Rubbing his face, he tried to clear his mind.
“That is where you come in, Mr. Welch,” one of his employees said.
“Excuse me?”
“This particular case needs to be handled face to face. You’re head of the company and could nail this if he was to see you in person.”
“I’ll arrange everything and fly out next week,” he said not really thinking about it.
“Actually, we’ve organised for you to leave first thing tomorrow.” His secretary gave him the flight tickets and the file that he needed to read. The rest of the meeting went by in a blur as he read the file. He was hoping to acquire another company to add to the massive collection he had.
He walked out of the meeting not caring what the others would say if he skipped what was important. Business was going to call him away, and all he wanted to do was spend time with Elle.
Clark walked into his office later that day with a frown on his face. “Did I hear you walked out on a board meeting?”
“You’ve got to stop screwing women from my office,” Isaac told him.
“They’re good women. Well, what is going on?”
“Nothing.”
Clark stared at him across the desk. “Nothing. You’re no longer available at night. You don’t return my calls. I haven’t seen you out with a woman in over a month.”
“I’m making changes to my life, and that includes not dating.”
“Something is going on with you, and I want to know what it is. We’re supposed to be the best of friends.”
“Clark, we’re forty-year-old men. Don’t you think it’s time for us to grow up and settle down?”
“Are you having a mid-life crisis, or are you worried that you’ll end up like your father?” Clark asked.
Isaac ignored all the questions.
“Rumour has it that your younger brother got in touch.”
“No one should listen to rumours,” Isaac said as he flicked through the file. He kept looking at the clock and waiting for the time to pass so he could be with Elle once again.
He felt he had a responsibility towards her.
“Then I guess I shouldn’t repeat the fact that Bradley has a record for drink and drugs as well as a bad reputation for the gambling tables.”
“Keep that information to yourself. He’s fought hard to get where he is today,” he said defending his brother.
“You know, your dad was at one of my ex-wife’s functions the other day?” Clark asked.
Clark had married years ago, only to cheat on the woman with her best friend. Why did they lead f**ked-up lives?
“I don’t want to know.” Isaac had enough of waiting. He got up from his desk and gathered his files and stuff.
“Where are you going?” Clark asked.
“I’ve had enough for today. I’m going home to get ready to leave.”
“This is what I’m talking about. You’re not yourself.” Clark grabbed Isaac’s arm as he went to pass.
“Let go of me. I’ve got somewhere to be.”
“What the hell are you doing, Isaac? You better think about what you’re doing. Otherwise it’s going to come and bite you in the ass.”
Isaac pulled out of the hold and stormed out of his office. Thinking about Elle and last night, the things she’d said had his mind working faster than he could stand.
When he got to his penthouse apartment, he got into the cold shower and allowed the water to run over his body. She’d admitted to being in love with him. A woman who had no idea who he was had said she loved the man he was playing.
Isaac wasn’t the same man as Isaac Welch. In his world he’d send her to the wolves. There was no possible way for him to love her. Not at all. He denied his feelings for her in the hope they would be true. He was a cold calculating bastard who only wanted to see her hero worship him. Her feelings meant nothing to him.
I’m not in love with Noelle Evans. I’m not in love with Noelle Evans.
He chanted the words in hope that the ache inside his chest was due to something else rather than his denial of feelings for her.
Cutting off his feelings he got out of the shower to change for his visit with her. He’d tell her he couldn’t see her for some time. Then he would go on this business trip, nail the account, screw another woman and forget all about Noelle Evans. No way would he be controlled by his dick. Women were made to be f**ked and forgotten. Elle wasn’t any different. Even as he thought the words, Isaac hated them. Elle wasn’t like other women, and to think of her in such a way disgusted him.
He stared at his reflection in the bathroom and hated what he saw. Elle deserved the man she’d come to love in the hotel room, not the jaded other man who stood in his place, a man who would rather ruin his father than spend ten minutes alone in a room with him.
“Do not turn into that man,” he said to himself. When he was with her, nothing else mattered. He knew he could live happily with her and never look at another woman again. Spending so much time in his social circle was making him think it was impossible. Elle made him feel like anything was possible.
“Go to her and be the man you want to be.” Isaac got dressed in quick time. He left his apartment and drove straight to the hotel. When he got to the reception desk of the hotel, the man behind the counter smirked at him.
“Make sure she gets the key,” he said. He paid for the room for the whole night. Before he left he wanted to feel her in his arms. Forty years old and she was the only woman to ever sleep all night in his bed.
When he got inside the room he stared at the bed for the longest time. He saw the two of them intertwined as they were last night, him holding her hands above her head as he drove into her cunt and took her cherry.
The sheets were fresh. He wished he had something of her so he could scent her while he waited.
Removing his clothes, he grabbed a robe, sat on the bed and waited for her.
Chapter Fifteen
Noelle was surprised when the desk clerk handed her a key. She went to pay him for the use of the room, but he shook the money away. Her day had been unproductive. She couldn’t get the image of what they’d done out of her head. The whole situation was distracting her, and she needed to earn some money.
When she got to the hotel room, she opened the door and was pulled inside. Isaac closed the door and pressed her up against it. He slammed his lips down on hers before she could protest. Neither spoke or had the time to speak as he was clawing at her. She felt the desperation within him. Instead of being scared she rejoiced in the need he felt. Heat pooled between her legs, her cream leaking into her panties as the rapture he created within her took hold.