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2024-10-29 19:42:56Now, as she sat in her car, she tried to remind herself that there was absolutely no need to feel so nervous. It was ridiculous in fact. She was good at her job. Why else would Evan trust her to do this if she wasn't? If she could convince Jensen, then she could certainly do the same with Timothy. All she needed was to be professional. Whatever happened between them happened years ago and there was no way Timothy would still be upset about it. She just needed to do her job, convince Timothy and get the hell out. How hard could that be? And maybe luck would be on her side and Timothy Kavell wouldn't need much convincing.
Chloe hurried into the impressive building and headed straight for the blond receptionist who was sitting behind her desk.
"Hello," she said.
The young lady lifted her head and smiled cheerfully at her. "Hello," she said sweetly. "Good morning ma'am. How may I help you?"
"Ermm, I'm here to see Mr Packard. I have an appointment with him. I'm sure he's expecting me right now" said Chloe.
"Which Mr Packard would like to see ma'am?" asked the receptionist. When she saw the look on Chloe's face, she added. "You see both Mr Packard and his son are here. I just wanted to know which of the two you have an appointment with."
Chloe felt excitement and panic at the same time at the thought of seeing Timothy... and hated it. If she was going to do this and do it right, she shouldn't be feeling that way. At this point, she wished there could have been a way to do this without involving Timothy. She knew that was impossible, but hey, a girl could wish a little, right?
She wondered what Timothy would look like now...couldn't stop wondering what kind of person he had become. Of course she had seen pictures of him. How could she not when he was part owner of an amazing company like Packard Enterprises, but seeing a picture of someone and meeting them in person were two different things.
"What's your name please?" the receptionist added when Chloe didn't reply.
"Chloe.... Chloe Gilbert" said Chloe, shaking her head as if that would get rid of her thoughts. "And although I'm supposed to see Timothy Packard too, my appointment is with Mr Packard himself, I mean Jensen Packard, not his son"
The receptionist checked her list and smiled at Chloe when she raised her head. "I see that you do have an appointment," she said. "I'm sure he must be expecting you. Let me just let him know that you are here"
Chloe watched her punch a button and after a while say, "Yes sir, I have Miss Gilbert here for you" There was a pause, then she added. "Alright then, I will send her up"
She hung up and returned her attention to Chloe. "Please come with me. I will show you to his office." She stood and Chloe followed her into the elevator. A few seconds later after they left the elevator, Chloe found herself walking down a hallway and soon, she was standing in front of a door with Jensen Packard's name on it.
"Here you go," said the Lady.
"Thank you very much," replied Chloe. The Lady responded with a smile and a nod before she turned and walked away.
Chloe lifted her hand and tapped lightly on the door before she grabbed the door knob and softly pushed it open.
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Timothy Packard stood in his father's office, waiting to see who this representative from Golden Gate promotions was, and why his father was so sure that he had made the right decision. He couldn't just wait to prove his father wrong, and he was very sure that he would be unimpressed with this so-called pitch.
Jensen on the other hand, sat idly in his chair and watched the expression on his son's face. "Come on, I know you are mad at me, but can you just relax and have a seat, Tim? '' he said casually. "There's no need to be like this. Believe me, I'm sure you will thank me for this... Maybe not today but someday, I'm sure you will"
Timothy frowned and kept his eyes on the door. "It's Timothy not Tim, dad. I already told you that several times" he said, "And I highly doubt that I would ever thank you for this. There are many things I'm grateful to you for, but being cut off is not one of them"
Jensen said nothing but chuckled slightly as the frown in Timothy's face became even more pronounced. The chuckle annoyed Timothy even more. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing funny about this situation, but he ignored his father.
There was a knock on the door that instant. Father and son looked at each other and then back at the door, but neither of them said anything.
The door opened softly and a lady walked in.
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Timothy had somehow known that something was up from the day he confronted his father about this issue, but he had never thought... Never could have guessed that it could be this.... That it could be her.
Timothy had not seen Chloe Gilbert in years, but he recognized her immediately. Hell, there was no way he could ever forget her face. He didn't think that he would ever see her again... Not after the silly way things had ended between them. He didn't even let himself think about it. He had put it behind him, but that wasn't the point. The point was that she was standing right in front of him after such a long time, and he couldn't seem to get himself to move an inch.
Vibrant. Vivacious. So fucking beautiful.... Timothy couldn't think of a word to describe her because she was all of it.
Dressed in a light green floaty top and skin tight black leather trousers, she was a magnificent vision, powerful enough to slacken his jaw before he caught himself and pressed his lips into appropriately neutral, downright unfriendly lines. Her curvy hips and endless legs were balanced on sky-high heels matching her trousers and, with that combined with her bouncy curls and flawless make-up, Timothy felt his breathing fracture into useless silent hiccups as he stared.
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PLAY WITH ME 4
Finally he understood what his father had been up to. He understood that smile he had seen on his father's face that day at his office. Jensen Packard had loved Chloe as if she were his daughter when they were in high school, but this.... This was the last thing he could have guessed that his father would do.Timothy didn't turn to look at his father. There would be a lot of time to let him know that he didn't appreciate being taken by surprise this way, so instead, he focused his gaze on the woman who had just walked into the spacious office.She effortlessly projected an ingrained confidence and inner strength that Timothy had envied for a long time before finding his own rightful place in the world. He watched Chloe Gilbert saunter towards him, that heart-stopping smile curving her luscious lips. He stayed put, let her come closer, looked deeper into her stunning dark eyes and tried to hide his confusion.Three feet from him, she stopped. "Hello, Tim. Good morning" she said in a vo
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"No" replied Timothy, finally moving away from the wall, and stepping a little closer. "I have other things to do and I would rather make out some time so we can talk properly, Is that okay? How long are you going to be in town?"With her seated and him standing, he seemed much taller than he actually was, and more intimidating. Chloe didn't like that at all. The last thing she wanted was to lose her nerve in front of this man, but that was beginning to look really difficult. Timothy Kavell Packard had aged well, and as far as she was concerned, no one should be allowed to look that attractive because he was doing a damn fine job of stealing her breath without even trying.Chloe placed her hands on her laps and told herself that she was an idiot for feeling lightheaded. He was just a man, flesh and blood... But...what a man!He was tall, with wide shoulders, long muscular legs and what had to be a washboard stomach under the mint green button-down shirt tucked into a pair of plain bla
PLAY WITH ME 6
“Urgh. Why is it taking so long?” Evan asked impatiently.“I saw that bastard, Felix Greene this morning. I know he is after the account too. I can't risk him taking it away from us. Especially as I already bragged to him about us having it. I really thought we had it after we spoke to Jensen Packard” "You did? You shouldn't have done that" Chloe replied. "But you don't have to worry about him" She added after a slight pause. Though she wouldn’t admit it to Evan, it made her extremely nervous to know that their business rival was also hammering so relentlessly on Packard Enterprises. Felix Greene owned Maddox communications, and not only had Felix lured away a few of Golden gate promotions top clients in recent months, he’d also launched a PR campaign against Golden gate. It was dirty pool, but it in no way surprised Chloe. Felix Greene was ruthless, and he’d do anything to win. "Are you seriously telling me that I shouldn't be concerned about him after everything he has done?" Evan
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Her thoughts drifted back to Timothy. It was almost impossible to stop thinking about him. Right now, her body seemed to heat up about five degrees just by the mere thought of him. She shook away her thoughts. If she was going to do this, it had to be done professionally and that sucked, because there was definitely nothing professional about the way her body reacted when she thought about him. _______________ "There you are!" Katherine Kavell-Packard said when she saw her son walk into the room. "I was beginning to think that you wouldn't come after you promised me that you would. I would have been so upset. Come have a seat. Thankfully the food is still hot. Why are you so late? And please don't tell me you were stuck in the office. I'm tired of hearing that excuse." "I'm sorry, mom," Timothy said as he kissed his mother on the cheek before he sat down. "I was working and lost track of time" Katherine stared at him for a few seconds before she said, "That's a lie" as if she cou
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Jensen looked genuinely surprised. "Of course I don't think that," he said quickly. "Believe me, I would never think that. It's the last thing on my mind. I do trust you with the company one hundred percent and If I had any issue regarding the way you handled things, I would let you know immediately not cut you off."“So why didn’t you?”“I guess i was worried that you say no when you found out that Chloe was involved…I know things didn’t really go well for the both of you”Katherine sighed with relief. "Well, wasn't that easier and much better?" she asked. "You both just like to make things unnecessarily harder for each other. It's situations like this that make me wish Deanie was home so I could at least get a little break from the both of you. I will never be able to understand you men. I miss my little girl"Jensen smiled at his wife and leaned back in his chair, then said to Tim, "So are you going to ask me the question you really want to ask? Or are we just going to ignore the f
PLAY WITH ME 9
The structure gleamed beautifully against the rays of the sun. At night, Lights from within and those reflected from surrounding buildings bathed it in a stunning silhouette that drew awed gasps. But this morning, his pride and joy paled in comparison to his interest in the silver car idling in the designated parking space beneath the wide double portico of the building.Parked a dozen feet behind it, Timothy watched Chloe Gilbert step out, her long, shapely legs extending in that way that only models and trained dancers could execute without appearing pretentious or awkward. Her heels were a shiny rose-gold color that drew attention to her delicate ankles.He suddenly had this wild image of gripping those ankles, spreading her thighs and baring her wet pussy to his hungry gaze. Years ago when they were together, they had never gone past kissing and making out... Neither of them had been ready for more back then, but now.....His thoughts had taken a crazy turn, and he knew he should s
PLAY WITH ME 10
The doors opened and, relieved, Timothy stepped out and led her down the hallway and finally, to his office where he offered her a chair before walking to the other side of the office where he poured himself a cup of coffee."Coffee?" he asked her.“Yeah sure. We can drink and talk,” she said. “I’m not using props or anything, and I planned it to be more conversational than a formal presentation.”He nodded approvingly, and moved to his chair in front of her. “Great. Let's get started then.”There was a moment of transition where they sipped their coffee in silence before Chloe shut off everything but the task at hand. This was her career and she knew she was damn good at it. She hadn’t gotten to where she was and survived the pitfalls without the ability to put her game face on in the face of adversity.“I studied your last ad campaign, and I believe your company is missing a huge segment of its target audience.” she began.Timothy blinked, set his mug down and stared across at her.
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“Then I’d say you’ve got your pitch appointment, Chloe. I’m very impressed with what you’ve had to say. If your presentation delivers on the promise of your ideas, it’s something our company will be very excited about.”Though she had every confidence in her ability to win him over, his enthusiasm gave her a wicked thrill. She was forced to play it cool and smile politely as she thanked him, but on the inside she was doing an insane victory dance. She had phone calls to make. Evan would need to know so they could start preparing. They’d want to do mock-ups of the advertising and have it prominently displayed on the television monitors in the Golden gates reception area. On the day she’d give Timothy her presentation, Golden gates would be all about Packard Enterprises. No one else would exist in the time frame Timothy was present in their offices.“You have to tell me how you managed to get Bryce Collins to agree to talk to us,” Timothy said as he sipped from his mug and then pushed i
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PLAY WITH ME 81
He pressed a finger to her lips. “Shh. I don’t want to hear that word cross your lips. It’s me who is sorry. I was an ass. I said despicable things to you.”Her eyes widened, and she felt the ridiculous urge to cry again, as if she hadn’t done enough of that in the last few days.“First, I want to talk about this,” he said as he drew out the dreaded newspaper clipping from his pocket. She froze, her stomach seizing with dread.“Don’t look like that. I don’t believe a word of it. But it’s obviously an important part of your past. It hurt you and it’s affected a good portion of our relationship. I want you to tell me what really happened.”Her lips trembled and she twisted her hands nervously in her lap. “I got out of college, intending to rule the world. I loved it…I loved my job. I was in a big, busy city, and I was away from home, away from my family. At the time that was important to me. I was stupid.”“I think we all go through the desperate need to get away from our family,” Timot
PLAY WITH ME 80
It was written in the guise of an article announcing the deal brokered between Packard Enterprises and Golden Gates promotions. It detailed her job history, colorful as it was, to the present and hinted broadly about there being a relationship between her and Timothy. Nothing was left to the imagination. Everything she’d worked so hard to overcome had been splashed in excruciating detail.She should be angry. Furious even. But what she felt was…..resignation.She looked up into the worried eyes of Bryce as the realization hit her. It would always be something. Timothy was right to be angry that she’d placed more importance on what others thought of her than she did what he thought of her. As long as the people she loved knew the truth, it shouldn’t matter what some stranger thought. Evan believed in her and her abilities. She had the backing of her agency. She had people who loved her unconditionally. Timothy evidently didn’t care who knew they were involved, so why should she?For th
PLAY WITH ME 79
Love was such a messy emotion. It was bound to be inconvenient. You sure couldn’t put it on a schedule and love never played by the rules. He liked rules. And schedules.. Ah, hell, he was absolutely in love with her.It was why he was sitting here in such a terrible mood that his usually easygoing office staff wouldn’t come near him for fear of being decapitated.He looked again at the article, and his chest utterly caved in. Chloe. God, he’d been such an idiot. A complete and utter, madly-in-love moron. He’d reacted just like a petulant child, furious that his favorite toy was being taken away. In this case, Chloe had wanted to put their relationship on hold and all he could see was that she was pushing him away, and sacred that she'd leave him again, he had panicked. He’d been a total ass.She needed him. Needed his support. And he’d told her to take a hike. Worse, he’d arrogantly told her not to bother changing her mind and come crawling back. He winced. Holy hell in a bucket but
PLAY WITH ME 78
She sighed. “I’m in love with him. And now he hates me.”All four men’s mouths rounded into Os. There was marked silence, and she regretted having blurted out that fact. Love was girly stuff, and none of the men looked like they had a clue what to say or do next.“Look, I appreciate you guys. I love you all to pieces. I don’t know what I would do without you. I don’t expect you to fix this for me. I’m not a little girl anymore. I’ll figure out something. I just needed a place to lick my wounds and regroup.”Peter frowned. “Now, you wait just one damn minute. You’re family, Chloe. I don’t care how old or how big you are.”Even Darell scowled and nodded his agreement. Bryce merely squeezed her hand and told her bluntly to shut up.“You can always come to us when you need us and we'll be here for you,” Darell said in his soft, gravelly voice. “That doesn't and will never change. We love you and we’ll always be here for you to come running to. You got that?”“Yeah, I do.”“Now come here
PLAY WITH ME 77
"Maybe you did… or maybe not," Chloe replied. "I think I did the same with Timothy, and I understand how you feel. But you and Tina are soul mates. You have been married for years. You have been been through so much together, and I believe that if any couple can pull through this, then the both of you can… just like you did before" "How is that supposed to happen when she won't even let me see her or speak to her? She fucking hates me" "I don't think she does. As a woman, I understand her perfectly. You screwed up, don't pressure her into forgiving you. That will only make her resent you even more. Give her some space. The truth is that you can't make her forgive you, so what you have to do now is stay away… even if it's for a while and let her decide if she wants you back""And if she doesn't?" Evan asked, dreading the reply. "Then you have to live with it. It's hard, but it's the consequences of your actions. That's life…" Evan felt dejected and stared at the closed door for a w
PLAY WITH ME 76
There was a wary look in his eye that warned her this wouldn’t be easy. But then he didn’t give a damn about what people thought. He wasn’t ruled by the opinions of others. As she had so many times before, she wished she could be like him. Instead of answering him, she rummaged in her bag for the stupid gossip rag and then she thrust it at him as if it was self-explanatory. And it was in a way. He glanced over the paper and then looked back up at her. “So? What’s the problem?” he asked. She knew he’d react that way. Positively knew it, and it drove her crazy. She wanted to scream and rail at him, but she’d come across as some hysterical banshee, and then he’d never take her concerns seriously.“That’s not all,” she said stiffly. “It’s all over the Internet. An advertising community site has it on their blog along with some snotty little line about how I got the account after the announcement of you signing with golden gates.”He looked blankly at her. “I fail to see what the big dea
PLAY WITH ME 75
With a sigh, she explained the whole sorry tale about her her history with Timothy, their reunion and their trip to the beach house. She left out the mushy details she’d shared with Ann. Evan was, after all, A. her boss and B. a man. He didn’t need to know that she’d stupidly fallen in love with a man she’d be working with for a long time to come. It made things entirely too messy. What if they broke up? Would Evan feel weird about continuing the relationship with Packard enterprises or would he take his business elsewhere?There were a million reasons why she should have never ever gotten involved with Timothy , and yet, she hadn’t heeded any of the warning signs.“I overheard what Ann said about how it shouldn’t matter to me how you got the account. I won’t lie. It doesn’t. Furthermore, it’s none of my business unless you broke the law or did something to damage the reputation of Golden Gates. I don’t think this qualifies. My concern is for you. I know how devastated you were by wha
PLAY WITH ME 74
Chloe and Timothy returned from their trip as a couple, but he had to go back to his home and so did she. After a Sunday of fielding curious questions from Bryce and his brothers about where she had been the past week, Chloe was relieved to go into work on Monday. She wasn’t ready to admit to them that she and Timothy were anything more than business associates. She loved them for their undying loyalty and their absolute faith in her. But for some reason she was reluctant to confess to a relationship with Timothy.She was late, thanks to a traffic snarl that lasted an entire hour and an already late start from her apartment. By the time she made it off the elevator, it was closing in on noon, and her mood was in the toilet.When she saw Caroline, she knew something was wrong. The usually cheerful receptionist eyed Chloe with something that looked suspiciously like pity, and she refused to hold her gaze for long. Not even wanting to know what that was all about, Chloe bypassed her usua
PLAY WITH ME 73
Evan Reese opened the front door of his house and headed straight to the kitchen. His wife, Christina stood at a table, frosting a cake. She looked up in surprise to see her husband and dropped the piping bag. "You are back, " she said. "Is something wrong? Did you forget something?" Evan shook his head. "No… I mean… yes." He scratched his head and then buried his face in his hands and sighed deeply, which made Christina even more concerned. She immediately washed her hands in the sink and came towards him, but when she reached out to touch him, he pulled away. "Please don't. Not right now please." said Evan. He was afraid that if he let her touch him, he would change his mind about doing the right thing. He wanted to keep his marriage, but he knew that secrets like this were of no use. They usually ended up coming to light, and he feared that the damage it might cause would be even worse. It was best to rip out the bad aid and face the consequences of his actions. "Tina, there's s
