“You know me. Can’t do anything halfway.”
“Maybe you scared the girl,” he muses.
I frown a little bit and sip my own whisky. It’s smoky and malty, a really gorgeous blend. “Maybe,” I admit. “I don’t think so, though.”
“The Tillmans are no joke,” Chuck says. “What if they found the box and she never got it?”
“I suspect I’d be meeting with their lawyers then,” I say, grinning.
Chuck sighs. “It’s not funny, man,” he says. “The Tillmans are like… buying out Congress rich. You know what I mean?”
“Not to mention connected as all hell,” I say, nodding. “I get it.”
“Why mess with them?”
“I’m not,” I say.
“You are. There are plenty of women in this city, and almost all of them won’t get you in fucking trouble with the Tillman family.”
“I’ve had all of those women,” I say, grinning. “There’s just something about this one. I don’t know, man. I can’t explain it.”
He looks at me then sighs, shaking his head. “You’re going to keep going after her, aren’t you? Nothing I can say?”
“You’ve known me long enough to know I’m not going to back off,” I say.
He shrugs. “Okay then. What’s your next move?”
“Another package,” I say. “But I need to think of what to put inside of it.”
“Can’t help you there,” he says, shaking his head. “I’ll listen and advise, but I’m not crossing that line.”
“You afraid of the Tillmans?”
He stares at me for a second then nods his head. “You’re damn right I am.”
We go back to drinking and change the subject, but I can’t really blame him. Chuck is a smart guy, and he’s been around long enough to know that you don’t mess with people like the Tillmans.
I’ve learned that same lesson, but apparently it didn’t stick. Because the next day, despite warnings from Chuck, I find myself putting together another package.
This one is smaller, much smaller. It’s a box about eight inches long, two inches wide, and inside is a gorgeous little black vibrator.
I can’t help but feel excited as hell as I put together this package. I write a little more on the card this time, heart racing.
You have the outfit and now you have the toy. Call me to discuss what to do with it. Gavin.
I grin to myself as I put it all together. If her family intercepts this thing, I’ll be totally fucked. They’ll come after me hard, and I can’t really blame them.
But she won’t be able to ignore this if she does get it somehow. The lingerie was pushing it, but this vibrator is stepping over the line and then running way past it. It’s going to piss her off, or maybe it’s going to excite her, but it’s going to get a reaction.
I mail it off and then I wait. I sent the package by courier, so I know that she’ll get it by the morning at the latest, I can barely sleep that night, thinking about how she’ll react when she wakes up to this little surprise on her doorstep, or however rich girls like her get their mail.
I get up early, workout to keep my mind occupied, and then I get my coffee and head into the office. I try to distract myself with work, but I can’t stop thinking about that package and about Sadie. She’s so fucking gorgeous and smart and funny, and she probably doesn’t even realize how much she has to offer. I bet her family keeps her locked up tight, ready to be traded off to some other rich family in exchange for some business ties or some shit.
A few hours trickle past. I keep looking at the clock and feeling more and more anxious. No one comes or goes, and soon I’m forced to have lunch. I eat at my desk, unable or unwilling to leave my office. I don’t know why. I keep looking at my phone, willing it to ring, but it doesn’t.
The day slowly slips past. I know she got it, or at least the couriers say it was delivered to her address. Maybe the family intercepted it and I’m fucked, or maybe she’s just so insulted that she won’t respond to me. I can’t imagine that’s the case, though, but the lunch hour comes and goes and I hear nothing.
All day passes. I’m practically sweating this goddamn thing, and I almost start to regret sending it.
But no, no, I don’t regret shit. I want this girl, and I need to find a way to get her. Maybe this package didn’t work, but something else will. I’m not giving up so easily.
I head home around seven that night, disappointed but accepting my situation. If she got the package and didn’t call, that means she’s probably beyond my reach. But if she didn’t get it, that meant the family knows what I’ve sent her, and I’m in deep shit.