Last Kiss Goodbye. Rita Herron

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СКАЧАТЬ Chapter 10

       Chapter 11

       Chapter 12

       Chapter 13

       Chapter 14

       Chapter 15

       Chapter 16

       Chapter 17

       Chapter 18

       Chapter 19

       Chapter 20

       Chapter 21

       Chapter 22

       Chapter 23

       Chapter 24

       Chapter 25

       Chapter 26

       Copyright

Chapter 1

      Her hands were going where they didn’t belong, but they’d been doing that all evening. Jason Ward did his best to move away, but if he moved any farther, he’d fall out of his seat.

      “I love a man who knows what he wants,” Stephanie Armstrong said, as she purred loudly. She reminded him of a hungry feline ready for mating season. She was an attractive older woman whose husband was a possible key investor. Jason’s partner, Dennis Collins, had put him in charge of keeping her entertained for the evening, but she only had one thing on her mind. And this wasn’t the first time. He didn’t know why the wives seemed to be drawn to him. Dennis laughed and said that, along with his good looks, he had a raw, hungry ambition their husbands lacked that sparked their interest. For a brief moment Jason thought of how he’d had to kiss up to many of them over the years, when he’d been younger and just starting out. He didn’t mind the perks that came with getting a lucrative business deal, but right now he wasn’t in the mood. He seized her wrist as it came too close to his manhood. His eyes met hers, and he saw them light up.

      “I can make sure my husband gives you everything you want.” She bent forward, giving him a clear view of her ample cleavage.

      He shoved her hand away. “I’m not that desperate. Excuse me.” Jason began to push his chair away. She extended her jeweled hand and placed it firmly on his forearm.

      “You don’t want to make me unhappy,” she said in a low warning voice.

      Jason took a napkin that was lying nearby and scribbled down a number, then handed it to her.

      She grinned. “That’s more like it.”

      He stood and left. Dennis saw him heading for the door and walked over to him. “Did I just see you give your phone number to that Armstrong woman?”

      “No. I gave her a number, but it wasn’t mine. It’s for an escort service.”

      “Does she know that?”

      “She’ll find out when she calls them.”

      Dennis swore. “Couldn’t you just flirt with her a little bit? I’m the brains and you’re the—”

      “The what? The stud?”

      “No, I’m just saying that you need to be a little more suave in your approach to people like that...”

      “Who treat me like a boy toy or some kind of sex slave they’ve purchased for their private use?”

      “She’s an attractive woman.”

      “Just like all the others,” Jason said, bored. “You know my policy. I don’t sleep with wives.”

      “No one is asking you to sleep with her.”

      “You weren’t at the table—her hands were saying a lot.”

      “We need this deal.”

      Jason knew that. He and Dennis, his best friend, were partners in a software development firm they had created several years earlier. Due to major cost overruns they had incurred developing innovative cyber-security software they had recently launched, they had discovered that their chief financial officer had been embezzling some of the funds. He had hired his girlfriend as his bookkeeper—only at the time he didn’t let anyone know she was his girlfriend—who had fixed the books. Now the company was facing bankruptcy, but he and Dennis were the only ones who knew. To rectify what had happened, they had invited several key investors and speculators to a “wine-and-dine” weekend at a fancy golf retreat that cost them a fortune; but they were willing to spare no expense to get back on track. They had dismissed the CFO but desperately wanted to keep any knowledge of what had happened a secret, and had agreed not to file any criminal charges as long as he signed a nondisclosure agreement.

      But somehow a rumor was spreading that the company was facing financial difficulty, and the two of them had decided they needed to make sure the investors were not nervous and felt secure with the direction the company was going. In order to avoid bankruptcy, Jason had recently forged a high-risk venture, which he hadn’t revealed to the board of directors yet, with hopes it would come through in time.

      Jason looked around him and swore. What was he doing? He was tired of “entertaining” wives and significant others, just to get a couple of bucks. He never wanted to be like his investors. They wore their fine tailored suits along with their weak ethics and kissed up to him when it suited them, but he knew they’d drop him in an instant. It was all just business. He knew he was in a shark-infested ocean and needed to make sure to keep his teeth sharpened.

      “You know, man, you make people nervous,” Dennis said.

      “Are you still referring to Mrs. Armstrong?”

      “No. I mean, people in general.”

      Jason shrugged. “So what?”

      “One day, someone may want to teach you a lesson.”

      Jason tugged on the cuff of his jacket. “I’m already well schooled.”

      “The company is in trouble. Bankruptcy is not something to toy around with.”

      “I know why we’re here. Remember, I helped build this company with you, and I won’t see it fail.” He walked away.

      * * *

      Dennis watched him go and sighed. He was wrong. He wasn’t just the brains—Jason was, too, but no one would know it by the way he acted. He had the body of a wrestler and the brash manners of a street fighter. It wasn’t just his intimidating build that put people on edge; he had a certain disdain—especially for individuals he could tell were only after the bottom line, no matter the cost—which he didn’t mind showing. His eyes cut through them. What had once been an asset, his ability to fearlessly face whatever problem they had, was now a liability СКАЧАТЬ