Chapter 15

Harry


The Principality Stadium recently hosted very popular rugby tournaments that attracted people from all over the world. I had never been a huge fan of the sport, but Adler was meeting members of the Australian Rugby Team for lunch. Marisa, Adler’s secretary, was reluctant to reveal any other details over the phone, but that was all right. I just had to wait for him to finish his meeting. He always stayed a bit longer to read his favourite paper.
Gina was absolutely right. Adler McDougall had connections that made me look small-time. He regularly met with sports stars and top people who represented all the biggest manufacturing sporting brands in the world. The man had played rugby several years ago when he was young, and without a doubt, he was Gina’s man.
Pole dancing wasn’t something that he would have been naturally interested in, but I wanted him to at least listen to her ideas. She needed to expand and open at least two more studios where she could teach more classes and hire an additional instructor. Gina didn’t want to be one of many, she wanted to go national. I had absolute faith in her abilities, but like in any business, she needed to dedicate all her time to this new venture. Working in a day job wasn’t going to cut it.
She was waiting for me inside, reading the information board. She looked smart in a fitted black suit, hugging a bunch of folders under her arms. The masses of red curly hair were her signature. Heat immediately rushed to my trousers. I had a hard-on again. This wasn’t even funny anymore. That woman was slowly killing me.
“I’m glad you came. Early, very wise,” I said approaching her. She had a certain power over me, even when she stared at me. I felt like she was seeing a man with a dark soul, a man who couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept through the night.
She turned around and smiled at me. I couldn’t get the image out of my head, of her bending down in front of me, and me fucking her until we were both drenched with sweat.
“If Davies calls, you have to cover for me. I told his assistant I was meeting you to discuss your campaign,” she said. “He wouldn’t let me go otherwise.”
“Don’t worry about him. Soon you won’t need to answer to anyone,” I assured her. “Adler is currently having lunch with some clients. He should be done soon.”
I’d prepared a hell of a surprise for her after our meeting. I’d bet that Gina had never seen the stadium completely empty and silent. At first, the guy in charge didn’t want to listen. A few hundred in cash had changed his mind. I was hoping that the meeting would go well, so then we could play after.
“So how you been? How are Josh and Patrick and naughty Nina?” I asked, trying to make small talk. Patrick and Joshua were good lads. She still worried about them, but those boys could look after themselves. Josh wasn’t a teenager anymore.
“Yes, they are all right. Nina is still moody. Patrick mentioned something about tickets to your next boxing match. They asked me to go,” she said, once we were waiting for the lift. I’d given Josh my number when I was waiting for her to come home. I thought that, at the time, it was a good way of getting him on my side. It turned out that he was already a huge fan. He called the other day asking for tickets. Apparently, they had been sold out days before the match.
“I’m boxing next Sunday, you should come. The boys have VIP passes,” I told her, wondering if I was asking her out again. Today’s meeting was all about her. I was just presenting her with an opportunity. I kept reminding myself that Gina needed someone who could take care of her. Deep down my voice of reason was letting me know I was that guy.
We were similar: she was driven by dancing on the pole, and I had once been driven to make boxing my profession. Maybe I would never become an international star, but I did well enough to get my share of fame and to set myself up in a business that made me wealthy.
Now I just had to get my head on straight. This was my chance to have a real family for a change. The boys liked me, and I could work on Nina. She would accept me eventually. There was nothing stopping me from making this transition. From having a real life.
We stepped into the lift and she glanced at me. The tension in my shoulders slacked. I had to pull myself together and stop behaving like I was fourteen.
“If I have the evening off, I will be there,” she said.
I pressed the third floor and continued to breathe through my nose. She bit her bottom lip and I couldn’t take this any longer. I could smell her heat and desire. I thought about the smoothness of her lips on my cock. She had me wanting more every time I was close.
“I’m going to kiss you now. Damn, I know I said it was supposed to be one time, but you’re driving me crazy,” I said, taking another short breath.
She hesitated, and I couldn’t hold myself together. I turned to face her, then pulled her into me and kissed her long and slow. Fuck me, she felt amazing, and her small frame moulded into me. I lost my head, moving my hands down her fit body. She moaned, closing her eyes, which could only mean one thing: she was enjoying this as much as I was.
I grabbed her arse cheeks and started rocking her body with my hard cock. Only the layers of our clothing were separating us. I wanted to have her naked right here. The glooming darkness couldn’t creep over me when she was in my arms.
“Harry, you have to stop. The meeting,” she blurted out, arching her head backward, and giving me access to her neck.
“Let me make you come. We could stop the lift,” I rasped, unbuttoning her white shirt. The image of a pale Louisa was slowly fading away. As long as I was close to Gina, nothing else mattered.
“No, the meeting. I don’t want to be late,” she said, and pushed me away. I dragged my hand through my hair, asking myself what the hell was wrong with me. I lost it again and that wasn’t supposed to happen. This girl was stripping me of my self-control.
She was right. I’d made a hell of an effort to get her here.
“All right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost control like that,” I said, as she was putting her clothes back in order. She didn’t seem angry, but her cheeks were flushed. There was a restaurant on the third floor. I glanced at my watch, then around. Adler was sitting at one of the tables by the window. He was alone, looking immersed in his paper. It looked like our timing was perfect.
“Hold on, does he even know we’re coming?” she asked, pulling me to the side. I grabbed her hand and squeezed. The act was innocent, but it did something to me. Gina stared back at my hand with confusion.
“Just leave this to me. Adler doesn’t normally do this, but trust me, once we sit in front of him, he will listen,” I said, and approached the table, ready to make her dream come true.

Gina

Harry wasn’t sticking to our agreement. He assured me that this meeting was for me, but he was lying. I had no doubt that he still wanted to fuck me, and I felt like a hypocrite because I wanted him, too. Desire had me trapped; there wasn’t any other way to explain this. My heart was beating loudly in my chest and my pussy ached for his cock. This was pathetic, I had to just stay away from him, but he was helping me, so this was going to be almost impossible.
We were still holding hands and it felt natural. I had never held hands with anyone else, even my ex-boyfriends. My heart was slowly turning into mush. There was no way I was allowing myself to get attached to him.
We approached the man who I had been trying to see for the past six months. He wore his white suit and looked busy reading The Times. I chose to wear my best suit today. Brittany told me that I looked hot, but now I felt silly. I didn’t want to look overdressed.
“Hey, Adler, my man, how are you? Fancy seeing you here,” Harry said, approaching the table and patting the older guy on the back. Adler must have been in his mid-fifties. He was slightly overweight with a mass of silver hair.
He looked up and narrowed his eyes at Harry. He seemed annoyed that someone interrupted him, and, for a moment, I thought he would tell us to piss off. His hazel eyes were moving from Harry to me.
“Erskine? What on earth are you doing here?” he asked, getting up and shaking hands with Harry. “You must have bribed my secretary again or asked her out, if she told you about this meeting. I really need to replace that girl.”
“No, don’t. Marisa is a hard worker, but we go way back. Unfortunately, it was necessary. This is my friend Gina. She has been trying to arrange a meeting with you for months now,” Harry explained, winking at me. Heat rushed to my cheeks when Adler glanced at me, annoyed. This wasn’t going well.
“Fine, both of you sit down. I haven’t got all day. I have to be somewhere in an hour,” he explained.
My mind seemed blank as soon as I sat down, and my hands started to shake. I had been waiting for this moment for years, preparing myself and practising in front of the mirror. Adler was always looking for new opportunities, and I believed my proposal was unique enough to spark his interest.
“Gina is a pole dancing instructor, and I think you would love to hear what she has to say,” Harry said quickly, calling the waitress to our table. Adler’s face brightened.
“Pole dancing, interesting,” Adler said. “I saw some acrobats at one of the events last year. Those girls were very talented.”
“Pole dancing is an art. I have been teaching it for over ten years now. There are students who are on different levels. Some who would like to take part in the com…”
Somehow my voice sounded confident, and once I started talking, I didn’t feel nervous anymore.
I told him about all the shows I wanted to cover next year, about setting up more studios around Glasgow and possibly other places. Women were empowered by pole dancing, and many of them were eager to learn.
Adler kept nodding and listening, and, after some time, he started taking notes, too. I went over my background a little, mentioned my other ideas about marketing and my own achievements in the past.
Every business investment was risky, but I’d studied the market, done my research, and I just knew that this could really work. It was odd, but I felt like I had known Adler for years.
When I was done talking, Harry looked fascinated. The man shared one of the most intimate times of my life with me, and he was already on my side. He wasn’t the one who I was trying to impress, though.
Adler was silent, looking lost in his own thoughts. I covered a lot in about twenty minutes, and I must have given him some things to think about. I knew that, at some point, I would need to quit my job. I had to focus entirely on my goal.
“Well, are you finished now?” he finally asked, taking off his glasses. I nodded, realising that this wasn’t a very good sign.
“Impressive, come on, Adler. You have to admit that this girl is on fire,” Harry pointed out, and I wished he would just wait, and not say a thing.
“So, have you worked out the budget? Do you know how much money you can bring in the first year?” he asked, and I nearly sprang off the chair to get my folder.
We went over the numbers for the next half an hour. I thought that this whole thing must be going well, because Adler called his secretary and asked her to cancel the next meeting. I didn’t want to start jumping for joy, but this had to be a positive sign.
I was grateful, but there was a lot of planning ahead of me and, if I wanted to make this work, I needed to be firmer and not give Andrew all my time.
“Well, I must say, I’m intrigued, Miss Martinez. I would like to come and see you in action soon,” he said in the end, winking at me. I opened my mouth to thank him, but no sound came out.
“See, Adler, you old git, I wouldn’t have brought her in here if I wasn’t convinced you could make shit loads of money on the idea,” Harry said, standing up. The adrenaline was coursing through my body.
“I’m in. Just speak to my secretary about the details and start booking some venues, because surely, you have a lot of preparations ahead of you.” Adler shook my hand, and I couldn’t find the words to describe how I felt. I was ready to throw myself on the man in front of me and kiss him.