23. Twenty-Three

Chase

I frown as I drive to the office. Something is off with Val, and I don’t know what it is.

She’s been acting differently for the last week. I think it started around the time of the cookout. Did someone say something to her that upset her?

When I try to ask her what’s wrong, she just shrugs and says nothing.

Bullshit. Something is wrong. Why won’t she confide in me? She always has before.

Unless— unless I’m the problem? I mean, she really couldn’t turn me down when I offered to marry her. She would have been crazy to turn down a cool five million and the stock shares. Let’s not forget about the fucking stock shares. Suddenly, I’m feeling frustrated.

Things were going so great. I mean, the sex is off the charts. But lately, when I take her, she’s been closing her eyes. Does that mean anything?

Hell, if I know. I slam my hand against the steering wheel. Who knows what’s on a woman’s mind? I sure as shit don’t. Women!

Then, I stop short. This is Val. And well, she’s different. She doesn’t play games. She’s too nice. If something is bothering her, then it’s my job as her husband and friend to figure out what it is.

It would be a hell of a lot easier if she just told me. But still. We never had a problem telling each other stuff in the past.

The thought enters my mind that I could lose Val, lose her as my wife and as my friend. Nope, not acceptable. I will figure out what the problem is and fix it.

When I get to the office, I decide to take the stairs down to my office. I’ve been eating too much of Val’s good cooking. Damn, that girl can cook.

“Morning, Chase. It’s too early to be smiling like that.”

“Sorry, I was just thinking about Val’s cooking. I better start taking the stairs more often.”

Charlie just nods.

“Have you seen the latest shipment we got in for protection gear?”

“No, why do you ask?”

“I’m not sure. The bulletproof vests just don’t seem the same quality as what we’ve been getting.”

“Really? Let me take a look. Maybe the vendor made a mistake on their end. We have a contract with them, so they can’t really change the stock we’ve already agreed on.”

I follow Charlie over to a box that’s been opened. He hands me one of the vests.

I hold the new vest in one hand and then grab an older vest off a hanger.

“The new one seems lighter. This is Carter’s forte. He did say they’ve been making some breakthroughs in lighter body armor that still have the same ballistic stats as heavier vests.”

I take both vests with me as I enter my office. “Let me put a call into the vendor and see if I can find out what’s going on with these new vests.”

An hour later, I’m frustrated at the run around I’ve been getting. I give my brother Carter a call.

“Yeah, that’s our only course of action right now. I’m not distributing these to the guards until I get some answers. I’ll have Charlie put them in his office until we hear back from the vendor. Thanks, Carter. Listen, let us know when you’re planning on coming home. Okay?... Alright, Bye.”

I need to let Carson know about this. It’s probably just a misunderstanding or mistake, but still, he’s the boss.

When I enter Carson’s outer office, I see his admin. “Hi, Suzanne. Is Carson available?”

She’s an older woman; her brown hair has just a touch of gray, and her blue eyes are always cheerful.

“He’ll probably be available for you, Chase. Let me just check.”

She walks to his office door, which is open. “Carson, do you have time to talk to Chase?”

Suzanne turns back to me with a smile. “He said to come in.”

“Chase, what did you need to see me about?”

I explain the situation.

“You already called Carter?”

“Yes, he couldn’t say much more, just that if it is a lower quality, we definitely don’t want our staff wearing it.”

“We all agree on that. We want our guards fully protected. It can be a dangerous job,” Carson thinks things over, “Okay, let me know what the vendor says. Oh, and Chase, tell them we need their response in writing. We can’t just take a verbal confirmation on something like this.”

“Will do. Thanks, Carson.”

My phone rings when I get back to my office.

“Hello? Yes, this is Chase Knight. Thank you for the callback— Okay— No, we haven’t received any notification. As you know, our first priority is protection for our guards. We won’t be using the vests until we have written confirmation. Next time, we need to be notified prior to the shipment being delivered.”

“Charlie, the vendor is sending over the information we asked for. Can you let me know once it comes through?”

“Sure thing, Boss.”

A few hours later, I hear my office door open, and when I look up, it’s Val. She’s wearing a red dress that shows off her dark hair and eyes.

“Hi, Chase. I thought I’d drop by and see if you’d like to go to lunch.”

“Sounds good, Val. Come on in. I just have to finish this email.”

She walks in, but instead of sitting, she stands and admires my pictures of Jacksonville’s skyline. As she leans in to study one of the pictures, I glance down and see that she’s wearing red high heels.

I feel an instant response from my body. I startle Val when I abruptly stand. I walk over to my office door and turn the lock. When I turn back to Val, her eyes widen at the look in my eyes.

As I approach her like a predator stalking his prey, I notice her color heighten, and her breathing accelerates.

“I like your shoes, Val.”

“You do?” She licks her lips.

“Yes, do you know what I call high heels like that?”

She shakes her head no.

“I call them fuck me heels.”

I see her throat work, and her breath hitches as I draw closer.

I wrap my hands around her waist and lift her onto the edge of my desk. I hear a few things scatter to the floor, but I don’t take my eyes off of Val.

I put my hand around her throat and on her hip, and then I lean her back onto the smooth surface of my desk.

Her dark bedroom eyes go half-mast when she realizes what I’m about to do as I spread her legs. I push her skirt up toward her waist and then slip off her panties. I stuff them in my pocket. I leave on her heels, then place her legs over my shoulders.

She’s spread open before me. I lean in and give her one long, slow lick, and I hear her whimper. I feast on her as she mews and whimpers. She’s writhing on my desk. I hear more things fall, but I don’t stop. I can tell she’s close. So, close.

I feel her legs tense around me, and then her body is clenching repeatedly as she comes hard. I bring both of her legs down.

Then I look at her still spread before me on my desk. I quickly unbuckle my pants and pull down my zipper. I free my engorged cock and then grab her hips and pull her closer to the edge of my desk.

I enter her in one swift, rough stroke. I shiver as it feels so good. Her wet warmth welcomes me as I begin to stroke into her. As I find my satisfaction, I feel Val climax again. I groan as she empties me.

I slowly step back and zip up my pants, and then I help a satisfied Val rise off the desk. Once she’s standing on slightly wobbly legs, I give her a slow kiss.

“I’m glad you stopped by,” I say huskily.

”Me, too,” She says with a womanly smile.

I look at her mussed hair and grin, “I have a bathroom in there if you want to brush your hair.”

My desk is straightened by the time Val steps out of my bathroom, looking like she did when she came into my office.

“Ready to go to lunch?”

“Yes, but I need my panties,” she says as she looks around.

I give her a wicked grin, “I’ll give them back to you after lunch.”

“Chase,” she says in a scandalized voice.

Later that afternoon, Charlie hands me a fax from the vendor, “Chase, according to this data, you’re right about the new technology. The ballistic levels show higher protection.”

“Hm... Let’s test one of the new vests in the shooting range and see what happens,” I state with a decisive nod.

“That’s a good idea. It would make me feel better, too.”

We hang up one of the new vests and then remotely move it to the distance we want. We get two different calibers of bullets and fire. Then we pull the lightweight vest in.

“I’ll be damned. It didn’t penetrate, Chase.”

“That makes me feel a hell of a lot better. I still want to run this up to Carson and get his approval before we issue any out.”

I give Carson the data, I give him a few minutes to read through the letter and information.

“Carson, what do you think? Do you think we can trust the data they sent?”

“They’d be facing a lawsuit if it isn’t accurate. This came from our rep?”

“Yes, but I still think we need to go slow with distributing these new vests.”

“I agree. Unfortunately, there’s no true testing unless someone gets shot.”