Simply Beautiful Read online

  Alisha knocked on Brandon’s door and waited to be invited to go in.

  “Come in,” she heard Brandon say, so she opened the door.

  “Brandon, Betty said that you wanted to—.”Alisha immediately came up short as she noticed that Brandon was not the only one in the room. David and Brandon’s brother, Tristan, were seated in front of Brandon’s desk. David smiled at her and Tristan looked at her in a way that could only be described as lustful. Alisha looked back at him. Damn! Dude is hella fine. She had never been close enough to Tristan to notice how good-looking he truly was. His office was far from hers, and they really didn’t have any reason to meet.

  Tristan noticed the ebony beauty as soon as she opened the door. He sucked in his breath in admiration. He’d noticed Alisha every time he’d come into the New York office, but had kept his distance. She was the reason he stayed away from the office…well, her and the fact that he hated New York. He knew that she had no idea of his interest in her and wanted it to remain that way. Anyway, it seemed whenever he came within a few feet of the lady, she would turn and go in the opposite direction. His brother, knowing him as well as he did, had evidently picked up on his interest in Alisha. So that’s her name—and she’s single, apparently. He’d never known her name. He just knew that he had a strong physical attraction to her. Up close, she was really hot!

  Staring at the beauty before him, Tristan thought to himself, maybe New York isn’t so bad after all. Tristan heard her speak and was floored. Her voice, all smoky and hot, was turning him on. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her. He could feel Brandon’s eyes on him and could care less. “Well, damn!” Tristan heard himself saying, as he couldn’t resist looking her up and down in admiration.

  Alisha, looking at David and then Tristan, said, “Hello David…Mr. Cameron.”

  “How are you, Alisha?” David said.

  “I am fine. How are you?” she said. She was starting to feel uncomfortable and self-conscious under Tristan’s scrutiny, and a little irate, but she couldn’t help feeling a bit flattered and turned on at the same time. Resolutely, she turned and looked at Brandon, “Hello, Brandon. Betty said you wanted to see me?”

  Brandon put on a straight face and got up, looking Alisha directly in the eyes. There she was in the office of the partners, standing tall with her head up, like she didn’t have a care in the world. Most people when called to his office were scared shitless that they had done something wrong, but not Ms. Alisha Carrington. In fact, she looked mad as hell that Tristan was gawking at her openly. “Uh, yes, Alisha. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. Have a seat,” he said, motioning for her to take the unoccupied seat next to David.

  “Thanks. Is there a problem?” Just as Brandon was getting ready to answer, David’s cell phone went off, but he was so busy smirking at Tristan he didn’t realize that it was his phone until Alisha brought it to his attention.

  “Uh, David…I think that’s your phone ringing.” Alisha said.

  “What? Oh yeah,” David sputtered before reaching inside his jacket pocket to retrieve his cell phone.

  “It’s my wife.” Hurriedly, David answered his phone, speaking quickly with his wife, and disconnecting his call and looking at the others.

  “What’s wrong?” both Alisha and Brandon, asked at once.

  “Nadia’s in labor. I have to go.” He rushed out quickly.

  Brandon yelled after him. “Hey, man! Call as soon as you can. I’ll stop by the hospital before I leave tonight.”

  David yelled, “Okay,” on his way down the hall.

  Brandon looked at Alisha, “Have a seat, Alisha,” he said, realizing that she was still standing.

  Alisha looked over at Tristan as she sat down. He looked at her with a raised brow. Alisha tried not to let his intense scrutiny fluster her, as she turned back to Brandon, waiting for him to tell her exactly why she was here in his office. Alisha stole a discreet glance over at Tristan and gave an inward sigh of appreciation…talk about bringing sexy back. He wore sexy like a GQ model, in a military sort of way. She pulled her legs tighter together trying to stem off the throbbing that had started between her thighs. Alisha pulled her thoughts away from Tristan to focus on what Brandon was saying.

  Brandon began, “Alisha, I am not sure if you’re aware of the rumors going around about James Langston, but I know he asked you to work on an appeal with him.”

  “Yes, he gave me the Manzini appeal.”

  “Why?” It was Tristan who asked this.

  “I have no idea.” Alisha answered, turning to look at him fully. Tristan had to be at least six three or four, European features, with brownish blond hair and light blue-grey eyes framed under long, thick lashes. The man was downright gorgeous. If it wasn’t for the permanent frown that he seemed to wear all the time, the man could definitely give the younger male models a go for their money. He had that bad boy persona down pat.

  “When did he give you the appeal?” Brandon’s question brought her back to the issue at hand.

  “He gave it to me yesterday, and it has to be served and filed by next week.”

  “So that means you would have to stay late with him to get this done,” Tristan said, barely containing his anger. It wasn’t a question but a statement.

  Glaring at Tristan, Brandon said, “Alisha, with all the rumors going around about James, if you don’t feel comfortable doing this, you don’t have to. But I’d appreciate it if you’d give the appearance of helping him. If you’ve heard the rumors, then you know that he’s been accused of sexual harassment. Tristan and I are trying to gather enough evidence against him to throw him out on his sorry ass. But I won’t wait around and put your safety at risk to do so. Just so you know, I didn’t override James’ decision to give the appeal to you because I didn’t want him becoming suspicious of my actions. I have never done that before unless the person was totally incompetent. Unfortunately, that is not the case with you. I have to leave tonight and Tris—“

  Brandon was cut off by Tristan loud, “She’s not doing it!”

  Both Brandon and Alisha were surprised at Tristan’s outburst and it showed on their faces.

  “Uh, Tris…,” Brandon began.

  “No, Brandon, and it’s not up for debate,” Tristan interrupted, growling at his brother.

  “Oh boy, here we go,” Brandon muttered looking at Alisha’s mad as hell expression.

  “Excuse me!” she said in a quiet but obviously furious voice, turning to glare at Tristan.

  Tristan stood up and grabbed her by the hand and pulled her up out of her chair so that they were facing each other. “I said, sugar, and read my lips: hell no! You will not go near that little weasel as long as I’m still breathing, and if you want him breathing, you’d best be advised not to go near him!”

  Alisha’s chest was heaving up and down and she looked as though she was about to explode she was so angry, Brandon noticed. His brother didn’t know it yet but he was getting ready to get a cussing out by one beautiful, but very angry, woman. Brandon had no doubt that Tristan had already laid claim on Alisha when she’d first walked through his office door—and if he was honest with himself, even before that—but his brother was going about getting his woman the wrong way. Alisha was very attractive, but she was also very intelligent and had a hellacious temper when provoked. He’d learned that one day when some bozo kept trying to cop a feel. She not only gave the idiot a cursing that would have had sailors fleeing, she did some move that brought the silly idiot to his knees when he got up in what Alisha called “her personal space.”

  Things were going to go from bad to worse if he didn’t get his brother to calm down. Tristan was a real hot head and was the type of person to kick ass first and ask questions later. But right now his Alpha male brother was in danger of being knocked upside his thick skull or, at the very least, cussed out. With a sigh, Brandon intervened. “Okay, Tristan, calm down.”

  Tristan turned on Brandon, eyes blazing and yelled, “Get out, Brand
on! Now!”

  “The hell I will, brother! It’s my office!” Brandon yelled back.

  “BRANDON! OUT!” Tristan shouted even louder.

  “You can’t tell him to leave his own office!” Alisha was yelling now, too.

  Tristan, looking down at Alisha’s pouty mouth, said, “I can and I will. Brandon, leave now!”

  “Hell no! Not until you calm down and we come to some sort of agreement!”

  Tristan realized that his brother could be just as stubborn as he, and let go of Alisha’s hand but didn’t move from in front of her. “Okay, Brandon, let’s hear what you have to say, and trust me, it’d better be damned good.” Tristan folded his arms across his chest, waiting for his brother to speak.

  Oh, brother, thought Brandon. Tristan was in full pissed off mode…and appeared to be getting more pissed by the minute. “As I was saying, Alisha, you—”

  “Discussion over, Brandon. Leave now, or I won’t be responsible for what happens next.” Tristan turned back to Alisha.

  Alisha looked at Tristan in astonishment. Seriously, she thought, who the hell does this man think he is? Maybe the family had a history of mental illness. You never know with rich people. Black, white, no matter, rich folk were crazy as hell, and this was one crazy-assed rich dude. He was double crazy if he thought that he could tell her what to do with her time. Well, he could actually take her off the case, but only if it was what Brandon wanted. After all, Brandon was the one who’d hired her. As she stood there looking at the crazy dude, she started to get more pissed, especially since Brandon wasn’t making any moves to straighten this jackass out.

  “You can’t tell me what to do,” Alisha said to Tristan. Alisha whipped her head around to face Brandon. “Brandon, you can take the case from me or you can even fire me—actually you can’t fire me unless you have a damned good reason—but you cannot order me around. And nor can you,” she said, turning to Tristan. And before either of them could utter a word, she continued, “First, I am a grown woman. Second, the last I checked my daddy was in South Carolina along with my momma; and third,” she looked at Brandon, “as far as I’m concerned, your brother here is a complete jackass.”

  Brandon, recognizing that his brother was barely holding onto his temper, decided it was time to take control of the situation before his secretary called the police on all of them. Tristan really needed to learn how to control his temper, and he didn’t want to see what Alisha would do if provoked. After witnessing her anger that once, he didn’t want to get her pissed at them.

  “Can we all take a seat for a minute? Please?” Brandon looked from one to the other. Neither Tristan nor Alisha looked ready to concede. This should be a very interesting relationship, Brandon thought. His brother didn’t know it yet, but it looked like he had met his match with Ms. Carrington. Brandon couldn’t wait to call their parents and tell them his thoughts on the two people standing in front of his desk. Yep, he was almost certain that Cameron was going to be attached to Alisha’s name. Provided Alisha didn’t brain his brother, which she looked about ready to do. Brandon was grateful that Alisha finally took her seat, but Tristan, being Tristan, kept standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

  Well, Brandon thought, I’ll take what I can get from Tristan. I’d better get this show on the road before Tristan forgets that we’re brothers and really starts getting difficult. Sighing, he said, “Look, you two, I realize we have a situation here with the problem with Langston. We don’t need another one with you two about to tear into each other. Let’s handle one situation at a time. Okay?” He looked pointedly at Tristan, who barely nodded. “Now, as I was saying, Alisha, James has a reputation, and I would prefer that you not be alone with him. We need a way to prevent that from happening without him getting suspicious. Unfortunately, I’m on my way out of town for a few days, but Tristan is here to handle this situation.”

  Alisha opened her mouth as if to protest, so he hurriedly continued, “And before you say anything, Alisha, even though it doesn’t look like it,” Brandon shot Tristan a warning glance, “Tristan is very capable of handling the situation. I’ll let him go over his qualifications with you, because quite frankly, the two of you are beginning to give me a headache. I think an early lunch is in order, so I’m going to get out of your way and catch up with David at the hospital to see if Nadia’s okay. If she’s having the baby now she is about two weeks early and if I know my partner, he’s making everybody crazy there. I’d hesitate to leave you alone with my brother, Alisha, but I have a feeling you can handle him!” Brandon said with a grin. Grabbing his suit jacket and coat from the coat rack in his office, he put it on and walked towards his office door to leave.

  Tristan felt like an ass. He had forgotten all about David and Nadia. “Sorry, bro; give David and Nadia my best. Are you coming back to the office or are you going home?” Tristan said.

  “I’m coming back, if for nothing else than to make sure you two haven’t torn apart my office. Besides, we need to have a meeting with James before I leave today.”

  “No problem. See you later, then.”

  Alisha got up also, “I’ll come back when you get back, Bran—”

  “Sit down, Alisha, please,” Tristan said, his temper rising again.

  She responded by sucking her teeth. “Whatever,” she said and proceeded to follow Brandon out the door, but Tristan was too quick for her.

  “I don’t think so, Beauty,” he said coming up behind her and pulling her back against his frame and locking his arm securely around her waist, preventing her escape. “Let’s talk. Please.”

  Pulled against the tight confines of Tristan’s rock hard body a moan slipped from her lips. Not only did he look good, but damn he felt good too. He was gentle, yet firm, in his hold on her.

  Alisha’s entire body went on full alert at first contact with his. Her nipples pebbled against the silkiness of her demi bra. For once she was grateful that she had on a jacket. There was no doubt in her mind that Tristan had felt her body’s reaction to his closeness, and from the growing bulge nestled against her ass, she knew she was getting to him also.

  “Hold on, Beauty,” Tristan said. “Brandon, we’re straight here.”

  “Alisha, you sure you’re okay?” Brandon asked.

  “Of course. I can handle your brother, Brandon,” Alisha replied.

  “Okaay,” Brandon said, smiling and shaking his head as he went to open the door to his office.

  As Brandon opened the door, Tristan kept his hold on Alisha, simply spinning her around and turning her in his arms and out of the view of the open doorway. “We don’t want to give the office anything else to gossip about, do we, Beauty?” Tristan said.

  Brandon rolled his eyes. “You have one hour, Tris, two tops. After that, you’re on your own and I want my damn office back.” Brandon quit the room, closing the door behind him.

  “You can let go of me now,” Alisha said, looking up into Tristan’s face.

  “Can I, Beauty?” he said with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t think that I can, actually,” he said, knowing in his heart of hearts that he meant it literally. He pulled her more closely into his embrace and swooped down to take her mouth. “Open,” he said. Alisha’s mouth opened on his command. He was taking her mouth with a hunger that was reserved for her only. Never had he felt anything remotely like this with any other women. His mouth mated with hers as would any man claiming his woman. Before Alisha knew what was happening, Tristan had deftly divested her of her jacket, tossing it across the room and onto the leather couch. He pulled her blouse out of the confines of her skirt with both hands, then slipped his hand underneath her bra cup and grasped the full globes in the palms of his hands. He massaged her breasts from the base of the round mound to her long, hard, erect nipples, pulling gentle on the nipples.

  Alisha thought she would die from the sensation as their tongues continued their mating dance and his fingers continued giving her nipples pleasure never known before. Her already soaked
panties got wetter as her cream seeped from her vagina onto her barely-there thong.

  As their tongues mated, something jolted through Tristan. He knew that this was one woman that he had no intention of letting go. Yes, Ms. Alisha Carrington was his full mother-fucking stop. He would kill anyone and anything that tried to come between him and this woman. He had never laid claim to any woman before, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt, as soon as she walked her fine self into Brandon’s office, that she was going to be his. Deny it all she wanted, she was his. The kiss lasted for what seemed like an eternity. Tristan could feel Alisha’s body began to tremble, indicating that she was close to an orgasm. Wow, this lady is responsive! he thought. He wanted to give her pleasure and was about to take it up a notch when Alisha broke free of their kiss.

  Alisha pulled her mouth from his. “Wa—wait! What are we doing? Oh my God! We can’t do this here!” She dislodged herself from Tristan’s grasp and looking at her disheveled appearance, she began pacing back and forth, running her fingers through her hair. “This is an office—shit! Do you think they heard us?” she asked Tristan. Not giving him a chance to answer she continued, “This is all your fault!” She turned fiery eyes on him. “Oh man, I have to get out of here,” she was saying as she continued pacing the room.

  “Not before we get a few things settled, darlin’.”

  “What things?”

  “James,” he said as he slowly approached her. “You will not be working with him.”

  “And just how am I supposed to get out of it now? I was on my way to his office when I was summoned here.”