The Partnership (Callaghan Green Series Book 10) Read online

  “Rose is sleeping at her friend’s on Friday.”

  “Friday then.”

  She nodded, her hands in the pockets of my jeans, obviously getting a good feel of my arse. I wasn’t going to complain.

  “Can I trust you to book somewhere?” I murmured the words, knowing they were going to set fire to that kindling temper I’d seen.

  Her fingers dug harder into my backside.

  “Don’t goad me, Joseph, you won’t like what happens.”

  “I bet I will.” My own hands were on her arse, taking in the curves, squeezing. One moved lower, my fingers trailing over her jeans, in between her legs from behind. I pressed briefly, a promise, my breathing turning hard. Visions of taking her to the small bedroom on board the boat had already fleetingly flittered through my brain, but I didn’t want to rush this.

  I could wait.

  “I bet I’m going to like everything.”

  Shay was still up when I got home from dropping Georgia off, planted on the sofa with the Xbox controller glued to his hands and his eyes glued to the TV.

  “Thought you were on shift?”

  He shook his head and paused his game. “Picked up some bug so I got sent home. Looks like I’ve got four days off.”

  “Don’t you need to stay far, far away so I don’t catch whatever it is?”

  He laughed. “You’ll be fine. I think it’s food poisoning – definitely had a dodgy take out about three days ago. How was your date? You’ve got lipstick at the side of your mouth, by the way.”

  I grinned rather than wiping it away, more than happy to have it there. “The date was good.”

  He gave a single nod, expecting me to come out with more.

  “We’re going out again on Friday.”

  “And?”

  “And what?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t date so I’ve got no fucking idea what a second date means. Do you get lucky? Second base? Engagement rings?”

  I was pretty sure Shay had grown up away from his sisters because he was clueless – more so than I was – about women. I’d spent enough time listening to Ava and Payton mouth on about boyfriends and dates to have half an idea about how not to cock it up. Shay wasn’t even onto the same book.

  “We get to know each other more. Talk. You know that thing you don’t bother doing with women?”

  Shay smirked. “Oh, trust me. I talk. A lot.”

  “Not like that, tool.”

  “Don’t you think it’ll be awkward if you get together and it ends?” He flicked the TV off his game and onto a channel playing a stand-up comic.

  I sat down and focused on the programme. “How many people who you work with have you slept with?”

  “No idea, but it’s doctors and nurses, or doctors and doctors. Or sometimes a combination – but we don’t date. There aren’t feelings involved. That’d be messy.”

  “Yeah. I get that. If it doesn’t work, I guess we just have to be adults about it.”

  “Easy for you. You own the firm. She’s a salaried partner, so it won’t be you ever leaving.”

  I rubbed at my face. “I can’t start something with her and think about how it’ll end. That’s not how it’s done.” Every time Cassie and I had gotten back together I’d always been certain that it was for good. I hadn’t gone back into it thinking it would break apart a few weeks or months later, although it usually did.

  “You sure you’re not jumping into something just because the rest of your lot is either married or getting married?” He stared at me.

  I debated throwing a sock at him or something.

  “No. I didn’t want to get involved with anyone. Not until I’d had a good year at work.” And I’d lost the reputation of being a playboy party animal.

  “So what’s different about Georgia? She’s serious about work and she’s got a kid. That’s hardcore adulting.” Shay reached down next to him and picked up an open bottle of beer that I hadn’t noticed.

  “Rose isn’t an issue.”

  “It gets serious, you could be her step-dad. You break up, it could fuck her up.”

  It wouldn’t be a sock I threw at him, it’d be something with a lot more weight.

  “We’ve been on one date.”

  “And you’ve walked in with this huge grin on your face like you’ve already been up all night shagging. I’m just being practical, mate. You get serious and she’ll get a lot more fucked up than you. You want to do that to her?”

  “You know what? That’s her choice to make. Do I think we can handle it if it doesn’t work out – you know what? Yeah, I do. Her daughter – I’ll follow her lead on that. Georgia’s her mum; she’ll do what she thinks best. And she’s smart, Shay. She’s been fucked over by someone she worked with once before, big style, so I guess she won’t make the same mistake again. And I’m nowhere near the dick he was. I’d never do what he did.” Now it wasn’t Shay I wanted to hit hard with something, it was the arsehole who’d never bothered with his daughter.

  “What happened?”

  “She worked with Rose’s dad. When he found out she was pregnant he wanted nothing to do with her or the baby. Turned out, he was already engaged.”

  “Fuck.”

  “I don’t get anyone who wouldn’t want to know their kid.”

  “That’s because you’re a fairly balanced human being with no deep rooted issues, apart from having shit taste in long term girlfriends. Did I tell you I saw Cassie the other day?”

  I groaned. I really hoped that by ‘I saw Cassie’ Shay didn’t mean he’d slept with her. “No. Where?”

  I braced myself.

  “In Ate Days a Week, that sandwich place near the hospital that does the huge baguettes. She was queuing up. I don’t think she recognised me.”

  That was okay then.

  “Don’t you want to know how she looked?”

  About two years ago, I’d have been desperate to know. Now I couldn’t give a shit.

  “No.”

  Shay nodded. “Good. You text Georgia yet to say what a great night you’ve had?”

  I hadn’t, but I was going to send something. “Not yet.”

  “Isn’t that what you’re meant to do?”

  “What do you know about dating?”

  Shay shook his head. “You’d be surprised. More than you think.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Georgia

  “What transactions between Hartford Jewellers and Harrop Trading were you aware of?”

  I could tell through the slight shortness of Seph’s words that he was losing patience with David Hartford.

  We’d been in this meeting for four hours without a break yet. Seph had suggested stopping to at least get some food about two hours ago, but David had been adamant that he needed to press on as quickly as possible, because ‘he didn’t have all day’. But that basically meant he wanted all the time to dictate what he told us to put as bad a light on his brother as possible.

  “None of them.”

  Seph shook his head. “This one you have to be aware of. Your signature is on the paperwork for the property that was sold. If you’re telling me that it wasn’t you, then it’s fraud and we should involve the police.”

  David shook his head. “I don’t want the police involved. I want to sort this out as quickly as possible.”

  “Then we should set a date for mediation.”

  Seph had been suggesting the same thing for the last couple of weeks. Mediation, when all parties sat down and basically agreed a compromise, would be the cheapest and quickest way to agree what percentage of profit each brother took from the sale of the business, given that neither would sell it to the other.

  “That’s not an option. He doesn’t deserve anything. He had his cut when he sold three buildings without my knowledge and took the profits. That should be him done. Especially after it was me who financed the original shop in the first place while he was still in school. He’s freeloaded all the time.” David shook his head and sent a gla
re my way, as if I had something to do with his brother being like that.

  “If Ron’s never pulled his weight, why did you stay in business with him?” I was tired of being polite and nice, being the one he only spoke to when he wanted a cup of tea or coffee fetching. I’d started to ignore that now and waited for Seph to get it instead.

  David Hartford glared at me again and then turned to Seph. “He entrapped me with that signature. I thought I was signing something else.”

  Seph looked from me to David. “Georgia asked you a question. Are you going to answer it?”

  David opened his mouth to speak back but words didn’t come out.

  I knew Seph was pissed off at how David was being with me. He’d been glowering after a phone conversation I’d had with David yesterday; it’d been on loudspeaker, meaning Seph had heard all of it and by the end of it, he’d been pacing the room.

  He looked at me. “What was the question again, dear?”

  “Why did you stay in business with your brother for so long if he left most of the work to you? It’s something your brother’s counsel will ask.” Explaining the reasoning behind my question really pissed me off, but I knew without it, David would get twitchy.

  He looked at Seph. “Why’s she asking this?”

  “Because it’s a legitimate question. You need to answer it.”

  David shook his head. “He did do some work, not much mind, but it was obligation to our parents to keep him employed.”

  I shuffled through the notes I’d made when I’d been going through the pack sent by Ron’s legal team. “Ron’s provided a list of what he was responsible for over the forty years you worked together and it looks substantial. We need to go through it and disprove what he did; either he’s over-inflating his role, or it was something someone else did. So first is the brokerage in the diamond exchanges. He says that it was him who had the knowledge of the diamond market and could value the stones.”

  “He’s lying.”

  I wanted to roll my eyes but contented myself with a deep long sigh instead.

  “That isn’t going to wash, David. As your counsel, we can’t respond with ‘he’s lying’ without any evidence. The other side will walk all over us. We need you to be honest.” I knew my words had just lit a fire.

  “Is she saying I’m lying?”

  Seph stood up, his face contorted with fury. “She has a name, and unless you can treat her with the respect she deserves, our representation of you will cease. Do you understand?”

  “Your father wouldn’t like…”

  “My father has nothing to do with this, and if he heard you speaking to any woman the way you’re speaking to Georgia, he’d have you marched off the premises. Think very carefully about what your next words to me or Georgia are, Mr Hartford, that is all I suggest.” Seph sat back down but didn’t look at me. His eyes were fixed on David, jaw clenched. I wondered if Maxwell had heard, given he’d been outside just a few minutes ago.

  “I apologise if I’ve upset your girlfriend.”

  “And we’re done. Please leave.” Seph stood up again, stepped over to the door and opened it. “Let us know which solicitor takes your case and we’ll forward the file in due course.” His tone was now cold, hard.

  “All the best with getting what you want, Mr Hartford.” I stood also, not offering my hand as I normally would’ve done.

  “What?” He looked at Seph and didn’t move. “I’ve been bringing my business to this firm for years…”

  “And that relationship just ended. Please see yourself out without causing a scene, Mr Hartford. We’re not interested in have a client whose attitude is so demeaning to women.”

  I could see the anger radiating off Seph, fire blazing in his eyes. Everything was tense, ready for a fight which I knew he wouldn’t start.

  David Hartford stood up, picked up his briefcase and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

  I watched Seph, his shoulders relaxing only slightly. His shifted back to the door and locked it, the click the only sound, slicing through a different kind of tension than there had been a less than a minute ago.

  “You didn’t need to lose a client over how he spoke to me. That’s not uncommon.”

  His gaze was piercing as he took me in, trailing his eyes from my face to my legs and back, lingering on my breasts.

  “If he isn’t called out on speaking to any woman like that then he’ll never understand that it’s not right. I wouldn’t have him speak to my mother or my sisters in that way, and definitely not you.” He stopped talking and licked his lips. “Georgia…”

  It took me less than a second to be in front of him, my hands running from his chest down to the belt of his suit pants, untucking his shirt and running my fingers over the scattering of hair that led from his abs and laddering up to his chest. He’d caught my lips in a pressing kiss, and before I knew it, my shirt was untucked and his hands were seeking out my skin like it was some precious manna.

  I was led backwards so my back was against the wall, any worries about anyone hearing us or trying to get in, erased by the sheer sudden need between my legs. I hooked one ankle up to his waist, pushing my hips towards his, seeking closer contact.

  This was wrong. It was unprofessional. It was career threatening. It was feeling so fucking good.

  Every muscle I felt on Seph was tense, wound up tight like some spring about to go off, and I wondered what it would take to make him explode, here in this room filled with antique furniture gathered through the life of the law firm I was a partner in.

  I felt his erection through his trousers, pushing up against my centre. It would be so easy to bustle up my skirt, undo his flies and let him push inside, take me against the wall. The very thought of it made me moan into his mouth and scratch my nails down his chest to his waist.

  His lips left mine, his hands starting to undo the buttons on my shirt.

  We needed to stop.

  We should stop.

  Every button seemed to take an age to undo, the cooler air of the room making me acutely aware of the every bareness of my chest.

  As soon as my shirt was undone enough for my bra to be exposed, he pushed down the cups, exposing my tits, nipples already hard.

  “Fuck.” He murmured the word, then said nothing more as he took one, nipping with his mouth and sucking roughly. This time my moan was audible, not smothered by his kiss.

  One of my hands pressed between us, cupping his hard cock, feeling him thicken more with my touch.

  His mouth switched to my other breast, one of his hands pushing up under my skirt to my panties. In a second they’d been pushed down, his fingers running from my entrance to my clit, spreading wetness that should’ve been embarrassing but he’d caused it, this want. This need.

  “If you want me to stop tell me now, otherwise I’m going to make you come.”

  I didn’t respond back with words, just directed his mouth back to my nipple and urged my hips forward.

  He pushed a finger inside of me, the base of his hand rubbing against my clit. Another finger entered me and I felt my orgasm rushing like a tsunami about to break a dam.

  It’d been a long time since any man had touched me like this, but my body hadn’t forgotten what to do, and Seph did know what he was doing. He carried on fingering me, creating a rhythm that had me craving his cock inside me instead of his fingers, wanting to know what it was like to be fucked by him, roughly, needfully, like what he was doing now.

  One hard suck on my nipple and I started to pulse around his fingers, knowing my wetness was coating his hand as I came. He didn’t let up, keeping up the work he was doing on my breast and the hard, demanding ask of his hand. My legs almost gave way and I just about managed not to cry out loudly.

  When he removed his hand, he took his fingers straight to his mouth, his other hand on my hip. His eyes stared at my tits, my nipples hard and swollen from his mouth and my orgasm.

  “You taste fucking gorgeous. I want to get my mouth on
you and have you come on my tongue.”

  My hand stroked his cock through his pants, my fingers playing with his zipper. “I want you to fuck me.”

  His eyes met mine, dark with lust.

  “How much do you want me to fuck you?”

  I grinned and I knew it was dirty. “Feel how wet I am.”

  His hand dropped back to between my legs, two fingers pushing gently inside me, moving in and out.

  “Holy fuck, Georgia…”

  A knock at the door stopped any more words.

  “Seph, you’ve a call from Matt Ball about the Wrigley file.” It was Tobi, one of the receptionists who wouldn’t have a clue what was going on behind that door he’d just knocked on.

  “Sure. Tell him I’ll call back in five.” He carried on fingering me as he spoke. ‘And can you let Eve Sheldon know I’ll reschedule the meeting Monday?”

  “No problem.”

  “Thanks, Tobi.” His mouth went straight back to my tits as soon as he stopped talking and another orgasm built.

  “Seph, fuck me.” I was needy now, and I would happily beg. The whole situation, the naughtiness of it, the hot man in front of me, feasting, the man who had just stuck up for me and thrown away a huge case because he had morals, made me want to beg,

  There was a pop as my nipple left his mouth. “No condom, Georgie. You ready for bare? And a two minute fuck, because I don’t know how long I’ll last.”

  “Not on the pill.” Fuck fuck fuck.

  He didn’t respond, instead dropping to his knees and pushing my skirt up further, his mouth taking place of where his fingers had been, licking and sucking. I felt the wetness drip down my thighs as I came, clutching his hair.

  He held me until I’d stilled and my breathing had levelled, kissing his way back up my body, pulling up my panties and straightening my skirt, kissing a breast and then tenderly on my mouth.

  “If you leave first, I can grab a minute to look less,” his eyes dropped to his crotch where he was definitely still hard, “lively.”

  “I owe you two orgasms.”

  He shook his head. “I win when you have a much higher score.” He kissed me again and I tasted the tang of myself on his lips. “Are we still good for our date tonight.”