Mrs. Cramer-Part 1

Mike Cramer looked up at the television screens that were splayed across the far wall of his office. He watched the tickers that ran at the bottom of each screen, waiting for something that would indicate a crisis and when he saw nothing, he looked back at the computer screen on his huge oak desk.

Oak wouldn’t have been his first choice. In fact he really didn’t like any of the rich reds and browns along with the large wooden furniture that his wife had picked for his office. He thought he would have preferred something a little more contemporary, but it was just a place to work, and it had kept her busy for almost six weeks while she decorated the corner office on the fifty-fourth floor.

She was bored most of the time, he knew. Quitting her job had been his idea, his insistence, when they married six years ago. Women that were lucky enough to marry a Cramer did not work. His mother would have had a heart attack if she had continued to practice law after they were married. It just wasn’t done.

But she craved for something to do. Even though his families philanthropic efforts and her volunteer work at the children’s hospital, the art museum, and several other organizations that his mother had insisted that she become involved in kept her busy enough, she was in constant search of projects that she could sink her energy, her passion, and her time into, and he had the remodeling bills to prove it.

He bought the two-story colonial for her as a wedding gift with the intention that she could oversee some renovations. Three bathrooms, a new master suite, a finished basement complete with a theatre and wet bar, and a gourmet kitchen later she still wasn’t finished. Just last night she was asking him if he thought she should have a new staircase built. He didn’t even know that it was an option and he certainly didn’t think there was anything wrong with the staircase that they already had, but she was quick to point out that not only did the stain on the banister not match the other wood tones in the house but the third step from the top had a noticeable squeak.

Mike leaned back in the leather chair that he was sitting and wondered just how much a new staircase cost. He didn’t even want to think about it.

He tried to once again return to the work that he really needed to get done before he could leave the office, but he was interrupted again. This time not by his own preoccupied thoughts but by the soft knock of his new secretary.

He glanced up at the open doorway and nodded at the young woman. She was pretty, certainly not homely, but she tried too hard. Her hair was bleached almost white and she wore too much make-up for her youthful face. She was a fast typer, though, and had become fairly proficient at answering the phones and keeping him on schedule, and good assistants were hard to find.

“Yes, Holly. What is it?” He asked as she shuffled into the room on heels that were so high she could barely keep her balance.

“I finished those reports and had them faxed to the San Francisco office.” She announced as she handed him a stack of memos.

“Great.” He replied absently, flipping through the small pink messages

“Your father just called and said that he had something of a personal matter to discuss with you. He asked that you call him back at your earliest convenience.”

“Fine.” He drawled out as he read over one of the messages with a frown. “Anything else?”

“Yes, your three o’clock appointment is here.” Mike couldn’t help but notice the tiniest hint of hesitation in her voice when she made the last announcement, which only added to his confusion.

“I didn’t know that I had a three o’clock today. Who is it?”

“A—Miss Hill.” Holly said.

Mike’s eyes snapped up to her face and a coy grin started to grow across his face. “Miss Hill, you said?”

“Yes.”

“Did Miss Hill tell you what the appointment was in regards to?”

“She said she had something of the utmost importance to discuss with you. A proposal that you wouldn’t be able to resist.”

“I’ll bet.” He burst. His hoot of laughter startled the new secretary and she almost jumped. She was new. She hadn’t been around long enough to recognize the woman that was probably sitting just outside his office, but the other employees most certainly would and that was the last thing he needed. “Send her in.” He instructed with a wave of his hand.

Holly hurried out of the office and Mike leaned back in the chair that he was sitting in, trying very hard not to watch the door in anticipation. He actually had to force his eyes to remain on the computer screen when he heard the door open again just a few seconds later.

The vision that he caught in the corner of his eye was too much to ignore though. His eyes skirted across the room and the roamed over the tall woman steadily walking to the desk where he sat. The jacket of her gray suit hung open exposing the low cut lavender blouse tucked into the insanely tight skirt that clung to the round hips that swayed with each stride that she made.

His eyes drifted below the skirt and took the long journey down the absolutely perfect legs covered in a thin layer of black nylon to the strappy, heeled shoes that clapped against the floor as she walked. His gaze lingered there, unable to look away, before they snapped up to her face. The diamond earrings sparkled against her creamy skin and the wicked red lipstick seemed to make her already full lips plump with invitation.

Her brown hair was pulled into a tight chignon and as she approached the leather upholstered chairs in front of his desk, her big brown eyes looked him over in very much the same way he was doing to her.

She lifted a dark eyebrow and one corner of her mouth into a soft grin as she made her way to him.

“Miss Hill?” He said to her as she came to a stop on the other side of the wide brown desk.

Her smile grew and she lifted a shoulder on the daintiest shrug. “If I had used my real name, you would have said you were too busy to see me.”

“Would I?”

“You know very well that you would have?”

“You actually made an appointment to see me.” He said with a shake of his head.

Her grin grew from a familiar greeting to a flirtatious smile with the tip of her pink tongue poking through the rows of straight white teeth. Mike couldn’t help but return the smile.

“So, Avery, what is it that was so important that you had to make an appointment for?”

She flashed another smile and then settled herself in one of the chairs. His eyes shifted to the line between her breast that was creeping from under her shirt when she bent over and then back to her face before she could see his distraction.

She saw it though, and her smile told him that she had seen it. She leaned back, tossing one long leg over the other and letting her jacket fall further open. “I have a proposal for you.” She stated in what he knew was her most business like voice, though it was still tinged with the husky tickle that drove him insane with a desire to hear that voice calling out his name.

“A proposal?” He repeated. He then leaned back in his chair and let his head roll to one side with a thick chuckle. “I should have known that this was about money.”

“Who said it was about money? I don’t need money. I have plenty of my own. I need something else from you.”

He was intrigued, to say the least. He hitched up an eyebrow and waited for her to continue.

“I want your name.”

Now both of his eyebrows lifted and his grin was quite unintentional. “My name?”

“Yes, I want you to endorse a new foundation. A foundation that benefits under-privileged children of single working mothers. It’s a fabulous effort but I need a name, a name with money, to put behind it.”

“Then you want my families name?”

She slowly shook her head. “No, I want your name.”

“And what would I get out of this deal?”

“My eternal gratitude.” She said simply along with another sexy little smile.

Mike pursed his lips together and glared at her. “Why the hell would I want that?”

She stood, pushed the hem of her skirt back down and slowly made her way around the edge of the desk. It seemed to take her forever to get there, and with each agonizing step that she took, Mike felt himself tense and harden. When she was finally within arms reach, it took physical restraint not to grab her hips and pull her down on top of him.

She leaned forward until he had a perfect view of not only her cleavage, but the black lace bra that pushed the mounds of flesh up and beyond that, a tight stomach that disappeared beneath waistline of her skirt.

He didn’t know how, but he managed to lift his eyes back to her shining face. “I’ll make it worth your while, I promise.” She whispered.

His eyes fell again. God help him, he couldn’t stop himself, and she knew it. She placed a hand on each arm of the chair and leaned in closer, until her strawberry red lips were less than an inch from his.

“Tell me, Avery. Just how do you plan to make it worth my while?”


She smiled. “A little birdie told me that you are thinking of running for office. Whether it’s a seat on the school board or the senate, you’re going to need more than just the last name of Cramer and all the millions that come with it. You’ll need to make a name for yourself, not just your family. What looks better to the voting public than a man that’s helping some poor little brats and their welfare dependant mothers.”

“That is,” He said, letting his fingers drift up the back of her thighs. “A very interesting point that you have there.” He reached the bottom of her skirt in no time and drug it with him on his journey up. He stopped momentarily when he felt the lace tops of her thigh high stockings and then kept right on moving.

“I have a lot of interesting points.” She said as she closed in further on his mouth. Her lips were just barely brushing over his when she said, “Perhaps we should go away together, somewhere warm and tropical this weekend and you can delve into my brain, among other things.”

Pulsating—God, what a lame term, but that was the only word that came to mind as her hot breath swept over his face and his hands rounded the firm buttocks beneath the skirt. His fingers slipped beneath the thin ribbon of her thong and he thought that if she didn’t lean in just that one last fraction of an inch, he was going to lose control and throw her over the wide desk next to them.

She must want it. The way her tongue slipped between her lips and left a thin layer of moisture as it roamed over the bright red just had to be a sign of her own arousal he thought, but she was a tease. He knew that. She knew how to push his buttons, how to turn him on, how to get what she wanted. It would be only then, that he got what he wanted.

“I can’t this weekend.” He very reluctantly said.

She sighed and pulled her face a few inches back. “Why not?” She was almost pouting.

“My family has plans. We’re going to Martha’s Vineyard for the long weekend.”

Her face fell in an obvious disappointment and she wiggled out of his grasp, pushing his hands out of her skirt as she straightened it. She leaned against the desk in an almost sit and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I feel certain that I already mentioned that to you.” He said, rising from his lounged position and trying once again to get close to her by placing a firm hand on each of her round hips.

“You did.” She said solemnly, “I just forgot, that’s all.”

She softened when he pulled the chair closer to her and looked up from his seat. Her arms fell from their stronghold on her chest and rested on his shoulders as she looked down at him.

“Avery, if you don’t kiss me, I’m liable to burst.” He said as serious as was his condition.

She giggled softly. “I doubt it. In fact, I’d like to see the woman that can do that to you.”

He smiled at her. “There’s a mirror in the wash room if you really want to see what she looks like, but you can take my word for it, she’s pretty amazing.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Cramer.”

“I beg to differ. It’s gotten me into your pants before.”

She outright laughed that time. The musical sound filled the room and he joined in but his grip on her hips tightened with a need he was sure that she was aware of.

Avery rolled her eyes and looked down at him with exasperation. “I’ll kiss you on one condition.”

“You can use my name for whatever the hell you want.” He said with a hint of desperation.

She shook her head. “I’m already going to do that, whether you want me to or not. Don’t worry. When I quote you, I’ll make it sound like you give a damn about something other than yourself. No, I want something else.”

“Anything.” Okay—he was definitely desperate, now.

“You have to promise not to leave me alone with your mother this weekend.”

He tensed and looked up at her with his own exasperation, but when he saw her desperate, pleading look, he softened. “I have meetings Sunday with the campaign officials. That’s the only time I’ll leave your side, I promise.”

“I want to come to the meetings with you.”

“Jesus, Avery. She’s not that bad. I’ve been dealing with her my whole life.”

“You’re not the one that married her favorite child.” Avery countered. “She hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you. She loves you. She just doesn’t always understand you.”

“She’s an emotional vampire.”

He nodded and chuckled. “That may be true, but she is my mother. You knew what you were getting into when you married me.”

She shook her head. “No, I think I was tricked. You clouded my judgment with all those things you did in bed. I wasn’t thinking clearly when I agreed to be Meredith Cramer’s daughter-in-law.”

His eyes glared at her, but they were smiling. He knew that his mother could get under Avery’s skin and he didn’t like it, but he didn’t know what could possibly be done to rectify the situation. “All right.” He finally said. “You’ll come to the meetings with me, offer your enlightening suggestions you have about becoming the next congressman’s wife, and then we’ll leave as soon as the meetings are finished. I promise.”

Her apprehension showed in her tense face and the hesitant shake of her head, but when Mike stood, sending the wheeled chair flying backwards against the console table, and placed a sturdy hand on her cheek, forcing her to look up at him, she softened a bit. She even smiled at him.

“I’m sorry,” she sighed. “I just…”

“I know.” He assured, sandwiching between her legs and tightening his grip on her hips. Her eyelids fluttered up and her gaze met with his intent stare as a small grin spread on her perfect lips.

“I suppose you want that kiss, now?” She speculated.

His answer came as his head swept down and his mouth brushed over hers. Avery’s hands found their way up and over the shoulders covered in a white cotton shirt and wrapped around his neck, holding on tightly as he lowered her across the desk.

When she parted her lips, and his tongue darted into her, filling her mouth as he tasted and savored her, she felt herself tighten and her blood begin to heat, but in that moment she didn’t really care that they were in his office, that his new secretary—the really cute little thing with the bleach blonde hair and spray on tan that couldn’t be a day past twenty-one—could walk in on them at any moment, or that she still had a lot to do today before she could go home. Right then all she cared about was her husbands hungry mouth devouring her, his velvet tongue slipping in and out as he teased her, his strong hands skating over the lavender silk that hid her body and the growing bulge in his slacks that was pressing against her.

Was it possible that after six years of marriage to this man that he could still turn her into a wanting college co-ed that threw all caution to the wind if it meant that she could have his body next to hers for a minute or two? It shouldn’t be, right? She was a grown woman. She had responsibilities, and a household to run. But the very idea of him inside of her was more than she could withstand, and this was a prime example.

She sighed into the kiss and let her fingers crawl into the short dusty blonde hair that lay at the nap of his neck, tugging to tell him that she wanted more. Her knees lifted without a thought process at all, and she clung to his broad shoulders as though she was in eminent danger of being deprived from his touch.

Mike was in no hurry to let go of her, though. He knew he was going to have to, he did have to earn a living and he knew that his office door wasn’t locked. But, he’d deal with that in a few more minutes, right now he was busy trying to fit as much of his sweet wife as possible into his mouth.

A ringing phone would snap them both back into reality, and as Avery wiggled out from underneath him to answer the cell phone in her purse, Mike was left hunched over his desk, his intent glare locked on her.

He watched, silently, as she answered the phone and conducted the business that was obviously too pressing for her to ignore it for just a minute. She stole a glance through the corner of her eye and grinned at the annoyed glower on Mike’s face.

He plopped down in the chair behind him and winced as he adjusted the almost painful erection in his pants, waiting rather impatiently as she spoke to whomever. How did she do that? How was it possible that a woman could just flip a switch and go from hot and heavy to all business like and pretend that she hadn’t just had her legs wrapped around him a mere three seconds ago? It wasn’t normal.

“Okay,” She said into the phone. “I’ll take care of it this afternoon and call you in the morning.”

He glanced up, assuming that she was concluding the conversation and perhaps they could take up where they had left off when they had been so rudely interrupted. His arousal had eased a little, but he was sure that it could be replenished with one taste of her.

She flipped the phone closed and tossed into the open handbag, turning to him. “That was your mother.” She announced.

Okay—erection gone.

“What did she want?”

Avery let out a sigh as she hoisted a hip and let it rest on the edge of his desk. “Something about benefit for the American Lung Association.”

“Are we sponsoring that again this year?”

She nodded absently. “I have to get going, Mike. I still have errands to run and I told your sister I’d stop by this afternoon.”

He reluctantly nodded his agreement and then stopped suddenly, his head snapping up to look at her. “Hey—what did the doctor say?”

Avery froze, mid-reach for her purse. Her back was to him, but he could see the way that her shoulders slumped and heard the thick sigh.

“You didn’t go, did you?” He speculated.

She was silent when she turned to look at him, but she opened her mouth to say something a few seconds later.

“Don’t,” He interrupted in a warning tone, before she got the chance “Don’t even tell me that you forgot. I reminded you three times, once this morning.”

“I didn’t forget.” She stated, plainly. “I canceled the appointment.”

Now, it was Mike’s turn to slump his shoulders and sigh. “Avery.”

“Just don’t start, Mike.” She snapped. “I don’t have time to get into it right now.”

“I don’t want to get into it, either, but if you don’t go to the doctor, then we aren’t going to know why we can’t get pregnant.”

Watching her tension rise, Mike glared at her until her brown eyes snapped to his face and he saw the anger flash in them.

“I’ll go to the damn doctor, when I’m ready to go to the doctor.” She snapped.

Tossing the strap of her designer bag on her shoulder, she twirled and headed straight for the door without so much as a glance back in his direction.

“Avery.”

“We’ll talk about it later, I’m sure.” She said, pulling the thick wooden door open and stepping through it. “Have a nice afternoon, Mr. Cramer.”

And the door fell closed.

Mike stared at the closed door for several more seconds, her perfume still lingering on the air that surrounded him. He let out a heavy sigh.

Surely, somewhere in his mind he had known that she would have missed the doctor’s appointment. After all, this was the third such appointment he had made for her. Yet, he had held out just the smallest ray of hope that she would come to her senses.

They had been trying for eighteen months. Mike had already been to the doctor’s. All his tests were normal. If they weren’t pregnant, then it was because there was a problem on Avery’s end.

He couldn’t seem to find a logical reason that she would avoid pursuing pregnancy, like she had been so far. He thought that maybe she was just frightened. If that were the case, then he would have accompanied her to the doctor, made every effort to reassure her, helped her to talk through her apprehensions, but when he made such offers, she had adamantly refused.

There had to be a reason. A good reason. A logical reason. Then again, Avery's lack of logical reasoning was one of the things that had drawn him to her in the first place. There was absolutely nothing logical about that woman, and he had always rather liked it.

(To be continued in Part 2...)