Jack loved running his company. He loved the money, the strategic planning, the advertising, the bidding wars, that rush to come out with the next best thing. There wasn't much about this wildly successful business that he didn't enjoy. At the top of the list were Public Relations and Budget meetings. Today, Jack had a PR meeting followed by not one, but two budget meetings. It was the start of the fiscal year, and he had to okay the budgets for not only his tech company but his real estate one as well.
Which meant sitting in a room at a giant table surrounded by the stuffy, suited members of each board, listening to accountants ramble on, heads of different departments clambering for a bigger piece of the budget, and suck-ups trying to pitch their latest brilliant idea. Today had started off with an unexpected, intense way. He had been in a great fucking mood, but the last three hours of non-stop meetings had chipped away at it.
He couldn't keep his gaze off the clock. Rude, sure. But he didn't really care if they thought he was rude and uninterested. Because he was. He'd already gone over the budgets and given them the okay. This was for everyone else. It was kind of bullshit he had to be here for them. As he listened to them yammer on and on about expected expenses and projected growth, he found himself thinking about Isabella and what had happened that morning.
It was hot. Fuck, that was an understatement. And he found himself looking forward to their night together. Up until this morning, he hadn't really had a favorite. Maybe Layla, but he wasn't sure she had the capacity to do the job beyond getting him off. There was a lot more to it, and he needed someone capable of every aspect. Isabella had stepped up in a big fucking way. It took a lot to get a woman stuck in Jack Stone's head, and what the beautiful Latina had done to him this morning had definitely embedded her into his mind throughout the whole day.
Or, maybe it was just the only thing he had to look forward to following this torturous day full of meetings. He would have pulled out his phone and started texting one... or three of the women if it wouldn't have been rude as fuck. His fingers itched to grab his phone out of his pocket. Hell, he would have killed to be able to play a dumb game on the damn thing. Anything to end this monotonous torture.
Mark Carson was giving his usual speech, the one about how the company would benefit by allocating more of the budget into team building activities. He always tried to put a different spin on the speech, but in the end, it was just the same shit that Jack saw as a waste of time and money. Of course, the HR guy thought it was integral to building a solid foundation of trust and company loyalty. Blah, blah, blah. Jack knew the best way of building loyalty was to have everyone who knew anything sign a fat Non Disclosure Agreement.
Jack was fighting the urge to bang his head against the desk in time to the seconds that ticked away at the clock over Mark's head when the door to the meeting room slid open. Several women stepped inside, and Jack couldn't help but to grin at the sight of Melissa standing like a silent sentinel at the door, overseeing as several of his girls stepped inside. The women were all wearing variations of professional, yet slightly inappropriate attire as they moved around the massive table and went about serving their various beverages.
Jack's gaze couldn't help find Quinn as she moved around the room, setting down bottles of water in front of the various executives. The woman wasn't Jack's usual type. Oh, she had the amazing curves he demanded, but her personality, her style... They were so out of his norm that when Melissa suggested her as a possible replacement he'd been more than a little skeptical. Sure, when Quinn was merely a caretaker, they'd always had a whole lot of fun, but as the head caretaker she'd be a face that would be seen by not just Jack's business partners, but his competitors as well.
She wasn't exactly professional. Even now, in her pencil skirt and white button-up blouse, there was an edge to her that wouldn't be hidden. The skirt was made out of leather, the heels she wore had spikes coming off the heels. She had a leather choker wrapped around her pale neck and a silver ring glinted from the right side of her nose. The inky black of her hair was pulled up into a bun, but a single streak of scarlet framed her face. Add in the heavy black eye makeup that made her gray eyes seem otherworldly, and the way her button-up gaped far enough to see the several straps of her bondage-inspired bra crossing her chest and she looked like a rock star playing pretend secretary.
Yeah, she so didn't look the part... But at the same time, that made her all the more appealing. He loved the way the other men in the room stared at Quinn as she moved, some of them trying to play it cool, but most so desperate to get a better look down her shirt that they didn't even try to hide their glances. They'd all been around Jack and his girls long enough to know the rules. New people seemed to think that Jack's caretakers were nothing more than expensive toys that didn't deserve respect, but that couldn't be further from the truth. The rumors surrounding what happened to the men who dared to disrespect one of his caretakers were outrageous but effective at making them stay in line. He was kind of proud of the fact that they seemed to believe that he'd actually had a man's hand cut off for grabbing Melissa's ass once.
Quinn wasn't shy, and maybe that's why Melissa had suggested her for the position. She was a ball buster, loud, and kind of bitchy to everyone except Jack. He wasn't proud of it, but he really liked that about her. She didn't take any shit, and she had the balls to stand up to him. Melissa was the only other woman who has ever had the gumption to tell him when he was wrong.
She wasn't just outspoken. No, Quinn had a thing for teasing, for showing off. She took some kind of sick pleasure from taunting all these horny men who could only look and never touch without the risk of losing a hand. Jack enjoyed that, too. It was so fucking good for his ego, to watch knowing that everyone wanted what was his. Quinn 'accidentally' dropped a napkin on the floor and bent over in a way that reminded Jack of a stripper on stage. All eyes were on her leather-clad ass as she reached for the napkin, and Jack swore he heard someone groan at the sight. He didn't blame them. Not one fucking bit.
Melissa cleared her throat, and like a bunch of guilty schoolboys, their eyes darted back to poor Mark who was doing his best to give his speech with all these attractive women roaming around. He stumbled over a few words and then went back to giving his spiel while the women started filing out of the room at Melissa's behest. All except Quinn, that is. She handed her little tray of water bottles to a blonde before she moved around the room, not stopping until she was standing next to Jack at the head of the table. He glanced up at her, raising an eyebrow in question, only to receive a little grin in response.
