Open For Him (BBW / Billionaire Erotic Romance) by Karolyn James

thought about Hank for the rest of the day, which was as a nice break from obsessing about Derreck Hagan.  Thinking about him made Macy wonder what he was doing right now.  Signing new business deals?  Or was he out finding a new woman to take Macy's spot?  She thought about the diamond encrusted heels and Derreck gently placing them on another woman's feet.  It bothered Macy, almost enraging her, but there wasn't a thing she could do about it.
    When Stacey came out of her office, holding a stack of invoices and payables (something Stacey insisted on looking at but had no idea what to do with) she tossed them to the edge of Macy's desk and then just stared at her.
    "Something happened," Stacey said.
    "I met him last night, at eight."
    Stacey smiled.  Macy didn't.
    "Oh no," Stacey said.  "That's not the face of sex, is it?"
    Macy didn't respond.  She did have sex with Derreck - which was explosive and hot and still lingered in her desperate body - but it was how it all ended that bothered her.
    "Were you afraid when you sent your art to that magazine?" Macy asked.
    "Afraid?  No.  Why would I be?  Either they like it or they don't.  Doesn't mean I would have stopped painting."
    "You don't fear judgment?"
    "From who?  Strangers?"  Stacey smiled.  "I fear myself though.  I'm the hardest critic."
    "Yeah, I know that feeling."
    "But there's a difference, Macy, between judging yourself and judging your flaws."
    Macy swallowed hard, finding emotions again.
    "You know I'm right," Stacey said.  "Your flaws are you, imperfections that make you perfect.  Love them."
    Stacey patted the desk and walked away. 
    Just before she got to her office, she looked over her shoulder and smiled at Macy.
    Macy smiled back but she didn't feel much better.
    In fact, she hated when Stacey smiled like that.  It meant she was up to no good.
    Seeing that smile kept Macy on her toes for the rest of the day.  With Stacey in hiding, working hard on yet another project, the gallery and office was quiet and calm and the seconds moved like mud.  She couldn’t find enough work to do.  The phones were quiet, no customers came in, and Stacey didn’t show her face again.  When she lost herself in a project - or ten - she would stay hidden in her office and own personal gallery.  It was a huge room, almost like a warehouse, with tall ceilings, paints, papers, and anything an artist could dream of.  She would order food to be delivered to the back door and even set up a futon bed in the corner to sleep if the urge came to actually sleep.  The soft glow from the back office made Macy’s stomach churn, wishing she was the one hiding behind a closed door, working.
    The difference though was that while Stacey may have hidden herself to work, she would then open the doors and let the art be exposed itself.  When Macy finished her paintings, she would simply turn the closet light off in her apartment and shut the door. 
    Everything stayed hidden.
    When the end of the day came, Macy closed up the gallery and left, hurrying on home.  She locked her apartment door and dropped her bag to her right.  She then kicked her shoes off, almost falling on her face, her eyes intent on the closet door.  The need to paint hit her hard.  She had nothing to do, nobody to talk to, and more than anything else, she needed to get Derreck off her mind. 
    Macy stood at the closet, holding the door handle.  The closet open and she stared into a walk-in room that served as her hidden secret.  She thought about Derreck Hagan.  His billionaire status.  His command and power.  The way he spoke at his investors meeting with ease.  How he took Macy just to keep people talking, wondering, concentrating on him.
    Oh, the sex.
    Macy’s hand started to tremor as she thought about holding the back of the leather couch, bent over, her sex throbbing, accepting Derreck’s body. 
    Maybe she should change, even in small doses.  Little steps. 
    Macy looked around her