Take Two: An Erotic Romance (Book 1) Read online

  “It’s fine,” I said, embarrassed, “looks like I didn’t go to sle-”

  I didn’t get to finish my excuse as Mathis leaned in and captured my lips with his. It was short and sweet, his lips meeting mine for a few wonderful seconds, soft and gentle and perfect. My heart fluttered and I took in a deep breath of air as he drew away, trying to regain my equilibrium.

  I looked shyly up at Mathis, nervous about his reaction. He was smiling at me, his eyes twinkling.

  “Just in case,” he said.

  ***

  We were sitting in the yard, side by side on the stone wall overlooking the lake, when Uncle Andy approached us.

  “Hi Mandy, Mathis,” he greeted us. “She’s not bothering you is she, Mathis?”

  “Quite the opposite, actually,” Mathis smiled up at him. Uncle Andy gave a short laugh, but frowned as he caught sight of our joined hands.

  “Why are you holding hands?” he asked, his voice neutral, as if he was curious. “She’s not a child any more, Mathis. She’s fifteen years old.”

  “It’s fine, Uncle Andy,” I told him, excited to share my newfound boyfriend with the world. “We’re dating.”

  Uncle Andy laughed, and Mathis and I shared a quick look, both of us a little confused.

  “How sweet the two of you look. Like regular little lovebirds,” he said, smiling at us. “You’re getting a little old to be playing childish games, though, Mandy,” he added.

  “I’m not-” I protested, but Uncle Andy cut me off.

  “Mathis, I wonder if I could borrow you from this lovely lady for a little while? We still have a few things to go over. It won’t take long.”

  “Can’t it wait until tomorrow?” I asked. “We were thinking that maybe we could take the boat out.”

  “No,” said Mathis, looking up at my uncle’s face, giving my hand a little squeeze and letting it drop back onto the stone wall. “It’s fine, Amanda. I’ll see you a little later.” Uncle Andy nodded and started walking back to his office.

  “Okay,” I agreed, knowing that Mathis had responsibilities to take care of with my uncle. “See you later.”

  I leant over and snuck a quick peck on his soft, tan cheek before he got up and followed my uncle back towards the house.

  I waited on the wall for a little while, watching the birds swoop low across the lake as the sun set. I wondered how long their business would take. After a while, I walked back towards the house, selecting a book from my uncle’s library and waiting for Mathis to come in.

  But he never did. After almost three hours, I got up and went in search of him, checking the windows to see if he was in the garden, peeping into doors and expecting to see a tousled, light-brown head behind every one. He was nowhere to be seen. Finally, I went to the door of my uncle’s office, wondering if they were still at work. It was open, but the only figure sitting inside was that of my uncle.

  “Uncle Andy? Is Mathis around?” I asked timidly.

  He looked up from his paper and gestured for me to come in. I entered, and stood in front of him, expectant.

  “Oh Mandy, Mathis had to go back to the city,” he said in an apologetic tone.

  “W-what? Why?” I asked, my heart suddenly clenching up as if it were a sponge being drained of water.

  “I’m sorry, Mandy. It was important business, and it couldn’t be put off. You’ll have to be a big girl and understand that.”

  “Will he be coming back soon?” I asked. “He didn’t even say goodbye to me.”

  “Not sure. I really can’t say,” Uncle Andy said. “But I’ll tell you what – if you’re feeling lonely, maybe we can go out on the lake tomorrow, just you and me. Do the catching up we haven’t gotten to do yet.”

  I offered a grin in response to his wide smile, but inside, my stomach felt like ice.

  Quality time with Uncle Andy for the rest of the summer was great, but I still felt lonely for Mathis. Every day I thought that maybe he’d return, but he never did. And I never saw him again.

  Chapter 6

  “So how was your first training session?” Sharon asked me as we sipped our lattes in a little café near my office. “How was the meeting with the family friend?”

  “It was…uncomfortable,” I said, trying to find the right word. “It was strange. I haven’t seen him since I was fifteen years old, but somehow, something about him still feels very familiar to me. I got exactly the same feeling meeting him today as I did the first time I met him.”

  “Hmm. A good feeling or a bad feeling?” Sharon asked, reaching for a macaroon and surveying me thoughtfully.

  “A strange feeling, sort of like the entire atmosphere has suddenly been ionized and everything I touch gives me a shock.”

  “As in he’s kind of scary?”

  “Oh, no,” I said and laughed. “No, not exactly.”

  “So how did you guys meet?”

  “Oh, it was a long time ago. He used to be my Uncle Andy’s apprentice. He’d been training him to be a hedge fund manager. The first time I met him was one summer when I went down to Uncle Andy’s country mansion.”

  “Did he stop working for your uncle?” Sharon asked with a frown.

  “No – he and my uncle have always worked very closely together.”

  “How did you and he lose touch, then?” Sharon raised one of her eyebrows.

  “I guess Mathis was just too busy,” I shrugged.

  “Mathis?”

  “Yes, Mathis Côté,” I acknowledged. “We only met for one summer when we were both at the mansion. I even had a silly teenage crush on him. But then he left to work in the city and I never saw him again.”

  “What, never? Seriously?”

  “Nope. The last time I asked Uncle Andy about it, he told me that Mathis didn’t have the time to spend with me or talk to me, he was too focused on his studies.” Actually, I had asked Uncle Andy about him regularly until Uncle Andy’s responses became shorter, and more curt, until I slowly just stopped asking. We would spend the time talking about new books I’d read instead.

  “We’d talk about books and go for picnics,” I told Sharon, remembering the end of that summer, after Mathis had left, “but at the back of my mind, I was always wondering why Mathis just up and left.”

  “Oh…that’s kind of sad.” Sharon frowned.

  I shook my head and looked out of the café window at the people walking by. “It was only a brief crush. I was probably far too young and immature about love and all that anyways.”

  “Well, I can see why you fell for him,” Sharon said. “He’s much more dashing than any of the other men you’ve dated – the ones you’ve told me about, at least.”

  I looked at her, confused for a moment, before she held up her smart phone, a picture of Mathis open on the screen, his smile wide and his eyes crinkling a little at the edges.

  I laughed as Sharon grinned wickedly at me.

  “I never said he wasn’t dashing,” I admitted. “But there’s nothing between us now – he was downright cold to me when we met for my first training session. I guess he’s long forgotten about that summer.”

  “Hmm,” mused Sharon, her eyes fixed on her phone. “There’s a lot of gossip on this guy, Amanda.”

  Curiosity stirred within me as Sharon said this, but I tried to keep my face neutral.

  “Yeah? What sort of gossip?” I asked in what I hoped was a casual tone. “He’s rich – probably a millionaire, so I’m not surprised that there are rumors around him.”

  “Well, that’s certainly true,” Sharon said. “Wow, Amanda – he’s not just a millionaire, he’s worth almost 300 million!”

  I tried not to let my eyes grow to the size of satellite dishes at this information. I half wanted Sharon to tell me more, but I didn’t want to let on how interesting I found the subject. I could probably just do a search myself later. Luckily, Sharon was interested enough on her own behalf that she needed no encouragement from me.

  “I’m checking out a few of these links �
� did you know he’s dated more than a few celebrities? Not just B-listers, either, but models, actresses – really high profile women. It appears your old childhood crush is quite the playboy.”

  A part of me already knew this – after seeing how he had acted with those two women in the office, throwing money at them and keeping them around almost like personal accessories, it was obvious that he was a ladies’ man. Well, why shouldn’t he be? He was single, he had a lot of money and, well, he was certainly very attractive to women. But even though I knew this, a little seed of jealousy had sprouted in me at the information.

  “He’s got a reputation as quite a heartbreaker too,” Sharon continued, oblivious to my inner turmoil. “He’s never dated a woman for more than a few weeks, a month or two at the most, and he always moves right on to the next, leaving them devastated in his wake. He wines them, dines them, makes all sorts of wonderful promises, maybe jets them off to the Bahamas or Hawaii, and then by all accounts he just breaks it off, like he gets bored of them. It’s a good thing you never did get involved with him, Amanda; it doesn’t seem like he’s a very good type. Unless you just want to get shagged for a night.” Sharon laughed. “This is some good gossip, right here.”

  “Yeah, it sounds like I had a lucky escape,” I laughed, joining her laughter, but my insides felt tight and strained. It didn’t feel like I’d had a lucky escape. Thinking about the Mathis I fell in love with when I was fifteen, it seemed like he was a completely different person than the Mathis of today. This cold ambitious Lothario who didn’t care anything about the string of gorgeous, famous lovers he went through.

  “Maybe it’s to do with his background,” Sharon continued browsing through her phone. “His story is typical rags to riches. He grew up in a poor family, and then made it big – thanks to your uncle, I suppose. I guess he just let it go to his head. It’s a shame, really. He sure is good looking!”

  “Yeah,” I agreed absently. “Yeah, it’s a shame he turned out that way. Not that I ever thought there might be anything between us,” I added quickly as Sharon gave me a searching look. “He’s far too successful to have any interest in a boring girl like me.”

  “Yeah, all you have is looks, talent, and a good heart,” Sharon said, shaking her head in mock-despair. “Who would ever be interested in you?”

  “Knock it off,” I said, blushing. “I’m just an accountant who works in a cubicle all day and spends her evenings watching reruns of sappy TV shows.”

  “Now I know that’s not true,” Sharon insisted. “What about that novel?”

  “It’s just a pile of junk,” I dismissed. “I don’t know why I ever thought I could write.”

  “Maybe because you can,” Sharon told me. “I’ve read some of your stuff – you’re an incredible writer, Amanda. Just because your stuff hasn’t been published, doesn’t mean it’s no good. Loads of famous authors have to get through hundreds of rejection letters before they make their big break.”

  I smiled at Sharon over my empty latte mug. “That’s sweet of you to say,” I said, “but if I had what it takes, I would be a great writer by now – look at Mathis! He’s worth 300 million and it’s not like all that just fell in his lap.”

  “He had an opportunity – your uncle made sure of that. True, the rest was up to him, but he had a chance to follow his dream and he took it. You have the same chance now, Amanda. You’ve just inherited a fortune. It’s a golden opportunity to focus more on your writing,” Sharon urged.

  “Maybe you’re right,” I sighed. “It’s just… what if I don’t succeed? I don’t have any excuse to fall back on any more.”

  “Just do what you can,” Sharon said. “Focus on this training and learn everything you need to know about these investments of yours, and then you can quit your boring job and spend as much time as you need working out which direction you want to take your writing in.”

  “I guess,” I said uncertainly.

  “Don’t guess – know! You’re a brilliant writer, Amanda. You shouldn’t need to have other people’s approval to tell you that. You know you are – you’ve been writing seriously ever since we were in college. Let yourself pursue what you really want to do now that you have the chance.”

  “You’re right,” I agreed. “I need to dedicate my time to this training and… I’ll see what happens with my writing.”

  “That’s the spirit,” smiled Sharon. She looked down at her phone. “Listen, I’d better go – I promised I’d go with the bride to meet her mother-in-law. God knows I don’t get paid enough for this.” She stood from her chair.

  “Good thing you’re awesome at your job!” I quickly got up and hugged her. “Take care and good luck!” I said as she smiled and pulled on her elegant rose jacket.

  “Thanks. You too – be careful around this Mathis guy,” Sharon added. “He’s bad news, Amanda. You should make sure you don’t get caught up in his net.”

  “Don’t worry,” I assured her with a heavy heart, “there’s no chance of that. I’m no celebrity.”

  Chapter 7

  My second appointment with Mathis began similarly to my first. This time, as I waited in the lobby, I watched a different secretary. Well, I think she was a secretary. Tall and willowy with enormous breasts and a very low-cut shirt. She was polishing her nails and flipping through a fashion magazine. After about twenty minutes of watching her blonde hair swish over her shoulders and wondering how it could possibly be that bouncy, she sent me a toothy grin and said, “Mathis will see you now.”

  “Thanks,” I said, wondering whether it was normal etiquette to call your boss by his first name. I walked to Mathis’ door and knocked. Today I was dressed a little more informally in a pair of slacks and a sleeveless, very pale turquoise blouse. It was a little cold in the air-conditioned building, and I shivered slightly as Mathis opened the door of his office, ushering me inside.

  I looked up at his face, and was surprised to see that his jaw was clenched tight and his fist was still clasped around his cell phone in a vice-like grip. He looked stressed, bordering on angry.

  “A-Are you okay?” I hesitated. “Not a good time maybe?”

  “I’m fine,” Mathis brushed me off. “Just a business phone call. Have a seat.”

  I took a seat in one of the comfortable chairs and watched as Mathis crossed over to a miniature fridge, drawing out a bottle of water and pouring some into a glass. He seemed to calm down a little as he took a long gulp of water.

  “Did you want something?” he asked as he put down his glass. “Coffee? Water?”

  “No, thanks,” I said. I shivered a little as the cold air from the fridge reached me.

  “Are you cold?” he asked me, noticing my shiver, his light blue eyes sweeping over my gooseflesh.

  “A little,” I said. “Silly of me to go around without a jacket in March.”

  “I’ll turn the air conditioning down,” he said, in a chivalrous gesture which reminded me of the old Mathis.

  “Thanks,” I said. For a moment it looked as if he wanted to say something else after changing the thermostat, but he seemed to stop himself, and instead crossed the office in a few long strides, seating himself opposite me.

  “Alright, let’s get started. I thought that the first thing we’d do would be to review the histories of the companies you’re invested in. That way you’ll have a better understanding of their markets,” said Mathis, his tone professional.

  The next forty minutes or so were a deluge of information, most of it entirely new to me. From time to time, Mathis would fire a question at me about one of the businesses. If I got it right, a curt nod of acknowledgement was all I received. If I got it wrong, another lecture followed, with a whole new barrage of facts. Whatever else Mathis was, he still possessed that incredible focus and dedication to his work that I remembered from that summer.

  My own focus had never been nearly as good except for when I was reading. I was starting to flag, and Mathis could sense it.

  “Alright ,
Amanda. This is an easy one. What is the net worth of Dillinger, Inc.?”

  “Dillinger?” I frowned, trying to remember that one fact among the flood of information which Mathis had provided me with. “A few hundred million?” I guessed.

  “Pay attention, Amanda. We went over this already,” Mathis sighed.

  “Ugh!” I pushed my hair back with my hands, feeling my brain melt like a marshmallow over a campfire. “It’s just too much to remember all at once, Mathis. I need some time to digest all this information.”

  “You just need to focus, Amanda. I know you can do it if you try,” Mathis said, and his tone bordered on encouraging, the soft, warm tone I remembered from the days when we tried to climb the highest trees in the wood, so high that we could see all the way back to Uncle Andy’s house.