Beckett Even though I’m sle
Ep d eprived and my balls are still aching from last night’s wild sex marathon, I have to r eport for duty. Adulting isn’t an option when you’re the CEO. After greeting the security team at the gate, I st ep into the building, take the elevator, and head to the executive floor. Since it’s early, the place is blessedly quiet. As I stride to my office, I can’t help but smile. There’s always a sense of immense pride that washes over me when I trail the hallways of the fivestory Culver City building my business partner and I own when it’s empty like this. Photos in black frames of our milestones and achievements line the walls. Our vision. Our creativity. Our boldness. Our empire. Our freaking dream come true. We built this. I enter my office, not bothering to close the door. I remove my suit jacket and place it on the back of one of the guest chairs. My phone rings. Already? I fish it from the pocket of my jacket and check the name on the screen. “Good morning, Valerie,” I say, acc epting the call. “I’m not sure it’s going to be a good morning, boss,” she says. “Are you okay?” “I am.” “Did something happen to the kids?” “No. Everyone on my end is safe and sound.” “Okay, so why the gloom and doom?” My executive assistant Valerie Hurst is a cheery person. I don’t recognize the woman on the other end. “Are you heading home from LAX, Beckett?” I was on my private jet at five this morning after three nefarious days in Sin City. I was there to work, but at night, all bets were off. “I just walked into the office.” I round the desk and take a seat. “There’s too much for me to catch up on to waste time in traffic. Not to mention, I have to head out to a meeting with the agency in a couple of hours.” “I gather you haven’t checked social media?” “No.” “What about the entertainment news?” “No.” “The newspapers?” “What’s going on, Valerie?” “You might need to hire a new publicist. Fast.” The former publicist who had been with me forever, hung up her PR boxing gloves to become a full-time mom upon the arrival of her fifth child. After a month of working with her r eplacement, I couldn’t handle the woman’s overdramatic nature and bitchy attitude. I fired her ass. I frown. “Why?” “I was about to turn off the TV as I was rallying my three rambunctious boys to get them into the SUV so I could drop them off at school, when the news broke.” “What news?” “It has to do with...” “Spit it out, Valerie.” “It has to do with a woman you were with while you were in Vegas. The radio host was going on about it. Apparently, it’s spreading all over social media like wildfire.” I frown into the phone. “The media has a shit fit because I was with a woman? It must’ve been a slow news night for them to focus on something as mundane as two people hooking up.”
“It’s more than that, Beckett. You’re going to need an expert who’s able to reframe this delicate situation before it turns into a blood bath.” “Delicate situation? Blood bath?” “It seems you pissed off someone with a lot of weight and leverage.” I flash back to my time in Vegas, my thoughts scrambling to make sense of what Valerie just divulged. I’m stumped. “None of this makes any sense, Valerie.” “Turn on your computer and do a search.” I secure the phone between my shoulder and my ear and turn it on. With quick fingers, I type my name in the search bar. “What the hell?” Screaming headlines flash on my screen. It’s never a good thing when you see BREAKING NEWS in front of your name on countless results. ‘BECKETT CHRISTENSEN STOLE MY DAUGHTER’S VIRGINITY’ ‘BECKETT CHRISTENSEN CORRUPTS PASTOR’S DAUGHTER’ ‘SEX SCANDAL MIGHT CAUSE BECKETT CHRISTENSEN TO LOSE IT ALL’ ‘EIGHTH RICHEST PASTOR IN AMERICA GOES AFTER CEO ROCK STAR’ I blink. I blink again. “What the fuck?” “I’m on my way.” Valerie’s voice breaks through my hazy thoughts. “In the meantime, I’ll call security to make sure they beef up their presence. I’m sure paparazzi and r eporters will surround the building in no time. Fucking piranhas.” “Good idea,” I say. “Thanks for having my back.” “Always, Beckett.” “I’ll see you when you get here.” “See you soon.” I drop my phone on the desk and stare at the screen in disbelief. Las Vegas is always a blast... even when it’s for business. I was in Sin City for the Monday night finale of a show I’m a co-judge on. The after party was over the top. It was all PG because the room was swarming with r eporters and celebrity bloggers. Last night, I was the MC at Bella Lusso’s extravaganza televised fashion show. I ended the night on a bus packed with gorgeous supermodels clad in skimpy, expensive Bella Lusso lingerie, driving up and down the Las Vegas Strip. It was all in the name of publicity. A smoking-hot Brazilian bombshell model with dark eyes and long, dark hair caught my attention. After the ride, I went up to her room. If this modeling career doesn’t work out for her, she has a future as a Cirque du Soleil artist. Man, that woman was flexible. It’ll be a few days before my body recovers. Where does the pastor’s daughter fit in? I exhale and pinch the bridge of my nose. Coffee. I need strong coffee. I had two cups on the jet, but after that conversation, I need to shoot more caffeine into my veins. Drinking hard liquor at this early time of the day is ill advised. I push away from my desk, ready to stand up when a violent tornado bursts into my office. “What the fuck, man?” My good friend and business partner Rhys shouts at me, waving an i Pad over his head. “Seriously?”
“Did I make the front page of the entertainment section, Hartford?” “In every fucking newspaper, on every fucking entertainment website, and on every fucking celebrity blog, Beckett.” “There’s no such thing as bad publicity, Rhys.” He shuts the door with the heel of his foot and stalks towards me, his eyes burning with a mix of anger and annoyance. He drops the i Pad on my desk and does a slow clap. “Once again, your penis is the star.” “Sorry yours doesn’t gather as much interest.” I’m pissed off he’d accuse me without knowing the facts. “When I fuck a woman, it doesn’t make the front pages of the entertainment section,” Rhys says between gritted teeth. “For some reason, when it comes to you, your dick always ends up an international sensation.” “Well, it’s a pretty formidable dick. Perhaps yours doesn’t measure up,” I say. “Don’t make me pull out a ruler, Christensen. Your forbidden Vegas es capade trumps everything out there. And you’re trending under #Zel Beck Epic Fuck. No one is talking about our company, Beckett. It’s all about you, the bad boy with the insatiable sexual appetite. A virgin and a pastor’s daughter? There were no other damn choices?” “Listen, Rhys, I take full responsibility for my actions, but one thing is certain, Zelda was no virgin.” I point a finger at him. “I’m willing to back it up with my entire fortune.” “That’s not what her father claims.” “This is a publicity grab on the pastor’s part,” I say. “Zelda is as much of a virgin as I’m about to be canonized as a saint.” “Why would her father risk his r eputation if it wasn’t true?” I’m about to retort when a memory surges. “It all makes sense now.” I slap my forehead with my palm. “What are you talking about?” “Zelda was adamant. Fucking her pussy was a dealbreaker. Her father claims she’s a virgin, but it’s semantics—” “What the hell does that mean?” “That woman’s ass is well used, looser than many pussies I’ve fucked. She gets fucked in the ass to pretend she’s still untouched.” Rhys lifts his hand. “Too much information.” “I’m not going to sit here and be accused.” “What about last month’s presidential fuck with the President’s daughter? What was your excuse again?” “I have none,” I say. “Trust me, her father’s former position was the last thing on her mind as she was begging for my cock.” Always aim higher, is my motto. I graduated from almost fucking the former Vice President’s daughter and her two best friends in a club in London to fucking the former President’s daughter. That almost foursome in London could’ve cost me everything. If it wasn’t for the fact my three playmates invited a few friends —who only party with drugs—to join us without my knowledge or consent, my dick might’ve put me in some hot water. Going on pure instinct, I bailed out as a r eporter was making his way to the room where the fun was happening. It was a close call... way too close for comfort. “In my defense, she k ept insisting once you go to Texas, you never go back,” I say.
That woman knows how to show Southern hospitality. Rhys shakes his head and lets out a sarcastic laugh. “What?” I demand. “I get this isn’t your first real taste of success, but it is for me. And right now, your dick is fucking it all up—for me, for you, and for all the hardworking and dedicated employees who believe in our vision. You owe them more than that.” He jabs the air with a finger. We stare at each other long and hard like two silverback gorillas about to engage in a brawl, his blue eyes burning into my own. Alpha versus Alpha. “Beckett, you’re the CEO of a multibillion-dollar company.” He rakes a hand through his hair. “I’m the lucky bastard who gets to ride this along with you. You need to start thinking with your other head.” “I can multitask.” I sneer. I hold his defiant gaze. The fury dissipates from his eyes, r eplaced by an air of defeat. This company is his raison d’être. Sometimes he forgets it’s also mine. I get up, plow my hand through my hair and take a seat on the edge of my desk, my gaze never leaving his. “I wash my hands of Zelda. She’s lying. That said, I’ll curb my appetite for the next week,” I say. “By the time I get back from New York, this fake scandal will be water under the bridge.” He lets out a forced breath. He holds my gaze. “That won’t do.” I knit my eyebrows together. “What are you talking about?” “I want more than words, Beckett.” “You want me to sign my pledge in blood?” “A little too medieval for my taste. If you don’t have any skin in the game, you’ll have forgotten about this conversation by end of the day. God knows what kind of debauchery you’ll indulge in while you’re in the Big Apple.” “I won’t—” “Please don’t insult my intelligence. You love women. I get it—” “And you don’t?” I shoot him an incredulous stare. “My fucks never end up becoming liabilities,” he says. “Yours often do.” “What do you expect from me, Rhys?” He narrows his eyes. “A challenge.” “A challenge?” “You ke ep your cock under lockdown for the next thirty days.” My eyebrows hit my forehead. “Come again?” “No sex for a month.” “It’s way too early for you to be drunk, but for the record, what’s coming out of your mouth is pr eposterous.” “If you value this company as much as I do, you’ll take me up on my challenge.” “You’re crazy.” “Since you fired your personal publicist, allow me to st ep into the role. You need an image rehab, Beckett.” “Fuck off.” “Just because you’ll be on the east coast, doesn’t mean the media won’t be after you,” he says. “This story won’t die down anytime soon. You abstain from temptation for the next month and the spotlight moves to another scandal.” “Please. This is LA. Another celebrity will fuck up before lunch.” I scoff. “Yeah, but Zelda’s father is just getting started. It’s clear he’ll ke ep fanning the fire. He’ll be on CNN tonight.” Fuck. “I’ll counter on WNN.” Wire News Network’s Enews, aka WNN’s entertainment program, has always been good to me.
“Your focus needs to be on the company. Not on a misguided pastor dead set on protecting his slutty daughter’s long-gone honor.” Wait. What? “You’re taking my side now?” “#Zelda Not So Virgin is trending faster than #Zel Beck Epic Fuck. So is #Backdoor Zelda.” I shake my head. “You’re not off the hook that easily.” “You can’t be serious about this challenge, Rhys.” “I am.” He taps me on the shoulder. “You lie low for a while... and you get a nice prize for your effort.” I’m sk eptical, but I bite. “What kind of prize?” “My most valued bike.” My eyes grow wide. “You’re willing to part with your Legendary British Vintage Black?” “The one and only.” Rhys has a stellar collection of expensive bikes, but in the world of motorcycles, he struck gold. He may not have much left from his first career, but he was able to hold on to a coveted ride released in 1948. It has an estimated value of four hundred thousand dollars. That baby is pure mechanical genius. “It shows you how much this company means to me.” He sticks his hands in his pockets. “I hope it’s the same for you.” I consider him for a long beat. “Abstinence for a rare gem?” I ponder. The first word leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. “Yes.” Rhys’s cocksure grin irks me. “You think I can’t do it?” “Prove me wrong, Christensen,” he says. “You’re so certain of yourself.” “I am,” he says with supreme confidence. I shoot him a side gaze. “Your bike as bait?” “Pretty much.” “Thirty days?” I ke ep r epeating myself, but I’m weighing the pros and cons here. “Four long weeks,” he says. I nod, pensive. “You can only engage with women in a professional or friendly manner.” “I can do that.” Something tells me my eagerness will come back to bite me in the ass. “Let me make sure we’re on the same page here,” Rhys says. He lifts a hand and fans his fingers out. “One”—using his other hand, he points to one of his fingers—“your cock can’t be inside of a woman’s pussy. Two, same for her ass. Three, it also applies to her mouth. Four, titty fucking is cheating. Five, handjobs aren’t a way around the rules. I doubt you’d waste your time putting your mouth on a pussy if you aren’t getting anything in return. So, that’s a non-issue. And I don’t have to mention kissing since you never do.” By the time he’s done with his long list of stipulations, my jaw is hanging open. “Any questions, Christensen?” “I can’t even get a blowjob?” “Not unless you’re flexible enough to suck your own cock.” I roll my eyes. He flashes me a row of white teeth. “You can jack off as much as you want.” I glare at him. It’s not like I have an issue with jerking off. I love stroking my cock. The problem is, I’ve never gone that long without sex. My mind is spinning. “You’re not man enough, Christensen?” It’s going to take me a few weeks to find a new publicist, so ke eping it zipped up is a good idea. Not to mention, he damn well knows
I’ve never been one to back down from a challenge. His triumphant grin grows wider. Fucker. No way am I letting you have the upper hand. “I can live without pussy for a month.” I think. “You’re on.” “Good. Let’s shake on it.” And we do. “I’m not worried,” he says, his hand still in mine. “That bike will remain in my secure storage facility where it belongs.” I laugh. “I wouldn’t count my chickens—” There’s a knock at the door. My gaze moves away from Rhys’s face. “Come in.” Valerie pokes her head in. Her features are tense. Somber, even. My gaze meets hers. “What’s wrong?” “Yeah, what’s going on?” Rhys’s tone is cautious. “Sorry to interrupt, but something else came up,” Valerie says. “There’s a life-and-death situation you need to be aware of.” Good Lord. What a morning.