ‘We’d like to offer you the position.’
Brandon blinked and sat up straight. ‘What?’
‘We want you to take over for Chaz. You’d be overseeing all the units in his division. There’s a lot of travel involved but the pay and benefits more than make up for it, I think. Are you interested?’
‘Yes, of course.’ Brandon cleared his throat. ‘Absolutely.’
‘Good.’ Ed sounded firm. ‘Chaz himself recommended you, and we just don’t have time to go hunting around for someone to step in. You’d start at the end of the month, give you time to find and hire a replacement and get started on your own training. We’d aim to have you in place a month after that.’
‘That’s some timeline.’
Ed laughed. ‘I’ll have my secretary send you all the important documents on Monday. You can look them over, make sure you’re still interested, and get back to me. How’s that sound?’
‘Sounds good.’ Brandon sat back in the chair, his eyes closed, until Ed said goodbye and hung up. Then he replaced the phone in its cradle and gave a slow, one-two fist pump in the air.
Yes!
A new job would mean a lot of things could change. For one thing, he could pay off his college debts sooner. For another, this more important, Leah could stop feeling like she was ‘keeping’ him. And Brandon had to admit that more money and a fancier title wouldn’t exactly make him feel too shabby, either.
He dropped off the dry-cleaning as ordered, and, while the woman behind the counter had no idea why he was grinning like an idiot, she laughed along with him as she filled out the pickup tag. Then he went to Wegman’s, where he loaded the cart not only with the items on the list but a bouquet of fresh red roses, an extra loaf of fresh French bread, a hunk of wasabi cheese, some grapes, and a package of Leah’s favourite mint-chocolate cookies. Then he hit the prepared-food area and grabbed a couple containers of everything else she liked, too. She’d scold him a little for going overboard, but so he’d eat it for breakfast. And lunch.
After he was finished eating her, Brandon couldn’t help thinking with yet another grin as he flung the bags into the back of his car. His prick was already trying to stand at attention. He could already taste her, smell her, hear the sound of her breathing change as she got closer.
He couldn’t wait.
‘Hey, asshole.’
It took him a second or two to realise the voice was directed at him, but when he turned to face it, Brandon recognised the man right away. ‘Hey, Dickweed! What’s up!’
Darren Weedman, also known as Dickweed, grinned and pumped Brandon’s hand. ‘Haven’t seen you in for-fucking-ever man. What’ve you been up to?’
Brandon ran down the short list, including work and ending with ‘… getting married in a few months.’
‘No shit. You? Really?’ Darren clapped Brandon’s shoulder. ‘Good for you. I got married last year. Worst fucking thing I ever did.’
Brandon raised a brow. ‘Yeah?’
Darren’s grin didn’t falter. ‘Nah, I’m shitting you. Hey, let me take you out for a beer. Celebrate.’
‘Nah. I should really get home.’
‘C’mon, dude. It’s been –’
‘Forever, right.’ There’d been weekends spent with Darren and other of their friends that Brandon was half-glad he couldn’t completely remember, but he was a good guy for all that. And he hadn’t seen him in a long time. ‘Sure. Why not? One beer.’
‘Great. I’ll text some of the other guys, see if they want to hang. You still see Chris and Jerry?’
‘Oh, yeah, saw Jerry last week.’ While Darren tapped out messages to other people, Brandon pulled out his phone to send Leah a text. He already knew she’d been planning on getting her nails and hair done after work today, so an hour or so shouldn’t be a problem.
Ten minutes later they were at some dive bar with sports on the big screen and hot wings on the table.
